#and if you have more recs id really love to hear them!

[youhavethewrong]

One thing I fucking love with all my heart is instrumental music. When I was younger I only ever listened to music with lyrics, as I liked listening to the little stories they told in their limited time. I still do. But when I first listened to Cliffs of Dover by Eric Johnson in Guitar Hero 3, I understood the value of songs that are purely the musicalization of emotion. Much like how abstract art only tells the viewer half the message and puts the role of meaning in their hands, instrumental music doesn't give a clear answer on what it's about, other than a specific feeling. With it, you learn that happiness sounds a certain way. Sadness sounds a certain way. Expectation, horror, panic, loneliness, all human emotions can be expressed through nothing but music. Now what you connect those emotions to is up to you. Maybe they'll connect to some previous memories or experiences that you've had, or maybe it'll sound like something you've never experienced before. Regardless of the case, it is such a delighftul and active experience on the part of the listener.

[designernishiki]

You asked for a fic rec so I’ll toss this one at ya: https://archiveofourown.org/works/46767358?view_full_work=true Stick through the formatting for the characterization, tone, and really the whole vibe of this fic. I haven’t been able to get the bathroom call between Daigo and Majima out of my head for weeks since I read it with how naturally it all flows. My own little Daigo characterization booklet to review when I feel like I need a refresher on him.

so I may have stayed up until 6am reading this (would’ve slept earlier but I couldn’t stop reading it) and hgggahaghhhhaggahshhhhhhhh that was one of the most well-characterized fics I’ve ever read what the fuck. like the differences in how each character speaks (both tone-wise and in differing levels of authenticity) and how they speak to specific others (the daigo and majima dyanmic specifically- how they actually take into account how long they’ve been working really closely- SO good), the mental anguish and chaos vs the overwhelming emptiness of being daigo dojima but no longer The 6th Chairman Daigo Dojima……….I could keep going but I think you get it.

tbh I’d been wanting to write something exploring a similar set of dynamics/situation (post-kiryu’s fake death, interactions with haruka, daigo, and/or majima specifically, reflecting on his shortcomings while acknowledging the heavy Grief left behind) but now I’m like. well I still could but this was so well written in regards to daigo and haruka that, as far as something between those two goes, I don’t feel the need to.

thanks for the recommendation! my brain is broken now (affectionate)

[gffa]

It has been about eight months since I came back to BATFAMILY fic and this will be my ninth set of recs, which means I'm at about 500 or so for this one fandom, which is kind of blowing my mind a little, but also tracks pretty well, given how amazing the fic in the fandom can be. There's just so much that's scratching the itch of softer Batfam content or really digging into the angsty possibilities or exploring the characters in ways the source material won't/can't or just finding a dozen different ways to hit my id straight on and make it such a fun, exciting experience to be swimming through all this amazing fic. And, in that vein, yeah I may have a Dick Grayson Is The Most Important Guy In The World Problem, but I also have Dick Grayson Is The Most Important Guy In The World Solutions which is basically a metric truckload of fic by incredible authors and trying to lure more people into crying about these characters with me because I AM CRYING A LOT ABOUT THEM because fandom has PROVIDED ME WITH THE TOOLS TO DRAG YOU IN AND I AM GOING TO USE THEM. And, okay, I've got some good Jason, Tim, Damian, Babs, Steph, and Bruce stuff in there, too. Fandom is great at helping me get some really great variety in, too! Basically ALL THE BATS ARE MY LOVES AND I WANT TO DRAG OTHERS IN WITH ME.

BATFAM FIC RECS - BABY DICK IS THE CUTEST FERAL ROBIN I'M NOT HEARING ANY ARGUMENTS: ✦ Robin is Looking for a Sidekick by Writer_loves_tropes, dick & bruce, 4k     Eight year old Dick Grayson is already a crime fighting Robin and he needs a sidekick. Batman seems like he would be a good choice. Robin and Batman has a nice ring to it. Bruce has thoughts about that. aka, How could Bruce resist adopting this tiny child? ✦ The Pancake Predicament by Lightsider, dick & bruce & alfred, 2.1k     On his second Father's Day at Wayne Manor, Dick decides to make pancakes. -or- The reason Dick's not allowed unsupervised kitchen use, which isn't fair. The pancakes were delicious, and he was 10! ✦ Counting Elephants by PrincessMariana, bruce & dick & alfred, 3k     When kidnappers break into the manor, Dick runs straight to Alfred. Alfred will do anything to protect his family. Or, Dick gets scared, and Alfred is a badass. ✦ World's Finest: Christmas Morning by WingFeathers, dick & bruce/clark & ma kent & alfred & cast, 9k     Twelve hours of a Christmas morning in Gotham: Bruce foregoes sleep and grapples with change, Clark navigates Christmas at Wayne Manor and his boyfriend's emotional distance, and Dick gets the best presents. Also: Ma and Pa Kent and Alfred are the greatest. ✦ There is a Monster at the End of This Book by Trekkele, dick & bruce & cast, vampires, 2.6k     There was something deeply wrong with Bruce Wayne. This wasn’t exactly news, of course. Opening any one of the local Gotham tabloids would give you plenty of evidence to back his claims up, but Tyler liked to think his profession gave him an edge, an added insight into the strangeness that was Gotham’s ‘beloved billionaire’. ✦ Safe by Jinmukang, dick & bruce, 2.5k     Or, a baby Robin wakes up very lost and very alone in the middle of Gotham. ✦ Stars, Hide Your Fires by FidotheFinch, dick & bruce, 10.8k     Dick Grayson doesn't want to leave the circus he's called home his entire life. When he overhears Pop Haly talking to a strange man about sending Dick away for 'training,' he decides he'll do whatever he can to stop it. Even if he has to make a deal with a demon. ✦ It's who I am by Tiredteengaer, dick & bruce & wally & artemis & conner & kaldur & m'gann & cast, 44k     how each member of the team found out Robin's real identity. ✦ Drowning, Headaches, and being beaten by Penguin by PandasandDucks1, dick & bruce & wally & artemis, 1.7k     He couldn’t breathe. ✦ The Eldest Wayne's by Remarcely, dick & bruce & alfred & cast, 3k     ‘With all their talks about how to behave, Bruce had the upmost faith in Dick to talk to the other Gala-attenders with respect under his supervision. When Dick grew bored and wandered off, entirely unnoticed by a Bruce deep in conversation, he’d be lying if he pretended that faith didn’t waver’ Or Bruce and Dick throughout the years as they slowly learn how to be a family.

BATFAM FIC RECS - ADULT BATSON AND BATDAD ARE MY KRYPTONITE, I FOLD LIKE WET CARDBOARD FOR THEM: ✦ Rebalancing by SirenAlpha, dick & bruce & damian, 2.5k     Bruce was back from his trip through time. Dick expected to heal up from surgery, head back to Blüdhaven, and be Nightwing again. He did not expect Bruce to have a discussion on the nature of Batman, Nightwing, and if Robin really only needed one of them. ✦ Capitulate by Antiquity, dick & bruce, 5k     After Wally's death, Bruce tries to hold Dick together before he shakes himself apart. ✦ No Good Deed by I_Have_To_Get_Off_This_Planet, dick & bruce, 1.2k     While trying to stop a robber, Dick breaks two ribs. It's not a good time. ✦ Superficial Wounds by fleetfoot1, dick & bruce, ~1k     Bruce swore softly as he tilted Dick’s face to the side, his gaze flicking down the bruises covering his cheekbone. Dick swallowed, before opening his mouth. “I--” his voice cracked on the syllable. God, he was just so tired of arguing. ✦ fabric (frayed but holding) by Tevya, dick & bruce & cast, 5.1k     A few months after Dick returns to speaking terms with Bruce, he gets stuck in Gotham with the flu. ✦ aristocracy by brandywine421, dick & bruce & jason & tim & damian & cass & steph & alfred, 2.4k     "I really wish it was for a different reason. I - need a favor." "There are no favors between us, Dick, you know that," Bruce said, moving around the desk to take the seat beside him. "Tell me." "God, it's so stupid, I - could handle it myself, but - I don't want to. I just want - I just want to forget it ever happened," Dick said. That didn't sound like Dick. "Tell me," he repeated. ✦ Memories Fade by Lady_of_Lorule, dick & bruce & cast, 2.2k     “Miss Gordon sent in her daily report and Master Tim called to inform you that he will be in San Francisco for a few days. Also, Master Dick is upstairs.” Bruce froze. “Dick is here?” “Yes, sir.” “I thought he was in Central City visiting Wally West.” Alfred raised an eyebrow, pale eyes piercing. “It seems that he is back, then. I believe he is waiting for you.” ✦ On-Call by motleyfam, dick & bruce & jason & oc & cast, 1.6k     Kiran Devabhaktuni, medical doctor and close family friend of the Waynes, agreed to join them for one more Thanksgiving at the Kent Farm. It's a good thing he did, too. ✦ a day before midnight by batofgoodintent (crownedcrusader), dick & bruce, 2.1k     After you lose pieces of yourself, they don't always fit back the same. - Post-Ric Grayson.

BATFAM FIC RECS - EVERYBODY LOVES DICK: ✦ the more i look inside (the more you're real to me) by starsonthewalls, dick & bruce & john/mary & tim, 2.8k     Dick tensed defensively. “It’s not like I can do anything about that, Dad,” he grumbled, accepting the glass to clear his throat. “You know how B is about patrols.” “And who is ‘B’ supposed to be?” his mom asked. “One of your video game friends?” Dick froze- what did mom mean, who is B? ✦ You Won't Wake Up Alone by DawnsEternalLight, dick & bruce & jason & tim & damian, 5.2k     Dick's captured and drugged and probably about to die. The last thing he wants to do is die in front of his family, especially not his baby brothers, all he wants is to be with Bruce and feel safe again. ✦ Jason's Gift by Neoinean, dick & bruce & jason & tim & barbara & cast, 17.3k     As Dick’s birthday goes from mediocre to bad to worse, he finds himself so wrapped up in the chain of events that he fails to correctly piece together the clues. Will he discover the truth before its too late? ✦ they don't know me and you by konan_konan, dick & bruce & jason & tim & barbara & zatanna & cast, de-aged!dick, 4.5k     "The cold helps neutralize him," says Bruce, talking about Dick like he's a threat. "It'll keep him from hurting himself," says Barbara, talking about Dick like he's a child. They're both correct right now, and Jason hates it. ✦ If You Don't Know by TylerM, dick & bruce & jason, 10.2k     An exploration of Sick!Dick Grayson from little and big Jason's point of view. Because I honestly don't believe in there ever being too many of the same damn fic.

BATFAM FIC RECS - JASON TODD IS AN ASSHOLE CAT, I'M GONNA THROW HIM AT THE OTHER BATS BECAUSE IT'S FUNNY: ✦ bury me softly by Nokomis, jason & steph, 4k     After a tunnel collapse, Stephanie and Jason bond while trapped together.

BATFAM FIC RECS - DICK AND DAMIAN WERE THE BEST BATMAN & ROBIN, I'M NOT HEARING ARGUMENTS ABOUT THAT EITHER: ✦ ties bind none by eryndew, dick & damian & bruce, 2k     Bruce discovers a son. Repercussions and choices follow. ✦ restless heart by emavee, dick & damian, 2.3k     It’s ridiculous to act like this one weekend really means anything in the grand scheme of things, but he can’t help it. It isn’t fair. He only gets these few days, and now Grayson is up in space fighting aliens or whatever and Damian is alone on the couch watching Jeopardy by himself. Or: Dick goes off world and Damian misses him ✦ Need To Know Basis by WordsAblaze, dick & damian, 1.1k     day sixteen, where damian has zero tolerance for dick hiding injuries from him… ✦ a killer time by konan_konan, dick & damian & alfred & bruce, 4.1k     The vent cover clatters to the floor, and Dick flings the knife at Croc, trusting that he's going to be a more of a threat than his goons. Croc roars in pain, or maybe just rage, and Dick scrambles toward the vent, Damian already inside, and - And Killer Croc grabs him by the ankle, slams him into the wood. He feels something break, and he gasps, hardly able to catch his breath. Some sort of metallic clang echoes from behind, and he thinks if Damian comes out of the vent and gets us both killed… ✦ as love carries its strength, but not its labels by AlterHarpia, dick & damian, 2.7k     Bruce is on a trip beyond Earth’s Solar System for longer than he intended, making Dick and Damian fall into an old pattern. “I'm not Batman.” A mere reminder, perhaps, but when said to Damian it always sounds like an apology.

BATFAM FIC RECS - BATKIDS ALL HAVE MANY SIBLINGS AND THEY'RE ALL PETTY ASSHOLES AND/OR WONDERFUL BABIES AND I LOVE THEM WITH MY WHOLE BEING: ✦ a study by bernard dowd by cv_angels, tim/bernard & conner & cassie & bart, 4.8k     Bernard opens the laptop, spinning it to face Tim with a flourish. It’s a powerpoint with a truly hideous red background, and Tim feels a moment of relief that Bernard isn’t breaking up with him before he registers the words on the slide. REASONS WHY TIMOTHY DRAKE-WAYNE IS A SUPERHERO, A STUDY BY BERNARD DOWD. ✦ princess carry by CreamofTomatoSoup, tim/bernard & duke & tam & damian, 3.1k     Tim almost gets shot during a public speech, which is a pretty average Tuesday. Being rescued by his civilian boyfriend, however, is not. ✦ beep beep!! by CreamofTomatoSoup, tim/bernard & bruce & dick & jason & tim & cass & duke, 6.1k     Bernard learned to drive from his henchman uncle. The last place he expects to use this skill is at a dinner with his boyfriend's family. ✦ little menace by InkpotSprite, bruce & dick & jason & tim & damian & alfred, de-aged!tim, 16.2k wip     "Did a two year old just outrun you?" Jason asked, wanting to make sure he wasn't hallucinating. Bruce clenched his jaw. "I didn't want to hurt him." He growled. "Liar!" Tim piped up from under the desk. Jason was starting to like this version of his successor. ✦ It Wasn't Supposed to Be Like This: I wouldn't Change a Thing by Grayson1996, bruce & dick & steph, 4.1k     She smiled tightly at him and stiffly beckoned him forward. If Bruce had to guess they weren’t close in the future, or perhaps she just didn’t know him. Regardless he stepped forward, though he didn’t turn to look at the figure on the bed just yet. For a moment the two simply stared at one another before Stephanie rolled her eyes at him. “Here’s where you apologize for pushing me against the wall.” Bruce felt guilt stir at the words despite the fact that she was clearly joking. ✦ in the lungs by hellsreluctantheir, tim & steph & cast, 2.8k     It went bad the way things always went bad. All at once. Steph had taken out two thugs (and maybe picked up a sprained wrist though she wasn’t counting her chickens before they hatched) and Tim was almost finished up with his third, when she saw him get launched backwards, head hitting the railing at the side with a resounding clang. She saw him slump to the deck, saw him struggle weakly as the thug pulled him up by his cape and looked at him for a moment, before tossing him directly into the Gotham River.

BATFAM FIC RECS - I SAY THIS IS A BATFAM REC LIST BUT SOMETIMES YOU JUST GOTTA SHOVE THOSE ASSHOLES OUT OF THE WAY AND READ SOME SUPERFIC: ✦ Troublemakers by Kannika, clark & lois & conner, ~1k     Introducing Conner and Lois is the worst mistake Clark has made in a long time. Because they're getting along. ✦ oh brother by corvidspectre, conner & lois & jon, 1.2k     “So what are you being for Halloween?” Kon had asked when he got to the Kent's place. “Superboy!” Jon smiled, making Lois chuckle under her breath. ✦ Gut Feeling by Ao3time, lois & conner, 18.7k wip     Lois Lane rescues a teenager who looks a lot like someone she knows...

BATFAM FIC RECS - TAKE THE ANGST DIAL, TURN IT UP TO ELEVEN, AND BREAK THE KNOB OFF, THAT'S WHAT I'M HERE FOR: ✦ my threads are coming loose by dizarys, dick & talia & cast, ~1k     “Oh good, I see both you and Bruce are on the same page about unrealistic expectations for grieving,” muttered Dick. Talia sucked her teeth and turned back to the grave, long hair swinging. The sound was so much like Damian’s iconic tut that fresh tears welled in Dick’s eyes. ✦ Fatherhood; a Knife that Never Stops Cutting by minnow_doodle_doo, bruce & dick & alfred, no powers au, 2.1k     There always seemed to be a thread that tied all their histories, from Alfred to Bruce back to Dick. Repeated over and over. And now it seemed that Dick found that the thread had been longer than he first thought. ✦ Tap Out by withthekeyisking, bruce & dick & jason & tim & damian, read the tags, 4.8k     Dick knows the importance of tapping out in training, so your partner doesn't accidentally hurt you. It becomes instinct, so heavily ingrained in him. He doesn't understand why his brothers don't do it, too. (Until they do, and it's too late.) ✦ A Death in the Family by PrincessMariana, bruce & dick & jason, yandere!bruce (?), read the tags, 12.4k     The Joker has killed Jason Todd. Bruce tells Dick immediately, and Dick returns to the manor. Bruce will do anything to keep his remaining son safe and close. Dick thinks it's the grief that's keeping him exhausted. ✦ Car Crashes and Hot Chocolate by PrincessMariana, bruce & dick, yandere!bruce (?), read the tags, 2.3k     Dick almost dies trying to escape Bruce. Neither of them are happy about the outcome, and so they talk about it. This is a follow-up oneshot for A Death in the Family and is set before Into the Gilded Cage. This can technically be read alone, though it does have spoilers for A Death in the Family. ✦ Into the Gilded Cage by PrincessMariana , bruce & dick & tim, yandere!bruce (?), read the tags, 17.5k     Tim investigates if Dick Grayson is being held against his will by Bruce Wayne. He somehow ends up spending the summer with the two at Wayne Manor. It might be a prison for Dick, but the more Tim stays, the less he wants to leave. This follows A Death in the Family, but you don't need to read that to read this. It might be useful, though. ✦ The Third Robin's Flight by PrincessMariana, bruce & dick & tim, yandere!bruce (?), read the tags, 13.7k wip     Tim accepts his place as Bruce' third - and most loyal - son. When his mother dies and his father returns to Gotham, Tim once again must pick a side, but Bruce never lets go of his children easily. Meanwhile, Dick struggles with the ramifications of finding the Joker, and Bruce remembers why Batman needs a Robin. This follows Into the Gilded Cage. ✦ Family Crisis by librarylexicon, bruce & dick & tim & cass & steph & leslie & barbara & selina & amy & cast, read the tags, 78.1k wip     At the close of the gang war, Batman uncovers an attempted deception concerning the life of his former protégé Stephanie Brown, and suddenly nothing is as important as his family. While Dick seeks absolution, Tim struggles with grief, Cassandra searches for belonging and Steph rebuilds her sense of self, Bruce faces the return of ghosts from his own past and psyche. (War Games AU) ✦ New Again by dustorange, dick & bruce & thomas wayne jr., 10.1k wip     “I’m not a good man,” says Thomas. “No," Dick hesitates, then comes closer, "but you're not an old man either." (a.k.a. Earth 3's Thomas Wayne Jr. "helps" Batman and Robin get back to their world, only for Bruce alone to be sent back, leaving Dick stranded in Earth 3—with Thomas.) ✦ not anything, anymore by emavee, dick & bruce, 2k     Bruce kicked him out four months ago. Apparently these particular kidnappers didn't get the memo.

✦ dreamer by day by justbeyondstars, dick & bruce & jason & tim, 5.3k     In the next room over, Jason and Tim are laughing, and it startles Dick back into his body to remember he’s not alone. He feels impossibly empty, unmovable, untouchable. He almost forgets he's still on the phone until a voice says, “Is there anything I can do for you, Dick? Anything you need to make this easier?” Or: Dick is a lot of things to a lot of people. After getting some bad news, he has to grapple with the fact it might not always be enough. ✦ watching the world go dark by daringyounggrayson, dick & bruce, 3.5k     It wasn’t that Dick was suicidal exactly, but if an opportunity came about where he would have to actively save himself from death, he might just let go. He might not be suicidal, but he's not self-preserving either, and it’s becoming a real problem. Luckily, Bruce is a worried parent with a few detective skills. ✦ hold me like water (or hold me like a knife) by dizarys, bruce & dick & tim, 2k     Dick's recovery after a amnesiac year as Ric Grayson is taking longer than expected. And has some difficult side effects.

BATFAM FIC RECS - SOMETIMES YOU JUST NEED TO TAKE ALL THE SERIOUSNESS OUT OF THE ROOM AND STAY SOFT FOR AWHILE: ✦ And There Was Only One Bed: Family Edition by RandomReader13, bruce & dick & jason & tim & damian & cass, 1.7k     “You’ve gotta be kidding me.” Dick stood on his toes to peek over Jason’s shoulder into the hotel room and grimaced. “Uh, Bruce…” “There was a mix-up with the reservation,” Bruce grunted. ✦ so everyone's just a fucking scalie huh by destiny919, bruce & dick & jason & tim & damian & cass, 1.1k     "Birds are animals, Jay." "What the fuck? No. Aren't they basically reptiles?" Jason demands. "First of all, no, you're thinking of dinosaurs, which is what they actually are in the Flintstones. Second of all, reptiles are animals." "Bullshit." "Okay, I..." Tim pinches his nose. "Okay. I think I see the problem here." "Yes, Todd sustained a traumatic brain injury the other night and didn't see fit to inform anyone before we left on this inane trip." ✦ The Batmobile (and other Bat things) by JeanjacketCarf, bruce & dick & clark & justice league, 2k     “Batmobile?!” Barry looked incredulous. It was clear he was missing the point of the story. “He called it the Batmobile? Out loud? In front of you?” Clark shrugged. “Yeah, twice. I’m sure I heard it right.” “Batmobile, my god,” Barry said shaking his head. “I can’t believe it.” Or Apparently, the Bat-Man is not a cryptid, he's a guy who gives his stuff silly names ✦ Vampire Bats by Sohotthateveryonedied, bruce & dick & jason & tim & damian & cass & steph & duke & cast, 4.1k     Despite the many, many obstacles, having his kids turn into vampires isn’t as tragic as Bruce anticipated it would be. Whenever one of them is grounded, all Bruce has to do is hang a cross on their door and they’re sufficiently contained. And the energy boost has been incredibly helpful on patrols. ✦ Adventures in Batsitting by raven_of_hydecastle, bruce & dick & clark & lois & justice league, 10k wip     "What, you're telling me the great Batman couldn't stop a nine-year-old from sneaking out?" Green Lantern scoffed. "At least come up with a believable excuse." It was Batman's turn to scoff. "Like anyone else could do better. If you can keep Robin off the streets for a week, I'll buy you a Porsche." *** AKA The JLA stages an intervention with Batman to get Robin off the streets. it goes downhill from there.

BATFAM FIC RECS - THROW BABY DICK AT BATTISON, C'MON DO IT, IT'LL BE HILARIOUS: ✦ though the sun and sky may fade (all shall be remade) by queenofthestarrrs, dick & bruce & alfred, 1.8k     Dick Grayson asks a lot of questions. ✦ My Little Robin by tyrianzzz, jim & dick & bruce, 1.6k     After being Partners with the Bat for so long Gordon tries not to question his life choices. Until Robin comes along. ✦ I Wish My Father Had More Sons by shipNslash, bruce & dick & jason & alfred, 9.4k     Jason Todd and Dick Grayson, from strangers to brothers to enemies and back again.

[morganafayes]

morganafayes bbc merlin fic rec list <3

hiiii here is a tiny little fic rec list i made for fun of some of my personal underrated faves in the fandom!! i've tried to avoid stuff that's already pretty well known + have a decent balance so hopefully yall might find some new stuff you haven't seen in here :)

the witch and the queen - toxic morgwen slay <3 very short!

in our quiet hour - i mean just read everything by lupinely. its all so good. its everything. they have never missed. id recommend 'castled' by them too... insane merthur fic. their dynamic is perfectly written. also their gwen character study mwah

heir - gen, arthur & merlin. genuinely have never once stopped thinking about this since i read it and it makes me sick :/

off the deep end - now THIS. this is good shit. toxic merthur modern au where they are exes and hate each other and hurt each other. finally someone who gets their specific brand of codependent toxicity. bbc merlin modern aus peaked here i dont care

swan down - nimueh ficlet about her relationship with arthur. gave me many brainworms............ please read it. its very short and it will make u crazy.

this graveyard - ok i havent finished reading this yet bc its like 10k. but its morgana/gwen and a rewrite of the whole dark tower thing which as you all know is the bane of my existence. society if the the writers had actually written that episode well etc etc.

i hear deserts heal your history - THEEEEE fic of all time. genuinely i have never stopped thinking about this fic ever. i have such complicated feelings on it. it makes me want to die and throw myself off a cliff at the same time. this is the morgana centric fic of all time genuinely she is done SUCH justice here oh my god but also. everyone is very mean to merlin. my poor guy..... :( in terms of morgana fics though. a must read <3 also great exploration of the mergana dynamic. reading this was truly where my mergana crusade started btw. also read their other morgana fic its absolutely fantastic (i havent finished it either though because im slow asf...)

living for the hope of it all - mercelot warriors come get your heartwrenching angst <3 i have more mercelot fics to rec if people want. i hate them and i love them

ouroboros - merlin/morgana. insane freaks at it again. my fave victims of lavender divorce

drawing lines - gwen character study which i <3.

the chakra of merlin - okkk this is a strange one. it feels almost semi incomplete because although it does. end. it doesnt really. its most interesting for its sci fi elements + character exploration which i find really interesting and well done. merlin is truly unhinged here in the worst ways. when is he not though

the huntress' heart - mithian/gwen slay!

tongue tied - yeah its another truth spell merthur fic... what can i say im basic. its very good though!

dragons! - morgana/gwen. super short and cute <333

[stgroversfire]

one of my biggest pet peeves that i think is really common is just absolutely shitting on household name bands. like ones that have ascended beyond popular to literally no one hasnt heard of them. whose music is maybe seen as boring for how much we have to hear it.

case in point:

the first song i ever actually felt an emotional connection to was it's time by imagine dragons. i was 12ish and i made a drawing for art class based on it that also happens to be the first piece of art i was ever truly proud of and made me want to create more.

night visions (deluxe) was so important to me at that time, i laughed and cried and sang and danced to that album, and the night visions tour was the first real concert i ever went to! i still remember that concert, i remember my mom and sister dragging me out during the encore because they wanted to get ahead of traffic, and i was crying happy tears singing along to nothing left to say/rocks as it played muffled through the concrete walls.

i couldn't tell you exactly what else i was listening to at that point other than what itunes called "alternative," but then smoke and mirrors came out and it was such a new sound that i had never experienced before and i think thats when i really became ravenous for more music. i went to that tour as well and it was incredible.

and then i started listening to stuff my friends showed me, because now i actually cared, and i got on fallout boy and p!atd and most importantly twenty one pilots.

i listened to my dad's favorite bands from the 70s/80s, namely supertramp and boston. i got into trap and dubstep. i listened when my brother played hip hop in the car and got hooked on mac miller, and then when i found out what hip hop was like in the 70s and the whole culture that developed around it, i truly fell in love with hip hop. i mean that shit got me through my worst days of high school.

and honestly once i got to college i was just listening to anything; grunge, traditional heavy metal, thrash metal, indie pop, folk, blues, jazz (i took a jazz class for an elective, and that shit is fascinating), j-rock, chiptunes, lofi, city pop, eurobeat, punk pop and easycore (thank you alex), breakcore-

okay, i sound like a bragging asshole now, but you get my point. i would not have found any of this if i hadn't heard it's time by imagine dragons, and every time i say ID means a lot to me, i get absolutely shit on. i actually was introduced to rush when ID did a cover of tom sawyer at a concert, and my friend's reaction was "wow that must have sounded like dogshit, they're so bad!" a reddit thread was giving me shit for having ID on my top 10 most listened, ignoring all the stuff i know they had never heard of.

which. alright, to be fair, it is a bit funny and i don't mind getting some flak for it. its the internet, its all in good fun. but the most random obscure shit like will connolly's caterpillars of the commonwealth or phemiec's songs from the dustbowl being on my spotify is owed to ID, put some respect on their name- they were able to reach so many people with their music, and that's something to be celebrated.

uhh tldr: all music is valuable because all music is helping someone get through this shit world, and it can be a gateway to music they don't know that they don't know.

uh and if you actually got this far rec me ur favorite band

[causeimcrayzeebee]

OH MY GOD MUSICALS AND TETRO FAN YOURE SO COOL

Anyways hasemura headcanons teehee (im sorry most of these are movie related 😭)

- they pirate and watch movies together since they can’t watch them in theatres or with other people since they’d annoy the shit out of other movie attendees /aff

- speaking of movies, Speed is banned in their house because it starts off by making them both WAY TOO ANXIOUS and ends with them hysterical laughing about how STUPID IT IS (not at all projecting)

- hasegawa knows a ton of musical theatre facts for game shows

- kamimura’s least favourite queen SIX is Anne Boleyn because she reminds him of Tamba (and for other reasons…)

- along with shitting on okay movies, they also hate watch bad movies as comedies

- hasegawa cries at the end of most movies even if they’re not sad (kamimura only cries at REALLY sad ones and he pretends he doesn’t)

hell yeah rtc my ride or die (haha) i do quite like musicals! if you’ve got Recs id love to hear them 🫡

also just wanna say rq a tysm for using my tetro icons!!! i genuinely am surprised by how many people have been using them hehe im honored <3

movie piraters so real, so much more convenient lmaoo… it seems someone has been watching speed recently LMFAO. hasegawa lowkey a theatre kid at heart lets be fr!!! (the six hc is foul 😭) they are absolutely shitty romcom movie watchers sometimes you just need some mindless garbage <3 I LOVE THIS LAST ONE HAHA these are amazing thank you moot ‼️

[arataka-reigen]

HIIII gio!!!! i finally got the time to watch anime and i hv been curretnyl rewatching my fav anime, which are mostly shounen. id love to get so recs on shoujo anime bc i want to get in to it!!! xoxo

Honestly, shoujo is as vast as it can be... so i'm going to recommend a few very different things because idk which genre you're looking for

Natsume Yuujinchou (my all-time favorite) - slice of life, supernatural, iyashikei - It is about an orphan boy who can see yokai and gets adopted by a family in the town his grandmother used to live in. He inherits his grandmother's "Book of Friends," a book full of the names of the yokai his grandmother defeated. This anime deals with loneliness, belonging, learning to trust others again, love, and hope.

Akatsuki no Yona - fanatsy, action, romance - Yona is a naive and sheltered little princess living a perfect life alongside her childhood friends until one day her father gets murdered by the friend she was in love with. She is forced to flee the palace and face the world, collecting allies in her quest to come home and get her throne back. Also she is fucking badass.

Kamisama Hajimemashita - fantasy, romance - Nanami has just recently become homeless after her father's gambling leaves them bankrupt. Wandering through the streets, she finds and rescues a man who promises to give her a home. When she gets to her new home, she realizes it is a shrine, and the man was actually a god who tricked her into becoming a new god and taking over his duties as god. Trying to leave, she gets trapped by his familiar, Tomoe, and is now bound to her divine duties while simultaneously having to learn how to deal with Tomoe.

Akagami no Shirayukihime - fantasy, romance - Shirayuki is an apothecary on the run from becoming a concubine. She gets rescued by a prince and his two aids in the woods, and to repay her debt to them, she becomes an apothecary in the castle.

Yubisaki to Renren - adult cast, romance - we follow Yuki, a hearing impaired university student, as she broadens her horizons meeting new friends and falling in love

Ikoku Nikki - drama, josei (josei is like the adult version of shoujo, dealing with more heavy topics and targeted to an older audience) - this one hasnt aired yet, but it is from a manga I really love. Asa is a teenager who just lost her parents and now has to live with her aunt, Makio. Her aunt has always hated her mother so the two of them had never properly met before the funeral. Now they have to learn to live together while navigating through grief and loss.

Going by this short list you can already tell my favorite genre is fantasy, specially historical fantasy or yokai/gods stuff

And here are some of the classic romance shoujo that I feel like everyone from the 90s or 2000s have watched/heard about: Toradora, Ouran High School Host Club, Kimi ni Todoke, Kaichou wa Maid-sama, Fruits Basket, Ao Haru Ride

[spocksocksrock]

ok I saw the reblog of your star trek books post about someone asking for recs someday, but I’m impatient and have decided I am not gonna wait and that I will send the recs ask MYSELF dammit!!

I feel like i’ve never gotten into the books because I’m worried they will be bad, so if you have any TOS/DS9 book recs I would LOVE to hear them — I have consumed all Star Trek content made up until this point and am so so desperate for new material

thank you SOOO much for asking i love any excuse to talk about st books!!! (though it is kinda funny cause that same person talking about recs did end up messaging me already lol)

for TOS i would say the best ones are:

Killing Time by Della Van Hise — famously gay and for good reason, it’s just blatantly romantic spirk content. it’s all about how they are meant to be together in every alternate universe and that they are soulmates <3

Spock’s World by Diane Duane — bones, kirk, and spock go to vulcan because the vulcans are considering leaving the federation. really great plot and super accessible characterization for the main three!

Vulcan’s Forge by Susan Shwartz — follows two plots- young spock figuring out that he wants to join star fleet, and older spock dealing with kirk’s death and trying to move on. it’s really not as sad as it sounds and it adds so much to spock’s character imo.

id honestly also recommend the novelizations of the movies, they definitely add a lot of new content

—

DS9 is harder cause i love soooo many of these but some of the best are:

Hollow Men by Una McCormack — kind of a sequel to the episode ‘in the pale moonlight’, garak and sisko go on a trip to earth to deal with dominion war stuff (and everyone else has shenanigans on the station)

The 34th Rule by Armin Shimerman — basically quark whump, him and rom are sort of kicked off the station and go to a prison camp and the rest of the characters have conflicting feelings about this (it’s a bit overdramatic at times but i love quark-centric stories so 🤷)

Fallen Heroes by Dafydd ab Hugh — this one is pretty crazy, quark and odo suddenly travel 3 days into the future and find the entire station is dead, like Everyone died, and they have to figure out what happened and fix it (i love quodo and there’s a scene where quark vacuums odo up, need i say more)

Saratoga by Michael jan Friedman — sisko is meeting with the other survivors from the ship jennifer died on. there’s sabotage, intrigue, betrayal and such and then the b plot is that odo has to pretend to be quark. so basically an average ds9 episode lol

there are definitely a lot more good ones but it depends on what characters you like and what kinds of stories you’re looking for ya know? please please message me if you want to talk ab it more!!!!

[bloodcoveredgf]

i watched crash 1996 bc i saw you posting about it. i loved it soooooooo much. do you have any other recommendations that are kinda similar?

OMG very happy to hear you checked out crash bc of me And you loved it yaayyy!!! ^_^ <33 and hmm.. recommendations.. definitely titane (2021).. and honestly id say dive deeper into cronenbergs films i think you may like them too i know i did !! a few of my personal favorites are dead ringers, videodrome, existenz, videodrome, & crash of course :) id really recommend checking out videodrome n dead ringers.. rabid too & the fly & naked lunch are also very great. i think those would be up your alley perhaps! and if youre looking for more psychosexual weird movies you may like secretary (2002) which also has james spader (who plays the lead male aka james ballard in crash) in it also would recommend raw (2016) and possession (1981) and i have so many movies i need to check out too thats all i got off the top of my head rn.. these recs may seem so insane but to me these movies are linked.. i see the connections im making.. but! i hope it makes sense somehow and fits and you enjoy them if you do end up watching any of them <3

[officialpenisenvy]

Do you have any recommendations for Led Zeppelin documentaries or biographies? I always liked their music, and lately I've been wanting to get more into them, thanks in part to your posting, so I'd love to hear any recs you have.

so basically the unfortunate thing about led zeppelin documentaries is that there are no really good ones out there lol. i have decently high hopes for becoming led zeppelin (which is to be released next year and which centers the rise of the band in 1968-1969), but of the existing documentaries none of them are satisfactory beyond providing the most surface-level look at their lives and stardom: id say if you know nothing at all about the band save for their names and instruments you can learn something by going on youtube and searching "led zeppelin documentary" and watching something like a to zeppelin or whole lotta rock or whatever bullshit hour-long title pops up, provided you take everything but the most biographical verifiable information with a grain of salt.

if you already have a wikipedia-skim level of knowledge and want to get deeper, biographies are your best friends! trampled under foot by barney hoskyns is an amazing oral history and one of the most reliable zeppelin books out there, and led zeppelin by bob spitz (the beatles guy) is a very detailed and flowery read, though it gets a few things wrong here and there — when giants walked the earth by mick wall is also supposedly a great read, rich in anecdotes and blending hoskyns's interview-like style with prose.

i caution you against hammer of the gods by stephen davis and stairway to heaven by richard cole, perhaps the most notorious zep biographies ever: richard cole was the band's tour manager for their entire duration and the architect of most of their trademark bacchanalian chaos, and when he needed drug money in the mid-80s he sold a truckload of stories about the band to the highest bidder (namely stephen davis) and then wrote his own book as well, but he later walked back a good amount of his sordid tales and admitted to lying and exaggerating for money. they are still very interesting books, especially if you read them as fictionalized accounts of real people's lives, and they are very insightful in terms of how the general public perceives zeppelin and their mythos, having directly helped build it — it's also interesting that richard cole is the only member of the entourage who openly fucking loathed robert plant and was loathed in return, at least in part due to cole being a homophobe and a generally unpleasant guy, so it's a curiously biased perspective you never otherwise see since robert was so universally well-liked by everyone else.

if you've read all this and still want some juicy relationship drama or some more women i can't not recommend miss pamela des barres's books: she's a former groupie queen and a long-time zeppelin friend and paramour, as well as an absolute character in her own right, and will waste no chance of recounting the softness of jimmy's lips or the coarseness of robert's chest hair or whatever the fuck — i personally recommend let's spend the night together, more focused on her own and others' groupie antics, and her autobiography im with the band, which is just an incredible cultural artifact.

[autotheophagic]

Hi!! We're mutuals for Courtney LaPlante/Spiritbox and I wanted to ask if you could tell me more about Ice Nine Kills! They're gonna be one of the opening acts for Metallica when I see them in Toronto so I wanted to know a little more about them!

HI HELLO id firstly like to apologize for how horribly long it took for me to answer this omg, every time ive gotten on ive been like "oh i need to answer that ask!" and then i get distracted </3

ANYWAY. eee congrats on getting to see Metallica AND ink haha, i haven't seen metallica live but i hear they're pretty good :) and i can say from personal experience that ink puts on a literally KILLER live show. which is to say that not only do they fucking rock, they also do "live kills" on stage w/ actors who get seemingly murdered in front of the crowd LMAO. aside from how entertaining that alone is, they're just rlly good live haha

the lead vocalist + the one who's been doing this longest is Spencer Charnas! my bestie and i always say that INK is his baby; he founded it in 2000 and was the only member to persist with it for a Long Time. which is really impressive cuz it took abt 20 years for them to get any sort of recognition rlly. he's very passionate abt it fr

their 2 latest albums (AKA the stuff that's rlly gotten them recognized) are The Silver Scream and Welcome To Horrorwood, both of which are full of songs based on (mostly) horror movies! one album before their horror era was Every Trick In The Book, which has songs based on what I understand are some of Spencer's favorite books!

their albums before those (The Predator Becomes the Prey, Safe Is Just a Shadow, The Burning, Last Chance to Make Amends) aren't based on anything to my knowledge, but all pretty good. The Predator Becomes the Prey and Safe Is Just a Shadow are my faves of those ones!

ngl, the only reason I started watching horror movies/a lot of movies in general was cuz of INK <3

some (maybe too many) song recs, if you'd like to give em a listen before you see them!:

A Work of Art (their latest single and an official song for Terrifier)

Welcome To Horrorwood (Welcome To Horrorwood's title track, not based on any movie)

The Shower Scene (WTH, movie is Psycho)

Hip To Be Scared (WTH, movie is American Psycho; im not necessarily super big on this one but im sure most ppl would say its an essential)

F.L.Y. (WTH, movie is The Fly)

Farewell II Flesh (WTH, movie is Candyman)

Meat & Greet (WTH, movie is The Silence of the Lambs)

Thank God It's Friday (The Silver Scream, movie is Friday the 13th)

A Grave Mistake (TSS, movie is The Crow)

Rocking the Boat (TSS, movie is Jaws; also name drops each of their previous albums, which is rlly fun)

Your Number's Up (TSS, movie is Scream)

Communion of the Cursed (ETITB, book is The Exorcist)

Bloodbath & Beyond (ETITB, book is Dracula)

Tess-Timony (ETITB, book is Tess of the d'Urbervilles; gonna give a TW here, it's a beautiful song but a very heavy topic)

Jonathan (TPBTP; the acoustic version is also beautiful)

What I Never Learned In Study Hall (TPBTP)

Red Sky Warning (SIJAS)

What I Should Have Learned In Study Hall (The Burning)

gonna stop there bc im getting carried away fcdbdbfj, i just love them a lot. I hope this was enough info but not too much!! lmk if you have any more specific questions haha <3

[seeminglydark]

hey, just thought I'd drop by and let you know that I love your art and comics, they're very cool :)

like many people I suspect, I found your work through the detention fanart (love the detail on the docs and john's patch pants). I don't know if I want to be john or date john (the answer is both). loved the detail of john's killer klowns poster too!

presumably since so many of your characters are punk, you are too. if so do you have any music recommendations?

thanks for reading :)

Hello! I'm so glad to hear that!

ahah yeah i never expected that piece to blow up like it did, im super grateful about it, it was definitely an experiment in style so im glad people like it so much and found my comics and stuff through it. (its not technically fanart though, i am raptorjules, the artist of the detention piece and creator of the comics and characters in it, though its so different than my usual and ofc i posted under this tumblr handle so i know a lot of people don't realize we are the same person!) also re: john, SAME friend. john is kind of a self portrait of a person i could have been when i was younger, if that makes sense, had i decided back then to fully transition. im really happy that people like him so much, he means so so much to me!

hahaha you got me, I was a teenager in the early to mid 90's, i listen to all things these days and punk is SUCH A BROAD GENRE and i tend to lean toward ska punk or folk punk more than crust or hardcore these days, but lets see, i'll give you some rec's of bands that inspire my art and ofc john in general. also you can head over to youtube, under raptorjules, and there should be a playlist called Johnny's Music that goes along with the song rec's on the Creaky arc in my comic Seemingly Dark, if you liked those songs!

So for more modern punk music, i love anything by The Interrupters (ska punk forever plz,) and Dog Park Dissidents for some queer punk (especially their toxic cover, fight me.) And Skatune Network for more wonderfully queer ska/skapunk.

In high school at the height of my Outwardly Studded and Spiked Punk Days i listened to a lot of Rancid (specifically the Life Won't Wait album) Descendants, Social Distortion, the Violent Femmes (the live Add it Up album if you can find it is the best one imo) Jugheads Revenge (Image is Everything album), Wizo (german queercore punk, i like the Herrenhandtasche album.) pretty much anything by The Mountain Goats, and finally, The Bouncing Souls are my all time favorite band, punk or not, any album, but the Hopeless Romantic album inspired so many of my stories and pieces plus its great driving music!

and ofc Johns theme song is Social Distortions Story of My Life. idk if this helps, ive never thought my music taste was terribly interesting or good, but i listen to what i like and what inspires me.

thanks for reading and reaching out! and id love some music recs from anyone who would like to leave them in the comments or hashtags, especially music that reminds you of my art or stories, punk or not!

-rj

[wrongcaitlyn]

hellooo! ok this is quite a long message so i completely understand if it takes you a while to get to it / if you don't listen to all the songs - no pressure at all!!

i have given you song recs before but i cannot stop obsessively thinking about your fic and so i wanted to share more ✨nico di angelo songs ✨ (or at least ones i think would fit interestingly)

firstly!! 'everything to help you sleep' by julien baker (i reccomended one of her songs last time to but they're all so nda coded) and this one fits esp with the recent chapter where nico had a nightmare. it has quite religious themes but feels a lot like it could be him talking to bianca 'thought i made out your reply / the seconds between sound and light' and 'if i scream a little louder, i know you would have heard it'. her song 'turn out the lights' also has a similar idea of not being able to keep away nightmares (that one is a bit more self-deprecating though - but also one id highly recommend!!)

and more by her!! 'good news' is from her first album and i love it a lot - it doesn't fit perfectly but some lyrics really do - 'your long hair, a short walk / my biggest fear and a slow watch' and then straight after 'always scared that every situation ends the same' only for the song to end with 'i ruin everything i think could be good news'

and then 'repeat' (still jb) is also very nico to me and maybe aimed more at will? 'say i miss you like a mantra til i forget what it means / doesn't matter what you tell me i just need to hear you speak' - i feel like it kind of has that same of theme of how nico feels like bad things will just keep happening to him over and over again.

also!! this might not fit super well as a nico song but 'cartwheel' by lucy dacus is so so so solangelo to me (my goal in life is to write a will solace-centric fic called 'skin scarred and sun-kissed lol) especially in your universe with nico's father - not so much the second verse though.

okay then 'dream state...' by lucy dacus could potentially be a devestating nico song about bianca. i mean it literally begins with 'we woke up to the thunder' 'and then the water came / and washed it all away' and then she says 'without you i am surely the last of our kind' (this song also has a sequel in '...familiar place')

then (final song lol) 'keep the rain' by searows (he even has a song called haunted which is also kind of nico and i thought was a funny parallel) feels very much like nico + therapy + talking to will: 'i don't know what steps to take / i do the easy ones until it helps' and then THE RAIN MOTIF comes through again 'when you keep the rain from coming'

and i would just overall highly recommend listening to lucy dacus and julien baker!! i love them both so much as artists + they both have some of the best lyricism i have seen + their work is just very masterful

ok thank you for letting me take up your time and babble on so much!! <333

I THINK YOURE THE ANON WHO GAVE ME THE RECS OF ITLL ALL WORK OUT AND FAVOR AND JUST WANTED TO LET YOU KNOW THAT I'VE EXTENDED NDA3 FOR THOSE SONGS. THANK YOU FOR THE RECSKDSF AHH

okay now onto these!!

everything to help you sleep is SO nico oh my god 😭 can never have enough religious imagery and the "if you scream a little louder, i know you would have heard" is making me think specifically of smth in nda3 and AHGLSKDF this is so perfect omg😭 i NEED to listen to julien baker's discography istg i will at some point

turn out the lights is also. so. oh my goddksjf "is it real or a dream? which is worse?" and "i just wanted to go to sleep" is so😭 i wanna cry ik i put this angst on nico so really i'm the only one to blame but like this is so so perfect and fitting :((

and honestly i think those lyrics you quoted from good news was able to convince me on it's own but then i listened and looked at the lyrics and "when i stay up and throw my voice about you or less about you and more about how i ruin" is just SO him like going to the studio late at night all the time and justGOD THIS SONG IS SO PERFECT😭 it's literally just him constantly getting his hopes up that that's the last time and then these things keep happening to him and ahgskdf :((

(sorry i'm so incoherent i'm having a hard time conveying how much i love these in ways other than keysmashes)

anon. you recommended repeat. and then i searched it up and looked at the lyrics and listened to the song. and then i saw "ALL MY GREATEST FEARS TURN OUT TO BE THE GIFT OF PROPHECY". WHAT THE FUCK. WHAT THE FUCKJSKGJASKLJTLAWE

sorry i need to find a way to include that somewhere ANON YOU'VE GIVEN ME TOO MANY GOOD SONGSJSDFDS i love this one so much😭😭

honestly cartwheel to me seems so will pov but also both of them like "and i remember when you used to call holed up in the closet in the hall scared you wouldn't live to 45 the same age as your father when he died" is so😭😭 i love this </33

(also i would 100% read a fic called skin scarred and sun-kissed)

dream state IS THE BIANCA AND NICO SONG WTFSKJDFD the lyrics you quoted are literally so so fitting and HEARTBREAKING but that's just the way it is with bianca tbh (also i'm a sucker for repeat lyrics so i love that ending with the slow build and the production and ahhh)

RAIN MOTIFS. WHENEVER RAIN IS MENTIONED IN A SONG I IMMEDIATELY THINK NICO AND THIS ONE IS SOOO AHGSDHF

you're so right with the "i don't know what steps to take i do the easy ones until it helps" it's literally him :// this is perfect😭

and i most DEFINITELY HAVE TO listen to julien and lucy bc like. those songs hit so hard. i swear i'll get around to it at some point i have so many artists i've been meaning to listen to and then i just go and listen to ttpd for the 35023809328th time😭

thank you so so much for the recs!! now to once again rearrange nda3

[alivehouse]

(While sending this ask I've accidentally found out what cool wallpapers (literally) you have on your desktop blog theme.)

Well, good day, my dearest horror podcast Virgil,

I, surprisingly to myself, actually finished "I am in Eskew" and enjoyed it quite a bit (which, I guess, could have been deduced by how much I spammed in the tag) even more surprisingly, considering I'm absolutely not a horror person - I substitute horror movies with their wikipedia retellings. Unironically.

Anyway, firstly, thank you! I definitely would have never discovered it without your recommendations!

Secondly, maybe you have something else like that stashed up your sleeve? I definitely need some time to recuperate, but I would like to explore more cool podcasts. (The only two limitations: short-ish - not much longer than this one, the view of a hundred+ episodes scares me; not gorier than this one/no actual jump scares - again, I'm a scardicat.) I remember you talking about "Mabel Podcast" and at the first glance it seems neat, but I'd like to hear your comments on it first.

Thanks in advance. :)

(thank you! its a william morris thing i edited a little lol) glad you liked eskew! its been fun seeing your thoughts on it popping up in the tag, not spammy at all.

i do want to mention that the creator of eskew also has another podcast called The Silt Verses, personally i havent listened to it for weird brain reasons so not sure how well it fits your criteria but ive heard its also very good

mabel podcast is another favorite! the creators of mabel and the creator of i am in eskew were both inspired by shirley jackson's the haunting of hill house to an extent iirc, so even though the stories are very different some elements of them have a similar 'feel' to them imo. i will say that mabel is very different stylistically though (especially the earlier episodes) which in my experience people seem to either love or hate. whereas in eskew you get a pretty continuous narration from david or riyo, in mabel youre mostly listening in on a series of somewhat disjointed voicemail messages. id definitely recommend at least giving the first few episodes a go, dont get discouraged if you dont feel like you dont understand whats happening right away. all you really need to know about the story going in is that youre following Anna, whos a live-in carer for an old woman named Sally. Anna is trying to contact Sallys next of kin (the titular Mabel), but shes strangely out of reach.

ok i know you said youre not a huge horror person but if you ever are feeling a little more daring id suggest trying out The White Vault. theres a small amount of gore (descriptions of finding hearts and teeth) and some uh. wet ripping sounds in it but its really not that bad all things considered, just know that it is straight horror though. its a found footage podcast that follows a group of people whove been hired to check out a remote outpost in northern norway thats gone dead, but a storm leaves them stranded there, and as time goes on it becomes clear that they arent exactly alone. this ones a little longer i think, but tbh ive only listened to the first two seasons, it felt like a natural place for the story to end to me

and then on the complete opposite side of the spooky podcast spectrum, if you want something thats a ghost story but really not horror at all imo, i just finished listening to Midnight Radio a few weeks back. this ones *really* short, like 10 episodes that are ~20 minutes each short, so its definitely lower commitment. in this one youre listening in on a radio show hosted by Sibyl, who died decades earlier but can still be heard waxing poetic about her hometown in the dead of night.

ok LAST ONE havent finished it so wasnt sure if i should rec it but a lot of people on my dash hype up Archive 81 so i thought id mention it at least. guy is hired to listen through a bunch of creepy tapes in some archive out in the middle of no where. classic horror podcast stuff. similar to eskew in that it pivots from mostly being mostly anthology into an overarching plot as you go on

[butch-blade]

hi! I was going through the tags on that tumblr post abt media with a ton of content warnings that turn out to be recommendations and saw your tags abt death mark which looks right up my alley. just wondering if you had a content warning list on hand for the game? a cursory google is giving me a general picture of what to expect but I was wondering if there’s another resource floating around with a little more detail than “blood/gore and one torture-esque scenario”. no worries if not - and thanks for the rec! :^)

hi! i don't think ive ever seen a list but i can make one from the top of my head by chapter, and if you have any specific triggers you might need a warning for you should just tell me what it is and I'll let you know!

all of the chapters contain gore / body horror so im going to be a bit more specific about what happens

also this game has a weird thing for "sexy" cgs in really unnecessary moments and it's unfortunate / one of my biggest issues with the game because it could be easily removed and the game would still be fine without them.

chapter 1: plant horror / gore, dismemberment, child abuse (mentioned)

chapter 2: bug horror, trypophobia, mass suicide (mentioned)

chapter 3: sexual assault (mentioned), suicide (mentioned)

chapter 4: animal abuse

chapter 5: war crimes, experiments on people, religious imagery

chapter 6: child exploitation, suggestive themes

many of it comes from the spirit characters having been victims of some sort of terrible happening in their life and it is handled tastefully for the most part. i think sometimes they try to use sex as a horror factor as well and im still not honestly sure what i think about it but it's there and i like to bring it up so that they can choose if they want to play the game or not! despite the little cringe scenes (that are like. 99% removed in the second game) it's still one of my favorite games and if you end up enjoying it and wanting to talk about it, id love to hear what you have to say about it

[tokyogruel]

@deicidefull tumblr wont let me answer your ask properly, im depressed. so i will have to do it in a fucked up way

"

i was going to sleep but how many chances does one get to throw 875 songs&artists at unsuspecting mutuals?

"before you do anything you need to listen to this is love by air traffic controller and think of sakurai haruka. relatively easy. done? try listening to kodomo no shikumi by pinocchiop. okay, slowly, try thinking of momose amane. it doesn't have to make sense, this is for fun. keep your train of thought and start listening to milk crown on sonnetica now. take a break. listen to some nanawoakari and don't think of anyone in particular. this one's a bit difficult...listen to carnivorous plant. get up and walk around a bit. sit back down and listen to it again, but think of kusunoki muu this time. that was tiring, take another break. listen to some frederic. again, you don't need to think of anyone in particular. try thinking of sakurai haruka again. then, listen to kotoba no obake ga mado kara miteiru by frog69. watch the mv, too. this is important. if you still need more rest, listen to some flowerface. alternatively, if you can handle it, listen to i'd like to die at about 40 years old by aoya and think about kashiki yuno. you can keep listening to aoya even if you don't think about her. you can even listen to jan and think about sakurai haruka. it's your life. okay now you're finally ready... listen to killer spider by pinocchiop. think of kusunoki muu. do it again. do it again. do it again. do it again. do it again. do it aga (im so normal about spider muu im so normal) you're done!! for a treat, listen to some yorushika or yoasobi, whichever you have at home! remember you're the one who asked for song recs...okay...sorry...goodnight snork mimizzzz"

youre starting off soooo fucking gooooddddd GODDDDDD,, i love air traffic controller. and im gonna be honest it's hard not to think of hamnet from the underland chronicles,,, but hamnet is a haruka-type anyway so i got over it LMAO. YOUR MIND IS SO BEAUTIFUL FOR THIS ONE DO YOU MIND IF I THROW IT ON MY HARUKA PLAYLIST?

this is a very good amane song i like where youre going with this. lets check out the next song! .... "The innocent emotions, so much that I clean and dispose of them. For what grounds does "pure" and "impure" become the labels I brandish?" ... you would willingly hurt me like this

i ended up listening to this one. i think its cute & im definitely interested in hearing more!

im assuming you mean this one, in which case,, WOW,,, THIS IS A REALLY FUCKING GOOD SONG,, the "i hate you" being "i wish all you had was mine"???? SCREAMS INTO A PILLOW. ok. im normal

i ended up listening to oddloop and IM OBSESSED. THEIR SOUND IS SO FUN? i saved a few of their songs to my spotify likes to listen to later and im so excited. the lead singer has such a fun voice. AHHHH (also i know you said not to think of anyone, but oddloop is a shidou song to me now)

THIS SONG IS REALLY GOOD. and the mv is so simple, so effective. very haruka. at this point i am going to run off and take a shower (also, i have watched the mvs for all of these :3 very good stuff)

ok i am back i am fresh, im sparkling. kurari kurari. i ended up picking baby teeth to listen to, and im a fan, though very sad now. i might have to gather some similar songs i have in my spotify to send back to you sometime. hm. had a hard time finding the aoya song so heres a link to it for others. very sad, very yuno i agree. i also couldnt figure out where to find songs by jan, so i ended up listening to the diary of jane instead which is absolutely not what you told me to do (if you could send me some jan songs though, id love that)

VERY GOOD SONG. i can totally see it for muu. unfortunately, my brain immediately pushed it onto shidou (i dont think thats sinful,, theyre technically partner prisoners,, 0405,,) but to make up for this grievance ill share the lines that make me go "OH YEAH, MUU" .. "Because you're really no good, Because you can't do anything without me, I'll bite you softly, poison you a tiny bit, And teach you a lesson" "And put a leash on you. Is this him? Or is that him?" "While kissing the corpse, your instinct searches for the next prey."

ive heard yoasobi before, so ill give yorushika a try! ... only to realize that ive listened to this song once before! and then to go hm,, that artstyle ive seen once more in the past,, and i know this one too!

goodnight (or now i suppose, welcome to a new day ahahaha) thank you for sharing your music with me!