#and the first few lyrics is supposed to play on the song with Jack and his ‘what’s this’ song

[hanafubukki]

“What’s this? What’s this? A little kitten and a student in my dorm?”

A ghostly figure floats over curiously.

“What’s this? How strange? I never expected another in this dorm again.”

The ghostly figure hummed.

“Asleep on Halloween week? So vulnerable? You’re asking for a spook!”

The figure laughed as he brought blankets over.

“It wouldn’t be gentlemanly of me to wake a sleeping underclassman.”

The black-speckled ghost laid the blanket over you.

It was cold now.

He can’t have you catching a cold! It’s Halloween soon!

Lighting flames in the fire place. The glow glints over his silver strands.

He’ll take care of his underclassman. Let them rest.

Halloween will be here soon. They can have fun then!

For now though…

The ghost of the past’s eyes glow orange.

He had some business to take care of.

It wasn’t gentlemanly to break into someone’s home.

Time to show these miscreants fear.

By none other than him.

The King of Halloween.

[abiiors]

queen of hearts // matty healy x reader

valentine's week - day 6: queen of hearts

a/n: this is. Not Good. the burnout is hitting me now lol this is okayish now after the major edit wc: breakups i think but that's it cw: 4.1 k

“i can be your date to the awards.”

matty’s words freeze you in your tracks and you whip your head to him, almost dropping your coffee in the process. he’s half-leaning half-sitting on the table, flicking through a trashy tabloid of all things that you wish would set on fire right about now. but it doesn’t. and so matty continues to flick through it without even looking up at you while he’s just dropped this bomb on you. 

you know what’s caught his fancy… you know there’s going to be some iteration of “the queen of hearts suffers heartbreak” in there. (because let’s face it, the tabloids are never creative enough to think of other headlines and they’ve used this one almost every time you’ve had a public break up before) 

you suppose you should count your lucky stars they didn’t find out right away, that you at least got three months to yourself before the news first broke. 

“what makes you think i need a date?”

he thumbs over to another page, still looking just as insufferably cool as ever. “your ex is going. ooohh, ouch! he’s going with someone you’re up against in almost every category, babe.”

“i don’t care,” you turn your nose up at him, “and don’t call me babe.”

matty puts the magazine down and finally looks at you. 

from the corner of your eye you catch the headline—the queen of heartbreak—along with a photo of you and jack, a dramatic slash going between the two of you. you remember that night, you remember going to a charity gala with him and sneaking out to make out in one of the forgotten hallways. you remember feeling invisible in the best of ways for the first time in your life. 

a pang goes through your chest and you bring your attention back to matty. 

“in fact, i might not even go.”

“really?” he raises an eyebrow and crosses his arms in front of him. your eyes betray you by flicking to his biceps that strain against the sleeve of the flannel he’s wearing, but you quickly look back at him and blink the thoughts away. 

you sigh, rubbing the sleep out of your eyes. “no, that’s– yeah, no. skipping's not an option. my publicist would kill me. plus, they already have a dress for me and it’s too gorgeous to be wasted like this.”

“and you think going solo is a good idea,” his eyes flick to the tabloid and you can already see the headlines that would be written about you. all the staged and well-timed photos of you sneaking even a single glance at jack and his date, all the speculation of jealousy and cheating. just think about it makes your temples ache. 

“no… i guess not.”

matty grins, “so take me as your date then.”

you take a moment to assess him. he’s certainly hot, (objectively speaking, of course) and going with him would create a…splash to say the least. and if you were being honest with yourself, you kinda dig the anti hero persona he’s got going at the moment. 

on the other hand, your publicist might blow a blood vessel trying to clean up your image. 

you look at the tabloid again, at the “queen of heartbreak” printed in big bold ugly letters all across the front page. it’s fucking tiring being so synonymous with love songs. it’s tiring singing about romance and yearning and love while your happily ever after comes crumbling all around you. 

“okay,” you say and matty smiles wide. you smile back. 

and for the first time in three months, it’s a real genuine smile. 

you see him around the studio a few more times after that—sometimes with his band, sometimes alone. mostly he’s running around, busy with his own thing and not really playing much attention to anyone around him. you on the other hand, sit in the twin of his studio space.

on most days your head feels empty, not a single song lyric or even a catchy riff in there. not a single thing scribbled in your notebook for months. you know what’s expected of you—another romance pop album to sweep everyone off their feet. your management has been very clear about that—it’s what gets the numbers and it’s what they want from you. 

it doesn’t matter what you want. it’s never mattered. 

you try everything—walking around the property with your notebook in your hands, hoping to find some inspiration. you listen to your old songs, cringing at how empty they sound, how soulless and exactly like the one before. happy to the point of feeling cognitive dissonance. 

as a last resort, you even look up photos of you and jack, just to see if it would spark…anything. 

all it does is annoy you more. he’s already got a new girlfriend, the same girl who’s supposed to be his date. you imagine the buzz around their red carpet debut and then think back to your own—how much the tabloid had gushed over you, calling you the perfect couple. a couple that just “made sense”

the perfect king to their queen of hearts.

you close your eyes and lean your head back against the bark of a tree. it’s nice here at least, it’s calm. the place is so far away from the city, you could just disappear for a few months and just not do anything. 

but peace has never come to you without a price. 

not even five minutes later, a loud guitar riff splits the air followed by raucous laughter. (it’s surprising to you that you already recognise matty’s laugh) standing up, you dust off your jeans and follow the sounds. the guitar only gets louder the more you walk, until you see a group of people around a little barbecue. 

matty’s holding his guitar like a classic douchebag rockstar, sunglasses dangling over his nose and arm muscles flexed and veins taut against his forearms as he strums the bright red guitar. it’s so much different from what their music usually sounds like. the notes aren’t very loud or angry but they’re certainly powerful. stronger than anything you’ve ever played before.  

it makes you stop in your tracks and watch him. 

you just stand there—captivated by the music, captivated by him. it only takes matty a couple more seconds to notice you, and you look away, flustered. 

“enjoying the show?” he asks, a sly grin playing on his lips. warmth creeps up your cheeks. 

“no, sorry. i was just round the corner and heard you. sorry didn’t mean to intrude—”

“relax,” he laughs and sets the guitar aside. you recognise the others behind him—his band, for one. you’ve seen the other three men with him in countless photos and award shows but the others are unfamiliar. 

“that was… really good,” you laugh and tuck a strand of hair behind your ears. matty’s eyes follow the movement. “something new?”

“something old actually. very old. it’s called 28, from when we used to perform under drive like i do.”

that’s news to you so you just nod your head, unsure what to say. “it sounded really good. powerful.”

matty’s eyes flick over your face for a moment, taking you in with such intensity that you feel utterly shy for a moment, almost like a part of you is laid bare—there’s no creative makeup to conceal imperfections on your face, no team of stylists to dress you and style your hair. in front of matty, in just jeans and a t-shirt and your hair in a braid, you’re just…a person. as ordinary as it gets. 

“didn’t think it would be your kind of music,” he says after a second and you look down, toeing the grass. 

“i didn’t either…” the words are so soft, they’re barely audible. matty opens his mouth to say something but panic shoots through you like a spear. you know he’s going to ask you to join, and music is the last thing on your mind. 

“i gotta go,” you mumble, already backing away. matty’s face shifts from a smile to a confused frown. he lifts his hand, almost wraps his fingers around your wrist but matty thinks better of it at the last moment and drops it. 

you don’t stay long enough to hear what he says, you just run back to the studio and try to forget this ever happened. 

the days leading up to the awards are a whirlwind of preparations—from dress fittings to speech preparation to meeting with stylists, it’s exhausting. at least it keeps your mind off, well, everything else. but mostly it keeps you too busy to interact with any more journalists or paps. the most they get are photos of you going to a couple dress fittings and back to your car. 

none of it distracts you from matty though. even though you haven’t since him the weeks that you’ve been back in the city (he’s still back in the studio), you find yourself lingering on thoughts of him throughout the day. even though you haven’t talked to him since then, you find yourself wishing you’d exchanged phone numbers. 

but most surprisingly, you don’t think about jack at all. not even once (unless his face just so happens to be on some magazine cover or the other). he simply exists in the periphery, mostly out of sight and out of mind. 

your publicist, emma, does blow a blood vessel when you first tell her about bringing matty as your plus one. she’s older than most other people on your team, has been in this industry far longer than you have, so her disapproval stings a bit. 

“matty? healy? are you sure about that?” she side-eyes you when you first break the news to her, taking you aback just a bit. 

“why, what’s wrong with him?”

she chews on her bottom lip for a second and you hold your breath, waiting for her to flat-out say that this is a bad idea. “he’s not the most…popular right now.”

you roll your eyes. “well if that’s the only thing that’s wrong with him then i’d still like to take him.” and then as an afterthought, you add a “please”. 

“fine,” she shrugs and that is the end of that. she asks no more questions, makes none of her personal feelings known. and while on some days you appreciate that degree of professionalism, on others you just need…a friend. 

but emma goes back on her phone, already making a call to someone and you swallow all the words that are on the tip of your tongue. 

your heart’s in your throat from the moment you step inside the limousine. it’s standard for you—get inside the car, stare outside from the heavily tinted windows until it’s time to compose yourself for the cameras. somehow, tonight feels different, and definitely not because you have more nominations than you’ve had ever before. 

“where’s matty?” you ask emma who’s texting on her phone. 

“oh, we’re picking him up from his hotel. ten more minutes.”

with trembling fingers you unlock your phone, getting the pin wrong twice before searching him up on instagram. without his number that’s the only way you have to contact him and you wonder if he’s even going to check his instagram dms. but you send out a quick prayer and type out a message anyway. 

ready for tonight?

i guess i should say sorry in advance for all the dating rumours we’re about to fuel

then you cringe and stare out the window again, wondering if that was too forward of you to say. it has been weeks since you talked to him afterall. who knows if he’s even excited about this anymore or if he’s simply doing it as an obligation. 

your phone buzzes with an incoming dm. 

ready and waiting :)

and being linked to you doesn’t sound so bad

in spite of the rumours, that makes you smile, and the car takes a turn towards the driveway of a swanky hotel. almost reflexively, you fix your hair (they’re perfectly done) and smooth any folds in your dress (it fits you like a glove). it’s only the lack of a mirror that stops you from obsessively checking your makeup but you still take a quick glance at your phone’s screen and make sure everything’s in place.

it shouldn’t be this nerve-wracking. it’s just an award show, you’ve done this a hundred times in the past but then the car rolls to a stop and suddenly someone’s opening the door. 

you smell him before you see him—expensive perfume and cigarettes, like it’s his signature scent. and then you see him. 

matty’s in a sleek black tux, curls tamed for the night with some hair gel and even then some of them manage to escape, falling on his forehead and into his eyes. his eyes look darker somehow, more intense, and they widen when his gaze lands on you. 

against your better judgment, you feel a sense of satisfaction when his gaze trails down to the low, low neckline of your dress and back up to your red-painted lips. then back to your eyes before matty clears his throat and gets inside the car. you take advantage of his distraction to steal another look at him. and yep, he’s just as hot as always. 

if anything, the tux makes him almost irresistible. 

“hi,” he smiles, right next to you now and you try not to lean into his warmth. 

“hi” you smile back, uncharacteristically shy. “ready for tonight?”

“you already asked me that.”

colour blooms on your cheeks and you look away for a second, mortified that you have nothing else to say but a second later matty snickers making you roll your eyes at him. 

“relax, sweetheart. we’ll be great.” his eyes slide up your face again, dipping to your mouth just for half a second, quick enough that you would have missed it if you blinked. “why are you nervous anyway. thought you’d be a pro by now.”

“‘s not that, i just– the vultures,” you surprise yourself with how intense you sound then, how angry. “sorry, the press. they’d probably leave no chance to find links between me and jack and i’m just… fed up. i’ve had enough now.”

“the vultures,” he says pointedly, “can suck my dick—”

“matty!”

“no i’m serious.” 

you look at him properly then, at how earnest he looks. then matty places his hand right next to yours, palm up and open. “we’ll do it together.”

you can only manage a nod, and then you place your hand in his, mentally preparing yourself for the chaos. 

as the car pulls up to the red carpet, everything suddenly feels charged as a livewire. the flashing lights, the screams of fans, and the swarm of photographers are all part of the routine. still, it never gets old. 

still, you never fully get used to it. 

matty’s first to step out, extending his hand out to you—the absolute portrait of a gentleman—and so you take it, stepping out of the limousine. the moment your feet touch the carpet, the cameras go wild.

matty’s hand around yours is warm, comforting. it astonishes you how familiar it feels despite holding his hand for the first time. and even though you can barely hear anything over the camera shutters and the shouts of “look over here”, you can make out him mouthing “i’ve got you.”

right as you walk up to the centre of it all and stop for photos, matty turns towards you and leans in. you freeze, trying hard to hold the camera-ready smile on your phone but his face is so close to yours, his hand so big around yours. 

“by the way,” he says, his lips grazing your ear, “you look stunning tonight.” 

the cameras erupt into more clicks, the shouts and cheers go wild. you know what moment they’ve just captured—matty, almost kissing the shell of your ear and you going the same shade of red as the carpet. your stomach swirls with butterflies even though the nerves are ever present. a pleasant shiver runs down your spine. 

matty’s already facing the cameras once again, staring them down and giving them a gorgeous smile that has your heart skipping a beat. 

before you have the chance to overthink it, you stand on your toes and press a kiss to his cheek, leaving a perfect red lipstick mark behind. his jaw goes slack, his grip around your hand loosens. not even a second later, you feel the same hand around your waist, pulling you into him, surrounding you with his scent. 

“oh we’re giving a show tonight huh?” he smirks. 

you smirk back, feeling the adrenaline rush through you. “thought that’s what you wanted,” you reply, your voice a low whisper that only he can hear over the chaos of the red carpet.

matty's eyes sparkle with mischief as he leans in, his lips dangerously close to yours. “well then, let's make it a performance they'll never forget,” he says, his thumb lightly brushing against your waist. 

before they have a chance to ask more questions, you move on—arm around matty’s waist, practically leaning into him as your head swims with the almost kiss. sure, he did it for the cameras but the dizziness you feel is real. the way your blood rushes is very fucking real

“ready, darling?” he asks just before you’re going to step in. 

you bite your lip, actually excited this time. “ready as i’ll ever be.”

but the excitement drains away the moment you leave the cameras and step through the massive doors to the auditorium. this is the true test—the outside cameras would only catch a glimpse of your evening, the first look at your outfit and hair and a look into your excitement for the evening. but the inside cameras capture everything!

you remember the utter scandal from a few years ago when the cameras caught a musician rolling his eyes after his rival won a big award. you remember the memes on twitter for days after, the snide remarks from other industry peers, the hateful comments. you remember emma mentioning how his publicist had been fired two days after. 

you remember the instagram live meltdown. 

and now as you see jack in front of you, arms linked with his date, you wonder if it would be you next, if history would repeat itself. 

“alright?” matty’s voice cuts through your spiral and you stop instantly, causing him to walk into you just a little. matty’s arms tighten around your waist, steadying both of you and he frowns. 

“yeah,” you give him a tight smile. “jitters.”

“‘s that it?” matty looks skeptical, cocking an eyebrow at you, which somehow makes his whole face turn sharper. it’s the kind of sharpness that’s lethal… if you weren’t careful. 

in an attempt to steer the conversation away from yourself, you shake your head. “how come you’re not nervous?”

“who says i’m not?”

a laugh spills out of you, sharp and unbelieving. you’ve never seen someone more confident, more self-assured in your life before. hell, you’ve seen their concert videos now and matty is fucking electric in all of them. he looks like he owns the place, owns the attention of everyone around him. he looks impenetrable—an utter fucking rockstar. 

“well, you– you…”

“i…? what?” his eyes turn playful, his lips curve upward. “i look so dashing and sexy and in control all the time?”

“sure,” you drawl, fighting the smile that’s about to make its way onto your face. “that’s what i was goin—”

“hi, babe!”

your blood turns cold and a sour taste coats your tongue at the sound of his voice. 

jack looks exactly like he did the last time—the same dark wavy hair, the same piercing blue eyes that captivated you all those years ago, the same full lips that… you cut that train of thought before it could lead to places you’d rather not. instead, you stare right at him and give him a tight-lipped smile. 

“hi jack.” the babe doesn’t go unnoticed; neither by you, nor by matty, and he straightens, standing up to his full height. jack ignores him entirely.

“was wondering if you were coming.” you resist the urge to roll your eyes at the loaded sentence. you know exactly what he’s referring to—the fucking pathetic pap walk, the absolutely embarrassing amount of pda. it’s curious that he’s here alone now, smiling wide at you with unnervingly straight, white teeth. his date is nowhere to be seen.

“yeah, me too, actually,” you smile turns saccharine, “considering you don’t have any nominations this year.”

matty chokes back a laugh and jack’s face reddens a little. still, he manages to hold up pretty well. 

“oh, feisty! aren’t you, babe? isn’t she?” the last part is addressed to matty who stiffens, pulling you closer. a part of you wants to give into the butterflies swarming in your stomach. a part of you wants to lean into him and feel protected. 

you expect matty to come up with a witty response, something that would put jack in his place, but matty turns to you instead, looking down at you with… adoration, almost. it’s not like it’s real, you tell yourself, it’s only for your ex. only for show. 

“is that the guy you were telling me about, darling? the boring one you dated before?” 

now it’s your turn to choke back a laugh. you try not to dwell too much on the darling, or his low, almost seductive voice. you certainly don't dwell on how it makes your insides flutter and feel warm. instead, you focus back on jack and relish in the way his jaw tightens. 

“i see,” he mutters, but matty clearly isn’t done yet.

“she can speak for herself, won’t you say john—”

“jack.” his voice is terse now, and as much as you’re enjoying this little interaction, you’d rather it get not picked up by cameras and even more tabloids. the headlines that would be splashed on them tomorrow are already predictable enough. so you tug on matty’s arm and smile up at him sweetly. 

“shall we go find our seats, love?”

the iciness in his eyes fades at the one word, and you try not to let that do funny things to you. (even though it’s practically too late now, even though you can almost feel your heart doing somersaults in your ribcage). matty presses his hand to the small of your back, the skin of his palm so deliciously warm that it seeps through the fabric and you have to swallow back a groan. 

god! he’s fucking attractive… 

and fuck! you might just be in trouble. 

jack stares daggers at you when you let matty steer you away, the stare so intense that it almost burns into the back of your head but the electricity from matty’s proximity is something else entirely… 

“love?” he teases, the moment you’re out of earshot and you blush deeply. 

“i said it for him, not for you!” but even you know the retort lacks conviction. 

“whatever you say…” a shit-eating grin appears on his face, melting away all the sharpness from before. and suddenly matty’s just… a handsome boy. curly-haired and smiley and soft. his eyes crinkle in the way that makes you think how used to he is to smiling and laughing—as often as he wants, as freely too. 

he’s beautiful like this, you think, different from the rest of them too. you don’t constantly feel on guard around him for one.

his finger lightly taps you on the forehead, catching you off guard. “what’s going on in there?”

what is going on is you waxing poetic about how hot he is but his ego does not need that particular ego boost. but try as you might, you can’t think of a sarcastic remark, nothing teasing or mocking. all you manage is a genuine smile. 

“just that… it’s not so scary anymore.”

“yeah?”

you nod, giving his hand a squeeze. “who knew bringing you as my fake date would be a good idea, huh?” 

“fake date…” matty smirks, and lets his eyes roam over your face. it’s the type of stare that’s hard to look away from, the type of stare that holds you captive. matty lets out a shaky little breath and takes one small step closer. just one. “i don't know, seems pretty real to me.”

lemme know what you think <33

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[shadyb00ts]

A Long & Brutally Honest Review of The Tortured Poets Department

So, if you follow this account for some reason, you'd know that four years ago, I wrote about how the albums folklore and evermore made me a Swiftie again. Those two albums were a big part of my 2020 and represent the evolution of Taylor Swift that made me care about her work again. Before that point I suppose I had been more of a casual fan of Taylor, and I never really got into Pop Taylor that much save for 1989. But when she released her pandemic duology, it really hooked me, considering she was playing to her greatest strength--storytelling. I kind of consider them her best work by far. Fair warning, I'm going to bring up folklore and evermore a lot in this review, so to simplify, I'm just going to refer to the two projects as folkmore.

2020 was definitely a high point for me in terms of general Swiftie-isms. 2021 also continued that with the re-releases of Fearless and Red, albums I deeply loved as a teenager. And then in 2022, she released Midnights, her first brand new autobiographical pop record since Lover in 2019, and uhh... I never did a full-fledged review of Midnights, but needless to say I didn't like it all that much. I thought it was a downgrade from the masterpieces of the folkmore duo, and only a few songs stood out to me. A lot of the project I thought was bland and generic for Taylor. I didn't really consider myself a Swiftie anymore after the Midnights era.

Well, I didn't think she'd somehow manage to make an album worse than that one, but here we are.

The thing about me is that, ever since folkmore, I always set myself up for disappointment when it comes to Taylor. When she announces a new project, I always hope that she does something that would really surprise me. Something new and unexpected, something that showcases her growth and evolution as an artist. As a pop music enthusiast since I was a child, I've grown used to pop stars reinventing their image, having unique and distinct eras to keep things fresh and keep everyone guessing.

I wish Taylor did this, and I think according to her fans, she does. In my opinion, Taylor likes to put herself in a box, and this album is the perfect encapsulation of that. Like Midnights, this album is a collection of songs that sound like they've already existed for years from her other albums. Barely any of the tracks made me feel anything really, and any one of them could belong in her other pop albums like Reputation and Lover.

As usual, she teamed up with her decade-long sole producer Jack Antonoff, and honestly, Jack Antonoff has made some great things in the past. Take Lorde's Melodrama for example, one of my all time favorite albums. He did some very interesting, out-of-the-ordinary production on that album. He's shown that he's capable of making really great stuff. This time around though, he created some of the most boring, snooze-fest synthpop I've heard in a while, with very little variety between songs.

Now I love synthpop as much as anyone; some of my favorite artists are MUNA, Allie X and Lights. Their brand of synthpop, however, has more of a grandiosity to it, a presence. Taylor herself has also proven that she can do synthpop of that vein, as 1989 had some great examples of it. This time however, she does nothing to elevate these milquetoast beats. A particularly scathing review I saw coined it as "dog water synth". There's so many recycled production elements, melodies and chord progressions. Taylor, not only am I begging you to work with anyone other than Jack Antonoff, I'm also begging you to stop having soooo many songs on your albums in C major. I get it, that's your key of choice and it's been that way since the beginning, but my god. Probably half this album is in C major. Please find another key.

So the production left a lot to be desired, but what about the lyrics? Taylor's strong suit has always been songwriting, right? And this album is supposed to contain self-proclaimed "tortured poetry", so it'll probably be her most beautifully written works yet. Right?

Well... no.

Something I've noticed about Swifties is that the majority of them only care about lyrics. If you pore through their live reactions of this album, the one thing they're listening for is lyrics. They don't particularly place any value in vocals or production, really anything outside of what Taylor wrote. They even make a meme out of pulling out a dictionary anytime Taylor drops a new project, cause Taylor's metaphors and word choices are so complex.

Do you remember that meme of someone talking about the show Rick & Morty? Some fan of that show made this long post about how a person has to have a very high IQ to understand Rick & Morty. The show where the most popular joke is an entire episode where Rick turns into a pickle and shouts "I'm Pickle Rick!!!!" for the entire runtime. Well, that same phenomenon is happening again with Swifties and this album.

I've seen more than a few of her diehard stans claiming that anyone who critiques or dislikes this album just doesn't understand "basic reading comprehension" or the concept of metaphors. That this album is just too smart for their tiny little brains to grasp. Mind you, this is an album with gems such as "You smoked then ate seven bars of chocolate / We declared Charlie Puth should be a bigger artist / I scratch your head, you fall asleep / Like a tattooed golden retriever" and "Touch me while your bros play Grand Theft Auto" and let's not forget her romanticizing the 1830s "but without all the racists".

I resent the notion that this woman is exempt from criticism. Everything she writes is not gold. It boggles my mind that the same person who once wrote things like "Your Midas touch on the Chevy door / November flush and your flannel cure" or "Leaving like a father, running like water" or "I made you my temple, my mural, my sky / Now I'm begging for footnotes in the story of your life". She's proven time and time again that she's a very capable, very creative songwriter. And honestly, some of that is still present in this album, albeit very few and far between. It's bogged down by the above examples, which I think are some of her worst writing to date. And I thought "Hey kids, spelling is fun!" was bad.

One of the reasons the folkmore albums captivated me was that Taylor really flexed her storytelling muscles and wrote songs from other people's perspectives, even creating fictional characters. The song "this is me trying" from folklore is one of my favorite examples of this, a beautiful song about characters who are struggling with suicidal thoughts and alcoholism. Another standout in terms of writing is "epiphany", where she draws parallels between soldiers dying on beaches in World War II and the modern-day soldiers that were hospital workers during the height of the pandemic.

This was the type of shit that she never wrote about, because up until that point, her work had been 90% diaristic confessions. And yeah, that was the initial appeal with Taylor, that she was a small town girl whose songs felt like diary entries and you could really relate to her feelings. I remember listening to songs like White Horse and You're Not Sorry as a teenager and crying over a cheating ex that I never even had. Taylor was always really good at making music that perfectly sounded like whatever feeling she was trying to convey, and it's what made them so relatable.

Whenever she writes autobiographical songs nowadays, however, as a billionaire superstar writing about very specific scenarios and high profile relationships in her life, I find it hard to relate to anything, really. In this album for example, plenty of the songs are about her summer fling with Matty Healy, someone who I couldn't care less about. I was looking for songs about Joe Alwyn, because it was the longest relationship she had ever been in and he was a huge part of her life. And sure enough, songs like So Long London and loml did make me feel things, because I felt that her heartbreak was genuine over this relationship ending. So Long London is easily the best written song, because it's sincerely coming from a place of pain that many can relate to after a years-long love story ends. That to me encompasses the "tortured poetry" she was talking about more than any of the other songs were able to convey.

But like I said, most of this album is about Matty Healy. I have absolutely no idea what this man did that made her dedicate an entire album to him, a person that really does not matter in the grand scheme of things. He's a gross weirdo, so I mentally checked out during a lot of the songs centered around him, because no Taylor, I can't relate to the feeling of being a pop star that just got out of a seven year relationship and had a brief fling with a nasty lead singer of a band that's no longer relevant. That is a very specific thing that you went through that I have no strong feelings about, nor do I care about that much. I liked The Smallest Man Who Ever Lived though, I guess. I wouldn't go out of my way to listen to it, but it was decent and I liked the outro portion.

Another song I liked at first was Florida, the collaboration with Florence Welch. I think I liked it initially because A) Florence, B) it was finally something that sounded unique and different, and C) Florence's verse has a callback to the song "no body, no crime" from evermore which I thought was cute. But honestly, after a few more listens, the song is... Yeah, it's bad. The chorus is very grating to my ears, and not even Florence could save it. She sounds great of course, because it's her, but the song itself is just not giving what it's supposed to.

And then the other chunk of the album is about her current boyfriend, football player Travis Kelce. Because who couldn't relate to the feeling of being an international pop star dating an NFL football player? It's a very universal experience, like who hasn't, y'know?

Yeah, as you can tell, I didn't care for these songs either. I'm so tired of hearing about that man and their relationship. Everything I've heard about them being together has been completely against my will.

On top of the 16 songs on the standard album, she surprise dropped another one called "The Anthology", and that title piqued my curiosity because an anthology is a collection of different stories, so I thought she was bringing back the folkmore vibes. Turns out it was as if somebody sucked the life out of those two albums. This may sound harsh, but the Anthology portion of this album sounds like if you bought folklore and evermore on clearance. Just like the bulk of the first 16, I felt nothing. Out of 31 songs in total, I only liked 2 or 3.

This may sound a little mean, but I think I've made it pretty clear that I just... don't care about her life anymore. I don't find her experience as a global superstar selling out stadiums and flying around on her private jets to be interesting. It's certainly not relatable in any way, either. The reason I hold the folkmore albums in such high esteem is because yeah, while there are some autobiographical songs in there, the majority of them are fictional works. I've kinda been spoiled by those songs, because now I know what Taylor is capable of. I want her to go back to writing songs from other perspectives and really challenge herself, step out of that mediocre pop box she's put herself in ever since Midnights. I say all this because she's proven she can do it, so she doesn't need to backslide. She doesn't need to downgrade.

The best analogy I can think of is this. If you play Pokemon, then you know that whenever a Pokemon is evolving, you can press the B button to stop it from happening. I think the folkmore albums were her evolution process, and then someone pressed B and put a stop to it, and that's how we got Midnights and now this. Maybe she pressed the button herself, and she just likes to stay in her little comfort zone because she knows that her billions of fans will like whatever she does at this point. That's why I believe Taylor and Jack barely put in any effort with this project, because they don't have to. Swifties will like whatever they put out. They don't have to try new things or challenge themselves. It's an "if it ain't broke, don't fix it" situation.

If you're a Swiftie reading this, and you didn't really love this album, I just wanna say that it's okay to critique it. I have plenty of artists that I stan, but I'm not going to love everything they do or whatever they put out. I can be a huge fan of someone and still use my critical thinking skills, still have my own opinions. Don't be passive or follow whatever the popular consensus is.

On the flip side, if you love this album, then please don't try to make it seem like it's this complex poetic masterpiece that only smart people get. Don't act as if Taylor is exempt from criticism, and anyone that dares to critique anything she does is just stupid or "doesn't get it". That's a very reductive and small-minded view of music criticism, and media literacy in general. No artist or their work is above critique. Period.

Anyway, that's pretty much all of my thoughts. Thanks for reading this all the way, and I appreciate you for caring enough about my opinion! And remember Swifties, use critical thinking skills and please don't dox me!

[the-iron-shoulder]

FRIDAY PART 2

ohhhhh man this night was incredible

so I knew she was going to be good, she’s a phenomenal performer, but omg. Lacey Johnson. Lacey fucking Johnson! She’s an absolute BEAST

if you’ve never heard of her and you have ANY interest in VGM, for the love of god, go look her up, I’m completely obsessed. She is inhumanly good on the keytar AND she sings—she has incredible stage presence, absolutely knows how to grab the audience’s attention and not let go

she started with some Metroid pieces while in Zero Suit costume, which was sick, and then she disappeared off stage to change into her normal performing attire. While she was changing, the screen was basically going through the start-up-and-select-a-song process for DDR X, and it was teasing us with looking like it was going to pick this song or that song, and then it went to fucken BUTTERFLY and the crowd just exploded. She gave a great vocal performance while just shredding the keytar, incredible stuff

I’m trying to even remember what else she played… some Guilty Gear, some Persona, some really excellent Castlevania (Young Nobleman of Sadness! Which I will maintain is a better name than The Tragic Prince), the Chocobo theme

my favorite moment from her set was when she just said “gamers, please rise for the national anthem” and then launched into ESCAPE FROM THE CITY, I just absolutely lost my shit, such a fabulous bit (and such a good song)

her finale was also Megalovania but she did a fake-out with making it look like it was going to be some Guitar Hero thing before cutting into the real thing, so much fun

I think Lacey was the best performance we saw, and that’s including the one right after her, which was ToxicxEternity and FamilyJules performing THE SHREDVENTURE

I saw the original Shredventure in 2021 and this was almost exactly the same, just with a couple songs cut for time (totally expected and reasonable). Spoilers, I guess?

So the conceit, the story I suppose, is that there’s a wizard who says that VIDEO GAMES is in trouble (he always says it like that, VIDEO GAMES) and that Jack and Jules need to solve these riddles to play the right music to recharge these crystals. The riddles often have multiple plausible answers and so they’ll usually play the “wrong” song first before playing the “right” one, but the wizard would bully them and call them nerds when they got it wrong and it was very goofy and funny

eventually of course the wizard turns out to be evil and they have to explode his dick by overcharging the last crystal (via Jack’s death metal lyrics)

fabulous set list: Tal Tal Heights, Aquatic Ambience, Super Mario World Castle, Gourmet Race, Lavender Town, Green Hill Zone, Green Soil Brinstar, Bloody Tears, Otherworld, and always Megalovania as the finale

Jack and Jules are individually two of my very favorite musicians, and so of course I was happy to take a trip to go see them perform together when they put the first Shredventure together a few years ago, just like now

they also teased us with the prospect of “Shredventure 2 Battle,” and okay, A, excellent joke, and B, omgomgomgomg please yessssss

my bf and I wanted to stick around for Bit Brigade but we are old men and we needed to go back to the nest to sleep, sorry Bit Brigade, maybe in a future year

Home from MAGFest!

Gonna ramble for a while about MAGFest 2024, which was this past weekend! Feel free to mute the tag #MAGFest2024 if you don’t wanna see it.

I’m gonna go stream of consciousness so it probably won’t be too organized and I’m sure I’ll get some of the details wrong, so if you were there too and you’re like “hey, X didn’t play that song, Y did,” well, my bad

Anyway! Brought my bf along, and I’m wild about VGM and he knows nothing about it, but he wanted to come because he wanted to see me being excited and passionate about something and he’s just a real sweetie that way, is it any wonder why I love him? Before we went, I made sure that he at least knew what Megalovania sounds like, since it’s replaced One Winged Angel as the de facto “if you don’t have a specific theme this conflicts with, there’s a good chance you’re gonna end your set with this” song (and I’m here for it, I fucking love Megalovania, I don’t care if people think it’s overplayed, it’s super dope). We heard it 3.5 times over the weekend (one time was when Don Palombi’s Game Night played sans. but they mixed in some MV, so that’s the 0.5).

And yes, we did refer to our hotel room as the MAGFest Fag Nest 🏳️‍🌈

[astroluvr]

Can u do something based off baxter avenue by jack harlow? Like something based off the lyrics

"My main thing shall remain nameless

Know they ask about her often but I ain't sayin' shit

There's a level of discretion that I'm maintaining

She don't understand it but she ain't famous

We gon' see who's still around once the game changes

She's a business woman but I got her playing favorites

You ain't rooting for me then I gotta make changes

Ex girls watchin' with a lot of fake pages (a lot of fake pages)

My OG showed me what a Plain Jane is

And a bust down is, now I got a hankering to spend a few thousand"

This would be soooo good!

this is my very first attempt at a lyric fic and i have like zero experience with them in general, and i interpreted this prompt as what the inspiration behind this verse was! i so hope y'all enjoy!

***

“So, Jack, we know you’ve been caught out with a girl a few times since the last you’ve been here.” Max, the interviewer said into the microphone and Jack chuckled.

“Wait a minute, don’t say caught like I’m not supposed to be with her, man.” Jack exclaimed, a smile taking over his face.

“Oh, so y’all are a thing? Because if so, you got to tell a lot of girls that you aren’t with them anymore.”

“I don’t have to tell them anything.” he spoke smugly and leaned back in his chair. “I can’t just chill with a girl, man?”

“I’d love to chill with a girl like that.” his co-host laughed. “She looks like an Insta model.”

“I’m sure you would, brother.” Jack said before clapping his hands. “Let’s talk about the album before you get to thinking about it too hard.”

Jack returned to the hotel he’d been staying at for press and found you laying in the hotel bed, giggling at the video released from his interview. You were more than welcome to go with him, but you preferred going shopping.

Jack kicked his shoes off and hopped on the bed next to you, causing you to squeal in surprise. His heavy body covered yours as he kissed along the side of your head as you stuffed your head into the pillow. Jack laughed and rolled next to you after leaving a loud kiss on the side of your face.

“Jack, you are so annoying.” you grinned, and he smirked. “I’m going to let your other girlfriends have you.”

“Yeah, I want to see you try and find out who they are behind those accounts with random letters and posting their nails to my song on their story.”

“They’re all going to jump you.” you mumbled, turning your phone off and giving him your full attention.

“And you won’t fight for me?” you laughed loudly at that and Jack’s face fell. “You seriously wouldn’t?”

“No, Jack. I know your type.” He rolled his eyes and sat up, pulling you up to his lap with a kiss. “Your interview went well.”

“You’re not upset they bought up those pictures?” he asked you softly, dreading the question.

The two of you had been dating for well over two years after being on and off when Jack was still in Louisville full time. You were one of the first people to ever show your full support, one of the first people to ever attend a show. It wasn’t until he got big and all kinds of girls were showing him ‘what he was missing’, ultimately leading to the end of your relationship. It wasn’t until he hopped off Cloud 9 and asked you to go out to lunch with him. You were hesitant at first, but when he genuinely expressed how much he needed someone like you, you realized how great of a man he could be.

“You handled it well. If you could keep my hands off my ass, it wouldn’t have been bought up at all.” you pointed out and Jack chuckled.

“Why should I?”

“Because you don’t want people to know about us. Don’t give them evidence.”

“I don’t owe anybody answers and I don’t owe anybody secrecy when it comes to what I do with my girl. I don’t care if we were doing way worse. It’s nobody’s business.”

“I know. I just thought it might be easier to avoid that kind of stuff in public.”

“Unless you want me to, then I’m not.” he said finally and you shrugged. “I’m a public figure, I get that, but I don’t have to give them every part of me.”

“You’re right, baby. You have all the discretion.” you told him in full support and Jack leaned forward to kiss you.

“What’d you buy today?”

“I didn’t get anything, but I stopped by this pizza place some people in the lobby were talking about, and it was disgusting.” you laughed and stood from Jack.

“Can’t eat pizza from everywhere, I told you that.”

“Yeah, well, they were hyping it up so much I had to. After tasting how bad it was, I got you a slice, too.”

“I’m not eating that shit, Y/N.”

“Why? You might like it.” you came back from the small kitchenette and unwrapped the pizza slice in front of him. You smiled as you held it at his lips.

“It’s just pepperoni and cheese.” he shrugged, looking at you as if you were insane. “I think you’re being dramatic.”

“You’re confusing me with your Insta model girlfriend.” he glared at you and you laughed before pushing the slice closer to his lips. “Taste it, J!” you told him, laughing even harder when he made a face at the greasy slice.

“Okay!”

He groaned and took a big bite, your hand cupped under his chin. You watched and waited for his reaction. As much as he wanted you to be the dramatic one, he was even worse. The slow grimace over his features was all too rewarding as you snickered.

“Babe, it’s fucking gross.” he mumbled, spitting it out onto a napkin and frowning. “Why would you give me that?”

“I warned you.” you defended yourself and threw the pizza slice away. “Maybe tomorrow, we can meet up for lunch at a better place. Or we can find a bunch of shitty spots and eat there.”

“Whatever you want to do.” he agreed, a dopey smile on his face.

As he watched you crawl back into bed next to him, he couldn’t help but wonder what kind of girl he’d be with if he would've fallen into the traps all around him. Would he be in a hotel room alone eating something expensive? Would he be trying out a green smoothie he had to pretend to like unless he wanted the model he was hooking up with to blast him? Would he be avoiding pictures to keep his internet exposure somehow intact?

Jack’s thoughts were interrupted softly when you started playing with his hair and muttering about a movie to watch. He couldn’t stop thinking about how lucky he was to be beside a woman who wanted nothing but the best for him, who just wanted to see him succeed and be happy for the ride. He didn’t want or need to imagine a life without you, everything was right in front of him.

[sandbees]

15 Things the First Years Have Done

The first years, all combined together as a big group, have done the most chaotic stuff in the history in NRC. In the Headmaster’s desk, is a list of what the One Braincell Group has done. (In which little to no context is given)

As First Years of NRC, we pledge to not,

1. Throw Grim into the Savannaclaw pool. Or anyone, for that matter.

“How did you even manage to throw Leona into the pool?”

“Pure spite.”

“He spoke condescendingly to Yuu, he had to go.”

“I don’t agree with what they did, Leona was being Leona. But it was pretty funny.”

2. Play “How Many People Can Accidentally be Collard by Riddle?”

“I think Epel won that.”

“15 people.”

“Could’ve been 20 if Vil didn’t catch you.”

3. Test Yuu’s magic resistance

“How resistant are you, anyways?”

“I think Sebek’s lighting spell knocked them out.”

“Oh yeah, that hurt a lot. How many volts was that?”

“Volts?”

“Oh, we are going to test how many volts Sebek’s spell has later.”

4. Beat up your seniors

“To be fair, they dumped a bucket of water on Ace.”

“Wait - that was them?”

“Wait we weren’t supposed to say that-“

“It’s fine Ace, we took care of them, didn’t we?” :)

“Didn’t you and Deuce put them in the infirmary?”

“Didn’t they stop dumping water on Ace? Yes? So what’s the problem?”

5. Make vague threats that involve Malleus Draconia.

“Now that’s unfair, those threats were facts!”

“I still can not believe you manage to get Waka-sama’s favor.”

“Well, I’m his friend, of course he likes me.”

6. Start a food fight in Mostro Lounge, and then blame it on Floyd.

“But he did start it!”

“No, he really did. We just escalated it.”

“Haha, I remember hitting him with an apple. It was satisfying to see the smirk wiped off his face.” :)

7. Kidnap Ortho Shroud for the 50th time.

“Did Idia add that one? Because we technically didn’t kidnap Ortho.”

“It’s been, what? A week since we’ve invited Ortho over? We should invite him again.”

“Also it’s been 57 times we’ve taken Ortho, this list should be more accurate.”

8. Steal armor and weapons from Diasomnia, have Jack transform into a wolf, and “raid” Kalim’s treasure room.

“Pfft, remember the terror in everyone’s eyes? Hilarious.”

“I remember when I rode Jack like a steed, wielding Grim like a flamethrower.”

“Ah, to bad Jamil used Snake Whisper on us and kicked us out.”

9. Steal potions from Pomfiore and drink them from the bottle, competing against each other for “poison tolerance”.

“Ok, not our best idea.”

“Yeah that was deserved. Though Sebek won that one, didn’t he?”

“Fae are naturally strong against poisons! Besides, I must be resilient to them in case someone tries to poison Waka-sama’s food!”

10. Scream out song lyrics at 5 in the morning.

“I can’t believe we managed to do that.”

“Agreed. Especially since how far Ramshackle is from the other dorms.”

“Ah, the magic of the magic mirrors.”

11. Let Deuce “duke it out” on people harassing you. Tell a teacher.

“But asking a teacher is so repetitive. Besides, if Deuce beats them up they’ll never bother us again, unlike having a teacher lecture them.”

“Yeah, plus bad boy Deuce is h o t.”

“H-huh?!”

“Ew, gross. Stop being horny.”

12. Paint the roses Pink, Maroon, Wine Red, Carmine, Red Violet, OR ANY OTHER RED COLOR VARIANT THAT IS NOT A TRUE RED

“But we did follow the rules. It’s just that we ran out of traditional red paint.”

“Pffft, Riddle’s face turned as red as the roses when he saw what we did.”

“Ugggh, my only regret was that we did it before an Unbirthday party. He made us paint it an hour before.”

13. Sneak into Mostro Lounge, only to ask Jade if he has “the goods”

“It’s not my fault they assumed we were talking about drugs.”

“Yeah, I wanted to try out some of the wild mushrooms he found. I heard the wild plants around here are good.”

“Blegh, I can’t believe you dragged us into that. I don’t even like mushrooms.”

14. Mix your powers together. No, we do not want a repeat of the FIRE THUNDERSTORM INCIDENT.

“Hey! That was a complete accident.”

“No it wasn’t. You started it. You were egging on Grim and Sebek.”

“It’s not my fault that they attacked me.”

“Stupid human! You were the one to fan our magic!”

15. Stop creating plots that damage the school’s reputation.

“Ok, we have had a few scandals, but it’s not as bad as the dorm leader’s.”

“...”

“...”

“...”

“...”

“...”

“Ok, we may have done worse. But those were fixed before they got into the public!”

We have read the rules, and we agree to never do these things again.

Signed,

Ace Trappola

Deuce Spade

Jack Howl

Epel Felmier

Sebek Zigvolt

Yuu MC

(...Fingers Crossed...)

[lovee-infected]

This idea just hit me like a train. How would twst boys react to WAP from Cardi B?? 😂😂😂

I'm trying to ignore the fact that I might've never discovered WAP without this request...🗿

Warning(s): What should I even tag as the warning idkk ckcjxjsjsjdjdjck- Mentions of WAP's lyrics, mentions of nsfw, Warning for Idia's part bc I think it went a bit too far-

Riddle Rosehearts

Heard of this song named WAP being trending between students -> Searched it up -> Riddle:... Riddle: *Turns off his phone*

Bans WAP from the whole Heartslabyul afterwards, and every student found listening to it will have to face Riddle's: "NOOOOOOO- NO WAP IN THIS HOUSEHOLD - GO TO HORNY JAIL OFF WITH YOUR HEADS YOU UNWORTHY CREATURES- "

Trey Clover

Searches: "What does WAP mean?" before wards and after reading the search results he decides that he doesn't really need to listen to the song itself anymore.

He just clears his browsing history and returns to baking cakes. Nothing has happened, he knows nothing.

Cater Diamond

He is the guy making those "Night raven college react to WAP!!" videos on magicam. His reaction videos get over 100k views and people from all over the Twisted Wonderland start following this dork for them.

Who cares about the WAP itself? As long as he can gain followers over these videos he doesn't care how the song is supposed to be.

But at last Riddle discovers his videos by finding other dorms' students laughing over them and forces him to take them down💀 Man, Riddle really did ruin his once-in-a-life time chance for becoming popular.

Ace Trappola and Deuce Spade

Riddle has banned WAP Heartslabyul so they're going to illegally listen to it. It was Ace's fault though, Deuce is innocent.

Ace searchs up the music video, Deuce just sees the thumbnail and tells Ace that he doesn't think that this is going to be a good idea but Ace cuts him off by asking him not to be such a chicken-

Though they had to stop because Deuce was all shaky and embarrassed after just 20 seconds :"Stop this-STOP THIS- I CAN'T DO THIS- WE'RE STILL TOO YOUNG" and Ace had to stop to shut Deuce because they could've gotten caught at any second because of his unholy screams.

[a few minutes later...]

Deuce: It was saying DOORS in this house

Ace: Bruh what the- we both know it was saying Wh*res.

Deuce: Y-you dirty minded bastard!! It was clearly saying doors in this house!

Ace: Why the hell would they say doors in this house!??? It was wh*res!

Deuce: Doors!

Ace: WH*RES

Deuce: DOORS

Ace: WH*RES

Deuce: DOOOOORRRSSSSSSSSS

Leona Kingscholar

See he might be a jerk but he hasn't yet gotten to the level of appreciating this way of presenting women in songs-

He's just going to pretend that WAP doesn't exist,but most of the Savanaclaw on the other hand are going wild because with WAP, now he can't even take a peaceful nap without WAP being looped in his brain.

Ruggie Bucchi

WAP isn't beyond his power, he's handled stronger songs.✨ He'd regularly rap WAP in public when he's feeling like it.

Now he goes around to recommend WAP to naïve students and taint their virginity by making them listen to WAP without knowing what it is-

Jack Howl

Catches Ace and Deuce listening to WAP and ends up listening to it because of them. He doesn't knpw what to say...

He isn't mad, just disappointed. Disappointed parent noises. Out of all these students, why should he best buddies which these two?

Time to drag Ace and Deuce to a corner and give them a long speech on why young men their age need to be focusing on mastering skills and achieving success through these golden years instead of violating rules and tainting their pure minds.

"Trappola-kun, Spade-kun, you've greatly disappointed me. You need to be more mindful of your actions as fellow freshmen of night raven college. Is this how the future's great magicians are going to be? How do you think your parents would feel about this new habit of yours? Have you thought of how despicable women are being presented through such songs? Are you going to support such a taboo message toward ladies?"

And Ace and Deuce end up having to listen to him and think of their bad actions for the rest of the day...

Azul Ashengrotto

[Before listening to WAP]: He hears of this WAP song being super trending between students. What might it secret be? What kind of magic would make a simple song so hecking popular? He has to find out.

Azul thinks that by learning WAP's ways, he might be able to produce songs that are even better for mostrolounge and even start his very own music company! But before that he needs to listen to wap itself...

[After listening to WAP]: ...He discovers what kind of magic is making it so popular, but decides that it'd be better for him take a step back from the world of music for now. Yes, he's traumatized

Floyd Leech

"Hey hey koooeeebiii chaaannnn have you seen my new dance~?" ah yes, he's got the WAP dance and he's proud of it. These are the time when he's genuinely thankful for getting to have human legs.

But the WAP dance isn't his only target, he realizes that Jamil doesn't seem to want Kalim to know anything about WAP, but thankfully, Floyd is going to be kind enough to bless the young Kalim with his wealthy knowledge on WAP. ✨

Jade Leech

"My...my...that was savage," Jade is amazed, it's quite wonderful how these fragile creatures can go from Micheal Jackson's smooth criminal to WAP in a matter of years.

He's still having trouble keeping up with latest human trends and popular songs but, he's slowly liking humans a lot more than before. These creatures have already reached the level to make put p*rn in music, impressive.

Kalim Al Asim

He hears students whispering about an epic song named WAP during the classes, and of course he'd be intrigued!

He looks up the song but Jamil has already blocked his access to any sources that he might find WAP in, yet Floyd was kind enough to lend Kalim his phone to let him listen to this masterpiece. Later on, Floyd tells him about the WAP dance and bam, Kalim is addicted.

"Everyone watch me! I've got the WAP!"

Poor Jamil doesn't know which is worse, having Kalim signing it loudly in the dorm or watching him showing off his skills in that WAP dance in public. It's time for Jamil to go on a long, long trip and never come back until Kalim graduates from this school.

Jamil Viper

Listens to WAP once, is going to spend the rest of his life pretending that he has never heard or watched it. The most ironic part about it is how he watches the music video instead of just listening to the song and...the snakes. Good lord the snakes- He isn't sure if he likes snakes anymore.

The snakes part seriously traumatizes him but not like Kalim does when he asks Jamil to learn him the WAP dance. And heck no Jamil isn't going to learn him how to dance like a wh*re. At this point, he decides to deny WAP's whole existence.

Kalim: At least tell me what a WAP is!

Jamil:

Jamil: Worship and prayer.

Vil Schoenheit

Hasn't listened to WAP and refuses to do so. He's got standards.

Rook Hunt

"Bravo!!! These Mademoiselles have taken the art of music to a whole nother level! Beaute! 100 points! 💯" (...what else did you expect him to say?)

Just as always, no one can really tell if Rook really liked it or not but from the way he acts he seems to be... intrigued. Apparently WAP starts to get too famous in school and Rook would always be the first one to find out if a student is secretly listening to WAP in public, so he doesn't mind popping up and reminding the students not to listen to such a potentially stimulating song so carelessly: "Monsieur (x), it's adorable to see you appreciating such a glorious piece of art in this lovely day, but I don't think that all of these students staring at us right now are yet prepared for such a beauty,"

Epel Felmier

He just asked Ace for some music that'll make him sound more badass and Ace gave him the WAP:

Epel listening to WAP be like:😳😶😨😕😭

His face is redder than a tomato after the first 30 seconds of WAP, but Ace tells him that he'd be the bravest human being ever if he takes the urge to listen to this in front of teachers.

Tries to dance to WAP and make a video with it to upload on magicam, but Vil catches him in the middle of process.💀💀💀 The video turned out pretty good though. It looks just like a mother (Ehm- Vil) getting into her child's room (Epel-) and finding them doing some crazy shit.

Idia Shroud

He's the silent and seemingly shy dude who's listening to WAP in the highest volume under those head phones during classes.

Divus Crewel: CaF2(s) + Br2(ℓ) → CaBr2(s) + F2(g)...

Inside Idia's headphones: " ~ Wh*res in this house~ there some wh*res in this house~ there some wh*res in this house~ there some wh*res in this house~"

Bonus: He once forgets to connect his headphones to his tablet before playing WAP:

[Wap is being played at max volume inside Trein's class]

Idia: *Thinks that the sound is coming from his head phones*

The classroom: "Beat it up, n*gga, catch a charge

Extra large and extra hard

Put this p**sy right in your face

Swipe your nose like a credit card"

Trein: 😳

Students: 😳😳😳😳😳😳😳😳😳😳😳😳😳😳😳😳😳😳😳😳😳😳😳😳😳😳😳😳😳😳😳😳😳😳

Crowley about to jump down: 🤭

Idia still not realizing what the hell is going on: 'Lucy lucy baby~ hihihi- wait- why they all staring at me now...? Did they hear me internally flirt with Lucius?'

No need to say what happened to Idia after this...

Ortho Shroud

No WAP for him. You may find him reacting to "If you're happy and you know it clap your hands" if you're interested.🗿

Malleus Draconia

Thank goodness he just finds the censored version of WAP... Listens to the whole song, but doesn't understand most of the lyrics. The "Put this cookie right in your face" part confuses him the most, he doesn't get it. Why would you put a cookie in your face? Is this something humans usually to do with their desserts? Like, would they put ice cream in their faces too?

Virgin dragon keeps on asking people, including Lilia, to tell him what it means to put a cookie in one's face, yet no one seems to give him any proper answers ):

Perhaps human music just isn't his thing, he's getting back to sad violin noises which he listens to when he isn't invited.

Lilia Vanrouge

WAP go brrrrrrr. Our sassy grandpa is legit in love with this piece of gold and all of the humans for achieving such a glory. The beat is superb and the lyrics are: Delicious, motivational and creatively written.

Even better, WAP has an unofficial but smexy dance too. Old man Lilia is never too old for performing a sexy physically challenging dance.

You can now hear savage rock sounds combined with WAP playing in the background coming from his room when he's vibing in the afternoon.

(I can totally see him wearing a neko maiden costume while dancing to WAP and you can't tell me otherwise)

Silver

Finds WAP in papa Lilia's playlist...

Silver:

Silver:

Sebek Zigvolt

Sweet mother of love Sebek feels like listening to WAP has taken his virginity away-

He is a good boy, no, he once was a good boy. He's no longer the worthy man he used to be now that this unholy song has tainted his soul.

Legit feels guilty and and sinful after WAP, so you can find him praying for forgiveness to that Malleus portrait in his room every night.

"Oh young master forgive my thoughtless deeds, I beg for your mercy upon me now that I've sinned..."

Dire Crowley

Not saying that a drag Queen Crowley dancing to WAP would be a thing, but a drag Queen Crowley dancing to WAP would be a thing- Everyone bow down to the Headmaster, the most gracious of them all 😩😩😩👌🏻

Please, don't blame him. Birby is under too much of pressure after the very recent overblot cases and he needs a way to let go of the stress😔😔😔

Sam

Is illegally selling copies of the WAP because most of the dorms had blocked access to this song for the students...

"Helloooooo little demons I've got the WAP! In stuck now-"

[nat-20s]

what’s poppin everyone please have this fun lil writing warmup/short story inspired by me thinking “Dancing in the Moonlight” was definitely 100% about werewolves

~*~

“So, this your first transformation?”

The counselor? Leader? Tour guide? Asked this with a perfectly jovial tone, as if the typical social mores surrounding, ugh, lycanthropy, didn’t apply to her. They didn’t know what exact title to call her, and her name tag just said “Luna”, which, reflecting on it, either was a joke on her part or a reflection of her parents’ sense of humor.

Picking at the scabs from last month, they cringed and replied, “No. Uh. Second.”

Luna lets out a low whistle. “Oof. That sucks. Guessing you got bitten rather than inherited the ol’ wolfman gene?”

“That’s...kind of personal?”

Unlocking the front door of the log cabin that served as King Harvest’s Headquarters, Luna shrugs and says, “Shit, sorry. Forgot the whole weird stigma around your source of the once monthly nightmare, as if it fuckin matters. Also, I know, I know, ass out of you and me. Hey, you got any dietary restrictions? Gluten, peanut allergies, the like?”

Voice flat, they tell her, “I’m vegetarian,” and waits for the obvious response.

As they wander through the cabin towards the kitchen, Luna flipping on the light switches, generic club music starts to filter in. Instead of the obvious response, Luna asks, “You like veggie burgers? Or maybe pasta? I’d offer salad, but that’s really not gonna cut it for tonight.”

“I ate before I came.”

With a snort, she tells them, “Oh yeah? Did you have about 4000 calories?”

“No? Why would I have?”

Sweeping out her arm, she gestures at the food laying out on the counter and tells them, “Then eat up! 4000 is really a minimum for the night if you don’t want to feel like someone physically beat out all of your energy in the morning. 6000 is more the target area, but we got, hmm, about 15 minutes before things get uncomfortable, and half an hour max before things get dire.”

They glance down to the food, and, admittedly, the broccoli alfredo does look pretty appealing. Still, they have to ask, “Is this a cult?”

Luna lets out a bark of a laugh that has nothing to do with her (maybe) being a werewolf. “Okay, first of all, what kind of cult is like ‘fuck yeah, we’re a cult’? Secondly, despite the first thing, I can say that we’re not a cult. I know how “King Harvest: Center for Movement Therapy” sounds, both clinical and vague enough to be suspicious as hell, but I didn’t come up with the title, blame my long deceased dad for that one. Plus, ‘King Harvest: Bitchin’ Wolf Dance House’ probably wouldn’t look good on the grant applications.”

“Grants?”

“Oh yeah. This bad boy’s been publicly funded since its opening in 1972. Hence no membership fees.”

“Is that why animal control is giving out your business card? Are they one of your sponsors?”

“Nah, that’s just Jack. Me ‘n’ him go way back, hell, to his park ranger days.  I mean, yeah, I think he’ll campaign for us, but mostly I think he just hates capturing a wolf in the night only to have a naked, trembling human in the morning, and he knows that our program significantly reduces the odds of that happening, at least in this neck of the woods.”

They let out a hum, then glance back down to the food. As appealing as it down look, they’re still about..30% convinced this is an elaborate organ harvesting operation. Or sketchy sex thing.

Apparently sensing their hesitation, Luna says, “You got a favorite chip?”

“Salt and vinegar.”

Grabbing a sealed family sized bag from the overhead cabinets, Luna tosses it to them. “If you come back next full moon, either eat enough in advance or have a real meal here. That being said, excuse the turn of phrase, you should wolf that down. It’s sure as hell better than nothing.”

They catch it, and the bag opens with a puff of air that speaks to a reassuring lack of tampering. As they toss a chip into their mouth, Luna grabs a water bottle from the fridge and places it down next to them. “So? Any questions for me? We’ve still got about ten minutes before we have to go out there.”

Rolling their eyes, they tell her, “No. None at all.”

“Great! Soon as you’re done eating we’ll get you started.”

“I was being sarcastic.”

“Yeah, no shit, smart-ass. Seriously, what are your, we haven’t got much time.”

“I don’t know? The whole..thing? I mean, how is it supposed to..work? Like? At all?”

“You ever see Amok Time?”

“Is that relevant?”

“It’s a yes or no question babe.”

“And if I say no?”

“Then the explanation is going to be a lot more technical and take a lot longer, ultimately to likely make less sense.”

“...I’ve seen it.”

“Great! So, Pon Farr is basically this chemical blood imbalance that results in fuck or die disorder, yeah? But then Spock neither fucks nor dies, and eventually the vulcans get their shit together and find out that an intense fight can serve the same function, and the blood fever chills out. Lycanthropy operates on a similar enough basis for comparison. You’re compelled to act out on energetically heavy base instincts, returning to the ways of the wolf or whatever. Traditionally, that’s done through running and hunting, which has, historically, been a crapshoot at best. Theoretically, sex can also get the job done, but I’m sure you can imagine how that gets extremely dicey extremely quickly. Either restraints or isolation has been implemented for a while, but, c’mon, they’re bandaid solutions, and they’re far from foolproof. Luckily for us all, my grandmother decided to connect back with her ancestors, and there was a handful of stories having huge festivals to deal with ‘moon violence’. She tried it out, and, yeah, dancing works.”

“That sounds…”

They don’t know how that sounds. Made up, mostly.

“Like a bunch of hippie bullshit? Yeah, it kind of is, Grandma Josephine was a huge hippie, but it’s hippie bullshit that works. In fact, let’s go see the others, it almost always makes things clearer.”

Figuring that whatever they’re about to see can’t be worse than their transformation last month. They head through the sliding glass door out the back, the thump of the music suddenly loud enough to be felt in their chest. The sight that awaits them makes them drop their chips and let out a gasp. Barely able to speak, they exhale out, “None of them...they’re not wolves. How..how??”

Indeed, the roughly forty people jumping to the pulse of whatever they’re listening to (some to the in house DJ, some, apparently, to what’s playing over the large headphones they have adorned), resemble the image of a wolfman much more accurately. They bare claws, fangs, elongated snouts, upright ears, and  serious amounts of hair, but they’re on two legs, and moving like humans. Some of them are even singing along to the lyrics, which really shouldn’t be possible.

Luna grins, making it obvious that she’s used to this level of shell shocks. “Ultimately, you do have to give into some damn rigorous instincts. But dancing is a human instinct, not a canine one, so you end up, well, humanoid. Pretty nifty, huh?”

“And they all..they all keep their minds? I didn’t...they don’t blackout?”

“Not since we banned alcohol in the 90s! Here, watch this.”

Luna nods her head at the DJ, and the DJ, obligingly, turns down the music for a moment. The members of the crowd not listening to their own music pause, then look towards the door. She cries out, “Hey gang! HOW WE ALL DOIN’ TONIGHT?”, and gets a mix between a howl and “WOO!” cried back. The DJ then turns the music back up, and the general movement of the crowd resumes.

They should be more skeptical. They want to be more skeptical, they were just minutes before, but it’s hard to disagree with something right in front of you. “This will work for me? I just..have to dance?”

“Well, it’s not guaranteed. Few things are. But we have yet to have someone turn violent on us. If you start to fell yourself slipping from consciousness, though, I do ask that you start heading further into the woods, as to not hurt other guest. If you find yourself just getting tired, there’s beds inside, and a fair amount of pillows around the edge of the quote unquote dance floor, if you end up in more of a nesting mood. Also, I recommend taking off your shoes before you start.”

“What? Why?”

Luna gives a pointed glance at the dancers’ feet, which, ah. They’re about twice as large as normal and at least twice as sharp. The converse on their feet would be no match. “Ah.”

“Ready?”

They shove off their shoes and place the remainder of their chips aside. “As I’ll ever be.”

Good thing, too, as they’re starting to feel an uncomfortable pressure in their chest that was the prelude to disaster last month.

Luna strides to the center of the dance floor, which is really a plush lawn surrounded by forest. The crowd naturally moves around her, and she yells out, “Aiyana! Play my song!”

Aiyana gives a nod, and the opening notes of “Dancing in the Moonlight” start to sound out. “Seriously?”

Luna shrugs, grinning like a fool, and says, “It’s a classic!”

“It’s cliché at best.”

Luna shrugs, and then begins dancing. She’s hardly elegant, but she is dazzlingly joyful in her uncoordinated movements. As the song reaches the first chorus, she gives a twirl, and in the split second it takes, she’s transformed. They blink in shock, not knowing you could transform that seamlessly, that quickly, that painlessly. Luna in half wolf form is just as expressive as the human Luna, and she gives a nod over her shoulder as if to say Come on.

Feeling somewhat foolish, they start to bop their head to the tune. Luna lets out a huff and grabs their hands, spinning them around and forcing them to get moving. At first, it’s them indulging Luna, but as they let themselves get lost in rhythm, they feel a stretching sensation in their face and limbs. It’s not unpleasant, more like when you wake up and work out the tension in your spine. They open their eyes and look down at their hands, now covered in fur in and made for slashing. It didn’t hurt. It didn’t hurt, and they’re still themselves, and they had no idea that full moons could be like this, maybe for the rest of their lives.

They turn their head to the night sky, and their body can’t help but continue to dance. Despite all their fear, all their dread, “movement therapy” worked, and they can admit, at least to themselves, that they feel warm and bright.

[maybe-itll-be-someday]

Teenage Dreams

The one where someone disrespects Emily and Jack remedies it by punching them in the face.

Read on AO3

Emily was a great Mom.

Despite the fact that they weren't related by blood, she was the only mom he truly ever know. He never really knew his actual Mom since she had died so long ago now. He had snippets of memories, barely threads now since it's been over a decade since she passed, and the stories that his Dad would tell him. About how they first met in the Pirates of Penzance play in high school, how she supported him through law school and the Academy, and how she loved strawberry ice cream and will always love him.

But Emily had always been around, on the sidelines of his soccer games and baseball tournaments, wiping his tears and kissing his bandages when he scraped his knee or slammed his finger in the car door. They had gotten married almost five years ago now and it was only in the last three that Jack had insisted on calling her Mom.

"You're the only Mom I have." He had said when she was stunned into silence as he tested the moniker on his lips on a Wednesday afternoon. He doesn't think he'd ever seen Emily cry so hard before.

The only thing Jack Hotchner didn't really like about his mom, is all the snide comments and half whispers among his friends whenever they came over. He was aware that Emily was beautiful, if the way his Dad always told her was any indication.

It was after school and Mom had come to pick him up after his first soccer practice, his friends quickly starting to elbow each other as his Mom made his way towards them, still dressed from work with her FBI badge hanging off the side of her blazer.

"Hi sweetie." Emily greets. She smiled brilliantly at all his friends, some of whom quickly averted their eyes at the sight of her.

"Hey Mom. These are my teammates." He says, introducing her to the gangly group of teenagers who were either outright staring or doing everything in their power to not make any eye contact.

"I just need to go grab my stuff from the locker room. I'll meet you at the car?" Emily nods, knowing that now that Jack was getting older he was starting to enter the phase where everything his parents did embarrassed him, even if it was just something as simple as picking him up from practice. If Emily were a betting woman, she would wager a large amount of money that Jack wanted her to park down the street so his friends never saw her.

If only she knew exactly why Jack was keeping his friends far away from her.

His friends immediately start whispering to themselves as Emily makes her way back towards the parking lot to wait for Jack.

"That's his mom?"

"Holy shit."

"That is a MILF if I've ever seen one." Jack is quick to shoot an angry glare at his teammate, who at the stern look in Jack's eye, had the decency to look embarrassed before they made their way into the locker room.

Jack could still hear the rumblings among his friends, catching the words sexy and red from the direction of the showers. He tries to block it out, but he can feel the tips of his ears go read as his teammates swapped remarks about their list of hottest Moms and somehow, his own makes it on the list.

He's still bright red when he hops into the car, Mom with a concerned look on her face.

"Are you alright, Jack? You're not catching a fever, are you?" She frowns, checking his temperature with the back of his hand as he swats her away.

"Mom, I'm fine. It's nothing." Emily tuts, Jack's tone toeing the boundary between upset and disrespectful.

"Jack, you know that as a profiler I can tell when you're lying to me, right?" She says, her eyebrow raised and Jack grumbles to himself. Emily smiles at the muttered words, but for her benefit, she asks him to speak up.

"Sorry, what did you say?"

"I said yes ma'am, I am well-aware."

"And you also know that I won't force you to talk about anything unless you want to talk about it?"

A small smile breaks on Jack's lips. Mom never did push him to talk about anything, always just letting him know that she was available when he eventually did want to. Her only condition was that he would talk to her eventually, no matter how long that took. It was one of Jack's favorite things about her, since she could really calm his Dad down when he had that vein bulging from his neck whenever information was withheld from him.

"I'm aware of that too."

"As long as you know." She says, before turning up the radio and singing in an off-tune pitch to the latest pop song on the radio, clearly unaware of the actual lyrics or which key the song is supposed to be in.

Okay, maybe there were two things he didn't like about her.

--

The next time someone makes a comment about his Mom, they make it to Jack's face.

Dennis Smith was one of those kids you'd consider an outcast in school. Always dressed in torn jeans and black, followed by thin cronies who were too afraid to stand-up to the kids who picked on them so they ended up hiding behind a larger bully. He had been taunting Elliot, Jack's lab partner, for the past three weeks. Elliot had run into class that day, his shirt torn and bag half-opened as he rushed to sit next to Jack.

"Dude, what happened?" Jack asked when he spotted the torn pocket and the hastily stuffed belongings in his backpack. Some of his books were wet and if Jack had to guess, they had roughed him up in the boy's bathroom.

"Dennis." Elliot just mumbles, pulling out his notebook and cursing when he realizes that they took his wallet.

No one was going to pick on his friends if he could do something about it.

At least, that's what his Dad taught him.

So when Chemistry ends, he stalks Dennis and finds him bent over a water fountain, his friends chatting away while leaning on the locker next to him. Jack reaches over and taps him on the shoulder, a bewildered expression on Dennis' face.

"What do you want, Hotchner?" He spit out, puffing his chest to make him seem bigger than he actually was. Dennis didn't like him, since he was one of the only ones who wasn't scared of the bully. Jack found it hard to be scared of him, considering the fact that both of his parents were in the FBI and dealt with much scarier things than insecure teenage boys with an anger issue.

Jack crosses his arms, Elliot hiding behind him as he stares Dennis down.

"What's your problem with Elliot?" He asks flatly, interested in getting to the bottom of this. The hallway slowly starts to flood with students exiting their classes and the commotion causes a small crowd to form. In the corner of his eye, Jack can see cellphones being pulled out and aimed right at them.

"My problem is that little pipsqueak told Ms. Gardner that I was cheating." The bully stares directly at Elliot, who cowers further behind Jack despite the fact that Jack was only a few inches taller than him.

"But you were cheating."

"Well, if he learned to mind his own business, then maybe we wouldn't pick on him so much." Jack sizes Dennis up - he notices the muddy state of his shoes and pants that dangle just above his ankles, clearly too short for him. He smells faintly of body odor and some form of energy drink and if Jack had to guess, no one was providing him parental supervision at home.

He was angry, and had no one to direct that anger towards except for a student who was just doing his due diligence.

"Look, Dennis. I get it - your parents don't spend enough time with you, they leave you alone a lot, and you're angry about it. Can't you find something better to do with your time? Like actually studying so you don't need to cheat?"

Dennis flushes bright red and Jack turns and motions for Elliot to follow him. Hopefully, that would be enough to stop them from bullying Elliot. It's only then that he hears what Dennis mutters under his breath.

"Not all of us have a hot ass stepmom to tend to our every need. If I had a stepmom like that-"

Jack's fist connects with his nose, his knuckles flashing in pain at the contact. He feels a white hot rage spark under his skin, directed at anyone who would think to badmouth his family. The crowd gasps as Dennis falls to the floor, clutching his nose and yelping in pain. Jack flexes his knuckles and winces at the dull ache that settled in his joints. He freezes when he hears a familiar voice call out his name.

"Jack Hotchner!" Jack's eyes close and hopes that it isn't who he thinks it is.

He plasters a smile on his face and turns around, hiding his swollen hand behind his back.

"Hi Principal Gibbons."

--

"You are grounded for at least three months." Aaron says, his knuckles white around the steering wheel. It was just his luck that his Dad would be the one to pick him up. Apparently, Mom was off on a case with the BAU and Jack had a feeling she would be more understanding of him breaking Dennis' nose after fifth period.

After all, she was the one who signed him up for self-defense classes.

"What were you thinking Jack? Breaking a kid's nose?" His Dad had been furious upon arriving at the Principal's office. To the normal outsider, he looked calm, but Jack knew the fury that lay underneath. Dad had an excellent poker face and he managed to keep his anger under wraps until they got back into the car.

"He was being a dick."

"Language." His Dad warns and Jack sighs, knowing that swearing probably wasn't going to save him from the thin ice he was already on.

"Look, he was bullying my friend Elliot and I stood up to him."

"So, instead of talking it out, you punched him." Aaron says in disbelief and Jack shakes his head in frustration.

"No, I told him that his parents weren't around and that he was angry, so instead of picking on Elliot, he should just study."

There's a beat of silence.

"You profiled him?" Aaron curses the pride that blooms at the realization, not wanting Jack to get off that easy. After all, he did get suspended for three days and had to visit the school counselor with Dennis upon his return for 'mediation'.

"I did. Then I walked away."

"Then why did you punch him?"

"Because he said something about Emily." Jack's arms cross, his gaze out the window and Aaron sighs. He had been ecstatic when Emily came to him with tears in her eyes because Jack wanted to start calling her Mom. It was a decision that Aaron always left entirely up to Jack, not wanting to force him into feeling like they were replacing Haley since they were getting married. She had always been perfectly fine at being called Emily, not wanting to infringe on Jack's view of Haley. Jack only reverted back to calling her 'Emily' when he wanted to distinguish Emily and Haley.

Aaron lets the silence sit for a minute, his anger deflating. "What did he say?" He eventually asks.

"That not everyone had a hot ass stepmom to tend to their every need."

A different flash of anger runs through Aaron, his grip around the steering wheel tightening a little bit and his knuckles flashing white.

"That's why I punched him. I don't want anyone to talk about Mom like that."

Aaron lets out a breath, the last of his anger dissipating with Jack's words. He had always taught Jack to stand-up for those who couldn't stand up for themselves and he did just that. He stood up for Elliot and he stood up for Emily as well, not tolerating any disrespect for the people he cared about.

"Hot ass stepmom?" Aaron asks, a curious eyebrow raised.

"Oh Dad, you have no idea."

--

Emily comes back home to the angry marks on Jack's hand settling into purple and yellow bruises.

"You did what?"

"He punched a kid at school. He'll be suspended until tomorrow." Emily crossed her arms, disappointment in her expression. "Did this kid attempt to hit you first?"

Jack shook his head, hung low from the stare his Mom was baring into him. Aaron chuckles, rescuing Jack from what he is sure is a tongue lashing with a gentle hand placed on her shoulder.

"He was actually defending a friend." Mom's stance softens ever so slightly and eventually, she uncrosses her arms and sighs.

"As long as it was for the right reasons. But I still don't condone the violence and you're grounded until next week." Jack nods, knowing that it was a lenient punishment considering he spent the last month grounded because he had snuck out to see a girl.

Later, when Jack is in bed, Aaron tells Emily the true reason why he had gotten in trouble. Her heart swells with pride and an absolute adoration for the boy she's watched grow up and felt honored that he would defend her from his peers.

"Hot ass stepmom, huh?" She teases as Aaron bristles. She loved that even after years together, he still got jealous. Many cops and detectives have been the end of the Hotchner glare when he caught them checking her out and somehow, it doesn't surprise her that a few harmless teenage crushes would cause his heckles to rise.

"Oh sweetheart." She coos, snaking her arms around his neck as his hands land on her hips. She doesn't miss the way his grip is just a little tighter and giggles as he grunts in acknowledgement.

"You don't need to worry about a bunch of teenage boys stealing me away."

"Who says I'm worried?"

Emily just laughs, smoothing the frown on his forehead.

"Whatever you say, sweetie."

--

Later that week, when Jack's friends come over before they head to the high school football game, Emily comes home from her run. Her hair is thrown up in a messy bun, her sweat slick on her skin and her running shorts hugging her behind tightly. Aaron walks into the living room to greet her to see two pairs of eyes glued to Emily's form as she walks into the kitchen to get some water.

He throws them a death glare and doesn't fight the smirk on his face when Emily presses a kiss to his lips in greeting.

--

[path-of-my-childhood]

The Story Behind Every Song on folklore - According to Aaron Dessner

By: Brady Gerber for Vulture Date: July 27th 2020

The National multi-instrumentalist spoke to Vulture over the phone from upstate New York a few hours after the surprise release of Swift’s eighth studio album. (“A pretty wild ride,” he admits, sounding tired yet happy.) He was clear that he can’t speak on behalf of Swift’s lyrics, much like he can’t for The National frontman Matt Berninger’s either, or the thinking behind Jack Antonoff’s songs. (Here’s a cheat sheet: Jack’s songs soar, Aaron’s glide.) But Dessner was game to speak to his specific contributions, influences, and own interpretations of each song on folklore, a record you can sum up by two words that came up often during our conversation: nostalgic and wry.

“the 1″

“the 1” and “hoax,” the first song and the last song, were the last songs we did. The album was sort of finished before that. We thought it was complete, but Taylor then went back into the folder of ideas that I had shared. I think in a way, she didn’t realize she was writing for this album or a future something. She wrote “the 1,” and then she wrote “hoax” a couple of hours later and sent them in the middle of the night. When I woke up in the morning, I wrote her before she woke up in LA and said, “These have to be on the record.” She woke up and said, “I agree” [laughs] These are the bookends, you know?

It’s clear that “the 1” is not written from her perspective. It’s written from another friend’s perspective. There’s an emotional wryness and rawness, while also to this kind of wink in her eyes. There’s a little bit of her sense of humor in there, in addition to this kind of sadness that exists both underneath and on the surface. I enjoy that about her writing.

The song began from the voice memo she sent me, and then I worked on the music some and we tracked her vocals, and then my brother added orchestration. There are a few other little bits, but basically that was one of the very last things we did.

“cardigan“

That’s the first song we wrote [in early May]. After Taylor asked if I would be interested in writing with her remotely and working on songs, I said, “Are you interested in a certain kind of sound?” She said, “I’m just interested in what you do and what you’re up to. Just send anything, literally anything, it could be the weirdest thing you’ve ever done,” so I sent a folder of stuff I had done that I was really excited about recently. “cardigan” was one of those sketches; it was originally called “Maple.” It was basically exactly what it is on the record, except we added orchestration later that my brother wrote.

I sent [the file] at 9 p.m., and around 2 a.m. or something, there was “cardigan,” fully written. That’s when I realized something crazy was happening. She just dialed directly into the heart of the music and wrote an incredible song and fully conceived of it and then kept going. It harkens back to lessons learned, or experiences in your youth, in a really beautiful way and this sense of longing and sadness, but ultimately, it’s cathartic. I thought it was a perfect match for the music, and how her voice feels. It was kind of a guide. It had these lower register parts, and I think we both realized that this was a bit of a lightning rod for a lot of the rest of the record.

The National’s Influence On Swift

She said that she’s a fan of the emotion that’s conveyed in our music. She doesn’t often get to work with music that is so raw and emotional, or melodic and emotional, at the same time. When I sent her the folder, that was one of the main feelings. She said, “What the fuck? How do you just have that?” [laughs] I was humbled and honored because she just said, “It’s a gift, and I want to write to all of this.” She didn’t write to all of it, but a lot of it, and relatively quickly.

She is a fan of the band, and she’s a fan of Big Red Machine. She’s well aware of the sentiment of it and what I do, but she didn’t ask for a certain kind of thing. I know that the film [I Am Easy To Find] has really affected her, and she’s very much in love with that film and the record. Maybe it’s subconsciously been an influence.

“the last great american dynasty”

I wrote that after we’d been working for a while. It was an attempt to write something attractive, more uptempo and kind of pushing. I also was interested in this almost In Rainbows-style latticework of electric guitars. They come in and sort of pull you along, kind of reminiscent of Big Red Machine. It was very much in this sound world that I’ve been playing around with, and she immediately clicked with that. Initially I was imagining these dreamlike distant electric guitars and electronics but with an element of folk. There’s a lot going on in that sense. I sent it before I went on a run, and when I got back from the run, that song was there [laughs].

She told me the story behind it, which sort of recounts the narrative of Rebekah Harkness, whom people actually called Betty. She was married to the heir of Standard Oil fortune, married into the Harkness family, and they bought this house in Rhode Island up on a cliff. It’s kind of the story of this woman and the outrageous parties she threw. She was infamous for not fitting in, entirely, in society; that story, at the end, becomes personal. Eventually, Taylor bought that house. I think that is symptomatic of folklore, this type of narrative song. We didn’t do very much to that either.

“exile” (ft. Bon Iver)

Taylor and William Bowery, the singer-songwriter, wrote that song initially together and sent it to me as a sort of a rough demo where Taylor was singing both the male and female parts. It’s supposed to be a dialogue between two lovers. I interpreted that and built the song, played the piano, and built around that template. We recorded Taylor’s vocals with her singing her parts but also the male parts.

We talked a lot about who she thought would be perfect to sing, and we kept coming back to Justin [Vernon]. Obviously, he’s a dear friend of mine and collaborator. I said, “Well, if he’s inspired by the song, he’ll do it, and if not, he won’t.” I sent it to him and said, “No pressure at all, literally no pressure, but how do you feel about this?” He said, “Wow.” He wrote some parts into it also, and we went back and forth a little bit, but it felt like an incredibly natural and safe collaboration between friends. It didn’t feel like getting a guest star or whatever. It was just like, well, we’re working on something, and obviously he’s crazy talented, but it just felt right. I think they both put so much raw emotion into it. It’s like a surface bubbling. It’s believable, you know? You believe that they’re having this intense dialogue.

With other people I had to be secretive, but with Justin, because he was going to sing, I actually did send him a version of the song with her vocals and told him what I was up to. He was like, “Whoa! Awesome!” But he’s been involved in so many big collaborative things that he wasn’t interested in it from that point of view. It’s more because he loved the song and he thought he could do something with it that would add something.

“my tears ricochet”

This is one of my absolute favorite songs on the record. I think it’s a brilliant composition, and Taylor’s words, the way her voice sounds and how this song feels, are, to me, one of the critical pieces. It’s lodged in my brain. That’s also very important to Taylor and Jack. It’s like a beacon for this record.

“mirrorball”

“mirrorball” is, to me, a hazy sort of beautiful. It almost reminds me of ‘90s-era Cardigans, or something like Mazzy Star. It has this kind of glow and haze. It feels really good before “seven,” which becomes very wistful and nostalgic. There are just such iconic images in the lyrics [“Spinning in my highest heels”], which aren’t coming to me at the moment because my brain is not working [laughs].

How Jack Antonoff’s Folklore Songs Differ From Dessner’s

I think we have different styles, and we weren’t making them together or in the same room. We both could probably come closer together in a sense that weirdly works. It’s like an archipelago, and each song is an island, but it’s all related. Taylor obviously binds it all together. And I think Jack, if he was working with orchestrations, there’s an emotional quality to his songs that’s clearly in the same world as mine.

We actually didn’t have a moodboard for the album at all. I don’t think that way. I don’t really know if she does either. I don’t think Jack... well, Jack might, but when I say the Cardigans or Mazzy Star, those aren’t Jack’s words about “mirrorball,” it’s just what calls to mind for me. Mainly she talked about emotion and to lean into it, the nostalgia and wistfulness, and the kind of raw, meditative emotion that I often kind of inhabit that I think felt very much where her heart was. We didn’t shy away from that.

“seven”

This is the second song we wrote. It’s kind of looking back at childhood and those childhood feelings, recounting memories and memorializing them. It’s this beautiful folk song. It has one of the most important lines on the record: “And just like a folk song, our love will be passed on.” That’s what this album is doing. It’s passing down. It’s memorializing love, childhood, and memories. It’s a folkloric way of processing.

“august”

This is maybe the closest thing to a pop song. It gets loud. It has this shimmering summer haze to it. It’s kind of like coming out of “seven” where you have this image of her in the swing and she’s seven years old, and then in “august” I think it feels like fast-forwarding to now. That’s an interesting contrast. I think it’s just a breezy, sort of intoxicating feeling.

“this is me trying”

“this is me trying,” to me, relates to the entire album. Maybe I’m reading into it too much from my own perspective, but [I think of] the whole album as an exercise and working through these stories, whether personal or old through someone else’s perspective. It’s connecting a lot of things. But I love the feeling in it and the production that Jack did. It has this lazy swagger.

“illicit affairs”

This feels like one of the real folk songs on the record, a sharp-witted narrative folk song. It just shows her versatility and her power as a songwriter, the sharpness of her writing. It’s a great song.

“invisible string”

That was another one where it was music that I’d been playing for a couple of months and sort of humming along to her. It felt like one of the songs that pulls you along. Just playing it on one guitar, it has this emotional locomotion in it, a meditative finger-picking pattern that I really gravitate to. It’s played on this rubber bridge that my friend put on [the guitar] and it deadens the strings so that it sounds old. The core of it sounds like a folk song.

It’s also kind of a sneaky pop song, because of the beat that comes in. She knew that there was something coming because she said, “You know, I love this and I’m hearing something already.” And then she said, “This will change the story,” this beautiful and direct kind of recounting of a relationship in its origin.

“mad woman”

That might be the most scathing song on folklore. It has a darkness that I think is cathartic, sort of witch-hunting and gaslighting and maybe bullying. Sometimes you become the person people try to pin you into a corner to be, which is not really fair. But again, don’t quote me on that [laughs], I just have my own interpretation. It’s one of the biggest releases on the album to me. It has this very sharp tone to it, but sort of in gothic folklore. It’s this record’s goth song.

“epiphany”

For “epiphany,” she did have this idea of a beautiful drone, or a very cinematic sort of widescreen song, where it’s not a lot of accents but more like a sea to bathe in. A stillness, in a sense. I first made this crazy drone which starts the song, and it’s there the whole time. It’s lots of different instruments played and then slowed down and reversed. It created this giant stack of harmony, which is so giant that it was kind of hard to manage, sonically, but it was very beautiful to get lost in. And then I played the piano to it, and it almost felt classical or something, those suspended chords.

I think she just heard it, and instantly, this song came to her, which is really an important one. It’s partially the story of her grandfather, who was a soldier, and partially then a story about a nurse in modern times. I don’t know if this is how she did it, but to me, it’s like a nurse, doctor, or medical professional, where med school doesn’t fully prepare you for seeing someone pass away or just the difficult emotional things that you’ll encounter in your job. In the past, heroes were just soldiers. Now they’re also medical professionals. To me, that’s the underlying mission of the song. There are some things that you see that are hard to talk about. You can’t talk about it. You just bear witness to them. But there’s something else incredibly soothing and comforting about this song. To me, it’s this Icelandic kind of feel, almost classical. My brother did really beautiful orchestration of it.

“betty”

This one Taylor and William wrote, and then both Jack and I worked on it. We all kind of passed it around. This is the one where Taylor wanted a reference. She wanted it to have an early Bob Dylan, sort of a Freewheelin’ Bob Dylan feel. We pushed it a little more towards John Wesley Harding, since it has some drums. It’s this epic narrative folk song where it tells us a long story and connects back to “cardigan.” It starts to connect dots and I think it’s a beautifully written folk song.

Is ‘betty” queer canon? I can’t speak to what it’s about. I have my own ideas. I also know where Taylor’s heart is, and I think that’s great anytime a song takes on greater meaning for anyone.

Is William Bowery secretly Joe Alwyn? I don’t know. We’re close, but she won’t tell me that. I think it’s actually someone else, but it’s good to have some mysteries.

“peace”

I wrote this, and Justin provided the pulse. We trade ideas all the time and he made a folder, and there was a pulse in there that I wrote these basslines to. In the other parts of the composition, I did it to Justin’s pulse. Taylor heard this sketch and she wrote the song. It reminds me of Joni Mitchell, in a way - there’s this really powerful and emotional love song, even the impressionistic, almost jazz-like bridge, and she weaves it perfectly together. This is one of my favorites, for sure. But the truth is that the music, that way of playing with harmonized basslines, is something that probably comes a little bit from me being inspired by how Justin does that sometimes. There’s probably a connection there. We didn’t talk too much about it [laughs].

“hoax”

This is a big departure. I think she said to me, “Don’t try to give it any other space other than what feels natural to you.” If you leave me in a room with a piano, I might play something like this. I take a lot of comfort in this. I think I imagined her playing this and singing it. After writing all these songs, this one felt the most emotional and, in a way, the rawest. It is one of my favorites. There’s sadness, but it’s a kind of hopeful sadness. It’s a recognition that you take on the burden of your partners, your loved ones, and their ups and downs. That’s both “peace” and “hoax” to me. That’s part of how I feel about those songs because I think that’s life. There’s a reality, the gravity or an understanding of the human condition.

Does Taylor Explain Her Lyrics?

She would always talk about it. The narrative is essential, and kind of what it’s all about. We’d always talk about that upfront and saying that would guide me with the music. But again, she is operating at many levels where there are connections between all of these songs, or many of them are interrelated in the characters that reappear. There are threads. I think that sometimes she would point it out entirely, but I would start to see these patterns. It’s cool when you see someone’s mind working.

“the lakes”

That’s a Jack song. It’s a beautiful kind of garden, or like you’re lost in a beautiful garden. There’s a kind of Greek poetry to it. Tragic poetry, I guess.

The Meaning Of Folklore

We didn’t talk about it at first. It was only after writing six or seven songs, basically when I thought my writing was done, when we got on the phone and said, “OK, I think we’re making an album. I have these six other ideas that I love with Jack [Antonoff] that we’ve already done, and I think what we’ve done fits really well with them.” It’s sort of these narratives, these folkloric songs, with characters that interweave and are written from different perspectives. She had a vision, and it was connecting back in some way to the folk tradition, but obviously not entirely sonically. It’s more about the narrative aspect of it.

I think it’s this sort of nostalgia and wistfulness that is in a lot of the songs. A lot of them have this kind of longing for looking back on things that have happened in your life, in your friend’s life, or another loved one’s life, and the kind of storytelling around that. That was clear to her. But then we kept going, and more and more songs happened.

It was a very organic process where [meaning] wasn’t something that we really discussed. It just kind of would happen where she would dive back into the folder and find other things that were inspiring. Or she and William Bowery would write “exile,” and then that happened. There were different stages of the process.

Okay, but is it A24-core? [Laughs.] Good comparison. 

[thesibfiles]

Courtney going on tour right after?

Theres a misconception that after Kurts death, Courtney went straight on tour right away. This is false. The album was already set to release a few days after and they couldnt change that on such a short notice. Promotion for the album was cancelled and she pushed back the tour 4 months.

“Live Through This was supposed to provide Love an opportunity to step out from her famous husband’s shadow. “It’s annoying now, and it’s been annoying for nine years, Love said in a 1999 Jane Magazine interview of always being connected to Cobain. Released four days after Cobain’s body was found, the album’s promotion was put on hold. Rather than retreat from the public eye, Love openly mourned and helped fans of Cobain and Nirvana make sense of the singer’s death. She sat with grieving teenagers gathered outside the couple’s Seattle home and recorded a reading of parts of his suicide note that was played at the singer’s memorial that gathered near the Space Needle. In the days following his death, Love showed a very raw and emotional side and admitted that, like many fans, she didn’t have all the answers. 

It was, and still is, impossible for people to discuss Live Through This without noting the irony of the album’s title. Love has said the name was not a prediction at all, but instead a reflection of all she had endured in the months leading up to its release, including a very public custody fight with the Los Angeles Department of Family Services over daughter Frances Bean. Rumors suggested that Cobain had written much of Live Through This (it’s Miss World, not Mister, just FYI). “I’d be proud as hell to say that he wrote something on it, but I wouldn’t let him. It was too Yoko for me. It’s like, ‘No fucking way, man! I’ve got a good band, I don’t fucking need your help,’” was Love’s response to critics in Spin’s oral history of Live Through This. Love and Cobain often shared notebooks and lyrics with each other, and while there is talk of Cobain’s influence on Love’s work, or the writing of all of it, less is mentioned in the press of her impact on his lyrics and music. Rather than sucking all the life out of Nirvana or threatening the success of the band, like many assumed she would do, she inspired Cobain. Fun fact: In Utero, Nirvana’s last album, was named after a line from one of Love’s poems.

Sadly, songwriting rumors would be replaced by other rumors. Women are often vilified and condemned for the deaths of their male partners. Love, like all women, was supposed to save her partner from death and addiction. Fans of Cobain projected all their anger and resentment over the loss of the Nirvana front man onto Love, and soon she was blamed for not only his addiction but also his death. There are even two movies devoted to the theory that Courtney killed Kurt: the awful Soaked in Bleach (2015) and the equally awful Kurt & Courtney (1998). If you think we’ve come a long way, baby, sadly we haven’t. 

One year after Anthony Bourdain’s death, Asia Argento is still being blamed, and in September 2018, Ariana Grande had to take a break from social media after fans blamed her for the death of her ex Mac Miller. A few months later, she would be blamed for new beau Pete Davidson’s mental health and addiction issues. It’s amazing she finds the time to write hit songs what with all the dude destruction she has going on. When women are not being blamed for the deaths of the men in their lives, they are being attacked for not grieving properly. “She wasn’t crying. She’s got $30 million coming to her. Do you blame her for being so cool?” a hospital staffer said of Yoko Ono following John Lennon’s murder in 1980. 

About four months after Cobain’s death, Love went on tour to promote her new album. Some questioned and judged why she would go on tour so soon, but Love has said it was a necessity. She had a young daughter to support. She needed to work. She also, sadly, still needed to prove herself. “I would like to think that I’m not getting the sympathy vote, and the only way to do that is to prove that what I’ve got is real,” Love told Rolling Stone in 1994.

Twenty-five years later, Cobain’s death still hangs over Live Through This. In the days leading up to the anniversary of Cobain’s death, former Hole bassist Melissa Auf der Maur wrote an open letter to music magazine Kerrang saying she “would not stand for Kurt’s death overshadowing the life and work of the women he left behind this year.”

“We were extremely well designed for each other,” Love has said of her relationship with Cobain. In a letter reprinted in Dirty Blonde: The Diaries of Courtney Love, she calls him “my everything. the top half on my fraction.” The two had similar upbringings, both came from broken homes and spent childhoods shuttling between relatives and friends. They both grew up longing for love and acceptance. When we tell the story of Kurt and Courtney we talk about drugs and destruction, but we don’t talk enough about love.

The two also shared an intense drive and ambition. “I didn’t want to marry a rock star, I wanted to be one,” Love said in a 1992 Sassy interview. Evidence of her drive can be found in the many notes and to-do lists she kept, some of which are collected in Dirty Blonde. There are reminders to send her acting résumé to agencies, to write three to four new songs a week, to “achieve L.A. visibility.” A scene in the documentary Kurt & Courtney features an ex of Love’s reading from one of her to-do lists, which has “become friends with Michael Stipe” as the number one task to complete (not only did Love do this, but he is her daughter’s godfather). This ambition is not surprising from a woman who, when she was younger, mailed a tape of herself singing to Neil Sedaka in hopes of getting signed. Love knew what she wanted at an early age, and what she wanted was fame.

She was certainly living by the “do not hurt yourself, destroy yourself, mangle yourself to get the football captain. Be the football captain!” motto she championed in the 1995 documentary Not Bad for a Girl. Ambition is often a dirty word when it is used to describe women and Love is no exception. She has been repeatedly described as calculating and controlling when she should be rewarded for her blond ambition and viewed as an inspiration. Critics and the press often call her a gold digger who only married Cobain for fame and money. They fail to mention that when the two met Pretty on the Inside was actually selling more copies than Bleach, Nirvana’s debut album. Even post-Kurt, Love’s intentions were always under scrutiny. On the Today Show to do press for The People vs. Larry Flynt, Love refused to talk about her past drug use, despite the host’s repeated questions, saying the topic was not an appropriate fit for the show’s demographic. She was right, but it didn’t stop a writer from describing the move as “calculating” in a 1998 Spin piece.

Cobain was ambitious too; he was just much slyer and more secretive about it. He was known to call his manager and complain when MTV didn’t play Nirvana’s videos enough, and he would correct journalists who misquoted the band’s sales figures in interviews. While success is typically celebrated and rewarded for men and it certainly was for Cobain, he also had to be mindful of the slacker generation that loved Nirvana and greeted success — and especially mainstream success —

While female celebrities like Love are criticized for their rebellion, male celebrities, like Cobain for example, are celebrated and mythologized for it. Cobain and Love both struggled with addiction, but it is Love who is repeatedly vilified for her drug use. “She was vilified for being a mess, for being a drug addict, for not being a great parent — in other words, all of the things we expect in a male rock star,” said Bust magazine in a piece in the magazine’s 20th anniversary issue, which featured Love on the cover.

We make jokes about the drug antics of male celebrities from Keith Richards to Charlie Sheen, idolizing their debauchery and depravity. The new Netflix/Lifetime movie by Jack Daniels, The Dirt, about Mötley Crüe, takes the band’s excesses to almost comic levels. Check out crazy tourmate Ozzy Osbourne snorting a line of ants by a hotel pool! Such zany antics! I would love to see Lindsay Lohan try to get away with that. We never allow women to live down their arrests and their addictions, but we repeatedly allow men to have a redemption arc. Robert Downey Jr. was in and out of jail and on and off drugs for much of the mid to late ’90s, but we rarely, if ever, talk about his past.

When Love isn’t being attacked for her addiction issues, she is being judged for her parenting. Love’s first unflattering press was “Strange Love,” the much publicized 1992 Vanity Fair profile by Lynn Hirschberg. While the piece talks at length about Love’s drug use and constantly questions her parenting ability, it doesn’t paint Cobain in the same light. “It is appalling to think that she would be taking drugs when she knew she was pregnant,” says one close friend in the piece. Hirschberg relies on many unnamed sources and focuses often on the tabloid-like aspects of Love’s life and addictions. “Courtney has a long history with drugs. She loves Percodans (‘They make me vacuum’), and has dabbled with heroin off and on since she was eighteen, once even snorting it in Room 101 of the Chelsea Hotel, where Nancy Spungen died,” she writes. “Reportedly, Kurt didn’t do much more than drink until he met Courtney.” (Even when it is reported by Kurt and Krist that Kurt tried heroin in 1989, way before Courtney, It was also known that he smoked weed and used caugh syrup to get high in 1989 and 1990.)

This double standard was common in coverage of the couple. In Kurt Cobain: Montage of Heck, the 2015 documentary by Brett Morgen, Love asks her husband, “Why does everyone think you’re the good one and I’m the bad one?” Later in the film we see a scene of Frances Bean’s first haircut. The child sits on Cobain’s lap while Love searches for a comb and scissors. The camera shows Cobain nodding off, and while he maintains that he is just tired, it’s clear he’s not. The scene is painful to watch, especially because those around Cobain carry on like nothing in wrong, giving the feeling this is just like any other day in the Love-Cobain household. The scene is a reminder of how the press treated Cobain’s addiction when he was alive. They just carried on like nothing was wrong, instead directing all their judgement at Love.

[yyxgin]

A SONG REQUEST

"with you, feel like summer."

~ where you always listen to the same radio station and he lives in the apartment complex opposite of yours. perhaps you play your radio a little too loud on sundays.

pairing: jungkook x fem!reader

genre: romance (fluff and a hint of angst I guess)

words: 2.3k

warnings: reader's a little sad in one part of the story,, also I don’t actually know that pancake song but I googled the lyrics and they’re nice lmao

„Hello! You're listening to Honey FM, this is Min Yoongi, your usual host! What is your song request, young man?“ you hear the smooth, honey voice calling from the radio.

You are currently sitting in your kitchen, eating your delicious lunch you've made yourself from the last bits stored in your fridge, hapilly watching people walk the street under your open window. The street is narrow, because the other apartement complex stands right in front of your window, but there's still plenty of people there as it's a short cut for people rushing to work.

„Hello! I'd like to request a song for this one girl who's always playing her radio super loud every sunday at this time. I'm pretty sure she's listening right now and eating her scrambled eggs.“ you hear other voice say. Perhaps you could say it sounded even more pleasent than the radio host's, but you swear to be faithful to the one and only Min Yoongi.

You look back to your plate of scrabled eggs and laugh. How ironic, it sounds just like you. Maybe that girl is your soulmate and you were destined to meet some day.

„Is there something you'd like to say to this girl?“ asks Yoongi, voice curious.

„Yeah, um.. No offence, but could you maybe turn it down a little? I live right opposite of you and it's slowly getting on my nerves.“ you hear and laugh out loud.

„Also, could you maybe look out your window to see me instead of laughing?“ his voice changes into irritated, but playful at the same time.

Out of curiosity, you look out your window as if the guy was talking to you to see a young man standing in the window opposide of yours with a phone pressed to his ear. You see him smirk and wave at you, making your heart jump.

„What song would you like me to play?“ asks Yoongi again as your eyes never leave the boy in the window.

„Could you maybe play Blueprint by Stray Kids? She seems to enjoy their music a lot.“ he giggles and your mind takes you back to all the times you've danced in your kitchen to their songs, singing your heart out. You suddenly feel red in your cheeks.

„Coming right at you! Did you hear him girl? Tone it down a little! But only after listening to this song requested only and only for you.“ Yoongi's voice slowly trails off as the first tones of the song start playing, making you feel excited in your bones.

The boy only stares at you for a second before he slowly turns around with a huge smile and dissapeaes further into his own apartment.

„Hello! You're listening to Honey FM, this is Min Yoongi, your usual host! What is your song request?“

It's sunday and you're sitting in your kitchen eating lunch with your windows open and your radio on full volume again. You feel good, happy, even. The weather got warmer and it finally feels like summer.

„Hi! I'd like to request a song for the girl blasting her radio again, because it seems she didn't learn her lesson from last week!“ you hear a familiar voice call out, making you snap your head and look out your window.

„Poor girl! Well, could you blame her? At least she's having fun. What song are we playing for her?“

„I think she hates metal music, so I'm requesting Enter Sandman by Metallica, hope she turns it down this time.“ he laughs and you see him smile in the window. His plan is evil, but he sure does not look evil at all. His smile could light up the world and you swear you feel your lips turn upwards to mirror his.

„Here you go then! Girl in the window, don't dissapoint the poor boy again!“ you hear Yoongi say and you face palm as you see the boy put a winning fist up in the air.

But to tease him even more, you don't turn down the music. You stand up and dance along instead, your whole performance being watched by a smiling boy with sparkling eyes in the window opposite of yours.

„Hello! You're listening to Honey FM, this is Min Yoongi, your usual host! May I ask your song request?“

„Hey! It's me again, I'm calling for the third time in a row now. I'd like to request a song for the girl in the window, like always. It seems that this is our only way of communication because I'm not going to act like Taylor Swift in that one music video, if you know what I mean, but I'd like to tell her that her pancakes are burning.“ a familiar voice says and you panic.

You've been so immersed in the music, you haven't noticed that in a few moments, your whole kitchen could be on fire because you've forgotten about your pancake.

You swiftly take a spatchula and flip the pancake, face palming yourself in the process and giggling a little at the black color of the pancake. You surely aren't going to eat this one.

„Girl! Be more careful while cooking, I know our music occupies your mind a lot, but make sure this poor boy doesn't have to call fire-fighters instead. Anyways, what song are we playing for the nifty girl?“ Yoongi's voice is full of enthusiasm and joy, it seems like he enjoys the ever occuring calls he gets from the boy every sunday.

„Let's play her Banana pancakes by Jack Johnson, so she doesn'g forget about hers again,“ he snickers and you feel your cheeks burning a little again.

The song starts after a while and you can't help but smile the whole time as you're making your pancakes, making sure not to burn any more of them, not knowingly being watched by the boy matching your food choice in the window opposite of yours.

You're pacing in your kitchen, changing your clothes every few minutes. The radio is loudly playing, but you're hardly paying any attention to it with the fragile mental stabillity you're in right now.

„Hello! You're listening to Honey FM, this is Min Yoongi, your usual host! What is your song request today?“

„Hi! It's me again. I'd like to say something to the girl in the window. Umm.. I don't know where you're going, but you look beautiful so please stop worrying and changing every few minutes.“ he softly laughs and makes you stop in your tracks.

You slowly look out of the window and see him there, in gray sweatpants and a black over-sized t-shirt. He's holding a coffe cup in one hand and his phone in the other, but his gaze is focused only on you.

„You hear him, girl? Stop worrying. But what if she's going on a date, though?“ asks Yoongi and you feel your cheeks burning as if you were caught.

„I hope she has fun, then!“ he says and you see him smile, but it doesn't really reach his eyes as it always does.

„What song are you requesting for her?“

„I don't know, man. What makes you beautiful by One direction? It kinda fits the mood right now.“ he cracks up and his eyes crincle at the corners along with his nose, making him look like an adorable bunny.

„One direction it is. Have fun, girl!“ you hear Yoongi say and even if you were supposed to leave right now, you don't. You stay in your kitchen and listen to the song the sweet boy requested for you, because there's just something about him that makes you want to stay.

After the song ends, you leave. You don't see the boy silently watching your steps through the window.

„Hello! You're listening to Honey FM, this is Min Yoongi, your usual host! What song may I play for you?“

You quietly listen to the radio and watch people with blurry eyes. It's raining and everyone's running home with umbrellas over their heads. You slowly move your gaze at the glass of wine you're holding in your hands and finish it.

„Hey Yoongi, it's me again. I'd like to request for the girl in the window, because she seems a little sad today. I don't know what happened, but I want to cheer her up a little.“

„I'm so sorry to hear that. What song are we playing for her?“

„It's Promise by Park Jimin. This song means a lot to me and I hope she'll feel a little better after hearing it.“ he mumbles.

„Cheer up, girl from the window!“ says Yoongi before the music starts.

The sound of rain blends a little with the words of the song, but you don't dare to look at him through the window as your sobs only pick on their intensity. You clench the empty glass of wine in your hands and helplessly try to catch air.

But when you finally stop after a while and look out the window, you see his face in the dark apartment, still watching you. You snicker at the realisation that this poor boy cares more about you than the guy you went on a date with last week ever did.

„Hello! You're listening to Honey FM, this is Min Yoongi, your usual host! What can I play for you?“

„Hey! It's me again!“

„Hey! Is the girl from the window feeling any better?“ asks Yoongi and you feel your lips quietly turn into a smile.

„I hope she is! Anyways, I'm requesting a song for her today because I just felt like it, you know. I have nothing on my mind right now that I want to say to her, just that I'll enjoy the song with her.“ he says and you look out the window to see him already standing there.

„What song is it than?“

„It's Fancy by TWICE. I hope you dance with me, window girl!“

The song starts playing and you see him slowly start moving into the rythm as he begins to dance. His dance moves are really silly and you can't help but mirror them as you giggle at him.

The tones of the music are so carefree and you feel like you never want to stop dancing. With him.

„Hello! You're listening to Honey FM, this is Min Yoongi, your usual host! What is your song request today?“

„Hey! It's me again. It's the last time I'm going to call, I promise.“ your breath hitches upon hearing these words.

„And why is that?“ even Yoongi sounds a little sad to lose his stable caller.

„Well, you see… I kinda have a crush on the girl from the window and I can't stop thinking about her recently, so I'm shooting my shot today. I know you're listening, so, if you wanna, we can meet in front of your apartment complex. And maybe go for a lunch. If you want…“ he trails off and your heart picks up on speed.

„This is so sweet of you! I'm glad I can be the help to pass the message. What song are we playing as the last one from your journey?“

„It's Our Summer by Tomorrow x Together, because when I see her, it truly feels like summer every time.“ he softly laughs.

„Okay! So, the girl from the window, we know you're listening! You have an only chance to meet your admirer, so after the song ends, don't waste any time in running out of your apartment complex and meet him!“ says Yoongi and the song softly starts playing.

„I'm glad I could witness this romance bloom, kids.“ you hear him fake-crying as his voice dissapears entirely and the song plays on full volume.

Any other time, you wouldn't leave without listening to the song the boy requested for you, but today, you have no time to waste.

You take your keys and run out of the apartment complex only in your flip-flops, not even bothering to turn off the radio. You see him standing there right after you open the glass door.

His smile only grows wider as you cut the short distance and run into him, finding your place right in his arms.

You feel his hands gently squeezing your waist as he puts his head on your shoulder, breathing in your scent.

You hear his muffled voice as the soft tones of the song coming from your window make you feel truly special.

„I'm Jungkook, by the way.“

„Hello! You're listening to Honey FM, this is Min Yoongi, your usual host! What song can I play for you?“

„Hey! My name is is Jungkook and I'd like to request a song for my wonderful girlfriend, because it's our anniversery today.“ you hear the voice of your boyfriend coming from the radio as you watch him in the window waving at you with a huge grin on your face.

„That's wonderful! How did you two guys meet?“ asks Yoongi with curiosity.

„Well, actually, I requested a song for her over here every sunday for a month a year ago.“ explains Jungkook and you can't help but laugh out loud at how ridicilous it sounds.

„Oh my God! Is this for the girl in the window?“ gasps your favorite radio host as the realisation hits him.

„Yes! Do you remember us?“

„Of course! What song can I play for you two?“

„It's the same song as the last time I called, because it was the song I heard while something new and wonderful was only at the beginning. So, I'd like to hear Our Summer by TXT again.“

„Sure! Any other words you'd like to say to your girlfriend?“

„Yeah… Y/N, I love you! And don't forget to be out in 5 minutes so we can leave for our lunch." he giggles as the song starts and you can no longer deny it, the boy from the window truly cares for you the most.

[totomoshi]

Everybody Talks

Pairing: Why Don’t We x best friend!reader, Daniel Seavey x reader

Warning: Mentions of depression and death!!

authors note: this idea has been in my head for a few months now and i was a bit hesitant but, here’s my very first attempt of fanfiction based on my ideas. hope you guys love it !

Today was most probably the most boring day in all of the boring days... at least that’s what you thought.

In all honesty, with everything that’s been happening in the world + life making you depressed, you just wanted to go and have fun. Even if sometimes you don’t want to get out of bed and just stay in the comforts of your trusted blanket.

Alas, you know you’ll have to get out for food and water so here you are: lying on the couch for the past 10 minutes, figuring what to do to conquer your boredom. You’d call the boys, but they’re probably at the studio right now, at least that's what Daniel told you anyway.

You've already contemplated on whether just to go for a walk in the park for the needed amount of fresh air, but that meant you’d have to go change and you’re already so comfortable in your worn-out tank top and baggy jeans.

It was another 10 minutes of thinking when suddenly someone knocked on the door of your apartment.

“Who is it?” you asked

“It’s us!! Open up!!”

Wait a minute...that’s Daniel’s voice! But he's supposed to be at the studio...how did he -?

Your thoughts were interrupted by another knock on the door

“Come on y/n!! These snacks and pizzas are heavy y’know?!” Zach whined

‘Is the whole band here??’ you wondered

You decided to find answers of your own and immediately opened the door to find that not 1, not 2 but all 5 members of the boy band outside your door with each member bringing a type of snack, boxes of pizza and... CDs?

“What are you all doing here? Aren't you supposed to be at the studio???” you asked surprised and a bit confused, to be honest

“Well...I- I mean we kinda lied” Daniel chuckled with the usual mischievous glint in his bright blue eyes

You immediately blushed and smiled shyly. It was amazing how with just a glance, this man can turn you into a blushing mess.

“Look, I’m glad that you guys are having a moment and everything but can we come in? Because I wasn't kidding when I said that these snacks and pizza boxes were heavy” Zach whined. Both Daniel’s and I face turned crimson red to that.

“O-oh yeah! Sorry guys, please come in!!” I stuttered as the boys started to scatter around the apartment

“So the five of you still haven't answered my question, what are you doing here??” I questioned

“We heard you weren’t feeling well, that's why we decided to come and check up on you” Jonah spoke up

“It’s okay guys, I can handle it. I’m used to handling this on my own, it will pass. Trust me.” I reassured

“We know, but nobody should be dealing with these types of things alone. We all understand how you feel so trust me when I say for all of us, that we’re here for you. You’re not going through this alone, you have us.” Daniel reassured while looking at me with his soft eyes that radiated a blue so bright that it could give the sea a run for its money.

If you were being honest, you weren't always like this. Usually, you could hold it all in but with your grandfather’s death anniversary coming up and all of your schoolwork increasing, you felt like you were gonna burst. Also, the fact that the boys were all here wasn't making the entire ‘holding it in’ plan promising.

After hearing Daniel's reassurance, you decided to just let it all out and that's how you became a sobbing mess in his arms.

“I-i just couldn't deal with everything you know? With grandpa’s anniversary coming up it's making it a hell lot difficult to be okay. Usually, I could hold it in but I just miss him so much” you sobbed into his hoodie

“Hey there, it's okay. You don't have to hold it in anymore. You have us, remember? We’ll always be here for you” Jack cooed

At this point, you don't even know if it was even possible to die from their purity and love for you.

“Y-you guys are the best. I love you guys so so much” you mumbled while reaching out to form a group hug

“We love you too y/n,” they said

“Yeah, some more than others” Corbyn mumbled which was immediately met with 4 other glares

“What?”

“Uh, nothing!! Nothing at all!” he replied nervously

You just shrugged it off thinking it was some sort of an inside joke between them

“So, what else did you all decided to grace me with? Besides your presence of course,” you asked teasingly

“Well, we knew how much you loved it when I did a cover of Everybody Talks on my Instagram live. So we decided to do the full cover of it, right here just for you” Daniel explained

Excited couldn't even begin to fully explain how you felt during this exact moment. Just to summarise it, your feelings were all over the place. Touched; because you didn't think he listened to your random rants especially the ones about him. Excited; who wouldn't be? You're about to hear your favourite boy band do a full cover of one of your favourite songs!! Then there were other feelings that you didn't think there would be enough words in the English language to describe it.

“Zach! Would you kindly do the honours?” Jonah asked

“It would be my pleasure” Zach jokingly said in a fake posh voice

He then went to your stereo and inserted the Everybody Talks cd. The minute the music started to play, you sat excitedly on the couch as the boys started to sing

Jonah

Hey baby, won't you look my way?

I can be your new addiction

Hey baby, what you gotta say?

All you're giving me is fiction

I’m a sorry sucker and this happens all the time

I found out that everybody talks,

Everybody talks, everybody talks

You were honestly surprised because the minute Jonah started to sing, he pulled you up from the couch to dance with him to match the energetic beat of the song.

Daniel

It started with a whisper

And that was when I kissed her

And then she made my lips hurt

I could hear the chit chat

Take me to your love shack

Mama’s always gotta backtrack

When everybody talks back

Then, you were suddenly whisked into Daniel’s arms which in all honesty you didn’t mind one bit. As he sang the chorus, he looked into your eyes with his signature smile. Even though there were 4 other people in the room, it felt like both of you were the only two people there.

Corbyn

Hey honey, you could be my drug

You could be my new prescription

Too much could be an overdose

All this trash talk make me itchin’

Oh my, my shit

Everybody talks, everybody talks

Everybody talks, too much

When it was Corbyn’s turn, him being Corbyn, he danced goofily around you which made you giggled and you decided to join him and be goofy too.

Daniel

It started with a whisper

And that was when I kissed her

And then she made my lips hurt

I could hear the chit chat

Take me to your love shack

Mama’s always gotta backtrack

When everybody talks back

You didn’t know whether it was your feelings for him or the fact that he was also your best friend, but you couldn't take your eyes off him. It was as if he was an angel that God sent you, he was just so perfect. But watching him dedicating the lyrics to you right now, you knew that whatever hell you go through, at the end of the day he’ll always be there to save you.

Jack

Never thought I’d live

To see the day

When everybody’s words got in the way

Hey

You knew that when it reached Jack’s part, he would back hug you and he did. It was something you two always did as you both were always affectionate with each other.

When the guitar riff started playing, the six of you started to dance like crazy. It was the exact thing you needed, just having fun with your 5 best friends.

Zach

Hey sugar, show me all your love

All you’re giving me is friction

Hey sugar, what you gotta say?

You knew exactly what to do when it was Zach’s turn. The minute he started singing, you climbed on his back which made him stumbled a little. He danced and spun with you on him which made you laugh like crazy.

Daniel

It started with a whisper

And that was when I kissed her

And then she made my lips hurt

I could hear the chit chat

Take me to your love shack

Mama's always gotta backtrack

When everybody talks back

The minute it was Daniel's turn again, he whisked you in his arms and started to twirl you which you didn't even know he could do. That boy’s always full of surprises.

All of you

Everybody talks

Everybody talks

Everybody talks

Everybody talks

Everybody talks

Everybody talks, back

Seeing you dance like that was something Daniel hadn't seen in a while. He was glad that you were smiling because of something he and the boys planned. He would give the world just to make sure you’d never lose your smile. It was 2 years into your friendship when he realised he was hopelessly in love with you. He knew he can't do anything that will risk the friendship that you two have. But seeing you having fun with his 4 best friends made him threw every doubt he had out the window.

‘Oh fuck it’ he thought

Corbyn

It started with a whisper

And that was when I kissed her

Just as Corbyn sang the second line, Daniel went up to you and planted his lips on yours. You? You were surprised. How could you not? The boy of your dreams is kissing you right now!! It took a few seconds but you gladly returned the kiss which made him smiled into the kiss.

After a few more seconds, the both of you pulled apart with huge smiles on your faces.

“I’ve been wanting to do that” Daniel mumbled

“Me too” you grinned

“Nailed it!!” the rest of the boys shouted which made the two of you laughed.

Who knew that dancing to your favourite song could lead you and your best friend to confess your feelings to each other?

[lsobelevans]

Horror tropes? In my Roswell, New mexico? It’s more likely than you think!

In this essay I will...

...be mentioning a few horror/thriller movies and while nothing explicitly gory or scary will be shown in this post, those movies definitely contain scenes and themes that can be disturbing/scary/triggering, do your researches if you’ve got doubts!

...be focusing on the Maria and Alex road-trip, from the moment the car breaks down to the last scene with Travis’ twin. I’m probably going to be led to briefly mention the other scenes that are intertwined with this arc (the echo date and the Planet 7 Kyle and Isobel scene, as well as the marlex car drive when I feel like it is relevant). 

...be approaching specific themes that are used in the scenes that compose this little arc and also more general ones like sound, editing, cinematography and color. 

... be reaching a lot. I do not think everything I will be mentioning is 100% thought-out and voluntary (although you never know). But I’m a firm believer that in filmmaking, yes even inside a CW show, the symbolism comes through subconsciously. So like, maybe they didn’t mean to use corn field as a mark for transition, but it doesn’t take away from the fact that this symbolism works with the story they’re telling and for the journey the characters are in that moment. Additionally, lighting, decor and costumes are always a choice, just like the camera doesn’t position itself randomly, someone’s behind and thinking of the composition of shots that, even if it’s in a basic way, has meaning.

... be starting chronologically but I’ll also make jumps backward and forward, grasping on themes when they come up. Ok, then, let’s dive in! 

This episode references and uses a lot of the iconic mechanisms of the horror movie genre. Alex and Maria’s comfortable road trip atmosphere, open hearted conversation in the car, breaks at the same time as the car itself breaks. The camera, steady so far, the shots following a well known pattern of shot/counter-shot, becomes more unpredictable and shakier and suddenly we’re out of the car, and bam, large shot. 

From the moment they’re out of the car, you won’t be able to see the horizon. Maria and Alex are stuck in a corn field, and they’re stuck in the frame. 

Then poof, Travis appears out of nowhere, accompanied with a pang of music, frightening us and them. Well, more exactly, it cuts on a shot that we’ve seen before without Travis, now with Travis, which gives us the appearing out of nowhere effect. 

Alex says it best.

Well now they’re stuck with a strange guy with an axe, and in a corn field 😬

Hey, have you seen he’s got an axe??? or do you need a close-up???

Okay, this scene ends there. So, let’s take a break and talk about cornfields. There’s many examples of horror movies making use of a field of corn as a location, famously Children of the Corn (1984), Dark Night of the Scarecrow (1995) Signs (2002), that last one also involving, you guessed it, aliens. 

Screenshots from the Signs trailer.

Corn fields are strongly associated with rurality, especially rural America. More largely, they can represent renewal, fertility or abundance. In the contrary, they can be seen as a very ominous location due to their immensity, a labyrinth in which you can’t see very far away and from which you’ll have trouble coming out. 

Although I’m pretty sure Maria’s chase in the cornfield is more of a reference to The Shining (1980) it reminded me of one of my favorite scenes from one of my favorite movies Tom à la ferme (2013), in which Tom is basically held hostage in rural Canada. The corn field chase is a turning point, the last of Tom's attempts to escape. 

Cornfields apparently also often imply scarecrows, which are inherently scary in my opinion but we’ll talk about it more later. 

The next scene takes place inside of Travis' cabin. 

The lighting here is pretty low, the light coming from a few small sources, creating a lot of shadows. The main color is a greenish/yellow which can be associated with nature and earth, rurality, dirty, suffocating. If we look at it, the color scheme of the entire road trip is very much following this pattern of browns/yellows/greens because of the cornfield and the color of the characters costumes (the exception being Maria’s truck which is a bright red). In opposition, the scenes that are intertwined are either blue and orange for Max and Liz or a lot of pink/blues/purples for Isobel and Kyle in planet 7 (bi bi bi).

The cabin is messy, supposedly reflecting the state of the owner’s mind. We get a nice close-up on meat + a knife and all of the creepy skins on the walls. Also, it’s noticeable that from this moment on, the camera is shakier, we experience different angles too. 

We are given many visual clues that something is wrong. 

I’m gonna pass on the sound of the sound of the cow parodying a werewolf + the vampire diaries inside joke. 

Btw, if the fact that Travis names his cows -- that he skins for a living -- like human women isn’t enough for you to think mmmm. we are in danger. Well, don’t worry. The cw spells it out for you!!

We know Alex! We got contextual clues!

Right after this, Alex and Maria make another direct reference to being in a horror movie situation. 

ALEX: This is why I don’t like horror films. The gay guy always dies first.

MARIA: ???? 

ALEX: Or... second. Okay, that’s fair. That look, that’s fair. 

I think this bit is interesting, because not only does it denounce an horror movie cliché (the black person of the cast dies first, the queer person is second) but also in this situation I believe it can be see as kind of a callout on the fandom’s behavior that i’m not gonna spell out for you but yeah. Fellow queer people, don’t forget you’re not the only one who is sometimes badly/unfairly represented. 

Moving on. In the next scene, Alex is searching the cabin for clues, and we are also given some about Travis. 

Either he has a twin brother or he’s got a framed picture of himself on his wall. Oh, and he’s military.

Then Travis startles Alex and plays a little bit of banjo, which is a good excuse to stop and talk about music. The show uses a lot of diegetic music aka music that is present in the universe of the story, that the characters can also hear. It justify the use of said music and it ties the audio with the picture.

The banjo already is heard at the very beginning of the arc during a cut from the planet 7 scene to the road trip scene. We get a few notes that indicate a change of scenery and that helps smooth up the transition, and I’m pretty sure it was also supposed to be diegetic music coming from Maria’s radio. The banjo, like the corn field, is super linked with rurality and rural America (again!)

Another reference of the banjo in horror/thriller would be Deliverance (1972).

I can’t not think of this movie when I hear banjo unfortunately. 

The way Travis plays, aggressively bad, and while singing I Think We’re Alone Now, is supposed to make you think about that scene in The Umbrella Academy be quite unsettling, another point for isolation horror. 

So sweet of Travis to attack Alex with a guitar, and then a smol knife, and not with the axe <3. 

Then we’ve got a traveling zoom-in (or equivalent I’m not sure it isn’t a steady-cam here but the effect is the same) on Maria. This kind of effect can feel a little bit over-the-top and dramatic, in a old genre movie kind of way. It is usually used to bring the audience in, make it feel like you’re evolving in the same universe as the characters (here you’re walking toward Maria). In a scene where you should feel scared, it can be a mean to make you feel more engaged, as well as underlining Maria’s expression, her fear. In my opinion, this is also a way to tell you that from now on, Maria is the main character of this arc, the one that you will be following after the commercial break (that occurs right after) and making it more suspenseful. 

The scene after the break is the start of the corn-field chase. Travis steps out of the cabin, the cuts are faster, many close-shots, some even out of focus, that accelerate the rhythm, and a long fade-in of a new song: a modern, electronic song (Kim Petra’s Close You Eyes) completely in opposition with the acoustic banjo and with the atmosphere of the scene, which makes it strange and makes you think oh, what a weird choice! (at least it did for me lol). The lyrics, however, go very well with the scene. 

I feel it coming on You've got nowhere to run There's no way you'll make it out alive

Yep. 

We find out right after that the music is in fact diegetic but for Isobel and Kyle, it’s another use of music to ease a transition between 2 scenes that are different in every possible way. 

Now, the corn-field chase. As I mentioned before, I believe it’s a direct reference to The Shining’s ending chase scene where Jack Torrance chases his son Danny through a vegetal labyrinth with an axe. 

From the shots to the lighting (from behind or on the side, making the characters look like silhouettes) both scenes are very similar. Also, Travis is styled like Jack Nicholson ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Oh look, Michael’s here to save the day!

Oh well, guess not. 

Yeah, in this scene, and like we’ve been shown before, Maria is going to be the one that saves everyone. The racist cliché of the black character dying first in a horror movie is reversed, Maria is the last one standing. The scarecrow (that looked conveniently a lot like Maria) is supposed to play in favor of the bad guy, it’s a scary element, creating confusion and unease, but here the character decides to basically take it into her own hands and bend the rules. This character says i’m not that archetype, and she’s going to be using the horror movie tools against itself. 

Lastly, the final horror movie recurring theme that I’m going to talk about is the twin/the double. 

Yes, twins is a spooky tool used in horror movie because their similarities make them unsettling, uncanny. 

There’s also the idea that if one were to replace the other, you wouldn’t be able to tell. The impostor is a very scary concept that Roswell has also dealt with before. 

I can’t be the only one that has been traumatized by that halloween special of the Simpsons where Bart has an evil twin... 

It’s the last twist of the arc, there is a bad!Travis and a good!Travis. The bad one kept the other locked-up somewhere and had taken his place. 

It’s particularly interesting for Roswell that has a history with twins/doppelgänger, and that since the original show. It is a clear instance of in-world foreshadowing here! (howdy)

My conclusion about all this is that the people who worked on 2x06 had a great time building the episode and it shows, while also making it enjoyable to watch and yeah, we love to see it! 

[prettyinlimegreenboots]

This I Promise You - Life in the ER

I’ve been playing around with this for a bit now. I had an itch to write Katherine and Jack’s wedding date from the “Life in the ER” series. So without further ado, here’s their wedding.

Disclaimers: I do not own anything that you’re familiar with - names, songs, lyrics, etc.

Warnings: Alcohol, swearing, mentions of blood

Katherine’s Dress

Also, I have the next three “Life in the ER” installments figured out. If there’s something you would like to see in this series, please send me a message.

Many, many, many thanks to @thebarkeepwrites for your many chats with me regarding this section. This wouldn’t have been written without your help and encouragement!!!

June 3, 2017

She stared at herself in the mirror. She had just put on her emerald green dress and was giving herself one more glance before the rest of the wedding party would see her, most importantly before Jack would see her. She had never wanted to be the blushing bride in a white dress. She had found the A-line V-neck asymmetrical dress online and had fallen in love with it immediately. It had lace on the skirt and her niece deemed it the perfect twirly dress.

She was in an old barn, turned wedding venue, where she would marry the love of her life. Her and Jack had been dating for five years and after six months of an engagement, they were finally saying their “I Do’s”. And she couldn’t have asked for a more perfect day, the sun was shining bright and the temperatures were in the mid 70’s, a perfect day for an outdoor wedding.

Taking a deep breath, she smoothed down an invisible wrinkle before relaxing her shoulders and turning away from the mirror. She slipped into her kitten heels, making her way across the room. She took a deep breath, hand on the handle, opening the door.

Stepping into the doorway, her eyes down to the ground, hearing several gasps as she slowly lifted her eyes to those waiting in the room for her. “So?”

“You look gorgeous, Kat. Absolutely stunning. That dress looks 1000 times better than you lead us to believe.” Spot exclaimed. Race eagerly nodded his head, adding on. “Pure perfection, Kat. Jack’s not going to know what to do.”

“That dress is stunning.” Albert wolfwistled, grinning at her.

Davey stepped forward and wrapped her in a hug. “Jackie’s not going to know what to think or say when he sees you.”

She bit her lip, blushing. “You sure?”

Abby, her college roommate, stepped forward and grinned at her best friend. “He’s sure; I’m sure; we’re all sure. You look perfect, Katie. Absolutely amazing. You clean up well girl.”

Kat laughed. “Thank you, you all know how to make a girl feel good on her wedding day.”

“If you didn’t already steal his heart, this would’ve definitely done it.” Ellie, her older sister, grinned.

The door opened, drawing her attention away from all of them to whoever entered the room. Penelope, the wedding planner they had hired, was standing there with a tight smile on her face. “Hi Penelope. Is everything going smoothly today?”

“Absolutely. We’re on time with the timeline.” She smiled. “Jack’s ready for your first look, if you are.”

Kat took a deep breath, putting a smile on her face as she eagerly nodded. She gave her friends a wide grin before she walked out of the room, following Penelope to the designated area she was going to have the first look with her future husband.

Weaving through the old barn to the accompanying garden, Penelope slid open the door, giving her a grin. “You have ten minutes. I’ll come get you both when it’s time.”

Stepping through the doorway, she closed the distance between where she stood and where Jack stood with his back to her. She knew the photographer was hidden somewhere in the vicinity but she only had eyes for the man in front of her. He had his back to her, dressed in jeans, a white shirt, and a navy vest. The sleeves of his shirt were rolled up to his elbows.

Walking closer to him, she reached her hand out and put it on his back. She felt the hitch in his breath as he realized she was behind him. “Can I turn around now? You’ve kept me waiting a long time, Pulitzer.”

“You can turn around.” She said, as she took a step back.

Jack didn’t waste any time turning around. She smiled seeing his jaw drop as he slowly dragged in the sight of her. “Kat, you look-.” He trailed off as he reached her hand and laced it with his, giving it a squeeze. “You look amazing, like a princess. You told me you had a different dress but I love it. You look stunning. I’m a lucky man, Kat.”

“And look at how you dress up.” Kat reached out and smoothed out the invisible wrinkle on his white shirt. “You look quite handsome, Kelly. And I’m the lucky one.”

He leaned over and nuzzled her cheek. “Oh how much I want to kiss you right now.”

“The feeling is mutual, sir.” She murmured, leaning up and kissing his cheek. “Only fifteen minutes before you and I are standing in front of all of our friends and family saying our vows and we’re married.”

Without another word, Jack pulled her to him, his right hand in hers as his left gripped her waist. Her left hand wrapped around his shoulder as he started gently swaying. “I love you so much Katherine Pulitzer and I cannot wait to vow myself to you and become your husband.”

“I love you too, my sap.” Kat’s eyes welled up with tears. “Dammnit Kelly, you’re not supposed to make me cry yet.”

She heard the door slide open, knowing their time was up. He took their linked hands and gently kissed the back of her right hand. “I’ll see you at the end of the aisle, hot shot.”

“See you soon, beautiful.” He winked, squeezing her hand, watching her walk away, with a smirk on his face that she would soon be his wife.

Kat had a big smile on her face as she walked back through the barn to the room she had gotten ready in. She could hear the murmured conversations of their guests as they took their seats.

When she entered the room, she saw Race, Spot, Abby, Albert, Ellie, and Davey all standing there talking along with her parents and Medda. She grinned at all of them, pulling the door shut behind her. “Hello.”

“Can we have a moment alone with you, Katherine?” Medda asked, motioning to her parents with a smile.

Nodding, Katherine watched their friends leave the room. She smiled at her parents and Medda, waiting for someone to make the first move. Medda sighed, stepping forward, lacing her hand with Katherine’s hand. “You have made Jack so happy for so long. I’m so excited that you’re finally joining our family. I’ve long considered you a daughter and I’m glad you’re making it official today. Jack’s a lucky man but so are we. Welcome to the family, Katherine.”

Medda pulled her into a hug, as Kat quickly wiped her eyes. “Thank you Medda. Love you.”

“Love you too, dear.” Kissing her cheek, Medda stepped back, allowing her mom and dad to step forward.

Her mom, Kate, grabbed her hand and gave it a squeeze. “You look gorgeous, my girl. And your father and I are so proud of you. Jack may not have been our first choice but he’s been wonderful for you and he’s going to be a good man to you as you step forward together in marriage. We love you.”

“Love you too, momma.” She said as she squeezed her mother’s hand.

Looking over at her father, she could see he wanted to be anywhere but where he currently was. Joseph Pulitzer was a man of many words, when he wanted to be. But on his daughter’s wedding date, he seemed to lose them all. “Katherine, you’ve always been the daughter of ours that forged her own path. Your mother and I tried to steer you in a direction we thought was right but you always went your own way. A career in the medical field wasn’t what we had in mind but you have flourished at being a physician assistant. We’re so proud of you and the life that you’ve created for yourself. Love you my darling girl.”

Throwing herself into her father’s arms, Katherine breathed in deeply the familiar scent of ink and paper that she had always associated with her father. “Love you daddy.”

“Thank you three for all your support these last few years. It’s been a crazy ride but thanks to you three, you have supported us through this journey. Your love for Jack and myself have been a great blessing. So thank you for everything you’ve done. Jack and I wouldn’t be here without you.” Kat smiled at them, just as Penelope opened the door.

“It’s time.”

Her mom and Medda gave her another hug before they left the room, leaving her with her father. She looped her arm through his before tugging him out of the room and to the grassy area where she would wait until it was time for her to walk down the aisle.

Penelope handed her bouquet, a mixed colored bouquet filled with white ranunculuses, pale pink peonies, white hydrangeas, blush and navy roses, and eucalyptus to tie the entire bouquet together. Her bridesmaids carried similar bouquets while Spot had a white ranunculus pinned to his lapel, just like Jack, Davey, Race, and Albert.

Her father stopped as she looked at the people in front of her. Davey, Race, and Albert were standing up for Jack and would be up front with him already. Ellie, Abby, and Spot were standing up with her.

Spot turned around and winked at her as Penelope slid open the door and motioned Ellie to start walking down the aisle. She watched Ellie walk as Abby moved forward, ready to make her way down. She looked up at her dad with a smile. “Don’t let me fall, daddy.”

“Never.” He promised as she watched Spot walk down the aisle with a swagger he always carried himself with. She chuckled to herself watching him until he joined Ellie and Abby at the altar.

She listened to the piano music change to Pachebol’s Canon as her father guided her forward. Just as the cello joined the piano, she felt her dad walk forward as the two made their way slowly down the aisle.

She gripped her father’s arm tighter, afraid she might trip on the slightly uneven grass. Taking a deep breath, she looked down the aisle towards Jack and his groomsmen. Locking eyes with Jack, in that moment, everything came together. Nothing else mattered in that moment. She was walking towards her future of being Mrs. Jack Kelly. The butterflies erupted in her tummy at the thought but she smiled at him, excitement radiating off her body. Though she had seen him fifteen minutes ago, he was still in awe of her and his mouth dropped.

Soon, she was standing in front of her beloved, as her father squeezed her hand before putting it in Jack’s. He kissed her cheek before joining her mother. Their minister, Fr Williams, smiled at them both.

“Dearly beloved, we gather here to witness the union between Jack Kelly and Katherine Pulitzer. Before we begin, does anyone object to this union, speak now or forever hold your peace.”

Kat and Jack glanced around the chapel, daring anyone to speak up. After a few uncomfortable moments, Fr Williams chuckled and continued on with the ceremony.

“Marriage is a sacred act, between two people in the presence of God, their family and friends. Jack and Katherine have decided on their own twist to the ceremony. I believe Amelia will start us off with a poem.”

Katherine smiled at her younger sister as she stood from the pew, making her way to the lectern. “A poem from Elizabeth Barret Browning.

How do I love thee? Let me count the ways. I love thee to the depth and breadth and height My soul can reach, when feeling out of sight For the ends of being and ideal grace. I love thee to the level of every day’s Most quiet need, by sun and candle-light. I love thee freely, as men strive for right; I love thee purely, as they turn from praise. I love thee with the passion put to use In my old griefs, and with my childhood’s faith. I love thee with a love I seemed to lose With my lost saints. I love thee with the breath, Smiles, tears, of all my life; and, if God choose, I shall but love thee better after death.

Amelia smiled at Katherine before making her way back to the pew. Fr. Williams waited until she was seated before looking at Katherine and Jack.

“Jack and Katherine have chosen to write their own vows. Jack, you may go ahead.”

Squeezing their linked hands, Jack smiled at his bride. “Do you remember the very first day that we met? I knew the very first moment I saw you, I was going to marry you someday. I knew we were meant to be together for all of our days. You have become my lover, my companion, and my best friend. There's no one else I'd want to build a life with. I get to have you by my side, my love and my wife, for eternity. From this day forth, I promise to listen to you and learn from you, to support you and accept your support. I will celebrate your successes and mourn your losses as though they were my own. I will laugh with you, cry with you, scream with you, and grow with you. Give me your bad hair days, your long nights, your burnt dinners, and lost keys. Give me your everyday, and I will give you my love to make it alright. This I vow to you today and always.”

Katherine reached up and wiped a few stray tears away, squeezing Jack’s hand. Fr. Williams smiled at the couple. “Katherine, you may recite your vows.”

“How lucky am I to call you mine? Your love and trust makes me a better person, each and every day. Not only do I promise that my love for you will grow with each day, but I promise to be your friend and partner every step of the way. I will be there for you, day or night, richer or poorer, in sickness and in health. I trust, appreciate, cherish, and respect you. I promise to share with you my hopes and dreams as we build our lives together. You make me laugh, you make me think, and above all, you make me happy. You, my love, are my everything. This I vow to you today and always.”

“You have chosen to seal your vows by the giving and receiving of rings. The ring forms a perfect circle, without a beginning or an end, and is thereby a symbol of eternity and signifies the duration of the commitment you are making. Let us now exchange these rings.”

Handing a beat up gold ring to Katherine, Fr Williams looked at her. “Katherine, repeat after me: I give you this ring, as a symbol of my vow, and with all that I am, and with all that I have, I will honor you.”

“I give you this ring, as a symbol of my vow, and with all that I am, and with all that I have, I will honor you.” Katherine smiled, sliding the ring onto Jack’s ring finger. He squeezed her hand with a smile before Fr. Williams continued.

Handing a dainty gold ring to Jack, Fr. Williams looked at him. “Jack, repeat after me: I give you this ring, as a symbol of my vow, and with all that I am, and with all that I have, I will honor you.”

“I give you this ring, as a symbol of my vow, and with all that I am, and with all that I have, I will honor you.” Jack grinned, sliding Katherine’s wedding band onto her ring finger, so that it nestled close to her emerald and gold engagement ring.

“And now, by the authority invested in me as a preacher, and in accordance with the laws of the State of New York, I now pronounce you husband and wife. Jack, you may kiss your wife.”

Catcalls, clapping, and excited cheers rang out from both sides of the aisles as Jack pulled Katherine into his arms and dramatically dipped her before kissing her not so chastly. Settling Katherine back on her feet, Jack pulled her close to him and dropped a chaste kiss on his lips before linking their hands together.

Fr. Williams grinned at the couple before clearing his throat. “It is my pleasure to introduce to you, for the very first time, Mr. and Mrs. Jack and Katherine Kelly.”

The noise level in the small area escalated as the two raised their hands in celebration before walking down the aisle to the catcalls of their friends. Walking straight into the barn, Katherine drugged Jack behind a column, where the two wouldn’t immediately be found. Pulling Jack to her chest, she grinned before kissing him. “Hello husband.”

“Hello wife.” He pulled back, enjoying the flustered look on his wife’s face as she grinned. “Well, we did it. We’re married.”

“And thank goodness it’s over. I was so nervous I was going to mess up my vows.” She confessed, looking

Jack leaned over and kissed her. “Your vows were perfect, you look amazing, and I love you so much. Thank you for making me the happiest man alive.”

“And you’re going to make your new wife cry.” She warned giving him a look. “Thank you for making me the happiest woman alive.”

Penelope came up to their side, looking apologetic. “I’m sorry but I need you two for the receiving line then afterwards you can sign your marriage certificate before we leave for photos.”

Jack and Katherine sighed, stole one more kiss before they went to stand outside the doors of the barn to greet all of their family and friends. After many hugs and kisses and compliments, they quickly signed their marriage certificate with Spot and Race by their sides.

They had a few yard games set up and an open bar for their guests to enjoy while the wedding party went for photos. There were several acres that were a perfect set up for photos. Katherine was laughing most of the time due to the antics of the bridal party. She couldn’t wait to see the photos and hoped that there were a few great ones.

Dismissing the wedding party, the photographer wanted a few photos of just Katherine and Jack. She gasped as Jack dramatically dipped her, causing the photographer to grin at the great shots the two were providing her.

After the two were done with photos, they headed back to the party. Standing just on the outside of the festivities, Katherine squeezed Jack’s hand and grinned. “Thank you for making me the happiest lady around, Kelly.”

“That wasn’t just for your benefit, Kat. I’m so happy you’re my wife.” He leaned over and softly kissed her. “I love you.”

“Love you too.” She grinned. “Let’s go. I’m hungry.”

Stopping at the bar, they each got a beverage before they started to mingle with their guests. Katherine was tugged over to where her grandpa was sitting while Jack was pulled in the opposite direction to see colleagues of his from work. The entire time they were apart, the smiles never left either of their faces.

Penelope got everyone’s attention and directed them to the tent so they could start the speeches and festivities. One of the things that Katherine was adamant about was not having a seating chart. There were tables set up but everyone could sit wherever they wanted. There was a long table at the front of the tent for the bridal party but everyone else could sit wherever they wanted. She wanted it to be intimate by not enforcing a seating chart - she wanted her guests to sit wherever and with whomever they wanted.

As soon as everyone was seated, Race was handed the microphone. “For those of you who don’t know me, I’m Race, Jack’s younger brother. I’ve had the pleasure of knowing Jack for most of his life. Before I begin, here’s a heads up, I asked Jack before writing this speech if there was anything that I shouldn’t say, and he said no. So if I spill the beans today, it is all his fault. Katherine, you look radiant today, the most gorgeous bride I have ever seen. Jack is definitely a lucky man. And I’m luckiest to have gained another sister today.”

Katherine blew him a kiss as she smiled. “Alright, alright, before Jack kills me, I should stop goofing around! In all seriousness, Kat by marrying my brother, you are getting a husband who is kind and compassionate, who will not only be a great husband but a best friend who will be there for you at each step of the way. In you, he has found the love of his life, which shouldn’t be a surprise for anyone because you are the most tender-hearted woman I have ever seen. And I know that you will make the best wife for Jack. I can see in Jack’s eyes how much he loves you, the kind of love that keeps growing every single day.”

Race cleared his throat, as he looked at his older brother. “Jack, you have always pushed me to be a better person, and seeing you today becoming the man you are and starting a family with this lovely lady is so inspiring to me. Let us all raise our glasses to the new Mr. and Mrs. Kelly and wish them a long and beautiful married life!”

Jack stood up and pulled Race into a hug as Katherine did the same. She pulled back, wiping her eyes before hitting him. “That was the sweetest speech ever. Thank you, Race.”

As Katherine’s Man of Honor, Spot took the microphone from Race. “As Race said, I want to welcome you to this reception where we’re going to celebrate Katherine and Jack for finally tying the knot. They took their sweet time but it’s time to celebrate the long awaited ceremony. If you do not know me, I’m Spot Conlon, Katherine’s Man of Honor. Kat and I have known each other since college, where we met in our freshman Biology class. She split strawberries all over me as we were supposed to extract the DNA from them. Despite that sticky situation, we became best friends.”

She rolled her eyes as he grinned brightly at her. “I never had a sister, but Kat has been my stand-in sister for all these years. Kat has always been there for me, through good days and bad days, and usually with a glass of wine in her hand. She is always ready for anything, from an evening curled up on the couch in sweats, to a night on the town. Jack has truly met his match in my best friend and I couldn’t have picked a better man for her. I have one final piece of advice for you two lovebirds: Never stop laughing, even when the jokes are lame. I wish them well for a long, happy, and prosperous future together. I would like to thank you both for the honor of giving this speech, it has been a great day, and I, like everyone here, am privileged to share it with you. Ladies and Gentlemen, please be upstanding and raise your glasses for the first of many toasts. Here’s to the future, for all that you look forward to together. To the Bride … Katherine…The new Mrs. Kelly.”

Everyone cheered for them as Kat walked over to Spot. “That was great. Thank you for bringing up the strawberry DNA story.”

“It’s the best and it cemented our friendship forever and ever.” Spot grinned as she pulled him into a hug before kissing his cheek. “Love you Spottie.”

“Love you too Kat.” He grinned as he shook Jack’s hand.

As they took their seats once more, Penelope explained how the rest of the night would go. The bridal party would get food first then the rest of the guests could help themselves. Katherine didn’t waste any time as she beelined it for the buffet that had been set up. They had several options of BBQ, mac and cheese, and baked beans. When her and Jack had set the menu, she didn’t want any fuss when it came to food. She wanted to spend time with friends and family and not have a big production. She wanted her wedding and reception to be very laid back and fun and so far, it was working and she couldn’t be happier.

After she grabbed a plate, she headed back to the tent to sit. Releasing a breath she didn’t know she was holding, she eagerly dug into her food, not eating since earlier that morning at breakfast. Jack soon joined her while Spot sat on her other side. “So what is your first dance song going to be?”

Kat shrugged before shaking her head. “Don’t know. I had Jack pick and made him promise he wouldn’t tell me.”

“Jack picked your first dance song?” Race asked, sitting on Spot’s side looking at his brother and new sister-in-law.

Nodding, Kat finished her last bite before pushing her plate away. “It was one less thing I didn’t have to decide on. Besides, he’s really good at picking songs. I’m not worried.”

“What if he picks “You’re Beautiful” by James Blunt?” Spot asked, while Kat rolled her eyes.

Smacking Spot’s shoulder, she glanced at Jack before turning back to Spot. “He knows I hate that song so he’s not going to pick that.”

“You’re a brave woman to let him pick.” Race smirked. “When I get married, it’s going to be “At Last” because it’ll be a long time coming.”

Spot threw his head back and laughed. “Honestly, their song should be “At Last” because it’s taken them five years to walk down the aisle.”

“No, Jack won’t do that. It may play later but I don’t think he will do that.” Kat gave them a look before pausing, narrowing her eyes at the two. “Unless there’s a bet on the line. Sean, Anthony, do you have a bet going on right now?”

Race put on a surprisingly shocked face. “Us, a bet? Katherine, I think you’ve officially lost your mind. We would NEVER bet on your wedding.”

“Don’t believe them, they are totally betting on the first dance and who’s going to hook up with who.” Jack leaned forward and whispered in her ear. “Between you and me, they’re not even in the ballpark for the first dance song.”

Race gave his older brother a look. “Thanks Jack for ruining that. Now she’s going to kill us.”

“I don’t want bloodshed at my wedding so I’ll save the killing for another day.” She stood up, giving them both looks, pointing her finger at them sternly. “No more betting at my wedding.”

Penelope called her and Jack over to the small cake they had gotten. Jack had the great idea of having a dessert buffet rather than having just cake served. They had worked with a baker to have cupcakes, lemon bars, chocolate chip cookies, and sugar cookies made for their guests to enjoy.

Standing beside her husband, she narrowed her eyes at him. “No getting cake on my dress, Kelly. I want to wear this again someday soon.”

“So I can smash the cake on your face, just not your dress?” He had a glint of mischief in his eyes. All she could do was grin, shake her head, and lean over to kiss him.

Gripping the knife, she watched him put his hand on top of hers before they cut a small piece. She cut that piece into two, setting down the knife and picking up a piece. Holding it up, she fed it to Jack, who hummed his approval. “That’s really good.”

He picked up his piece and fed it to her, careful to not get any of the icing anywhere besides her mouth. “You’re right, that was good. I was anticipating a smashed piece, to tell you the truth.”

“Well I thought about all the ways you could punish me and I decided against it.” He whispered in her ear, pressing a kiss to the side of her neck, before pulling back and looking at her mischievously.

She laughed loudly, leaning up to kiss him. “I love you.”

“I love you too Kat.”

They posed for several photos with the photographer before they made their way to the dessert table to grab a few treats. Making their way around the area, they mingled with guests, made small talk and thanked everyone for joining them on their big day.

Walking over to the bar, she got a glass of water and took a moment to herself. Unfortunately, that moment was short lived as Davey came up to her and wrapped her in a hug. “Congratulations, again Mrs. Kelly.”

“Thank you.” She hugged him back before sipping on her water. “And thank you for everything you’ve done for Jack and me. I know we don’t say it often, but we truly appreciate everything you’ve done.”

Davey waved her off with a grin. “You and Jack are some of my best friends, it’s no worries at all. But you’ve opened my eyes to more stuff about a wedding in the last few months than I ever wanted to know so I don’t know if I should be really thanking you for that.”

She threw her head back and laughed. “You loved every moment of it Davey. Don’t deny it. You’ve got a good thing going with Maisie. You should make it official.”

“There’s a reason I won’t be married for a really long time. I think you may have scared me of weddings for the rest of my life.” He grinned as Jack came up to her and slid his hand into hers. “I think it will be a long time before I can look at fabric swatches again.”

Jack laughed, shaking his head at his wife. “She won’t let you forget it for a long time. Hon, it’s time for our first dance.”

Kat shook her head, looking at Davey. “Catch up/wind down dinner some time this week before you and Maise leave us for California?”

“Absolutely. I’m looking forward to it.” He grinned, as Jack tugged her towards the barn for their first dance.

“Ugh why do people have to move away?” She pouted, as Jack paused in the entrance of the barn. “It’s not going to be the same as having Davey down the street. He’s going to be across the country.”

Leaning over, Jack kissed her. “Well we now have a place to go visit.”

Throwing her arms around his shoulder, she grinned standing on her tiptoes to kiss him. “Have I mentioned lately that you’re brilliant?”

“No but I think you should remind me several more times.” He grinned, returning her kiss with a sweet one of his own. “Now come on, we’ve got a first dance to do.”

He led her to the middle of the makeshift dance floor, pulling her into his arms as the DJ announced that this would be their first dance as husband and wife. He took her right hand in his as she threw her left over his shoulder. “So what did you pick for our first dance?”

She lit up as she heard the beginning notes of “Feels Like Home”, a song that had always had a special place in her heart. “You know me too well.”

“You should’ve seen me listening to so many acoustic songs trying to narrow it down to two or three and go from there.” Jack smiled. “Momma, Smalls, and Albert weren’t helpful and Race hated every song I listened to. I was about to give up when I heard this version and knew it had to be this song.”

She quietly sang the lyrics to him as he gently swayed them around the dance floor. “You know, you’re my home, right?”

Her eyes looked up at him with amazement and awe. “You’re my home too, Jack. Always have been since we were in college and more now than ever as we build our home together. Love you.”

“Love you too Kat.” He gave her a kiss as the song came to an end. They both drastically bowed as their guests clapped at their dance.

She had no sooner stepped away from Jack when Race swept her into his arms and started dancing with her to “You Got a Friend In Me”. “Did you specifically request this song?”

“Of course. We had to dance to this song with our mutual love of Toy Story.” Race enthusiastically nodded as he twirled her around.

There was a weekend that they had watched all three Toy Story movies back to back and they had memorized most of the quotes. Both of them had been bears to watch any Disney movies as they often quoted the movies and sang loudly and off tuned to the songs.

“Hey Race, I know I thank you for the speech earlier but thank you for everything you and Spot have done for Jack and I. I don’t know what we would’ve done without you two by our sides.” She smiled.

Pressing a loud, slobbery kiss to her cheek, he shrugged. “I’ve always wanted an older sister. Sure, Smalls is a great sister but I always wanted a sister who was older than me and could give me all the great advice. I have you now and I couldn’t have asked for a better older sister. Spottie and I will always be here for you and Jack.”

"So who won the bet?" She asked, raising her eyebrows warning him not to dodge the question.

Race chuckled. "Neither of us. I had "At Last" picked and Spot had "Stand By Me". Neither of us won. But I did win the bet about who would hook up with who."

"You've got to spill the beans on that one." She said, looking around the space, trying to figure out who was talking about.

Pressing his lips together, Race quickly shook his head. "Come find me later and I'll tell you."

“Love you Race.”

“Love you too Kat. Now I think my boyfriend has been waiting for an opportunity to dance with you before the big surprise.” Race grinned.

Before she could ask about the big surprise, Race was gone and Spot had taken his place. “You okay?”

“Your boyfriend mentioned something about a surprise and left before I could ask him about it.” She tilted her head in confusion as Spot took her hand in his. “Know anything about that, Conlon?”

The music faded from the previous song into “Chasing Cars” by Snow Patrol as Kat smiled. This was definitely a favorite of hers and Spot’s; they often sang it off key and loudly as they baked the afternoon away in one of their kitchens.

Spot shook his head. “Nope - but I know he and Jack have been brainstorming about something but they didn’t clue me in. Albert may know something.”

“I’ll have to track him down later.” She said as he twirled her around. She let her eyes wander as they gently swayed to the music. “You having a good time? It looks like everyone is.”

Spot nodded. “You were a genius to have yard games set up for the guests to have something to do besides dance and mingle. There have been several competitive cornhole games going on.”

“Good. That’s exactly what I wanted to happen.” She smirked, sighing. “I’m glad now we can just relax, have fun, and dance the night away.”

Spot gave her a look. “Have you talked to your Aunt Patty and Uncle Stan yet?”

“Ugh, I hate you, Spot Conlon.” She gave him a look. “I know I have to do it but I don’t want to. I don’t like them.”

He laughed. “There’s a thing called alcohol that can give you the liquid courage needed. Besides, I can always interrupt you telling you we need you for something.”

“Have I mentioned how much I love you?” She asked, giving him a grin.

Jack, dancing with his younger sister, gave Spot a glare. “Hands off buddy, she’s mine.”

“Duly noted, Jackie.” Spot grinned. “Besides, my significant other is around here somewhere and I want to pin him down for a dance of my own.”

As the song finished, Kat and Spot parted, her to go say hello to her distant family members while Spot went to track down Race.

An hour later, after Ellie and Abby saved her from making small talk with her family, she found herself standing in front of the cornhole boards with a vodka lemonade in her hand. She heard the loud scratching from the microphone as it was passed between the DJ and someone.

“Ummm excuse me. Can I have your attention?” She looked up as Jack stood in the barn door with a big grin on his face. Spot, Race, Albert, and Finch were slightly behind him, each man had a grin on their face and a microphone in their hand. Normally, Kat would worry but she was too blissed out at seeing her husband with a microphone in his hand. “I would like to thank you all for coming to our wedding. Katherine and I are so grateful for your support and love. Before we all part ways, I have one more surprise for my blushing bride.”

He shielded his eyes from the sun as he scanned the crowd for her. Pointing in her direction, he smirked. “Now, as some of you may or may not know, Kat is a big boy band fan. I mean, her first concert was *NSYNC when she was a kid. In the course of five years of dating, I have been to a few boy band concerts, including One Direction, Hanson, and Backstreet Boys. But one boy band remains supreme for Kat. So, my wife, this surprise is for you.”

Before she could do anything, familiar music started playing as her hand flew to her mouth. One of her favorite *NSYNC songs, “This I Promise You” started playing as Jack started singing. She felt people crowd around her as she mouthed the lyrics along with her husband. But the biggest surprise was when Race stepped up and belted out JC’s lyrics. She knew he could sing well but he rarely shared his talent with them.

It was such a simple thing but she couldn’t help falling in love with Jack Kelly once more. And the fact that he roped Spot, Race, Albert, and Finch into it as well, well that was just icing on the cake for Katherine.

Her eyes went wide, watching him swagger towards her with a smirk on his face. He pulled her into his arms as he crooned along to the song. She felt like she was the only one in the world at that moment and he only had eyes for her.

Just close your eyes each loving day And know this feeling won't go away Every word I say is true This I promise you

As he continued to sing, he made his way back up to where the other four were to finish the song. He continued to lock eyes with her as he made a promise through the song.

As soon as the song ended, she rushed forward, throwing herself into Jack’s arms and kissing him. “Best husband ever. I love you for doing that. How long did it take you to learn the lyrics?”

“So long. I listened to that song thousands of times just to make sure I had them right.” Jack grinned. “I think I was more nervous to do that than to say my vows.”

She kissed him again. “You just earned yourself a butt load of brownie points.”

“And what do I do with those brownie points?” Jack wiggled his eyebrows up and down as a blush crept across Kat’s cheeks.

Standing on her tiptoes, she whispered in his ear as his eyes went wide. Nodding quickly, he grabbed her hand and tugged her into the barn for one last dance before they left.

Pulling her into his arms, he kissed her as an acoustic version of “God Only Knows” started to play. The old style lights they had meticulously strung earlier in the week had been turned on so there was an intimate setting to the big barn. Others joined them on the dance floor as they twirled in the night.

Jack leaned down, whispering the lyrics in her ear as they swayed gently as the night faded behind them. Katherine wished she could stay in that bubble, swaying slowly with Jack as he sang the lyrics in her ear. She knew there would be few memories that she’d remember for the rest of her life but that was one of them.

God only knows what I'd be without you If you should ever leave me Though life would still go on, believe me The world could show nothing to me So what good would living do me God only knows what I'd be without you

Thank you for reading. What did you think? Did anything surprise you? Feedback would be amazing.

Like I said, I have the next three installments for this series planned but if there's anything you'd like to see, feel free to leave a comment or send me a DM.

[duchesschameleon]

codependent idiots

an ajf playlist for @winterscaptain

hello tali! and everyone else reading this.

music is something incredibly important to me, as a musician and as someone who hates existing in silence. I always need something in the background. so, what better way to celebrate 100 ajf fics than with a playlist? tali, I am so incredibly proud of you for 100 ajf fics and so honored to have been part of the journey. and to be your friend. seeing the hard work that goes into this universe and how much you love it is just incredible. I cannot wait for what comes next and to see you continue to create and grow this universe that I love so, so much. you are amazing and wonderful and I love you to bits and pieces darling.

so without further ado, here’s the playlist: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/0RpXkdEbsdMqX6l5daBdaL?si=bae62e4556674c84

These songs make me think of ajf or just fit the universe - it’s not about one specific moment or one specific relationship, it’s ajf as whole. So I’ve included a little explanation for each song, considering there isn’t a cohesive sound.

paper rings - taylor swift

this one is pretty self explanatory. it’s a song about loving someone so much you don’t care how, when, or why you marry them. considering meraki, I think we can all agree this fits.

I will follow you into the dark - death cab for cutie

this is a song that screams going to the end of the line for someone. and we’ve seen time and time again (and I’ve referenced it in many a commentary) that aaron & mom lean on each other for everything. they are so reliant on each other for everything and I feel like this song captures it. 

be my baby - the ronettes 

another classic love song. and just the right amount of sweetness for aaron & mom I think. their love, to me, is a deep and everlasting love that endures and as we’ve seen in the fic, is filled with sweet moments between each other. and there’s a lot in this song about knowing you love someone from the start.

can’t keep on loving you from a distance - elliot yamin

this fits into berry hill/mean it ajf I think. it’s the yearning guys. it’s the not being able to love someone from afar anymore and wanting to do something about it. yeah I threw in a little angst, but this is one of my favorite songs. it’s good and it fits. it’s a crossroads.

die a happy man - thomas rhett

pretty self explanatory, listen to the lyrics. it's all about needing just the love of the person you love the most in this world. that is aaron and mom to a t. 

unforgettable - thomas rhett

okay an upbeat song! this one is not forgetting any detail from when you met the person you love. again, aaron and mom. also it’s one of my favorite thomas rhett songs. it’s about inevitability, knowing that you’ve found your person, and not forgetting a single thing about them. 

this will be (an everlasting love) - natalie cole

aaron always gives me classic song vibes, he likes the oldies and what he was raised on. this song is...it is happiness personified. it is happiness and joy in a song and you cannot convince me it wasn’t played at the wedding. 

make a life, not a living - brett kissel

okay so first off: brett kissel is an amazing canadian country artist whom I love dearly. this is his newest song and it was released just in time for this. this ENCAPSULATES ajf for me - this aaron that allows himself to live and love again, to have this happiness and joy. it’s all about making a life, and making a good one. this is ajf for me. 

between you and me - brett kissel

and this one is for all the 18+/nsfw moments. listen to the song and it's pretty self-explanatory. 

at last - etta james

it took them like 6 years (? I think) to get together and another 2.5 to get married. someone played this at the wedding and you cannot convince me otherwise. again, it goes to inevitability and how everyone was waiting for this to happen. we knew it was gonna happen, it was just a matter of when. so when it does happen, everyone’s screaming “AT LAST!”

kiss me - ed sheeran

okay this album came out in 2011, mean it happened in 2011...it fits. and this song screams mean it to me. that’s really all I have to say

give me love - ed sheeran

same reasoning as kiss me. I just couldn’t decide which one fit more. but they both work.

growin’ up - bruce springsteen

this song is less mom & aaron and more ajf in general. it’s rebellion and doing what you want - hello bau - and it’s just a great song about learning and growing up and doing things your way. also it’s me, there had to be springsteen on here somewhere

mary’s place - bruce springsteen

run with me on this one: you’re driving in the car with your family, people you love, and this song comes on. you can’t help but smile and sing along and it is happiness personified. this one is all about the vibes, not the lyrics or meaning of the song. this to me is a bit of a party starter and something that could play at every bau party. familiar faces, laughter, gathering people together….this is all about having a good time with people you love. 

we take care of our own - bruce springsteen

last springsteen song I promise. this one is similar to above, it’s all about a family and being there for one another. looking out for your own, looking out for each other. 

some day one day - queen

this is a great soft, sweet song talking about hope for mom & aaron. much like this is early in queen’s discography, it fits into the early years of ajf. 

you’re my best friend - queen

self explanatory. they are codependent, they rely on each other so much, they are best friends and lovers. it fits so well. and this song will always put a smile on my face.

another one bites the dust - queen

another unsub bites the dust because the bau is great at their jobs. and, this screams hotchner’s dancing around the kitchen or the living room. they seem like the kind of family to dance around and film each other for….no ulterior motive whatsoever (/sarcasm)

my wish - rascal flatts 

so this fits for the wedding vows BUT ALSO - during enough when aaron is thinking about how he’ll fit into reader’s life. he just wants them to have a good life, to find happiness. that is his wish for them. 

danger zone - kenny loggins

we all know the hotchner’s love top gun. they absolutely, unabashedly love this song and blast it for a dance party. 

landslide - fleetwood mac

maybe it’s because we sang this at my camp as a last night campfire song, but I can see this being a song sung to the littles to get them to settle down. the lyrics might not make total sense but it’s a bit of a vibe. 

this is it - scotty mccreery

it’s a great love song and I love it. it gives me ajf vibes for many reasons and many moments in the series

not alone - mcfly

OH ITS TIME FOR MY MCFLY SOAPBOX. mcfly is a band that yes, I mostly know because of the close geography of the internet and early 2010s british youtubers. they are a big band in the uk and they were in an early 2000s movie called just my luck with chris pine and lindsay lohan. I love the movie, I love mcfly. seriously, they are one of my favorite bands ever. not alone is a great song and one I think can be the background for many ajf scenes. and yes this is about to start a few mcfly songs on the playlist

I wanna hold you - mcfly

it’s just about being close and wanting to hold the person you love. how many times during ajf do we see mom & aaron with a hand on each other and reaching for one another? 

it’s all about you - mcfly

I tend to find this is the most well known mcfly song. it was written for one of the band members’ wife and it’s so good. and yes, again, it encapsulates the love aaron and mom have.

being alive - company

I kinda had the realization that this song screams aaron to me. that for so long he fought against his feelings and was almost content with being alone, with not having anyone. he sort of holds himself at arms length, like bobby does throughout company. and then at some point, there’s a switch. and he realizes that being alone is not the same as being alive and he wants to have someone to hold and someone to be alive with. and that’s what this song is about. 

louder than words - tick, tick, boom

there are so many times where aaron and mom just look at each other. they use their actions, their body language, and their eyes to communicate and forgo words. they don’t need words. and it’s not just with one another. it’s with jack and the littles and the whole team. actions truly do speak louder than words in this universe. 

always will - bright star 

it’s a mean it & mistletoe song. “we’re supposed to be/together it’s true/I’ve had my doubts/but not about you.” these lyrics SCREAM ajf and this is one of my favorite songs from bright star - WHICH IS AN UNDERRATED MUSICAL.

dirty little secret - all american rejects

okay so it’s never a dirty secret, but this fits in during the mean it arc. they’re so secretive and sneaking around. we needed one unhinged song here okay???

the power of love - huey lewis & the news

this is a song that fits the relationship, but is also something that could play in the hotchner house and get everyone singing and jamming. or could be played at dinner at uncle dave’s house to get everyone up and dancing on the flagstones.

sharp dressed man - zz top

it’s aaron hotchner. also, this is a song I can see aaron making his kids listen to (yes my dad made me listen to this a lot growing up)

I want to hold your hand - the beatles

yes we need a beatles song on here and yes this is one that always makes me think of ajf. there’s always some way people are touching - linking pinkies, holding hands, a finger through a belt loop, hands on the top of someone’s chair - touch and contact are important here so yes this is the requisite beatles song.

the heart never lies - mcfly

one more mcfly song. just listen to the lyrics and you’ll know why it’s one of my favorites. for as long as these two fought their feelings and denied them, the heart never lies. and their eyes can give it away.