Gallyfreyan Grace

“Octopus,” she said, all curls and smiles.

“And what kind of animal is an octopus?” I asked.  I was looking for “fish” or “sea creature” but I would have accepted almost anything–”weird,” “gross,” even “slimy.”  “Underwater” or “it lives in the ocean” would have also been acceptable. 

She looks me right in the eye and says, happy as a clam, “It’s a cephalopod.”

bc sometimes you just want a little mood music for re-reading the handbook and plotting galactic domination (or for writing a darkfic or battle-scene).

Dvořák: Symphony №9, “From The New World” - IV - Allegro Con Fuoco

Holst: The Planets, Mars

JS Bach: Toccata and Fugue in D Minor (mandatory listening for all vampires)

Grieg: Peer Gynt, Hall of the Mountain King

Saint-Saëns: La danse macabre

Mussorgsky: Night on Bald Mountain

Verdi: Requiem, Dies Irae

Schnittke: Seid nuchtern und wachet (Faust Cantata); VII. Es geschah (It came to pass) IT’S AN EVIL TANGO. ABOUT FAUST. BEING DRAGGED. INTO THE UNDERWORLD. Come on. 

Orff: Carmina Burana, O Fortuna

Tchaikovsky: Symphony 5, 1st movement

Humperdinck:  Hansel and Gretel, Witch’s Ride (Hexenritt)

Prokofiev: Romeo and Juliet, Dance of the Knights (Montagues and Capulets)

Grieg: Piano Concerto

Mahler: Symphony No. 1 “The Titan” 

Mozart: Requiem, Dies Irae

Mozart: Requiem, Confutatis

Mozart: Don Giovanni, Finale

Prokofiev: Scythian Suite, Dance Of The Pagan Monster 

Bruckner: Symphony no. 9, Movt. 2. Scherzo. 

Shostakovich: Symphony No. 5, 4th Movement (let’s be real here, you’re a villain, Shosta is probably your favourite composer.)

Rimsky-Korsakov: Scheherazade 

Berlioz: Symphonie Fantastique, March To The Scaffold 

Berlioz: Symphonie Fantastique, Dreams of a Witches’ Sabbath

Liszt: Totentanz

Shostakovich: String Quartet No. 8 in C Minor (II) 

Mussorgsky: Pictures at an Exhibition, Gnomus

Vivaldi: The Four Seasons, Summer (Presto)

Bartok: Music for Strings, Percussion & Celesta, third movement

Stravinksy: The Rite Of Spring, The Adoration of the Earth

Rachmaninoff: Prelude Op.3 No.2 in C-sharp minor 

Mahler: Symphony 5, 2nd Movement

Mahler: Symphony 9, 3rd Movement

Franz Liszt: Hungarian Rhapsody No.2 (for all you Jokers and clown-themed villains out there)

Tchaikovsky: Marche Slave 

Beethoven: “Moonlight” Sonata, Movement 3 

Rachmaninoff: Piano Concerto no.2 op.18 

Chopin: Funeral March

Prokofiev: Romeo and Juliet, Tybalt’s Death

Prokofiev: Sarcasms

Prokofiev: “Suggestion Diabolique”

Mozart: The Magic Flute, Der Hölle Rache

Wagner: Die Walkure, Ride of the Valkyries (for releasing the flying monkeys…)

Wagner: Siegfried, Fafner’s Death (BECAUSE DRAGONS)

Wagner: Götterdämmerung, Siegfried’s Funeral Music 

Wagner: Flying Dutchman Overture

Tchaikovsky: Swan Lake (Swan Theme) (to be played underneath your tragic backstory… right before you stab whoever’s telling it)

Marschner: Der Vampyr, Overture

Ravel: Gaspard de la Nuit (sad, creepy Gollumesque villains, this one’s for you)

Rachmaninoff: Isle of the Dead

Ligeti: Requiem

Prokofiev: Alexander Nevsky 

Elgar: Dream of Gerontius, Demons’ Chorus

Liefs: Organ Concerto, Introduction

Strauss: Also sprach Zarathustra (to be used during the dramatic reveal of your planet-sized superweapon…)

Mahler: Um Mitternacht

Schubert: Erlkönig

Bernstein: Kaddish, Din Torah

Edgard Varèse: Amériques, final movement

Bartók: The Miraculous Mandarin

First time ever.

For the first time ever, Doctor Who has joined the race for this year’s Emmy nominations! Peter Capaldi is on the lead actor ballot; showrunner Steven Moffat and director Rachel Talalay are on the writing and directing ballots for the episode “Heaven Sent”; and the series is a possible nominee for costumes, production design, prosthetic makeup, and visual effects.