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kooeater · 8 months

Text

gun | JJK

Jungkook x reader

smut | fluff

warnings: mentions of guns, weed smoking, unprotected sex, oral (f receving) cowgirl, riding, nipple piercings, slight nipple play, fluffy cute end, slight coquette reader, dirty talk, switch jk + reader

"What the fuck is this?! why is there a gun on your nightstand?!" Jungkook never held a gun before, the one in his hand was slightly shaking from his nerves. Guns were scary as hell to him, one of the worst things to just have laying around in his opinion.

He doesn't really care if he looks like a bitch crying about a gun while his now soft cock is hanging out. Finding a gun on his coworker's nightstand after sex wasn't on his to do list but he can write it down and cross it out now.

"For protection? What else would I have a gun silly." the way you're giggling as you take a hit from your joint with no care in the world kind of scares him.

"Well, if you're going to have a gun shouldn't you get lessons for it first? Just common sense of course." he says before he puts on his grey sweatpants that just shows he wants to fuck again which is great because so do you.

"Baby, I know how to use a gun." you roll your eyes as you look in the mirror, you looked so hot.

The joint in your hand, white panties with a cute lace bow in the front, boobs just hanging out freely, your lacy socks and pink ribbon bows in your hair. You can totally get why a hot babe like Jungkook would beg to hit.

(Jungkook was your boss, the owner and best tattoo artist of the most famous tattoo shop in the city. He knew you in high school for a bit until he dropped out to work on his business. Luckily for him business is going so fucking great. He hired you as the shop's main piercer since you defiantly had a good talent with the needle. You had all your tattoos done by Jungkook and he had all his piercings done by you, you two trust each other like that. Oh, and also, you two fuck. )

It wasn't long until you found yourself on your bed again, legs wide open as his head is in between your thighs. You weren't a big squirting girl, however Jungkook goes insane with that mouth and 2 fingers motion. His mouth sucking on your pink pearly clit as 2 of his tattooed fingers slide in and out of your tight hole had your thighs shaking, your liquid slicking down his fingers and chin.

"Fuck Koo ~ so fucking good yes, don't stop I'm going to cum all over your pretty face." your moans were like angels singing in his ears.

He was eating you out like he hasn't ate anything in ages, your pussy had so much impact on that man it's insane. Your pussy wasn't the only thing he was obsessed with, you in general. The way he's eating your pussy is the way he wants to eat you whole. His fingers slam into you hard and fast, they start to hit this sweet spot inside of you making you let out this moan you never even heard yourself let out.

"You gonna squirt on my face and fingers baby? Go ahead, make a mess on my face." his words were so sexy, and he really wanted you to squirt all over his face. He never had a girl squirt before, he wanted you to be the first and only.

It wasn't long until you found yourself screaming and pulling on his hair, his tongue deep inside your gummy like walls, thighs wrapped around his head as you push his nose closer to rub on your clit for that push to your climax.

You squirted all over his face just like he wanted you to. The slurping sounds that were coming from him drove you insane. He wants you so bad he's going as far as drinking up every liquid you release.

Before Jungkook can say anything, you hop on his lap, so his semi hard member is rubbing against your upper inner thigh.

"Let me ride it until I cream." is all you say before sinking down on his long thick length.

You raise your hips up and down his cock both you and him let out sounds of pure pleasure. Jungkook looks down at the base of his cock and rams upward into you a bit as he can see a ring of your cream around him. Before you can say anything about how good you're making him feel, you start to move up and down on his cock like you were at a rodeo.

" 's feels so fucking good. No one makes this pussy as messy as your cock does." moaning out loud with no care in the world you were.

His tattooed hands reach for your ass, squeezing them as you got on your tippy toes and started going back and forth on his member. Your ass makes contact with his thighs as you eagerly hop up and down and side by side. The energy you got when he was inside you was unmatched, not even energy drinks can have that impact on you.

"Fucking hell, yeah ride it just like that baby" his whimpers and moans send vibrations straight to your clit that was rubbing up and down on his lower abdomen.

His tip was going insane inside of you, unforgivingly abusing your g spot so good you feel like you're about to let out the loudest scream known to mankind. Your boobs were also so huge and squishy you weren't surprised when Jungkook started to grope them like stress balls. He played with your tits and that didn't faze the speed of your riding until that little shit decided to wrap his lips around your pierced nipples, humming on the piercing bars so they can vibrate while his lips sucked around them.

" 'm going to cum Jungkook I'm going to cum!" that was always his favorite line that would come out of your mouth.

The way your gummy like walls squeeze around his quivering member told him everything he needed to know. Jungkook quickly started to thrust up inside of you, making sure that your tight walls feel every vein and ridge of his cock going up and down them. The pleasure was too much that your body goes kind of limp, your hands going to grip on his shoulders as he fucks up into you like you're his last fuck.

"Cum all over this cock baby, I'll fill you up with my kids' baby hm? You'll like that won't you?" his cocky taunting voice did nothing but help bring yourself to your climax. You chanted little "yeses" as you creamed all around his cock, His head tilted back as he shot his cum deep inside your womb.

Both yours and his climaxes got so intense not one word was spoken for a good 3 minutes. You lay on his body, your body slightly jerking up and down as his chest moves from his deep breaths.

While you were drifting to sleep on his body, Jungkook kept thinking about his future. He saw a new big, nice house he'd buy from his tattoo shop that is so famous at the moment, he saw a mini-Jeon coloring in his tattoos as he tries to take a nap after a long day at work. He saw a woman, at first, he thought it was his mother but no, it was you. You were a part of his future; you were smiling happily at the sight of your son and your husband cuddling together. You would come home early from piercing shifts at the shop to surprise your son from daycare, then take him out early so he can go see daddy at work. He smiled at the visions he had and opened his eyes to you staring at him with tired eyes.

"What were you thinking about? Come on tell me tell me tell me!" you pinch his cheeks, fully aware how annoying you were being.

"Thinking of you, of us. I'm going to marry you, you know? We're going to have a son together and a beautiful big house." he looks at how you smile at his words, making him smile as well. "We're going to be in the deepest of love, I promise."

"Well, Jungkook, first you should ask me on a date. Maybe we'll move in together, expand the shop, then we can get married, and you can get me pregnant if you haven't already. Sounds fun honestly."

the more that you think about it, the more you want it to happen.

"Looks like we'll have to get rid of this gun then. Since you know, can't be safe around our future son." he chuckles out as he holds you close, pointing at your nightstand where the gun was at.

"Of course, Why would I need a gun for protection if I'm going to have you in my life forever?"

an: hii guys omg I worked hard on this fic don't let it flop lmao. I hope you guys enjoy this and YES this is inspired by the song "gun" by Doja cat pls the song is so so good make sure to listen to it !! Like and follow if u feel like it 🤍🎀

- belle 🌸

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hollytoshaw · 1 month

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noisy neighbour part two | harry lewis

✩ ✩ ✩

summary: in which y/n owns a coffee shop and harry is her noisy neighbour

word count : 5.7k

part one here

a/n: this is part two of my noisy neighbour series!!! read part one before this <3 there will be more parts to this as its a proper slow burnerrr. sorry for the slow updates i haven't forgotten about this series lol xxx

masterlist <3333

✩ ✩ ✩

Y/N had come to the conclusion that life was much better when she didn’t let silly lies get in her way. It had been a week since she had come clean to her noisy neighbour, or Harry, as she now knew him, and life couldn’t get any better.

After the pair had laughed about her moment of foolishness and how they were both a little too loud for their own good, they were able to move past it all and properly get to know the person they were living next door to.

Y/N found out more about Harry’s whole ‘Youtuber’ lifestyle. He was part of a group of seven boys that made videos that came out every Sunday, but he also had other channels in which he’d play computer games and do funny reaction videos—the source of all that playful shouting she had heard through the walls. He told her that he’d gotten bored of his old apartment and wanted a change of scenery, so he chose the small-scale but nonetheless nice flat next door to hers. He lived alone and was 27; his favourite colour was blue, and his favourite cake was chocolate. He liked coffee,cycling, surfing, and the occasional beer, and he loved travelling anywhere in the world, near or far; he just loved exploring places. He had two younger siblings, a brother and a sister, and was from a little channel island named Guernsey. Y/N had never been.

She told him all the little details she could think of about herself in return. She was always sort of bad at introductions, cringing when they used to say ‘’Tell us three facts about you’’ in school, never knowing what to say. But she managed nonetheless. She told him all about her dream of having a cafe of her own and how she came to do so. She loved old music, mainly Abba, to which he laughed and told her he knew already, making a playful jab at the singing he had heard from next door. She too lived alone but was 26; her favourite colour was green, and her favourite cake was lemon. She also liked coffee, not so much cycling or surfing, and opted for cider whenever she went to the pub. While she hadn’t been travelling much herself due to paying off her university debts and then starting up her coffee shop, she still shared the desire to travel anywhere in the world—far away from London.

It was such a breath of fresh air for Y/N. Owning a cafe all on her own meant early mornings and late nights, and her weekends were either spent visiting her parents or nestled away in her flat watching episodes of Vanderpump Rules or trying new recipes for baked goods that she was thinking about selling in the cafe. Because of this, she had found it hard to find time to make friends, and while she had her fair share, she barely saw them; they either had big city jobs or were living outside of London and starting a family. It just felt nice for Y/N to just sit and chat with someone a similar age to her and talk about nonsense for a while.

While the conversation the pair shared was cut short by Harry needing to get to work and record a podcast, they shared numbers (only in case one of them got a parcel for the other, of course), and Harry said he’d pop back in soon to finish where they left off.

So that was it. It had been a week, and she hadn’t seen him since, but that was all she could think about. It wasn’t even like Y/N had a crush, or so she convinced herself, but she longed to talk to him again; it just felt nice. While the occasional old lady that came into the cafe was great to chat with, asking away about how her day was going or what their plans were for the day, she still preferred the little chat she had with Harry; it just felt different, and she couldn’t put her finger on why.

But then she got all in her own head. Maybe he didn’t come back in because he realised she was a bit weird, having lied about living next door and that he was only being friendly and entertaining the conversation, but in reality, he didn’t want to be talking to her at all. Y/N knew she was probably getting a bit ahead of herself, but she couldn’t help but think the worst. She had always been a bit of a pessimist.

It was now Monday again, and the cafe had just begun to die down after the lunch rush. After cleaning tables and putting cups and saucers back in place, Y/N finally felt like she had it all under control. There was no one in the shop, and looking at the time, the clock read 1:00 p.m., a perfect chance for Y/N to have her lunch break. She had scoffed a croissant earlier that morning and topped herself up with flat whites throughout the day, but now she was starving. She walked over to the door, flipping the ‘open’ sign to ‘close’ and walked back behind the counter to prepare herself something nice to eat.

She wasn’t long into making a ham and cheese toastie when she heard three loud knocks on the glass door. Usually she’d shout ‘’We’re closed’’ and continue what she was doing, but another three knocks followed, and she thought she’d just let them in and eat her sandwich another time.

As she turned around, she saw a hooded figure standing outside the door—it was lashing rain in London today (shocker) —but she could barely make their face out through the raindrops on the door. Nearing closer, she realised it was Harry. After a week, he’d returned. Maybe her pessimism wasn’t always right.

Letting him in, she moved back as he took his coat off, the black puffer soaked from the awful weather.

''Hello, you,’’ he smiled, lifting the hood of his jumper from his head. ‘’Didn’t realise you closed this early.’’

‘’Hiya,’’ she smiled back. ‘’Just closed for lunch, that’s all.’’

Furrowing his brows, he replied, ''U-Oh, right, I can come back later if you’re busy.’’

She laughed, taking his coat from him to hang it up on the coat stand next to the door. ‘’Don’t be silly. I’m only having a toastie, nothing special.’’

‘’Lovely stuff,’’ he said, clapping his hands together and following her towards the counter.

‘’How’ve you been?’’ she asked. ‘’Horrible weather today, isn’t it?’’ Classic brit filling empty silence with talks of the weather.

‘’I know, proper pain in the arse,’’ he laughed. ‘’Been good, though. Just back from a holiday with the boys, but so typical, I’ve come back to the shittest weather possible.’’

''Ooh, lucky you,’’ Y/N smiled as she resumed the making of her lunch. ‘’Go anywhere nice?’’

‘’Went to the Maldives for two days for a video,’’ he said nonchalantly, ‘’was a good laugh though.’’

‘’Wow, that must've been unreal.’’ she gasped, placing her sandwich on a small green plate before looking back at him. ‘’Can I get you anything to eat? I feel like a knob if I’m sat scoffing my face and I’ve not made you anything.’’

Harry smiled, watching as the girl moved her plaited hair so that it was out of her face. He thought she was quite pretty with her hair tied back, freckled cheeks, and a peach-coloured blusher on her face. She was wearing her same old green apron, but instead of the jumper she had on the last time he saw her, she had a striped long-sleeve top paired with black jeans. Yeah, she was really quite pretty, he thought.

‘’No, I’m fine, thanks. I got a meal deal in the airport earlier,’’ he paused. ‘’And I’m trying to keep off the cakes, but they do look bloody brilliant today.’’

Y/N laughed, ''Well, you’re in the wrong place if you’re trying to keep off the sweet stuff. I got cakes coming out of my ears in this place.’’

The conversation felt easy for Y/N. It was almost weird to think about their first few conversations, stiff and awkward, thinking the other was a bit rude and not really interested in making small talk. But now, it felt like they could talk for ages; the initial uneasiness was now a distant memory.

‘’So what brings you here?’’ she started. ‘’Surprised you’re not straight to bed after that long flight.’’

They sat down at a little table in front of the counter, Y/N enjoying her lunch and Harry watching, fumbling with his fingers.

''Oh, trust me, I’m knackered.’’ he laughed. ‘’But I thought I’d pop in. Remember, I said I would last time, finish where we left off, and all.’’

Course Y/N was remembered. It had been all she thought about for the last seven days.

‘’Oh right, yeah’’ she said between mouthfuls of her sandwich. ‘’Well,tell me all about this Maldives trip then.’’

✩ ✩ ✩

A few days had passed since Y/N and Harry’s last encounter. And that was all she could think about.

After leaving her cafe to go back to his flat, the pair shared a few jokey text messages: Harry sending her random pictures he’d taken on his holiday and Y/N sharing snaps of new baked goods that she’d made, with him responding with a classic ‘Save me one.’ It was nothing serious, but it was nice to have playful conversations away from her busy working day and Harry’s video shoots.

Despite only a small proximity separating the pair, Y/N longed for the next time she might bump into him, almost hoping that a parcel would get delivered to the wrong address to give her some reason to knock on his door or that he’d finally succumb to his sweet tooth and trod down the stairs to try whatever fresh baked treats she had to offer.

It made her laugh that only a few weeks ago she’d dreaded the thought of seeing him and hated the thought of having to make small talk with him, but now it was all she’d thought of. And don’t get her wrong, she was no romanticist or anything of that sort but when she found something she liked or in this case, a person she liked talking to, it was hard for her to take her mind away from them.

Another day had come to an end for Y/N. The aroma of freshly brewed coffee lingered in the air as she wiped down the last table in her cosy little shop. It had been a long day for her, filled with the hustle and bustle of customers coming in and out. She felt swept off her feet trying to make sure everything ran smoothly and made a mental note that maybe it was time to hire some help.

Now, as the clock struck closing time, Y/N couldn’t wait to retreat to the comfort of her upstairs flat. Locking up the cafe, she made her way up the narrow staircase and into her home. The familiar creak of the stairs under her feet echoed in the empty hallway—a comforting sound that signalled the end of another day’s work.

As she reached the door, she let out a contented sigh—peace at last. Turning the key in the lock, she pushed open the door and stepped into her sanctuary.

The soft glow of string lights greeted her, casting a warm and inviting atmosphere through the room. She’d forgotten to turn them off the night before and was surprised the batteries had lasted the day. Kicking off her shoes, she padded across the hardwood floor to her living area, where a plush green sofa beckoned her to sink into its comforting embrace.

Her days always went the same after work. She’d come upstairs, sit down on the sofa, and stick some random television show on for some background noise, needing to just sit for a moment after being on her feet all day. The stress of the day always melted away as she allowed herself to just be in the moment, relishing the peace and quiet of her own space.

Next to the sofa, a stack of books awaited her attention. She had been reading some Dolly Alderton novel that a friend had recommended, and so far she was loving it. There was nothing quite like getting lost in the pages of a good book; all she needed now was a nice cup of tea, and she’d be in heaven.

It’d felt like hours had passed as Y/N finally got to the end of another chapter. The gentle hum of the TV in the background continued as Y/N settled down the book and turned her attention to her phone, wondering if she had any new messages from a certain someone. And lo and behold, she did.

Clicking the message open, she saw a picture that Harry had taken from what she assumed to be his living room. Her view was similar, just at a different angle—the Shoreditch’s streets looking equally as ‘London’-esque from both their windows. He had added a little message to the bottom of it: ‘This weather is mental. Think it calls for tea and some cake.’ Y/N hadn’t seen the message with her phone on ‘Do not disturb’ and her eyes well focused on the piece of fiction she was reading, and he had sent it over twenty minutes ago, but she assumed he was still next door, not wanting to dare step out in the treacherous rain.

She wondered if he was hinting at her to send him a text and offer some cakes from downstairs. Or maybe even invite him over to try the pastries she’d sent him a picture of only a few days ago. Of course, Y/N didn’t really know if he was hinting at anything, but she really hoped he was. The time on her phone showed it was just past 7:00 p.m., and having eaten a small lunch earlier in the day, she too was in the mood for some cake and tea, not really bothered by the thought of cooking dinner and having to wash up loads of pots and pans in the kitchen.

She lifted herself up from the comfy sofa and into her kitchen space, opening the fridge to see if she had any nice delights to cure her craving. There sat a small blue tupperware, inside two vanilla cupcakes, left over from the day, perfect. Two. Perfect.

Whether he had been hinting or not, Y/N took the tupperware in hand and stuffed her feet into her fluffy slippers. Unlocking her door and making her way down the stairs towards his door, she felt giddy. She thought it was a nice gesture to turn up with a little treat that he had longed for, and she hoped maybe the two could share a nice chat over a cup of tea as they looked out on the London rain. It’d be nice.

As she got to the door, she lifted her hand up, ready to press the buzzer to his blue door, but as she did, she heard the faint strains of music drifting through the air, accompanied by a girl’s laughter. Her hand froze, and a wave of disappointment washed over her. Doubt crept into Y/N’s mind, and she couldn’t bring herself to interrupt whatever moment Harry was sharing with another.

With a heavy sigh, Y/N turned on her heel and retreated back up the stairs to her flat. She knew she was being silly, but she felt a sting in her heart, and she couldn’t shake the image of Harry’s front door from her mind.

Back in her kitchen. Y/N set the cupcakes on the counter; her appetite for something sweet was now long gone. She wondered if she had misinterpreted Harry’s kindness and their conversations as something more. Sure, the two had shared a few playful texts, updates throughout the day, and random pictures, but that was the extent of it so far. Y/N felt like an idiot.

She never did respond to Harry’s text that night.

✩ ✩ ✩

Another few days passed, and Y/N had finally gotten over her little strop. Well…sort of. She didn’t have much to go on other than the fact that she’d heard a woman’s voice and lots of laughter, which she knew didn’t necessarily mean Harry had a girlfriend, but she'd rather nip her feelings in the bud than wonder about the what-ifs that could of been had he opened the door. Plus, Y/N felt a bit silly. He’d never given an indication that their chats were anything more than friendly, and the texts they shared weren’t suggestive in any way—I mean, you could probably send your mother the same things. So she knew it was better to cut her little strop short before she got herself all tangled up in her feelings.

She’d had another long week in the cafe, busy with big orders and endless amounts of coffee, and she knew it was definitely time she put out an advertisement for a job vacancy. But that was a job for another day as she was currently getting ready to go out with a few friends in a pub just near Old Street. It had been a while since she’d found the time to meet up with people (with their big city jobs and her never ending hustle in the cafe) and considering she’d given Harry radio silence for the past few days, this was the most socialising she’d done outside of the occasional old lady in the cafe. So, Y/N was buzzing. She reached for her favourite pair of Adidas Sambas, their sleek black design accentuating her style. The leather was very worn despite carrying many stories of past adventures. Y/N made a mental note that she’d get a new pair out of her next paycheck. Her outfit was bold yet chic, a lot different from her usual jeans, t-shirt, and green apron combo. A leopard print midi skirt is paired with a black fitted crop top and a leather jacket over her shoulders to give the outfit unmistakable flair. She always enjoyed dressing up, even if it was just for a quick pint—it just gave her something to do and was a nice change from her usual get-up.

With a flick of her wrist, she grabbed her essentials—a phone, cardholder, and keys—and headed out the door. It wasn’t raining in London for once, with spring slowly creeping in, so Y/N didn’t bother with an umbrella, deciding her jacket was enough protection from whatever the weather had in mind. It felt nice as she walked along the busy Shoreditch streets with the city lights beckoning, couples holding hands, groups of friends laughing—it made her heart squeeze, and she felt like the night was promising her excitement and all sorts of possibilities.

The pub night was everything Y/N had hoped it would be. It had been a welcome contrast of warmth and laughter, and seeing her friends, who usually worked nine to five, was a breath of fresh air. With flushed cheeks from all the lively conversations and talks of fond memories, not to mention the five pints of fruity cider she had drank, Y/N left the pub with the cheesiest grin on her face. A few kisses to the cheek and warm hugs later, Y/N waved goodbye to her group of mates and headed back towards the Old Street roundabout.

The city seemed quieter now; most of its energy was subdued despite it only being 10:00 p.m. Walking around familiar streets, she felt a sense of comfort in solitude but wished she hadn’t forgotten her airpods because there’d be nothing better than a peaceful stroll accompanied by her favourite indie music playlist in the back.

The pub was only about a ten-minute walk from her flat, so it didn’t take too long, and Y/N felt herself subconsciously speed walking as the cold London air got to her, now regretting her choice of jacket. As she neared closer to her doorstep, she could see a hooded figure placed on it, a backpack in front of them, and a phone in their hand as they scrolled aimlessly. Her eyes felt a bit hazy from the cider, and she approached apprehensively, her mind wandering to the possibilities of it being a crazy ex-boyfriend or a drunken friend hoping to rest their heads for the night. But as she moved closer, her anxiousness eased. It was only her neighbour. Harry. Harry, who she’d given the cold shoulder to for the past few days.

His friendly face looked up at the sound of her approaching footsteps. A slightly flustered expression on his face.

‘’Hi Harry,’’ she smiled. ‘’You alright?’’

Getting up from his crouched position, he moved aside, letting her stand in front of her own door. ''Oh, you life saver, been waiting ages.’’

She looked up at him, a glow on her face, not too sure if it was caused by the pints or his general presence. ‘’What for?’’

‘’I’ve been a right numpty and locked myself out.’’ he laughed.

‘’Oh shit,’’ she laughed back, buzzing from alcohol. Y/N was a lightweight by definition; the smell of alcohol could probably get her drunk, and at this moment she felt buzzed.

‘’I know, pain the arse,’’ Harry said, pinching in between his eyes. ‘’Can’t even try to get a key cut because everywhere’s shut.’’

‘’You got any friends that’ll let you crash for the night?’’ Y/N asked, feeling genuine concern for the poor boy sitting outside their doors. She hadn’t even asked how long he’d been there—it could have been hours.

‘’Tried a few but got no response,’’ Harry sighed, "I guess no one wants a rogue sleepover at 10 at night.’’

‘’Good friends you’ve got,’’ she teased, confidence of drink taking over her.

‘’Oh shush you,’’ he playfully said back.

A small silence fell over the toy as Y/N fumbled around in her bag to find her keys, the street light giving her enough of a torch to be able to find them. Every time she drank, she’d experience a small panic that she’d managed to lose all of her belongings, but luckily for her, everything seemed intact.

‘’So what are you going to do?’’ Y/N said as she went to put her key in the lock.

Harry paused for a moment. While the two had shared the occasional message and nice chat over coffee, he felt a bit bold with what he was about to ask. Not being the most social person, he had weighed out the options of whether or not it would be awkward if she'd say yes to his question—he'd more than likely have to sit chatting for a while and then maybe have an uncomfortable sleep on whatever sofa or bed she’d have to offer—but at the same time, he reminded himself that it was only Y/N and whatever awkwardness could have come between them had well and truly been dissolved by their initial meeting. And truthfully, Harry was all for saying outlandish things and asking rogue questions, so if she did say no, he’d just take it on the chin and find somewhere else to go.

‘’I hate to ask,’’ he paused sheepishly. ‘’I really do. But by any chance, I could come in for a bit, or at least till one of my friends picks up their phone and lets me stay around theirs.’’

‘’You hate to ask?’’ Y/N smirked, cocking her head to one side. ‘’Am I really that insufferable?’’

Harry’s eyes widened at her words. ''N-no, no, not at all. It’s just that I thought, ’’

‘’Stop your blubbering for a moment,’’ she laughed. ‘’It’s fine, really.’’

‘’You sure?’’ he smiled. ‘’Don’t have to say yes, 'coz you feel sorry for me.’’

And yes, Y/N did feel a bit sorry for the blubbering boy sitting in front of their adjacent doors. She couldn’t imagine anything worse than being locked out of her own flat and left out in the cold in London with nowhere else to go—it was a frustrating inconvenience to say the least. Plus, Y/N was always a bit of a generous soul, never really able to say no to people, always biting her tongue when she felt awkward, and with a few pints combined, she was feeling especially generous.

‘’Honestly, no bother.’’ she replied, unlocking her door. ‘’I’ll probably be awake for the next few hours anyway, so companies are good.’’ An absolute lie on Y/N’s part. Any drink would usually send Y/N into a tired haze, and she couldn’t think of anything better than sticking on her pyjamas and curling up in bed, but it’d have to be put on hold for the night.

Following her up the stairs and into her living area, Harry let his eyes analyse the room. Fairy lights adorned nearly every wall, blankets crowded on the sofa, a few plants dotted around the room, and an endless amount of cookbooks—while Harry didn’t know too much about Y/N, he could still recognise that her little flat was an exact replica of her as a person.

‘’Nice place,’’ he said, placing his backpack down on the wooden floor.

‘’Cheers,’’ she smiled, ‘’similar to yours?’’

‘’Similar size, but mines full of cardboard boxes at the moment,’’ he laughed, ‘’yours has a lot more life to it.’’

‘’Took a good few IKEA trips to get it this perfect, I won’t lie.’’ Since walking in, Y/N had dropped her bag by the door, walking into the kitchen space to find some snacks or atleast a drink to give to her unexpected guest.

‘’You want a cider?’’ she asked, rummaging through the fridge to find a can of Strawberry Old Mout that she had left over from the last time she had a guest in her flat. She couldn’t help but feel a bit nervous as she looked around the brightly lit fridge - it felt weird having Harry in her flat. Different somehow, more intimate than their casual chats down in the cafe or over text. But especially after her little moment of weakness the other day and the fact that he more than likely had a girlfriend, she pushed those thoughts aside and focused on being the good host she was.

"You know what- I’ll take one," he replied,thinking nothing sounded better than a cold cider after his shambles of an evening. ‘’Only if you’re drinking too - don’t wanna start getting leathered on my own,’’

‘’As if you’d get leathered off of one cider,’’ Y/N laughed, passing him a can and cracking open her own, ‘’Plus I’m 5 ciders deep already so think it’ll be me getting leathered, not you.’’

Harry shared a laugh with her, holding his hands up in defeat, ‘’Alright, you piss head. You just been necking ciders on London streets then or what?’’

‘’Oh shut up,’’ if she had been closer to him, Y/N probably would of swatted him on the arm for the absolute nonsense that left his mouth but the kitchen counter separated the two, so she kept her arms to her side, ‘’I was just out in the pub.’’

‘’So that’s what the mysterious Y/N gets up to when she’s not running a cafe,’’ he said, raising his eyebrows as if he’d uncovered some maddening truth about her.

‘’Mysterious?’’ she snorted back regrettably but she couldn’t help it and plus after a few drinks, her snorted laugh always seemed to appear.

‘’Well ye-yeah, mysterious.’’ he paused, taking another big gulp of his drink and Y/N wouldn’t have been surprised if he’d managed to finish it by now. ‘’Haven’t heard from you in a few days and then you come swanning in after a few pints, I’d say that’s pretty mysterious.’’

‘’God, you talk some shit,’’ she said, laughing at his use of words.

‘’S’true though, haven’t heard from you.’’

‘’I haven’t heard from you either?’’

‘’You liar! I texted you the other night and got no reply,’’ Harry said, clutching at his heart in a playful manner, ‘’really hurt my feelings.’’

‘’You’re such a windup,’’ she grinned, ‘’Didn’t take you as the type to be hung up over no replies,’’

‘’Broke my heart really. I was waiting for you to reply and say you had a cake and a chat waiting for me but got nothing.’

So maybe Y/N hadn’t taken his hints wrongly.

‘’And then my sister turned up and I couldn’t even come round and pester you for a slice of lemon cake,’’ he continued, ‘’my plan went out the window,’’ His sister! Y/N mentally scolded herself in her head for being so silly that night and thinking the worst.

‘’Your plan?’’ she challenged.

‘’Yeah, my plan to butter you up and then steal every last slice of cake you had going for you.’’ he joked.

What an idiot, Y/N thought. But a funny idiot, nonetheless. ‘Ah, well, you should have told me your sister was round and I would have been more than happy to share something with her - sure, she would have been better company than you anyways,’’ she joked, in return. She couldn’t tell if it was the ciders making her head feel dizzy or nonchalant playfulness, but she felt giddy and confident.

‘’No one likes a liar, Y/N.’’ he beamed, ‘’We both know that’s a massive lie.’’

‘’Hmm maybe.’’

‘’So, pub, did you say?’’ he questioned, ‘’W-was it a date or?’’

‘’Think I go to the pub on a first date?’’ she said, raising her brow in amusement.

‘’Nothing wrong with a pint and a bag of crisps for the first date.’’ he defended.

‘’It’s that where you take all your unlucky ladies then?’’

‘’Ha! Unlucky. It’d be the luckiest night of their lives,’’

‘’Oh I bet,’’ Y/N laughed, ‘’But no, just a few drinks with some of my friends. Nothing mad.’’

‘’Very cool.’’ Harry grinned.

‘’Shut-up,’’ Y/N grinned back in return.

The two fell into a silence, each other not really knowing what to say. Y/N could feel the lull of the alcohol weaning off and she knew she’d be drifting off if she stayed up any longer. She didn’t want to come across rude, enjoying his company but her bed was calling her name and she needed to call it a night knowing she had to be up in the morning to sort out admin for the cafe.

‘’I think I might head to bed, I’m feeling knackered.’’ Y/N sighed.

‘’Leaving me all alone, one cider deep?’’ Harry laughed.

‘’Sorry but I don’t think I can keep my eyes open for any longer,’’ A giggle uttering from her lips, ‘’You’re more than welcome to stay on the sofa thought until you get your keys sorted and all.’’

‘’You’re a star, Y/N.’’ Harry smiled in return as he made his way to the couch to make himself comfortable for the night. He couldn’t have been more grateful for her in the moment, thinking back to not so long ago when he was out in the cold, locked outside of his flat. Course, they’d made familiar with each other the past few weeks but he couldn’t get over the kindness of the girl - or pity that she had for him - but either way he was thankful nonetheless.

‘’There’s a few blankets on the side and some cushions so it shouldn’t be too uncomfortable,’’ Y/N paused, walking over the basket of random throws and cushions she had by the corner of her living room, signalling him to choose his pickings. ‘’Right, I’ll see you in the morning. Night Harry.’’

‘’Night, Y/N. Thanks again.’’ And that was the last thing he saw, her gleaming smile, cheeks red from alcohol as she walked down the hall to the last room that he knew now was her bedroom and headed to bed.

Y/N woke up with a pounding headache the next morning followed by a dry mouth and a queasy stomach. She hadn’t even drank much but in her defense she rarely ever did so any alcoholic beverage would always send her sideways the next day. Blinking against the harsh sunlight streaming through her window, she groaned, regretting the cheap ciders of the previous night. Her memory was a bit hazy, blurred by the fog of alcohol but she did remember one thing. There was a Harry on her sofa.

Dragging herself out of bed, she quickly sorted herself out, combing through her hair and fixing her pyjamas, not wanting to look an absolute state in front of the boy. She stumbled to the kitchen, head throbbing with every step, desperate for a glass of water. But as she walked into her living space, he was nowhere to be found. Surely she hadn’t been so drunk she had imagined the whole night.

She could remember everything from the loud music of the pub, the dancing and laughs she shared with her friends. And she most definitely remembered the blue eyed boy that was sat outside her front door, locked out from his home.

She did a quick check of her phone to see if she had any texts from Harry but the only notifications were a few Instagram tags from her mates and a text from her mum asking what she thought of the banana loaf she had made. Nothing from Harry.

Walking around the kitchen to grab a glass for her water, she noticed out of the corner of her eye the little notepad she had on her kitchen counter was opened, a few words scribbled on it and a black biro pen next to it.

On the note read ‘Thank you for letting me stay last night, you’re an angel. I had to leave early this morning to meet the landlord for a spare key but I really do owe you. Let me know when you’re free, I’m thinking of dinner on me? Thank you again, Harry x’

With a little smile on her lips as her fingers traced over his messy handwriting, she felt a sigh of relief. Dinner on him, it was and she couldn’t wait.

a/n: thank you for reading. sorry for the wait!!! there defo won't be a long wait for part three. this is such a slow burn but promise it gets more cutesy in part three <333

#w2s #wroetoshaw #w2s x reader #harry wroetoshaw #harry lewis #harry w2s #sidemen #w2s fic #w2s imagine #wroetoshaw imagine #wroetoshaw oneshot #hollytoshaw #chris md #arthurtv #sidemen x reader

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stealeroflemons · 1 year

Text

eah thingy but it's if they had their own musical numbers in an eah musical BECAUSE I SAID SO #24 (PART I?)

this is also because I'm a theater person and I'm having performance withdrawals, and I'm watching Rise of The Pink Ladies, and Glee again, the withdrawals are real

Raven's solo would be called "Not Evil" where it's just her walking into ever after high trying to tell people that she's not evil and she really doesn't want to be like her mother (think when she first walked into the school with Maddie and everyone ran away when they saw her)

There would be a number with all the princess' called "What Princess' Do" during princessology where they go over the core fundemetals of being a princess (but not real ones, like stuff about smiling and learning to balance crowns on your head and always looking pretty) and it would absolutely be choreographed like "we both reached for the gun" from Chicago where everyone is being puppeteered

Headmaster Grimm has this stoic number called "Legacy" where he explains the importance of signing the Storybook of Legends

The Wonderlandians would absolutely have their own number called "Out of Wonder" which explains the whole Wonderland curse with mini solos about how it effected their lives

There's also a "Tea-Time!" interlude between scenes with big set changes where it's Maddie and possibly other students setting up a small tea party

Apple gets a solo called "The Apple Doesn't Fall Far" where it's her talking to Raven or Briar or someone about how Apple strives to follow her mom's legacy (think how she acted before Thronecoming)

The hardcore villain kids get a number called "Wickedly Cool" and it's bsically them singing about how being wicked and evil is cool and not as bad as some people make it out to be

Apple and Daring get a duet called "Destined Together" about how perfect they are for each other and are, of course, destined to be together forever after

On that note, the "Destined Together (Reprise) features both Apple and Darling, and Daring and Rosabella having this heartfelt moment where they go back and forth realising that they were destined for someone else

Briar and Faybelle also get a duet called "Frenemies Forever" where Faybelle just goes on about how much she appreciates Briar as her frenemy, and Briar sings along saying she doesn't really get it but Faybelle just keeps going, REALLY dramatic, about all the great benefits of having a frenemy

#raven queen #maddie hatter #ever after high #eah #briar beauty #faybelle thorn #apple white #bribelle #kitty cheshire #lizzie hearts #darling charming #daring charming

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celestialfantasiess · 1 year

Note

hellooo im back 😍 did u miss me

obessed w ur writing right now oh my gosh 🤭 could i request a mc who sings a lot out in the open? like they could js be in the house of lamentation and start singing random songs they love

theyre all ok with it.. but then mc starts singing a song that lilith liked.. how do they react? do they ask them to stop singing that song? to stop singing at all? do they just cherish the memory of lilith? or do they react some other way? i must know 🙏

- 🍭 anon!!!

requests : closed <3

Sorry for the inactiveness but i'm back at school after vacation so it's kind of getting used to it again and the fandoms i'm interested in really depend on the week with me so i'll probs start writing less for obey me and more for also other fandoms but dw if i haven't answered your request yet i still will but it might just take me a while. The give away will also continue as planned. :) And yes of course 🍭 anon, here you go. :)

。lucifer 。

‣ If he's holding something he might just drop it out of shock, that wouldn't be possible. It isn't possible what was he thinking. Lilith isn't here it's just mc.

‣ Immediately retreats into his office so he can work on his paperwork, he was so sure that mc had been Lilith. For the next few days he will throw himself into his work to forget how sad he had felt when he heard mc sing Lilith's favorite song.

。mammon 。

‣ At first he doesn't even notice what you are singing. he just likes listening to your voice whenever you do sing which is often. But once you get to the chorus he recognizes it.

‣ He watches you from the kitchen counter with glassy eyes. As soon as the song is over you he asks if you can sing it again.

。leviathan 。

‣ It's one of the few times he has come out of his room, when he sees you in the kitchen he immediately halts in his tracks and turns around. Even if you are his player 2 he has no energy to communicate with anyone right now.

‣ However when he turns around he halts in his tracks, that song you are singing. It's Lilith's favorite song. Pulling out his phone he records your voice and he walks back to his room without you knowing he was ever there.

。satan 。

‣ He himself has never known Lilith but because he was born from Lucifer he has some of Lucifers feelings about things.

‣ And somehow he almost gets a sad feeling, no that's not right, a nostalgic feeling when you sing this song. Even though he is pretty sure he has never heard you sing this before and he has no emotional link to whatever you are singing.

‣ Will keep listening and won't ask you to stop, is slightly confused as to why he is reacting like this to you singing a song like you always do.

。asmodeus 。

‣ He knew you were a great singer, you had sung to him on multiple occasions with songs of his request so it didn't surprise him when you were singing in the kitchen when he came downstairs.

‣ The thing that surprised him was that you were singing her song, Lilith's favorite song. His eyes turned glassy at the memories he had of her singing that song whenever she could not stopping once no matter how many people asked her to stop.

。beelzebub 。

‣ Is one of the few that really likes it because it makes him remember Lilith, how much she also loved singing that song whenever she could. How she wouldn't stop singing it even after having been asked multiple times to stop.

‣ Asks mc to sing it more often for him, he enjoys hearing it it makes him remember the good memories he has with Lilith.

。belphegor 。

‣ For a second he thought he was back in the celestial realm with Lilith, with her singing her favorite song whenever she could as often as possible. But no he is still in the devildom and she is far way from him in a place he can't reach.

‣ Won't ask you to stop and also won't outwardly react to you singing Lilith's favorite song but for the next few days no one is capable of getting him out of the attic while that specific song is playing on repeat in the background.

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cataztrophi · 6 months

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TAZ November Celebration 15: Silly/One

And that's the month, folks! I've learned so much doing @taznovembercelebration, it's the first time I've done an event like this and I'm really proud I met my goal! It's been awesome seeing the great work everyone else has been doing! For my 15th and final entry, I got "silly," then drew "one" to get more direction. This was surprisingly difficult to get started with, and I tried a few ideas that I might develop later, but I'm really happy with what I made once I got going on the idea I liked! This one is a little ridiculous, and I tried to lean into the taakitz dumbass energy, which I hope I captured well.

Taako was never one to believe in unbreakable rules. Generally, he felt most rules, codes, and laws could be broken if you had a good enough reason. Sometimes you didn’t even need that. If he were forced to name any rules that he felt were truly unbreakable, he would have two: one, no matter what the recipe says, use more garlic. And two, when the Timewarp comes on your Spotify playlist, you do the fucking Timewarp. Yes, you had to do the moves, and yes, that included if you were in the middle of making a lemon cake with Swiss meringue buttercream.

Taako was thoroughly enjoying himself as he slid his Swiss meringue into the fridge to cool, then executed an enthusiastic jump to the left to gather his dry ingredients for the cake. He had a rare day off work, he was doing what he loved, and he could sing at the top of his lungs because he knew his downstairs neighbor wasn’t home yet.

He wiggled around in a circle with the dry mixture in his hands, belting out the end of the chorus.

“That really drives you insa- FUCK!” The bowl clattered to the floor as he turned around and saw someone standing in the door to his kitchen. Flour, sugar, and all the rest of it exploded over every surface, including the nice shiny shoes and perfectly-creased slacks of his visitor. It was Kravitz. Of course it was.

Taako scrambled to pull his phone out of his pocket and pause his music, his heart still pounding from the shock.

“Kravitz,” he gasped out, “I thought you worked till six.”

Kravitz, as always, looked perfect, with his handsome face and his all-black suit and his long dreads pulled up in a knot behind his head. He also looked completely stunned, which Taako couldn’t blame him for, since he’d just witnessed his trainwreck of a sing-along followed by a catastrophic baking failure.

“They just changed my schedule,” he said after a moment, his expression turning sheepish. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to interrupt. Here, let me–” He stooped down to retrieve Taako’s mixing bowl–thank the gods he’d been using a metal one.

“Fuck, you don’t have to-” He was hot from embarrassment and itchy from his new flour coating.

Kravitz straightened up and set the mixing bowl on the table. He looked Taako over, eyes lingering a little, which Taako hoped was because he was wearing a very short pair of running shorts he’d had since high school, but was more likely because he looked like some sort of feral snow creature.

“I… are you okay?” Kravitz asked.

Taako nodded. “Yep! Right as rain, my dude! Right as grain? No, that’s nothing.” Kravitz laughed, probably out of pity more than anything, but at this point Taako would take it.

“I’m sorry I startled you.” Why did he get to have the softest fucking voice on the planet? And why was he allowed to direct it at vulnerable people like Taako, at this, the worst moment of his life thus far?

“Oh, I knew you were there,” he said with faux nonchalance, leaning against the refrigerator.

Kravitz raised his eyebrows. “You did."

“What, you didn’t like my little one man show?”

He grinned. “No, it was- it was really impressive.”

“You should see what else my hips can do.” He smirked as he watched Kravitz’s eyes go wide. He was definitely looking at the shorts now.

“I… um, I have your mail!” he announced. Gods he was cute.

Taako raised an eyebrow, having fun teasing him. “Are you holding it for ransom or something? Cause I’m not not into it.”

“No I-” he stopped. “Isn’t that a crime?”

He shrugged. “Crime can be hot.”

“Mail crime?”

“I prefer males, yeah.”

Kravitz snorted. “You’re the worst.”

“My kitchen’s covered in shit, I’ve earned it.”

“Anyway.” Not to be derailed this time, Kravitz pulled several envelopes from the pocket of his suit jacket. “Some of your mail got addressed to apartment one instead of apartment two again. Where should I put these?”

“Just find the least floured surface.”

“Right.” He set them down on the countertop nearest the door. “Can I help you clean this up since I helped cause it?”

Taako crossed his arms. “I told you, that was intentional. When they put me on Broadway I’m gonna use glitter.”

“Oh, fuck, that would be the worst,” Kravitz laughed.

“Gonna drop ten tons of it from the ceiling.”

“The cleaning staff would hate you!”

Taako was laughing too, now. “The whole fucking world would hate me, my man! The world’s first completely unifying issue: fuck that guy with the glitter!”

They took a moment to catch their breath, and Kravitz sighed. “Please let me help you with this.”

Taako waved a hand, dismissing the request. “Nah, the kitchen’s too small anyway. We’d just be bumping into each other.”

“That’s not such a bad thing.”

His heart lurched. He’d been flirting with Kravitz for weeks now, but this was the first time he’d taken the initiative. Was that… was there a chance he was interested? Not just flirting for fun?

“Maybe not,” he said, his mouth suddenly dry. “You are gonna want to change, though, it’s gonna be bad enough getting flour out of your pants.”

A grin spread across Kravitz’s face. “I’ll be back in a minute.” He turned and left the apartment, and Taako spent a moment leaning against the counter, just breathing.

He shouldn’t get his hopes up. Chances were Kravitz was just having fun, and so was he, but gods, Taako hadn’t felt like this in a while. Even longer since he’d fallen for someone this kind, or talented, or–

Taako pushed himself away from the counter and took a look at the mail Kravitz had brought him. That was a bill, that was a bill, that was a request for donations he couldn’t help with, bill— wait. Mixed in with the envelopes was a small sheet of lined paper, with a letterhead from the company Kravitz worked for. There were some messy notes scribbled on it in Kravitz’s handwriting.

He wasn’t going to look at it, just give it to Kravitz when he got back.

The notes were divided into an introduction, body, and conclusion. In the introduction section, Kravitz had written, “tell him what you like about him: handsome, funny, smart, great cook, nice to see every day.”

He should stop reading. This was clearly something private, and he didn’t want to intrude, or for that matter, have it confirmed that Kravitz was interested in someone else. Someone at work, it looked like, which was fine. Great, even.

“Taako, I think I–” Kravitz skidded into his apartment, wearing work jeans and no shoes, a panicked expression on his face. His gaze fell on the note in Taako’s hands. “Oh. You saw, then.”

Fuck. “Krav, I didn’t mean-”

“I just didn’t know how to tell you,” he said in a rush. “This… uh… wasn’t my top choice, though.”

Taako took a deep breath. This was fine. This was absolutely okay, and definitely not a collapsing five-tiered cake of a day.

“Hey, this afternoon hasn’t been great,” he said finally. “Do you want to just… have a do-over?”

Kravitz let out a sigh of relief. “That would be great, actually.”

Taako handed him the note. “So I didn’t see this, and you didn’t see…” he gestured towards the floury mess of his kitchen. “All that….”

He took a step back, brushed the worst of the flour off his apron, and said, “Hey, Krav! How was work?”

“Fine,” he said, biting back a smile. “How was your day?”

“There’s shit all over my kitchen,” Taako said.

Kravitz laughed quietly, then looked down at the note still in his hand. “Okay. Um, Taako, I think you’re handsome, and funny, and smart, and–”

Taako’s heart skipped a beat. Actually, it skipped several. To be completely honest, it felt like it jumped down a flight of stairs. “Wait.”

Kravitz looked up, alarmed. “Are you… I thought-”

“Are you asking me out?”

He blinked. “What did you think the note was about?”

Taako considered this for a moment. “I’d rather not say.”

“Okay, I’ll… try not to be concerned about that. Um, should I go on, or…?”

“Do you… is it like, important for you to finish, for self-actualization or something?”

Kravitz grimaced. “Honestly I’d prefer to just know. I kind of feel like I’m dying right now.”

“Oh! I mean, hell yeah, my dude! Let’s do it!”

“Okay!” Kravitz’s face lit up, and Taako could feel an answering grin spread across his own face. “We should, uh, probably get this flour cleaned up first.”

Taako snorted. “Oh yeah, cha’boy’s not dealing with that at midnight.” He cast a sidelong glance at Kravitz. “Or tomorrow morning.”

Kravitz’s eyebrows shot up. “Uh. Do you have a broom?”

“Right over there, handsome.”

#thanks everyone!!!#taz november celebration #taz balance #taako #taakitz #taz kravitz #troph writes

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queenlucythevaliant · 2 years

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The Weary World

For the colonists of Tycho-16b, Sol burned out on Christmas Eve night. This irony was not lost on the Mayphis sisters.

When Iza rose early on Christmas Eve, Emmy was already up and fiddling with the fuel cell settings. There were warm spiced buns on the table: not quite cinnamon, but sweet and goey all the same.

Most of the Christmas decorations from Earth had been lost, but they had managed to hold on to Mom's set of Dresden angel figurines. During Advent, they shared the shelf with Emmy's collection of model starships, which Iza privately found rather funny. Great big space angels towering over little metal ships, like in a pulpy sci-fi book. Still, the angels were beautiful: a small, lovely remnant of the home that no longer was.

For the most part, that Christmas Eve passed like any other. All afternoon, Iza and Emmy took turns retelling Christmas stories that they remembered from childhood: "The Gift of the Magi," "How the Grinch Stole Christmas," "It's a Wonderful Life," and so forth. After dinner, they prayed together and Emmy read the Nativity story out of the paper Bible. The pages made pleasant, nostalgic sounds as they turned.

Although there was a viewing party scheduled at the high school, they had decided not to go. It felt irreverent in more ways than one.

There was very little talk between sisters as dusk fell. Emmy just gestured to the backyard with a jerk of her chin, and Iza followed. They dragged travel cots out into the gathering dark and set them side by side in the dry, yellow grass.

It was Iza who broke the silence. "'It's the End of the World As We Know It' could be a Christmas song now, you know."

Emmy looked blank for a moment, but then she tossed her head back and laughed. "And the wise men said, 'We saw his star when it rose in the east, but then it went supernova and now we're lost,'" she retorted.

Iza chuckled, but the end of it turned into a sigh. "Why don't I make us a fire?"

"Yeah. That sounds nice."

There weren't many trees on Tycho-16b. Not like in upstate New York, where Iza and Emmy had spent their childhood, where the trees grew thick and dense and covered up the sky. On Tycho-16b, the sky was clear and endless. Picking out Sol was easy, once you knew which direction was which. Even though the fire was blazing hot now, Iza looked up and shivered. Soon, soon it would be gone.

Wordlessly, Emmy came over and arranged a blanket over her sister's shoulders. She moved to return to her own cot, but Iza grabbed her arm and held on. "Stay here," she said.

It was eerily quiet with everyone else in the neighborhood across town at the high school, so eventually Emmy started to sing carols. Her voice was high and sweet, if a little mournful: "They looked up and saw a star shining in the East beyond them far, and too the earth it gave great light and so it continued—"

After a while, Iza tucked her head into the crook of her sister's neck and slid halfway onto her lap. Emmy kept singing, softly. "O Little Town of Bethlehem," "O Holy Night." Somehow, she'd never noticed just how many Christmas carols mentioned the stars.

They were almost asleep when the flash of brightness appeared just where they were expecting it. Instantly, Emmy and Iza were both wide awake.

Emmy leapt to her feet, roughly shrugging Iza off her in the process. Bright silver lit up Sol's little twinkling diamond like the lighting of a match. Almost violent, really. The instinct to do something coursed through Emmy's blood, as though she could somehow stop it from happening.

Still on her cot, Iza made a kind of choked noise. "Maybe I shouldn't have watched it again," she whispered.

When the brightness dimmed a bit, Emmy flopped back down beside her sister, still looking up. "I never understood why you watched it the first time."

Light traveled slowly for the children of the FTL generation. It took light waves years to reach places that they could take their ships in a matter of months. For the children of FTL space travel, light was a thing that could be outrun.

Earth's sun had gone nova six and a half Universal Standard Years before, in June. It had engulfed the earth in flame. Iza had seen it from the viewport of the last ship as it fled away into the stars. Emmy had not; she'd hidden in their cabin with her reading pad and a cup of synthetic tea.

Now, the last of the light had caught up to them. Iza had cried all night, the first time.

She wasn't crying now. Her voice was almost a sob, but her eyes were dry. "It's not really the end, not yet. You know that, right?"

"'Rage, rage against the dying of the light,'" replied Emmy.

"'All shall be well and all shall be well and all manner of things shall be well,'" Iza countered.

Sol was silver-bright and dead. Six and a half light-years away, Earth and all its cities and mountains and oceans were nothing but space dust. And we're here, thought Emmy, suddenly bone-weary at the thought.

They laid back down after a while, Iza resting against the hollow of Emmy's body, radiating warmth. They stayed that way for a long, long time. Emmy's eyes drifted shut, but Iza kept gazing up and up. The fire burned down to coals, then went out.

Finally, with a yawn, Iza roused and shook herself. "We should go back inside," she said.

"You don't want to sleep out here?"

"Not really. It's Christmas tomorrow, remember? Gotta be up early."

Emmy squinted at her watch. "It's after midnight now, actually. Merry Christmas, Iz."

"Merry Christmas," Iza replied. Then, after a moment, "I wonder how much wearier the world can get before Christ finally comes back?"

"Oh, c'mon, you know it can always get wearier. But then, I think you were right before. All shall be well."

#okay so originally this was gonna be an outline for my Inklings Challenge Christmas story #then it turned into a draft #and then i read laurelin's 'longing for heaven hours: advent edition' post #so now I'm just sharing it as is #I'll write something else for the challange. this story is for tonight #it's very much how i feel right now #however since i am posting it as is i do need it understood that there was zero revision and zero research involved just saying #pontifications and creations #leah stories #unto us a child is born

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septembersghost · 1 year

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I literally can't listen to Unchained Melody without fucking sobbing

this won't help because it's a you-had-to-be-there kind of story, and possibly you also have to know my dad, but imma tell it anyway - one time when i was a kid, and visiting him in the summer, the righteous brothers version of that song came on the radio in his truck. and i had just seen the movie ghost for the first time (which my mom regretted because she felt i was too young for it, but it was one of her good friend's favorite movie), and it had low-key freaked me out. not patrick swayze or demi moore or whoopi of course, but the malevolent spirits that, like, tear ghosts away? (i've seen it since, but it's been a loooong time.) anyway, i associated the song with the movie, so i asked him to turn the station. or maybe i had a tape with me, i subjected him to my music however i could haha. we were going to the grocery store. we shop, we get out to the parking lot, and he's going to take the groceries out of the cart, and he acts like he's going to ask me to do something, and instead launches into this very loud, very dramatic rendition of unchained melody. in the parking lot. my dad is a boisterous, gregarious (and can be confrontational) person (and my mom is a great people person, how they got a painfully shy introvert as a daughter is anyone's guess), and he loves to sing. at a volume. he's filled in for the cantor at shul. he never quite understood my stage fright with my own singing, and tbh a big dose of that fearlessness really would've helped me. but imagine being, idk, at most ten years old, and your dad is like, "ohhhhhhhh myyyyyy LOOOOVE MY DAAARLIN' i've hungered for your TOUUUCH a long, lonely tiiiime. TIIIIIIIME GOOOOOES BY so sloooowwwly and time can do so much, are you STILL *MIIIIIIIINE*?" deranged behavior. but i was basically crylaughing. and i'm like, what on earth, why would you do it that way? and he's like, it was good enough for the king 🤷🏻‍♂️

years pass and i somewhat forget about this, and didn't know the reference (i got the elvis part, but not the specific moment), and at some point as a young teenager, for who knows what reason, i run across the performance from june 26, 1977. as previously mentioned, i was an elvis dabbler growing up as far as the hits go, but didn't know a lot of specifics. his presence was always there in a diaphonous way. so this is...somewhere on the internet in low quality (not youtube! i looked it up, it didn't exist yet? maybe it was a fansite, this would've been around the time a little less conversation was remixed and having a moment), in the middle of the afternoon at my desk in my room after school. i can still picture that room, my chair, the bookshelf. (funny how certain moments are like that - music tends to cement things in my mind more than anything else. there's this lyric from a song called "this is one of those moments" in yentl - i will always remember this chair, that window, the way the light streamed in...). there's no real reason for me to have recall of this, but i do. in the intervening years, unchained melody had remained this hilarious, somewhat embarrassing, image of my father. and this video just...almost hurts too much to look at, it's so heart-shattering. it just had me in tears. and i thought...this isn't something i can delve into right now, and i put it away, as if it went into a box on a shelf in the attic of my head. and he sort of resided there. waiting for the day when it was time to take him down and understand. suffice to say, obviously, he's not waiting up there anymore. he's in the heart chamber now.

it's such a tremendous and yet tremulous performance, it's almost like something in him so incandescent had to blaze forth, had to give that, had to prove it, had to exude the full beauty of his voice, had to be able to smile at that audience in spite of everything. it's very near...how to phrase this? transforming it into a sacred song, it's like he made it gospel. because he had to.

the conclusion here being, yes, same. it breaks me. but the little girl in my memory can still also hear my dad and the giggling, and i don't actually think elvis would mind that part. i think it might make him smile in that same way. so maybe we can hold close to a bit of both. god speed your love to me.

#sorry for random personal anecdotes lately #anonymous #letterbox #elvis presley #bubble wrap around my heart #unchained melody #*#i was a dreamer

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thelikesoffinn · 7 months

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I watched an american musical with a friend of mine and was once again reminded how different american musical theatre culture is compared to that in my country here in Europe.

The following happened: While we both really enjoyed the show, my friend turns to me towards the end and opened our conversation with

Friend: "Oh, but you know. The person that plays REDACTED."

Me: "Yeah, what about them?"

Friend: "Are they an understudy? They're not as good as the others. Their singing is still a bit lacking."

Me: *pokerface because I know that said person is definitely not an understudy and I also know why my friend would think they are*

Thing is: In my country, getting into musical theatre is extremely difficult. There's a lot of qualifications you have to meet and it's a long journey until you are fully there. That, of course, means that almost all of our actors and actresses are incredibly well trained and have, like, masters degrees in musical theatre with minor qualifications in dance, writing or music. (If they don't have those, which happenes rarely but does happen, they're basically Mozart of Musical Theatre and blessed with insane skills.)

And in the US that's not always the case. Not to say that most actors don't have that sort of education, but I've noticed that it's comparatively easier to get into the musical theatre scene even without all that prior shit.

I mean, I have read a vita along the following lines more than once so far:

Taylor 'Hunky' Jordan was born on october 12, 1999, in Santa Ana, California, as the child of a lawyer father and an accountant mother. As a child, he always dreamed of becoming a professional football star, and he spent all of middle - and high school preparing for his career as the best wide receiver ever.

After highschool, Taylor attended UCLA to get his degree in biochemistry while continuously honing his skills as a wide receiver thanks to his football scholarship.

His dream, however, was shattered just a day before his graduation. Slipping on a banana peel, Taylor injured his knee, thus loosing his dream of a career as a wide receiver.

Now forced to reconsider, Taylor decided that hey, I like to sing under the shower and I've seen high school musical! And if Troy Bolton could do it, so can I!

Now, at the age of 24, Taylor finally landed his first big role as "Generic Male Lead" in "Popular Broadway Musical" after starring in but two off-broadway productions!

Which is great and all, but you know what most vita's in my country look like? Here:

Oliver was born on the twelfth of December 1993 in RANDOM VILLAGE by RANDOM PROVINCE. From the start his parents knew he was meant to become an actor. His first words were "Then I defy you, stars!" And he was holding the script to Andrew Lloyd Webbers "Starlight Express" as he was born.

This was only cemented after seeing their four year old son perform the leading role in "The Rainbowfish" with his kindergarten group. Following that afternoon, his parents decided to hone their sons skills by sending him to Dementor Academy of Fine Arts in MOUNTAIN VILLAGE, where he would be trained in singing, dancing, acting, writing and algebra.

During school, Oliver starred in multiple shows and gathered enough experience to be accepted to Very Renouned University of Fine Arts in BIG CITY. There, under the instruction of his skilled instructors, he spent five years training hard to earn his masters degree in musical theatre.

While studying, he starred in many many many many productions as ensemble cast as well as understudy and walk-in-cover roles, polishing the skills his parents helped him hone even further.

Now, at the age of 30, he at last managed to land his first big role as "Male Lead" in "Musical That Has Been Extremely Popular In This Country Since The 80's" and we're all looking forward to see what the future will bring.

So needless to say, our main cast is often older, very skilled, and has a lot of experience. And that shows.

That is why my friend, to bring it all back, asked if that one person is an understudy. She mostly watches local musicals and is thus used to stellar performances, and anything less than that is mostly something done by understudies who are often still studying.

#musicals #musical theatre

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monstrousfemale · 2 years

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55 for the spotify ficlet!!

Thanks for sending this! ❤️ This song I'd almost forgotten about and then it turned up in the Wrapped list and I'm reminded I looove it.

It was 1991 when they managed to scrounge up the funds. Eddie’s van was in good shape, his job had been to make sure the thing could drive far enough that they could see the coast. Nancy and Robin had graduated from college, and they moved back home for a bit, which was when this idea finally managed to spring into reality. Steve had been saving up for a moment such as this very one since he graduated from high school, really.

They piled up into the van, Steve riding shotgun for the first leg of their trip, down seemingly endless stretches of road, headed South. Nancy and Robin were in the back, not in their seats with the seatbelts on, but sprawled on the floor, chatting in what sounded like riddles to the guys up front, in a language all of their own. They held hands, because that felt more like home than Hawkins ever could.

There was music flooding the air, crashing and rolling over them, something Eddie had picked. It was all heavy instrumentals, angry vocals, but it was low enough that their laughter still could be heard over it. Nancy started going over what they’d do once they reached New Orleans, then drove along the southern coast for beaches. She wanted to relax and start on a book as soon as she could sink her feet in warm sand. Robin suggested the very first thing would be to mourn Eddie, since vampires were supposed to burn up in the sun. Eddie interjected with a “ha-ha, hilarious Buckley”, but he shot her a smile over his shoulder. Nancy kissed her when Eddie wasn’t looking anymore, whispered about their shared room, about staying up late drinking and kissing.

Up front, Eddie had his left hand leaning on the headrest of Steve’s seat, fingers tangling and untangling in his hair as he drove. Steve was leaning into the touch, his own hands busy with a Rubik’s cube, courtesy of Dustin. It has been his farewell gift. The kids had mastered the thing a few years back, most of them able to complete them in a minute or two when they set their minds to it. But Steve never had finished one, and this was his resolution for this trip.

Eddie spent the whole time he was driving stealing glances at Steve’s face, appreciating the focus that put a crease between his brows, appreciating the glimpse of his tongue that poked between his lips when he wasn’t singing along to Eddie’s music. When he switched with Nancy as designated driver, he dragged a sleepy Steve from the passenger seat, half carried him into the back with him. They sat close together, Eddie’s back to the side of the van, Steve’s back pressed to his front, sitting between his legs. Eddie’s chin kept poking his shoulder when he would lean forward to speak into Steve’s ear, but Steve didn’t mind one bit.

Driving all the way down South was a pain, but it was also grand. They were tired, and they spent way more money in gas than they had first thought they would (Nancy kept telling Eddie “I told you so” after the second unplanned gas station stop). But they did zigzag to every major city they could, from Louisville to Nashville, then going out of their way to see Atlanta for the first time. There was freedom in having their own itinerary, in having no rush, no timelines. They’d figure things out as they went, and they slept in the van when they couldn’t be bothered to find a cheap enough hotel along the way. They had the safety of each other, and in the Summer the days were long, the light staying with them seemingly as long as they needed it.

The 15-hour trip turned into a three-day event, and none of them were too bothered by it. They were just enjoying each other’s company, singing along to the radio, making fun of the local station hosts as they passed by tiny towns, tinier even than their own.

Reaching New Orleans would be great, of course. It was what the main destination they had planned for, of course. But also it wasn’t even as important as just doing this. Steve and Robin were already in talks of a full on cross-country road trip after this, while Nancy and Eddie sat up front and discussed lodging options. Nancy had this thick travel guide which promised “1000 different stays down south!”, and Eddie kept dismissing options for increasingly silly reasons. It was driving her crazy, and he loved her for it.

The weather was beautiful as they got to the city center, but they wanted to keep driving until they hit the ocean, so they headed to Grand Isle. And then, just as they could see the blue in the horizon, clouds started marring the sky. They were hit with a massive summer storm, complete with loud thunder and lightning that struck closer and closer. They parked their van close to the beach, went outside anyway. The heavy downpour soaked them in no time, but they laughed and screamed and ran towards the ocean.

It didn’t matter that the car would get wet, it didn’t matter that they’d drag wet sand and clothes into the hotel later. Home had felt claustrophobic, too much and too little for any of them. But here in the pouring rain, watching the waves, leaning on each other, this felt like they were finally really living. It felt like being cleansed of the shadows of the past. From here, they couldn’t feel cursed anymore. From here, monsters were the stuff of movies, not their reality. As the rain halted and the sun peeked at them through the clouds, they felt new.

#steddie #ronance #fruity four #monstrous writing #monstrous lesbian #monstrous bigboy #idk where this came from #i just hope it doesn't suck lol

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deadcactuswalking · 8 months

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REVIEWING THE CHARTS: 14/10/2023 (Drake's 'For All the Dogs', Nines' 'Crop Circle 3', Lovejoy)

Content warning: mentions of sex, violence, anxiety and SO. MUCH. DRAKE.

Kenya Grace’s first chart hit is also her first chart-topper as “Strangers” hits #1! It’s a pretty big week, with or without Drake, and this is REVIEWING THE CHARTS!

Rundown

As always, we start the episode off with our notable dropouts, which as I always explain are always the songs exiting the UK Top 75 - which is always what I cover - after spending five weeks in the region or peaking in the top 40. “Always” by Bon Jovi is not included, but we do see the loss of some 2023 hits like “TRIPLE THREAT” by Headie One, K-Trap and Clavish, “Slime You Out” by Drake featuring SZA (thanks to the three-song rule - though it’s a toss-up whether this one will actually come back), “Tension” by Kylie Minogue, “Feel It” by Jazzy, “TELEKINESIS” by Travis Scott featuring SZA and Future, “Speed Drive” by Charli XCX and “Little Things” by Jorja Smith, as well as some old songs that won’t go away temporarily going away, those being “Dog Days are Over” by Florence + the Machine and “Someone You Loved” by Lewis Capaldi.

What’s always infinitely more interesting are the gains, of which there aren’t all too many this week. We do see the biweekly return of a Fleetwood Mac song with “Dreams” at #73, and then for our notable gains, we see boosts for “Escapism.” by RAYE featuring 070 Shake getting what must be a third or fourth wind at #54, “Back on 74” by Jungle at #30, “I Remember Everything” by Zach Bryan featuring Kacey Musgraves at #29, “Stick Season” by Noah Kahan at #28 and “ecstacy” by SUICIDAL-IDOL at #26. I’m not really complaining either, most of these are great songs. Finally, in the top 10, Sonny Fodera and Clementine Douglas grab their first ever top 10 hit with “Asking” at #10, also granting MK’s his second as a credited artist - it did surprise me how he’d only grabbed one before.

This week’s top five on the UK Singles Chart consists of two Drake songs at the tail: “IDGAF” featuring Yeat at #5 - yes, seriously, Yeat is in the top five - and “First Person Shooter” featuring J. Cole at #4. Otherwise, we have “greedy” by Tate McRae at #3, “Prada” by casso, RAYE and D-Block Europe at #2 and of course, “Strangers” at #1. Now to run through the new songs, of course finishing with Drake but starting far from it.

NEW ARRIVALS

#75 - “Lil Boo Thang” - Paul Russell

Produced by Sean Cook

I am getting older. Not too quickly, and I’m still young but I am aging gradually like everyone does. I also feel like I’m getting a tad more sociable, a bit more willing to put myself out there. This song samples “Best of My Love” by the Emotions, a classic disco track that is used extensively and liberally in this new song. It peaked at #4 in 1977, and I’m not THAT old, not that being old enough to remember the hits of 1977 would make my criticism less valid or anything. Hell, this song does have some new things about it - it’s not two minutes thanks to TikTok attention spans, and he makes references to the NBA 2K games - though even those are 24 years old now. Yet despite that… I think I want to hug this guy at a wedding we’re mutual invitees of, ask him about how his life has been since I last saw him a couple years ago, and make 15-year-old in-jokes we’ve had since we went to school. Everyone has an inner middle-aged person in them, I think this song takes it out of me. It’s been bubbling up for a while and it is pure joy. The guy can barely sing but it doesn’t matter because of the fast, rap-like melodies and the delightful jazzy soundbed, as well as that undeniable groove that may be very plastic, but still gets me excited. If I heard this at an outdoor party full of those 35 and over (and sadly, their kids), I’d have to go to the back and to the front. The bridge with him interpolating the Emotions sample and the computer-esque vocoder just to tick of all the boxes is adorable too. This song is cute, it’s a jam, you young whipper-snappers just wouldn’t get it.

#60 - “TLC” - Digga D

Produced by P YouGotThat

Now we have a streak of four songs somewhere in the middle of the chart which I honestly don’t think I’ll have a lot to say about, not because they’re bad but because these are chart regular appearances just doing business as usual, and isn’t the album entries from Nines and Drake we have coming up, or a newcomer like Paul Russell, or a general oddity like a heavy rock song charting, which we will see later. It’s just business as usual, and this is especially true for Digga D. He is still on his whole late 90s-early 2000s US rap throwback style, this time directly sampling “Bumpy’s Lament” by Soul Mann & the Brothers, probably better known as the loop Dr. Dre used in “Xplosive” featuring Hittman, Six-Two, Nate Dogg and Kurupt, which appears on the iconic 2002. Whilst never released as a single, it’s a pretty iconic beat, and is still certified silver in the UK. Is it a good song? Well, not really in my opinion, at least outside of Nate Dogg, who improves every track he’s on tenfold, so maybe Digga D’s more subtle use of the sample under extra layers of horns and a particularly gross-sounding drill beat can do something more interesting with it? Yeah, not really, the hi-hats sound like fruits sticking to each other in the fridge, and Digga D is usually at least a bit more energetic than this. God, he’s actually one of the more lively UK drillers, but he says in the chorus how tired he is of fame, and it shows. This is a pretty depressing song if you consider that… well, it would be if he did anything interesting outside of that chorus which adds less potency to his flexing, sex bars and mockery of dead teenagers than I think he wants it to. This is just sad in a pathetic kind of way. At least the sample’s cool.

#59 - “Hey DJ” - Joel Corry

Produced by Joel Corry, Neave Applebaum and Punctual

Hey, Joel, I think you missed a feature credit somewhere. You may have dropped it on your way to Spotify, I believe you mean to credit Roc Star on the vocals? No? Okay, well, she’s about as faceless as she is nameless in her performance anyway, in a pretty typical Euro-trance throwback that at least has the cheesy synth builds and a pulsing Cascada-esque feel to it all, even if the washes of white noise and ambiance get a bit much since they’re not very aptly blended into the song, it just feels like the synth pads are full of flat air. In fact, flat would be a pretty apt way of describing this entire song. It’s a shame because I have a fondness for this kind of sound, yet this feels a bit too tight to work in that context, and way too unabashedly cheesy to work in any other.

#41 - “Me & U” - Tems

Produced by Guilty Beatz

Those of you who read my 2006 episode will know I am a big fan of the Cassie song of the same name, which of course isn’t sampled here, it’s just a coincidence. This is a much more chill Afrobeats single from Tems, and one thing that stands out to me at first is the opening line to the first verse: “For me to come out, it must mean I am at the door”. The continued sense of agency surrounding her relationship in the first verse and intro seems to erode in the second verse, as she makes herself a blank canvas for her lover. The sliding guitars and fluttering percussion, feeling almost manic in rhythm, really accentuates that something is deteriorating… but not necessarily in a bad way. Tems’ agency and self-consciousness dissolves not as a result of manipulation but simple comfort over hours and hours of being together with them, inferred by the constant chanting backing vocals intertwined into the beat and the really perhaps-too-repetitious lyrics. He still needs to prove himself though - she needs faith and he needs to show her some substance before she can fully be part of his “matter”. It’s a hypnotisingly cute mutual love song and of course, whilst I’d prefer a more climactic bridge or a chorus that consists of more than four words repeated ad nauseam, I completely get why the song is that way, and it kind of works for me. Not fully, but it’s close - this is good.

#39 - “You & Me” - JENNIE

Produced by Teddy Park

Oh, how I wish these two songs weren’t separated by “Calm Down” on the chart. Regardless, JENNIE may not seem like a chart regular but she is from the group BLACKPINK, of which we’ve heard solo efforts from before, with LISA, ROSÉ and JISOO all charting solo songs, and I actually liked all of them, some more than others, so I was excited to hear JENNIE’s addition to the BLACKPINK solo canon. Well, again, it’s not close to another song of this title I much prefer - this time by Disclosure - but it’s still okay. Perhaps stuck in 2019 given the vocaloid sample that provides much of the backing melody alongside the charmingly dated synths, snap percussion and JENNIE doing a bit of a Selena Gomez impression, but that’s not my least favourite era of pop, and the shimmering slide into the pre-chorus is a smooth, inspired transition that… oh, my God, they did it again. This is just like when I heard ROSÉ’s “On the Ground” - it starts off as an above-serviceable pop song before dropping into chaotic, almost industrial synths that have no reason to be there but elevate the song to really interesting territory, especially given the screech of those synths, factorial percussion and glass smashing that transforms this chorus from sounding completely sincere to either being a falsehood - kind of implied by the lyrics about not wanting to fall in love - or just grimy and sexy, and given the rap bridge about not blocking his “shots” and promising that she’ll be his last love that just looks better on her, yeah, I’m guessing it’s the second, and the bass-heavy devolution into a swinging screech not dissimilar to a bad squeak really sells it. This is a pretty damn great song, definitely not what I was expecting and whilst it won’t last, I think at least I’ll keep listening to this one.

#37 - “Toxic” - Nines featuring Bad Boy Chiller Crew

Produced by ProdByDizzy, I Don’t Rap I Dress and Babycashy1

Those have got to be some of the worst producer names I’ve seen in recent times. Anyway, UK rapper Nines released his second album of the year with Crop Circle 3 - it reached #2 on the albums chart and we have two consecutive songs from it year. This one… well, it has the Bad Boy Chiller Crew on it for some reason. This does mean that they bring their style of blissful bassline production, with that wispy pitch-shifted vocal and twinkling keys shifting over the 2-step production. It’s a jumpy, bouncing beat with some cute sound effects and popping intricacies I can appreciate. The BBCC guys are just as they always are, but they fit the beat and ride it well, with their typical laddish delivery. Nines, however, still has a single flow and takes himself too seriously, so he is completely out of place despite carrying the hook! Every time the song gains momentum leading into the chorus, you get this sloppy rendition from Nines instead of any of the BBCC fun translating from the verses. That’s not to mention his droning, off-beat verse either. “I went jail and got bigger, like when Mario jumps on the flower”. Really? You make words sound good for a living, how is that what you come up with?

#35 - “I Do” - Nines featuring Tunde and Mugzz

Produced by Show N Prove, Jacob Manson and RJ Cherry

The amount of features on this album should be telling of what purpose Nines serves in UK rap. This is also much more typical Nines fare, with the whispery ad-libs, quick trap skitter, bad vocal mixing and dull deliveries from everyone involved, especially Mugzz who has nowhere near enough character to handle a basic chorus like that. To be fair to the producers, the wiry G-funk synths are pretty unique, and to be fair to Tunde, his flow is a bit better and more energetic than the others, but I’m picking at straws. There are no surprises to be heard here.

#27 - “Normal People Things” - Lovejoy

Produced by Psylla

Indie rock band Lovejoy are back with their newest single, and it’s probably their most concise, heavy claustrophobic jam yet. The song starts with the words “panic attack” and continues to sound just like you’d expect a British panic attack to sound like, with that tedious riff rinsing its anticipation over frustrated drumming, as Mr. Wilbur Soot delivers one of his least kept-together performances so far, with anxious lyrics, odd sampling and a lower-register moan that digs him well below the ground. The chorus propells the song further into anxiety, as despite the initially cathartic riff, Soot ends up gravelly whining the “hold your breath” mantra before a rapid screeching acceleration that brings us to the… kind of cringeworthy bridge. There’s one thing I don’t like about this song and it is the distracting nature of the lyrics, which is to be expected with Lovejoy but still doesn’t work nearly as well as it did in their EP from earlier this year, not because of a lack of subtlety but because there’s less to the song’s progression here. It’s difficult to swallow when it’s further contained in a two-minute single, but it’s still not far enough to make this song not click. It’s still good, still give it a chance, but I feel they have better stuff coming soon.

#6 - “Virginia Beach” - Drake

Produced by 40 and Harley Arsenault

Drake’s latest #1 album For All the Dogs is a bloated feature chock full of corny, misogynistic lyrics, depressively murky production and song ideas so frail they have to be confined to obsessive beat switches. It’s also my favourite Drake album. Outside of being comically pathetic and largely an embrace of that gross side of Drake he’s always at least tried to put up a guise for in the past, it’s also a damn good pop-rap album with unexpected turns, infectious hooks, smooth feature performances and hard beats as well as some genuinely touching lyrical moments, at least when he wants to bring them in. I won’t talk about the album at length here because this isn’t an album review show and we don’t know what else may be coming to chart in the coming weeks from it. So I’ll keep it pretty brief for these tracks, especially since they’re all good but not particular favourites off of the record. This is the opening track, generating much of its buzz from the fizzy Frank Ocean sample off of the filtered guitars and strings that coalesce into one melodious murk quickly snapped into place by a weirdly-mixed trap skitter and Drake’s loose, desperate complaining about this girl probably half his age who he, for whatever reason, is not with anymore. He’s off the lean and refusing to treat her better, despite the fact that she already has a boyfriend at the point she’s seeing Drake. He’s a complete douchebag in full nasal whining mode until the second verse which actually does a pretty cool switch-up by filtering the Frank sample further and introducing a looming synth as Drake continues to rap some of his corniest relationship bars yet. It’s “on sight like WWW, on site like dot com”? Sure, Aubrey.

#5 - “IDGAF” - Drake featuring Yeat

Produced by BNYX and Sebastian Shah

This is barely a Drake song. Most accurately, this is a Yeat song with a lengthy intro using warping progressive electronics wired behind a sample of trinkling pianos, beautiful sax and mystifying vocals provided by jazz band Azimuth, that has little purpose other than to be subverted as soon as Yeat comes in talking about having sex over a completely alien rage beat. Yeat’s vocals are modified beyond coherency at some points, he’s showered in ad-libs, and most importantly, he’s not Drake, who delivers a completely serviceable, one-take verse that quickly gets overshadowed by Yeat… kind of going off, in a uniquely Young Thug way, where you’re not impressed by any lyrics or flows but you are impressed by just the continued violent refusal to stop rapping. Nothing is said of any interest - of course not - but it goes hard enough, it has that extraterrestrial tone to it, and the completely incoherency of Yeat is actually quite a fascinating refresher from the track that precedes it, that being…

#4 - “First Person Shooter” - Drake featuring J. Cole

Produced by Coleman, Vinylz, Tay Keith, Boi-1da, FNZ and OZ

The two heavy-weights team up for the first time in over 10 years and of course, Cole runs away with the fantastic feature verse you always expect, rarely actually get but is never a surprise to hear. I’m far from a J. Cole fan but the man can rap, and rap he will, especially when he has something to prove, rapping about how he, Drake and Kendrick are the undisputed GOATs of their respective generation. Cole doesn’t even wait for the beat to come in, delivering some deadpan wordplay over the soul sample from Joe Washington as soon as the song starts. Drake then gives a respectful warm-up, essentially acting as Cole’s hypeman, though with an odd focus on child-related wordplay, and then over the explosive trap beat, Cole just chugs on in what feels both endless and effortless, making good use of silent moments to switch between flows, delivering punchlines honestly not that far away from Drake’s and with the increased energy the beat deserves. Of course, we then got what is now a typical Drake beat switch into an even harder Memphis rattle, as if Drake knew he got bodied and added an extra verse from himself so he’s not completely embarrassed. He holds his own pretty well though, with one of his more technically proficient and aggressive verses on the whole album, as well as stepping up his punchlines and flexes a bit thanks to Cole’s presence. It’s a rapid fire rappity-rap track so I have no expectations of it actually staying, but it is still a killer track.

Conclusion

With all that said, JENNIE gets Best of the Week for “You & Me”. Yeah, it’s not what I expected but it’s a fantastic track that really digs at what I like about K-pop whilst also just being a brilliantly constructed love song. And despite me loving that Drake album, not even “First Person Shooter” can get the Honourable Mention. Nope, that’s going to Paul Russell for “Lil Boo Thang”. Seriously. As for the worst, I mean this was a pretty good week - not even the Nines songs were that bad - so Digga D gets it handedly for “TLC” but Joel Corry grabs the Dishonourable Mention for “Hey DJ” mostly on just being lazy. Next time, we’ll see if any of this actually sticks the landing for a second. I have doubts about nearly all of it doing so but for now, thank you for reading, rest in peace to Rudolph Isley, and I’ll see you next week!

#pop music #song review #uk singles chart #drake #for all the dogs #yeat #j cole #lovejoy #nines #crop circle 3 #tunde #mugzz #bad boy chiller crew #blackpink jennie #tems #joel corry #digga d #paul russell

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liaswills · 1 year

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I'm head of Ravenclaw House headcannons:

The moment you failed your class, I deliver the news with great many compliments. Not to lie or to divert from the bad news, but because you'll need to see the good side to divert from the emotional crisis you'll convert into once you hear how your grades were. It will stick with you once you return on the train and at least some of it will encourage you to not go into a downwards spiral. I'll make sure to owl you a list of things to do on how to relax after a hectic semester at Hogwarts. It'll be filled with 10 jokes and 5 ways to exactly relax, suited just to your personality.

I slip random noticeboard suggestions to have house raves or parties. The students plan the party but I'm definitely letting the grey lady chaperone to make sure nobody dies of intoxication, and if anyone gets sick, she hurries to get me.

My, yes, you can always get extra Fluffy towels with me. I know the school towels aren't what they used to be and I've got a supply closet filled with thousands of blankets, towels and fluffy objects that might satisfy your very neurotypical needs.

There's a basket of random trinkets inside my office which you can grab to twitch or fumble with in conversations with me. Sometimes holding something allows us to think better or study better, I hand them out in study hall as well.

There's monthly duelling. I promote it, actually. You need to study, you need to learn and Ravenclaw has the best duelling room Hogwarts has ever known.... ;)

Course I'll help you if you're afraid of the Dark. No, it is not a burden. Wake me tf up. I'll stand in the corridor all night if you think there's a boogeyman hidden in the closet. Trust me, as head of Ravenclaw, I'll bring you some nice warm drink and consider telling you some random tale about whatever fits best at the big hearth in the common room before sending you to bed with a half moon 🌙 shaped night lantern.

I tolerate zero bullying, however. You'll have to scrub the balcony, I'm afraid. That high up, we have loads of birds that shit on the edges. Though, on the bright side, it is beautiful at night to gaze at the stars. And manual labour makes teenagers regret their decisions at life. Plus, after 1hr you can leave. I'll pop in to check up on you but I'm always lenient to let you go off with a good word of wisdom.

Lockhart and I don't get on. The whole house is ofcourse, making notes of the whole situation. I visit him in the hospital though, turns out he's still as loony as he was before but less cocky. From then on, I make a basket with trinkets Ravenclaws can make creative artsy things and put them in the Lockhart donation bucket. Because the lesson in it is, even the loony bin (ironically) is worth of creativity and personal attention.

At Christmas, the whole common room is covered in a snowlike appearance. I don't want to exert in garlands so they're mostly made of neutral colours. That way, I don't cause the whole of Ravenclaw to have aneurysms and everyone keeps a happy atmosphere and a winter spirit.

You bet your ass I'm crashing your parties, flaunting some groovy moves and singing ABBA.

Every month there is some kind of event. Something I make up as we go. Karaoke night. A harvest party. Valentines day rave. Samhain Trivia night. It's all themed. Mostly diverted with activities for the first to third years and the fourth to seventh years get to enjoy some real good times with open doors hour. That time other houses can freely walk into the commonroom and join their party. :) the ravenclaw tower is too far up anyway, nobody hears anything.

I get in trouble with Dumbledore so often you'd think I was a student. He tolerates me as I am the only pro-LGBTQ professor who knows he's 🍓fruity🍓 along with Prof Mcgonagall. We greatly discuss the most handsome wizards in Witch Weekly each weekend.

I look a lot like the grey lady. We also walk a lot together in deep conversation, which is when some students listen in or enjoy the topic of conversation in secret.

I give Muggle Born parents a full on manual on how to respond to certain topics regarding Trolls, the grading system, Spells, Wand regulations, a short guideline on wizarding laws to abide by and all the missing stuff they haven't received from the deputy or Headmaster.

Homework help for all examination stress students & counselling of course. No need to feel ashamed if you want to have a witch weekly about how to flirt with that random ass slytherin student you've been passing eyes at. I'll give you a thumbs up.

There's always 1 big end of the year party.

The Quidditch Team has the best hours to practice, especially cause I get up so early to set the dates for them.

We have a room in the Ravenclaw Tower just for naps & meditation or destressing. It's a quiet area.

On nights before exams I give everyone enough food during their late night studying. Even cupcakes and freshly baked cookies or warm soup.

#Ravenclaw house

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maya-matlin · 10 months

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Obviously Naley is one of the best TV ships of all time, maybe even THE best, so I'm challenging you to name a few things you don't love or would change about the way their ship was written! For me a big one is their S2 plot and her music storylines in general- I'm all for conflict but I thought Haley, who values personal relationships so much more than 'celebrity', was pretty out of character through S2. I also ---pet peeve alert - HATE how all the main OTH characters are not only athletes and cheerleaders but soooo gifted creatively! Lucas becomes a semi-famous novelist, Peyton becomes the producer of her own record company in addition to being a gifted artist, Brooke has her own fabulously successful fashion line which she started back in high school, and we then get Julian who's a successful film director and Alex Dupree who's a B-list movie star. Nathan isn't creatively gifted but is of course not just a great athlete but good enough to be in the .0001% who gets to the NBA. And they all still live in this small North Carolina town lol...I mean, I don't expect the show to be strictly realistic, but come on! More than even one of those things happening strains credulity. So I loved that Haley was presented as the ONE character who was so relatable and into academics and down to earth and all that, but the show then suddenly decides after S1 purely because the actress likes to sing that Haley is not just a decent singer but good enough to immediately go on TOUR?! What?!?! It's an aspect of the show that annoys the hell out of me. I loved Haley as a teacher for a variety of reasons and think it's the perfect career choice for her and will always resent that they had to also make her a star singer lol. 3. I'll still never quite get why Naley had to marry a few months into their relationship when they were just juniors in high school and there was no pregnancy. 4. So I like Nathan a lot overall, but there's no denying that he was a HORRIBLE, borderline emotionally abusive boyfriend to Peyton (as you've pointed out, he left her stranded on a dark and deserted road, was super cruel to her, and was all set to let her suffer legal consequences for a car accident HE caused lol) and I just don't love the "but the RIGHT girl can immediately tame and save the bad boy" trope. So I love that Naley brought out the best in each other, of course, but I just wish the change in Nathan hadn't been quite so abrupt! OK, thanks for listening to be vent!

Hmm. The thing about parts of Naley's season 2 arc is that personally, I think Nathan and Haley were mostly in character during everything leading up to Haley leaving for the tour. In my opinion, it's a pretty realistic depiction of what happens when you get married as teenagers following a short relationship before you've been able to become independent people. The circumstances were pretty unrealistic. In real life, a small town girl probably wouldn't end up going on tour a couple of months into performing live for the first time in her life. Haley's career wouldn't have taken off nearly as fast without Chris there to vouch for her talents and bringing The Wreckers to Tree Hill. But if we ignore all of that, the reality is that Haley spent her entire life afraid to take chances. Falling in love with and marrying Nathan allowed Haley to be more impulsive and to become a braver person. Nathan, in contrast, needed Haley's stability and good influence. While he was the same age at her and hadn't been allowed to live independently away from his toxic and abusive parents for long, he had more romantic and sexual relationship experience prior to Haley and was looking to slow down rather than jumping into new things. So for Nathan, giving up something like High Flyers was less of a big deal at the time than Haley choosing not to go with Chris to New York. Nathan had grown up with a life of privilege, receiving the best money could buy as far as getting ahead as an athlete. Plus by the end of season 1 and first half of season 2, you could assume that Nathan was beginning to associate basketball with Dan and kind of happy to stop defining himself as Nathan the basketball guy. In the long run had Haley never gone on tour but Nathan also not gone to High Flyers, I think it's possible Nathan himself would have began to feel stifled and grown resentful of putting his dreams on hold solely to be a husband. Anyways. I think Haley liked having something all her own independent of Nathan, and the Chris factor and her lack of experience with men prior to Nathan put her in a messy situation. There are multiple episodes where the subtext is that Haley on some level regrets rushing into marriage or has doubts about it (201, 205, 210, 217). I think it's completely understandable for Haley to feel that way. As much as I love them and consider them one of all my time favorite couples, they weren't ready to be married. Nathan and Haley had to learn to be better partners to each other and as the seasons went by, they became more successful. But during season 2, everything was new and more uncertain. So rather than being honest with Nathan about the kiss with Chris and her perspective re: putting her dreams on hold, Haley panicked and kind of internalized everything out of fear of what it all meant or the ramifications of what she'd done.

In regards to your thoughts about Haley craving fame, I don't know that it was really about the fame part as much as it was Haley wanting to pursue music and getting professional validation and fulfillment from performing and having people like her music. Haley says she loved every night of performing and she seemed to be excited about appearing on television, but I wouldn't say it meant much more than that. However, Haley's POV is very vague and confusing following 213. She's only ever shown either in brief phone conversations or when Nathan and Lucas visited her on tour. During 217 in particular, Haley is poorly written. Not because her thoughts and feelings aren't valid, but because the words coming out of her mouth are a piece of forced writing meant to ensure that Nathan and Haley remain separated and that Nathan essentially gives up on their marriage. Haley is not given the chance to explain herself. So as a result, Haley appears selfish and like she cares more about being a rockstar than Nathan's feelings. That's exactly what the writers wanted at the time. The story of Naley's separation and Haley's time on the tour was NEVER about Haley. It was all about Nathan's pain, depression, and his fight through the pain of losing the love of his life. Haley's role on the show was minimized to the point of her becoming a villain for having ambitions and for making mistakes the same as the other characters. It got a little better when Lucas visited Haley because Lucas was close enough to Haley that he truly wanted to understand and was willing to hear her out. So, we got the official explanation that Haley stopped wearing her wedding band because she no longer felt she deserved to wear it. The moment she presumably removes her wedding ring would have been prior to her televised interview. Yet, Haley keeps her ring finger covered up. She compromises herself by denying the marriage while also kind of upholding it? She still refers to herself as Haley James Scott and doesn't officially flaunt the fact she isn't wearing her ring, but she allows Chris to lie about their relationship. I feel like I've completely lost the plot here, but what I mean to say is that I don't take issue with most of Haley's writing in season 2. I simply think she was written by people completely uninterested in her perspective and her journey compared to Nathan's and REALLY lost out on the lack of consistent writing and POV during episodes 214-223.

What would I change about their writing? Well, obviously a lot of season 2 LOL. I think we should have seen Haley's time on the tour. We should have seen her becoming confident and thriving in the spotlight all the while missing Nathan and being heartbroken over what she's been forced to give up in the name of chasing her dreams. It's implied Haley and Chris were good friends during this time. It would have been nice to see the shift from Chris kind of aggressively coming on to Haley to Haley making it clear nothing was ever going to happen between them, and Chris accepting this enough to become Haley's confidant. Beyond that, I would have given Haley more of a backbone during season 3. I think she stood her ground when absolutely necessary, but Nathan also kind of held all the cards for a lot of season 3. His attitude about her Halloween costume for instance was bullshit. He also should have put his damn wedding band back on before they officially became engaged again because they'd been sleeping together for months and were literally living together by that point. What was I supposed to take from that other than Haley hadn't yet earned it? In season 4, I would have liked Nathan and Haley to have gotten an equal focus during her pregnancy. Season 5, I think more should have come out of their separation story line. I loved the episode where they reunited, but it also kind of seemed a little too easy for Nathan. I obviously don't blame him for the majority of what went down with Carrie or her predatory behavior, but the fact he was watching her swim naked was SO sketchy. There were multiple moments throughout the series where the possibility of Nathan cheating on Haley came up and it was always horribly executed. Whether he went through with it or not, it was annoying for Haley to constantly have these physical threats. Like, Haley was beautiful and sexy as hell, and Mark Schwahn was a demon. I also don't feel like Haley doubting Nathan re: Renee in season 7 was needed. That felt like a retread of season 5. Thankfully, it didn't last very long. Otherwise, I honestly don't have any complaints. More often than not, their relationship was well written.

I completely agree that it was unrealistic for all of the main five to basically become superstars. That took some realism away from the show and made the later, adult seasons harder to enjoy because like.. we're watching Nathan and Haley in their big house where a professional football player seriously shows up at their son's birthday party. While the show overall felt grounded for the entirety of the series, those moments detracted from the series as a whole. That being said, I LOVE rockstar Haley, so we'll have to disagree there. It's not that I don't enjoy her as a teacher or someone interested in helping others learn. It's just that teaching was never Haley's dream. It was something she was good at, but it never fulfilled her the same way being a musician did. On that note, it annoys me that the writers felt the need to make Haley smaller to make Nathan look/feel bigger. By season 7, Haley once again was a musician full time. But when Nathan retired from the NBA to become a sports agent, Haley took over Karen's Cafe rather than continuing to perform. Just to be clear, there's nothing wrong with any of these professions. They're not inherently "lesser". It's just that it was written that while being in the NBA was Nathan's dream, Haley's dream was being a singer. Ultimately, I don't think Haley was ever supposed to be super successful even at the height of her career. The potential was there during season 2 and obviously she toured again in season 7, but I never got the impression she ever achieved the same kind of fame that Nathan and Brooke did.

Yeah, I'm of two minds about that. Part of me is like, "Yessss! Naley forever!" When I was watching season 2 for the first time when I was around 12, their teen marriage was couple goals to me. Nathan and Haley are a rare case of two people that settled down young and still managed to live happily ever after. But on the other hand, we see how much of a mistake it was to rush into marriage. When Nathan proposed, he told Haley she was the only true thing he had. He put SO much stock into that marriage. I genuinely think part of the reason he proposed at all was the fear of losing her after that porn fight. Had Haley not wanted to explicitly wait until marriage for sex, I doubt the thought would have occurred to him. Haley let herself get swept away by the romance of young, first love and was a wife before she'd even experienced anything. From a story line standpoint, I love it. But speaking as someone twice their age at the time of the marriage, there were so many reasons why they should have waited.

I don't think I was the one to point that out, but I 100% agree with those points! I always forget how bad Nathan was during the first few episodes of season 1 because he'd grown tremendously by 122. But jesus christ, he was the boyfriend from hell. It really came across like half the time, Nathan used Peyton as a sex toy. He learned a lot of horrible, toxic messages from a young age and was on the path to becoming Dan Scott when Haley came into his life. You're correct that that particular trope is oftentimes really gross and overdone in fiction. Thankfully, I actually think OTH is one of the few shows to get it right. Peyton is never blamed for Nathan's bad behavior or viewed as "lesser" than Haley for being unable to fix Nathan. Their relationship was toxic and they couldn't have been more wrong for each other. Both Nathan and Peyton always stressed how awful their relationship was, and Nathan is thankfully quick to own up to his bad behavior during their relationship. But, you make a good point. Nathan's turnaround from emotionally abusive asshole boyfriend to sweet and patient boyfriend to Haley happened very quickly. Really, everything with Naley in season 1 was pretty rushed and could have used a few more episodes. The pacing is way off. They spent so much time building up to their first "I love you" only to have them married three episodes later. I think the key to Nathan's shift is that originally, I believe the Nathan/Peyton/Lucas triangle was supposed to go on longer. Since that ended up being replaced by the infamous Brooke/Lucas/Peyton triangle, that freed Nathan up to get together with Haley sooner.

You're welcome! I apologize for the length of my answer!

#Anonymous #Long post #Also this is fun because I never get to go in depth about my Naley/Haley/Nathan thoughts or even OTH that much

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invisiblegarters · 1 year

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Our Skyy2 - The Eclipse

Prefacing this by saying that The Eclipse episodes are pretty much the entire reason I was so excited about Our Skyy2 but I didn't even watch the preview because I didn't want to get any expectations. Literally the only thing that I want is for Akk and Aye to keep their teasing dynamic from the original, and so far it looks to be the case.

I expect that whatever happens will be a bit ridiculous, but that's perfectly fine by me. These two can use a little ridiculous after all the tears of The Eclipse.

Aw did Aye forget Akk's birthday for real or is he just teasing him? Honestly either way I think it's adorable how sappy Akk is in love, haha. Poor pouty baby who just wants to celebrate his birthday with his boyfriend.

You know, product placement used to annoy me, but now I kind of love it?

Call me a sap (it's true). but I probably would watch an entire hour or two of Akk and Aye just being silly.

Confession: I have negative interest in Thua and Kan. They weren't my favorites to begin with and I never did quite manage to forgive Thua for outing Akk in front of the whole school. *shrugs*

These extended fantasy sequences are cracking me up.

This kind of petty fighting between Akk and Aye is kind of exactly what I wanted, tbh. I also kinda love Akk being dramatic over the birthday thing. I always knew he had it in him. :)

AAAAH NO I don't trust guitars and BL. Oh NO are they going to sing their feelings? Oh no Aye is going to sing his feelings for Akk on his birthday isn't he (seriously does anyone really think he forgot I will raise my hands to it if I'm wrong and he really did, but I don't currently buy it for a second)? One of these days I really am going to do a giant post about this trope - I have e feeling I am going to have to keep adding things to the compilation.

Pfft of course Akk would think Aye would keep following him around for attention after they got together. And really, Akk's anger is so easy to get going and he's so much fun when he's ranting I'm not surprised Aye does it on purpose.

It really is so nice to see this much smiling out of everyone.

This short should just be called "Relationship Issues: The Film"

Okay I really really liked the scene between Wat, Kan, and Akk. They're sweet together. I really like how they encourage each other, especially poor Wat, whose family just does not get him.

I must say I enjoy how touchy feely Akk and Aye are.

AAAH CALLED IT. WHY. WHY must they sing their feelings. WHY.

Oh, right. I forgot Khaotung can sing. And they went with a clear studio arrangement over raw singing which lbr, is often not great (sorry Between Us I actually do love that scene but NOT for the singing)

Akk crying and Aye wiping his tears is so cute, so are the demands for kisses . They are so cute, oh my goodness. I don't even care I just love them. I don't think I've stopped smiling once this whole time.

AW I really loved these two eps. It's so good to see everyone again, especially Akk and Aye, and to see them so happy together. I've already said it, but I love this ridiculous kind of relationship drama for them. They've earned a little light. or a lot.

Totally worth it.

Also as an aside, really love the song they sing. I haven't found it on spotify yet but the second it gets there I'm downloading.

youtube

#our skyy 2 #our skyy2 x the eclipse #the eclipse #this did my heart good #Youtube

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scotianostra · 2 years

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The second musician in today's anniversaries id Dean Ford.

Born as Thomas McAleese on 5th September 1946 in Airdrie, Tom first began singing in public accompanying a jazz ensemble at the local Whifflet parish church dance hall. He formed his first musical group The Tonebeats at age 13, one of several he hooked up with during his teenage years

By the time he left Clifton High School in Coatbridge at age 15, he had been gaining more exposure as a featured singer. His break came after a performance with the Monarchs at the Barrowland Ballroom in Glasgow in 1963, where he was seen by members of the popular east Glasgow band The Gaylords and subsequently invited to join the group.

McAleese adopted his stage name (a moniker he coined by combining the names Dean Martin and Tennessee Ernie Ford) and The Gaylords were re-christened Dean Ford and the Gaylords. With hopes of achieving more commercial success, Ford and the band relocated to London in 1965. The bands name came from a notorious post war Chicago Gaylords street gang.

Although the band were very popular and despite being crowned ‘Scotland’s Top Group’, they struggled to break through into the big time. The band changed their name in 1966, but although they were well received , they still struggled to make progress, this was despite Jimi Hendrix describing their 1967 song I see the rain, as the ‘best cut of 1967, it did however make it to the top of the charts in The Netherlands!

Things started to go their way that year though when they played as Pink Floyds support at London’s Marquee Club, they started mixing it with the likes of The Who, Joe Cocker, Traffic Gene Pitney and The Tremeloes.They still lacked that chart success and CBS threatened to drop the band if they didn’t deliver soon, they famously rejected the song, Everlasting Love in 1967, Love Affair took the song to the top of the charts! Eventually the band had a hit with Lovin’ Things the following year, their follow up fared less well but in 1969 Marmalade became the first Scottish group to ever top that UK charts with Lennon and McCartney’s Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da.

Marmalade went on to have 8 more top 40 hits over the years, my favourite was written by Ford and band member Junior Campbell, Reflections of My Life. Marmalade continue to show up at these 60’s shows but as far as I am aware none of the original band remain. “Reflections” must have set Dean and Junior up for life, selling over a million copies in the US and has produced sales of over two million units. In 1998 the two were awarded a Special Citation of Achievement by the BMI for attaining radio broadcast performances in excess of one million in the US alone.

Dean lived in Los Angeles for much of his later life, but never forgot his routes, recording and releasing his final album, This Scottish Heart just two months before his death, the album of course having a Scottish theme with tracks like Glasgow Road, Bonnie Mary, Made in Scotland and For MacDougall included in the 30 songs, which also featured a remake of my fave Marmalade song, Reflections of my Life.

Ford died in Los Angeles on 31 December 2018, at the age of 73 from complications relating to Parkinson's disease. His death was announced by his daughter, Tracey McAleese-Gorman, who described him as 'a gentle soul and great father'

#Scotland #scottish #musician #singersongwriter #music history

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talenlee · 1 year

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A Software Pirate Looks at 40

There’s this song.

A Pirate Looks At Forty

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This song, from 1975, was written by Jimmy Buffet, born in 1946. My whole life as much as I’ve remembered it, this song has had a deep reverence, a mournful seriousness to it. It got to be on the regular rotation in the car’s road-trip songs, despite it having that swear in it, and the references to drugs (that I did not understand, of course). We would sing along with the Jimmy Buffett tapes in the car, but when this song came on, we wouldn’t sing along, we’d just listen. There was something about it. There was something heavy to the words, something I didn’t quite understand.

When I hit my teenage years and started trying to make sense of everything, listening to the lyrics and reading the liner notes and trying to put every song into this like, structured and meaningful coherent whole where all the fictions that stories told were in fact part of some greater truth, I thought it was about Jimmy Buffett himself turning forty, and that crystallised something – it made sense. This was the anthem my father saw, sharing with Jimmy Buffett, when they were both facing turning 40, and that was when the song was made.

Jimmy Buffet was not forty when he wrote the song. He wasn’t even 30. He wasn’t forty until 1986, a year in which I was three. My father was 38, and two years later, he was 40. My dad has been on the far side of 40 most of my life. I never really saw someone facing turning 40 until members of my peer group did it. And, thing is… they’ve mostly been fine about it. Nobody I know has been making a point of their anxieties at getting older. There hasn’t been this anguished cry of ‘oh no I’m old,’ in fact most of my peer and friend group has been looking at their life getting through their 30s and shouting defiantly at the world thank god that’s done with.

Nobody I know makes being 40 bad. Most of them make it something great. I love you all, especially those of you repeating to our youngers: Don’t feel you wasted your 20s. You’re allowed to take your time working yourself out.

The Last Saskatchewan Pirate by Captain Tractor

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Maybe growing up with role models who were pirates was part of the place the rot started. My family after all were good upstanding Christians but I somehow grew up seeing laws as things to be gently circumvented where necessary and eventually entirely meaningless when they were never fairly deployed. I know that this song, The Last Saskatchewan Pirate, got me into a weird head space in my teen years of wanting to know about Canada and Canadian culture, a door that, once opened, I think, is where I met a lot of my best friends.

I remember this song being so… appealing to me, because of its oddness and silliness while still being a banger to sing. It wasn’t even an actual Captain Tractor song, though they wound up helping form that period of my teens into twenties, a sort of interesting bet-you’ve-never-heard-of-them musical icebreaker. Like a weaponised ship part. I have memories, in the time just after graduating from school, standing in the front yard of my parents’ house, spooling up a hose while singing this song to myself, and by myself, I mean the whole street.

I really wasn’t good at being a person.

But thing is, I got this song from mp3 dot com, which was like Kazaa and Limewire and Napster, but it didn’t go down. It was just bands asking you to take their songs. How cool was that? I couldn’t see how it would make money. The fact I wound up buying both of their albums at some point later, well, that may have played into it.

[Bulldog Mansion] (2002) Funk 15. Happy Birthday To Me

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I started a ritual of listening to this song after I heard it, first in the There She Is!! series of videos. I downloaded it from a bootleg site because I couldn’t even find the name of the band that made it, what with it being in all squidgy letters I didn’t know. Now it’s on Youtube. Now it’s easy to find.

I have files on my computer that are snippets of anime episodes from 30 years ago, that have managed to successfully cling to my digital presence this entire time, since I very first got onto the internet. I can namedrop people like Mike Rhea and Megazone and Richard Pelley and Anand Chelian and Blade and Epsilon and gilmae and µ and Guardian and there’s a time anchored to those things, things that the right people might head-snap around and go oh holy shit, I remember that… but not many people do.

Deep, old magics from a time when the internet was smaller, and where so much of what I was doing, I was doing for free, shared by people for the sake of sharing it, for the novelty of it. I learned to do Photoshop work on a pirated copy of Photoshop, and moved to GIMP when my partner wanted to, because she hated Photoshop (and I didn’t have a copy any more). I’ve been using GIMP for something like twenty years. It was free. A free version of something I’d have had to pirate that’s about as good, as the thing you have to pay for gets worse.

You can’t beat the pirates. Free is a hell of a price point. For a little more than free, I’d expect to get good, as well. You can’t even make a moral case any more. I’m technically pirating a copy of Word, because the version I paid for doesn’t do what I want, and I can’t buy the version I want to use any more because it’s too old. When I can’t even buy the thing you tell me you sell, because of where I live or your controls or price point incentives, all those things tell me the only correct course of action is to steal. And to steal from the people who have so much, and where the stealing cannot hurt people who matter.

How to be a Pirate Captain! 🌈 ☠️ 🌈

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As this post goes up, I have just turned forty.

I feel sad.

I do not feel old. That is part of it. I feel like at forty my dad had been a priest and a traveller and in the military and a chef and had lived a childhood of hijinks with his twin brother and his famous dad. I feel like I have spent the past two weeks learning how to finally, properly, do the dishes, and that I am still responding to a world around me that is here to punish me for not being good enough.

I feel a little bit hollow and a little bit wasted.

But I can at least delight in knowing that gleeful, joyous, shameless piracy is not a thing behind me.

Check it out on PRESS.exe to see it with images and links!

#Diary #BoatsToBuild

#boats to build

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