#she just sort of hints to it in the lyrics and none of it is in the visuals (unless you count the feathers which i do not)

[the-fandom-crossroads]

Help Pick Furina's Character Song!

I am currently making a Playlist of every Genshin character being represented by one song. Some of them I still can't find a song for. List of missing characters post Here!

But Some character's like Furina have TOO Many Songs so I can't decide on just one. So here's a poll to help me decide which song should represent Furina in the playlist!

If you have a suggestion I'd love to hear about it in the comments or tags!

This is the basics of what I look for when trying to see if a song fits the character. The song should fit their personality, but also their drive/inspiration for doing what they do. Basically why Celestia picked them to get a vision. In the case of Show Yourself it would be channeling the Moment of getting Furina's Vision.

A longer breakdown of why I think each song fits Furina under the read more! Includes minor 4.2 Spoilers!

The first 3 were actually picked before 4.2 came out. But the added context to Furina's Story in 4.2 built more depth into them that they didn't originally have. Regardless nearly every line of these songs fits Furina so don't be surprised by the wall of lyrics. It's what makes picking so hard!

Castle

"Sick of all these people talking, sick of all this noise. Tired of all these cameras flashing, sick of being poised."

"Already choking on my pride, so there's no use crying about it.

I'm headed straight for the castle. They wanna make me their queen. And there's an old man sitting on the throne. That's saying that I probably shouldn't be so mean."

This was the first song picked out for her back during 4.0. It perfectly describes the Mask personality Furina wear's for the roll of Hydro Archon along with hinting at the cracks. It really fits Furina's vibes in the beginning and the confidence she shows. But it doesn't go deeper than that and it doesn't hint at Focalors involvement in anyway.

It's mostly still on the list because it was the first and because Furina's character trailer just is this song. Like I could use those clips for an AMV of this song and it would fit without changing any context.

Little Talks

"There's an old voice in my head. That's holding me back.

Well, tell her that I miss our little talks.

Soon it will be over and buried with our past."

"You're gone, gone, gone away. I watched you disappear. All that's left is a ghost of you.

Now we're torn, torn, torn apart. There's nothing we can do. Just let me go, we'll meet again soon.

Now wait, wait, wait for me, please hang around. I'll see you when I fall asleep.

Don't listen to a word I say (Hey) The screams all sound the same (Hey)"

So I also picked this one back during 4.0, but it has only grown to fit more as we have learned more. There are two lead singers for this song. The lady and her Lyrics (italics) are Furina, while the man (Bold) is Neuvillette. By the end they are both singing the lyrics.

The "old voice" originally was just Furina's internalized anxiety we saw during Lyney's trial. But it now can also fit the warnings of Focalors and how that held Furina back from trusting in Neuvillette to be able to help her.

The "I watched you disappear" would also be Neuvillette witnessing Focalors death. While "is a ghost of you" is the depression spell Furina clearly fell into between the Archon quest and her character quest where she pulled away from everyone.

"the screams" would be from the centuries of trials they oversaw together. Childe was not the first to refuse to go quietly. Furina acted like it was all entertainment. But some of those guilty verdicts would stick with anyone and to have collected hundreds if not thousands of those sorts of verdicts over the years. "The screams of the damned" as they say. Will probably haunt both of them for the rest of their existence.

The State of Dreaming

"My life is a play, is a play, is a play."

"If only you knew my dear. How I live my life in fear. If only you knew my dear. How I know my time is near

Yeah, I've been living in the state of dreaming. Living in a make-believe land. Living in the state of dreaming, of dreaming, of dreaming"

Now this song is currently already on the playlist for Nilou because of 3.0 and the Samsara dream. But Furina's been acting the roll of Archon for centuries now. Her life is literally a play. But the songs lyrics only repeat this phrase. So it doesn't cover other parts of Furina's story.

Show Yourself

"Something is familiar. Like a dream I can reach. But not quite hold. I can sense you there. Like a friend I’ve always known. I’m arriving. And it feels like I am home."

"Where the Northwind meets the sea. There's a River. Full of Memories."

"Step into your power. Grow yourself into something new.

You are the one you’ve been waiting for

All of my life. All of your life."

So this one only got added to the list after learning about Focalors at the end of 4.2 and now I can't unsee it. Fontaine's water holding memories is literally pulled from Frozen II. Like that was not a common thing before Frozen II.

Furina her whole life was waiting for Focalors the "real" Hydro Archon to show up and take over as Archon. But Furina had always been Fontaine's real Hydro Archon. She was enough. I like to image the end being Furina getting bestowed with her vision.

The only thing causing me to pause with Show Yourself is that, like with State of Dreaming, the song is already being used by another character. Xingqui's VA sang a cover of this song and that cover is part of the reason I even thought to make this playlist. So it has a place of being one of the first songs picked for the character.

Of course if it sweeps the poll I'll swap it in for Furina. That's why we're doing this poll because I can't decide on my own.

---

So yeah those are the songs. I feel like I'd probably find a 5th option if I looked at Christian Songs, so I'm specifically not doing that. But if you think of one and you feel like it fits better than these feel free to share it!

Thank you for reading if you got all the way down here!

#genshin impact #genshin #furina #polls #focalors #genshin polls #hydro archon #genshin spoilers #douglimemes #neuvillette #genshin 4.2

[shortdevil-sans]

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

Edgeworth POV:

There were several reports of child abuse on the street I'm standing on in London... I decided to investigate this matter. So I took Gumshoe and Kay with me in hopes we'll find the source...

After asking a few people, someone told us the address of the source of Child Abuse, we took the Scotland Yard to the address and-

"AAAAAAAAHHHHH!" A scream could be heard "GUMSHOE, BUST DOWN THE DOOR!" I yelled a hint of worry covering my face... "YES SIR!" The door came down revealing a man holding a knife and a girl that looks like........ Trucy?

"POLICE! YOU'RE UNDER ARREST FOR CHILD ABUSE!!" I was still in my trance when I saw the scene. The Scotland Yard took the man in for questioning and Kay was calming down the girl... Gumshoe putted tape over the door closing the building for further investigation...

I got out of my trance noticing the girl is on an ambulance and decided to ask her some questions. The girl had brown hair like Trucy and bandages covering her right eye... Her face looked she had been crying for awhile....

"Hey, you ok?" I asked, she looked at me. Her eyes had no spark...! "My name is Miles Edgeworth, I'm Chief Prosecutor of Japanifornia. What's your name?" "Tacy..." She responded, her eyes were full of worry. "Are you worried about something?" "My...my twin sister!" She said frantic. "Who is your twin sister?" "T-Trucy... I-I promised her to be at her side at all costs a-and we were going to be the twin magicians together...!" I noticed a locket the same shape as Trucy's as she continued talking........

"Mind I see your locket?" I said as calm as possible. "S - sure..." Tacy said taking off her locket and giving it to me. I looked inside...

This is what it sort of looks like...

I was shocked by the inside, they look so similar...! They wore a yellow and red magicians outfits as kids, 7 or 8 years old probably. When I heard mumbling of familiar lyrics...

I pulled out my phone and immediately called Phoenix. Trucy and Phoenix insisted on coming along after the Kristopher incident, just to get away for awhile...

Not even 10 minutes later, I saw a car pull up and out came Phoenix and Trucy...

"Trucy! Do you remember any songs from before your past?" "I remember 1 song!" "Great! Follow me!" We went up to Tacy and Trucy began to sing...

"The sun will come out tomorrow

Bet your bottom dollar that tomorrow

There'll be sun" Trucy began, tears prickling her eyes. "Just thinkin' about

Tomorrow

Clears away the cobwebs, and the sorrow

'Til there's none

When I'm stuck with a day

That's gray, and lonely

I just stick out my chin

And grin, and say, oh~"

"The sun'll come outtomorrow

So ya gotta hang on'til tomorrow

Come what may

Tomorrow tomorrow

I love ya

Tomorrow

You're always a day a way!" By some miracle, Tacy sang along, eyes are full of spark. All around us, everyone stopped doing what they're doing and eyes were soon glued to the two happy girls who were about to cry...

"The sun will come out tomorrow

So ya gotta hang on'til tomorrow

Come what may

Tomorrow tomorrow

I love ya

Tomorrow

You're always a day a way

Tomorrow tomorrow

I love ya

Tomorrow

You're always a day a way" Tacy and Trucy sang the final verse "TACY!" Trucy yelled, happy her twin sister was back.

Ok Edgeworth adopted Tacy almost a year later and the twins became The Twin Magicans and hosted various shows... Trucy showed Tacy various things and introduced Tacy to Athena and Apollo and Klavier...

#ace attorney investigations #miles edgeworth #kay faraday #dick gumshoe #tacy edgeworth #ace attorney #Youtube

[full-moon-hate-account]

marauders era characters and their favourite taylor swift album (also what album you should listen to based on your fav!!) — a character analysis (of sorts):

james: fearless (tv)

i mean, fearless meets hey stephen meets you belong with me meets the best day meets that’s when is literally, genuinely, HIM. he’d like the slight country-ness of it all, due to how it’s only given in small portions but is still there. the theme of falling head over heels in love but it not working out would go so well with him and his character </3 he’d listen to it like almost every day.

sirius: lover

if he was asked this, he’d die, and probably go for reputation. a safe option. but he doesn’t know himself like i do. he’d be screaaaaaaming the lyrics to ‘i think he knows’ whenever he could, he’d cry to lover, relate to the archer, daylight, and afterglow on a spiritual level, and never get sick of cruel summer. like. ever. that’s just how it is!!! lover was the first album he listened to after lily introduced it to him and it’s therefore very special to him

remus: evermore

i know like literally everyone would say folklore because of cardigan and peace and hoax etc etc but?? to me evermore feels more like him. none of the songs necessarily describe him, but marjorie and ivy and cowboy like me and ‘tis the damn season feel so like him. also, this might be because i cannot help but see wolfstar as a very very loving couple and gold rush and long story short and willow are like invisible string’s sisters. evermore is folklore’s younger sister as well, and sort of shifts between being more and less emotionally intelligent than folklore so it just fits him to me.

peter: speak now

there’s very little he knows better than revenge. but also, he feels like such a romantic to me. i know he’s so often headcanoned as aro and/or ace, but i’ve never found myself agreeing, as you can now tell. i feel like he would not handle change well at all and songs like never grow up and even (in my opinion) back to december portray that. plus he’d just love the genres😭

lily: 1989

where do i even BEGIN. clean is a huge reason for it, since she’s had to let go of so many shitty people in her life, but she also seems like such a dreamer and wished to move to a huge city when she grew up, and therefore fell in love with welcome to new york very easily. she loves a messy but true love kinda trope (literally all the songs on there), with hints of purity here and there (you are in love), but she also loves people being able to get proper mad and a lil unhinged about things (blank space, bad blood). besides. she’s very pop. in the best way. plus, she’s the hugest swiftie of them, of course she chooses 1989.

marlene: folklore

she knows how to feel pain, she knows it well. but she does it with so much hope. like, yeah, maybe today was exhausting and the past week really sucked and life feels awful. but that’s not where it ends…? it can’t be. and she feels very reflective. and very romantic. and SO passionate, about both things and people she loves, as well as herself and her own potential. i guess that’s a bit of a controversial marlene characterisation but, no, i don’t want to give her that mean and tough lesbian trope.

dorcas: reputation

very protective of things and people, but in a truly romantic way. she knows how to stand up for herself, maybe not as intensely as the narrator of rep, but the passion is there for sure. and she’s SO romantic, her fav off the album is probably call it what you want. dress is very dorlene, dancing with our hands tied is very dorlene, call it what you want is very dorlene, and in my opinion marlene fell first but dorcas fell harder and that fits the whole purpose and message of reputation very well to me.

mary: red (tv)

just being in the middle of a transition from country into pop is very mary, i can’t explain it but it’s just her. her loving red is very complimentary to lily loving 1989 as well. she’s probably sobbed to every single song on the album for different reasons in different occasions, and i think by as early as the first minute of state of grace she was just…. completely sold. this connection isn’t one i can really analyse or explain or justify, it just makes tons of sense to me, how it’d be her complete fave from day one. begin again, treacherous, the lucky one, holy ground, babe…. ah. it’s perfect for her.

#this is like a guide to my view on the characters somehow?? #I’ve left this in my drafts for literally four months #it had to be shared #i still stand by every single word oh my god I was very right #marauders era #marauders #sirius black #james potter #remus lupin #peter pettigrew #lily evans #marlene mckinnon #dorcas meadowes #mary mcdonald #marauders era headcanons #marauders headcanons

[waiting-on-a-dream]

My ocs as milgram songs!

I'm doing this based on backstory and which one of my oc(s) would kin the milgram character, so whoever gets assigned to these sad songs...Rip.

Weakness: Aurora

The words I tried to say was “You’re unfair” And those words thought how pitiful I am

As told before in my Aurora analysis, they long for a love that only children receive. That is to say, they want to be protected and pampered (simply for existing?). The same goes for Haruka, who desperately wants to be loved and seems to be still stuck in a childish sort of mindset, and this sentiment shines through strongly in this song. I want to be a pitied and loved weakling. Children are "weak", and yet they are often treated with such love and care. Since that is so, Aurora never wants to grow up.

Another thing is, Haruka seems to have had this sort of sibling rivalry with his sister, where his mother would pay more if not all of her attention to his sister instead (as hinted in all knowing and all agony). Aurora feels this way towards their own sister, Alanna, who is the youngest and more ambitious to excel. Though not to such a serious degree as Haruka of course.

Umbilical: Gaius

Just the two of us, I feel a little tingle inside Our love links us together Just me alone, the warmth starts fading away Let’s reload the warmth

A song most likely about abortion? *Ignores my female ocs and slaps the song onto this guy like a sticker*

All jokes aside, Gaius is the one most likely to tweak his personality in order to appeal to someone he likes out of all my ocs. He's also secretly really lonely, and that's why he's the most sociable out of the seven brothers. He'd probably be the first one to have a crush on someone and get into a relationship out of the seven of them.

Bring it on: Violet

All evil hypocrites should disappear I won’t stop until you say “sorry”

None of my ocs would go on a manhunt on social media and bully someone until they cancel their life subscription, so I just chose my most morally outspoken oc for this song. Even she's not that aggressive, damn. Fuuta needs to chill.

After pain: Xenon

I don’t want tomorrow to come I want to forget yesterday

I don't think I've ever revealed Xenon's backstory before, but at the rate my creative writing juices are filling up, I don't think I'll be able to write something more serious for him anytime soon. So here it is!

His family used to be happy, attending the annual moon festival together and all. But somewhere along the line, his parents started to drift apart and argue a lot more. The divorce was messy, fireballs were thrown. Of course, any child would feel miserable throughout this entire process. Xenon felt like it was his fault somehow, as if he was a burden to his parents because both of them didn't seem eager to take custody of him.

Throw down: Emile

“Throw down” emotions with no color I wonder if I can die with it still left

To be honest, this might be the hardest milgram song to decipher. The lyrics and even the music video are so vague, no one really knows what Shidou did. But if I were to throw all of my ocs at this song, Emile would probably stick best.

He's going to do something that he thinks is terribly wrong, and feel incredibly guilty for it. But the damage has been done. Let's see if I ever get the motivation to write it out.

This is how to be in love with you: Gaius

Giving you love to the point of pulling you down It’s just because I still get worried, please forgive me

Out of all my ocs, he's the one most likely to become almost obsessive in a relationship. Anxious attachment style let's go.

Half: Violet

The curse of reuniting with you puts a dagger in my heart I imagined that you saying "See you" is the same as "It's over” Only if your heart would change but that’s not possible Please tell me what I should do, feelings shrouded in lies will float away and disappear

HELP I READ THE LYRICS TO HALF AND IT FITS VIOLET'S FEELINGS TOWARDS IRIS SO MUCH! IT FITS SO WELL I MIGHT JUST DO A WHOLE RELATIONSHIP ANALYSIS FOR THEIR RELATIONSHIP USING THE LYRICS OF THIS SONG!! (Along with Aurora and Weakness.)

Magic: Violet

But it’s not scary at all, because it’s love I can actually think of it as a good thing, see isn’t it a great thing?

Oh my goodness, Violet is on a roll in this post. All I can say is that her mother was very overbearing and overprotective towards her and Iris. And while Iris often rebelled, Violet was the one that obeyed. Even she gets curious and wants to explore sometimes, but she doesn't want to be scolded! She doesn't want to be a bad girl!

MeMe: Elio

Ahhh, it’s the same anywhere I go It’s like what’s wrong isn’t wrong

He was bullied physically quite a bit as a kid, and Duran often had to step in and fight off the bullies. (It took Duran a while to learn how to fight though, so before that, Fleda would take on most of the beatings. I already have an idea for a scenario to convey this.)

That's what motivated Elio to learn how to fight on his own, and that's why he's so aggressive now. He only fights people he deems deserving of a throw down, and doesn't think it's fair that he's punished along with whoever he fought with afterwards. He especially doesn't like how Luka scolds him without asking for the full picture after hearing about the incident.

Harrow: Elio

I can’t forgive the evil hurting the weak It’s unforgivable, I won’t allow it, I just can’t let it go

The explanation for this is the same as the one above, lmao.

All knowing and all agony: Aurora and Emile actually

You were always comparing me to someone else You were always generous, except towards me

Aurora feels as if their mom is always comparing to someone else. Even if their mom mentions a family member being an honor's student, or accomplishing a great feat in sports, it already sours Aurora's mood. It's hard being the eldest child, eh?

Mommy, look, I’ve done great “There there, my good boy!”

Emile just wants to be a good boy for his mom. :( I will not elaborate.

Tear drop: Iris

If you want “me”, come marco, I’ll polo Let’s just do it, please smile?

Hm...Out of all my ocs, I think Iris would be most eager to...you know, do the hanky panky? I don't have a lot of ocs that are of age either, so. She's probably also most likely the one to hate other's moral expectations of her. What she does is her own business after all.

Backdraft: Elio

Holler-holler from safety, so worthless The fight’s up here! Come up to the ring and face me!

Once again, Elio's connection to this song can already be explained with what I wrote for MeMe. Wow, he's on a roll too.

#aurora puerstella #iris delmor #violet delmor #xenon ambrose #emile briar #gaius antoine amias #elio ignatius amias

[lgcsoyoun]

We All Pretend to be Heroes

When Eunjo unnie informed Soyoun that she was chosen to record a song for an upcoming Netflix and Legacy collaboration web drama, Soyoun was expecting it to be a prank. When she’s told that her song is the opening theme of the drama, Soyoun’s sure that she’s frozen on the spot. There’s no way that the powers that be and the combined forces of her ancestors in heaven conspired to make this happen. This was just too good to be true. 

Sure, she held the position of lead vocalist in Crystallis, but she wasn’t expecting to actually get the job. Besides, she’s sure people know her for being a crazy person on TV more than being an idol, so this is a nice surprise. This is a good chance to appeal to a new group of people, and she always welcomes any challenge that comes her way. 

As she listens to the demo and studies the lyrics, Soyoun is more and more thankful that this is her OST debut. Singing an OST for a drama was not in her 2023 bingo card, but she’s definitely open to the experience. The song is something different from what she does with Crystallis, in her opinion. It’s dark and morbid with the slightest hint of playfulness. She almost wonders what sort of drama this is for. Maybe she can ask the people at the studio when recording day comes. 

True enough, Soyoun gets her answer on D-Day. She has practiced as much as she can. She knows the words and has committed them to memory. She can only hope recording goes smoothly. 

She’s not going to lie. Soyoun feels some pressure to do well because she wants to prove she deserves this. Sure, it isn’t important to impress the producer, but she still wants to show her worth.  

Sensing this, the producer reminds her to calm down. “You’re here for a reason, Astrid,” the producer reminds her with a laugh. “You’ve already impressed me enough. Take a deep breath and jump a little. That might ease your nerves.”

Soyoun follows his advice and attempts to relax. As she focuses on the music, she finds herself dancing along to it as she sings. As she finally gets the effect both she and the producer want, Soyoun finds her mood lifting as she goes along. With this positive mood in mind, Soyoun uses this to carry her through the rest of the session.

Once it’s done and the producer lets her listen to how it will all sound, Soyoun can’t help but ask the other drama staff for any hints. All they tell her is that the song makes perfect sense once she knows what it is. Despite her playfully asking for clues, none of them budge. Regardless, she records a supportive message for the drama all the same.

“We all pretend to be the heroes on the good side...” 

She never thought she’d say this, but she’s looking forward to hearing her voice on TV.

#lgc:bulletinquiry #msy;weallpretendtobeheroes

[cal-metacritic]

The Guardian - Momentum (Lindsay Lohan)

Lindsay Lohan

Momentum

50/100

Lindsay Lohan is by far one of the most controversial figures that the industry has seen across the last several years, and that has made her absence all the more noticeable. Mostly retreating after a series of very public embarrassments, no one really expected a comeback, even when her signing to a new label was announced. It seemed impossible for an artist like her to rise up from the ashes and reclaim former glories, but there was an odd bit of curiosity that seems to’ve surrounded the release of her return EP. Whether it be down to simply who she is or her recent controversial relationship with Brendon Urie remains unclear. 

What is clear is that this curiosity will continue throughout the duration of the project as it leaves you with a lot of questions and not a single hint of an answer. 

Proving from the gate that she still intends to be a provocateur, the production credits of the EP feature work from Dr. Luke alongside Aaron Joseph and Vaughn Oliver. Whether the presence of the first is there just to be a conversation starter remains to be seen, but what is quite evident is that he and none of the producers bring anything notable to the table. 

The production work is quite bland and sterile throughout. Despite the lyricism on several tracks, the production work is radio ready and as such is quite anonymous. Even the final track, the only one with any sort of identifiable personality within it, doesn’t land in the territory of being genuinely interesting to listen to. There’s nothing out and out offensive or legendarily bad within the sound, but there’s also not really a single memorable thing within that sound either. 

From a songwriting standpoint, there is a little bit more personality in the mix, but that isn’t always a compliment. 

Lindsay has never been a particularly identifiable songwriter, bearing no real trademark that many of her peers have managed to develop. As such, her style can be adaptable to context, but it seems that here she went back and forth between actively trying to be something she isn’t and actually succeeding in doing something notable. The songs that dare to be just a little bit more grounded in their writing are the best ones. There’s nothing exactly personal within the work, and that is no requirement, but there are moments that feel more realistic and human than songs like the opening track. 

The worst moments the project has to offer are when it feels it’s most pointless. Whether that be crass songs about sex (not inherently an issue in isolation, but somewhat irritating when it feels purposeless) or a song about partying (again, not inherently problematic just disappointing in it’s lack of something to say), there are many examples of things on the project that seem to be there just to be there. 

Whether we want to count this as a comeback or not is up to others, but as far as I’m concerned this is more transitional than anything. After all Lindsay’s experienced, it’s only natural she’d struggle finding a voice upon starting over. But that doesn’t make that transition any easier to push through either. This isn’t the worst thing to ever happen to music, but it is so far the most inessential thing that exists within Lindsay’s canon and for that it’s a bit of a letdown. Sure, there’s controversial aspects to pick apart, but that doesn’t provide the project with much in the way of identity. It’s a bit faceless, which for Lindsay is quite bizarre. 

Perhaps in the context of a complete studio album, she’ll have more room to move about toward something more intriguing.

[hugepolecat3298]

ok so i saw these comments on mu’s wiki page last month and at the time it pissed me the hell off because they had the fucking GALL to call mu emotionally manipulative by ???? telling her story as she remembers it ???? while acknowledging at the same time that she’s literally a bullied 16-year-old + call yuno emotionally manipulative and a criminal even though she Literally Did Not Commit A Crime and was most likely. yeah. but i just now realised that the last bit applies much fucking better to mahiru than it does to yuno

#not the part where they infantilise haruka though i wholeheartedly disagree with that part #i know what i did. anyway #as opposed to yuno who. Literally did nothing to be landed in prison and the fanbase's treatment of her makes me claw my hands down my face #MAHIRU hides her crime EXTREMELY FUCKING WELL #to the point where its a massive point of contention whether she acc killed her partner herself or just drove them to suicide #and NONE of that is in her mv. NONE #she just sort of hints to it in the lyrics and none of it is in the visuals (unless you count the feathers which i do not) #idk why i said 'just drove them to suicide' as if thats any better ? anyway back on topic #mahiru puts up a smokescreen of cutesy gg-y visuals and vague lyrics about the concept of loving someone a lot to hide that she+ #Committed murder. (or second degree manslaughter depends on how you read it) #idk where i was going with this whole thing actually... it's v likely mahiru was abusive but she's still an interesting fucking character #the theories surrounding her though are the lamest for some reason idgi #-yuno ofc bc like theres nothing to theorise #OH um. also for the ppl who don't go here but read my tag rants anyway (hi): #the reason i keep complaining about yuno's treatment by the fanbase is bc she did not commit murder she aborted a child #and on top of that she is EIGHTEEN so it;s fucking justified even if youre a sick freak who thinks abortion is murder??? #anyway she had a REALLY small margin too lemme check rq i forgot #just checked. her margin was 1.3% skewed innocent #which is the second smallest margin of anyone whose voting period is or was active (mu is below her) #mu i can sort of understand the small margin because she Literally shanked someone #i'm glad she's innocent though i adore her #anyway ty reddit #originals

[bananaofswifts]

By Paul Tingen

From sketches to final mixes, engineer Jonathan Low spent 2020 overseeing Taylor Swift’s hit lockdown albums folklore and evermore.

“I think the theme of a lot of my work nowadays, and especially with these two records, is that everything is getting mixed all the time. I always try to get the songs to sound as finalised as they can be. Obviously that’s hard when you’re not sure yet what all the elements will be. Tracks morph all the time, and yet everything is always moving forwards towards completion in some way. Everything should sound fun and inspiring to listen to all the time.”

Speaking is Jonathan Low, and the two records he refers to are, of course, Taylor Swift’s 2020 albums folklore and evermore, both of which reached number one in the UK and the US. Swift’s main producer and co‑writer on the two albums was the National’s Aaron Dessner, also interviewed in this issue. Low is the engineer, mixer and general right‑hand man at Long Pond Studios in upstate New York, where he and Dessner spent most of 2020 working on folklore and evermore, with Swift in Los Angeles for much of the time.

“In the beginning it did not feel real,” recalls Low. “There was this brand‑new collaboration, and it was amazing how quickly Aaron made these instrumental sketches and Taylor wrote lyrics and melodies to them, which she initially sent to us as iPhone voice memos. During our nightly family dinners in lockdown, Aaron would regularly pull up his phone and say, ‘Listen to this!’ and there would be another voice memo from Taylor with this beautiful song that she had written over a sketch of Aaron’s in a matter of hours. The rate at which it was happening was mind‑blowing. There was constant elevation, inspiration and just wanting to continue the momentum.

“We put her voice memos straight into Pro Tools. They had tons of character, because of the weird phone compression and cutting midrange quality you just would not get when you put someone in front of a pristine recording chain. Plus there was all this bleed. It’s interesting how that dictates the attitude of the vocal and of the song. Even though none of the original voice memos ended up on the albums, they often gave us unexpected hints. These voice memos were such on‑a‑whim things, they were really telling. Taylor had certain phrasings and inflections that we often returned to later on. They became our reference points.”

Sketching Sessions

“The instrumental sketches Aaron makes come into being in different ways,” elaborates Low. “Sometimes they are more fleshed‑out ideas, sometimes they are less formed. But normally Aaron will set himself up in the studio, surrounded by instruments and synths, and he’ll construct a track. Once he feels it makes some kind of sense I’ll come in and take a listen and then we together develop what’s there.

“I don’t call his sketches demos, because while many instruments are added and replaced later on, most of the original parts end up in the final version of the song. We try to get the sketches to a place where they are already very engaging as instrumental tracks. Aaron and I are always obsessively listening, because we constantly want to hear things that feel inspiring and musical, not just a bed of music in the background. It takes longer to create, but in this case also gave Taylor more to latch onto, both emotionally and in terms of musical inspiration. Hearing melodies woven in the music triggered new melodies.”

Not long after Dessner and Low sent each sketch to Swift, they would receive her voice memos in return, and they’d load them into the Pro Tools session of the sketch in question. Dessner and Low then continued to develop the songs, in close collaboration with Swift. “Taylor’s voice memos often came with suggestions for how to edit the sketches: maybe throw in a bridge somewhere, shorten a section, change the chords or arrangement somewhere, and so on. Aaron would have similar ideas, and he then developed the arrangements, often with his brother Bryce, adding or replacing instruments. This happened fast, and became very interactive between us and Taylor, even though we were working remotely. When we added instruments, we were reacting to the way my rough mixes felt at the very beginning. Of course, it was also dictated by how Taylor wrote and sang to the tracks.”

Dessner supplied sketches for nine and produced 10 of folklore’s 16 songs, playing many different types of guitars, keyboards and synths as well as percusion and programmed drums. Instruments that were added later include live strings, drums, trombone, accordion, clarinet, harpsichord and more, with his brother Bryce doing many of the orchestrations. Most overdubs by other musicians were done remotely as well. Throughout, Low was keeping an overview of everything that was going on and mixing the material, so it was as presentable and inspiring as possible.

Mixing folklore

Although Dessner has called folklore an “anti‑pop album”, the world’s number‑one pop mixer Serban Ghenea was drafted in to mix seven tracks, while Low did the remainder.

“It was exciting to have Serban involved,” explains Low, “because he did things I’d never do or be able to do. The way the vocal sits always at the forefront, along with the clarity he gets in his mixes, is remarkable. A great example of this is on the song ‘epiphany’. There is so much beautiful space and the vocal feels effortlessly placed. It was really interesting to hear where he took things, because we were so close to the entire process in every way. Hearing a totally new perspective was eye‑opening and refreshing.

“Throughout the entire process we were trying to maintain the original feel. Sometimes this was hard, because that initial rawness would get lost in large arrangements and additional layering. With revisions of folklore in particular we sometimes were losing the emotional weight from earlier more casual mixes. Because I was always mixing, there was also always the danger of over‑mixing.

“We were trying to get the best of each mix version, and sometimes that meant stepping backwards, and grabbing a piano chain from an earlier mix, or going three versions back to before we added orchestration. There were definitely moments of thinking, ‘Is this going to compete sonically? Is this loud enough?’ We knew we loved the way the songs sounded as we were building them, so we stuck with what we knew. There were times where I tried to keep pushing a mix forward but it didn’t improve the song — ‘cardigan’ is an example of a song where we ended up choosing a very early mix.”

Onward & Upward

folklore was finished and released in July 2020. In a normal world everyone might have gone on to do other things, but without the option of touring, they simply continued writing songs, with Low holding the fort. In September, many of the musicians who played on the album gathered at Long Pond for the shooting of a making‑of documentary, folklore: the long pond studio sessions, which is streamed on Disney+.

The temporary presence of Swift at Long Pond changed the working methods somewhat, as she could work with Dessner in the room, and Low was able record her vocals. After Swift left again, sessions continued until December, when evermore was released, with Dessner producing or co‑producing all tracks, apart from ‘gold rush’ which was co‑written and co‑produced by Swift and Antonoff. Low recorded many of Swift’s vocals for evermore, and mixed the entire album. The lead single ‘willow’ became the biggest hit from the album, reaching number one in the US and number three in the UK.

“Before Taylor came to Long Pond,” remembers Low, “she had always recorded her vocals for folklore remotely in Los Angeles or Nashville. When I recorded, I used a modern Telefunken U47, which is our go‑to vocal mic — we record all the National stuff with that — going straight into the Siemens desk, and then into a Lisson Grove AR‑1 tube compressor, and via a Burl A‑D converter into Pro Tools. Taylor creates and lays down her vocal arrangements very quickly, and it sounds like a finished record in very few takes.”

Devils In The Detail

In his mixes, Low wanted listeners to share his own initial response to these vocal performances. “The element that draws me in is always Taylor’s vocals. The first time I received files with her properly recorded but premixed vocals I was just floored. They sounded great, even with minimal EQ and compression. They were not the way I’m used to hearing her voice in her pop songs, with the vocal soaring and sitting at the very front edge of the soundscape. In these raw performances, I heard so much more intimacy and interaction with the music. It was wonderful to hear her voice with tons of detail and nuances in place: her phrasing, her tonality, her pitch, all very deliberate. We wanted to maintain that. It’s more emotional, and it sounds so much more personal to me. Then there was the music...”

The arrangements on evermore are even more ‘chamber pop’ than on folklore, with instruments like glockenspiel, crotales, flute, French horn, celeste and harmonium in evidence. “As listeners of the National may know, Aaron’s and Bryce’s arrangements can be quite dense. They love lush orchestration, all sorts of percusion, synths and other electronic sounds. The challenge was trying to get them to speak, without getting in the way of the vocals. I want a casual listener to be drawn in by the vocal, but sense that something special is happening in the music as well. At the same time, someone who really is digging in can fully immerse themselves and take in all the beauty deeper in the details of the sound and arrangement. Finding the balance between presenting all the musical elements that were happening in the arrangement and this really beautiful, upfront, real‑sounding vocal was the ticket.

“A particular challenge is that a lot of the detail that Aaron gravitates towards happens in the low mids, which is a very warm part of our hearing spectrum that can quickly become too muddy or too woolly. A lot of the tonal and musical information lives in the low mids, and then the vocal sits more in the midrange and high mids. There’s not too much in the higher frequency range, except the top of the guitars, and some elements like a shaker and the higher buzzy parts of the synths. Maintaining clarity and separation in those often complex arrangements was a major challenge.”

#taylor swift #folklore

[lydias--stiles]

and in the haze you see colours

juke | human soulmate au | title: 5 am // amber run

The first colour she ever saw was purple.

When someone was born, they got to see one colour. To each it was different and often a reflection of one's aura. Julie's aura was purple and, naturally, it was the colour she could see. Which was unfortunate, as there weren't many purple things in life - not naturally, at least.

And so, her entire bedroom was purple. Purple walls and purple sheets and purple stationary. The rest were varying shades of grey. Often times, she asked her parents why some were lighter than others, and they told her about green and blue and red. It sounded like a fairy tale. Red was warm, apparently, and blue was flexible and green was fresh. Despite their best attempts, she couldn't visualise it.

It didn't matter. Once she met her soulmate, she would see all the colours imaginable.

Befriending Flynn was easy. The girl had purple ribbons in her hair and that instantly attracted Julie. Vice versa, Julie's orange dress was a plus for Flynn. Through their deep bond, oranges slowly infused itself in her cornea. Orange, like a child's laughter.

With Carrie came pink. Pink, like the fiery moves of a dancer. It was close to purple, so it wasn't a huge shock to see a bouquet of roses suddenly come alive with colour.

In retrospect, gaining orange and pink wasn't that amazing. Not when she lost her mother while doing so. Placing pink dahlias on her grave was just another punch in the gut.

Years passed and people around her found their soulmates. In freshmen year, so many students gasped and fainted as they crossed eyes with their One. She went to parties and someone would start randomly kissing the other. She went to open mics and watched as her soprano voice accompanied two people finding love. It was as beautiful as it was tragic.

Julie was seventeen and she still hadn't found her soulmate. Statistically, most had by now. Had she not gone to The Orpheum that night, she might’ve waited even longer.

Flynn urged her to go to this new and upcoming band, Sunset Curve, as their sound was someone she’d vibe with. Julie wasn’t really feeling it, drowning in homework and song ideas, but her friend was persistent. They needed a breather from everything and a concert was the perfect remedy. After a quick Google search, she realised they were her age. Curiosity swelled in her chest, wondering how they moved up from open mics or school assemblies to the iconic stage of The Orpheum. The only thing she could note about the band was the drummer’s pink hoodie. That was it.

The venue was packed when they arrived. Boisterous chatter, antsy for the band to come on stage and fill the spaces between the instruments. Glasses chiming of sodas and beers being filled and passed around, the soft hum of pop music blaring from a speaker. Most of the crowd were kids from neighbouring schools and all dressed more alternatively. Though she didn’t see most colours, it was clear as day the band tees were vintage and the trousers were ripped or checkered or both.

She shot Flynn a look. “Are you sure this is our thing?”

“Yes!” Propelling them to the front of the stage and consequently shouldering kids in the ribs, she added: “Their biggest hit is, like, insane. And you’ve been in a funk all week, so you need some insanity. To like, counteract it. I don’t know.”

Julie withheld a pout. She’s been ‘in a funk’, because while she was at Eats & Beats grabbing a coffee, two strangers fawned at the sight of each other. RIght in front of her nose, another couple found. It normally didn’t affect her that much, but it did this time. The girl was sick of hearing about romantical love instead of experiencing it herself. Sure, she had Flynn and Carrie and her family, but…

But she wanted that. She wanted more. And with each ticking hour, it felt less and less viable. Where was the One for her?  

The lights dimmed and the pop music stopped, smoke drifting across the stage as the audience began hollering and whistling. Egging the band to get on and give a performance worth watching. The hyped-up teens pushed everyone to the front, now Julie and Flynn forced to crane their necks to watch.

The drummer came on first, all applauding for him as he took his seat and started a drum beat that quickly upped in tempo. It swept them up in an atmosphere, heads bobbing and feeling that rise in anticipation.

Then the bassist came. His dark jacket glittered in the overhead lights, the flannel peaking beneath almost hinting at orange but remaining grey. He added to the beat, bringing in a bassline that had feet bouncing and more people cheering. The mic at the front remained empty, teasing its explosion of lyrics and electricity.

Finally, at the crescendo of sound, the frontman stormed on. He was all charm and smirks and cut-offs and blazing purple shoes. That caught her off guard, eyes dropping to the ultraviolet sneakers. A shock of colour amidst the grey.

His raspy voice belted out lyrics, a grin pulling on Julie’s face at the musicality. Grabbing Flynn’s hand, they jumped around with the other people. Their music was insane. It was fast and clashing and aggressive and raw.

With her neck in its odd position, she observed the singer for a beat. He was… hot. That was all Julie could think. He was hot. His hair falling perfectly right, big eyes, the smile breaking all lines in his face like a beautiful mosaic. Humming like an undercurrent was a buzz right beneath her ribs. Snug and warm, which could’ve been the vibrations from the amps, but it felt different. A good different.

They were in their fourth song when it happened. The band was kicking and jumping around, singing about making it big and not looking down, skyrocketing to stardom, when it happened.

The lead singer dropped to his knees and let the guitar riff bleed to the front row. The audience hollered, Julie laughing in delight at the expert playing, when her and the guy’s gazes met.

He yelped, music stopping short as he careened over the edge and crashed to the floor. Simultaneously, Julie felt the air knocked out of her lungs, losing balance and falling into Flynn. Her eyes were shrivelling with heat, as if hit with the embers of a campfire. A hammer slammed down on the buzz in her chest, electrifying the feeling till it was nearly unbearable.

Her eyes shot open. And then there was colour.  

The crowd dispersed in fright. Gasps and gawks echoed to the back, curious murmurs carefully watching the guy and the girl come to their senses.

“Flynn,” she exclaimed, grabbing for her friend. “Flynn, I can-”

Except she wasn’t there, joining the rest of the crowd further back. The bassist and drummer were watching on, baffled.

Oh. Her stare drifted to the squirming boy on the floor. Oh.

Luke scrambled upright, instantly coming face to face with Front Row Girl and all the colours he has wished to see forever. His eyes were burning from shock and euphoria, greys and whites bleeding out of his bloodstream.

Her hands grasped for his face, worried, lips forming words he hardly registered but vaguely processed as ‘asking if he was okay.’

“Y-yeah, yeah,” he stuttered, his gaze racing across her features to wholly take her in.

Warm skin and wide, brown eyes and dark lashes and curled, pink lips and a pointed chin and glossy, long curls dancing against her cheeks and soft hands and red - she was wearing red. His colour. His soulmate.

He laughed. “Hi.”

She matched it, giggling. “Hey.”

“Hi,” he sighed, still in disbelief that she was his soulmate. His soulmate. His soulmate. The One.

Her trembling smile softened, thumbs swiping across his cheekbones. “You have really pretty eyes,” she whispered.

Her own were shining with unshed tears and he felt himself choking up too. Never in a million years did he think he’d meet his soulmate. To him, it had always been music. Sure, it sounded nice, but he knew he shouldn’t be yearning for it. He had his friends - his aura was red and he gained pink from Alex and yellow from Reggie.

But suddenly she was here. She was really here.

“You’re- pretty-” he stumbled, causing her to laugh again.

Yeah, there was no way he’d be able to continue the gig. The Orpheum was a big deal, but meeting your soulmate? Most monumental moment of anyone's life.

There was so much colour now. So much life. There was so much more than just music and red and pink and yellow to enjoy. (Songs swirled in his mind though, exciting him to the bone as his hands slid to grab her own. Winking all coy, like the best was yet to come.)

“Do you wanna talk?” he rushed out after.

She nodded. “Yeah. You- uh- your band-”

Their fingers intertwined, warmth dancing in his heart. “Doesn’t matter,” he chuckled. “Really does not matter right now.”

The light of a camera flash and exhilarated screams of ‘soulmates!’ ripped them from their bubble. The bassist jumped offstage and clapped Luke on the back, whispering at him to go to the alley. Leading her away, there was no sense of doubt in their steps. Luke didn’t know her name, she maybe didn’t know his. None of that mattered. There was colour now.

From the alleyway, they found themselves wandering around the Strip as they talked for ages. Her name was Julie, his was Luke, they were musicians, they were seventeen, their auras were purple and red, he decided he adored her smile the most and she his twinkling eyes.

“I think they’re green,” Julie said, peering into his eyes. She was impossibly close and it sort of took his breath away. “They’re fresh.”

“Fresh?” he grinned.

She didn’t lean back - she didn’t want to, his soul simply enigmatic - and asked him the same question. “What are mine?”

His expression softened, a smile twitching on his lips. They’re beautiful. “Brown, I think,” he said instead. “Not sure though. You wanna figure it out tomorrow?”

Her stride halted, their grasp on each other nearly yanked apart. His brows raised expectantly. It was there - that invisible, innate, sense of understanding. It wasn’t just colour. It was the refusal to look at colour alone, ever again. It was insane for the both of them, how their rushing thoughts slotted all puzzle pieces together without a hitch. It had that satisfying click-click-click sound, like dominoes.

Luke found himself coming back to her, the space between them disappearing till their arms pressed together and there were no forces tugging them together. It was all themselves.

“I have a book about colour,” Julie eventually said. “We can learn them all.”

He smirked. “I can tell you your lips are pink.”

“Yours are too.”

“Yeah?” he teased.  

But then she lifted a finger and pressed against the plump skin. His heart stopped short at the sensation. Before he gave into the instinct to pucker them and kiss it, her hand dropped.

Julie grinned. “And now they’re red.”

When Luke kissed her, hers were red too.

✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨

@blush-and-books​ @bluefirewrites​ @unsaidjulie​ @willexx​ @unsaid-emily​ @ourstarscollided​ @pink-flame​ @constantly-singing​ @stydixa​

#juke #jatp fanfiction #julie and the phantoms #otp: i think we make each other better #bitches always be using colour.... im bitches

[putseraphinaonthaphone]

Groupchat pt. I

CW// recreational drug use, group sex, poly dynamics, virgin reader, queer reader who uses she/her pronouns and feminine descriptors, intoxicated sex

It was an interesting group of friends that you had. Well, 'friends' was a stretch, but you had a groupchat. The name was simply 'fuckers' because for some reason Bakugou was allowed to name the chat. You had the same group of stoners you ended up partying with every weekend, getting high off the strongest shit you could buy and letting loose to work off the stress of the week. It was cliche but true, you blew off steam getting high and dancing like a slut-- self care. Somehow it had evolved to more of a four person party that wasn't really a party, but you played music, smoked, and the boys watched you dance while devouring the healthy but tasty food you prepared because when you're high everything tastes 100 times better and you'd been on a restricted diet because of your chronic health issues since you were a teenager. When you'd explained this in the group chat, the most concise response you got was "so you'll cook for us?" Stoners were just your people honestly. Or maybe it was these stoners.

Bakugou mellowed out considerably after a few blunts, and he offered to blow up whoever made you cry the first time you met coming out of a party to smoke after you had a call with your best friend from back home. He'd told you that your dynamic as friends only worked if he was single. You didn't know if you'd ever have another friend like him. And there was Bakugou, offering you a blunt and violence that seemed like just the kind of friendship you craved in that moment.

Shinsou was one of the few people who came to the party simply to find people to smoke with. He rarely talked, but he was really good company you thought. He always brought indica strains-- your personal favorite as well as his you found out. Sometimes you guys talked about how it was cruel to have so many dreams but so little energy to pursue them. Sometimes you guys went back to his place and smoked yourself into a sleepy haze that always ended up in the warmest cuddles you've ever experienced.

Dabi had a viper's tongue and an even worse attitude than Bakugou. But he was cool, you bumped into him at a party when you were looking for another smoker to borrow a light from. You were feeling caustic after a phone call from home. "You got a lighter bro?" He seemed a bit amused by your masculine energy wrapped in a lush femme presenting form, like he was relieved to finally seeing someone interesting. "You look like you got all sorts of daddy issues, why haven't we met before?" His tone was both flirtatious and condescending at the time. "Whatever gave it away?" You snorted as you lit up your blunt, white grape game wrappers. But your tone was flirtatous as well as you handed your blunt to him, "We're meeting now. To shitty dads who deserve to sleep in the bed they made."

Shoto was the anomaly. You saw him around your department, guessing he was an upperclassman in your major. And one day he was at Dabi's place when you all got together to celebrate finally getting an off campus hangout spot. Apparently Dabi was an old friend, kind of like an older brother to Shoto. They definitely had a thing going on, but thinking about it too long made your face burn. His preppy appearance was shattered when he wore a short sleeve shirt instead of his usual button downs, and you saw the traditional japanese tattoos that made a full sleeve in white ink. You also noticed his silver gauges that were almost hidden by his white hair and when he pushed his hair back you saw more piercings on his ears. But when he smoked you under the table you decided you were almost in love.

If you happened to hope that one day at least one of the hot but dumb fuckers you smoked with took the hint of your many personal dance shows and fucked you, that was no one's business but your own.

You worked through the week, bullshitting assignments- but well because you were a fucking genius in your field, and on friday you decided to just wear a bra, shorts and an over shirt to the party with a beanie on your shaved head to complete the look. The pregame was at Shoto and Dabi's place this time, a short walk if you thought about the liquor and weed waiting for you. You weren't prepared for the brisk wind to meet you when you stepped out of your dorm.

"Hoes don't get cold." You chanted under your breath as you started walking. Your construction boots kept your feet warm, but the black booty shorts that were frayed at the edges left your lush thighs and your entire legs exposed to the cold wind. But after a few more minutes of walking you gave up- you weren't a good enough hoe, and you were cold. So you bit the bullet and put into the group chat:

smokerdeepthroat 11:19pm

Someone come pick me up, I'm freezing my literal ass off.

blueflamer 11:22pm

Walk bitch.

boomboi 11:24

Cash gas or ass, you know the drill.

smokerdeepthroat 11:25

Y'all can run a train on my ass if someone just picks me up before I freeze to death.

sleepystoner, icyhot, boomboi, blueflamer | read

Shit. You hadn't actually meant to send that. And of course the one time Shinsou checks the chat had to be now. "Fuckers," you grumbled under your breath. At this point it was almost like calling them your boys in a fond tone, and that thought had you almost puking onto the concrete. The fact that you were blushing was completely irrelevant.

Before you could freak out too much- internally of course, you were not going to be caught simping with one of them on the way to pick you up- you heard the familiar roar of Bakugou's car coming down the street. The bass of his emo ass rock music shook the street and you were climbing into the car before he could yell at you to get your ass inside.

You might have moaned at the heated seats, rubbing your hands over your freezing thighs. "Thanks Bakubro. It's cold as fuck and I was too excited to pregame to bring a jacket."

"A jacket isn't the problem. Your ass is hanging out." His words as usual were followed by a plume of smoke. His crimson eyes trailed over your body and a heated smirk curved his lips. "But that just means easier access for us."

"Y'all dusty ass hoes know I was joking-" You tried to bluff, tried to deflect with bravado as you took the blunt from him. But your hands shook, and Bakugou met your gaze with a quiet intensity that was somehow worse than his explosions.

"You dance like you need a dick in you. And only for us. We waited for you to make your choice, but this is less complicated." Damn it, he was smoking the horny weed. But if you were honest all weed was horny weed to your squad. There was an eroticism in the craving just one more hit. Just one more epic high. Just one more shudder of pleasure, as touching yourself to the thought of the boy's eyes on you when you got back to your dorm was as much a part of your friday night ritual as the weed.

Whenever you started smoking you felt yourself happily descending into hedonism. Bakugou's voice certainly wasn't helping. Your throat was impossibly dry- from the smoke, from desire- as you admitted quietly,

"I'm a virgin." You weren't going to apologize, compromise or argue. It was a statement and he could take it or leave it.

Bakugou wasn't an idiot. But he also was a possessive bastard in a way that made you wet even though you rolled your eyes at it.

"I'll make it good for you when I pop your cherry. I met you first, I'll take you first. I got you." It wasn't a promise, it was confident statement you knew he would stop at nothing to make a reality. His relentlessness was something that drew you to him in the first place if you told yourself the truth. He shifted gears smoothly and rested his warm hand on your bare thigh as he drove you back to the off campus house. You smoked half the blunt listening to his music and getting wet from his hands wandering higher and higher up your thigh.

You walked in to the house and realized how much you'd underestimated how serious Bakugou's words were. It seemed like it was a long time coming when you walked into Dabi's low lit living room to find him with his hand on Shoto's dick, Shoto's hand on his, and Shinsou lazily palming himself.

"It's about time you got here, you can't just drop shit like that in the chat when you're not here to bend over for us." Shoto's white and red hair was a mess, and given that it looked like the two of them were edging each other (sadists), his fucked out face made sense.

"She's a virgin, Icy Hot, you're gonna have to wait. I gotta open her up first." You in the mean time were going to start the music while smoking a bit hurriedly, hoping you were well and truly high before they actually started to run a train on you.

"Play the dick down playlist." Shinsou rasped from the couch and you wanted to cry at the head assery you had to put up with from these morons. (/s) But they're your morons, some lonely part of you whispered.

"It actually better have good music on it." You griped, but yeah, you were feeling the impact of whatever Bakugou had given you to smoke because your words weren't as harsh as you meant them to be.

"I call dibs on her ass cherry." Dabi's low voice cut throat the soft grunts from Shoto.

"Next time." Bakugou muttered watching the way you started to dance, having shed your overshirt to simply dance in your shorts and bra. None of the boys danced with you, a rule you'd had to put in place when they literally started fighting like children over who's turn it was to dance with you. Somehow it hadn't gotten better, these jealous bitches would sulk if you didn't give them all equal attention during your provocative performance. You solved this by closing your eyes and not looking at any of them while you let your body follow the nasty beat of the playlist. Sometimes you murmured lyrics if you remembered them and all four men were enraptured by the sight of you surrounded by smoke and dancing like a ancient goddess that could command them all in an instant.

It was moments like these that made you think maybe you were all a little more than friends by now. More than just groupchat contacts. But friends. Maybe more?

The blunt you finished yourself, until you were light headed and craving more. More music, more bass to move your hips too, maybe something to move your hips against. You didn't hesitate when Bakugou patted his thighs.

In fact, the weed in your system convinced you it only made sense to take your shorts off before straddling him. Better that than having to stop just when you're finally getting what you want right? You forgot you were just wearing some lace boyshorts with pale pink roses framing your luscious curves and dusky skin until you heard;

"Slutty girl." It was a groan as Shoto's grip on Dabi's cock tightened from the view of your fat ass sitting on Bakugou's lap.

"Nah, not yet. She's just needy." Katsuki smirked when you blushed from his words, even as you started grinding down on him in revenge. The choked moan that escaped him and the cocky glare you turned on all of them made all of them crave you that much more.

"You're needy to fuck me too, you all are. Don't forget that, explosion bitch."

"Point made. But watch it, little girl. It's gonna be a long night." His words were low and raspy from smoke, and even thought it should have been a threat your pussy gushed and soaked your panties anyway.

Four pairs of eyes watched your every move, drinking in the sight of you half naked, boldly staking your claim on all of them-- which only made them want to return the favor. Claiming you over and over until you wouldn't deny you belonged to them.

A long night, huh?

To be continued.....

#bakugou x reader #shinsou x reader #dabi x reader #shoto x reader #tw dubcon #tw dark content #tw: dubcon #tw: pseudoincest #tw: recreational drug use #tw: degradation #tw: kink

[the-lincyclopedia]

Grace Petrie Starter Pack

Grace Petrie is my favorite musician I’ve encountered in the past, like, four years or so. Her music is what’s playing in my head about 90% of the time. She’s a butch lesbian folk musician from the UK. A lot of her songs are political, though she does have love songs and whatnot too. I think she’s amazing, and I bet a lot of y’all would agree if you listened to her music, so here’s a roundup of what you should listen to if you want to get into her music, along with my favorite lyrics from each of those songs. 

Black Tie

This is the first song of hers I heard, and it’s SUCH A GENDER MOOD. It’s technically more about gender expression than gender identity, but either way it’s just fantastic. Lyrics: 

The year 2018, I didn’t think we’d still be sorting babies into blue and pink

All our progress, well I wonder what it means that the only girls’ clothes that work for me turn out to be boyfriend jeans

You won’t grow out of it; you will find clothes that fit

The images that fucked ya were a patriarchal structure, and you never will surrender to a narrow view of gender

I could honestly quote the whole song, because all of it is amazing, but I’ll leave it at that.

You Build a Wall

This is a really quiet, gentle song that’s basically about resting up before a protest, about gathering your energy before going to confront something big and evil. Lyrics: 

Sometimes a battle cry sounds like a lullaby; tonight I think we need ’em both the same

You’ll see how much a snowflake matters when we become an avalanche

Compassion lives in every single land; we’re made of something you can’t understand, stronger than the weapons in your hand, bigger than the armies you command

It’s a really soothing song that doesn’t say “everything is going to be okay” but rather “I believe we have the power to make things okay,” and I love that. 

They Shall Not Pass

This one is an anti-fascist anthem. It’s much higher energy than “You Build a Wall” and I love the strength and solidarity it conveys. Lyrics: 

I dread the day when the suffering of my fellow is none of my concern

Stand up today that we might save tomorrow

Get on the streets--it’s not a call to arms; it’s a call to helping hands

I love that this is a really angry song that’s basically like “I’m going to care about my fellow humans and there’s nothing you can fucking do about it.” 

Pride

I can’t believe I’m putting this fourth, because honestly it’s the song that’s stuck in my head the most by far. This is another kind of angry song about solidarity, though (maybe obviously from the title) it’s explicitly about being queer rather than about everyone who finds themselves in the crosshairs of fascists. Lyrics:

There’s a multitude of sins that can hide behind your hashtags--tell me again how love wins

No one bats an eye that when 50 of us us die in it, it doesn’t even make the Daily Mail front page

I’m right by your side, and that’s what we call pride

Maybe this isn’t a universal feeling, but I personally love it how she gets specific about the threats her community is facing. “Pride” mentions the Pulse Nightclub shooting and the North Carolina Bathroom Act, “Black Tie” mentions specific transphobes, and “God Save the Hungry” (below) calls out the Tory party. 

God Save the Hungry

This is a criticism of “God Save the Queen,” and I used to be intrigued by monarchies, but lately I’ve become convinced that giving people that kind of exalted status because of their family lineage is bad, actually. Anyway, this song is about where God should focus God’s energy (hint: not the Queen). Lyrics: 

Yeah, it’s true God ain’t my thing, but if he was, I’d rather sing for all of the refugees perishing in foreign seas

Those bodies washed up on the shores were fleeing our state-sponsored wars

There’s a long and shameful list of folks we need God to assist, but those who sleep in palaces at night, I think they’re doing all right

I could honestly bring up several more songs, but these are my top five for sure. I’m super excited to see what new songs get added to my list when her new album comes out October 4!

#grace petrie #music #mine #queer stuff #lgbt #lgbtq

[unnecessarywriting]

Loneliness is Not an Option - Remus Lupin

A/N: Here is my last Christmas fic for this year. I hope you all enjoyed all of them that I uploaded. This is one that I’ve had on my mind for a week now. It’s short and sweet, although it starts a little angsty. It came from the song “Please Come Home for Christmas” and I couldn’t help but give a little love to Remus. Thank you all and I hope you all had a Merry Christmas!

Loneliness is Not an Option

How do we define loneliness? Such an existential question comes with a backstory, so here it is. It was Christmas night. Yes, you had spent the holiday completely on your own, but it wasn’t Remus’ fault. It also wasn’t the fault of any of your friends. It was quite depressing how you had no one to comfort you, or send you fun Christmas cards, or even just wish you a Happy Christmas. They all had duties to the Order. You tried to join, but Remus was insistent that he keep you safe. You still participated in certain activities, but he had wanted at least one person from the friend group to live their dreams. That’s what you were supposed to be doing, except it wasn’t going as planned.

You and Remus had bought a house right out of school. You were excited to start living with the love of your life, but you hadn’t anticipated how often he would not be home. You knew it wasn’t his fault. You honestly thought that he wanted to be home with you more than you wanted him home with you. In the beginning of the holiday season, you thought that you would be lucky, but when he walked into the living with a sunken look on his face, you knew he wasn’t going to be around often. You were rightfully disappointed that you wouldn’t be able to celebrate your first Christmas outside of Hogwarts with Remus, but you understood that the war was a bit more pressing. 

The sadness didn’t really sink in until you decorated the tree. You had always dreamed of the situation being filled with laughter, playful kisses, and new memories, but that isn’t how it happened. You were alone, drunk, and singing along to muggle Christmas songs that came on the radio. It was about a week before Christmas when you put the tree up. You tried to put it off so you could decorate it with Remus, but when a letter came from him telling you that he might not be back until after the holiday, you stopped waiting and pulled out the firewhiskey. When everything was on the tree except for the star on top, you sat down on the ground. Your eyes traced over the outline of the tree, but the Christmas spirit avoided your soul. You sighed to yourself.

“This next one is a new release from the Eagles. Here is “Please Come Home for Christmas,” you heard the radio spit out. You laughed at the irony, but listened anyway. As the lyrics flowed through your ear, you felt the first tears of the holiday season start their journey down your face. You were completely alone. 

The following days, it seemed like the world was playing some sort of prank on you. Everytime you turned on the radio, you heard that song’s melody flow through your body. It was catchy, you were not going to lie, but the words haunted you as you dreamed of being reunited with your love. Christmas Eve, you sat alone in your home, thinking about Remus. You hoped he was safe, but you wanted to be selfish. Just this once. You wanted him home with you. You stared into the fire and thought back to the last Christmas you spent with him.

“Moony, stop eating all of the chocolate. Share some with me at least.” He smiled with a bit of guilt. He was like a puppy who just got caught tearing up someone’s slippers. He was absolutely adorable. You fell into his embrace on the couch.

“I can’t wait until next Christmas,” he spoke earnestly. “It will be just the two of us, in our home. We will decorate the place to be the most comforting and joyful place. And, we will have plenty of chocolate on standby. Then, we will exchange gifts, and just spend the day with each other. No one to interrupt us.” You giggled at his plans. He was simple, but he meant the best. He wanted the both of you to just have each other. You knew that it was likely that a certain group of boys would ultimately crash your day, but you weren’t complaining. You were just excited to have a future with the man who was holding you.

How naïve you two were. If only you could see yourself and tell you to not get your hopes up. Your bitterness was ruining the holiday. You wanted to turn it all off, and you did. You unplugged the lights, and took down the stockings. The tree remained in its place, but you took off the star. You would take care of the tree the following day. You then went to bed.

The following morning, you slept in. You had no reason to get up early. The rest of the day was filled with moping around the house. You looked at some of the photos that rested above your fireplace. One in particular caught your eye,

“James! Sirius! I swear, if you break anything, I will make your life a living hell. Remus, stop them. I don’t want to have to clean up after them. Thank you for being a good guest Peter, I just wish the other two would learn.” You face palmed as Lily handed you a glass of wine. 

“I would try to stop James, but he is truly impossible.” You looked at her with misery written on your face. She laughed at your expression. “On a different note, I love this place Y/N. It is absolutely gorgeous and perfect for the two of you.” 

“Thank you Lily, although I don’t think it is going to remain in one piece so long as those two are still here.” You giggled as you heard Remus try to lecture them on what it means to be a respectful guest.

“Do you think you’re gonna have everyone over for the holidays?” You thought for a moment. 

“Maybe, although I think Remus might just want it to be the two of us. I will say that if you did decide to just pop by for dinner or something, I certainly wouldn’t object,” you hinted at her. She caught on and nodded as if she was already making plans. 

“Darling, those two are impossible. I don’t know what to do.” Remus looked exhausted from trying to stop the other two. You laughed at him and pulled him in for a hug.

“Aww, did the two children break you? What was it, two hours? Lily, I think you owe me 5 galleons,” you joked. She laughed with you as Remus rolled his eyes.

Lily looked at the counter and saw a camera sitting there.

“Hey, let’s get a picture of you two to commemorate your moving in here.” You both agreed with her idea, and got ready for a cute pose. What you didn’t see was the two troublemakers sharing a knowing look. 

That photo was one of your favorites. You and Remus looked so happy. That looked changed to one of both fear and confusion as Padfoot and Prongs entered. Yes, the deer and dog made their way into one of your favorite photos. You still hadn’t fully forgiven James for almost denting your walls with his antlers. 

You walked into the kitchen that night to start cooking dinner. It wasn’t going to be anything given that you were alone, but you needed to eat something. You reluctantly turned on the radio to hear that dreaded song. At this point, you just sang along to the song that defined your Christmas. Alone, and hoping that the love of your life would return in time to end all of your sorrow and fill it with happiness. 

“You know, I think I can make the sorrow, grief, and pain disappear.” You whipped around at the sound of his voice.

“You’re home,” you said as more of a statement than a question.

“I’m home.”

“For real?”

“Yes, for real. We finished earlier than expected, and I rushed home to be with you. I promised you a Christmas featuring me, and well, chocolate. I brought both.” He had an awkward smile as he held up some chocolate.

You ran over to him and practically jumped into his arms. He held onto you as you quietly sobbed into his sweater. You had never been happier. The only sounds in the house were your quiet sobs, and the sounds of muggle Christmas music.

“Dance with me,” he muttered. You pulled away and adjusted your body as you two silently danced to the tunes. It was a peaceful bliss. Some time passed as you two enjoyed each other’s company like he promised the year before.

“You know, I told Lily that she could invade our Christmas, but now I kind of hope she doesn’t.”

“Why is that, my dear?” You looked into his eyes, and then looked at what was left of the Christmas decorations in the living room.

“Well, as you can see, there isn’t a whole lot of joy left in this room.” You were feeling a little guilty for taking down everything.

“I guess it’s a good thing that none of us really care. We just wanted to be together anyway!” Sirius was standing with the rest of the group. Everyone looked happy to be safe in the same room. You smiled and got up to hug all of them. 

Was it late? Yes, but none of you cared. You had enough room for everyone, and you weren’t about to kick out the people you desired to see most. Your night was filled with tears from the constant laughter that the group brought, firewhiskey to loosen everyone up, joyful memories that came from the dumb things you all began, and passionate kisses with Remus as the muggle tunes continued to play from the radio.

“You know, as long as I have you, loneliness is not an option. I promise that when this war is finally over, you will never spend another Christmas alone, or any holiday for that matter. I love you so much Y/N. Happy Christmas!” 

“Happy Christmas Remus. I love you too, more than you’ll ever know.” You smiled as you kissed him with all of the love in the world to power it.

#harry potter x reader #young remus x reader #remus lupin x reader #remus lupin imagine #young sirius imagine #Sirius black imagine #harry potter imagine #draco malfoy imagine #george weasley imagine #fred weasley imagine

[elijahs-wife]

Relaxed

Requested by @activist-af - Okay so I see you are or were looking for a request and I’m shit at requesting stuff but here I am. Maybe like the nola witches are a pain in the ass and Elijah is stressed and reader helps him relax? Just a concept <3 Thank you for the request!! It’s a bit short but I hope it’s what you were looking for❤

Like/reblog if you enjoyed reading <3

Pairing: Elijah Mikaelson x Female! Reader

Word Count: 1430+

Warnings: none.

It had been hours since Elijah had left the compound with Klaus, both of them in an impotent fury, and Y/N was sick with worry, waiting for him to return. The past few days had been witches wreaking havoc on his family, and she was scared that this might the time that he actually got himself hurt. She stared out of the window in his bedroom without looking, absentmindedly tapping her fingers on the windowsill, the knots in her stomach tightening. She wished she could have gone with him, but being the protective boyfriend, he flat out refused, insisting that she remain here at the compound where she would be safe.

She whipped her head around when she suddenly heard the bedroom door open, and there he was. He was visibly weary, his face unsmiling and suit jacket slung over his shoulder. "Thank God," she said, quickly moving towards him to give him a tight hug, "I was so worried about you, Elijah." She held him at arms length, taking in his bloodied shirt and dusty trousers, shaking her head. "Why do you always have to be covered in blood?" she said with a sigh. He gave a tired sounding chuckle. "It's not all mine. Rest assured, I am perfectly fine. Although the same cannot be said for the witches I had to deal with."

She turned away slightly; it was never easy for her to come to terms with how simple it was for him to kill someone, even when it had to be done. "Y/N", he said, his hand on her chin, his tone soft and a little stern, "they threatened you, and have done worse to my family. I've told you, no one harms my family and lives." She nodded timidly, "I know." He smiled weakly at her before gently breaking from her hold. "If you'll excuse me for a while, I ought to clean myself up", he said, gesturing to the bathroom door. A sudden idea popped into her head. "Hey, maybe I could... help you with that", she said intently. He paused warily before speaking. "My love, frankly I am exhausted and in no mood to-"

"No, no", she interjected, "I mean, we don't have to do anything. I just want to help you relax. You've been under so much stress lately and I always say a nice warm bath makes everything better. Even for a vampire," she said with a shy grin. His lips parted slightly, considering her tempting offer for a moment before he caved. "I would love that. Thank you, baby", he said, kissing her softly on her forehead. Her cheeks turned crimson – little shows of affection from him always set her heart aflutter. "I'll just uh, get the water running", she said, flustered, as she hurried into his bathroom.

Elijah stood at the foot of his bed and began to strip off his clothing, starting with his shoes and socks, then discarding his blood stained shirt. Y/N watched him surreptitiously through the crack in the doorway as the water filled up the bathtub. Gorgeous, she thought involuntarily, admiring the way his broad, sculpted shoulders sloped down to his muscular arms. She suddenly snapped back to reality when she realized that the tub had almost completely filled up while she had been lost in her thoughts. After draining a little water away so that it wouldn't overflow when they were inside, she added the bath salts that she had found lying in corner of the shelf, unused. The scent of lavender with a hint of peppermint diffused through the room in no time. She decided to undress as well, and wriggled out of her jeans and t-shirt.

"It smells lovely in here," she heard him say behind her. "Yeah, I added these bath salts that I saw over there, I hope that's okay", she replied. She turned around to face a completely nude Elijah. Y/N gulped quietly, at a sudden loss for words. "Shall we?" he asked her, jerking his head to the tub. She quickly stripped off her underwear and took his hand in her own.

She submerged herself first and he followed soon after. The water was just the right temperature, not too hot nor cold. "Isn't this nice?", she murmured, eyes closed as she luxuriated in the warm water, feeling the bath salts gradually effervesce below them. "It's alright", he said, preferring to gaze at the contours and silhouettes of her beautiful form. She opened one eye skeptically. "Seriously? Just alright? Okay, turn around. Let me scrub your back, that'll feel good", she said. He obliged, carefully steering himself around so as to not spill any water, to face his back to her. She reached for the loofah that she had kept nearby, along with the bottle of shower gel. She squirted some on to the loofah and began to rub it in small circles along his back, starting from his shoulders and all the way down to his dorsals. He let out a low hum at the sensation. "This does feel quite relaxing", he admitted, finally starting to unwind. "I told you it would", she said into his ear, moving closer to him to wash the dried blood and grime off of the rest of his body. "You're beautiful", she whispered, running the loofah over his upper arm. The corners of his eyes crinkled as he smiled at her. "Not half as beautiful as you, Y/N."

-

They stayed inside the water until it became too cold to enjoy, and dried each other off with the fluffy towels that were hanging up. Elijah was feeling incredibly relaxed but he surmised that that had more to do with Y/N than the bathtub. "Hey, can I borrow something to sleep in? I don't really want to sleep in my jeans", she asked him. "Of course", he said, opening a drawer and rummaging through it till he found a plain grey t-shirt. He tossed it to her, along with a pair of his boxers, and pulled on a pair of grey sweatpants. The clearly expensive t-shirt fabric was soft and delicate against her skin, but kept her just warm enough.

Y/N padded over to Elijah, who was lying down on his bed, one hand behind his head. "Sleepy now?" she asked, hovering over him. "Sort of. Will you read to me?" he requested. His expression was almost childlike, something she didn't see often, and it reduced her to a puddle. "Sure", she said, smiling softly at him as she made her way to the enormous bookcase. She trailed her fingers over the fragile spines of the books, perusing, finding the perfect one. Her eyes landed on a relatively small book – poetry.

"What did you pick?" he asked as she brought the book over to the bed and sat up next to him. She waved the book in front of him. "Ah, Byron", he said, "he was a good man." She rolled her eyes at him and riffled through the pages, searching for a poem she liked. He shifted, placing his head on her torso, and breathed her in – she smelled just like him, and he loved it. One particular poem caught her eye, and she began to recite.

"She walks in beauty, like the night

Of cloudless climes and starry skies;

And all that’s best of dark and bright

Meet in her aspect and her eyes;

Thus mellowed to that tender light

Which heaven to gaudy day denies." She moved the book by an inch to take a quick peek at him, his eyelids were already beginning to droop. She continued to recite the lyric, her voice soft and lilting, and fingers running through his hair.

She felt him drifting off through the second verse, his breathing starting to slow, and his body growing more still. Whenever she spent the night, she was always the first to fall asleep, and he was always awake before she was, so this was a rare sight – he was so serene, and calm.

"And on that cheek, and o’er that brow,

So soft, so calm, yet eloquent, The smiles that win, the tints that glow,

But tell of days in goodness spent,

A mind at peace with all below,

A heart whose love is innocent." She silently set the book on the nightstand and lovingly gazed at Elijah's sleeping figure. Carefully, she moved his head onto a pillow so as to not wake him, and laid beside him. "I love you, Elijah", she whispered, stroking his hair one last time. And with a full heart, she fell asleep alongside him.

#elijah mikaelson #elijah x reader #elijah imagines #the originals #the originals fanfiction

[mc-lukanette]

42 Lukanette Thoughts

Marinette waiting until Luka’s birthday to give him a response to his confession. He’s absolutely “offended” and she’s just grinning at him.

Luka not being able to swim despite living on a boat. Bonus if Marinette invites him and Juleka out to the swimming pool one day and the absolute love-struck dork finds himself unable to say “no” to her. Juleka thinks it’s hilarious that he can’t just admit to Marinette that he can’t swim, so she has a blast constantly making everything worse, like telling Marinette that Luka doesn’t have a swimsuit so Marinette’ll end up making one for him.

Marinette thinking about the whole “LadyNoir” situation while she’s sketching in her notebook. She finds that she doesn’t even like the way her name meshes with Chat’s. One thought leads to another and she - while not even thinking - ends up writing “Lukanette” in her sketchbook. Cut to her hanging out with Luka later and showing him the designs she came up with that day, meaning that Luka ends up seeing “Lukanette” so casually written in her sketchbook.

Luka Knows™️ but also has to hide it because he can’t have Marinette thinking that he’s crushing on Ladybug. This eventually leads to him telling Ladybug that she can come to him at any time, which leads to nights of Ladybug giving him the snake so he can go on patrol with her. He’s not ready for her lowkey flirting and has to keep reminding himself that he’s not supposed to react since she doesn’t know that he Knows™️.

AU where Kitty Section never became a thing, but it turns out that Marinette’s good at writing lyrics. She actually ends up singing along to a song that Luka never had lyrics for and that’s how she becomes his lyricist.

A concept: switching around “Frozer” and “Captain Hardrock,” meaning that, when Luka goes to comfort this “stranger” walking onto deck, he might not even hear about the ice rink. If he does, they’re not close enough for her to ask him to come with her but he offers her some quick ice skating lessons before the “third-wheeling date.” If he doesn’t and thus gives Marinette no lessons, Adrimi ends up happening due to Marinette staying mostly off the ice due to clumsiness and constantly feeling bad over seeing Adrien and Kagami there, which leads into “Captain Hardrock” where she meets Luka again without any sort of Adrien influence (outside of her getting over him).

Marinette always being made fun of and called “funny” due to her clumsiness when she was little. Likewise, Luka was always considered too “soft” so he began to see it as an insult. Once they’re older, they end up calling each other “funny”/“soft” and suddenly find that it hits very different when it’s THEM saying it to each other because they can tell that there’s no maliciousness there.

Post-reveal friendly shenanigans where Luka is somewhere, idling on his phone, when a flash of red and black swoops down and snatches it out of his hand. He looks around, confused, then manages to catch the sight of Ladybug this time as she swoops back the other way and hands his phone back. He sees that she took a picture of herself winking + sticking her tongue out with his phone and now he can’t stop grinning stupidly to himself.

Marinette waking up after a stressful/exhausting day, then seeing the time and frantically calling Luka, worried that she’d missed an event or something. There’s a light chuckle on the other line as Luka reminds her that it’s Sunday and nothing’s going on so she should get back to sleep.

Post-Guardian Marinette things where Luka is her confidant who she told about her guardian status. Marinette occasionally lets the kwami free whenever she knows that Tom and Sabine won’t come up to disturb them, but it leads to a “problem” of sorts. Pollen, of course, calls Marinette her “queen,” but now that Luka is there also, Pollen calls him her “king” and Marinette and Luka are collectively dying.

Silly thing: snakes of all kinds being attached to Marinette. She’ll go to pet stores and they’ll boop their noses against the glass, wanting her attention. Luka feels unnecessarily smug post-dating because he’s her snake and no one else is.

Luka Knows™️ and finds a way for Marinette to vent about her Ladybug duties without her having to tell him her identity, like mentioning things that happened with Ladybug that day and giving her an opening to talk about them, if only from a faux-outsider’s perspective.

Luka having a terrible day, to the point where he’s legitimately worried about being akumatized. He decides to call Marinette as an akuma starts flying past the window, and just hearing Marinette’s voice alone fills Luka with such positive energy that the akuma is immediately repelled like wow ok i’m out. He watches the akuma leave with a smile and whispers, ”You’re amazing, Marinette.” “W-what?? Did you call just to tell me that?” “No, but it’s true.”

Marinette decides that she wants a challenge and asks Luka if she can make a full guitar for him. He knows he’d be stupid not to agree, but then Marinette shyly adds a condition: he has to name the guitar after her. Luka has no idea how to explain to her that he’s already named a guitar after her so she might have to settle for her guitar being “Marinette 2.”

Luka Knowing™️ and it makes him legitimately upset at how much stress and responsibility has been placed on her. He ends up getting akumatized so he can take her earrings, not to bring them to Hawk Moth, but to “save” her.

Viperion in a particularly tough akuma-related battle. Ladybug legitimately doesn’t know if they’re going to make it out okay, so she ends up finding a moment to confess to him. Cut to later when he ends up having to go back with Second Chance, erasing the moment from time, and apparently he’s just supposed to focus and pretend like he’s okay and he is SO getting her back when this fight is over.

Marinette being afraid to confess to Luka directly, so she’s constantly dropping hints that she likes him and Luka is picking up on none of them because he’s convinced that she still likes Adrien. The rest of Kitty Section is constantly getting on his case for not pursuing Marinette and he’s just like, “But she likes Adrien?” while having like 3984723748234 texts from Marinette just from that day alone.

Marinette deciding to use her Instagram to ramble, leading her to post some pictures of Luka and talk about how nice/sweet/handsome he is because surely he doesn’t follow her account so it’ll be fine (spoiler alert: he follows her account very much and Juleka makes a game out of trying to catch his reaction every time Marinette posts about him).

Post-dating, Marinette insisting to Luka that she “doesn’t want to mess up their first kiss,” and therefore they have to practice kissing each other first, apparently missing the point that it won’t be their first kiss if they’ve kissed each other before. Luka tries to explain the fault in logic but she’s not backing down and, really, who is he to refuse if she wants to kiss him a bunch?

Adulthood Lukanette “cruelty” on Marinette’s part where she decides that she wants to propose to Luka and puts the box with the wedding ring inside one of his guitars with the excuse that she was replacing the strings for him, then leaving Luka to realize what she did later.

Juleka asking Marinette who her favorite hero is because she was getting into a debate with Luka about it and they couldn’t agree. Marinette shyly peeks up because Luka is right there, but nonetheless admits that her favorite is Viperion.

Marinette visiting the Liberty and noticing Luka not playing his guitar and just staring off into space, a soft, loving look on his face. She asks Juleka about it, who casually brushes it off as, “Oh, he always does that when he’s thinking of you.” “When he’s thinking of WHO now????”

Post-dating in which Marinette freaks out over even the smallest contact with Luka just because she’s on a happy emotional high. (”You wanna hold hands??? Like--my hand??? Holding yours??? And our fingers will be intertwining and everything?? And we--stop laughing, Luka, these are important questions!!!”) Bonus if what gets her to take a huge step forward and just passionately kiss Luka is someone mocking their relationship and her proving them otherwise thusly.

Marinette gets a pet snake, names it “Viperion,” and happily uses it as an opportunity to gush about Viperion the second Luka questions why she chose a snake as a pet.

Marinette complains sometimes about Luka being “too tall” but really, it’s perfect for hugs, so-- (even if she still pouts about the fact that she can’t kiss him simply by being on her tip-toes).

Lowkey headcanon that Juleka and Rose purposefully set Marinette up with Luka since they’re like, “Luka’s missing!” in “Captain Hardrock” when Luka is in his room that Juleka shares with him and it would’ve been the first place to go look for him.

Luka being so used to messes and just leaving them alone thanks to living on the Liberty for so long and being around his mother. It’s a really hard habit to break when he starts living with Marinette and he’s extremely apologetic about it.

Luka posting a lot about Marinette/him and Marinette on Instagram and Marinette “fighting back” (bonus if she doesn’t do it intentionally) with posts about Luka/her and Luka/Kitty Section.

Why limit oneself to balcony scenes when you can have houseboat scenes too???

Marinette being offended by any polls where Ladybug wins over Viperion except Luka is offended by her opinion and it’s just them going back and forth about why Ladybug/Viperion should be more popular.

Tikki agreeing with Master Fu that Marinette and Adrien are “made for each other” but being a closet Lukanette fan in secret. That tiny Kitty Section shirt that Marinette made on Instagram is hers.

Pre-”Captain Hardrock,” Luka thinking he’s subtle asking for details about “the girl who broke his sister’s photo curse.” He’s not.

Marinette taking a music class and of course she asks Luka to help with things that she doesn’t understand. Bonus if she’s so into trying to learn that she doesn’t notice when she’s making him blush, like her casually sitting on his lap and asking him to physically instruct her on where her hands should be.

Post-dating, Marinette “bribing” Luka to do things using kisses. Bold of her to assume he wouldn’t have done it anyway, though he won’t say “no” to kisses either.

Marinette, being carried/protected by Viperion, knowing that she needs to leave to transform but also he’s very warm and nice so maybe just a little longer, this akuma isn’t that dangerous/disruptive anyway. (Viperion may also be indulging himself too but she’ll never know.)

“It's amazing how you can be so composed all the time, Luka! It feels like it's impossible to know what you're thinking!“ “Really? But I just think about you all the time, Marinette.“ “*DOESN’T KNOW WHETHER TO BE FLUSTERED OR OFFENDED BECAUSE HOW DARE--*”

Whenever Marinette does that thing where she closes her eyes and raises her head proudly... I feel like Luka gets the sudden urge to either kiss her or cup her cheeks.

Marinette and Luka having “silence challenges” in adulthood where they give each other affection and the first one to make a noise loses. The challenge never lasts long.

I just presume that Luka has sixth senses that go off the second Marinette is completely over Adrien.

Post-reveal and post-dating where Luka expresses concern to Marinette about the whole “destiny” nonsense with Adrien being Chat Noir and Marinette lets Luka know how she feels about that by showering Luka with lots of kisses.

Luka not realizing what he said to Marinette in “Silencer” until he goes home and Juleka asks him what they’d been talking about. His face turns progressively redder as he makes the realization.

Post-dating, Marinette not being used to the abundance of affection that Luka’s going to give her due to how many times she failed with Adrien.

#type: thoughts #Flower Arrangement Shipping #type: prompt set #((Not really but I could see people viewing it as one.)) #Pro LukaMari #Lukanette

[chunhua-s]

hi baby! CONGRATS 🎉 on 200!! HEHE and ur wish is my command— tho, this time, i’ll put off friends to lovers for mafia!au whew 😆 and my favourite boy, mr bokuto koutarou <33 (i think i’m rlly in lovvv w him 🥲) i love u!! hope u enjoy writing this hehehe 💙

atiq, sweetie!! thanks so much for requesting from me!! and thanks for always swapping ideas for haikyuu with me 🥺 i love our interactions and everything you add to our discussions is always so golden!! your mind? amazing, astronomical, built different. and i know how much you love kou so i’ll work extra hard on this request for you!! ilyyy 🥰 and i hope you enjoy it!! i cannot tell you how badly i wanted to write a mafia au for a while and i was actually hoping that someone would request one for me for this event! originally i had three different ideas for this oneshot, but across all three i wanted our reader to be in a oosition of power — a ruler rather than a bystander in the grand theme of things of that makes sense? i just... i really like writing female characters with a strong presence that you can feel pressuring you whenever you’re around her. when i chose this route for the plot, i added a little twist to it since i thought forbidden lovers would be another good fit for this — i hope this is okay with you? it still falls under your original request but with just a touch of another really fun trope! uhhh for the song i did struggle a little with choosing it, but i think the vibe of this song fits better than what i had in mind? it the lyrics capture the whole “i’m helpless when it comes to you” theme that i wanted to put into this oneshot, like it’s a sensation that the other person has so much power over them that they can’t resist. anyways enough with my rambling — please enjoy the story! and as always, don’t be afraid to tell me what you all thought of it 💕 and a big thank you to runa for giving me a hand with writing this when i got stuck! ily wifey 🥰

WHERE YOUR LIGHT SHINES BRIGHTEST ➽ KOUTARO BOKUTO x READER

genre: drama— tiny bit of angst if you squint

au: mafia au with some hints of forbidden lovers

warnings: none other than the au type if that makes anyone uncomfortable!

your relationship with him is like something written straight out of fiction — the tale of two lovers whose paths should never meet.

as the rules dictate, a queen should never kiss the hand of her servant. it’s unheard of — the mere thought of it could be called ridiculous had it ever left from your lips. and even you had frowned upon it once upon a time. back then, you would never have even entertained the notion of love within your business. the word love has no place inside a frozen heart, it’s petals without a home on cold northern land. as a woman in your world, you couldn’t afford love, not with your money, nor with your time. to you, all it had ever been was something too expensive and not worth the pain that would trail after its name. and so, the empress closes her heart and builds her throne on the skulls of men who dared to challenge her power, sews her dresses from their flesh and blood and decorates her neck with silver bones, her fingers with rings of thorn. you become a force in the underworld, one that demands respect with your name alone and causes the blood of those who should doubt you to run cold with fear. in the cruel and unforgiving world of pain and bloodshed, you blossom beautifully, and you run your empire on the same harsh principles that you once fought against to get to the top.

but the queen, she has a weakness — one lonely spear that rests right over her heart, piercing the skin there and drawing rivers of blood from her opening wounds. the queen who once spat on that four-letter word and scorned it with every part of her being, she fell in love with her right hand man. you couldn’t stop yourself from melting into golden eyes that shine like the sun itself, you’re rendered defenseless in the face of his light that shines like a beacon in your dark world. you’re a moth to his flame, and you so carelessly let yourself burn on embers of adoration and worship. for him, you abandon your personal code and allow your heart to dance in the palm of his hand. for koutaro bokuto, you allow yourself to bury your crown on a sandy beach, you let him pull you into golden waters and teach you how to swim in his ocean.

music blares outside of the private room, where neon red lights hide the trails that his lips leave across your skin. he fills you lungs with a subtle aroma of sweet oranges and a sort of earthy scent that’s almost lost under the overwhelming smell of gunmetal and blood that clings almost desperately to his clothes— as if to suffocate his fire and leave the both of you cold. when you pull away from his arms, you find his golden eyes already searching for you through black and white strands of hair that you gently brush from his forehead; he leans into your touch with his eyes closed, and his lips come apart to exhale the weight that sits on the both of your chest. the gun in his belt suddenly becomes heavier, as if it would pull him under if it weren’t for your hands around his waist, supporting his body when he tiredly collapsed into you. guilt turns your stomach over with a sickness so powerful that your resolve wavers, flickering like the surface of a calm lake disturbed by a single stone — that stone, you think bitterly, is your throne. the empire you’d created that you can no longer run from.

“you did well for me, kou,” you whisper against his skin, pressing a gentle kiss to his cheek and sinking further into his arms as if to permanently mold your bodies together. “you always do so well.”

he pulls back once again to lock gazes with you, golden hues drinking red wine to shine on a sunset blaze. you see his lips pull upwards in the beginning of a smile as your thumb traces the shape of his jawline, his hand coming up to cradle your own when he leans into your touch. “i live to serve you, my queen,” he mutters into your palm, and you swear you feel the devotion behind his words as they rumble across your skin like thunder. “i’ll do anything for you — just give me the order and i’ll get it done.”

you bring his face closer to yours and press your lips against his, feeling his entire body relax above you as his hands lock around your waist, draws you closer into him so that your figure curves into him. what space once existed between the two of you vanishes as you steal his breath from his lungs and lose yourself on sweet ocean waves. your voice of reason goes muted under every hushed gasp that falls from your caving chests chests, codes and conduct vanish beneath the heavy base of the music that blasts from outside the private room. when you pull away, the both of you are breathless, left to drag in slow, heaving gasps as if the air surrounding you both had vanished.“good,” your lips brush against his lips, your eyes flutter closed as your forehead leans against his. and you don’t dare doubt the validity of his words — in your world, an oath bears the same weight as a pound of flesh. false promises are punished in blood and sacrifice, and one would do well to quickly learn to never lie under any circumstance.

your smile softens on its edges as you press your head against his chest, falling into the soothing rhythm of his heartbeat. a queen can’t afford to fall in love in such a dark world, but you think that, for koutaro, it’s alright to let your guard down and offer him your heart.

he would never betray you, after all.

davi hits 200 followers — haikyuu!! au writing event! 💕 

taglist: @aiiishiiiteru @tsumue @bootylikepeachy

send an ask to be added!

#bokuto x reader #bokuto x reader scenario #bokuto koutarou x reader #bokuto koutarou x reader scenario #bokuto x reader imagine #haikyuu!! x reader #haikyuu imagine #haikyuu #bokuto koutarou #hq!! x reader #davi hits 200! ✨ #haikyuu!! au event 💫

[oneweekoneband]

i didn’t though

When I was twenty and tractable I listened to “Treacherous” and I believed Taylor Swift was telling me something, because “I’ll do anything you say / If you say it with your hands”, is not content meant for straight people, even though legally they, too, are allowed to hear it, and they do generally have hands. When Taylor Swift drank beers with Karlie Kloss at a Knicks game in 2014, I believed she was telling me something even more forcefully, because, really, why be at Knicks game if not just to kill time politely before fucking whoever you’re there with. When reputation was released and it contained “Dress”, a song about buying a certain item of clothing to look good for a person you love specifically not “like a best friend” so that after “all the pining and anticipation” they can remove it from your body and you can drink wine together in the bath, I believed Taylor was screaming a confession at me, and I was more than ready to receive it. When I heard from multiple sources just last year, amidst the aggressive rainbow-deluge of the Lover promo cycle, an ultimately false rumor that said Taylor was going to come out in a Rolling Stone cover story I, somehow, incredibly, brain as smooth as a baby’s ass, believed that too.

I have believed a lot of things. And it’s a nice diversion, to believe like that. But, more recently, I’ve found that the detective in me has turned away from this one. The only facts I’ll ever know about Taylor Swift are those she wishes to share, and speculating about what secrets she may or may not be hiding is a distraction from the real, joyful work of appreciating all these already literally, unequivocally, very gay songs. I’ve found, well, that I just don’t care anymore, which sucks, as I detest the squirmy idea that I might be growing as a person. But the truth is one really can write extremely, objectively homoerotic love songs yet be, for all intents and purposes, terminally straight. And like that poignant tweet about Lin Manuel Miranda tells us, you can seem gay, because of, like, your whole deal, and then it turns out you’re just annoying. You can even have a torrid love affair with your one-time supermodel best friend and in the end just want to marry some guy from The Favourite (Allegedly from The Favourite. I have seen that film three times and could not pick that man out of a lineup if my life depended on it.) and maybe there’s nothing to announce to anybody about it at all. Sexuality is complex and personal, and Taylor’s own sexuality doesn’t much matter to me, outside of how I always think it’s nice to know there’s yet another bisexual white woman out here in the world being even more irritating than me. (I say this strictly in terms of labeling; it ought to go without saying that Taylor’s various psychosexual obsessions with things like Amy from Gone Girl, and The Kennedys, and her house in Rhode Island matter to me immensely.)  It doesn’t matter because it has no bearing on the fact that she keeps dropping queer classics.

Anyway, yeah, most good Taylor Swift songs are gay, just like most good things, generally, and there’s a number of viable picks on folklore, except not “betty”, no matter what the collective banshee’s wail of the Internet tells you. The gayest thing about “betty” is that it’s Taylor putting herself in the mind of a skateboarding teenage boy, which, yes, admittedly, is a big homo vibe, but nowhere in or around this song are any people of the same gender identity smashing bathing suit parts together, or even thinking about doing so, and when there are so many better options available, I feel it is prudent that we have just the barest hint of standards. As queerness itself is malleable, wonderfully, painfully individual, and comes in no one standard format, so too is determining which song on a Taylor Swift album is the most gay a singular, complicated calculus we all must do for ourselves within our own hearts, and, of course, there are no wrong answers, unless it so happens that your answer is not “the 1”.

“the 1” made me lose my grip for a moment. A cool lament, calmly wrenching, right off it was sucking out my bone marrow and I wasn’t able to name why. (Well, except, obviously, that the twin unit of, “You know the greatest films of all time were never made,” and “You know the greatest loves of all time are over now,” is pure, not from concentrate, peak embarrassing & devastating & all the more embarrassing for being so devastating Swiftian lyricism.) Finally, weeks after the release, out walking the streets of Los Angeles midday, masked and fractious, lower back sticky, brain a little mean, buying a soda at the gas station just to talk to someone, it came to me that  “the 1” is a spiritual sequel to Red’s drum-heavy forever banger “Holy Ground”. The Taylor of “Holy Ground” reminisces frantically about a lost love, some near-miss from youth. That drumbeat is a racing heart. The animating nervousness of “Holy Ground”, the way you can almost hear the narrator’s limbs flapping wildly against her body when she says that she’s dancing, has from the beginning marked this song to me as a story of looking back on some sort of formless and magical teenaged queer encounter. “Holy Ground” is looking at a precious memory like it’s a firefly in cupped hands—small and special and easy to lose—being not entirely certain what the memory means, since whatever it was that happened back then, you never really talked it out. “Holy Ground” is about a love that for all its vitality did not work out, but it is appreciative rather than sad. “But sometimes I wonder how you think about it now,” Taylor sings, “and I see your face in every crowd.” 

“But we were something, don’t you think so?” asks “the 1”, imploring an ex to confirm her version of events, to agree that she’s remembering it right. Taylor has not ever struggled in her work with place and the self and matching the two against one another on the wriggling timeline of the human life. I was there I was there I was there. The question here is something else. Not was it real, but was it real to you, and do you remember now what that was like. Do you remember who I was then? What we were? The truth as it pertains to the heart of another is guesswork at best, and a troublesome kind. Memories break and bend, or weren’t even recorded right to begin with, every brain a dirty liar, and for two separate, imperfect creatures to share the responsibility of preserving one history together is a disaster. The hard facts then are grounding. Essential. “I thought I saw you at the bus stop / I didn’t though”.  Everyone has past romances that they still ask questions about, yes—I am not practicing my virulent heterophobia today—but none of my queer friends are without at least one were-we-or-weren’t-we in their past, a clinch with another that was incandescent and unnameable, long over but dangling forever there loose outside the neat boxes of friend or lover. To be a queer person is to exist already beyond and without the organizing structures of heterosexuality, and this can be difficult, dangerous, but in liminality there is freedom, and in years of painstakingly debating whether I wanted to be or bang so many various somebodys I have, along the way, put the pieces of myself in the order they fit best. So then there are loves where you aren’t sure if that’s technically what it was, if it’s what they’d call it, too. Or loves that were undeniably real, only we were too busy back then with trying to turn into ourselves to keep it. And loves from the very start, from walking together on colt legs, exuberant and unprepared, and the memory is a blessing, and the memory is guilt.

 “the 1”, to the ear, is softer and slinkier than “Holy Ground”, but the lyrics are dismantling. “Holy Ground” says, “And darling, it was good / Never looking down”. Full of longing, but cheerful and sure. “the 1” is older, resigned. On “the 1” Taylor mourns a love not only because it has ended, but because she can sense, from the safety of time’s remove, that it was a love which deserved better, could have been better, if things had been only a little different, if they’d felt brave enough to try just a little more. In this version of nostalgia, the golden haze of “Holy Ground” is ribboned by a vaporous shame, a regret. The song relates a story of a love that is farther out of reach and meant more than what the little girl of “Holy Ground” could have dreamt. “In my defense I have none / for digging up the grave another time / but it would’ve been fun / if you would’ve been the one”.

#taylor swift #folklore