#not an opera but there are a LOT of opera references in these lyrics

[infinitelytheheartexpands]

there were certainly…Choices Made With These References!

#musicals #musical theatre #musical theater #lady in the dark #kurt weill #opera tag #opera #not an opera but there are a LOT of opera references in these lyrics #weill #oh fabulous one #hmm.

[99thpercentile]

I get the feeling that I'm in the minority here, but I posit that GLaDOS actually is Caroline, and only "not the same person" in the sense that you'd look at your younger self and be like "that bitch ain't me." I think you actually have to go out of your way to interpret them as two separate people.

evidence:

voiced by the same person (I know the initial reasoning was that Valve didn't want to hire another voice actor for a few lines, but in casting Ellen McLain as Caroline, they incorporated her being the same person into the story).

GLaDOS automatically joins in saying "Yes sir, Mister Johnson" like saying it is permanently ingrained in her. you can interpret this as Caroline taking over, but she says "Why did I just—" immediately afterwards.

when GLaDOS talks about hearing the voice of a conscience, she says "for the first time it's MY voice." I don't think she means that she's hearing the woman she gets her literal voice from. she highlights it as distinctly DIFFERENT from hearing the voices of the cores, and I imagine if Caroline were a foreign entity whispering in her ear, the effect would've been much the same.

the GLaDOS project was originally started because Cave was dying and wanted his consciousness uploaded to a computer. the intent was always for the upload to be the same person. he said if he died first, he wanted Caroline to run the place, to be put in his computer. and that's exactly what happened.

GLaDOS not remembering she's Caroline until old Aperture always made sense to me as the result of a deliberate choice on the part of the scientists. Caroline didn't want to be uploaded, and as soon as they switched GLaDOS on, she tried to kill everyone. it's logical for the scientists to think that if they suppressed her memories, she'd have no reason to try to kill them (but instead, she was just filled with murderous rage and no longer knew why).

the story just doesn't have the same impact otherwise. GLaDOS's reactions to rediscovering old Aperture make more sense if it's her past she's rediscovering, rather than the past of...a human that was shoved into the chassis with her. if it were the second one, I think she would just feel violated, not have any major revelations.

counter-evidence:

"now little Caroline is in here too" lyric from Want You Gone

GLaDOS says she found out "where Caroline lives in [her] brain" and deleted her, like she's a separate entity

but GLaDOS is a habitual liar. she acts like deleting Caroline means she's fully back to her old self and has gotten rid of the part of her that made her want to save Chell's life, but there's...lots of evidence that she still cares about Chell after the fact (letting her go anyway, the companion cube, the turret opera if you think GLaDOS arranged that, talking to the co-op bots about Chell like she's an ex she's still heartbroken over...). I also think GLaDOS would like to imagine her and Caroline as two separate entities, in the same way you might find your younger self embarrassing and want to distance yourself from that person. I think it's notable that both instances where she refers to Caroline as a separate entity are at the end of the game, after Chell has been passed out a while and she's had time to process everything and compartmentalize. her instinct when the revelations are first happening is to refer to Caroline as if she is her.

now I don't like stories where a robot has to become or be seen as more human in some way for them to be sympathetic. but I think Portal 2 is an excellent subversion of this trope, because GLaDOS is a robot that learns she used to be human and then discards that humanity (symbolically if not literally). Caroline may not have wanted to be uploaded, but from the Want You Gone lyrics "one day they woke me up / so I could live forever / it's such a shame the same will never happen to you" I think we can say that GLaDOS definitely prefers being a robot now that she is one.

anyway this post was supposed to be much shorter than this, thank you for coming to my Ted Talk

#GLaDOS #Caroline #Portal #Portal 2 #original #wall of text

[aristotels]

so WHAT is croatia doing on esc???

ok i see lots of people not understanding the song so lemme explain!

1) the band is called let 3 and theyre a leftist band from rijeka, croatia. pro-women rights, pro-lgbtq rights, anti-catholic church, etc. as you can see, this song featuring men in makeup and dresses has made lots of conservative croats very angry.

2) croatia has gone through the same situation as in ukraine but in 90es, though without help of foreign countries. it’s no surprise that they chose to portray song about ridiculousness of war and destruction of it. its something very fresh in croatian history and minds of people. ive seen people saying its “making fun” of ukraine situation when its the very opposite thing. the entire band lived through war in croatia and knows what its like.

3) the song is very anti-war, and was not written for esc - its written as a piece of anti-war rock opera. thats why its performance is theatrical and flashy. its supposed to be performed in theatre.

4) meaning of the song:

- at first the song seems v nonsensical and silly, but its actually a really layered song with a strong anti-war, anti-fascist message.

- centerpiece of the song is tractor. thats bc belarus is a manufacturer of tractors AND a brand of tractor; and as well, last year, lukashenko gifted a tractor to putin for his birthday to ‘sew new future’. tractor in the song refers to belarus, so when you hear the lyrics “mom bought a tractor”, it refers to “russia bought belarus”. similarly, “armageddon nona” means “armageddon grandmother”, aka, soviet union.

- “mom loved a moron” is obviously about putin.

- Š is 25th letter of croatian alphabet and Č is 4th. together they make 29th letter - letter Z, the symbol of russian occupators.

- the guy holding the nukes has NJINLE written on his forehead, which in “šatrovački” reads as lenjin.

- theyre dressed as 4 bringers of armageddon - war, plague, death, and hunger.

p.s. if the singing sounded kinda wonky in the first semi-finals... thats bc the main singer caught a cold lmao.

anyway yes consider voting croatia in GF ;P

#esc 2023 #eurovision 2023 #croatia #vote croatiaaa pls yay yay #i want us to land high to make all the conservative croat cunts mad #mama šč!!!!!!!!!

[meidnightrain]

WELCOME TO FONTAINE - aether

❝ like any true love, it drives you crazy but you know you wouldn’t change anything. ❞

summary: traveling with the renowned traveler, you can’t help but be dazzled by him more than the sights of each nation

warnings: none, story quest spoilers for prologue

notes: kicking off the event with one of my absolute favs yayayay! challenge, find all the hidden lyrics and song references!

taglist: @staretes , @rynnlvrs , @sentifua , @i-probably-sleep-too-much , @reilly34 , @qqingque , @akutasoda

“paimon wants to try some yummy fontaine cuisine when we get there! ooh, maybe we can go sightseeing too!” the floating companion chirped, doing somersaults in the air alongside you and aether.

aether sighed in slight exasperation at her statement while you tried to stifle a laugh, your hand drifting to your mouth as you nodded at her words. “i’d love to eat some yummy fontaine food with you paimon. we just need to take the aquabus to the court of fontaine first.”

at the mention of eating ( and possibly free ) food, it seemed that paimon had suddenly been jolted, zooming towards the docking aqua bus. “yippee! what are you slowpokes waiting for?”

which left you and aether behind to pick up the pace, the tired blonde traveler shooting you a small smile which you tried to return though it didn’t meet your eyes. ever since you both had left mondstadt with venti’s blessings of finding the seven, it wasn’t that uncommon to find yourselves exhausted or worse for wear. especially since the battles you were facing ahead proved to be more perilous and tough than previous fights.

travelling to fontaine the nation of justice, you hoped that this cycle of laborious tasks would come to an end and you’d finally get some time to unwind. fontaine was the nation of justice…or love, some would like to say.

“i didn’t know that fontaine had a lot of people.” you murmur lowly, clinging to aether’s arm in an attempt to stay close to him. he shot up at your sudden touch, clearing his throat awkwardly before nodding. “maybe they’re just searching for something more.”

reaching the steps of the aquabus, he offered his hand to you, a sly smile on his face. “mon coeur?”

“i didn’t know you spoke fontainan.” you pouted, eyeing him warily as you took his hand gingerly. wandering the empty bus, your eyes drifted its interior to find paimon hounding the poor melusine conductor about fontaine’s delicacies.

“i don’t, i picked it up from lyney.” he shrugged nonchalantly, finding your annoyed expression amusing. you’re about to bite back a snarky reply until the bus started moving, causing the both of you to fall into each other’s arms, nearly toppling over the railing. perhaps the conductor was supposed to make an announcement before moving so suddenly…you were about to glare at the melusine but all you saw was paimon with a mischievous smirk on her face, one that could rival klee’s when she decided to go fish-blasting.

“you okay?” aether’s voice rung out which brought you back to reality, slightly crackly and squeaky, the kind when he was nervous or flustered. you turn your head back to him only to realise that you’re both so close that you could feel your breath on each other’s cheeks, your palm over his quickly rising and falling chest. the second hand embarrassment crept into your face as you recoiled almost instantly from him, the both of you trying to act as if nothing happened.

“hey look, it’s the court of fontaine!” paimon chirped out excitedly, thankfully breaking the awkward silence between the both of you with her hollering.

you’d heard how beautiful the city of fontaine was. how the sunlight hit the opera epiclese, the overall whimsical atmosphere that felt like you were living through a steampunk novel, the smell of morning dew on fresh rainbow roses. but nothing could compare to how ethereal he looked in front of it all.

the way aether’s face contorted to awe and disbelief, a genuine grin that you’d miss seeing after so long blooming on his face at the sight of the city. the dazzling lights were bright, like shimmering stars dancing across the night sky but they never blinded you.

half-dazed walking down the aquabus, all you could see was his smile etched in your memory like a stained glass painting. an mesmerising and majestic piece of art, the kind that people used to worship archons with.

“name!” aether called out to you from across the fountain of lucine, eyes twinkling with childlike excitement. trying to compose yourself from the internal screeching in your head, you couldn’t help but be curious and slightly apprehensive of what he wanted from you. paimon was no where in sight…how odd.

the sounds of fontaine were beautiful. a scene out of a ballet piece, like living straight out of an opera. your eyes widened as you followed aether’s gaze to the streams of water from the water fountain, completely in sync with the background music. it was a new soundtrack and you could just dance to the beat, the rhythm that intertwined with your soul.

it was like he read your mind, the blonde traveler grinning as he bowed to you in the empty plaza, a gloved palm outstretched in front of you. “may i have this dance?”

you tried to calm your rising nerves, taking his hand with a nervous beam. though his hands were on your waist, it felt like he held your beating heart in his hands, not that he knew off.

was this what love felt like? something that kept you second guessing yourself in fear of making a bad decision? something that would never change no matter how long you’ve known him, that same feeling of crystalflies in your stomach despite the fact that you’ve been travelling together for quite some time? something that drove you crazy, not sure whether you were going mad, a disease with symptoms that caused you to only think of aether? but you knew that you wouldn’t change anything.

maybe one day you’d muster the courage to tell him how much you felt but now you’d indulge yourself in this feeling of being in his arms, dancing to the soundtrack of this foreign city.

masterpost next->

© AVENTURNE 2023. DO NOT COPY, REPOST, SHARE, TRANSLATE OR REUPLOAD MY WORKS ONTO ANY OTHER SITE WITHOUT MY PERMISSION

#🕊️ - 1989 event #・ nouveau livre ˎˊ˗ #genshin impact x reader #genshin x reader #genshin x gender neutral reader #genshin impact x gender neutral reader #genshin x you #genshin impact x you #aether x reader #aether x you #🪧- event: 1989 #🗞️ - genshin impact fics

[tani-b-art]

“This ain’t a Country album. This is a “Beyoncé” album.”

I understand why she said this! Because the way it seems she created a completely new genre with ‘Cowboy Carter’! The Country is there (and all the elements) and there’s some Blues, Folk, Soul, Zydeco, Bluegrass, a lil Rock, Gospel and Opera and then some (all genres with Black (Black) American origins). Almost like she opened a new sonic portal while helping to reclaim the genre made by Black Americans.

First off — the album cover art. She pays homage to a long-standing Black American Southern tradition of Houston rodeo and rodeo queens. Carrying our country’s flag…the imagery is signifying to her being a Black American woman. Who she is.

The album cover alone set the tone for what she presented with act ii. [and the photographer is Blair Caldwell, a fellow Black Texan, who has such an eye for capturing beauty. all his photographs are visually pleasing].

[Even the promo - the track list design is a nod & historical reference to Black American culture via The Chitlin Circuit promotional posters. I love it. Made my little graphic art heart smile. The nostalgia of it.]

From the opening track title and lyrics and later on within other songs, she wove her ancestral claiming to America with so much pride. Pride for our country and our flag that we absolutely should have.

Then to have Ms. Linda Martell, the trailblazing Black pioneer & legend in the genre who broke many barriers, be a part of this album was so reverent. (Especially her spoken word throughout that spoke to the way that she and Beyoncé have had to navigate this music industry. When their presence wasn’t well-received, in the very genre we created, they set out to move in a “non-traditional” way). They themselves are the embodiment of unconventional. Ms. Martell rightfully receiving her flowers at the golden age of 82 is harmonious!

Every part of act ii has made people research and discover. The same way act i did. Gotta love a good educational experience through music. (btw—the mention of Zydeco had me hyped).

Having Rhiannon Giddens on instrumentation (along with other background Black musicians and I’m sure Black vocalists) and sharing this musical journey with Tanner Adell, Brittney Spencer, Tiera Kennedy, Reyna Roberts, Willie Jones and Shaboozey — other young Black women and Black men in the genre…all of this Black fellowship made me so happy.

Just sooo much honoring throughout it all. Lots of love poured into it.

Everything is resonate. Connecting. With purpose.

Her voice, her musicality, the note choices, the lyrics, the song titles and the spelling of them, the arrangements.

It’s fun and beautiful.

It sounds amazing.

A beautiful tribute to her roots.

Bravo Beyoncé!

#Beyoncé #Cowboy Carter #Linda Martell #Tanner Adell #Brittney Spencer #Tiera Kennedy #Reyna Roberts #Willie Jones #Shaboozey #Blair Caldwell #Black music #Black culture #Black American culture #Black American music #country music #go stream Cowboy Carter #go buy Cowboy Carter #and go stream and buy all the artists she featured

[hermajestyimher]

One of the things I've been pondering often on lately has been the overt level of infantilization of adults in our societies, not just Western but across many areas of the world.

This intrigue led me to read this amazing peace on the matter which I wholeheartedly agree with.

Throughout my life, I've often been referred to as "very mature for my age". That characterization may have been accurate and perhaps flattering during my early childhood and teens. Underneath it, there was a sea of trauma that forced me to grow faster than my peers. However, now at 24 years of age, I continue to get the same sort of comments, with many people being amazed at my intelligence or perspective of life at my age. I don't find those comments flattering but rather amusing at best and uncomfortable at worst. After much consideration, I've come to realize that as an adult entering my mid-20's I am not in any way "very mature for my age", instead, I simply do not behave in ways that are childish and inappropriate. That should be the standard and not the exception.

I often see around me how people, mostly men, in their mid 30's and 40's behaving like absolute children with no understanding of boundaries, wholly attached to unhealthy vices showcasing a total lack of self-control or discipline, with no regard at all for their physical appearance, with no ambition to grow as a person or getting educated by consuming truly edifying content. They resent many women for not giving them the time of day and the world around them for their shortcomings. They have no sense of accountability and self-awareness. They remain in this never-ending limbo of mediocrity and child-like ways that upon close observation ends up being extremely depressing.

I've also noticed similar patterns among some similarly aged peers of mine, and this time including women. It's genuinely shocking to see grown people derive their entire personality out of TikTok or Twitter trends, being unable to think about things critically and instead parroting the popular talking points they see having the most retweets and engagements, thus joining a hive mind as if they were still in high school following what is popular and requires little effort and independent thought.

Even our popular music is becoming more and more immature with lyrics and beat patterns designed to be consumed in numb and almost irrational ways. The kind of music we listen to dictates a lot of how we view the world.

Our politics have become a soap opera that drive with them hoards of cult-like followers behind the most stupid and caricaturesque ideas that lack the sophistication politicians used to have in the past. All while the decisions of the inept clowns the immature, and dumbed-down masses end up putting in power end up having negative consequences in our general lives. See people like Trump, Matt Gaetz, or Geroge Santos being elected to high positions in the most influential government in the world.

My belief is that if you know you are someone who strives for excellence and greatness in your life, you cannot succumb to the ways of the masses. You cannot emulate the trends and habits that are popular around you because those same habits are designed to keep you in a toxic loop of immaturity and stupidity. If you know you are destined for greatness, don't fall short of your potential by wanting to be like the rest. Those who stand out do so because they are different. Keep improving yourself, hitting your goals, continuing to grow and evolve, and rejecting stagnation and regressivism. You are above that.

#things ive learned #maturity #growth mindset

[robby-bobby-tommy]

While everyone is talking about cinematic and the plot, I'll talk about music.

After listening a little harder, I recognised it. It's a cover of "Polovitsan Dances" From an opera called Prince Igor. This opera is based on an old book, "the tale of Igor's campaign". This story is about Russian Prince (knyaz) Igor, who decided to go on a campaign against Polovitsans. Despite winning the first battle, he ultimately loses and gets captured by the enemies. He spends some time in a foreign land, before escaping with some help. In the meantime his wife, Yaroslavna, cries, worrying for her husband.

Though, enough of the synopsis, let's get to the song. Polovitsan Dances is an unbelievably beautiful song, but I'd like to talk about lyrics. Ofc they are in Russian, but there are translations in English. Anyway, the song starts with Polovitsan maidens singing about their homeland. About beautiful mountains, bright sun, endless sky, freedom etc. The latter part of this song is sung by men and sings praises to Khan. Though, women's part is the most popular.

Idk why I just told you that. It's just a nice detail. I know Fit loves using his music as metaphors and hints, but I don't think it's the case here. A lot of people know this song as just a beautiful melody and don't know of it's origins (I too discovered it pretty recently), I don't think it leads anywhere. If I squint I can imagine it's maaay refer to Madagio missing his island (the way it used to be). His freedom, friends and beautiful paysages. But it's a reach.

Anyway, thank you for listening to my tedtalk

#qsmp #qsmp fitmc #q fit #qsmp fit #qsmp madagio #fitmc lore #i don't think you need this info. but i thought I'd share #don't look into this too hard as it's just some neat details #i love how fit presents his lore. he needs an award fr #he's amazing and every new cinematic is better than the latter which is impressive #qsmp rambles #we love fits lore in this house

[ironstrange1991]

The Point Of No Return (Part I)

A fanfic slightly inspired by the play The Phantom of the Opera

+18 Smut (a lot) / Angst / Horror (just a bit)

Pairing: Sinister!Strange x Fem!Reader  /  Doctor!Strange x Fem!Reader 

Synopsis:  When a strange and dark man starts to haunt the reader's dreams  her life is turned upside down and she discovers in the hard way that if you can't wake up from the nightmare maybe you're not asleep at all.

Word Count: 3,700k

Warnings: Dark themes! Psychological manipulation, Dubious consent, Mentions of abuse of medications and alcohol, Mentions of injuries and blood, Deception, Stockholm syndrome(?), Sexual content (P in V, masturbation with both receiving, oral sex with both receiving, fingering, physical control, domination, bondage.) 

Writers note: This will be a long fanfic divided in chapters. You will find references to lyrics, scenes and dialogues from the play The Phantom of the Opera as long as others movies and TV series throughout the story including possible spoilers from this play/movies/series.

As usual I would like to remind you that english is not my first language so there will probably have some grammatical mistakes here and there but I hope it doesnt spoil your experience.

----------------------------------------

“The trap is set and awaits for its prey.

I have brought you that our passions may fuse and merge. In your mind you already succumbed to me, dropped all defences, completely succumbed to me. Now your are here with me, no second thoughts, you’ve decided.”

His voice was like a melody playing in your head nonstop. Those words that loved you, scared you, tortured you in dreams.

The first time you saw him your whole body shivered, your heart raced in your chest and your mind told you to run away, but your body remained standing there at his mercy, at the mercy of his scarred hands and when he touched your face you knew somehow you would be his.

You were distracted again, totally lost in your own mind, staring blindly in front of you as your students screamed, laughed, argued among themselves.

“[Y/N], did you hear what I said?”

You faced Anne, your coworker and the closest you had to a friend, she was standing in front of you.

“Sorry, can you repeat that?”

“The bell rang five minutes ago. The kids are waiting.”

You nodded “Oh sure, I'm sorry. I didn’t hear it.”

You got up. “You can go now kids. Have a nice weekend everyone.”

The kids ran to pack their things and ran out the door bumping into each other.

"Careful, go slow" Anne shouted at them.

You sighed, flopping down on the chair.

Anne pulled the chair sitting in front of you. “May I ask what's going on with you? You've been acting weird for a long time, but it's gotten worse in the last few weeks. You are distracted, barely eating. I can see by your dark circles under your eyes that you haven't been sleeping as well.”

You ran your hand over your face shaking your head.  “I'm just a little tired, that's all.”

Anne didn't seem to buy it, but you didn't bother trying to convince her. Instead, you got up and started putting the materials from your desk in the closet.

“All right, if you don't want to tell me, don't tell me.”  She sighed and then giggled taking something out of her bag.  “I was almost forgeting, I saw this article in the newspaper today talking about your crush and I couldn't help but stole the page for you.”

You closed the closet barely realizing what she was talking about. There was a kind of numbness around you, everything seemed meaningless, it was as if none of it was real and you didn't know how to explain that feeling so you didn't even tried.

Anne reached out, waving the torn page of the newspaper in front of you, handing it to you. You opened the folded paper and saw a picture of Doctor Stephen Strange with the headline: Superhero saves the day by fighting monsters on the streets of NY.

You looked at the photo longer than you should, then you folded the paper and stuffed it inside your bag. “I need to go, we'll talk later.”

Anne widened her eyes stopping in front of you. “Not at all. You're not even going to comment on the matter? You love talking about this guy! You see, I'm saying there's something wrong with you.”

You sighed. “I'm tired, Anne. Sorry if I'm not excited to talk about my platonic crush today, I just want to go home, shower, and sleep.”

She nodded. “All right girl, but don't forget to call me to let me know you are okay. I'm worried about you. Are you sure you're not sick?”

You nodded digging through your bag until you found your car keys. “I'll call you later.”

She nodded and you walked past her out of the room and walking quickly through the silent, empty hallways.

As you arrived at your tiny apartment, you dropped off your shoes and placed your keys and bag on the counter before stepping onto the fluffy rug that seemed to caress your aching feet from standing all day.

You were hungry, but looking at the empty fridge, you sighed and closed it again. After all what did you expect? Food wouldn't materialize in the fridge if you didn't bother going to the supermarket.

Frustrated, you quickly made yourself a cup of coffee and took two pills to help you stay awake. Your record was now 42 hours without sleeping and you were hoping to pave the way to beat that record as there was no way you were going to allow yourself to sleep again anytime soon.

You finished your coffee when you heard your cell phone vibrating inside your bag. You went to the counter and rummaged through the things inside until you find the phone. The piece of newspaper Anne gave you crumpled under your hands. You took it along with your cell phone and threw yourself on the couch.

The message was Anne’s, of course, besides her the only people who texted were from work – and they wouldn’t text you on a Friday night, the owner of the apartment when you were late on rent and telemarketing.

Anne's message read: I'm meeting some friends from college tomorrow night. Come with us, please. You need to meet new people.

You sighed without bothering to answer. If your plan worked out, you'd be even more dizzed the next day, and no way you'd risk leaving anywhere.

You stared at the piece of newspaper and unfolded it looking at the picture of Doctor Strange: he was standing on top of the hood of a taxi looking at something you thought was probably the monster. Some time ago you would have been melting looking at that photo, maybe even cut it out and pasted it together with the many others you shamefully keep in a notebook hidden in your closet as if you were still sixteen.

Today, on the other hand, looking at a picture or even hearing the name of Doctor Strange gave you shivers down your spine and an immense discomfort in your chest as if someone had punched your stomach and the air was drained from your lungs.

It had been like this for months now. The dreams hadn’t stopped.

Sighing, you stood up, tore the newspaper into several pieces and threw it in the trash. You walked to your room, entering the small bathroom and filled the tub with hot water to try to relax your muscles that were tense and sore.

As usual, you turned the cd player to full volume to prevent you from falling asleep while showering and allowed yourself to get into the tub. Running up that hill started to play. You already liked the song, but you'd been obsessed with it since watching the episode of the last season of Stranger Things and in a way you couldn't help but draw a parallel between your daily struggle with depression and the character Max's struggle to escape the demon Vecna.

You had repeated this little ritual of bathing and loud music many times with success, so it was hard to say what went wrong this time, but the moment you opened your eyes and the water was overflowing from the tub, somber classical music was playing coming from some distant room and a ghostly blue light filled the space, you knew you were dreaming and your heart raced, your skin shivering with dread.

You turned off the faucet and slowly stepped out of the tub, wrapping yourself in your robe as you shivered. When you came out of the bathroom, it wasn't your room your saw anymore, it was the same room you always saw: a large room, full of bookshelves, carpet and dark, heavy curtains, but they were torn, moth-eaten and smelled of dust. The entire room looked destroyed and the musty and damp smell made it look like no one had lived there for many years.

These were all impressions you had the first time you saw the place, now you were used to it, you would always end up there when you failed to stay awake and ended up falling asleep. It was more common than you'd like it to be, but it was still terrifying as it was the first time.

You walked across the room feeling your heart pounding in your chest. If it was like every other time, and it was always the same every time you dreamed, soon you wouldn't be alone in that room anymore and then the nightmare would begin.

In dreams he came every other night and this one wouldn’t be different.

You stood by the window watching the stormy sky outside, always as if the world were disintegrating in a silent hurricane that took with it every trace of life from that godforsaken place.

And there he was inside your mind.

“You're here finally. I missed you. Isn't it enough to make me suffer waiting for you when all I want is to please you?”

You closed your eyes listening to that voice that haunted you even when you were awake. That deep, terribly beautiful voice that talked to you and called your name.

You felt him behind you. His body so close you could feel its heat and his hot breath on the back of your neck.

“You look so tired, so frail. Why deprive yourself of your sleep? Am I really that scary that you don't want to come back to me?”

Usually you tried to be silent. You were well acquainted with the pattern of his sickned behavior. First he would shower you with tender words, swearing he loved you more than anyone else, but when he didn't get the answer he wanted he would speak to you in a cold, threatening voice.

He ran a hand around your neck and held on tightly.  “I'm here. Why you reject me? What do I need to do to make you love me like you love him?”

Then he'd go for what he really wanted from you and if you didn't fight it, maybe he'd let you wake up. He was the master of your dreams now.

“Well then, I'll have you in a way or another.”

He took you by the arm and threw you on the bed. You stared at him trying to hold back from crying. It was worse when you cried.

He made a gesture with his hands and a rope of purple magic tied your hands and feet to the bed. This was new and he smirked at the surprise in your eyes.

He snapped his fingers and your clothes disappeared leaving you completely naked and open for him to do as he pleased.

“Look at you, so beautiful, completely open to me. I know you like it. You can pretend all you want, but I know how much you love it when I'm inside you.” He cooed  “Is that why you're so afraid to come here? Because deep down you know you like the things I do to you?”

You struggled against the bonds, a tear falling from your eyes.

He brought his hand up to his erection, rubbing over his clothes, unable to control the desire he felt for you and as much as you hated to admit it, your own body betrayed you, and he could smell your arousal as you got shamefully wet by only listening to his voice. That damn devilish baritone voice.

He crawled into bed coming closer to you, his face so close to yours you could feel the heat of his breath. Your body was shaking, tears streaming down your face.

“You look so beautiful when you cry”  He muttered smiling mischievously. He kissed your lips quickly and you tried to pull away, but he cupped your chin and licked the tears that were streaming down your cheek.

You closed your eyes waiting for that nightmare to end.

 “It's not real, it's not real” You muttered to yourself. “It's just a dream, it can’t hurt me.”

You were so focused on trying to wake up that you didn't notice when he pulled away, going down on you, only noticing when you felt his tongue licking your slit. Your entire body trembled at that touch and a kind of whining moan escaped your lips involuntarily.

You heard his laugh vibrating between your legs, but you didn't allow yourself to open your eyes.

“You are not real. You can’t be real”

He licked again, the same slow, precise movement collecting your dripping fluids and stopping at your clit, giving it special attention, licking and sucking, circleling his tongue around your bud of nerves and before you could stop, your hips started moving towards his mouth. It was as if your body had a life of its own, you couldn't contain the wave of lust that washed over you every time he took you in dreams like this.

He used his fingers to open the folds of your clit and licked there, curving his tongue over it, playing with your most sensitive spot and you moaned loud and clear, a moan of pleasure that filled you with shame.

“Oh it's delicious, isn't it? You can't resist, can you?”

He smirked “Why you chose to fight me when you like the feeling? Look how your body responds to my touch.”

He slipped two fingers inside you, curving them perfectly to hit the precise point that brought you to the brink of an orgasm.

You panted. Your fists clenched so tightly that your nails dug into your skin, drawing blood. You bit your bottom lip hard trying to stop the moans and kept your eyes closed.

He withdrew his fingers and slid them back into you, increasing the pace as he fucked you with his rough scarred fingers.

“Open your eyes, my love, look at me.”

His voice seemed to purr at you. Like a demon trying to seduce you for his own purposes. Manipulating you at his will.

“Open your eyes. Don’t fight me. You know you want this. You know you want me, your body doesn't lie.”

You could no longer contain the moans that left your lips, nor could you fight your hips that curved forward to get the most of the pleasure that his fingers gave you. It was useless, all that was useless. You always surrendered to him in the end. Every time and that's why those nightmares were so terrible. Because you felt helpless at his mercy.

He brought his lips back to your clit, sucking and licking, his fingers penetrating you in suck an intense pace, your breathing getting difficult and irregular as you felt the familiar shaking at the bottom of your belly.

You opened your eyes and the sight of him between your legs licking you while maintaining eye contact was devilishly arousing and you were moaning loudly and your moans were pornographic now, your hips moving in circles, your hands fighting the shackles of magic, but this time you didn't want to run away. He had won.

He continued working his tongue nimbly on your clit, his fingers fucking you at an increasingly rapid pace. That shaking was getting stronger and stronger and you knew that if he continued you would cum shamefully in his mouth.

“Please, I beg you… stop!”

He didn't listen to you. Why would he?  Instead he lifted his free hand and made a subtle gesture with his fingers releasing one of your hands and automatically your hand grabbed his hair, pressing it down, trying to increase the friction between you and his mouth.

He chuckled satisfied, curling his fingers inside you so deftly you couldn't help it.

Your body writhed against the bonds, a loud scream escaping your lips as you gave yourself to your high. Always so intense, so devastating, always leaving you completely drained. As you relaxed, your face sank into the pillows trying to hide how satisfying it was.

He loosened the rest of the bonds looking at you smirking devilishly.

“Your lips ask me to stop, but your body tells me otherwise, my love. Why you fight something that gives you so much pleasure?”

You sighed still dazzed from your orgasm.

“Because... because it feels wrong.”

“How can it be wrong when it feels so good?” He cooed.

You did not answer. Tears coming back to your eyes now.

“Please let me wake up.”

He shook his head, taking your hand and directing it to his throbbing cock.

“You'll be good and you'll repay the pleasure I gave you, won't you?”

You nodded between your sobs as tears fell down your face.

“I know you will” He muttered mischievously unbuckling his belt and unbuttoning his pants. He approached you kneeling by your head, his cock hanging frighteningly erect just inches away from your face.

He caressed your cheeks. His hands went up to your head, taking all your hair and pulling it into a ponytail and directing you until his cock touched your face.

"Open your mouth for me"  He demanded.

You obeyed and put it in your mouth as best as you could. He was big and thick and your mouth barely held his size, but he insisted on pushing, never giving up control.

“Your mouth is so deliciously warm, my love.” He grunted.

You choked a few times, tears streaming down your face, saliva dripping from your mouth as you tried to please him as best you could.

He kept his hips still, moving your head to a pace that satisfied him and it took what felt like an absurd amount of time before you felt him throbbing, his breathing getting more labored, his pace getting more erratic and you knew he was near.

“Look at me while you swallow my cock”  He demanded and you did as you were told. “I'm going to cum in your mouth and you better not waste a drop. Are you listening to me?”

You nodded in total obedience as he tugged hard on your hair.

“Good girl. Such a good girl.”

He kept fucking your mouth until his moans turned into loud, obscene growls and he started to spill into your mouth. A hot load down your throat.

“That's right, swallow it all. Excellent. Good girl.” His compliments was obsessive “You did so well for me, I know you like to please me, you like to be mine, don’t you?”

Those compliments were possessive and scary, but a part of you knew he was right, a part of you enjoyed having sex with him every time, even if it scared you.

He withdrew from your mouth and threw himself on the pillows beside you and pulled you into his chest.

“You are feeling it, don’t you? This sweet intoxication? You love me as much I love you. I know you do.”

You were too physically and mentally exhausted to fight him, so you gave in, resting your head on his chest and closing your eyes, wishing with all your might that you could wake up.

“I'll allow you to come back now, but remember, I will always come back for you.”

His voice grew farther and farther dissipating in the nothingness.

When you opened your eyes you were lying naked on your bed. The loud music and the strange noise coming from the bathroom made you startle and you got up running in time to see your bathroom completely flooded by the water that overflowed from the bathtub. You turned off the radio and turned off the faucet totally dazzed and went back to the room sitting on the bed again. The clock on the bedside table showed that was past 10 pm. You'd slept for nearly four hours, but you were now fully alert, your heart pounding probably from the coffee and pills.

It didn't make sense. Nothing made sense anymore. It had been just over 12 hours since you had slept, it shouldn't have happened so quickly again, especially if you thought that your body was feeling all the effects of the medication you took to keep yourself awake.

When those dreams started you were amused, even amused at the idea of ​​dreaming about Stephen Strange because it felt natural since you were obsessed with the guy, but soon the dreams got weirder and darker and you started to get scared. Scared of him.

You covered yourself with your robe and went down to the living room and by doing it you couldn't help but notice the discomfort between your legs, an uncomfortable dampness that proved those dreams were getting more and more intense. As much as it embarrassed you, you couldn't help but feel aroused by the memories.

You grabbed your cell phone and flopped down on the couch, your legs dangling lazily as you performed your own embarrassing post-dreaming ritual: Opened your photo gallery, opened the photo album you've saved from the internet, and swipe each one as your fingers dove between your legs and you were so wet, your clit as sensitive as if you'd cum a few minutes ago, but it was a just a dream, right? It couldn't affect reality, could it? You didn’t know what was real anymore.

You circled your clit gently with your fingers imagining his scarred fingers while looking at the pictures. Your fingers sliding inside you as you imagined he was the one fingering you.

Soon you were moaning uncontrollably and it didn't take long for you to cum with your eyes closed now as you kept the image of him in your mind.

Him, always him... Doctor Strange.

In some other godforsaken universe, Doctor Strange wandered through empty corridors keeping the sweet memories of you in mind.

In his head a melody played over and over from some long-forgotten past, he hummed those lyrics longing to have you again in his arms where you belonged.

Hear it, feel it, secretly possess you.

Open up your mind, let your fantasies unwind

in this darkness that you know

You cannot fight…

MASTERLIST

---------------------------------

Part 2 already posted. You can read it HERE

#doctor strange #doctor strange fanfic #sinister strange #sinister strange x reader #doctor strange smut #sinister strange smut #doctor strange x reader #in another universe fanfic #marvel fanfic #smut fanfic #benedict cumberbatch fanfic #benedict cumberbatch #the phantom of the opera

[fierrochase-falafel]

Bare: A Pop Opera song saga- #1 Epiphany

So I've decided to post some of my 'half-analysing half-raving about every song in Bare: A Pop Opera' posts in here because I can. If even 1 person out there appreciates hearing someone's else's thoughts about this, this will have been worth it, because I'd love to hear other people's thoughts on this too. Alright! So my thoughts on Epiphany:

Perfect balance of funny, catchy, Christian and angsty for this musical.

The stagecraft is usually very interesting for this number but my favourite version of the choereography has to be the 2004 Michael Arden version solely because of how much they carry and throw him around. Really emphasises how powerless he is against his peers and the authority figures in his life, and makes his character growth all the more satisfying, where he gains the courage to come out but also to understand the true gravity behind coming out. Also it's just so fun to watch!!! Unfortunately most of the lyric changes were a bit of a letdown, the original lyrics are the best in my book. Personally I found the LA version's choreography rooted in one position, leading to less of a dynamic effect- Payson's Peter had a lot more space and freedom to watch them say their anti-gay Christian stuff than Michael's Peter did which made it feel a bit like a strange fever dream rather than a full-on nightmare sequence.

Speaking of the original lyrics, shoutout to "looks around in gym, it pleases him"- it both makes me laugh and is sung SO well. Also shoutout to "dig down deep and save your soul"- the classic dental alliteration and sibilance to really get the message drilled into your skull the way it's being drilled into his.

Also speaking of the original lyrics! I find it very interesting that the phrase, "loves his female singers, loves to cook" is included. It's gay stereotypes that aren't central to Peter's character in any way- we never see him cook or enjoy cooking, and he references Diana Ross once when high. I see this being interpreted in multiple ways- 1 being that he genuinely does love female singers and cooking and he sees those as being signs of his gayness that he must hide or else he'll be found out, or 2 being that he is being really paranoid that something like him being fairly familiar with who Diana Ross is will lead to people calling him gay- even if it's so small it's almost insignificant, in a toxic environment or with high levels of paranoia, it's perfectly plausible he is scaring himself over the smallest of things. It's just very interesting to me.

The ending of the song-- the harmonies are SO GOOD!!! The overlapping harmonies of "bear the cross" culminating in them chanting it more and more aggressively till Peter wakes up is so urgent and fun to watch while also giving the cult-sense of religion gone too far.

There are so many motifs introduced here, like Matt's motif, the Epiphany motif and the Bare motif (the song). It's always really cool going back and relistening to these with the new context you have, and it means so much more when you do. The more you listen, the more you discover!

#bare a pop opera #bare a pop opera meta #bare a pop opera song saga time let's go #epiphany #remember this is all just my opinion #if you like the la choreography then good for you! don't let me stop you! #posts originating from my brain

[alexanderpearce]

ooh i would absolutely love a media rec list from you (im a different anon but 👀)

omg u flatter me.. here are some pieces of media that i really love that i consider to be somewhat lesser known outside of my circles.. i do have lots of favourites not mentioned here that are far more mainstream (my favourite book ever is, embarrassingly, still The Secret History) but it's nice to shine a light on the more niche. i'll add content warnings but they're not comprehensive because i am just going by memory. im also not tagging gore because To be honest with me that's a given.

books and plays

Hypnerotomachia Poliphili (1499) by Anonymous/Francesco Colonna; very strange book where the author (who is actually revealed in an acrostic poem in Latin made by the first letter of each chapter) clearly has a sexual fetish for buildings and architecture. cw misogyny.

Seneca's Phaedra (1st century AD); i live here. Seneca's tragedy about doomed fatal diseased love. sorry i don't have a translation to recommend but you will be able to read mine one day i promise. cw pseudo-incest, misogyny.

The Pepsi-Cola Addict (1982) by June Alison Gibbons; vanity-published in the 1980s and only existing in five libraries around the world (until i suppose its republishing this or last year), this is a fascinating and very weird little book, and the story behind it too is very sad and interesting. i have a pdf if anyone wants it. cw predatory relationships, incest references, suicide.

The Doloriad (2022) by Missouri Williams; strange and swirling little debut set in a post-apocalyptic future, some really incredible prose. cw incest.

Geek Love (1989) by Katherine Dunne; What if the mother of sideshow freaks was purposefully consuming poisons and alcohols and cetera while pregnant to engineer her kids to be attractions Would that be fucked up for what. cw incest and the ableism inherent in the sideshow "freaks" scene.

Equus (1973) by Peter Shaffer; just read this fucking play man (or watch the 1977 movie!). cw animal death

movies

Repo! The Genetic Opera (2008) dir. Darren Lynn Bousman; sorry not sorry but this is my favourite movie ever. i've seen it 17 times. complete garbage trashy 2000s comedy-horror-gore-musical. insane cast. literal genius.

Caligula (1979) dir. Tinto Brass; Do you want to watch a two and a half hour long porno filled with torture and gorgeous costumes and conversations on power. well do i have the movie for you. cw rape, incest, i know i said i wouldnt tag gore but this one does have explicit penis mutilation so.

Van Diemen's Land (2009) dir. Jonathan auf der Heide; a pretty good movie adaptation of alexander pearce's first descent into cannibalism!! my main real criticism is that they desaturated the gorgeous green and vibrant west coast to grey doomy fakeness. cw beautiful gay love

Żywot Mateusza (1968) dir. Witold Leszczyński; incredible little Polish movie set in a rural village, on youtube with english subtitles.

May (2002) dir. Lucky Mckee; literally the most relatable movie of all time to me. socially awkward (super autistic) girl has trouble with love, you won't Believe what happens next

The Lair of the White Worm (1988) dir. Ken Russell; peter capaldi and hugh grant's earth shattering gay love story... super campy phallic lesbic homoerotic vampiric wyrmesque weirdo horror. peter capaldi wears a kilt and plays the bagpipes. you MUST watch this movie.

Ravenous (1999) dir. Antonia Bird; can cannibalism represent manifest destiny AND homosexuality? find out now!

And Then There Were None (2015) dir. Craig Viveiros; Agatha Christie could only dream of writing Burn Gorman's gay homophobic character in this. transcends the book hundredfold and if you disagree you genuinely have shit taste.

albums

At Least For Now by Benjamin Clementine; just listen to this right now i mean it this shit is fucking phenomenal. incredible voice and lyrics and piano and strings.

Stygian Bough Volume I by Aerial Ruin and Bell Witch; gorgeous atmospheric doomy metal

Ludevo by Ifi Ude; Polish folk with a modern twist as well as influences from Ude's Nigerian background, songs about death and drunkenness and love and ancient pinewoods

Songs About Teeth and To The Dark Tower by Cake Bake Betty; the vibe you have created is so freaky and awesome

Juniverbrecher by The Indelicates; something something brexit punch and judy isn't englishness awful etc etc. seriously underrated.

Bath Time by Maija Sofia; super atmospheric devastating album with lots of songs focusing on specific female figures throughout history. her recent album is also great.

honourable mention to The Thick of It (2005-2012) which if you follow my sideblog you will know ive been spiralling into depravity over for months now. you may ask, if you compare my posts to what the show is actually like, What on earth is she talking about and to that i have nothing to say

#hope this isnt too long. i love Media #asks #anon #recs #recommendations

[ziasann]

Seven Fun Facts with Crimen Passionis

1. The title Crimen Passionis meant “a crime of passion” in Latin.

I originally thought of this title for a Cyno/Tighnari fic last year where it also dealt the same theme of Cyno as an unjust General Mahamatra of Sumeru because of Tighnari.

Unfortunately for my Sumeru fics, I found better fitting titles so I kept that one in my treasure trove and I did not expect to use it with NeuviFuri. I did not even expect to ship NeuviFuri this BAD but here we all are.

2. The songs inspiring the fic are actually from Vocaloid’s Evillous Chronicles series.

“Cappricio Farce” and “Judgment of Corruption” are the songs I have repeatedly blasted to as I wrote the story. The lyrics from Cappricio Farce are very much in line with the overall theme of the fic.

Corrupt!Judge Neuvillette is just very hot too 😘

3. Had a lot of help around actually!

I struggled with the writing process, but my writer friends helped around. Daisy (ao3: wisforia) told me to lean on the concept of “love corrupts” with Neuvillette. Meanwhile Rika (ao3: pinkweirdsunsets) pointed out how my story is the entire opposite of the Archon Quest.

me: how to write a character going insane?

sunshine & vira: what was the reason of her madness?

me: guilt because she fell in love instead of focusing on the prophecy

My long term writer friends and beta readers Sunshine (ao3: 20fifthbaam) and Vira (ao3: Viralaine) suggested I use “distraction” to portray such guilt. The whole Fountain of Lucine scene and the narration from then on was driven from that. The date at the Opera, her platter of sweets, Neuvillette vacating the premises, all of them: a distraction.

Also fun beta reader comments!

4. Furina lessened her use of cosmetics after the merge with Focalors because her now godly constitution makes her skin and looks better!

Her palate for sweets had not lessened, but her usage of cosmetics did. — Canto IV, Acedia

5. The 23 stabs to Focalors (and 24 women Furina killed) was a reference from Julius Caesar who was betrayed and stabbed 23 times.

Here is my full response:

At this point, I think that Furina was experiencing bouts of hallucination and insanity, she even forgot she killed 24 women until Neuvillette pointed it out. Was Furina stabbing Focalors in her dreams actually Furina killing the 24 women in reality? Or was it a different illusion altogether? We can never know. Only Neuvillette might know the real answer, or Furina herself whose state of mind was not very reliable at this time. Hence the tag, "Unreliable Narrator." But while writing I had a thought too that perhaps when Furina killed Focalors in her dreams/hallucination, her body was enacting the stabs to the 24 victims of Vacher. Perhaps, she was also thinking of another thing during those episodes.

6. Writer Annotations at the Original Doc:

7. Neuvillette’s final judgment and Furina’s final performance.

While writing the scene before the insurrection, I realized that Furina was acting. She was manipulating Neuvillette to tip his judgment in favor of her. Because she promised before in Canto III that she would never cry anymore after handing out half of the Hydro Gnosis.

In the last few scenes, Furina cried before Neuvillette so that Neuvillette would indict: “The People of Fontaine made you cry, they made you lower yourself like this…Their sins will never be forgiven.”

Focalors did tell Furina:

“He promised you the world, the rain, that he would do everything for you! Once you utter the sentence, once you realize you will do everything for him too…”

Furina uttered her cries, so Neuvillette did everything for her.

[fridka]

Every year I try and avoid any Eurovision spoilers until the event itself, but I have finally listened to all songs and I have OPINIONS

so keep in mind these are all rather fresh opinions, and some of these songs might grow on me or lose their appeal over time.

Anyway my thoughts on each song under the cut‼️

Albania - Duje - Albina & Familja Kelmendi

I want to like this a lot more than I do. It’s sweet that she’s singing with her family(I think??) and the instrumentals are nice, but it’s all just a bit much.

Armenia - Future Lover - Brunette

Wtf are these lyrics. Wtf is this whole song. This is a front runner? I don’t get it

Australia - Promise - Voyager

YEA THIS IS MY SHIT. First verse I thought was kinda meh but then that chorus hit. I cannot see this win just bc of how eurovision is, but I’ll be checking out more of their stuff. Plus the guitarist is 💖💖

Austria - Who the hell is Edgar? - TEYA & Salena

This song got spoiled for me, but i don’t care because I love it. The lyrics, the opera, the dig at Spotify. Queens.

Azerbaijan - Tell me More - TuralTuranX

I can’t lie i kinda love this one. It’s just kinda awkward and the rap is PRETTY BAD but in this really endearing and charming way. They’re just a couple of guys 🥺

Belgium - Because of You - Gustaph

THIS IS MY SHIT. People don’t like this one? Why it’s amazing. The backup singers, the Lady Miss Kier reference, the nostalgia. I’m not gonna dare hope that this can win, but I want it to qualify so bad

Croatia - Mama Šč!

Oh boy. This one I knew I had to look into because I knew it was gonna be either extremely dumb or extremely political, and thankfully it was the latter. I still think the song is a complete mess but I kinda fucking love this.

Cyprus - Break a Broken Heart - Andrew Lambrou

It’s just a nice song. In a weaker year I think I’d like this a lot more, but as it is it sort of fades next to some of the other entries

Czechia - My Sister’s Crown - Vesna

I LOVE THIS ONE I WANT THEM TO WIN. At first I wasn’t sure about the English parts because it reminded me of Toy (which I really didn’t like), but this has grown on me so much. And the performance. The part with the hand signal for help. Fucking CHILLS. Plus the fashion in the music video, so good

Denmark - Breaking my Heart - Reiley

Den er ikke ligefrem min kop te, og han ligner en der er blevet skabt i et laboratorie i et forsøg på at lave den perfekte tiktoker. Men danmark sender altid noget bras så det er vel on brand :B

Estonia - Bridges - Alika

I’m biased against ballads, and this one sure was a ballad.

Finland - Cha Cha Cha - Käärijä

I LOVE THIS ONE AND I WANT HIM TO WIN. As someone who has social anxiety and who uses to party a lot, the lyrics were oddly relatable lmao. Plus the performance. The shirt the d a n c e

France - Évidemment - La Zarra

SO PERFECT. SO FRENCH. SHE IS GORGEOUS AND I WANT HER TO WIN

Georgia - Echo - Iru

??? The lyrics? Was this song written by ai? It’s painfully awkward and uh.. I think I hate this one

Germany - Blood and Glitter - Lord of the Lost

I think Lordi are iconic so I thought I was gonna love this one, but I kinda don’t. It’s.. a bit boring to be honest?

Greece - What they Say - Victor Vernicos

Yeah these lyrics are way too whiny for me

Iceland - Power - Diljá

It’s just alright. I don’t like it as much as many others seem to do. It’s not bad it’s also just not making much of an impression

Ireland - We are One - Wild Youth

(I can say the following because I lived in Ireland for the better part of a decade) Ireland is an amazing country and has such a rich culture and history to draw from, and yet they always just send boring garbage. I’m sorry but this one is trash, and your man looked so uncomfortable in that outfit

Israel - Unicorn - Noa Kirel

I don’t get it. Am I too old for this? I feel like I am. This song is a complete mess to me but people love it??

Italy - Due Vite - Marco Mengoni

It’s another one of those entries that’s just Some Guy. Nice voice and beautiful language, kinda boring tho

Latvia - Aijā - Sudden Light

Could have been good but it needed more power imo. Another adorable guitarist tho 🥺

Lithuania - Stay - Monika Linkyté

I don’t really know what to say about this one. Very eh

Malta - Dance - The Busker

NOW THIS ONE MAKES ME MAD, THEY SHOULD HAVE QUALIFIED 100%. It’s not quite winner material for me but there is no way they didn’t deserve a spot in the finals over some of the other crap

Moldova - Soarele si Luna - Pasha Parfeni

I usually like (or at least am entertained by) what Moldova puts out and this year is is no exception. This is a capital E Eurovision song, super theatrical and I love it.

Netherlands - Burning Daylight - Mia Nicolai & Dion Cooper

I like it as a normal song, but not really as a eurovision song, if that makes sense? I also don’t think his vocals could match hers at all

Norway - Queen of Kings - Alessandra

This is such a Norway entry 💖 there are other songs I like more but definitely deserves to place high. That whistle note

Poland - Blanka - Solo

Oh boy okay so I looked into this one and apparently there was another song people wanted to win, but the Polish government didn’t approve of it so they had the competition rigged and gave her the win? And I’m assuming she’s some dumb influencer or something? Anyway this song blows, Jann was robbed

Portugal - Ai Coraçäo - Mimicat

I like this as a performance only. She is kinda a babe, but the song itself is whatever

Romania - D.G.T - Theodor Andrei

This one is AMAZINGLY BAD. “Take off your clothes step on me” he sings with a super out of place anti-war message sharpied on his chest, while disinterested half naked women walk about the stage looking totally checked out. I love it

San Marino - Like an Animal - Piqued Jacks

Oh these lyrics suck ass as well. I got butterflies in my ears. Pure poetry

Serbia - Sami Mi Se Spava - Luke Black

At first this one was a little too silly for me, since I assumed it was just an edgy song about video games, but it’s grown a lot on me after learning what it’s about.

Slovenia - Carpe Diem - Joker out

Yea this one is legit. This isn’t exactly what I want in a eurovision song, but just as a song this is great stuff. That guitar riff in particular.

Spain - Eaea - Blanca Paloma

I think this one is… interesting, and I think it deserves a spot in the finals, but I wouldn’t exactly call it good.

Sweden - Loreen - Tattoo

Oh my god, okay so probably my most controversial opinion here. I don’t care for Loreen. I didn’t care for her in 2012 and I do not care for her now. I’m obviously not gonna try and argue that she’s not an incredibly talented singer, but I just can’t deal with the terrible enunciation or the annoying interpretative dance. And yea it’s gonna be so disappointing if she wins. Sorry

Switzerland - Watergun - Remo Forrer

Borderline disrespectful and incredibly eyeroll worthy, but regretfully it gets a bit catchy in the second half.

Ukraine - Heart of Steel - Tvorchi

It’s not nice to be all “yeah I know you guys are getting invaded and all, but your entry for silly song contest sucks”, so fortunately I don’t have to do that because I genuinely like this. Kinda reminds me of something from an LCS cinematic. I wish the whole thing was in Ukrainian though

UK - I wrote a Song - Mae Muller - I am biased against UK entries, but this one is fun. Not winner material for me, but deserves to at least make the finals

Overall I think this is a pretty solid year, definitely better than the last couple ones. There’s some really fucking good entries, and a lot of the bad ones are bad in an entertaining way.

#eurovision #eurovision 2023 #hot takes #don’t yell at me #😭

[swanqueen1215]

Beetlebabes fanfiction writers, I need your help!!

Doesn't it happen that they have a wonderful idea for a fanfiction but your ass with ADHD prevents them from doing so??

Well, that's what happens to me... I need support to finish them and to complement ideas.

I'm very familiar with fanfictions in English and Spanish, and I wish I could write as well as you do... My own mind can't stay so focused on itself, I need at least someone who can and wants to help me.

Here I'll put the basic ideas for some of my fanfics.

Lawrence's Corpse

Beetlejuice X Lydia as Emily and Victor from the Corpse Bride.

But here the story will be modified a little, occupying the past that they showed us in the musical.

I want to include gay attraction, murder, guilt, suicide attempts, and depression.

A quick recap: Lydia is the daughter of a major funeral home owner. (Delia and Emily are not alive here) And the Maitlands are the legal guardians of a nephew, Vincent, who wants to marry him to Lydia to regain his prestige, but they're not the bad guys here. Lydia wants to be in control of her destiny and hates it when her father takes her away from him...

Beetlejuice was the son of Juno, a wealthy Countess. Juno murdered her own son because she's a homophobic bitch...

Lydia and Beetlejuice make a deal, she marries him, he will revive and he will use his influences to take her away from her father...

Not knowing that they would fall in love with each other.

I Was Meant To Be Yours

The scene where Beetlejuice proposes to Lydia and she runs to her room in fear. As Beetlejuice tries to get her out of the room by force, he sings JD's song, "I Was Meant To Be Yours" with the lyrics modified.

Driver's Seat

Beetlejuice wasn't kidding when he said, "When I finally say I do, I'll be alive and born anew and I'll be boring just like you."

His demonic essence is expelled from his body as soon as the marriage to Lydia becomes real. Now he's an ordinary human who doesn't remember Lydia or the feelings that made him want to be alive in the first place. But again he will have to be a demon to protect Lydia from her mother, who now wants to kill them all. Now Lawrence will have to get along with the voice in his mind that calls itself Beetlejuice.

The Prophecy

When Beetlejuice was younger and just beginning to guide souls to the other side, one day he met a seer witch, who warned him that a person would release him from his prison, both literally and metaphorically. Beetlejuice thought the lady was crazy, but she warned him that she would hurt him a lot more than he could think. The young man ended up looking for "that person" for centuries without really understanding what the witch was referring to.

And he understood it when he felt the dagger break every fiber of his muscles and bones.

But the emotional pain she caused him was far worse than the physical pain...

Golden Heart

Lydia discovers Beetlejuice coming out of her house hiding a large bouquet of flowers while it is well combed and cleaned. Lydia immediately thinks he has found someone and is frightened by the idea that he is going to abandon her. She searches her room for any photos or things that affirm her suspicions, until she finds a gold pendant that confirms what she already feared.

Beetlejuice finds her a little mess of tears that she wants to hide, and he takes her to meet the woman who gave him that. And Lydia is surprised to see that this woman died 400 years ago, of course according to the tombstone on which her remains rest.

Latin Class

Lydia gets a punishment at school because of Claire Brewster/ Or maybe she's just having trouble with her Latin class homework.

And Beetlejuice is very disappointed when Lydia ignores him all day because of the difficulties she is having with the language, but Beetlejuice is there to help her finish her homework. Lydia learns that, Beetlejuice is a kind of polyglot corpse.

The Demon Of The House

It's an adapted story about the Phantom of the Opera

Beetlejuice loses a bet with Lydia and she makes him pay by making him dress up as a cheesy character from one of his gothic romance novels...

The funny thing is... He doesn't dislike it at all

Lydia has to leave the house to run some errands.

Something that bores Beetlejuice, who stayed at home to wait for her return...

He was so bored that he thought it would be a good idea to read that stupid book while she was coming back. It turns out that Beetlejuice actually likes the book and identifies with Erik, and thinks of Lydia as Christine...

But after some thought, Beetlejuice freaks out at the thought that his friendship with Lydia might be driven primarily by fear, and he doesn't want to have Lydia around him just because of that.

His insecurities lead to their nightmare taking reality itself hostage...

While little by little he is consumed, by his fear, little by little he distorts reality until he recreates every page of the book.

What they don't know, is that it's not all Beetlejuice's fault, but that they have lodged a small worm in the neck of the deceased, which literally ate away at his mind and slowly took over his host and the longer he uses his powers to a great extent, the faster they can be consumed.

That's it!

Also most of my fanfictions are "what if" and contain a lot of emotional damage...

I'd also like to say that if you have just one idea, I'll be happy to hear from you too.

Those are at least a couple of proposals, if you want to help me write them, I will gladly be eternally grateful for your support... And thank you for taking the time to read me.

See you then and thank you!

I'll wait for your message! 💕💖

#beetlelyds #beetlejuice animated #beetlejuice #beetlebabes #musicalbabes

[orangetubor]

OOOH WHAT'S THE POP CULTURE LIKE?? Any common references?? ALSO TELL ME ABOUT THE MUSIC WORLD!! I'm very curious.

Well, to get the background, we need to understand what we brought with us. Sailor moon, Marvin the Martian, star trek, wolf 359, star wars everything space sci-fi or fantasy! We wrote about this place and now we're in it!

And as for what we found: glass domes, blue suns, vast desserts, a mountain so tall it breaks the atmosphere, broken down robots, sand storms, and two moons that will eventually drift away from and crash into us. But we have four million years before that happens, don't we? So let's enjoy the view

The music is wild: a thousand genres, some as old as Chinese opera, some as new as astruca pop. It's all new wave if you think about it, a new era of humanity. There's a lot of synth.

Astruca pop is founded on the concept of 'we are in love with the stars, and we sing about it' upbeat pop, things like 'messages from the stars' and the likes. Themes of celestial bodies, relationships, and insane amounts of synth.

Other genres are not yet named. I've mainly been focusing on the fashion if I'm honest. But here's another space themed one: it has a lot of vocalisations, wacky instruments, and lyrics about how in the vast expanse of space we are alone. Kind of outdated since we discovered aliens. Like... imagine listening to some song about how we are unique in our sentience meanwhile your nextdoor neighbour is a 7'1, six armed alien, from a planet in the neighboring solar system. Embarrassing.

As for media, there's a show called 'mandy mystery' it's a teen girl solves mysteries type show. Similar to Sally Bollywood. Does anyone remember that? Idk. There's also one called 'star racers' you're getting the star theme right. It's like five guys and they all have names like 'red moon' and 'black saturn' cuz. It's space themed who cares. They're drag racers. They wear funny little outfits and pose on top of cars. A lot of these were made up for so I could design group Halloween costumes for the gang. There's probably more shows than that. I just haven't thought of them yet.

Sports is really popular too, low gravity leads to muscle atrophy so you gotta stay active, (god ain't it awful) so there's lots of parks, sports places, etc. So fun ways of getting around are also popular, roller skating, cycling, skate board, they're going places on wheels. Absolutely insane.

And fashion magazines! There's tons, mostly for nouveau futurism, retro futurism, stellar dessert, and random other shit that I haven't named it. They like cowboys too. Astral outback my beloved. There's also thing like 'elegano frill' which is based around black undergarments and white lace/chiffon things, focused on unique silhouettes and fancy hairstyles, it's seen at a lot of weddings. Its counterpart, jangle frill, is much less refined. Seen at concerts, there's the black undergarments again, but this time the veil things are less layers, and are lined with tassels! The hair is much more droopy and more colours! The songs performed are generally made with the jangle of the audience in mind, completing the song.

That's pretty much all I got. Theres a musician called 'vallicent' I'm pretty sure. One called Xiro. Various others.

#martians #world building

[souryogurt64]

hi Sarah, i am in love with every essay you write like you are so so creative in such a unique way that i have never come across before. i was wondering how you wrote your essays like what’s the process behind them? how do you come up with such unique chapter titles as well as develop your style? sending you all the love in the universe always ❤️

Thank you, that is a really kind and genuine compliment

I usually have some sort of clear idea or thesis statement that goes beyond just like my opinion or a history of something. For example, “Ryan lied about how he and Pete met.” That helps me build out the essay a lot. People are always asking me to “Write a Ryden essay” or “Write an essay about the history of X” but it’s not enough IMO 

In terms of style, lately I guess i’ve been mostly focused on trying to push myself by undertaking super challenging topics like the Verlaine/Rimbaud stuff, and with the Films essay I think I was trying to push myself to try actually describing music instead of just writing about emo band history. But most lately I’ve been thinking about how a lot of what is (IMO) my better writing was stuff I wrote quickly instead of picking stuff apart and trying to be pretentious for weeks on end 

They chapter titles are not actually very creative, they’re mostly quotes. I’ll run through some of the chapter titles from my last essay

“State of the scene” — I don’t think this is very original but it’s just a thing people say, Pete also says “State of the union” a lot in reference to FOB and I think I was thinking about that. But I felt like it made sense for a prologue recapping where Panic was

“Long live the king” — This chapter is about Pete and this is a line he sings on “We were doomed from the start.” I really like that song because I feel like it encompasses the dynamic of Pete/Patrick very well and Pete’s like lameass mafia boss reputation and that’s what the chapter is about

“Panic!… meet the press” — This is a Panic lyric. This chapter is about James and James was THE emo press. It’s also from London Beckoned which is one of my favorite Panic songs because it is about Ryan as a writer and being on the cusp of fame and like has this kind of raw desperation and panic to prove himself and yet has this unbelievable arrogant bravado and kind of element of destiny in it as well. That song encompasses everything that is so fascinating about Ryan I think—the “fire on your tongue” lyric makes me crazy

“The antarctic-weddingnancy soap opera” This is like objectively what happened, and I just thought it was funny. WeddiNG and preGNancy share a few letters 

“Are the good times getting gone” — Lyric from 27, this is about the fall of emo and the great depression so I thought it was fitting. As I mention in the chapter it reminds me a lot of Fitzgerald’s famous quote about the jazz age “Somebody had blundered and the greatest orgy in history was now over”

“Folie a Deux, or the semi-flop shared by two” — PO and FAD both kind of flopped, wordplay on meaning of Folie a Deux 

“Panic is alive and very, very well” — Quote from Panic’s official statement post split, paired with a photo of Brendon, Spencer, and Pete in the studio looking busted as hell for comedic effect

“Ryan Ross takes a vacation” — Unclever play on the young veins album title since it’s about Ryan’s music post Panic 

“Do it to death” — This is about Brendon’s work with Panic post split and is a track title from Viva las vengeance. Obviously him kind of beating it into the ground 

[iliveforyouilongforyouvesuvia]

I pick my songs largely based on vibes & lyricism so these won't be very one to one parallels, but I thought I'd share :3 Peacemaker by The Mechanisms has always been very much a Lucio song to me. The song itself exists in the context of its own story (this is also my not-so-subtle "listen to The Mechanisms" propaganda), but its lyricism is just absolutely gorgeous & so reflective of Lucio's approach to violence to me.

On the note of songs that remind me of Lucio, I'm a really big fan of Ceasar by The Oh Hellos (yes those Oh Hellos). I don't have a lot to say about this one but it's the royalty/monarchy imagery that really cements it. The reference to O Sleeper off another one of their albums, Eurus, is really delightful to me because O Sleeper reminds me of Asra.

On the note of The Oh Hellos, Eat You Alive is such a Julian song to me. To me it's just extremely reflective of his own self-destructive nature that shows most prominently in the beginning of his route, but is a consistent throughline in his character. The song to me reads as a warning against his determination to ensure his own destruction: "There is no courage in flirting with fear / To prove you're alive".

I also think The Amazing Devil's Farewell Wanderlust is an artful exploration of guilt & regret while not wholly fitting Julian & his story, definitely captures the broad strokes & is worth the listen. I'd recommend you go into that one blind without reading the lyrics first. It's a little on the edgier, more dramatic side, but it's wonderfully executed & the sheer talent in it is lovely.

I think A Lady by Tally Hall is a really short and sweet Nadia type song. Not necessarily as accurate in terms of lyricism but the delicate harp(?) & background vocals just conjure up the image really well.

Shallow River by The Crane Wives, on top of being (partly) the inspiration for my url, is also a song that reminds me of Nadia in a lot of ways. The ideas of wasted glory and conflict, complex ties to both family and lovers, danger always on the horizon... it's not easy being Countess.

That's all I have for now but if you'd like to hear more I have a lot of thoughts on Shop: A Pop Opera & its little bite-sized character conflicts in relation to the M6, & a few other songs here and there. I apologize for the length & lack of structure; hopefully this ask isn't too much to untangle :3 (this ask also paints a very poor portrait of my music taste... I promise I have better & more varied taste than this) —fool-in-his-wedding-gown

@fool-in-his-wedding-gown don't apologize! All these selections are so thoughtful and insightful, I'm absolutely adding it to the tag ^.^

I don't think there's much more for me to add, you summed it all up so well!

#ask arcana brainrot #arcana brainrot playlist #the arcana #julian devorak #julian the arcana #lucio morgasson #lucio the arcana #nadia the arcana #nadia satrinava #the arcana headcanons #the arcana hc #the arcana game