chant of kirke, from the hekataeon by jack grayle

Nsfw Alphabet with Eris Vanserra

A = Aftercare (what they’re like after sex)

He's always really attentive with you. Wants to make sure everything was good for you. Will run you a bath if you need and cuddle you after.

B = Body part (their favorite body part of theirs and also their partner’s)

He's so full of himself I don't even know what to say. He just knows he's pretty. I think on you it might be your mouth.

C = Cum (anything to do with cum, basically)

There's probably nothing he loves more than cumming in your mouth.

D = Dirty secret (pretty self explanatory, a dirty secret of theirs)

I don't know if it would be that much of a secret but he definitely had a orgy phase.

E = Experience (how experienced are they? do they know what they’re doing?)

Very experienced. He's the heir to the autumn court, you know he's been around.

F = Favorite position (this goes without saying)

Once again I don't know positions names my bad. But I think he's the type to like you on top of him, not in charge just on top. Also missionary is always a banger like why wouldn't he want to look at your pretty face while he's absolutely wrecking you.

G = Goofy (are they more serious in the moment? are they humorous? etc.)

Definitely serious.

H = Hair (how well groomed are they? does the carpet match the drapes? etc.)

Really well groomed. He makes sure of it.

I = Intimacy (how are they during the moment? the romantic aspect)

Well when he's in a making love kind of mood everything is really intimate and sensual but I think that doesn't happen all that often.

J = Jack off (masturbation headcanon)

I don't see him doing it very often when he was single and definitely not now that he has you.

K = Kink (one or more of their kinks)

I think he's into more things than he would admit - at first at least:

- first things first, Eris is a dom through and through. But. He will still sub for you every once in a while and enjoy it more than he'll ever admit. By sub I mean he likes when you tie his hands to the headboard but he's always still somehow in control, he never completely lets go;

- mixes praise and degradation, to the point you don't know what's what anymore;

- still a bit on degaration, loves spitting in your mouth;

- face fucking. Just loves turning your face into an absolute mess. Besides actually fucking your face he just loves blowjobs in general. There's not a prettier picture in his mind than you kneeling between his legs with your tongue out, painted with his cum. Also likes fucking your mouth with his fingers;

- begging. Loves hearing you beg for him, it makes his already huge ego inflate even more. He usually gives in after a couple moans of his name and a pretty please but when he's in a mood he could watch you beg for hours with tears down your face, to the point you're not even begging for him to let you cum, you just want to touch him at least. That's another big one, he loves to hear you beg for his cock, his fingers inside you, his mouth on you but he could actually cum just from hearing you beg to suck his cock;

- orgasm control. Mostly edging but some overstimulation as well. Like I said, loves hearing you beg and being in control;

- spanking - it's always a good day when he gets to bend you over his lap and spank your pretty ass raw. Doesn't even try to come up with reasons for it to be a punishment sometimes, he just wants to hear your pretty little whimpers. He prefers spanking your ass but if you really piss him off he'll slap your pussy too, might even make you try cumming from it. I think he'd also like slapping your face but not hard or anything, just a few light taps on your cheek especially if it's already covered in cum;

- temperature play. This feels kind of obvious but of course he'd make good use of his powers to bring you more pleasure;

- cockwarming. I feel like I could have connected this to begging too but he loves hearing you beg for him to fuck you. Sometimes it's not even purely sexual though, he just loves feeling you in general;

- breeding. I don't think there's one fae male that isn't at least a little into breeding. Eris loves making you swallow his cum but watching it drip down your pretty spent cunt is a close second;

- bondage. Just loves having you completely at his mercy. Loves shibari too. Uses this as more of a punishment though. When you get him mad he'll tie you up and you know you really fucked up when he gags you so you can't even beg, all you can do is take whatever he wants to give you or not;

- exhibitionism. I see his younger self being really into this but maybe not as much anymore. I also see him as being really possessive so even if he did fuck you in front of other people he wouldn't really let them see you, if that makes sense. Like you'd be riding him with your back to everyone else and with your clothes on or just sucking his cock so what everyone can see is how good you are for him and no one else. Also, this isn't really possible in this universe but Eris would love having you under his desk sucking his cock while he talks on the phone at work. Would also love having you pick up the phone while he fucks you so he can watch you try to keep your composure;

- loves marking you. Again, he's possessive. It's just a shame that with fae's fast healing the marks fade so quickly and he has to keep marking you over and over, truly such a shame.

L = Location (favorite places to do the do)

He prefers the bedroom but he also really loves fucking you in his office.

M = Motivation (what turns them on, gets them going)

He just loves knowing he can fuck you like no one else ever could.

N = No (something they wouldn’t do, turn offs)

I don't think he'd be into really hard kinks. He likes spanking you and teasing you with his fire but he probably couldn't see himself drawing blood from you. His biggest fear is turning into his father so he wouldn't want to hurt you even if you told him you enjoyed it.

O = Oral (preference in giving or receiving, skill, etc.)

If you haven't noticed I think he prefers receiving. Obviously isn't against giving at all, he'd live and die between your thighs if he could.

P = Pace (are they fast and rough? slow and sensual? etc.)

He's fast and rough more often than not. Of course there's a time and place for slow as well.

Q = Quickie (their opinions on quickies, how often, etc.)

Hates quickies but somehow it happens all the time. I wouldn't say he would just fuck you anywhere at anytime but he can't help himself sometimes. Has fucked you in his office and the throne room and any room he finds himself working. In the library, in the forest, by the lake, in the restaurant he booked so he could have a private dinner with you just to end up having you instead on the table. Always promises to fuck you properly at home.

R = Risk (are they game to experiment? do they take risks? etc.)

I think he has a clear list of things he wouldn't do but he'd try anything else at least once if you wanted him to.

S = Stamina (how many rounds can they go for? how long do they last?)

I think he can fuck you for a really long time but I don't know if he lasts that long, he just recovers fast.

T = Toys (do they own toys? do they use them? on a partner or themselves?)

Again, I don't know how toys would work in this universe but he definitely has pretty ropes and ties and gags.

U = Unfair (how much they like to tease)

So unfair. He's literally so mean sometimes.

V = Volume (how loud they are, what sounds they make, etc.)

I don't think he's that loud usually which is truly a shame. If you get him to a certain point you're rewarded with soft whimpers in you ear. Oh by not being loud I mean moaning because you know he's running his mouth the entire time.

W = Wild card (a random headcanon for the character)

Likes being tied up, especially after a long day of being high lord. He won't really admit it so he usually just tries to make you want to do it without actually asking for it.

X = X-ray (let’s see what’s going on under those clothes)

With the amount of attitude this man has you know he has to have a big dick. It'd be a crime if he didn't actually.

Y = Yearning (how high is their sex drive?)

I don't see it being super high but he's not one to pass up the opportunity. Let's just say when he tells you he's too tired to have sex you know he's exhausted down to the bone.

Z = Zzz (how quickly they fall asleep afterwards)

I think he'd try to fall asleep after you but sometimes he would just give in. Probably just depends on how tired he is. In the beginning of your relationship he'd wait for you to fall asleep though because trust issues.

NOW THAT’S WHAT I CALL MUSIC MONDAY 

tagged by absolutely no one and requested by fewer still, but in the spirit of kicking off the summer of hook, line, and sinker i am also taking the liberty of starting wip music monday whether anyone likes it or not. afflicting @v0idbuggy @poetikat @henbased @florbelles @unholymilf @socially-awkward-skeleton @direwombat @strangefable @derelictheretic @corvosattano @shallow-gravy @nuclearstorms @cassietrn @confidentandgood @afarcryfrommymain @vampireninjabunnies-blog @nightbloodbix @voidika @firstaidspray @megraen @roofgeese @trench-rot @strafethesesinners @blissfulalchemist @inafieldofdaisies @clicheantagonist, please feel free to drop a wip and a tune that vibes with it!

naturally i am sharing another hl&s playlist banger. pov you’re jestiny and this is what you desperately wish your ex-girlfriends’ internal monologue to be as they watch your current partner fail to bait a hook, but unfortunately probably only the last part applies:

i heard you had to drive him home after two umbrella drinks / i heard he’s got a prius ’cause he’s into being green / my buddy said he saw y’all eating that sushi stuff / baby that don’t sound like you, that don’t sound like love / sounds like it sucks he can’t even bait a hook / he can’t even skin a buck / he don’t know who jack daniels is / ain’t ever drove a truck / knows how to throw out a line / but not the kind in a field and stream book / no darling i ain’t even worried you’ll come running back / he can’t even bait a hook ... [outro] nah you’re the one that’s gonna be sorry when you’re headin’ to get tofu and he has a flat tire in his foreign car and don’t know how to change it and you’ll get your new gucci shoes wet and you’re mad and irritated, i’ve seen you irritated, i’m telling you, better him than me actually

epic blunder, this is how they actually see you and your new man. wip excerpt from hl&s c.3, tentatively titled “throw out a line” (warnings for jessie typical emotional regulation and references to stalking behavior, played for laughs but called for what it is in text):

“Ms. Woodhouse,” John held out a hand towards the brunette that was met with nothing but a scowl in return. 

He made an apologetic ‘ah’ noise and wiped the hand on his shirt, but Jessie knew it was not the fish guts Sherri was repulsed by.  “My apologies.” He bowed. “I haven’t yet had the privilege of patronizing your little store.” Jessie smiled. Patronizing was right. And Sherri deserved it. “It’s so difficult when I have my own boat ramp right in the backyard to remember to get out there to support the small business owners in the community.”  “Support?” Skylar cut in, scowling even harder than Sherri did. “When have you ever supported any business around here? You call trying to shut everyone down and take their property from ’em support?”  Huh. That’s weird  — Skylar seemed to have history with this guy. And it was bad enough he was a lawyer at all, did she fuck up and start pretending to date a fucking foreclosure attorney or something?  John waved the accusation off. “Please, I hate discussing business matters during my recreation time.” He reached into his back pocket to take out his wallet, pulling another hundred dollar bill from it. “I would love to support Can of Worms now.”  John turned to Sherri, gauchely waving the bill in front of her. “I’m afraid my lovely date and I have fished through all of our bait. But it seems you have plenty left. He nodded towards the unopened can at Sherri’s feet. “I’d like to purchase it.”  Sherri met him with a dead-eyed stare. “Store’s closed.”  John turned, looking across the water at the Can of Worms storefront. “Your hours say open until 9.”  “Well, I’m not on the clock.”  “Oh, don’t be unreasonable. I’m paying well above market rate for something I could just waste time going over and buying from you, for much cheaper, in the store.”  “No, you couldn’t,” Skylar said. “Store’s closed.”  He pointed behind him. “I see it open.”  “Store’s always closed to you.” Jestiny gave up on pretending not to notice the conversation, setting aside her beer to slam her hands down on the side of the boat. “Well, sell it to fuckin’ me, then!”  “God, Jessie,” Sherri groaned, leaning down to hold her head in her hands. “Can’t you just fucking leave us alone? Following us, harassing us while we’re trying to fish? We broke up with you. We don’t want you around.”  “Shit’s sad,” Skylar agreed. “Just stop. Don’t make us get a fuckin’ restraining order or something.”  Jestiny kicked the side of the boat, hard. “They’re called Orders of Protection, in fucking Montana!”  “You learn that from your slimebag lawyer boyfriend?” Skylar asked. Jessie frowned. That was hitting below the belt, she thought. “And did he learn it from law school, or ’cause half the fucking County wants to take one out on his creepy ass?” Sherri brought a hand over her mouth to stifle her laugh at Skylar’s joke. “They really are perfect for each other, huh?” she giggled against Skylar’s shoulder, setting her chin atop it and looking up at her adoringly.  Jessie felt flames crawl up in her belly. Of all the infuriating insults.  “Yeah, we fucking are! I finally have someone who can keep up with me behind the rod and on an intellectual fuckin’ level!” she forced herself to flash an adoring smile of her own at the man she shouted over. “And he’s got an actual sense of humor! Just look at his outfit.”  John turned to shoot Jessie a glare.  “Yeah,” Skylar laughed, turning to nudge the flyaway hairs clinging to Sherri’s dewy brown skin away with the sun speckled tip of her nose so that she could finally whisper her teasing directly into the brunette’s ear. “Looks like you and me were the only ones that didn’t think to come dressed for the circus.” 

“I fucking heard that!” 

My media this week (7-13 Apr 2024)

📚 STUFF I READ 📚

🥰 If This Is As Far As We Go (BeauRadley) - 124K, stucky no-powers AU - after a year of being phenomenal hookup buddies, bucky ends their arrangement & throws steve into a tailspin - slow burn, angsty, oblivious steve slowly realizing his true feelings, good supporting cast

😊 Bunt! Striking Out on Financial Aid (Ngozi Ukazu & Mad Rupert) - cute graphic novel about art students forming a softball team to exploit a financial aid loophole

😍 Death in the Spires (KJ Charles, author; Tom Lawrence, narrator) - historical murder mystery set in 1905 Oxford - another KJC absolute banger: incredible sense of place, fantastic characters, perfectly done 'whodunnit' tension and a HIGHLY SATISFACTORY resolution. Loved every word

💖💖 +76K of shorter fic so shout out to these I really loved 💖💖

The Man, the Myth, the Legend (sparklyslug) - Check Please!: gen, 2.9K - Holster's beatboxing skills brings all the a capella groups to the Haus - a short, fun, funny, outsider POV fic

Say it louder for the people in the back (redhook) - MCU: shrinkyclinks, 14K - reread, forever fave - sometimes you just get a yearning to reread the best glory hole fic ever written

In Focus (sparklyslug) - Check Please!: zimbits, 6K - Jack's photography eye knows what's up before his conscious brain does

Entering Orbit (museaway) - Star Trek AOS: spirk, 30K - good post-AOS canon-divergent fic where Jim goes home to Iowa to escape the press & Spock joins him

📺 STUFF I WATCHED 📺

Hot Ones - Conan O'Brien

QI - series S, ep 13

Game Changer - s6, e5 {Bingoception}

Um, Actually - s9, e4

D20: Fantasy High: Junior Year - "Dawn of Justice" (s21, e14)

D20: Adventuring Party - "We're Running on 200%" (s16, e14)

Death In Paradise - s11, e4-8; s12 e0-8, s13 e0-8

🎧 PODCASTS 🎧

Working - How to Be Both a Critic and a Creator

Worlds Beyond Number - WWW #10: Of the Reaching Green

Worlds Beyond Number: Fireside - Fireside Chat for WWW ep10 "Of the Reaching Green"

Short Wave - How Climate Change And Physics Affect Baseball

Consider This from NPR - Bad Omens Or The Cycle of Nature? How The Ancient World Viewed Eclipses

⭐ Armchair Expert - Anna Kendrick [Rerelease from 1/9/23]

Today, Explained - Is college still worth it?

The Sporkful - Jewish Food Is More Than Matzoh Balls

WikiHole - BEYONCÉ (with Zoë Chao, Nat Faxon and Poppy Liu)

⭐ All Songs Considered - Songs to make you laugh, with 'Weird Al' Yankovic

In Defense of Fandom - Season 2 Episode 2: Putting my theory to the test

Dinner’s on Me - Orville Peck

⭐ Switched on Pop - Chasing old sounds: Djo's "End of Beginning" with Joe Keery

⭐ 99% Invisible #577 - The Society of Ambiance Makers and Elegant Persons

⭐ Vibe Check - A Special Conversation with Ada Limón

The Atlas Obscura Podcast - Brown Mountain Lights

Short Wave - The Order Your Siblings Were Born in May Play a Role in Identity and Sexuality

⭐ Code Switch - How Frederick Douglass launched generations of Black and Irish solidarity

⭐ Decoder Ring - Can the “Bookazine” Save Magazines?

⭐ Imaginary Worlds - African Sci-Fi Looks to a Future Climate

Worlds Beyond Number - WWW #11: Promises Promises

Worlds Beyond Number: Fireside - Fireside Chat for WWW ep11 "Promises Promises"

What Next: TBD - Does Google Suck Now?

Short Wave - What To Know About The New EPA Rule Limiting 'Forever Chemicals' In Tap Water

Code Switch - Reflecting on the legacy of O.J. Simpson

The Atlas Obscura Podcast - Atlas Obscura Live: Two Places And A Lie

Dear Prudence - I Lost a Lot of Weight and Now I Enjoy Being a Mean Girl. Help!

It's Been a Minute - The car culture wars; plus, the problem with child stars

Endless Thread - RIP Lil Miquela

Shedunnit - You Probably Imagined It!

Armchair Expert - John Cena

Worlds Beyond Number: Fireside - [One Shot] A County Affair: Prologue

🎶 MUSIC 🎶

Presenting Bonnie Raitt

Lowrider Oldies

Huge House Anthems

Djo

Classic Soul BBQ

A LA SALA [Khruangbin] {2024}

Presenting Khruangbin

Happy Beats

'80s One-Hit Wonders

Feel-Good Classic Rock

Writing Patterns

Rules: List the first line of your last 10 (posted) fics and see if there’s a pattern!

Tagged by: @doggernaut and @montrealmadison my besties!!! I am so touched!!!!! and aren't we lucky that I just hit 10 posted fics?? And because I can't stop yapping, I put a little note about each of them.

austin (check, please!, bitty/jack)

"Jack comes to Georgia like a summer thunderstorm."

(this one is alternately titled 'I went through a lot of breakups last year and got into country line dancing and it shows')

call of the champions (check, please!, lardo/camilla)

"It’s Lardo and her board."

(THE FUCKING FIC. I AM SO PROUD OF HER. and also I bought a sick salt late city 2002 olympics leather jacket because of it and it's basically my whole personality)

creation myth (check, please!, bitty/jack)

"It goes like this."

(this is me and @montrealmadison's magnum opus, and I learned how to bind books just to immortalize it)

sloshed with gold (check, please!, bitty/jack)

"Jack’s phone starts ringing halfway through his Tuesday morning jog."

(if you like nhl!bitty and photographer!jack, she's your jam. not sure if I will ever like the way I wrote this one but eyyyyyy it exists)

rocket man (voltron, keith/lance)

"The fireflies were flickering above Keith’s dark hair to light the path. He stood on the porch as Lance looked out from the doorway. There was a moment of silence. “You will help me keep him here this time, won’t you?” he asked."

(I won't apologize for voltron. I am too far past the shame. i wrote a paper on voltron queerbaiting and it got me into college. I owe her everything.)

season of the witch (check, please!, bitty/jack)

"Sometimes, Bitty gets carried away with baking."

(um fun fact there's apparently been a typo in the first line of this one for the last THREE YEARS ?????? its fixed now but dear god. I would delete this if it didn't have the second most hits of any check please fic i've written. I cant reread it it makes me want to die.)

don't waste another mile or minute (not kissing me) (voltron, keith/lance)

"Light. An unusual amount of light. Keith throws his elbow over his face as he peels his eyes open, wincing as the sun blasts through an open window."

(an OLD banger that I wrote at my first internship because it was so boring. some clever lines but my writing has improved tenfold since 2018)

and all I can taste is this moment (voltron, adam/shiro)

"There is absolutely nothing like flying, Takashi Shirogane, sixteen, almost-professional pilot, assumes. He assumes because he hasn’t been allowed to fly (yet), but if the simulator gives him any idea of what flight is like, Shiro is going to be hungry for it for the rest of his life."

(my magnum opus before creation myth, and the longest thing I've ever written (48k). yall ever yolo on a rarepair and write a biblically accurate cold war fic? no? just me? ok.)

last sunrise in the wasteland (voltron, keith/lance)

"The first time that Keith kisses Lance, the sky is the color of cotton candy. "

(this is my fic with the most hits which is great except there's a softcore porn scene in it I forgot about and subsequently subjected my grandpa to when he was reading it and making edits for me. so now it makes me want to die a little thinking about that. no he never brought it up.)

In my veins (carry on, baz/simon)

"On the worst day, Baz wakes up in Simon’s arms, the cursed tattoo glaring at him in the morning sunshine. Simon is still passed out, body curled into Baz, chestnut curls bouncing with each heady breath. The mark bitten onto his neck from the night before flashing like a highway sign on his neck."

(once someone bookmarked this with the tag 'out of character' and it has haunted me every single fucking day since I read that. WHY DID THEY BOOKMARK IT IF THEY DIDN'T LIKE IT. sorry it drives me crazy. I DONT UNDERSTAND.)

Tagging (no pressure, and anyone else can also jump in!): @justlookfrightened @bittysthesis @chaoskiro @zimbits-my-love @parseisflat @a-very-gay-disaster @dessertwaffles

Halloween Movie Watchlist

Hi guys! It's spooky season so I'm trying to come up with a list of horror movies and Halloween movies to watch to celebrate! I want to watch one movie a night, and I want to watch mostly movies I've never seen before!! I've got a small list of the classics/my favorites:

Hocus Pocus - if you're American (or I guess just acitve on Tumblr) and have been paying attention to Halloween media at all in the last decade, you've definitely heard of this one! In case you haven't: a teenager accidentally reawakens 3 child-eating witches and must stop them before they eat the youth of every child in town. Sounds a bit scary like that, but it's one of the absolute best family Halloween movies around

The Conjuring - my favorite horror movie ever! So scary, so well acted. The actual story is a bunch of scammers (with the Warren's being the biggest liars/scammers of them all), but the movie's great! Synopsis: a family moves into a new house and scary/supernatural things begin to occur, seemingly focusing on the mother.

Halloweentown - back to the realm of 'family friendly', this is another absolute banger from my childhood. A teenage girl learns she's a witch and must use her new powers to save Halloweentown, a magical place where Halloween is 24/7

The Vigil - I watched this fairly recently and I was very impressed! A Jewish horror movie about a young man who must sit watch over a dead body (which is a Jewish custom I'm forgetting the name of), but supernatural forces begin to haunt him

The Nightmare Before Christmas - back to the more fun ones, this movie is probably the most quintessential 'Halloween movie' in my mind, I think I've watched it every year since I was born! Jack Skellington, the king of Halloween, grows weary of celebrating the same holiday over and over. When he discovers a portal to Christmastown, he gets filled with excitement over something new and decides to try his hand at being king of that instead

The Possession - another Jewish horror story about a Dybbuk box, a box containing a malicious spirit, that finds its way into the hands of a young girl and begins terrorizing her family. Based on a true story! Based here being the operative word, but the owners of the box do seem to consistently say they were genuinely afraid of the box (although no deaths have been attributed to it as far as I know)

Fear Street 1994, 1978, and 1666: technically 3 movies, but all part of a series based off of the books by R. L. Stine. Phenomenal movies, I loved everything about them and want to own them on DVD. This story follows a group of mostly teens as they uncover the truth of the curse of Shadyside, a town where serial killers seem remarkably common. Also has excellent LGBTQ rep (sapphic) and genuinely some of the best storytelling and 'unraveling' I have ever seen (in my opinion)

The Exorcist - a cult classic for a reason, the movie that kicked off the exorcism movie craze that continues to this day (The Exorcist: Believer, anyone?). A young girl begins to display horrifying changes in personality and her mother is desperate to find answers, so she reaches out to a priest. I like this movie a lot, but it may seem kinda hokey to those more used to the more 'modern' special effects. I also love this one because they don't let themselves get bogged down on the specifics of the 'why' and the 'how', bad things happen to good people for no reason all the time (the explanation at the end of Hereditary really undid the whole movie for me)

Halloween - it's literally called Halloween, how could I not include it? This one is my favorite of the franchise because I, personally, really dislike gore (specifically painful body horror like in Saw and later installments). Not that there's anything wrong with those types of movies, just not my personal cup of tea. This movie is much slower and much more thriller type than you might expect if your only knowledge of the franchise is the latest (2020 +) movies, but it is masterful in its suspense and its overbearing, black, ominous, foreboding feeling it evokes.

Bram Stoker's Dracula (1992) - can't have Halloween without Dracula! This is my favorite of the adaptations, I love the music, the sets, the casting, the costuming. It's beautiful and grandiose and suffocating and terrifying (and not totally SFW so maybe look up some details before watching with kids) and also a bit long so keep that in mind. A real estate agent travels to remote Romania to settle a land deal for a wealthy recluse, only to find his life and the lives of those around him irrevocably changed when the mysterious man takes a keen interest in his fiancé

That's 12 if you count Fear Street as 3, or only 9 if you wanna watch them all together (as I usually do, I really love those movies), and I'm gonna work out a specific order if I get a few more suggestions. Please add on and give me your ideas! I'm trying to focus more on Halloween movies - some connection to the holiday or more 'traditional' Halloween monsters like vampires, witches, werewolves, and ghosts - but there's more than a few non-Halloween movies on there so don't be afraid to add your fav scary movie too!

how i think different football players would behave on a night out

Declan Rice - 

Would 100% be the one to propose a night out for the boys (and you). It hasn’t even hit 10 o'clock and he’s already passing around tequila shots and apple sourz. You already know you’re going to be left trying to drag him away from the bar and make sure he gets home safe. You won’t let a repeat of the last night out happen where he was found asleep on his driveway at 4 in the morning. 

Aymeric Laporte - 

Literally one of the weirdest guys ever on a night out. First of all he wasn’t even invited, he’s meant to be in Manchester not Bond Street. All he does is sit in the corner of the club and quietly observe everyone. You know he’s judging you but realistically he’s the most harmless guy in the world.

Kai Havertz - 

You’ve never properly spoken to him before but he saw you have an alcohol induced breakdown in the corridor by the toilets and he sat with you for a good 15 minutes to make sure no creepy guys would try and crack on with you (Laporte). You then felt bad so you bought him a pint and he promised not to tell anyone about your instability. 

Mason Mount - 

He’s cute and you have a fat crush on him. He has a fat crush on you. He keeps asking you if you want another drink, or if you need water or something to eat. Every time he asks you feel like crying because he’s arguably the nicest guy there. He’s also almost as drunk as you so you know without a doubt neither of you will remember this night and you’ll forget that you made out on the balcony while John was singing Valerie. 

Phil Foden - 

He’s not actually underage but he keeps getting refused service so he has to ask John or Jack to buy him drinks. Jack keeps buying him vodka quads and pretty soon Phil is absolutely hammered. He keeps trying to dance with you and you have to be restrained by Mason because you almost punched Phil in the face. Phil starts getting really stroppy and won’t talk to anyone so Mason makes you apologise to him before the night gets ruined. 

Jack Grealish - 

He disappears halfway through the night. You won’t be surprised if you find out he’s gone on another drunk joyride in his new Range Rover. Him and Phil are inseparable and insufferable. You all have to pretend to not know him because otherwise you might get thrown out by the bouncer. The guys behind the bar are already sick of him asking for vodka quads every 15 minutes so they put him on a ban. John ends up buying more quads. 

John Stones - 

He’s usually fairly responsible until these nights out. Jack’s on a quest to get him drunk as fast as possible because it’s the only way John does karaoke. Pretty soon he’s up on the stage and you can’t get him back down. He sings Valerie while you’re outside making out with Mason and as soon as you’re back inside he forces you to sing Wonderwall with him. He did make it quite a fun night so you can’t hate him.

Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain - 

Absolute life of the party. He’s taken over the DJ booth and is playing non-stop R&B bangers. He’s also put on a hell of a lot of Little Mix songs but no one has the heart to tell him that ‘Salute’ isn’t exactly the right vibe for the club. Is non-stop bantering Trent and at one point you had to tell him to leave Trent alone before he got annoyed and left. Is also very responsible for bringing out shots. You spent a good 15 minutes at the bar with him slamming jagerbombs before you got taken away by Hendo so you wouldn’t get hammered at 10:15. 

Andy Robertson -

You two would have been inseparable. You’re like the better version of Jack and Phil. Ant and Dec have nothing on you two. You barely see each other in normal time so you’ve spent the whole first hour at the club catching up. As time’s gone on and he’s gotten more drunk you can tell his Scottish accent is getting stronger. He tries to do a bit of stand up comedy but no one wants to listen to his jokes apart from you and Trent and everyone’s throwing limes at him until he gets off the stage. 

James Milner - 

He offers to buy you a drink because he’s really old and still does that kind of thing, but he leaves before you can tell him what drink you want. 5 minutes later he’s back with either 2 pints of Guinness or Stella Artois. He challenges you to a race to see who can down their pint the fastest. He thinks that’s what the ‘young kids’ do nowadays. They don’t, but you don’t have the heart to tell him that. After that interaction you didn’t speak to him for the rest of the night because you were afraid you’d have to drink Guinness again.

Trent Alexander-Arnold - 

Surprisingly quiet for a night out with his friends (and Laporte). You’ve noticed he’s been avoiding Ox so you try and talk to him a bit and manage to convince him to have a few drinks to loosen up a bit. Soon enough he’s dancing and having the time of his life. Ox has been filming the whole thing and you already know Trent’s never going to hear the end of it. He’s also a bit mad at you because he thinks you’re taking his best friend (Robbo) away from him. 

Jordan Henderson - 

Stone cold sober. He feels responsible for making sure absolutely everyone’s safe and not too drunk. He calls Declan an Uber at 11:30 because he’s already out of it. You keep trying to get him to have a drink or two but he shuts you down every time. Everyone makes fun of him for being the dad of the group, but he shrugs his shoulders and says ‘it’s what any good captain would do’. Ends up sitting in the corner and listens to Alicia Keys through his earphones so no one else will bother him.

hit me with 18 and 26 for the go ask game lest they have been already asked

YESSSS

18. A random headcanon

BUSTIN OUT ANOTHER RANDOM PLATTER FOR EACH SERIES IVE WATCHED

DM: Postcanon Kaiba bros adopt a Siberian Husky his name is Obelisk the Tormentor Kaiba and he is Mokuba's best friend

GX: Chazz is trans and he really just picked "Chazz" as his name it's not even short for anything. he just thought it sounded cool.

5D's: Luna has just absolute peak "does elaborate forum RPs where you play as a Pokemon or a cat or other little animal creature" middle schooler energy. The webs she is weaving....

Zexal: Kite got keratoconus from the Eye Fuckery Incident so postcanon he has to wear special hard contact lens to help with his vision :] (author's note: i have keratoconus...woe! cone shaped corneas be upon ye)

26. Favorite YGO music (aside from openings/endings)

i wish this would play whenever i entered a room. god the dub DM soundtrack did not fuck around i'll say it.

(also on the sub side of things, im so sad i cant find it but i fucking love the track that plays during the Aporia vs. the twins and Jack duel...the one with like. angelic choir singing. makes me a little bit insane.)

shout out as well to the duel links soundtrack which has no right to shred as absolutely hard as it does. why is jack's theme a fucking BANGER!!!!

Fic Song Tag Game

Thank you @spindrifters for the tag!! This is gonna be unhinged jsyk, basically half these songs actually inspired the fic and the other half happened to be my hyperfixation song during an intense period of writing so they do not relate lyrically at all, but the vibes… the vibes.

True Blue by Boy Genius

But it feels good to be known so well

I can't hide from you like I hide from myself

I remember who I am when I'm with you

Your love is tough, your love is tried and true blue

Okay obviously I have to include the song that TTTB gets it’s title from. You’ve never done me wrong!!! Except for that one time!!!! Genuinely the sapphic Wolfstar anthem… what else can I say….

Body to Flame by Lucy Dacus

Longing for your short hair to grow back to the way you like

Thank you for the gesture

I regret ever implying that you could be better

Didn't mean to empty your perfect body

And fill it with my passing will

Easily won, weary of losing, gullible girl

Weak and alluring, well, we break our rules

Get drunk in the dark

Laughing aloud at the spinning stars

Ok this one is scary- so what happened is I wrote two scenes for TTTB before I ever heard this song, and then Mel read them and then she listened to this song and she was like “dude… this song is about your fic and those two scenes specifically” and I was like “haha yeah it’s Lucy Dacus, the Queen of Sapphic Pining” but then I listened to the song and like… the specificity. They lyrics match up exactly. You will see when we get to fourth and fifth year, but, Lucy, my wife, we were drinking from the same mother lake…

Vampires by Tommy Lefroy

And I know you

I know you

I know you know

I know you feel everything

Okay so this one has the above lyrics, which became a sort of source code for TTTB Sirius. I associate this song with her and it helped to ground my writing of her character in the first couple chapters. Anyway I love her, also Tommy Lefroy rules, they’re gonna get big, I just know it.

Holland, 1945 by Neutral Milk Hotel

The only girl I ever loved…

This one has absolutely jack shit to do with anything related to this fic, but I was deeply hyperfixating on it back in January when I was first outlining TTTB, sooo yeah. I also wrote the first scene I ever wrote for this fic while listening to this song on repeat at my favorite coffee shop.

The Bench by Like Roses

Break down with me on the phone

Just like we did those nights when I was at home

This is another one that lyrically doesn’t have much to do with anything, but really helped me achieve the specific angsty headspace I needed to be in to write the year one Christmas chapter when Sirius goes home to Grimmauld Place. Also the above lyrics really gave me ‘prongsfoot talking through the mirrors’ vibes. I know this song is actually about addiction, like I’m aware.

Francis Forever by Mitski

I don’t think I could stand to be

Where you don’t see me

Mel texted me in a panic because she had read a snippet of a scene I wrote from sixth year and then listened to this song in close succession and she said that she had never really listened to these lyrics before, or she didn’t fully get what they meant, until she read that snippet and thought about this song and had a breakdown. Anyway, something for y’all to look forward too. Post prank vibes, delicious angst.

Honorable Mentions go to:

The entirety of Transgender Dysphoria Blues by Against Me- nothing is more punk rock than being transgender and if you haven’t listened to this album yet, do yourself a favor and turn that shit up right now. Fucking bangers all the way through.

Dreamt We Were Closer by Ash Tuesday- look it’s not my fault that this is a Wolfstar song, okay???

For Sale: Ford Pinto by Rosie Tucker- my current hyper-fixation song, idk what will come of it yet but it is a whole vibe.

Tagging Mel @capacity-for-wonder who is on her honeymoon but will never miss a chance to make a playlist.

ummm errr heres my NiGHTS playlist

tbf its just meant to be songs that feel magical and NiGHTS was the best character i thought i could assign to a playlist of that theme but whatever. explanations under cut

1. Gate of Your Dream SEGA SOUND TEAM

hurrrr hurrr NiGHTS into dreams song fits NiGHTS' character

2. Peaceful Moment SEGA SOUND TEAM

yeah this is pretty magic and from NiGHTS hurrrr

3. Fragmented Nights SEGA SOUND TEAM

guess the explanation

4. Introduced Dream SEGA SOUND TEAM

hmmmmmmmmm

5. Paternal Horn SEGA SOUND TEAM

ummmm

6. After The Dream SEGA SOUND TEAM

see 1 - 5

7. Star Light Zone Masato Nakamura

THE STAGE TAKES PLACE WITH STARS IN THE NIGHT SKY!!! LIKE NiGHTS!!! AND ALSO IS SONIC TEAM!!!

8. Special Stage (Sonic 1) Masato Nakamura

mysterious and surreal... some may say dreamlike... and also sonic team

9. Duel in Dream SEGA SOUND TEAM

like the first one but instead of NiGHTS into dreams its journey of dreams

10. Peaceful Moment SEGA SOUND TEAM

if i include the NiD version i may as well include the JoD version. i didnt do this with gate of your dream because the JoD version sounds so bad

11. Merry Memory Go Round SEGA SOUND TEAM

this is getting exhausting

12. Eloquent Echo: River Rescue SEGA SOUND TEAM

do you hear the flibberty jibberty jibber jabber with an 'oh my god ive gotta get out of here or ill have another word to sell another story to tell another time piece ringing the bell' do you hear the clocks stop when you reach the end no you know it must be neverending comprehend if you can but when you try to pretend to understand you resemble a fool although youre only a man so give it up and smile

13. Dreams Dreams - Located Link Mix (Instrumental) SEGA SOUND TEAM

see 9 - 12

14. Collision Chaos - "G" Mix SEGA SOUND TEAM

yeah this feels like NiGHTS

15. Tidal Tempest - "G" Mix SEGA SOUND TEAM

these are also obviously sonic team, yeah, you get it

16. Zone Clear SEGA SOUND TEAM

TELEPORTATION YEAH! ZIBITTY BUP-BUP!

17. Sky Chase Zone Masato Nakamura

i think you get the point

18. Special Stage (Sonic 2) - Demo Masato Nakamura

i recently got into the sonic 1&2 demos. some of them are bangers, such as this one

19. Special Stage (Sonic 1) - Demo Masato Nakamura

see above, with the additional bonus of me adding the mega drive version before

20. Vanilla Jack Stauber

FINALLY!!! FINALLY!!! A SONG I CAN ACTUALLY EXPLAIN BECAUSE IT ISNT NiGHTS OR SONIC!!!

and i just realised its instrumental. great. if it helps, its sort of like a lullaby.

21. dancing around in circles until my little feet fall off spellcasting

WOOHOO!!! SILLY CLOWN MUSIC!!! LIKE NiGHTS!!!!

22. Dream Sweet in Sea Major Miracle Musical

alooooooooooone

i think less about the lyrics and more about the fact this sounds vaguely magic and a little christmassy (because, yk, christmas NiD)???

23. A Lady Tally Hall

idk its kinda calm ig. if you ignore the 'lady' bit (although NiGHTS probably wouldnt mind being called that) i suppose you could say theyre good and evil? idk

24. 13 Tally Hall

i probably should have added ruler of everything afterwards but idk why i feel i shouldnt

25. Spring Yard Zone Masato Nakamura

this is my favourite stage in sonic 1!!! so much so that i made up loads of lore about it having homes just so that i could make an oc be from there!!! anyway yeah the usual. its sonic team. sounds vaguely magical.

26. Temptation Stairway (Waltz Variation) Metaroom

when i got into ena temptation stairway was the latest episode, or really anything to do with ena. maybe the first teaser for dream bbq was out??? before we knew it was a game??? idk. point is, ena is absolutely bafflingly surreal, and i could sort of imagine this in a NiGHTS game. sonic team please contact metaroom for any future NiGHTS projects please please please 🙏🙏🙏

27. Fancam RYL0, Aron Enoch

the lyrics dont fit even slightly ❤️ but it sounds cute

28. Theme of "CHAO" SEGA SOUND TEAM

this is such a silly happy song from a game that references NiGHTS! also ive literally gone bankrupt from buying stuff in the chao garden black market in sadx lol

29. Isle Unto Thyself Miracle Musical

to me, this DEFINITELY fits the magical theme, as well as the sensation of flying. i have absolutely no idea what any of the lyrics mean.

30. Black Rainbows Miracle Musical

it also feels kinda magical and follows isle unto thyself

31. White Ball Miracle Musical

see above only less because it feels magical and more because it follows black rainbows. i didnt add murders because that's definitely a stretch to say it fits NiGHTS

musical ask - 11 & 16 😊 hope you’re having a lovely day 💕

11. Do you prefer loud booming speakers or quiet in headphones?

Can I choose both?? I loooove me a good pair of booming speakers that rattle the walls, as loud as possible! And at the same time I adooooore getting to feel the music deep inside my brain and soul and feel the bass and being able to hear all the little details, the voice cracks and breaths and all that good stuff. So I can't really pick one, sorry 😂

16. Tell us the name of a song that most people probably don’t know but you absolutely adore

Ooohhh, so many amazing ones to pick from. I have no idea what most people know, so I'll just go with a few gems I really enjoy!

One is March Of Death by Zack De La Rocha and DJ Shadow, which is just such a cool track and the lyrics are just pure de la Rocha at his best! I love his flow and lyrical style, and his voice sounds incredible, it packs such a punch!

Another is Big Climb (Jack Foals Grouse Party Remix) by Everything Everything and it is just such a banger!!! I love it so much, listen to it all the time and it makes me dance and scream along.

Thank you for the questions and I hope you're having a lovely day too 😘

Louis mentioning Arctic Monkeys during Faith in the Future promo

Euphoria Magazine interview, Sept 1 2022:

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

Alternative Press interview, Sept 6 2022:

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

Interview for 98.5 KRZ, Sept 19 2022:

[What would your theme song be (a song that would play whenever you walked into a room)?]

I’ve got no idea. No idea! It’s almost like what would be a boxing walk out. Maybe Teddy Picker, Arctic Monkeys?

Jack Saunders Show on BBC Radio 1, aired Sept 25 2022:

Jack: Last time you were here, you were in 2019, [...] and we played this game, called "Keep or delete?". Do you remember what happened during that game?

Louis: Not specifically, I do remember the game.

Jack: Ok. Let's see if this docs your memory [replays the 2019 game which Louis says he would get "delete" Arctic Monkeys' "I Bet You Look Good On The Dancefloor"]

Louis: I must've turned up drunk that day, I must have, honestly. That's a crime! What was The Strokes song? What was it again? Did you know? (...) It's a though pick, but I don't imagine why I picked that? "I Bet You Look Good On The Dance Floor" is a super nostalgic song for me, to be fair.

(...)

Jack: [The chorus is] the first thing that I thought when I listened to [Bigger Than Me]. I was like 'This chorus feels so big'. For you, those kinda of like big and kinda of indie choruses that you think about, what comes to mind? The ones that you always hammer or sing along? That kinda of thing...

Louis: You know what, the irony is the first thing that comes to me mind in terms of a chorus that I can remember singing, is ‘I Bet You Look Good On The Dancefloor’, which I cancelled the last time I was here, like an idiot!

Jack: [laughs] I'm not surprised, man, that is essential, a banger, isn't it?

Louis: It is, it is!

Jack: You worked with [producer] Mike Crossey on this one (...) Now, look, I've got a list of the credentials to display. He's worked with [lists artists] Arctic Monkeys - you can tell Mike you got rid of one of his songs--

Louis: No, no, I didn't, I didn't !

(...)

Jack: Louis, one more thing before you go (...) I'm gonna give you a chance of redemption

Louis: I like it

Jack: Would you like to bring [I Bet You Look Good On The Dance Floor] back?

Louis: One hundred percent, man!

Billboard.com interview, Nov 11 2022:

11. What’s your favorite album to listen to from top to bottom?

AM [by] Arctic Monkeys has got to be up there. Probably [their] Favourite Worst Nightmare, as well. Those two albums were absolutely massive for me growing up, so yeah, let’s go with them. Trying to think of a more recent one. The Snuts’ debut album, I absolutely loved. I loved their follow up as well. 

LADbible TV Ask the Audience, aired on Nov 11 2022:

[If (you) were part of another band (which one would it be)]

It’s an hard question to answer, really. I mean, I fucking love Arctic Monkeys, just down the road from where I’m from, Sheffield.

Afterglow on Pandora, aired Nov 12 2022

On his musical influences

Growing up, as you’re kind of forming your opinions on different songs, artists, genres. For me, growing up in the north of England, guitar music was absolutely massive with the likes of Arctic Monkeys, Oasis, etc.

May I request headcanons for Strauss, Gary, Andrei, and any other two of your choice (if you’d like!) finding out that the object of their affection has a beautiful singing voice?

P.S. I found this blog via your Halloween outfits post, and reading back through your absolute banger headcanons has helped keep me sane through the stressful first week of a new job. So. Keep on keeping on, you lovely person you <3

[Glad to have you here! I can only take about half credit for the headcanons though as most of them come from awesome asks like this one. Hope your job is going well and things settle down for you soon :) ]

Strauss- This man is horrible with expressing romantic feelings of any kind. And, as much as he hates to admit it, you can fluster him super easily, though he hides it well. When he first heard you sing, he felt like he was about to melt. Especially, if it’s more on the classical side. But, really anything is lovely to him. Won’t ask you to sing something out right, but will take the rout of suggesting songs you might like in hopes you sing them some time.

Gary- He’ll be more than happy to tell you how good your voice is. He was around professionally trained musicians for years, so her knows what he’s talking about. He is also horrible at expressing how he feels about you, but sees this as a way to get closer. Maybe if the two of you get talking music, other things might work their way into the conversation as well. And, if he can get a song or two from you in the meantime, then his nights are looking to be much more enjoyable than they’ve been in a long time.

Jack- At first he feels like he just likes it because he likes you. But, then he realizes you’re just talented. He couldn’t tell you why or how; he just knows your good. The same way that he’s no jewelry appraiser, but knows an expensive-ass diamond when he sees one. Mostly let’s you do your own thing and catches it when he can. No stranger to yelling out requests at you, most of which are more jokes than actual requests.

VV- Actual heart eyes. As a Toreador, she has a large appreciation for the arts and people who perform them. As a woman, she has a large appreciation for you. That means that if she gets to hear you sing she’s on cloud nine. Part of her wants to find a way for you to sing for everyone to hear, so they know how talented you are. But, another part of her wants to keep you and your voice for herself.

Andrei- He will love the fact that you sing, almost as much as he loves you. And, it’s not that he doesn’t know how to express that, as much as he feels he shouldn’t too much or too often as to keep his image as archbishop the way it’s supposed to be. If you learn some traditional Romanian songs, he’ll sit there and listen to you, totally enraptured. If you catch him staring, he’ll brush it off by saying that you pronounced some of the words wrong and walk away; totally because he has things to attend to and NOT because he’s about to cry because you’re so beautiful and talented and be still his cold dead heart-

rules: shuffle your likes or your favorite playlist and post the first ten tracks (and say a little something about them if you want!)

Tagged by @to2llynottoby

I’ll do my On Repeat Spotify playlist for maximum whiplash

1. the Vampire From Nazareth - SepticFlesh: The album that this is from (The Great Mass) is fantastic. SepticFlesh has been a metal staple of mine ever since I heard this song more than a decade ago.

2. Dessumiis Luge - Eluveitie: I never listened to this band up until a couple months ago, I can’t believe I slept on them all these years! This track is in Gaulish, and it’s taken from a found text that curses Roman soldiers for a “false oath.”

3. The Great Tribulation - Epica, Fleshgod Apocalypse: I am really into this album right now—This is from Alchemy, an album that was a collaborative effort of symphonic metal between Epica and several other artists. If you’re into symphonic metal I think it’s absolutely worth a listen.

4. Mercy Mirror - Within Temptation: I quit listening to WT for a few years, I didn’t find anything they did past about 2009 interesting; but I gave them another listen and actually found that I quite liked a lot of their later stuff (not all of it though, we won’t talk about the song they did with Xzibit).

5. Hakkerskaldyr - Heilung: I just had the immense privilege of seeing this performed live about a month ago. If you need some weightlifting music, you can’t go wrong with most Heilung. The text of this chant is taken off of a stone written in Proto-Norse, experts argue over the translation, but it seems to be an Odinic funerary rite chanted by a koryos/berserker band for a fallen comrade.

6. Apage Satana - Rotting Christ: now this one is a rollicking good time. If I had the talent and budget for music video directing, I’d set this song to a storyline that pulls heavily from Nathanial Hawthorne’s Young Goodman Brown, but set in Old Florida. You’d get it if you saw it.

7. Snake Pit Poetry - Einar Selvik, Hilda Orvarsdottir: I highly recommend a listen, it’s a beautiful lament about a gruesome death.

8. Goodbye Horses - Q Lazarus: my husband and I were talking about Silence of the Lambs and thought we’d look up the Buffalo Bill dance song. Surprise, it’s an absolute banger.

9. Lana Del Rey - Say Yes to Heaven: it’s so Ultraviolence-core, I love it. I wish she’d release five more albums that sound like that and not boring shit like her last three, I said what I said, Jack Antonoff die challenge.

10. Small Town Boy - Paradise Lost: hands down THE BEST cover of this song

I think all of my friends have been tagged already, I tag @fenris-returns

The Hydraulic Dogs - "Shake It for Me" Turbo Sampler (Vol. 2) 2000 House

Plays: N/A on Spotify // 80 on YouTube

Boy, do I have an absolute fuckin' underrated y2k-era banger for you all today. I really have no idea how the UK house music duo of Hydraulic Dogs ever first came about, but let's just say that it was definitely a good idea for these two guys to team up. Dominic Dawson aka DJD had been a veteran house DJ and producer since the 80s and Jonny Delafons aka L B Dope was a drummer for country-blues-acid house-trip hop band Alabama 3 (A3 in the States), whose biggest claim to fame would undoubtedly become "Woke Up This Morning," which would go on to serve as the theme song to The Sopranos.

But in the year 2000, with what seemed to be something of a side project for both of these blokes, Dawson and Delafons released their first single together, a funky piece of filtery and bonging house music called "Shake It for Me," which on top of a pretty standard four-on-the-floor house backbeat that added some hand drumming, incorporated samples from two extremely popular songs:

One, "(Shake, Shake, Shake) Shake Your Booty," by KC & The Sunshine Band,

And two, "California Love," by 2Pac, Dr. Dre, & Roger Troutman from 80s electro-funk band Zapp.

Released on UK label Influence—a sublabel of UK label Defender—"Shake It for Me" would find its way onto a small handful of mixes in 2000, including two that were released by the biblical UK electronic music monthly, Mixmag, but another mix the song ended up on was DJ Laflèche's Montreal Mix, which was put out on the Montreal-based Turbo Recordings label; and because of the song's inclusion on that mix, a fuller-length version of it also appeared on a Turbo sampler that year too, even though Turbo never actually released the song themselves.

Anyway, "Shake It for Me" is pure gold, man. The samples it employs are obviously not obscure by any means, but the idea of marrying the opening moments of "Shake Your Booty" to some of Roger Troutman's own talk-box vocals from "California Love" really ends up generating a track that, to this day, still feels fit for unleashing in pretty much any party setting. And when Dawson and Delafons kill the Troutman loop(s) in order to instead let his voice wander freely and way offbeat, those are the times when this song reaches its most satisfying points 😌.

So if you adore "California Love," it's probably best that you give this house jam from the early 2000s a listen too, 'cuz you're probably gonna end up digging how this British pair implemented it for their own tune as well.

A 2002 single put out on UK Sony sublabel Direction would feature remixes of "Shake It for Me" by Italy's Junior Jack and the UK's TBC (Matt Schwartz), and it would end up charting successfully, reaching #56 on the UK Singles chart and #2 on the UK Dance Singles chart. The Hydraulic Dogs would also end up releasing a handful of more singles between '02 and '03—mostly promos—a digital single in '08, and they'd also do some remixes too, including a couple for Alabama 3, and another one in 2012 for Orbital's "New France," which featured Zola Jesus on it. And that Orbital remix appears to be the last time that we'd ever hear from them as a pair.

But their debut sure was a nice gem!

3.5 stars

After spending time thinking about this book, I've come to the conclusion that A Curse For True Love is the weakest book in the trilogy. Do I like the ending? Yes. Do I think it's a good conclusion to the story? Not really?

This book does this really odd shift of focusing on different characters and trying to add things that this book loses focus on the main reason we're here. Evangeline and Jacks. Jacks for the majority of this book feels completely sidelined which is bizarre to me. I loved Jacks but he completely felt different in this book.

TBoNA really ends on a banger. I don't particularly like the lost memories trope but I was essentially interested in seeing how this development goes. Jacks couldn't live in a world without Evangeline ALIVE and used the stones to get her back and keep her alive. And he was what okay with her having no memories of him because he thought Time took it? And then he wanted her to protect herself but not remember, but he also wanted her to remember, then gives her a cuff that'll protect her, but he didn't want to feel anything anymore or whatever so he was going to destroy his second heart? It's so back and forth, and to me personally his chapters just don't do him justice.

Evangeline has always been a rather more passive character where things happen to her mostly than her actively doing in her story. This book really doesn't do her justice either. When she remembers things we get basically copy and pasted paragraphs of TBoNA??? Most of the time she gets put in dresses and tries to remember and oh yeah, is constantly in danger by everyone trying to kill her. There is something very refreshing having a character believe in love and changing the endings in stories and is genuinely a good person. Evangeline is also dumb at times.

Instead, the book gives us a whole another POV in Apollo. Apollo who somehow has become this almost cartoonish villain for almost absolutely zero reason. I kept going why do I need to be in his headspace. He's absolutely been cursed and through hell but he felt so one-dimensional. I could get behind maybe the need to be by her or something from the after effects of the Archer curse, but everything else was overkill.

Also where the hell did some of the characters go?? Luc???? He was annoying don't get me wrong but he was straight up missing in this book?? Marisol??? I know she wasn't the best but damn. Tiberius?? He escaped and then????? What about the Protectorate? Even Byron?? He was after Evangeline and then after attempting to hurt her nothing happens he just disappears??? What about Garrick and those heroes?? What's that about? Nothing comes of it?

Then we have the Valors who agree to go by "Vale" like come on? And then don't even change their actual names???? How is no one like all your names are the same as the Valors that's weird right? Also like if they put the helm on Castor to stop him from killing why aren't they doing anything about his killing now??? And then there's this fixation on Aurora because she becomes a secondary villain and apparently was a major reason why everyone suffered a LOT. And I just don't particularly enjoy girls disliking girls because a boy they like doesn't like them or I want him and if I can't have him no one can. And Castor's bullshit excuse of "they suffered enough" they were locked away in an enchanted sleep shut up. Honestly all the Valors kind of suck and they seem way too powerful.

We don't get enough Evangeline and Jacks scenes (insane since this is ABOUT THEM) but the ones we do get is good. I really loved the twist on the curse and loved the final explanation for Donatella. And I loved that belief that maybe he had to want it too, the love. But you don't tell us how Jacks became a Fate??? Or about the apples??? Straight to jail ma'am.

Also the karma that happens to Apollo is truly chef's kiss.

Overall, pretty good. But not enough. Evangeline is basically still human and Jacks is immortal? She still has that scar bargain thing???