#OUTRO: House of Cards

[ulfdistracted]

BANGTAN SONGFEST, ROUND TWO

[asoftepiloguemylove]

IT REALLY IS TIME TO SAY GOODBYE; ON LOST LOVE

Everything Everywhere All at Once (2022) dir. Daniel Kwan & Daniel Scheinert // Taylor Swift Wonderland // Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004) dir. Michel Gondry // pinterest // 방탄소년단 BTS OUTRO: House Of Cards // Sam Moe Corallium (via @voicedwords) // Blythe Baird "Horoscopes For Self-Doubt," If My Body Could Speak // Mitski I Don't Smoke // 花樣年華 In the Mood For Love (2000) dir. Wong Kar-wai // 방탄소년단 BTS Let Go // June Gehringer I Love You, It Looks Like Rain (via @geryone) // Mahmoud Darwish Memory for Forgetfulness

[lovepeaceandtarot]

Pick a card - You will receive a proposal

(Escolha uma carta - Você vai receber uma proposta)

If you want a reading on your energy, just schedule a paid reading with me in DM!

(Se quiser uma leitura na sua energia, basta agendar uma leitura paga comigo na DM!)

If that found you, it was for a reason. Take what resonates and leave what doesn’t resonate.

(Se isso encontrou você, é por uma razão. Pegue o que ressoar e deixe o que não ressoa.)

Card 1 - Some of you will receive a job offer and will be undecided whether to accept or not. Others will receive a dating proposal, but they will be in doubt whether they should accept it or not. Others will receive a marriage proposal and will be in doubt whether this is too early or not. Others will receive a proposal where it requires making a difficult decision. Others will receive a resignation proposal. Others will receive a proposal to develop a project. Others will receive a proposal to rise in office. Others will receive a proposal to live with someone. Others will receive a proposal to be godmother or best man or maid of honor. Others will receive the proposal to be godmother or godfather of a baby's baptism. Others will receive a proposal to go to a high school graduation. Others will receive a proposal to go to a party. Others will receive a proposal to go to a school dance or a class reunion after 10 years.

(Carta 1: Alguns de vocês irão receber uma proposta de emprego e ficarão indecisos se devem aceitar ou não. Outros irão receber uma proposta de namoro, mas ficarão em duvida se devem aceitar ou não. Outros irão receber um pedido de casamento e ficarão em duvida se é muito cedo isso ou não. Outros irão receber uma proposta onde exige tomar uma decisão dificil. Outros irão receber uma proposta de demissão. Outros irão receber uma proposta de elaborar um projeto. Outros irão receber uma proposta de subir de cargo. Outros vão receber uma proposta de morar com alguém. Outros irão receber uma proposta para ser madrinha ou padrinho ou dama de honra de casamento. Outros irão receber a proposta para ser madrinha ou padrinho de batismo de um bebe. Outros irão receber uma proposta de irem a uma formatura de ensino medio. Outros irão receber uma proposta para ir a uma festa. Outros irão receber uma proposta para ir a um baile escolar ou uma reunião de classe depois de 10 anos.)

Card 2 - Some of you will receive a position proposal with a higher salary. Others will receive a proposal to study in another country. Others will receive a company transfer. Others received a letter of resignation. Others will move house. Others will change countries. Others will move from their parents' house. Others will receive a proposal to start a company from scratch.

(Carta 2 - Alguns de vocês irão receber uma proposta de cargo com salário maior. Outros irão receber uma proposta para estudar em outro pais. Outros irão receber uma transferência de empresa. Outros receberam uma carta de demissão. Outros vão mudar de casa. Outros irão mudar de país. Outros irão mudar da casa dos pais. Outros receberão uma proposta de começar uma empresa do zero.)

#tarot #tarotportugal #tarotreading #career #careerreading #generalreading #foryou #foryoupage #explore #explorar #amorproprio #tarô #tarotcards #tarotcomunity #consultasdetarot #selfcare #autocuidado #freetarotreading #generalreading #acolhimento #loveyourself #pickapiletarot

[collecting-stories]

Long Story Short - Steve Harrington

Request: Hii <33 can i request long story short for steve harrington?

Summary: You wake up in the middle of the night from a terrible nightmare and seek out Steve's help to calm yourself down.

TS Anthology Series | Stranger Things Masterlist

...long story short it was a bad time, long story short I survived...

You were vaguely aware of Robin saying your name, she kept repeating it like a mantra, begging you to give any indication that you could hear her. And you did, hear her, but you couldn't answer. When you opened your mouth nothing came out, as if someone had switched off all the sound except for Robin's voice, echoing in your head. You clutched at your chest and your legs felt tangled in something as you kicked into the darkness, lurching forward and...suddenly you were in your room. 

You searched for the light switch on your lamp, a dull yellow glow emanating through the room. Glasses on and realization beginning to set in, you weren't in the upside down, Robin wasn't calling your name, it was all just a bad dream. A really terrible nightmare-of-a-dream but a dream nonetheless. No one and nothing was hunting you or your friends. On legs that felt like they could crumble at any moment, you made your way to the kitchen, passed your parents room, the living room with a solitary light on by the door, and finally to the sink where you poured a glass of water and tried to calm your nerves. Your hands were still shaking and you thought about calling to see if Robin or Nancy might be awake but the analog clock on the counter said it was three in the morning and you doubted any of your friends were actually awake right now. Their parents definitely weren't and you knew that neither household would appreciate a 3 a.m. wake up call. 

Still, the thought of facing those monsters again, whether real or imagined, alone, was too much for you to handle. With your pajamas still on, you slipped on a pair of shoes and took your coat; leaving by the kitchen door. Hawkins at night was a familiar entity but you had lost the sense of comfort you used to have in its existence. When it snowed at midnight three weeks ago you'd hesitated at the kitchen door, weighing the likelihood that something could be there in the shadows, just beyond the glistening light cast over your yard and your neighbors'. You could remember staying out as long as possible before the fall of '83, playing hide-n-go-seek or tag or some iteration of both. Now you worried walking the trash from the garage to the curb on Wednesday nights. Vecna or One or whatever it wanted to be called was gone, Hawkins had survived and most everyone had moved on from what they perceived to have happened but you remained somewhat stuck in the past. Like a scratched record that kept looping back to the same outro, never able to move on. 

The light above the back door of Steve Harrington's house flickered on and you realized you'd walked yourself all four blocks over to his street. You'd been thinking of Robin's in actuality, and then thinking of Robin had you thinking of Steve and the still somewhat unresolved conclusion to your embarrassing outburst of emotion when you'd made it out of the Upside Down alive. Kissing Steve Harrington and telling him that you loved had not been in the cards. 

"Hey."

As equally embarrassing as showing up unexpected on his back porch at three in the morning after not speaking to him for two months was, you were still happy that Steve was the one standing there on the other side of the glass sliding doors and not his mom. How would you even begin to explain to her what you were doing at her house? 

"Uh, hey," you held your hand up as if you were going to wave and then lowered it to your side again. 

Steve slid the door open, "do you want to come in or..." He looked passed you at the emptied pool and you shook your head. It was January in Hawkins and you were beginning to realize how cold you actually were. He stepped to the side and you came into his kitchen, crossing your arms in some half-hearted attempt to comfort yourself. Or maybe regroup? What were you doing here? 

"Did something happen?" 

"Not exactly..." You replied, trying to sort out both your thoughts and what had propelled you to Steve's house. Not Robin or Nancy or even Dustin but Steve. Who you swore you would never see again. Or at least never speak to again so that you couldn't further embarrass yourself in front of him. "I mean...not really. Not here, or well, here but you know...not here." You gestured awkwardly trying to sign what you couldn't say, "I had a bad dream, basically."

"Shit," he nodded like he completely understood and you were sure that he did. "Are you okay?"

"I just..." You took a breath, trying to center yourself, "It just felt real." There were tears forming at the corners of your eyes and before you could keep trying to explain the dream, Steve had pulled you into a hug, wrapping his arms around you and crushing you against the sweater he was wearing. You hugged him back, purely because you'd been denying yourself any interaction with him for the last two months and you felt relieved when he was the first to act. As if, maybe, he hadn't realized you were being distant. 

"It's not real," Steve promised, as if you might not've been sure that it was just a bad dream. It was a surprisingly reassuring sentiment. "This is real. You and me, right now. That's real."

"I know...I know it's past I just...I don't know. Sometimes I feel like I can't let myself let it go." You admitted. Despite coming through the Upside Down and Vecna with everyone, you had a tendency to close down. It was over and you could breath but when the nightmares and the bad memories resurfaced, you felt guilty for mentioning them. You didn't want anyone else to feel like you were feeling. 

"That's okay," the reply came almost as a surprise to you, like a validation of all your worries. It was okay to feel stuck, it was okay to be frozen in this time loop, and it was okay to ask for help. "Do you wanna...we could put a movie on or something, if it would take your mind off of stuff?"

"Yeah, that'd be good." You nodded.

There was an unmistakable feeling of awkwardness in the air, as though neither of you was quite sure how to act around each other. You really couldn't blame Steve for feeling uncomfortable, if he did. It was entirely possible that you were only projecting your own discomfort at being here again after such a long time and so much distance. You wanted to apologize for telling him that you loved him. Not that you didn't mean just that you didn't mean to make things so awkward between the two of you. 

Steve led the way into the den, two beige recliners dominating the small room and an entertainment center set up in front of them. You took the seat on the right, waiting to recline while you watched him scan the collection of VHS tapes his parents had. 

"What do you want to watch?"

"Something that I don't have to think to hard about," you admitted. You weren't sure you had the mental capacity for anything serious. 

"Secret of Nimh?" He asked, holding the VHS up for you, the animated mouse staring back.

"You have the Secret of Nimh?" You asked, perking up at the mention of it. 

"I have all the mouse movies," Steve joked, setting that one down a pulling out a couple more as proof. 

"The Rescuers and An American Tail?" You laughed, "I'm kinda tempted to watch them all."

"Do you want to?" 

"I shouldn't be keeping you awake," you answered, catching the time on the clock hanging above the entertainment system. You were more than positive that Steve had better things to do than entertain you all night (or morning at this point) and sleep was one of those things. 

"I don't care," he promised, "I'm glad you came here. After...you haven't really...well, I haven't seen you. I thought maybe you were avoiding me."

"Honestly?" You looked guilty as you replied, "I was."

"Ouch." 

"I don't mean like...after I, said what I said...I just thought it'd be better not to bother you." 

"Why?" Steve set the movies down and placed his hands on his hips the way he did when he was reprimanding Dustin, though in this case he looked far less stern and far more confused. 

"Because..." You gestured with your hand, trying to explain yourself with a wave of your hand instead of speaking. What could you say? "Because I...didn't think you..."

"Did you think I didn't feel the same way? That I don't feel the same way?" He asked.

"I don't expect you to."

"Well I do." 

"What?" You were the one who was confused this time, genuinely flustered as you tried to determine exactly what he was telling you. 

"When you told me you loved me, I wanted to tell you that I loved you too...I just. It just caught me off guard. I'd wanted to tell you and when you were in the Upside Down I didn't think I'd ever get to and then all the sudden you were there, in front of me and saying it and I just...reacted too slowly." Steve admitted. "I wanted to tell you, every day since, but I didn't want to push you."

"All I thought about, when I was there, was telling you. I mean, obviously I thought about getting out of there alive but also...that if I did I would tell you and I didn't care if you felt the same way. But then, when you didn't say anything, I kind of realized I did care. I didn't want to hear you say that you didn't feel the same way."

"I guess we kind of fucked up huh?" Steve laughed at the end though it seemed more him mocking himself than anything else.

"I mean, not totally." You replied, "if we both feel the same way...kind of a round about way of figuring it all out but that doesn't mean its too late or something."

"Yeah..." He agreed, glancing back at the clock himself, "but it is too late right now. You should be trying to sleep, not spending time focused on everything that happened." He moved away from the entertainment system to grab a blanket from the basket in the corner, handing it over to you. "We can talk later."

"I don't want to miss any opportunities." You admitted, taking the blanket from him. 

"You won't...we won't. I just don't want you to feel bad in the morning." He replied, leaning over and pressing a kiss to your forehead, hand gripping the armrest of your recliner, "we have time." 

[slayerkitty]

Narrative Frameworks in Only Friends

Something I have been tracking as part of the ongoing discussions about Only Friends is the use of the narrative framework for each episode.

So, I’m making this list specifically for tracking purposes, to note which framework was used for which episodes, if they repeat, and what they may be paying homage to. The goal is to update it every week. Due to suggestions, I am also tracking the end credit scenes, as well as any specific visual or audio formats used in the episodes.

Frameworks so far:

1. Voiceovers: gives the audience specific insight into a characters thoughts and feelings; also a great way to provide exposition. It’s more of an audio than visual framework, as we don’t always see the character doing the voice-over because it plays over other scenes.

2. “Talking Heads” (is there a better descriptor for this?): The characters talk directly to the camera, interview/documentary style. We get to see exactly how they feel about a given moment because they are reacting to it at that time. Audio and visual. Homage to Love8009 (per P'Jojo).

3. Social Media (ft The Artist Formerly Known as Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook): Not as insightful as the other two frameworks but does give context and a way for interaction, commentary, and exposition on a given plot. Visual. Probable homage to Together With Me, one of the first spicy BLs starring our kings, MaxTul.

Episode 1

Framework: Voiceover

Title: What’s Your Role in a Bar?

Narrator: Mew

Visual Moment: Yellow title cards listing everyone’s “roles” as well as the month and days of the week in episode one (homage to SKAM Norway? Open to thoughts on this)

End Credit Shot: Mew sitting on the floor in front of his fish tank

Episode 2

Framework: Talking Heads

Title: M.F.M. My Favorite Man

Narrator: Everyone

Visual Moment: The talking heads scenes

End Credit Shot: Ray driving

Episode 3

Framework: Social Media (Twitter and Instagram)

Title: What Am I to You?

Narrator: Nick and Boston

Audible Moment: Nick listening to the TopBoston sex audio

End Credit Shot: Nick listening to TopBoston sex audio

Episode 4

Framework: Voiceover

Title: Emergency Contact

Narrator: Ray

Visual Moment: The flashback of RayMew is in 4:3 ratio; meaning it looks like recorded footage versus a memory

End Credit Shot: Ray driving (repeat from episode 2)

Episode 5:

Framework: Voiceover

Title: The Extra Hour

Narrator: Sand

Visual Moment: Intro and Outro are animated; black and white (made me think of the Take on Me MV by A-ha but I’m open to suggestions on what this might be referring to)

End Credit Shot: Sand driving his motorcycle

Episode 6:

Framework: None

Title: Happy Fucking Birthday

Narrator: None

Audible Moment: Ray listens to the TopBoston sex audio; Mew plays the TopBoston sex audio for Top

Visual Moment: Top draws Mew sleeping/gives Mew a book of drawings he did of Mew 

End Credit Shot: Top in his bathtub alone looking angsty

Episode 7:

Framework: None

Title: After Effect

Narrator: None

Visual Moment: Mew setting the drawing on fire; Boston’s sex tape; the "super zooms"

End Credit Shot: Mew sitting on the floor in front of his fish tank (repeat from episode 1)

Episode 8:

Framework: None

Title: Save Me

Narrator: None

Visual Moment: Facebook party invite/everyone's reactions to the invite; Everyone's costumes at the party

End Credit Shot: Boston looking angsty (does anyone know where he is here? Is this the hostel? His house? YOLO?)

Discussion: Once again, no framework or narrator this week. I speculated along with @twig-tea that this means we have left the fantasy world (we, along with Mew, have lost our "rose-colored glasses") and all that's left is reality and consequences.

Spoiler Alert (avoid this next paragraph if you don't want any spoilers)

P'Jojo posted on The Artist Formerly Known as Twitter some pictures that imply the talking heads framework is coming back, with at least Sand and Ray (which makes me think we're getting them next week). Does that mean the characters are trying to escape reality again? That they will be back to lying to themselves? Also, next week's episode looks like it might the OF take on the BL "beach" episode (with Sand and Ray, of course).

A thought I've been toying with: It's almost like the show started as a BL (using/subverting the standard tropes, etc) until the midpoint, veered into a queer drama, and now we're heading back into BL territory. Thoughts? (and if anyone can pull that off, it's P'Jojo)

If anyone can think of anything else to add, please let me know! If you would like to be tagged in this post or any other meta, let me know and I’ll add you.

Tagging the Ephemerality Squad: @lurkingshan, @waitmyturtles, @wen-kexing-apologist, @chickenstrangers, @ranchthoughts, @twig-tea, @clara-maybe-ontheroad, @distant-screaming

Tagging @sandrayy by request

Apologies to anyone I forgot!

[final-girl96]

STOLEN HEART CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE

YN

“It's a good song, honey. If I knew you could write like this I would have had you write all our songs,” my dad said, chuckling at the end. I rolled my eyes, a laugh escaping me. “Thanks, dad. I don't know, after everything that happened…with him…it just sort of came to me and I opened my notebook and started writing.”

Fragments of Love

(Verse 1)

I once believed in the words you whispered in the night

But now I see they were just empty promises, not quite

You said forever, but forever seems so far

Now I'm left with these broken pieces of my heart

(Chorus)

Fragments of love, scattered on the ground

Each shattered dream, lost and never found

You promised me the world, but all I got was pain

Now I'm left picking up the pieces, trying to remain

(Verse 2)

I held onto your words like they were precious gold

But now I see the lies that your stories told

You said you'd never leave, but now you're gone

Leaving me stranded in a world so cold and alone

(Chorus)

Fragments of love, scattered on the ground

Each shattered dream, lost and never found

You promised me the world, but all I got was pain

Now I'm left picking up the pieces, trying to remain

(Bridge)

I believed in you, I trusted in your name

But now I see the truth behind this cruel game

Promises broken, like fragile glass

Leaving me stranded in this broken past

(Chorus)

Fragments of love, scattered on the ground

Each shattered dream, lost and never found

You promised me the world, but all I got was pain

Now I'm left picking up the pieces, trying to remain

(Outro)

Fragments of love, echoes of a broken vow

But I'll gather the pieces, some day, someway, somehow

“I still make him disappear…” I snorted at that. “I think I'll be just fine. It still hurts but not as bad as it did,” I said. Dad hummed on the other side of the line. “Well, I may or may not have looked into what he's been up to. He went to rehab and just got out a couple weeks ago.” I cleared my throat and moved around on the couch to fold my legs under me. “Yeah, I saw him the other day in town. He's been sending me flowers for the past six fucking months. The greeting card always has a different way to apologize. I didn't know there were so many different ways but he found them.”

“That's what fame does to you, sweetheart. It makes it easier for you. You can have all the drugs and alcohol at your fingertips. Eddie was used to always being the laughing stalk. High school was hell for him; he got bullied. Now everyone loves him. Men want to be him. Women want to be with him. Girls are going to be jealous of you and hate you because you are with…were with him. Everyone wants to party because nobody is going to tell them to stop. The only way you can get help is if you want it. This was his breaking point; losing you completely opened his eyes. Don't be too hard on him.”

My dad gave me a lot to think about after I got off the phone with him. I could see Eddie was trying to get better, but I'm still working on healing myself. Right now my priority was to get to work on time. I don't need to work but I want to. I want to make my own money and not live off my dad's money. So I got a job at Hawkings Rockin’ Records. It was a small record store in town at the little plaza beside the video store. Robin and Steve Harrington used to work at the video store.

I grabbed my jacket, slipping my arms into the sleeves. It was a little chilly in Hawkins; being the end of October; only one more days until it's Hallowen. I love autumn, it's my favorite season. The leaves are changing and falling, Halloween and scary movies, everything is all spooky. The weather was perfect. It was still kind of warm but there was chill in the air. I had Billy help me decorate the house inside and out. He hated every moment of it but it still helped me. I was planning a small get together for Halloween.

I've grown close with not just Billy but his sister Max and her boyfriend Lucas and their friends Dustin, Will, El, and Mike. I also invited Steve and Robin, along with Nancy, Mike's older sister, and Will's older brother Jonathan. They have all known each other and were close for years, so it was a little awkward at first but they've accepted me into their group with open arms. Now we're all close and frequently hang out.

I went to work, did Inventory, and restalked some stuff. Everything that my dad had said to me was replaying over and over in my mind. Eddie had gone to rehab and seemed like he was cleaning his life up. He's been sending me flowers for six months straight. Yesterday flowers were believed with a simple apology note. “I'm sorry. Happy Halloween. Love E.” He was trying. He wasn't giving up. Not on himself or me. The flowers were fucking gorgeous as always.

This bouquet was made up of black and orange roses with sunflowers mixed in. The top of the flowers was covered with a thin layer of fake spider web and had a couple little spiders on top. They were wrapped in black paper with a ribbon tied around the stems. The ribbon was black with white skulls on it. This was hands down my favorite bouquet he has sent me. I mean, all the flowers he's sent are absolutely beautiful, but this one was my favorite. Halloween is my favorite holiday and the flowers were perfect. I have them in a vase in the middle of the kitchen island.

After work I went to Benny's to meet everyone. We were going to be planning out tomorrow night. We wanted to have a small get together with just the twelve of us. Pizza, snacks and drinks, music, games, horror movies. We just had to figure out what movies we were going to watch and what everyone wanted on their pizza and what kind of drinks to get. It was going to be a fun time. It's something I've needed. Having these guys in my life has helped so much.

I was grateful to have them. I didn't mind living in a small town. It was way better than always being on the road and having paparazzi following you everywhere you went and having your whole life plastered all over the place. Now, I'm not saying paparazzi haven't tried to come here, because they have. But my dad had put a stop to it. He's taken all the attention away from Eddie and I's relationship issues and put it on himself. Plus it helped that El's dad, Hopper, was the Chief of police. So if I have a problem I just have to call him up and he comes to take care of it.

When I walked onto Benny's everyone was already there. “Took you long enough,” Billy said, walking up to me. I rolled my eyes at him. “Left me with these idiots.” I elbowed him in the side. “Be nice. You're lucky to have people like them in your life. Even if you were an asshole in the past.” He scoffed and we walked to the table. Everyone ordered what they wanted, we talked while we waited, and planned everything out while we ate. Then we left ten minutes before Benny had to close.

[jkvjimin]

tagged by the lovely @cosmicdreamgrl 🤍

who is your favourite k-pop group?

bts forever and ever

which member sparked your interest first?

jungkook and tae on dna mv

who was your first bias?

jungkook, tae and jimin and has been since then

what makes them your current bias?

jimin because i was fascinated with his dance moves at first then i fell for him magically, tae because his voice insta captivated me in a way i can't put in words and jungkook for his endearing personality, talent and believe in me or not i see a lot of me in him but in a good way.

who is your bias wrecker?

seokjin maybe. never thought about it tbh.

which members are you currently obsessing over that aren't your bias/bias wrecker?

i'm obsessed (i don't like this term tho) with all of them, but lately yoongi.

when did you first discover this group?

2017, my bf showed me their DNA mv and we kinda learned the choreo so we actually couldn't stop listening. but only on 2019 i get myself into a world i wish i could learn a lot earlier.

have you ever been to one of their concerts?

unfortunately i'm poor lol. the year they came to my country for the last time i couldn't afford to their concert :(

what are some of your favorite songs by the group?

oh boy... here we go: let me know, lights, house of cards, blue & grey, my time, lie, stigma (ik solo track but it counts right? it has to ): lol), fake love, don't leave me, let go, film out, black swan, boys with luv, the truth untold, whalien 52, fly to my room, 134340, outro: tear

ok i'm finishing it here because my list is so huge, anyways. tagging my babies <3: @heybaetae @kimtaegis @jung-koook @cordiallyfuturedwight @raplinenthusiasts @rjshope @btsiu @jinstronaut @magicshop and whoever wants to make it! (no pressure ofc!!) 🤍

[kookiecrush]

I know I’m asking a difficult question here, but what is your fav Rap and Vocal line song? Also fav collab and fav overall BTS song?

Rap line: Ugh

Vocal line: Dimple and Truth Untold

Collaboration: My Universe and Boy With Love

BTS: Mic Drop 1st, 2nd Idol and 3rd Fire.

You really are asking a difficult question! 😩 I find it so hard to pick a favourite anything, and now you want me to do this?! 😭 I literally had to take a few days to think about it 😂 and I have to pick more than one 🤷‍♀️

Rapline: Outro: Tear, UGH! and Cypher Pt.3

Vocal line: Dimple, House Of Cards and The Truth Untold

Collaboration: Boy With Luv, Who (Lauv), Waste It On Me, My Universe and Bad Decisions

BTS: Ain't no way! 😭 I've just managed to whittle my favourite songs down to 15, and that's as low as I can go. I couldn't pick only 3 or 4 if my life depended on it. They have too many good songs! 😩

[sourrcandy]

intro/outro song tag game

thank you so much @veneritia for tagging me, i literally saw this tag game and gasped when you pinged for this.

rules: if your current WIP were a show (animated, live-action, etc.) then what songs would be played during the intro and outro/credit sequences?

for knights ; the intro would definitely be ' glory ' by the score and the outro would be either ' eyes roll ' by (g)i-dle or ' march ' by seventeen

for kill your darlings ; i tossed up with the intro but decided on ' house of cards ' by bts because you can't go wrong with classics and ' devil's advocate ' by the neighbourhood for the outro

tagging: @lexiklecksi, @serpentarii, @seasteading, @helioselene, @atelierwriting

[iwashieonhiatus]

fogging the windows up (18+)

The heavy rain reminded you of how hot it was during the day. You even wore a dress because of the heat and now the cold chills you, even if the air in the car was on. You didn’t have problems with heavy rain, but this one made you worried. Asking him to pull the car close to the gas station’s neon sign, you two would stay there until the rain stopped or eased. He laughed at you, saying that the car wasn’t made of paper, but stopped the car when you said “please” - he couldn’t resist that.

The loud noise of the rain made you shrink in your seat and the cold didn’t help, either. He turned up the power to the air, making the closed car heating and your nipples tickle with the change in temperature. He stared out his window, one hand squeezing your thigh, pushing up the hem of the dress.

The silence was agonizing, and his warm hand on your skin made you antsy.

You two didn’t know how long you would be stuck waiting for the rain to stop, so you turned on the radio, a calm and sensual song from his playlist filling the car. You saw him smile in the corner, his face still turned to his window and his hand going up on your leg.

“We’re gonna die here, babygirl.” His voice came out muffled by his hand. You had already checked your cell phone a few times and with each passing minute, the rain got stronger. “Not to mention it’s boring.”

“And what do you suggest, then?” He turned his head, a sly smile on his lips and his hand going up to your waist. You smiled, leaning into him, your knees resting against his thigh as he caressed your face.

The hot air inside the car seemed to catch fire.

“Why don’t we take this moment to…” He pressed his lips to yours, gluing the foreheads, eyes glowing at you. “You look so beautiful in that dress and I want to make the most of it…” You jumped into his lap, your hands pushing his hair away and locking it around his neck as he stroked your back, hands going down to your ass.

The slow, sensual make-out had you in a haze, sighing against his mouth as you felt his hands moving up the thin fabric of your dress, squeezing your thighs together. The wet sound of kissing and hot breathing, hands roaming and squeezing your bodies, and the sensual music playing, making him guide your movements on his lap, driving you two into a need to remove the clothes.

“Babygirl...” He sighed against your neck, hands undoing the laces of your dress, the straps falling from your shoulders, showing your breasts, nipples hard for him, that groped both and bit one, making you throw your head back.

His hot tongue teasing your nipple and his fingers pulling and rolling the other one made you sigh heavily, pulling him closer, rolling against him. You took his face away, removed your dress and his shirt, his warm hands roaming your body as his mouth distributed wet kisses, making you moan and grab his shoulders.

“Damn it, babygirl…” He licked his bottom lip, eyes bright, glued to you on top of him, panting and swaying into his bulge.

“I need you…” you moaned, pressing down on your lower bodies, hands gripping his face, making him moan, still staring at you.

You leaned on the steering wheel for him to take off his pants and lay down in the driver’s seat, his hands soon going up your legs and sliding your panties off, pulling you on top of him. The two were in a fervent kiss, rubbing naked bodies in search of relief.

“Babe…” You tipped your head back as his fingers caressed in your folds, sliding in calmly, bringing your juices to circle your clit, making you shudder.

“So wet…” He smiled against your neck, biting the area as he slipped two fingers inside you. You clung to his body, wiggling against his fingers, making you wetter.

You breathed heavily against his chest, shuddering every time he curled his finger inside you. He was also breathing heavily, whimpering as you squeezed the head of his cock and lowered your hand again.

“Shit… I need you, babygirl…” you groaned as he pulled his fingers out of you, rested your hands on his shoulders and lifted your hips as he held his cock so you could sit down. Both of you moaning as he went in, his cock stretching you so good that you squeezed him and wiggled slightly. His hands hold your waist while you come up and down calmly, playing with him as he bites his mouth, trying to hold back the moans.

“Baby-Shit...” He closed his eyes and dug his nails into your skin when you sink completely, rubbing yourself on his thighs and went back up and down hard, the way he likes.

You put two fingers in his mouth, and he licked, making them ready for you to play with his nipples.

His growls made you wetter, making it easier to move up and down, ass clapping his thick thighs. His red face, half-closed eyes, the teeth stuck in his lower lip, holding the moans and his hands tightly on your waist, pulling you down hard…. He looked so good under you.

You wanted more of it, but your legs were burning with pain and the space didn’t help. “Babe…” He wrapped his arms around your waist, holding you up a little higher. “I got you, babygirl…” he said and took control.

You shuddered, feeling his warm mouth on your nipple, muffling his moans and leaving the noise of him suckling on your breast and the loud, wet noise of skin on skin. You rolled your eyes in pure delight, feeling the head of his cock slam deep inside you, your arms holding his head against your body as you moaned loudly for him.

His movements were fast and deep, making you jump into his lap and sob the moans. You braced a hand on the window, trying to stay in his lap with the strength he was thrusting.

The hot air inside the car, the strong smell of his perfume, the wet squeak of him moving in and out of you, the sensual music in the background, his growling against your skin... it all leaving you in a haze, lost in pleasure and that knot in your stomach tightening.

“Babe… I…” He held you tighter, pressing you against him, fastening the movements around his waist. “Yeah-Me too…”

A little more of all that and you two would be in heaven. You squeezed him the way he knew you were close to coming. “Come for me, babygirl…” His fingers playing with your clit sent a shiver through your body and you came in on him, grabbing his hair, curling your toes, and mouthing his name.

“Good girl…Shit!” He shuddered, and you felt the warm liquid filling you. You sat on his thighs and he buried his face in your neck, both of you regulating your breathing, feeling the spasms, calming down from your high.

You pulled his face away, taking in the flushed face of bliss, the hooded eyes and swollen mouth, so beautiful after he came on you. You brushed away the strands stuck to his face by sweat, your fingers caressing him and he kissed you, his hands running up and down your back.

After another languid make out, you two came back to reality - the rain had stopped, the car windows fogged up and one had your handprint, the smell of sweat and sex installed in his fancy car.

“Damn, you came inside…” you said, neither angry nor happy, accepting the handkerchief he held out for you to clean yourself up and get back in the passenger seat.

“I couldn’t miss the chance, babygirl…” You snorted as he smiled, and started the car, opening the windows and pulling you out of the parking lot while you threw the handkerchief away and put on your dress, feeling the icy night wind and his hand on your inner thigh.

oliver aiku, ryusei shidou, itoshi sae, michael kaiser, lavinho, eita otoya, karasu tabito, barou shoei, kunigami rensuke, bachira meguru, your faverite...

© iwashie 2023, please do not translate, modify or republish my works

[epiphanytear]

Tagged by @raplinenthusiasts to shuffle my On Repeat playlist and post the first 10 songs 💜

Love Poem - IU

Stay Gentle - Brandi Carlile

Arson- j-hope

Villains, Pt. 2 - Emma Blackery

Halazia - Ateez

End of Time (Taste of Heaven) - KEiiNO

King - The Amazing Devil

House of Card - BTS

Outro: Tear - BTS

Like Crazy - Jimin

a pretty solid list, I think!

tagging (if you wanna): @aprylynn @cordiallyfuturedwight @cosmicdreamgrl @kimtaegis @serendipetite @thisfuckingdeadlife and anyone else who wants too

[randomvarious]

Today's mix:

Metro Tech 7 by DJ Marinho Fischetti 2001 Euro House / House / Trance

Took a trip down to early 2000s São Paulo, Brazil today with this very ephemeral dance mix that was put out by the city's Metropolitana radio station as part of their very own Metro Tech series. Never once in my life have I ever ventured into any of this locale's dance stuff before, but if this set is really truly representative of what was flowing throughout São Paulo at the time, then I guess I was expecting it to be a whole lot more Brazilian than it actually was? 🤷‍♂️

I mean, outside of the total banger that is Fogo's "Another Star"—which interpolates Stevie Wonder's own late 70s song of the same name, and is also therefore very similar to another Brazilian-sounding Bob Sinclar-produced house track by Salomé de Bahia called "Outro Lugar" that interpolates that very same Stevie song—the vast majority of the rest of this is just purely unremarkable trash that's been imported from mainland Europe; basically a bunch of songs that aren't Kernkraft 400's "Zombie Nation," but are just as janky and soullessly goofy with their rote and formulaic combos of things like squelchy bass vibrations and big and stupid, blaring melodies that are more fit for drunkenly chanting along to at soccer matches and hockey games. Não gosto!

But still, standing out from all of that transactional, mindless muck are actually a couple house gems here that don't have any of that cheap Euro-stink on them at all, like this release's final song, "Camels," which is actually a bonus track that falls outside of the mix itself, and is by a prolific Italian guy named Santos, who, from the looks of it, may actually have more aliases under his name than he has bones in his own damn body—and I'm assuming that his body is one with an amount of bones in it that most people would consider to be pretty normal!

"Camels" is a thumping, turn-of-the-millennium filter house delight that fronts with a lovely pair of dramatic and cinematic bits of orchestral string, along with a little piece of guitar funk as well, and then calms itself down with some distorted guitar synth fuzz on its bridge 🤘.

But the thing about that particularly terrific piece of sunshining dance bliss glitz is that you can find it on *plenty* of other releases; a song that I *definitely* can't leave you all today without mentioning is one that I don't think has ever appeared anywhere else besides this very Metro Tech 7 mix itself: a thing called "My President" by La Cubanita.

Now, to be honest with you all, I have no fucking clue who La Cubanita actually is. Discogs links them to a New York Latin house musician by the name of DJ Lucho, but I doubt that Lucho would exclusively release a song like this on some random-ass São Paulo radio station mix; because, really, if he did that, I think he fucked up big time—this song would've absolutely been his calling card.

See, what's so wonderfully odd about this very song appearing *exclusively* on a Brazilian dance mix from 2001 like this is how totally unexpected it is. This is a tune that stars a sexy-voiced, Spanish-speaking Latina who goes by the name of Mónica, and she gets passionately dicked—or perhaps cigarred?—down by none other than American president Bill Clinton himself, with pleasure-filled moans induced from her and all 😂. And normally, I really don't tend to enjoy the particular brand of tribal house that's on display here, but I think you can understand why I make such a big exception for this one. And of all the places to discover it too; like, what an absolutely ridiculous find here!

So, once again, never shut anything off, folks, because you really never know when you might come across an exclusive and exceedingly rare house track about a former American president's sex scandal on a mix from a country on a different continent that was most likely released when that president's successor had already taken office! 😊

Listen to the full mix here.

Highlights:

House of Glass - "Disco Down" La Cubanita - "My President" Fogo - "Another Star" Santos - "Camels"

[mdverse]

omg hi bestie since you asked me i'm gonna ask you too what are you top 10 bts songs !!!!!!!! teehee 🥰

hey bestie <3 i think everything after my top 3 kinda fluctuates but this has been the general vibe lately

black swan i am a black swan enthusiast all the way i will never be sane about that song

spring day <3 everyone loves spring day ofc she's a queen

epiphany (need i say more... all of the jin solos are impeccable...)

00:00 one of the most comfort songs ever

just one day (i keep going back to the bang bang con performance to swoon over tae's voice these days kfgjhfkgh)

for you aka my fav japanese release!! been a sucker for that one ever since i first heard it

outro: ego! good vibes all around, i've been really feeling that song lately

mikrokosmos she is so bright and feel good

house of cards!! i don't listen to her enough but oh how i love her

21st century girl 🙌🙌

[way-too-addicted-to-fandoms]

Username tag game

I wasn't specifically tagged, but @girl-in-the-chairs-void included an "anyone who wants to" amendment to get tag list so and I thought, hey I'm anyone!

Rules; pick a song for each letter of your username/url.

I've done one of these before, if I remember correctly, but it's fun so here we go again!

Way Maker - Mandisa

Anti-Romantic - TOMORROW X TOGETHER

Your Name - Cyrano

Take Me Down - The Rose

Outro: House of Cards - BTS

Oak & Ash & Thorn - The Longest Johns

Amarillo by Morning - George Strait

Dancing Through Life - Wicked

Devil Take the Hindmost - Love Never Dies

Inkpot Gods - The Amazing Devil

Cast the Bronze - Raynes

Test Drive - How to Train Your Dragon

E-GIRLS ARE RUINING MY LIFE! - CORPSE, Savage Ga$p

Deliver Us - Prince of Egypt

Tequila - Dan + Shay

Oh My Soul - Casting Crowns

Fine Fine Life - for KING & COUNTRY

All for Love - Michael Kamen

Never Say Never - Cole Swindell, Lainey Wilson

Dark, Sad, Lonely Knight - Holy Musical B@man

Only Teardrops - Emmelie de Forest

Madame Guillotine - The Scarlet Pimpernel

Soldier, Poet, King - The Oh Hellos

Tagging: Anyone who wants to participate! I know this one can get a bit tedious depending on your user😅

[rabbitechoes]

so many great singles dropped this month!! 2024 is shaping up to be a rlly exciting year for music. plenty of interesting projects are coming within the next few months and the singles accompanying them have me setting my hopes super high. here are my thoughts on some of the most notable singles & songs from the month!!! to check out my thoughts on some of the albums, EPs, and mixtapes that came out this month click here!!! since three noteworthy artists dropped singles like right after i posted this i made an add-on post here!! also feel free to follow me on rate your music and twitter <3

"Turn the Lights Back On" - Billy Joel

◇ genres: piano rock, singer-songwriter

The way they hyped up Billy Joel's performance of his first single in over 30 years at the Grammy awards earlier this month ironically described why I'm not crazy about the track. The way it was framed in the video, and how I perceive the situation given the song itself, was that Freddy Wexler consistently pushed Joel to get back into the studio until finally Joel conceded. It was played up for laughs, but this song really does sound like a "please, will you get off my back" kind of thing. I don't know, it's fine. I feel like an asshole pooh poohing on a new single from Billy Joel, but it just feels so unnecessary. I doubt this will lead into a full album. Likely, the Piano Man will continue to sell out Madison Square Garden multiple times a year and play the songs everyone actually wants to hear. listen here: Apple Music Spotify Bandcamp (not available) SoundCloud YouTube ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

"Burning Down the House" - Paramore

◇ featured on Everyone’s Getting Involved: A Tribute to Talking Heads’ Stop Making Sense (not yet released) ◇ genres: new wave, pop rock

Paramore have provided the lead single for the new Stop Making Sense tribute album being headed up by A24 Music. It's a decent cover. The band can't really capture the frenetic, weird energy of the original, but that is an impossibly high task. Judging by some of the other artists involved in this project, this might be the best we get. I don't wanna be a hater because I'm hopeful this project might introduce more people to one of the greatest live albums, concert films, and bands of all time, but we shall see! listen here: Apple Music Spotify Bandcamp (not available) SoundCloud YouTube ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

"Floating on a Moment" - Beth Gibbons

🥇 SONG OF THE MONTH

◇ featured on Lives Outgrown - Beth Gibbons (not yet released) ◇ genres: chamber folk, psychedelic folk, singer-songwriter

Beth Gibbons releasing a new solo album wasn't on my 2024 bingo card, but holy shit I'm so excited. Her feature on Kendrick Lamar's Mr. Morale & the Big Steppers nearly 2 years ago really got me excited to hear more new stuff from her and "Floating on a Moment" was exactly what I needed. This song is so good. Gibbons' voice is obviously fucking incredible, that goes without saying, but this sound suits her so well. That chorus is one of the best things I've heard this year so far. The twinkling guitars paired up with her vocals feels like you're ascending to a higher plane of existence. Not to mention that refrain at the start of the outro!!! What a lead single and what a comeback for one of the most distinct vocalists of all time. Can't wait for the full album. Ranks highly among my most anticipated albums of the year so far. listen here: Apple Music Spotify Bandcamp (not available) SoundCloud YouTube ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

"Dreamfear" | "Boy Sent From Above" - Burial

◇ genres: breakbeat hardcore, electro

Not entirely sure if this is an EP or a single, but I'm gonna throw it on here anyway. London electronic artist Burial is back with his first release for the XL label. 2 over 10 minute tracks that are pretty cool! My knowledge about Burial's sound isn't super expansive, I've only heard Untrue, but there's some really cool sounds here. Of the two tracks, "Boy Sent From Above" is probably my favorite. I love the more atmospheric vibe to it. The drops are really satisfying too. I'll try to revisit this again once I'm more familiar with Burial's work, but I still enjoyed these songs a good bit. listen here: Apple Music Spotify Bandcamp SoundCloud (not available) YouTube ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

"RiTchie Valens" | "Dizzy" - RiTchie

◇ featured on Triple Digits [112] - RiTchie (not yet released) ◇ genre: experimental hip hop

RiTchie, formerly of Injury Reserve and currently half of By Storm, has released his first two solo singles and is teasing a new upcoming project. I was a bit surprised by this because I assumed we would be getting some kind of By Storm project first after they released "Double Trio" late last year. This single is also a big change of pace compared to the tone of what they've been doing. Here, RiTchie is playful throwing out confident bars over a shimmering beat. The little "RiTchieeee, RiTchieee's" throughout the song are so silly too. The second single "Dizzy" is even better. It only dropped a couple days ago, but I can't stop listening to it. Alongside its release, RiTchie officially announced his first solo project coming in April. We're in for a real treat. listen here: "RiTchie Valens" Apple Music Spotify Bandcamp (not available) SoundCloud (not available) YouTube "Dizzy" Apple Music Spotify Bandcamp (not available) SoundCloud (not available) YouTube ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

"Butterfly Net" - Caroline Polachek & Weyes Blood

◇ featured on Desire, I Want to Turn Into You Everasking Edition - Caroline Polachek ◇ genres: art pop, new age

Caroline Polachek has released a deluxe edition of Desire, I Want to Turn Into You this month and it features a host of new tracks. One of them being this reworking of "Butterfly Net" featuring Weyes Blood. The original wasn't my favorite on the album, but this reworking has made me appreciate it a bit more. These two have really powerful vocals and they play off of each other very well. I haven't gotten the chance to listen to all of the new tracks from the deluxe version, but if they're as good as this then I'm excited. I also should probably revisit the whole album itself sometime soon. listen here: Apple Music Spotify Bandcamp (not available) SoundCloud YouTube ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

"16 Carriages" | "Texas Hold 'Em" - Beyoncé

◇ featured on Act II - Beyoncé (not yet released) ◇ genre: country pop, country soul, contemporary country

Beyoncé surprise dropped two singles during the Super Bowl and announced the follow-up to her amazing 2022 album RENAISSANCE. While that album was focused on celebrating dance and house music as well as the black and queer pioneers of those genres, Act II seems to be trying to do the same for country. "16 Carriages" is the clear highlight here and Beyoncé feels right at home with this sound. Love the way she leans into the country soul side of things and I hope we get more of that on the album. "Texas Hold 'Em" is a bit rowdier, but it's the weaker of the two. I love the instrumentation though, for both tracks actually. Perhaps the best thing about "Texas Hold 'Em" is that it finally knocked Jack Harlow's boring, uninspired "Lovin On Me" off the number 1 spot on the Billboard Hot 100. I'm hoping it'll grow on me when it's in the context of the full album. I'm super excited to see where she can take this sound. listen here: "16 Carriages" Apple Music Spotify Bandcamp (not available) SoundCloud YouTube "Texas Hold 'Em" Apple Music Spotify Bandcamp (not available) SoundCloud YouTube ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

"Capricorn" | "Gen-X Cops" - Vampire Weekend

◇ featured on Only God Was Above Us - Vampire Weekend (not yet released) ◇ genres: indie pop, chamber pop

I was a massive Vampire Weekend fan when I was in high school. I was listening to Modern Vampires of the City almost every day, I was obsessed. I would be lying if I said they were something I "grew out of" because these new singles really hit the spot for me. "Capricorn" sounds like a darker take on what the band was doing on a lot of Father of the Bride, leaning into some of the more psychedelic and folkier sounds. "Gen-X Cops" is more reminiscent of their earlier work, but still has a more mellow and introspective slant to it. Love the almost surf-rock sound at the start of it. Both tracks dive into themes of aging and Koenig makes some pretty poignant observations. Really excited for the new album! listen here: Apple Music Spotify Bandcamp (not available) SoundCloud YouTube ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

"Training Season" - Dua Lipa

◇ genres: dance-pop, disco

I loved Dua Lipa's Future Nostalgia and it even made it into my top 5 albums of 2020 (don't go back on my rym and look at the list, i'm embarrassed at my writing from that time). I was super excited about whatever Lipa would drop next and it looks as if she's building up to a new project probably sometime this year. "Training Season" follows "Houdini" and I feel the same sense of apathy for the latter that I do the former. Neither are bad by any means and the production work by Kevin Parker on these singles is stellar, but it just feels like something is missing. Lipa still sounds like a star, but these hooks just don't grab me like some of her singles from a few years ago. Again, neither "Training Season" or "Houdini" are bad songs, but I'm just having a hard time getting into them. Hopefully they grow on me in the context of a full project. listen here: Apple Music Spotify Bandcamp (not available) SoundCloud YouTube ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

"Saturn" - SZA

◇ featured on LANA - SZA (not yet released) ◇ genres: neo-soul, alternative r&b

I'm not up to date on the SZA lore, but when this dropped I saw people saying that it was "finally on streaming" so I guess this song has been around for a bit. I think it's the lead single for SZA's LANA album, which is a reissue of SOS ... uhhhh I don't know this is very confusing to me. What I am sure of, is that SZA can make a damn good song. "Saturn" is further proof of that. This feels like a cut from CTRL and I love it. It has this hazy, dream-like production with SZA's distinct vocal style that sounds like she's bouncing along the beat. Really great stuff. I'm still not sure what LANA is, but as long as we get some more great songs I'm not gonna complain! listen here: Apple Music Spotify Bandcamp (not available) SoundCloud YouTube ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

"Fool" - Adrianne Lenker

◇ featured on Bright Future - Adrianne Lenker (not yet released) ◇ genres: indie folk, singer-songwriter

Another excellent single from Adrianne Lenker ahead of her new album coming next month. "Fool" is a lot shorter and sounds a lot more upbeat than "Sadness As a Gift" from last month, but it still has Lenker's signature writing style. It feels like ever since Songs she's just on an unstoppable role. I thought the well might've run at least a little dry following Big Thief's incredible double album from two years ago, but that's quickly been proven not to be the case. I'm not sure if this new album will be better than Dragon New Warm Mountain I Believe in You, but it certainly has the potential to be Lenker's best solo project. Definitely one of my most anticipated albums of the year, can't wait to listen. listen here: Apple Music Spotify Bandcamp SoundCloud YouTube ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

"Hand On Me" - Nourished by Time

◇ featured on Catching Chickens - Nourished by Time (not yet released) ◇ genres: chillwave, synthpop

I listened to Nourished by Time's last album Erotic Probiotic 2 in like December of last year and I was so blown away by it that it ended up almost cracking my top 10 favorite albums of the year. It seems like he's not slowing down either, announcing that he has signed to XL and dropping this new single alongside a new EP coming next month. "Hand On Me" is brilliant. Taking his unique vocal style and throwing it alongside some dreamier production is a match made in heaven. Coming off his last album, I said that Nourished by Time is an artist that you NEED to keep your eyes on and this new single proves me right! Can't wait for the new EP. listen here: Apple Music Spotify Bandcamp SoundCloud YouTube ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

"Life Is" - Jessica Pratt

◇ featured on Here in the Pitch - Jessica Pratt (not yet released) ◇ genres: brill building, singer-songwriter

The first time I listened to Jessica Pratt was around the time her last album Quiet Signs dropped. I ... wasn't crazy about it. Pratt's unique vocal delivery just didn't resonate with me and I just never revisited it. That was until earlier this month when I, at the behest of my partner, revisited both that album and the two that came before it. I get it now! I was wrong, she's really good! Then like a week later she teases this new single ... perfect timing. This is an interesting new direction for Pratt, sort of ditching the folk of her previous work and instead turning to brill building. The pairing of Pratt's voice and this sound are so satisfying. It's like hearing a forgotten hit from like 1965 only with a bit bit of a more modern, dreamier sound. listen here: Apple Music Spotify Bandcamp SoundCloud YouTube ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

"I'm a Man" - Kim Gordon

◇ featured on The Collective - Kim Gordon (not yet released) ◇ genres: industrial hip hop, trap, noise rock, witch house

Kim Gordon's new album is coming out in a few weeks and this month she released another insane sounding single leading up to it. "I'm a Man," like the previous single, has Gordon experimenting with hip hop and trap in a surprisingly ... great way! She mixes those sounds with some noise rock which we all know Gordon fits in like a hand in a glove. The lyrics here are a bit more substantial than the other single as well. The way she sings "come on, Zeus, take my hand" is just so fucking cool. I'm so hyped for The Collective and it's so cool that an Kim Gordon is still experimenting this deep into her legendary career. listen here: Apple Music Spotify Bandcamp SoundCloud YouTube ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

"The Invisible Man" - Maruja

◇ genres: post-rock, post-punk, art rock

Following an amazing EP and a string of great singles in 2023, Manchester post-rock band Maruja have returned with their first release of 2024. They're in a really interesting spot right now because they've been dropping some really great stuff without having a debut album to their name. All eyes, at least in pretentious music spheres, are on them. This new single, "The Invisible Man," is certainly no different and its one of their best tracks to date. The instrumentation here is unreal, especially the saxophone parts. I'm a sucker for a post-punk band with a saxophone. Maruja are great at building tension in their songs and that's no different here. Everything just feels very anxious and when the climax finally comes it feels so earned. Their lyricism has also continued to impress me. I'm not sure if this new single means a debut album is on the way sometime this year, but I sure hope it does. listen here: Apple Music Spotify Bandcamp SoundCloud YouTube ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

"Doves" - Armand Hammer

◇ featured on We Buy Diabetic Test Strips - Armand Hammer ◇ genres: experimental hip hop, abstract hip hop

billy woods and Elucid have seemingly reissued their amazing album from last year with this incredible new bonus track "Doves." A slow-burning near 9-minute track featuring vocals and guitar from Benjamin Booker. The track begins with some soft guitar over this ambient noise with twinkling pianos interspersed within it. Booker's hushed vocals almost force you to pay attention to them. There isn't as much rapping on this song as you would expect, but when the verses do come in they lack the fire we've come to expect. In a good way, I might add. The noisy ambience gets harsher and harsher as we reach the end of the song. It's almost unnerving. They manage to make you feel so many emotions in just this one track. I've only had a couple days to sit with it, but "Doves" is really great. One of the most experimental tracks these guys have ever put out and it pays off. listen here: Apple Music Spotify Bandcamp SoundCloud YouTube ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ thanks for reading <3