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heytheredelulu · 14 days

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I was wondering if you could do maybe a like feral Bucky? Like maybe they trigger the soldat and instead of him fallowing their orders he goes after the shy curvy little intern of Tony’s? They’ve both been too shy to make a move. I’m cool with whatever spin you put on it, I LOVE your writing.

(Love all your normal kinks so feel free to add those too as you see fit! )

Thank you lovely 🥰 Can’t wait to drool over more of your writing lol

I took this and RAN with it.

It ended up becoming much longer than I had anticipated so this one will be broken up into two parts.

I struggled with trying to incorporate Bucky being triggered after the reader already being somewhat aquatinted with him, pining after him, etc. so I went the route I did and I hope it fulfills your request!

Part one will be mostly just plot building with a spicy cliff hanger leading us into a part two of pure smut.

Ready to Comply - Part One - Anon Request

Bucky Barnes x Plus Size Reader

ALL OF MY WORK IS 18+

Word Count: 2.5k

C/W: Language, discussion/implications of violence and murder, choking, blood (Bucky is strugglin’ and bites his own hand), a lil sexual tension in prep for part two, he sniffs her coochie, okay?

“Okay, stop. Stop that.” Tony whispered out of the corner of his mouth. You shot him a glance and tugged at your skirt one more time for good measure. He lets out an exasperated sigh and rolls his eyes. “You look fine, Rookie. Very professional. Is that what you needed to hear?”

You scoff and shake your head. “That’s no- I’m not fishing for compliments, I genuinely hate dressing like a fucking secretary.” You grumble, drawing a laugh out of Tony. “And don’t call me ‘Rookie.’” You add with a prod to his chest. He brushes the front of his suit jacket sarcastically in response to your poke and raises his hands defensively, a soft chuckle rising from his throat.

“A fucking secretary? Really? It’s business professional. Did you think I could let you stand next to me in a press conference wearing an old t-shirt and some torn up jeans? We need to create a semblance of professionalism.” He gestures to his own attire with a grin and there’s a teasing glint in his eye as he continues.

“And what’s wrong with ‘Rookie’? You’re my little protégé.” He jests, reaching like he’s going to pinch your cheek as if you were some adorable little toddler. You frown, swatting his hand away and brings it to his chest, clutching it dramatically. “Wow, you’re going to assault your friend, mentor and extremely rich and handsome boss?” He jokes, feigning offense.

“The only accurate adjective in that sentence is ‘boss’, Sir.” You reply dryly, crossing your arms. The corners of his lips twitch into a sly smile and he nudges you with his elbow. “I’ll accept if you don’t agree with friend and mentor.” He starts, pressing his lips into a pout. “But I might actually get a little offended if you refuse to acknowledge how devastatingly handsome I am.”

You groan in annoyance and roll your eyes, preparing a witty comeback when Pepper Potts rounds the corner with a tablet cradled in her arm, a phone nestled between her ear and shoulder and an expression of concern written across her face.

“Everything alright?” Tony asks, placing a hand on his wife’s shoulder. “Don’t tell me.. another offer for People’s ‘sexiest man alive’? I keep telling them, I can’t be on the cover every ye-“ Tony stops mid sentence as Pepper’s manicured forefinger lands on his lips, effectively silencing him.

“Yes. Okay. Understood. Thank you.” She says curtly into the phone before disconnecting the call. “That was Fury. We have an issue. A Barnes issue.”

Your brows furrow at this. “What’s happened with Bucky?” You ask, a sense of dread creeping up your spine. He’d been all but isolated since he’d moved into the Avenger’s tower alongside his best friend Steve Rogers and you couldn’t imagine him being the source of an issue with how reserved this man was. You weren’t at all oblivious to his past- it had been global wide news after all, but in the months since his de-conditioning in Wakanda he had been making great strides towards recovery, working to make amends.

Though your interactions with the ex-assassin had been few, he’d always been polite and kind towards you. You’d felt so out of place among the Avengers, being Tony’s intern. You weren’t on the team, hell, a few of them didn’t even know your name despite you having been trailing behind Tony for the last year. Maybe it was your own fault, considering you hadn’t really made an effort to talk to any of them but aside from the fact that they were all extremely intimidating, you were naturally a shy and quiet person.

You quickly push the self deprecating thoughts from your head. You didn’t care about any of that. You shouldn’t. It wasn’t as if you wanted to be on the team, or were there to make friends, you were here as an engineer, to learn from who was arguably the most intelligent man on the planet. Perhaps that’s why Bucky had always been cordial to you more than some of the others living here. Maybe he gravitated towards you, as someone who constantly felt so out of place, because he felt that way here as well.

Or maybe he thought you were cute.

Oh fuck, if only.

You couldn’t deny your attraction to the man or that you’d been quietly crushing on him practically since you’d started your internship. Every small interaction with Bucky left a blush on your cheeks and a kaleidoscope of butterflies flitting about your belly.

The thought of someone as absurdly good looking as Bucky fucking Barnes finding you attractive was enough to spark a surge of heat straight to your abdomen.

No, get it together. Now’s not the time.

You mentally scold your vagina for having the nerve to throb at the mere mention of Bucky Barnes regardless of the context and turn your attention back to Pepper and Tony as they argued in hushed whispers.

“What’s happened with Bucky?” You repeat, knowing they likely won’t clue you in if it’s related to Avenger’s business.

Tony offers a nervous smile and exchanges a quick glance with his wife before he checks his watch. “Terminator? He’s fine. I’m sure it’s nothing. Probably holed up with security for setting off the metal detector.” He pauses and then snaps his fingers. “Or maybe he walked past the junkyard on fifth and got snatched up by the hydraulic magnet.” He says, lifting a hand and miming a crane.

Pepper lets out a soft sigh and your gaze flicks to her. “Yeah, a big magnet or something.” She mumbles, turning her attention back to her tablet. “I don’t think that’s-“ Your cut off by Tony’s hand on the small of your back, urging you forward. “Enough about Robocop. We’re on, Rookie.” He says, his nervous expression falling away and quickly being replaced with a mask of professionalism. “Let’s go unveil our project to the press.” Pepper moves to open the door for you both and before you can open your mouth to tell Tony that if he calls you ‘rookie’ one more time you were going to strangle him with his overpriced tie, your senses are overwhelmed with an onslaught of overlapping voices and camera shutters.

You toss your blazer over the desk in your quaint office and slump over into the chair, trying not to let your mind run wild with anxious thoughts about the press conference. Despite your best efforts you couldn’t help but worry that you probably looked like a deer in headlights up at the podium alongside Tony.

You huff and rest your chin on the back of your hand, glancing over at the computer screens. Your attention is immediately drawn to security footage from one of the conference rooms when you see movement on the monitor. You lean in with your brows furrowed. It’s late and no one should be in the conference room. You expand the image and can clearly make out Tony and Steve moving about the room with tense body language.

You hover over the footage with your mouse and hesitate. You know that you absolutely should not eavesdrop on the two men but once Tony’s hands begin angrily gesturing around you give in to temptation and turn on the audio.

“What the hell do you mean, ‘back up?’” Tony shouts, beginning to pace the room.

Steve leans forward with his palms on the table and his head bowed slightly. “It’s exactly what I said, Tony.” He replies, his biceps flexing as he grips the table. “HYDRA had a fail safe. They’d planted a back up activation incase he would ever manage to be deprogrammed.” He looks up at Tony with a solemn expression. “They got to him. I should’ve been there, I should’ve-“

Tony holds out a hand, his other resting against his temple as he tries to comprehend what Steve is telling him. “Well you weren’t and they did so know we have to figure out how the fuck we navigate this.” He says firmly, shaking his head. “Do we have eyes on him? Is he in the building?”

Steve sighed and stood upright from the table. “No. He’s in the wind. We lost contact with him a few hours ago.” He admits, running a hand through his hair. “But there’s something you need to know.” He adds, looking at Tony with concern as he begins to pace again.

“Well spit it out, Rogers!” Tony yells, stopping and turning back to Steve.

“Nat received some intel. The hit HYDRA ordered is on you and your intern.” He says so quietly you can barely pick it up on the audio. Fear crawls up your spine and your hand trembles as you increase the volume on the security feed, while your heartbeat in your ears becomes near deafening.

Tony stiffens, slowly approaching Steve. “You wanna tell me why?” He asks, his voice low and dangerous. Steve nods. “The new tech you unveiled today.“ He explains.

Tony sighs, understanding why one of their enemies would be threatened by what the two of you had been working on and reaches to loosen his tie. “I’ll take Pepper and move her to the safe house before I meet you at a rendezvous point. Send someone to get my Rookie and get her off the grid. I don’t want her alone for a single second.” He says in an exasperated tone, reaching into his suit jacket and pulling out his cell phone as he stalks towards the door.

“And Rogers?” He asks, turning around one last time, his hand curled tight around the doorknob. Steve’s head snaps up and he looks at Tony with guilt ridden eyes. “Yeah?”

“Find Barnes.”

Find Barnes.

The statement echoes in your ears, sending your thoughts spinning as if a category five hurricane were waging inside your head.

No. No, no, no.

There’s a hit out on you?

To be carried out by the fucking Winter Soldier.

Oh you were so fucked.

You scoot your chair back, bracing your hands on the desk to stand with wobbly knees.

Bile rises in your throat as you take a slow step backwards, bumping the chair in your state of panic and knocking your jacket off the workbench. You jump at the sound of it slipping to the floor and clutch your chest as a result of inducing your own jumpscare and take slow breaths to steel your nerves before you bend down to pick it up. As you rise back upright, your gaze connects with a pair of vacant, icy blue eyes in the shadows across the room and your entire body seizes in terror.

He’s not in the wind.

He’s been in here with you this entire goddamned time.

“B-Bucky?” You stutter, bringing your jacket to your chest and grasping it until your knuckles turn white. Maybe Steve and Tony were wrong. Maybe Nat’s intel was wrong. Maybe this was all a huge misunderstanding and you weren’t about to die at the hands of the ex-assassin you’ve been pining over for nearly a year.

He takes a step forward from the shadows, his face expressionless and his eyes unblinking without a single trace of emotion behind them.

Okay, yeah. You’re fucked.

“Sergeant Barnes?” You whisper, almost a plea to the man you knew, locked away somewhere in the brain of the cold and calculated killer standing in front of you.

He doesn’t speak, doesn’t register your words, as he crosses the lab in a few quick strides and catches your throat in his cybernetic hand.

Oh god.

The air leaves your lungs, his grip tightening around your windpipe as his face remains blank.

You’re going to die.

So why are you so fucking turned on?

Heat pools low in your abdomen, your core flooding with arousal, coupled with fear and unbridled lust.

Your mouth falls open in a silent cry as you gasp and thrash in his grip, your thick thighs rubbing together with every kick and flail, doing nothing to alleviate the throbbing ache in your cunt.

God this is so wrong.

His brows furrow, the first hint of emotion since he stepped out of the shadows. His head tilts inquisitively and his grip slackens around your throat as he leans in, tracing his nose across your jaw line and inhaling deeply. You still, your face contorting in confusion as you swallow hard against his palm, leaning your body into his hold.

His eyes narrow as he pulls away from you and you take the opportunity to suck in a breath, massaging your neck gently while your gaze drops to observe his hands clenching and unclenching into fists at his sides.

“Bucky?” You ask, wondering what’s caused the sudden shift in his demeanor, wondering if maybe he’s somehow snapped out of the trance he’d been in. He’s still and silent for a long moment, his head bowed as his chest rises and falls heavily with every breath.

“Sergeant Barnes, are yo-“

His head snaps up, effectively silencing you.

Your mouth remains agape, stuck on your last word and as he watches you with predatory eyes, taking menacing steps toward you, you can’t seem to find your voice any longer. You stumble backwards, losing your balance and falling back against the desk, unable to regain your footing before his hands grip the flesh of your bare thighs.

He tilts you backwards, your back colliding hard with the surface of the desk, stealing the breath out of your chest. He drops to his knees, splaying his palms against your thighs, the hem of your dress rising up to expose your panties as he spreads your legs wide before him and drags his nose across the fabric.

He groans.

He fucking groans.

“You’re my mission.” He breathes out, eyes wild and fingers digging into the flesh of your thighs as if he were fighting to physically restrain himself.

“I know.” You whimper, lifting your head to look down at him over the soft curve of your stomach.

“I’ve been ordered to kill you.” He chokes out, pressing his forehead against your inner thigh and drawing in a deep and shuddering breath.

“Then why haven’t you?” You ask in a broken whisper.

He turns his head and mumbles something incoherently, his breath ghosting against the damp fabric of your underwear and sending a wave of arousal crashing through your core. He stiffens, curling his flesh hand into a fist and bringing it to his mouth, biting down on his knuckles as he swallows back a moan.

He shakes his head, his teeth pressing into his skin hard enough to draw blood and you move to sit up, leaning on your palms as you look down at him where he’s slotted between your legs, visibly trembling.

He rises quickly to his feet, his left hand shooting out to curl around your neck again and he drops his bloodied flesh hand to his side.

“Because..” He says through clenched teeth, inhaling sharply as the cool metal of his thumb strokes the column of your throat.

“I can’t fucking focus when all I can smell-“

His free hand roughly cups your pussy over your panties, his voice trailing off as he kneads his palm against the thin, wet fabric.

He growls, tightening his grip around your throat and jerking you up to him, forcing you to meet his threatening gaze.

His expression grows pained and he whimpers, dipping his head to meet your forehead with his own, his breath fanning across your face with every heave of his chest.

“All I can smell is how wet you are.”

Taglist (Taglist is open):

@suz7days @blackbirdwitch22 @truthfulliarr @lilacka

Part two

#bucky barnes #bucky barnes x reader #bucky barnes fanfiction #bucky barnes x y/n #winter soldier fanfiction #winter soldier x reader #bucky barnes x plus size reader #winter soldier x plus size reader #avengers fanfiction

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kurogane2512 · 5 months

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Hello Kuro~ im glad you liked my thirsty ask of Chammy...And im back at it,again

In her interrogation sprite and arrested sprite her chest looks MASSIVE and Heavy as heck,it makes me want to hold them up for her.I think she has the biggest chest than any other female sinner i saw......That said,she definitely has some serious back pains from her chest,poor Chammy, having to deal with that!:((

One side of me wants to be nice to her and massage her back and the other wants to absolutely fondle and squish her breasts and play with her nipples....

And also her new attire from the surveillance order...Ngh.... It's literally stuck into my brain,i just want to ride her thigh and be absolutely destroyed by her while she wears that attire and smiles at me faintly.....Dammit Aisno why do you have to make us global players wait for it to be released in 2024 😔😔?!?Im so impatient for it pls...

I don't have a lot of thirsty ideas for Chameleon(which is ironic with how seriously im simping for her..) since i can't totally understand her personality.....I would maybe send more Chameleon thirsts if i had some grasp about her personality and how she acts 😔😔😔

~Phantylia

Oh my, you are so right about her boobs. I do genuinely agree she seemed the biggest when I first started playing and had a brief look at all the characters and I don't think any new character has surpassed her either. I think Anne, Garofano and Suspect R come pretty close but they don't appear as big due to their clothing. So yes, I'll go with mommy Chammy being biggest for now 😩 And even then, I wouldn't say she's unrealistic for anime standards like it's rare but possible irl (without surgery).

Man, I genuinely want to just lay my head on her chest and use it as a soft comfy pillow while she hypnotizes me to sleep!! 🥺 And ugh her nipples are probably such a pretty color and so sweet; I'll lick, suck and pinch them all day to pleasure her. You know those massage scenarios where you sneak up from behind and cup their breasts? That. I want to do that to her. Start off giving her a simple back + shoulder massage then fondle her moulds while she's all lazy and relaxed.... Oh, how sly of you she thinks.

But she enjoys the service so she lets you continue, she'll rest back on you and let you squish and massage her breasts all the while letting out low and soft sighs of pleasure. Her voice man it's so angelic and soothing I can literally be hypnotized just by her voice she don't even need her powers!!😩 And you are so right her upcoming outfit has me by a chokehold ever since it was revealed I CANT GET IT OUT OF MY HEAD I NEED IT RIFHSE0IFHWE0F

As for her personality, at least I hc her as a typical well-behaved, elegant woman on surface- you know the kind that would suit her psychologist profession. But she's so mischievous and evil underneath and she especially loves playing with Chief. I imagine her dynamic with us to be really spicy, you'll understand what I mean if you read my latest fic on her outfit. It has a pinch of enemies to lovers because she's insufferable to us but also so irresistible that we can't keep our hands off, and she thoroughly enjoys playing this game of temptation with us~

#kuro's letters🥳#path to nowhere #chameleon #ptn chameleon #chameleon x reader #ptn chameleon x reader

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checkoutmybookshelf · 6 months

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You Have My Attention: Anne of Green Gables First Lines

The icon of Canadian girlhood needs no introduction, as Anne of Green Gables is a global phenomenon at this point. What those of you who read the first book at like age ten and then didn't bother exploring further might not know, however, is that LM Montgomery wrote a whole Anne series. So how did she catch a reader's attention? Let's find out!

"Mrs. Rachel Lynde lived just where the Avonlea main road dipped down into a little hollow, fringed with alders and ladies’ eardrops and traversed by a brook that had its source away back in the woods of the old Cuthbert place; it was reputed to be an intricate, headlong brook in its earlier course through those woods, with dark secrets of pool and cascade; but by the time it reached Lynde’s Hollow it was a quiet, well-conducted little stream, for not even a brook could run past Mrs. Rachel Lynde’s door without due regard for decency and decorum; it probably was conscious that Mrs. Rachel was sitting at her window, keeping a sharp eye on everything that passed, from brooks and children up, and that if she noticed anything odd or out of place she would never rest until she had ferreted out the whys and wherefores thereof."

-- Anne of Green Gables

"A tall, slim girl, 'half-past sixteen,' with serious gray eyes and hair which her friends called auburn, had sat down on the broad red sandstone doorstep of a Prince Edward Island farmhouse one ripe afternoon in August, firmly resolved to construe so many lines of Virgil."

-- Anne of Avonlea

"'Harvest is ended and summer is gone,' quoted Anne Shirley, gazing across the shorn fields dreamily."

-- Anne of the Island

"(Letter from Anne Shirley, B.A., Principal of Summerside High School, to Gilbert Blythe, medical student at Redmond College, Kingsport.)

Windy Poplars,

Spook's Lane,

S'side, P. E. I.,

Monday, September 12th.

DEAREST:

Isn't that an address!"

-- Anne of the Windy Poplars

"'Thanks be, I’m done with geometry, learning or teaching it,' said Anne Shirley, a trifle vindictively, as she thumped a somewhat battered volume of Euclid into a big chest of books, banged the lid in triumph, and sat down upon it, looking at Diana Wright across the Green Gables garret, with gray eyes that were like a morning sky."

-- Anne's House of Dreams

"'How white the moonlight is tonight!' said Anne Blythe to herself, as she went up the walk of the Wright garden to Diana Wright's front door, where little cherry-blossom petals were coming down on the salty, breeze-stirred air."

-- Anne of Ingleside

"It was a clear, apple-green evening in May, and Four Winds Harbour was mirroring back the clouds of the golden west between its softly dark shores. The sea moaned eerily on the sand-bar, sorrowful even in spring, but a sly, jovial wind came piping down the red harbour road along which Miss Cornelia’s comfortable, matronly figure was making its way towards the village of Glen St. Mary."

-- Rainbow Valley

"It was a warm, golden-cloudy, lovable afternoon. In the big living-room at Ingleside Susan Baker sat down with a certain grim satisfaction hovering about her like an aura; it was four o'clock and Susan, who had been working incessantly since six that morning, felt that she had fairly earned an hour of repose and gossip."

-- Rilla of Ingleside

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docgold13 · 5 months

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Batman: The Animated Series - Paper Cut-Out Portraits and Profiles

Earl Cooper

A top-flight engineer for Global Motors, Earl Cooper, quit the company in protest when the Board of Directors refused to listen to his warnings about serious safety defects in their hot new sports car. Afraid that he would expose their callousness to the press, the executives sent assassins after Earl. Batman intervened and saved his life.

Cooper testified and Global Motors ended up shuttered. He had done the right thing, but ended up blacklisted as a whistle-blower, leaving Cooper all but unemployable in the auto industry. Batman sought out Cooper and offered him both a job as well as a challenge. The car Batman had been using as the Batmobile was not cutting it and Batman asked Cooper to design and build a new one.

Using dummy corporations, Wayne Enterprises funded Cooper’s garage and all materials he might need. He worked alongside his daughter, Marva, who was a brilliant mechanic in her own right. Batman was very happy with the end result. Cooper and his daughter maintained the garage for regular jobs, with a secret basement level for doing repairs on the Batmobile.

At one point The Penguin learned the identity of Batman’s mechanic and took Marva hostage, forcing Cooper to sabotage the Batmobile. Using his wits, Cooper was able to relay his predicament to Batman with some sly shop-talk. As such, Batman and Robin were able to save Marva and the Penguin and his men were sent to jail. In the aftermath, Batman set Cooper and his daughter with a new shop in a more secretive location.

The indomitable Paul Winfield provided the voice for Earl Cooper with he engineer extraordinaire appearing in the forty-eighth episode of the first season of Batman: The Animated Series, ‘The Mechanic.’

#batman the animated series #Batman #Earl Cooper #Paul Winfield #cut-out #paper art #DC Comics

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girlactionfigure · 7 months

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On Saturday October 7th, a festering menace broke through the Gazan border exposing the what the world had sought to deny — not the second Holocaust, but an unforgivable continuation of the very first.

An act of unprecedented atrocity unfolded, not flitting moments of terror or isolated war crimes. But a plot of systematic wreckage, birthed from Hitler's ideological offspring, disseminated among an entire populace. Their sinister resolve: to eradicate Jews, inspired by the same malevolent tenets that once blanketed Europe in despairs.

This reincarnated form of Nazism was merciless. They targeted men, women, and children, the old and the young with ruthless terror. Families pleading for mercy were slaughtered, children and teens were abducted from their sanctuaries to be violated, tormented, disfigured, and burnt alive. This, an extreme-dimensional evil, surpassed anything seen or imagined in the civilized world.

Screams of the dying, pleas of the terrified fell on deaf global ears. We sought your protection, world, invoking your solemn promise. But our entreaties returned to us cloaked in sly betrayal, resounding in cold, biting betrayal.

Now, it's our duty to ascend—to become the shield you failed to provide, the sentinel you were incapable of being. We are bound to root out the Nazi ideology that was allowed to pitch its malignant tent in the Middle East. We are no longer your scapegoats—no pawns in your games of guilt, blame, or shame. We shall stand robust, unflinching, and united against this monstrous evil. Because in our adversity, we have discovered our unbreakable fortitude.

grouchomaccabee

#NeverAgain #EnduringHolocaust #FightAgainstEvil #MiddleEastNazism #NoMoreNeglect #RiseInSolidarity #AgainstUnseenEvil #UnitedInAdversity #RevelationOfStrength #BrokenPromises #Israel #Jew #Judaism #Zionism #Grouchopresents #nomercy #thisendsnow

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totally-correct-shenanigans · 9 months

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Sly: Girls are hot.

Sly: Guys are hot.

Sly: Why is everyone so hot??

Bentley: Global warming.

#submitted by anonymous #WKDNKWJDJE TRUE #sly cooper #[soliloqueue]#[totally correct]#incorrect quotes #[mike & sulley]

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analviel · 1 year

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It's not strange or uncommon for Nations not to work for their governments.

Reasons can range from 'because they just don't feel like it', to the Nations joining rebellion forces.

Philippines personally doesn't like his government so getting involved is more an exception in his part than anything else - he hasn't been involved in government work since the end of the second republic, and only started talking to Leaders again around Carlos' time, Macapagal lost almost all his favor with the Maphilindo stunt, and Marcos? Well.

(Hindsight is 20/20 and all that.)

Phil won't claim to constantly be happy with one Leader, or always be displeased with another throughout the time they served, unfortunately it's not as simple as that. Humans are multifaceted and multifaced beings, there were good times and bad times with everyone equally. Although if the good times is more than the bad times....

After EDSA, he made the executive decision to never be directly involved in the governing of humans by humans ever again.

(Until now, he still wouldn't be able to answer if the decision was driven by being dissapointed by humans, or impressed by them.)

The lucky Nations would not work for their government because they believe their leader organization are good and stable enough to be left alone -like Canada.

The pragmatic ones believe human affairs should be handled strictly by humans and would only involve themselves in a situation if another Nation does so - going so far as ignoring attacks or skirmishes by outside forces unless a Nation is leading the attack. Like China and India.

Of course there's the ones on the complete opposite spectrum, who'd prefer to be on the need to know basis of anything and be involved in everything. Like America and Germany.

Viet is an example of one of the many in-betweens, being definitely present in her government but under disguise, her Leader only knowing of her and who he's supposed to answer to distantly. She says she likes to keep everyone on their toes, her arrangement letting her weed out the negative people in her government body with no one able to cover up anything.

Philippines imagines her everyday life is a spy movie.

It all depends to each their own.

Leaders have to be careful with ordering around Nations - after all, what are they going to do if they don't want to listen? Fire them? Banish them when the land they live off and the air they breath is a part of the Nation itself?

(Well, they can do a lot, as China is witness to, but that's not the point.)

That's why they remember Leaders who are sly enough to pull the wool over their eyes - sometimes maybe even more than their Heroes.

It's not as simple as 'Nations can't disobey Leaders'. They very much can.

It's just that Nations aren't infallible just as Leaders aren't absolute.

It's why the world wars, particularly the world war 2 was... scarily impressive, as an example of that idea -Nations-Country-Leader dynamics had been put to the test on a global scale.

The only war to summon almost all of the Nations from whatever woodwork they'd gotten comfortable in.

America says it was a whooping 95% attendance on the battlefield.

(Defending, avenging, and then full-circle.

Germany himself is a good and upstanding guy, but by virtue of the fact that he was front and center.... well, there's a lot of conflicted emotions. And some not so conflicted for his perceived irresponsibility.)

********'****

I just enjoy some diversity even among Nations.

Like how using Human names are more common in the west than the east, for example.

#Hetalia #hetalia philippines #hetalia canada #hetalia china #hetalia india #hetalia vietnam #Hetalia asean #hetalia headcanons #hetalia america #and i write

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pccyouthleader · 10 months

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Hedgehog Hodgepodge: A Story of Espionage, Confusion, and an Evil Plan Gone Haywire

Chapter 6: International Man of Mystery

Shadow made his way to Tails’ lab, intent on asking the crafty fox to design something for him. During the melee that took place earlier, Aurora’s communicator had been shattered, and he felt personally responsible. He reached the lab and gave a firm knock on the door.

“Uh, hey Shadow!” said Tails when he opened the door. He stood fidgeting with a stylus and looking apprehensive. Shadow’s relationship with Sonic’s friends had never been very “warm and fuzzy.”

“Tails,” acknowledged Shadow. “May I come in? I have a little project I’d like you to undertake.”

“Sure,” said Tails, stepping back to let Shadow by. “Let’s head over to the workbench where CC is.”

Shadow pulled out the broken communicator he had slipped from Aurora’s bag when she was checking on her mother. He handed it to Tails, who let out a brief whistle.

“This thing’s been through the ringer!” he said, turning it around in his hands. “What happened?”

“It belongs to Aurora,” replied Shadow. “It sustained major damage during a, uh, scuffle.”

Tails narrowed his eyes at Shadow. “You broke it, didn’t you?”

Shadow simply nodded.

“Well, that’s no problem! What do you want me to do exactly? I’m not so sure this much damage can be repaired,” Tails said, noting it had missing parts.

“Can you make a new one for her?” asked Shadow.

“You came to the right place!” replied Tails. “I’ll make a her one with all the latest technology! I’ll even make it her favorite color!” Tails was getting excited thinking of the possibilities.

“Good,” said Shadow. “Spare no expense. When can I pick it up?”

Tails thought a minute. “For Aurora? I’ll have it ready for you by 4:00!”

“Sounds good,” replied Shadow with a sly grin. He knew that fox would fast track anything for Aurora.

When he turned to leave the lab, he saw the award Aurora had mentioned earlier. It stood in a glass case near the exit, so he walked over to examine it. The trophy stood about a foot tall and was shaped like an obelisk. It’s jet black shell was like none he’d ever seen. The certificate lay flat on the shelf next to it. The trophy looked legitimate enough, but the award certificate was very suspicious. Several words, including Tails’ last name, had been misspelled.

Shadow walked back over to Tails. “Aurora mentioned that you had never heard of the award committee that gave you that prize.”

Tails nearly jumped out of his skin. He had already engrossed himself in the task of building her new communicator. Plus, Shadow had a way of startling everyone.

“Yeah, that was a new one on me,” he replied, embarrassed. Clearing his throat, he continued. “The committee just stopped by one day with the award… two rather strange-acting guys. They said they had seen my work at the Global Automation Fair.”

“Strange-acting in what way?” Shadow asked, crossing his arms.

“They just seemed kind of… jumpy, I guess. They didn’t really have a whole lot to say. The whole ordeal was over in five minutes.”

“Hmmm…” came the reply from Shadow. “May I look more closely at the trophy?” he asked.

“Sure,” said Tails, shrugging. Why was Shadow so interested anyway?

Shadow walked to the display case and opened the glass door. The trophy’s dark surface somehow bore a leathery look. Placing his hand around it, he was taken by surprise to feel the relic begin to warm under his touch. Withdrawing his hand, he called to Tails over his shoulder.

“Have you noticed anything odd about this trophy?”

“Geez, he’s obsessed…” Tails muttered under his breath. “Nope,” he said aloud, hoping Shadow would leave him to his work.

Closing the cabinet, Shadow turned and left the lab, deep in thought.

“Is he always so… mysterious?” asked CC when the door closed.

“That’s Shadow for you,” said Tails. “You never really know what to expect.”

“Hasn’t he been both friend and foe to your group in the past?” CC was searching her internal files for memories of Shadow that she had gleaned from others.

“Yeah,” said Tails, “but I think his feelings for Aurora have solidified the friendship part. According to Sonic, it’s very likely that Shadow is in love.”

CC was intrigued, but saw that Tails was once again trying his best to concentrate on the new communicator. She filed the conversation away for another time.

#sonic the hedgehog #sonamy #sonic fanfiction #shadora #hedgehog hodgepodge #sonicboom #aurora belongs to e-vay #shadow the hedgehog #Shadow is not Austin Powers 😂#miles tails prower #tails the fox #CC belongs to e-vay

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inspector-montoya-fox · 1 year

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kinda thinking about the relevance of the villains’ crimes and how widely they were broadcasted after Sly put an end to them. like, creating an army of the undead must’ve at least been global news, come on. i doubt the ones that took place in like very secluded areas would become news like Clockwerk, Neyla, Mask of Dark Earth, but like Don Octavio blowing up Venice or the Black Baron reveal would 100% be front-page news everywhere. that’s the difference between the villains in the final game and the rest: the Sly 1 and 2 baddies were underlings with side-hustles, which like could be dealt with very privately, like no one would even care if Bison got his ass handed to him in a log cabin in the middle of nowhere. but in Sly 3 the villains were just straight-up pulling off crimes in public like so you literally don’t give a fuck ?

if the games took place today, people would defo go fucking nuts over the Contessa. like you wouldn’t be able to escape tiktoks about her and her backstory, and then Netflix would make a true crime docuseries about her and how she might’ve murdered her husband (titled Spider King or whatever never watched that shit). Tsao as a furry Andrew Tate anyone? bye.

#was gonna say Penelope Greta Thunberg but with all those plane emissions? she could neva #sly cooper #so anyway flunked an assignment which was kind of a big deal the other day #i mean i don't know what grade i'm getting but turned it in 47 seconds late which is like -5 points and also didn't reach the word limit #2845/3000 words :/#wrote the last page in like the span of 2 minutes. completely botched the story's ending #and seeking solace in the dick appointment was not a good idea either #but yea let's fix all this by watching real housewives and playing pokemon or som idk. i'm making egg sandwiches atm

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stillbeatingheart · 2 months

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Tagged by @ms-moonlight-inn for a little tag game 💕

Name: nah

Age: elder milenial

Location: way up der in da north, eh but it sure as fuck doesn't look like the north this year, thanks global warming

And now, think about your childhood and tell me:

Did you have a nickname and is it still used? My mom called me Angel Baby for awhile but she was so misled, and my grandma called me Princess which makes me want to gag but whatever, she was old fashioned so I'll let it slide 😂

What did you want to be when you’d grow up? A starving artist. I almost nailed it 😉

Your favourite cartoon: I don't think I had a favorite, but I remember watching Rugrats, Doug, Animaniacs and that whole slew of that era

Your favourite TV show: We went through an American Gladiators phase

Your favourite book: Blueberries for Sal when I was really little, then my first falling into a fantasy series was the Alanna books and I'm completely blanking out on the series name, it was Lioness something or other maybe, author was Tamora Pierce

Your favourite toy: Toy would be Lego, stuffed animal would be Mrs Bunny and that rotten old thing has been around the US with me and now sits on my crate with Bearly Bearold Bear and Penelope the troll

Your favourite thing to eat: We used to do what we called brown food night when my mom didn't feel like cooking, it basically consisted of chicken nuggets and fries from Schwann baked in the oven

Your favourite school subject: Never had one, hated them all.

How did you spend your summers? Rural kid living by a giant ass lake: swimming, baking in the sand, swimming again. Biking, rollerblading, eating Frosty Treats ice cream.

Did you listen to music? If yes, did you have a favourite band/artist? There was always music on in the kitchen, oldies station was the big one. I wish I could find a decent place to listen to that era of music that I still don't really have a name for, it's like Motown and do-wap and all that, the stuff you had to bop to.

And lastly, tell me something you did as a kid that your parents still don’t know about: I think they know it all by now, but we used to think we were sly jumping off the deck into the snow, lighting matches on the neighbor's porch, breaking into the abandoned industrial buildings down the road, sneaking into the abandoned orphanage, smoking hemp - is that a thing anyone else tried to do as a child? That seems like the weirdest one I can remember 😂

Tagging @gnpwdrnwhiskey no pressure 💕

#tag game

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perhaps-in-anotherdream · 1 year

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[CN] Victor’s 2023 Lantern Festival Text: Unexpected Feast

⌚ no spoiler warning since these contents never make it to the global server~ ⌚

•─────⋅◍♡◍⋅─────•

✧ [SCENARIO 1] ✧

Victor: How’s the Lantern Festival feast a certain someone volunteered to prepare coming along?

MC: Very, very perfect. There’s even a “contribution” from the sous-chef Pudding on the dining table this time!

Victor: ...what did he contribute? Dried fish?

Victor: Are you sure he is there to contribute and not eat on the sly?

Victor: When I was cooking the last time, he sneaked in and pretended to help. But the round ended with him secretly walking away with two shrimps and hiding them.

MC: Sob, sob. Although he seized the chicken, he put a few cat treats in our bowls in return. I’m very touched!

Victor: You’re the only one in the family who’d agree to such an uneconomical transaction.

Victor: But this might also be a disguised reminder for you to not forget about serving him the Lantern Festival feast.

Victor: After all, to some extent, Pudding is just like a certain someone – a greedy cat.

MC: Thinking about it, though, we indeed can’t have a reunion dinner without him. So, he should also be at the dining table, right?

Victor: If he’s at the table, will there be any food left for you?

Victor: I will prepare Pudding’s feast when I get back.

Victor: While doing so, I will also prepare the red bean paste glutinous rice balls a certain someone has been clamoring about wanting to eat.

–

✧ [SCENARIO 2] ✧

Victor: How’s the Lantern Festival feast a certain someone volunteered to prepare coming along?

MC: Just wait; you are in for a blasting treat! As my assistant, Pudding has also put together a “dish”~

Victor: You don’t need my help, but asked Pudding to lend a hand?

Victor: Even though a certain someone doesn’t usually cook much; she is quick to take on an assistant.

Victor: Check for yourself to see if there’s any ingredient that has been “embezzled” by your assistant.

MC: No wonder he took the initiative to help just now and swept a few cat treats in the dish to help me spice it up. Turns out all that was originally to steal chicken wing.

Victor: You really can’t tell the difference between making trouble and helping… Be alert when you’re alone in the kitchen with Pudding in the future.

Victor: Perhaps he had heard a certain dummy talking about having a reunion dinner for the Lantern Festival earlier.

Victor: So likely, he wants to have his share too.

MC: Regardless, I still think we are having a lot of fun.

Victor: Have fun, but remember to keep an eye on the rest of the ingredients.

Victor: Don’t wait until the last moment, or else he’d eat up almost all of the food you want to eat yourself.

Victor: And everything a certain someone has planned for tonight will be down the tubes.

–

✧ [SCENARIO 3] ✧

Victor: How’s the Lantern Festival feast a certain someone volunteered to prepare coming along?

MC: You could say that the job has exceeded expectations. And it’s not just that. Pudding also helped in the preparation of the dishes.

Victor: Pudding? You let him in the kitchen?

Victor: He has now become much more advanced than before in his movements of stealthily following around food.

Victor: Are you sure he didn’t steal the ingredients in the name of helping?

MC: When I was setting up the plates just now, I found that half a chicken wing was actually missing!! But I haven’t seen him eating it.

Victor: Pudding is smart enough to hide things until it’s time to eat them.

Victor: You can look at the corner near the dining cabinet.

Victor: Perhaps he knows that he can’t eat at the table, so he snuck a little away in advance.

MC: So, when are you coming back~ After dinner, I want to go out and find a lively place to celebrate the festival!

Victor: Count to ten, and then open the door.

Victor: The lantern show at Central Park tonight is supposed to be brilliant and has many of the items you like.

Victor: After the big feast, I will take a certain dummy there to “celebrate the Lantern Festival.”

—

•─────⋅◍♡◍⋅─────•

#PUDDING!!! 🤣🤣🤣 the chaotic family of three is at it again lmfao #happy lantern festival 🏮💖#also the last bit. he is literally just standing in front of the door and asks her to count to ten akskdjskab ༎ຶ⁠‿⁠༎ຶ #mlqc victor #mlqc li zeyan #mlqc #mr love victor #mr love queen's choice #恋与制作人 #李泽言 #love and producer #mlqc cn #mlqc translations

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darling-frostbite · 9 months

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Painful Love

You and Loki have been lovers for six months now. After the New York attack, Loki was banned from going back to Asgard and sentenced to stay in Midgard to do public service and to learn how to respect the people living on earth, or what he refers to as "mortals". While you are a special agent of SHIELD and now the new member of the Avengers, You're very good at combat and pretty smart, but when Loki arrived at the compound to stay there for the Avengers to keep an eye on him to avoid yet another global problem, you don't know what's gotten into you but feel like a high school teenager feeling butterflies in your stomach. As you watched him walk to the hall fully restrained, you thought to As you watched him walk to the hall fully restrained, you thought to yourself, "The way he walks is so hot." You both locked eyes at each other, and your heart skipped a bit. You couldn't help but smile, and you blushed when Loki gave you his signature sly smirk, but little did you know Loki felt flattered as well because your smile is so genuine and pure, and only his mother smiled at him like that, and it's been a long time ago. You don't know what happened to you at that moment—not the fact that Tony keeps saying "Y/n to Earth," but you don't care any less. Since that day, you keep on checking on him, sharing your books with him, and bringing food to his room, even though it will take almost forever before he opens the door, and you doubt that he will eat it because, after all, he loathes the humanities, thinking they are so weak and useless. But after months, he started talking to you. You and Loki became close to each other, and yes, you two became lovers. Loki is the best boyfriend any girl could ever imagine; he's very sweet, caring, loving, and loyal, and you love him more than yourself. Back to reality Now that you've watched yourself in the mirror, tears are running down your cheeks as memories come flooding back. It's been a month since the last time Loki and you had fun together. You don't know what happened or what you have done, but something has changed. Your clothes in his closet were moved to a mini drawer below when he used to like them next to his because he said he always missed your scent. He doesn't talk to you anymore, saying he's busy. When you sleep next to him, he doesn't even bother facing you, as if you have a disease or something. He doesn't read to you anymore, nor does he say, "Goodbye for now, my darling; I'll see you soon. Don't miss me so much." together with your favorite wink of him when he's living for a mission. All of it feels like hell, and the fact that you're losing him drives you insane. After locking yourself up for a whole day and saying you're sick when the Avengers asked, the truth is that you've just been crying all day, and now you're out of tears. You heard Loki's door crack open, so you immediately rose up from bed, fixed yourself, and got ready to talk to him about what really happened. You don't even bother to knock; you just open his door without a warning, and there he is, sitting on a single couch, reading his book as if he's so innocent of your feelings right now. "Hi Y/N," he simply greets without even looking at you.

"I need to talk to you," you said, forcing yourself to sound and look okay even though what you really want is to cry nonstop yet again.

"I'm tired," he answered. "So am I, Loki! you yelled.

"I'm so sick of these feelings! I don't know what happened or what I have done to you for you to make me feel this way! Tell me, Loki, what have I done wrong?!" Your voice cracked as your tears began to run down your cheeks as you remembered how much he loves you and promised that he will never let you be hurt again, yet this is happening.

He stands from his chair and looks at you emotionlessly, as if you're just a mere mortal standing in front of him compared to the way he looked at you before, full of admiration and love.

"You did nothing wrong, Y/N," he stated.

Y/n? He called me by my name. You thought to yourself, This is the first time he called you that since you started dating. A single tear runs down your cheeks again.

"Then WHY?!" you yelled as your knees, feeling weak, began to fall to the ground. "There must be a reason, Loki; please tell me." Your last words were almost a whisper as you begged.

Loki kneels beside you, looking at you with pity and guilt in his eyes. "Believe me, Y/N, you did nothing wrong, and there is nothing wrong with you." He pauses for a second, as if trying to find less sharp words that would hit your feelings. "It's on me; I just- I just feel like—" he stutters and takes a deep breath before continuing.

"I just don't love you anymore." he admits.

You laugh sarcastically and stand, shaking your head no. "Your lying! No! No! Loki please! Please stop this, tell me it's all a joke, that you're just playing games again, that this is just one of your stupid pranks!" you sobbed. Loki, I'm telling you this isn't funny anymore! "

You really hope this is a silly joke and he will start laughing and hugging you any moment now, but no, he's just standing in front of you looking at you full of pity. "Loki, please enough of this; you're hurting me" you whisper to him. You reached your hand to his left cheek and said, "I love you, Loki." This is your last card, and you really hoped you would hear the response you craved, but instead you heard what you feared: "I'm sorry, Y/N," he answered.

His words act like a queue for you, and you start running away as fast as you can. You can see the Avengers calling you, but you can't hear them. Everything is blurry due to your tears, and you can't hear anything other than Loki's hurtful words being repeat in your head like a loop. You don't know where you're going, but all you want is to escape from your feelings. You didn't even realize that you were now in the middle of the road and had been hit by a truck.

Loki's POV

After Y/N left, I fell to my knees, regretting every word I said, cursing myself, and thinking how foolish I was to push away the only love I ever had. I immediately stand and run after her, but she is fast as always, and I can't see her in the compound anymore. "Loki, what happened? Why is Y/N crying while running away? What have you done?!" " Stark asks me as I keep on looking for her all over the room, but I feel insulted by his words: "I only did what all of you always wanted! "I spat at him while looking at all of them full of disgust. I want to kill them all right now, but I know Y/N would be hurt if I did because they are her family, so I stop myself and run out of the compound to find the love of my life.

As I was running from the compound, I suddenly felt cold all over my body as I saw Y/N in the middle of the road, not aware of the truck that was coming her way. "Y/N!" I screamed at the top of my lungs to stop her, but it was too late. She got hit, and I saw with my own two eyes and heard a thud when her head hit the ground hard. I ran to her and saw her unconscious body bathed in her own blood. I kneeled beside her, trying all my healing power to heal her, but the damage was too much. My tears began to fall on my cheeks like a waterfall as I sobbed, holding her bloody hand. "Y/n! Y/n darling, please don't leave me, my love! Help! Somebody help my Y/n!" I pleaded as I kissed her hand. "Please, darling, I'm so sorry I didn't mean any of the words I told you earlier! I'm so sorry I hurt you! Y/N, I love you! "That's the last word that left my mouth as the heavy rain started to fall. I feel so numb right now that I cannot even feel the raindrops on my own face. My past is full of pain, but I think this is the most painful part because I lost the only person who loved me so much, my everything, and it's my fault. My life that used to be worthless became the complete opposite when Y/N arrived; she's the only reason I still want my heart to beat; without Y/N, I'll choose to die a thousand times. If only I could turn back time or have one last chance to once again protect my Y/N, I swear to all the gods I wouldn't fail. I would set fire to the nine realms for her.

#loki god of mischief #loki of asgard #loki odinson #loki laufeyson #loki imagine #loki x reader #loki x y/n #avenger loki #loki fanfic #loki x you #loki x female reader #loki smut #tom hiddelston loki

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oscarisaacasimov · 8 months

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Anything But by Hozier & why I love it

First off this was the biggest surprise off Unreal Unearth. I knew nothing going in, and did not expect such an uptempo break from the sorrows in the lowest levels of hell.

The instruments have a more global sound, evoking perhaps the Caribbean or Africa? Somewhere far from Ireland, a place above ground where the sun shines bright. Out of context, I might not have recognized this as a Hozier song right away.

We get 2 verses and 3 "scenes" of escapist fantasies, rejoicing in freedom and endless possibilities.

But at the end of each daydream, no matter how far our singer has travelled or what they have become, they are drawn back to thinking about the person they are trying to leave behind.

If I was a rip tide, I wouldn't take you out.

At first glance, it seems the narrator is taking the high ground, extending benevolence rather than revenge to their former lover. No matter how powerful I become, I won't hurt you.

If I was a stampede, you wouldn't get a kick.

However these are also sly insults – even if I was the sea, or a stampede, or death itself, I wouldn’t come close enough to touch you.

If I had his job, you would live forever.

Imagining that death would never take this person from the past goes beyond an insult. it's a profound curse to wish on someone. A major theme of Unreal Unearth could be summed up "The only way out is through." The darkness and suffering and burial of parts of your self are necessary to see the new dawn and to truly begin again.

Dante travels through literal hell, but he keeps moving and so he comes back out again as a changed man. In contrast, De Selby's novel (The Third Policeman) shows how repeating the same thing again and again IS hell, even if you don't have the fire and brimstone.

The narrator of Anything But is wishing that fate on his former lover - to never "die" on Unreal Unearth means to never grow or become self-aware. To be in an unchanging cycle of making the same mistakes and keeping their toxic traits forever.

youtube

As Who We Are took an introspective look at anger, Anything But does the same for fraud.

The narrator is trying to deceive the listener, the ex lover and even themselves that they are happy and fine and moved on, even as their thoughts repeatedly return to this person, and the singer makes some intense statements about them. The soul-crushing work of Abstract / Psychopomp and Unknown / Nth is still ahead, before the true recovery of First Light. At the end of this journey, you can at last say not only

"I would do everything if you'd hear me say Go Look the Other Way"

but confidently

"A voice your body jumps to calling out your name But after this I'm never gonna be the same And I am never going back again."

#hozier #andrew please #unreal unearth #anything but #first light #unknown / nth #abstract / psychopomp #who we are hozier #8th circle of hell #circle of fraud #eighth circle of hell #dante's inferno #the third policeman #de selby #Youtube

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joemuggs · 3 months

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Albums of 2023 part 3

And - continued from part 2 - some more! This one does what it says on the tin. Levon Vincent knows the old chestnut "dancing about architecture" is accidentally profound: this is 11 pieces of holy four dimensional architecture exquisitely designed for your body to move through.

It's been a great year for old school BRAINDANCE, in no small part thanks to Mighty Force records releasing thick and fast, and this from Kams, straight out of Beckenham, is the best - just warm-hearted, melodic, acidic, danceable, classic electronica.

My old mucker Culshaw is a scholar, a gent, an adventurer, and on the sly a great musician. This comeback to the studio is MAGIC - global and spiritual and incidentally Balearic in a Jose Padilla sense - but its connections are based on highest common factors, never dully fusioneering.

Just fries my mind that Boris seem to get creatively hungrier and angrier with every passing year. This collab brings in all sorts - goth, thrash, synthwave - but what I really love is the unironic POWER METAL energy. Music to be struck by lightning to.

It's been an incredible year for electropop - and this album from producer turned singer songwriter Avalon Emerson is the *sweetest* of the crop, lighter than air, a gentle digital dream, but with surreptitious emotional heft. Reminds me a little bit of millennium era Morr Music, Tarwater etc? Must listen as a whole: it draws you in and in....

Even heavier than the Boris, and the record that made me fall in love with grindcore all over again - had to order the vinyl even given transatlantic premium. Nepalese band in New York Chepang TAKE. NO. PRISONERS. HUURUUUURURRGGHGHHH.

I was NOT expecting this from Anhoni - but I'm a sucker for Muscle Shoals style country-soul grooves, and though they risk getting "a bit Jools Holland", here they're delivered with total assurance plus the bleakness of the lyrics, fierceness of delivery and a few noises moments all adds some serious edge.

More electropop - this one from Jessy Lanza is not a million miles from the Avalon Emerson in its pristine futurist sound, but it's a bit spikier, eerier, like she is setting puzzles for you.

My most played record of the year. Like the Culshaw, a bit Cafe Del Mar in the most urbane possible sense - Sissoko & co's blend of jazz, classical, W African & European folk is done with unbelievable poise and emotion and is completely addictive.

This has been all-conquering this year and rightly so. It's not just the fearsome doom bits, it's the straightforward folk that's great: Lankum remind us of dreadful, beautiful paradoxes of being human that don't really change through the centuries.

Paul Simon says this was written in dreams, and it really sounds like it. Genuinely transporting, surreal, gorgeous and - I have to say it - roughly 10,000,000 times more interesting than anything Bob Dylan has done this century.

Completely UN-deconstructed trance... the way Romy taps into the melancholy of the most globe-conquering of 90s pop dance is something quite special and will serve as a real cynicism test... go on, let it twang your heartstrings!

I've kind of idly admired King Krule's music from a distance previously but that changed last year - he really is something special eh? Way more than the sum of influences, and a proper world-builder.

One of many where I missed the promo at the time (sorry PRs) but then discovered it via my sp****y recommends. Just beautiful post-classical, post-ambient musing music from Audrey Carmes that sounds like austere but lovely perfumes and crisp clean cotton.

Of course death is at the heart of Depeche Mode's music so how tragic but appropriate that it took Fletch's death to turbocharge them creatively. This is like a telescoping together of their whole history - but also still in love with new sounds...

More death, more darkness, with Amy Winehouse serving as a dark angel muse drawing together and crystallising the ambient, abstract and dream cabaret influences Kevin Martin has been incubating in his solo KRM albums since 2019. Crushingly sad and great.

Espec after seeing him rock it in the morning at We Out Here, I do feel like Joshua Idehen is in danger of becoming a late-blooming star, you know. Explicitly connecting David Byrne, Mike Skinner, Maxi Jazz and a finger-jabbing Nigerian preacher, he ROCKS.

Yes, Yussef Dayes really is all that and a packed of Pickled Onion Space Raiders. Brit jazz just seems to have been in a consistent triumphant state these last five years or so and there's no sign of it stopping being that way with albums like this still coming.

Ben Howard is an artist who'd completely passed me by despite being really quite big - but again the sp****y algorithm brought me this and it's really amazing, thought provoking, grown up pop. I *instantly* guessed it was Bullion on production too, no lie. ❤️

I've said for a long time that "mumble rap" has deep atavistic echoes of the blues and psychedelia - and here's the mumbler in chief Lil Yachty joining the dots back through the decades. Funkadelic, Hendrix, Beck, Outkast, BUTTHOLE SURFERS? Yeah it's all here. Not saying it's one those levels, but it's great and

Holy shit is Dot Allison on a roll or what? This is effectively 2021's Heart Shaped Scars growing in all directions: bigger, grander, more cosmic, even more beautiful. The partnership with Hannah Peel as arranger is front and centre and works incredibly.

Alright it's not as unique as Bad Bunny's 2022 masterpiece Un Verano Sin Ti - this is more trap, less overtly "Latin" - but it's really, really good. Sometimes not knowing the language can emphasise the emotion in the sound: the blues in the trap, the Spanish derived "tristeza"...

My fave Villalobos moments are often him working his wonky magic on "real" instruments and songs (see his Tony Allen / ECM reworks) so a whole album of him tweaking A Mountain Of One's Balearic soft rock is a real treat. Gets progressively "more Ricardo" as it goes on.

I love how Young Fathers have become such a beacon of what a "big festival band" CAN be when it broadens its influences out and grooves a bit. This album is such a big step up for them, and I really hope they keep this momentum because it's BIG FUN.

And talking of Scots "big festival bands" with diverse influences pushing the envelope and having fun with loading in more pop, dance, rap etc, The Djangos really went to town on this one and I was surprised not to see it getting more hype. A proper weird and wonderful party of an album.

Okayyyyyyyy last part is here, get stuck in!

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