#badly sung karaoke

[mellosdrawings]

This is how chapter 3 went and you can't convince me otherwise.

[headphonegrl]

“Do you feel old?” You ask Jude, your voice hoarse from performing multiple songs back to back on the garish karaoke machine his mum had rented out for the occasion. There are now at least a dozen badly shot videos of you singing in Jude’s camera roll, including a rendition of ‘happy birthday’ sung by you and his brother where half his index finger is covering the lens. 

“What’d you mean?” After hours of displaying nothing but rash energy, Jude finally feels himself getting sluggish while trying to endure the unbearable gnawing feeling of pins and needles rising up his legs; a big plush sofa sits untouched on the other side of the living room but you’ve both decided to drunkenly cram yourselves onto the armchair in a mess of tangled limbs. 

“Just a silly question.” As you flutter your eyes shut, Jude tries to get a proper look at the glitter eyeshadow you had meticulously applied earlier that evening. In the wake of a large round of tequila shots, some of his friends had insisted on having their own ‘sparkle stuff’ and began queuing at the bathroom door like kids waiting to get their face painted like a tiger at the zoo. “Do you feel any older yet?”

“I’m not sure.” It’s the kind of question he’d once been asked in the primary school playground, with a blue birthday badge pinned proudly onto the fabric of his uniform. Back then it seemed very easy and obvious to answer plainly with a ‘no’, though now he’s finding himself stumped for a reply entirely. “Do you ever feel like that?”

“I think the last age I felt was seventeen.” You say definitively as if you've thought about it at great length before. Jude hadn’t known you at that age, but his home screen for almost a year was a photo your mum had shown him of you pulling a horrific face while blowing out the candles of your seventeenth birthday cake. 

“That’s probably the same for me.” Embarrassingly, Jude had once referred to himself as a ‘seventeen-year-old’ during a frenzied post-match interview and then had to sheepishly correct himself by clarifying that he had just turned nineteen. Sometimes he feels like the years are slipping through his fingers like sand and there’s no sufficient way to stop them.

“Then before that it was twelve.” You continue as you do a little cat-like stretch with your free arm which Jude finds incredibly endearing along with everything else you do; he supposes it’s a very common side-effect when it comes to being in love.

“I found being twelve proper boring.”  It was something he remembers expressing even at that age. Just as if he had been dropped off somewhere by his childhood and was painstakingly waiting for his teenage years to finally pick him up and take him somewhere exciting. “It’s such an in-between age.”

“That’s true.” The sky in the open window behind you is that awkward shade of grey that appears just before sunrise, like a page when a printer begins to suddenly run out of ink.

“I wish we’d known each other as kids.” Jude feels as though he goes through life with your name humming inside his chest like a second heart and yet this sentence seems so intimate that he can’t even look at you as speaks. Instead, he takes extra care and attention towards staring at the ceiling and inspecting all the sparse helium balloons that have floated up towards it.

“So do I.” Your words come out as a dozy whisper and Jude finds himself smiling up at a star-shaped foil balloon. He’s not twelve or seventeen, but he’s just turned twenty and loves you so much that he doesn’t even care that both of his legs have gone completely numb from sitting with you on this unbearably uncomfortable armchair.

[kairismess]

⤹˚˖♬୭ karaoke night.

🍰 genre: fluff ~ ! ✒️ word count: 969 💭 summary: sakusa has a hidden talent, which he's only willing to show off while the other three are drunk, and you're here to listen. 🍥 author's note: if y'all get my reference as to which idol that is, i will love you forever frfr

sakusa has always avoided group gatherings as much as he could, there was simply nothing enjoyable about being clumped together with a group of people he hardly called friends–associates were the correct term–and sharing the same space with then when they could potentially carry life-threatening pathogens, with or without them knowing.

what a cruel reality it was for him that only he seemed to care about proper sanitation and hygiene, seeing as how bokuto, atsumu, and hinata all just shared the same sake bottle over a round of drinking in this disgustingly compact karaoke room that had zero ventilation whatsoever.

his eyebrows were furrowed and his eyes set in a permanent glare, wherever he gazed, he always had something to criticize about its cleanliness, of course, he wouldn't even comment on the sticky table between the four of them.

unbelievable, sakusa thought to himself, as atsumu–in his slurred, drunken stupor–clutched the microphone as he chuckled, with hinata and bokuto cheering him on like his number one fans. the opening beat to the song 'baby' by justin bieber blared through the loudspeakers, and sakusa felt like he could pass away right here, right now to end the suffering; but that would be awful, because then he'd decompose with their clutter around him.

sakusa was curled up into a ball, waiting for you to come back from getting some water for the two of you (he didn't trust the water from the bar), but while you were gone, the rest of the msby jackals were just howling out the lyrics of some ear-piercing song that sakusa didn't even want to hear the end of.

when you got back, sakusa had never been more relieved in his life. he thanked you for the water and, after inspecting its contents and its container, he drank from it. you sat down next to sakusa, making the rest of the team that was terribly drunk tease you two through that dreaded microphone.

"omiomi and manager, sitting in a tree..." "K-I-S-S-I-N-G!"

bokuto just spoke gibberish for the latter part of that, because he felt like vomiting due to all that alcohol. "...can we please leave?" sakusa asks you in a low voice, leaning in close to your ear. you shiver a little and turn to look at him, your nose touching his that was covered by a mask. he moved away immediately, watching as your eyes widened and your face got a little flustered. "well... we can't just leave them here, i-i mean, look at them, omi..."

sakusa took one look at this sorry bunch that was spurring up all kinds of chaos, he was honestly surprised that they hadn't started a fire yet. turning back to you with a deadpanned look, sakusa spoke in a levelled tone. "they look like shit," "see, omi? so we can't–" "all the more reason why we should leave," sakusa insisted.

"aww, c'mon, omiomi! y'fuckin' killjoy..." atsumu muttered under his breath, taking another swig from the sake bottle. "y-yeah! you haven't... sung a single song... since we got here ya... ya..." bokuto couldn't even finish his sentence, he vomited in the corner, with hinata patting his back, hiccuping, as he tried to help him through it.

"okay, i think—hic!—w-we might—hic!—need to... go home—hic!—soon..." hinata mused, which atsumu and bokuto couldn't even protest against, they were going to be so badly hungover the next morning that they'd forget their names.

"h-hey, omiomi... we'll go home..." atsumu mumbled, handing him the microphone. "...if ya sing a tune," the blonde uttered slyly. sakusa furrowed his eyebrows in disdain at his ultimatum, but he knew that this would be the most peaceful way to resolve things; he couldn't walk out that filthy door without you, you were the only one keeping him sane and put together at this point.

sakusa sighed and with a tissue paper, scrolled through the song list until he found one by an idol his cousin komori introduced him to when they were younger. it had an oddly jolly vibe to it, one you wouldn't expect sakusa to enjoy or even be familiar with in the first place.

atsumu groaned, but you and hinata were getting into the song. for the first time that evening, sakusa took off his mask to sing clearer; you had never seen sakusa that serious about something that would force him to take his mask off that wasn't volleyball.

the way sakusa sang, it was so... alluring. it was like everyone, regardless if they enjoyed the song or even knew it, would be inclined to listen to him sing. nearly everyone in the room shut their mouths and held their breaths as they listened to him sing; a siren, that's what you likened sakusa to. his voice was so captivating, he didn't sound professional, he didn't sound fake nor seasoned in terms of singing, he sounded very graceful, very emotional, in a way, when he sung.

it was just right, every note was hit perfectly with the right amount of emotion, and it felt like every word he sung, he meant it; as if those were the words that came from his own heart and out through his melodic voice.

afterwards, sakusa sighed, put on his mask, and handed the microphone back to atsumu, while you, hinata, and bokuto clapped for him. "can we please leave now?" the dark haired boy asked, turning to you. you blinked a little and stammered out a response, not realizing he was asking you. "a-ah, right, i'll start the car," you said with a slight smile, still gushing internally at how amazing sakusa's singing voice was.

you just hoped the drunken trio wouldn't harass sakusa over it, they'd be here all night now after learning their dear omiomi has a lovely singing voice.

[wileys-russo]

Blurb idea: surprising lessi with multiple cheek kisses at a time (I just can’t resist that face)

co-dependancy II a.russo

"i'm back!" alessia sung out as she stepped inside and kicked the door closed behind her, almost losing her footing and falling in the process but just catching herself as she let out a shaky exhale of relief.

making a beeline for the kitchen and dumping the bag of shopping on the counter, the blonde frowned as she called out for you again but you still didn't reply.

jogging upstairs alessia smiled as she heard the shower running in your shared en-suite, followed shortly by you belting out a very off tune rendition of young hearts run free.

singing aloud was something you did very commonly, very passionately and very badly, a combination which really worked to balance things out in your favor.

the two of you had first met in a karaoke bar, alessia on a night out with some of her younger national team mates she'd grown up with, and you having stumbled in with your friends on either arm around an hour later (mostly to help keep you stood straight with a belly full of shots)

alessia had been singing her heart out in a private room, but after a particularly painful performance of islands in the stream by tooney and roebuck she excused herself to get another drink, georgia stepping out with her but disappearing to use the toilet.

your head spinning from screaming along to taylor swifts latest offering coupled with the copious amounts of alcohol pumping through you, meant you stepped away from your friends to grab a water, much to their groaning and displeasure at the decision which you simply waved off with an unbothered laugh.

after alessia had ordered she stood back to let you do the same, not paying much attention as she glanced over your shoulder to watch out for georgia.

"so girls, whats our go to songs tonight then?" the barkeep asked you both with a charming grin, handing you a bottle of water and placing alessias drinks on the counter as she politely reached around you to grab them.

"young hearts run free" you'd both answered with a smile, heads whipping toward one another at the shared answer. in that moment she'd blamed it on dehydration, but alessia's mouth had gone dry at the sight of you, piercing green eyes bore into hers as you let out a surprised laugh at the odd coincidence.

your laugh was a melodic sound which would soon become one of alessia's favorite things in the whole entire world, and from then on the story of your love would be one you'd hope to fondly recount to your grandkids one day.

alessia grabbed out her phone and began to record the audio of your shower performance, putting it on her close friends story with a chuckle and making her way back downstairs to put away the shopping.

once that was done she sank deep into the sofa with a tired sigh, her body aching from a long week of training. flicking on the tv and pushing a pillow under her head she clicked from channel to channel with a bored stare.

though before she could settle on anything to watch she heard your footsteps thud gently downstairs, and within a few seconds you'd practically dived on top of her, tucking your head in her neck.

"hi." alessia grinned, arms wrapping tightly around you. "hi, i missed you." you mumbled into the soft tanned skin, feeling the blondes body vibrate softly with laughter underneath you. "i was gone for like thirty minutes!"

"and it was the longest thirty minutes of my life!" you pushed yourself up and stared seriously down at her. "you could have just come with me." alessia chuckled as you tangled your hands in her hair, the girls eyes fluttering closed as your nails scratched softly at her scalp.

"you know i'm beginning to think maybe this is why all our friends take the mick out of us for our codependency issues." you bit down on your bottom lip with a sheepish smile. "i personally don't know what they mean, i only want to be around you every second, every minute, every day of every month." alessia shrugged it off sarcastically as you mockingly nodded along.

a beat of comfortable silence passed between you, both staring adoringly at the other.

alessia let out squeal followed by a loud chime of laughter as you began to attack her face with kisses. "i love you." you paused to grin before peppering each inch of her face with your lips, moving from her forehead to her nose to each of her cheeks before the older blonde's hand came to rest on the back of your head, gently guiding them to meet with her own.

[ridofme1993]

I wrote a review of aftersun for my course and thought it turned out quite well so wanted to share:

A critical review of Aftersun (2022)

For me, Aftersun (dir. Charlotte Wells) can be summarised in a series of images. The first: a young man is balancing on the edge of a balcony. Inside, his daughter is sleeping. The second: a young man has gone scuba diving without a licence. ”He told a porkie pie,” his daughter records herself saying into a 90’s camcorder. ”But he’ll be fine, I’m sure.” The third: a young man is walking alone at night in an unfamiliar city, drunk. He picks up someone else’s discarded cigarette and smokes it. He walks to the beach and keeps walking, with purpose, directly into the sea.  

Aftersun is a story told through one long, almost uninterrupted, flashback. Calum (Paul Mescal) and his 11-year-old daughter Sophie (Frankie Corio) are on a budget holiday in a Turkish resort some time in the late 90’s. They spend their days by the pool, or on guided tours of the surrounding tourist attractions, or giggling about the tacky yet endearing evening entertainment. In the present day, Sophie looks back on the last holiday she spent with her dad. She is looking through camcorder footage, searching for clues, signs that her father was about to slip away from her. Throughout, the film almost seems to audibly, gently chant: I want to remember. I need to remember. Aftersun is a story told with such sensitivity, such beauty and subtlety, that it’s impossible not to let it crawl under your skin. 

Paul Mescal and Frankie Corio are breathtaking as father and daughter. Their rapport is warm and effortless and goes beyond words. The relationship between Calum and Sophie becomes clear through subtle, physical storytelling: a touch of the hand, the tenderness with which Sophie applies sunscreen to Calum’s back, the gentleness in the way they move and talk to each other. The physical storytelling is equally strong when they are apart: Sophie’s furtive, curious glances at the older kids fondling each other by the pool; Calum’s back turned towards the camera as he sobs, his shoulders heaving, the muscles in his back convulsing. The dialogue is beautifully banal most of the time. What carries the story is the relationship between Calum and Sophie which is told through images, and through the way they simply are around each other. Mescal and Corio seem to be living and totally embodying the love between Calum and Sophie, and so as a viewer, I can’t help but believe I am watching real people.

Visually, Aftersun is stunning. It shimmers and sparkles. It’s swimming pool blue and greasy, sun-kissed skin. It’s tacky 90’s eurodance by the poolside bar. It’s arcade games and walkmen and badly-sung karaoke. It looks and feels like that awkward, blooming time at the very beginning of adolescence. Sophie secretly peruses the pages of a romance novel in the hotel reception, she hides in the bathroom and eavesdrops on the older girls’ conversations about their sexual conquests, she watches them kissing their boyfriends in the pool with that pre-adolescent mixture of fascination and disgust. The soundscape, too, feels nostalgic: the same hypnotising, bittersweet theme repeated again and again throughout, as if on a loop. As if to accentuate the fact that this is not the first time this memory has been visited. It has been carefully scrutinized. It has been visited and revisited and revisited time and time again. 

In her review of Aftersun for The Independent, Clarisse Loughry writes: ”It’s difficult to think of the moments before a heartbreak and not lace them with omens. The mind, too often, moulds memories into prophecies. Colours get dialled up. Emotions solidify. It’s a hard thing to talk about, let alone visualise. That’s why Aftersun, the debut of Scottish filmmaker Charlotte Wells, is so astounding. She’s captured the uncapturable, finding the words and images to describe a feeling that always seems to sit just beyond our comprehension.” This, to me, accurately captures Aftersun as an experience. Calum’s many close brushes with death that are pictured on screen seem to be half-imagined by Sophie; an attempt to retrospectively foresee the tragedy that was to come. 

I’ve read a good handful of professional reviews of Aftersun now, and curiously, none of them mention the theme of suicide. Some reviews mention death, some don’t. No explicit mention of suicide anywhere. Why this is, I don’t know. As someone who has lost someone I loved to suicide, I can’t not see it. When Calum matter-of-factly tells a diving instructor that he doubts he’ll make it to 40 and that he’s surprised he even made it to 30. When he walks off into the night on his own, drunk, carrying some pain he can’t speak of. The way his daughter senses it despite his attempts to hide it. Her fumbling, deeply loving attempts to cheer him up: how she gets the other hotel guests to sing to him on his birthday, how she invites him to sing karaoke with her when he seems low, the way she gently makes fun of him. She’s constantly pointing her camcorder at him, asking him questions, as if she knows there’s some mysterious, hidden side to him that she’ll never have access to, something dark and unspoken and unnamed. And, finally, the shot of Calum weeping in some other place, in some other time, followed by a shot of a note saying: ”Sophie, I love you very much. Never forget that. Dad.” 

We lack nuanced stories about suicide in our cultural landscape. Aftersun is a story that neither glorifies, nor demonises. It deals with grief and with the struggle to understand something incomprehensible. It portrays a person who is suicidal, and who is also kind, goofy, loving, sensitive, and an excellent dad. ”You can live wherever you want to live, be whoever you want to be,” Calum tells Sophie, stroking her hair. ”You have time.” We sense that he knows that his is running out.  

Aftersun is a sparkling gem of a film, and it resonates, not only with those who know grief, but with those who know love. Everything about it, from the cinematography to the acting to the soundtrack, feels warm. It feels to me like a meditation on love. At the end, I was left weeping – not only for Calum’s death and for Sophie’s loss, but also for the sheer amount of love between them.

[strawberryclementine]

Tokyo Revengers Singing Headcanons 🎤🎶

Which Tokyo Revengers characters are good at singing, who can't sing at all, etc.

An amazing singer, but is shy about it

Izana, Kazutora, Mitsuya, Kakucho, Yuzuha, Inui, Benkei

An amazing singer, they enjoy singing for others

Emma, South

They get an A for effort? Not the best, not the worst

Hina, Kisaki, Draken, Hakkai, Kokonoi, Mucho

Terrible at singing and in denial

Mikey, Nahoya, Souya, Rindou, Takeomi

Terrible at singing and has accepted it

Takemichi, Chifuyu, Pah-chin, Peh-yan, Sanzu, Senju, Naoto, Hanma, Ran, Shinichiro, Wakasa

Has not sung once in their whole life

Peke J

Some extras, for fun:

Sings loudly/badly in the shower

Hanma, Takemichi, Mikey, Rindou, Senju, Hina, Shinichiro

Sings opera in the shower

Taiju (if no one else is home)

Sings while doing chores

Emma, Chifuyu, Hakkai, Yuzuha, Kakucho, Inui

Goes all out in karaoke

Baji, Takemichi, Mikey, Senju, South, Chifuyu, Hanma, Peh-yan, Souya

Part of a school choir

Yuzuha, Naoto (his dad made him join)

Formed a band for one week that they later forgot about

Nahoya and Souya

Recorded themselves singing to see if they were good and nearly cried at how bad they sounded

Rindou, Souya

Tone deaf

Sanzu

Excellent pitch

South, Kisaki

Only sings at church

Taiju

[iliveforyouilongforyouvesuvia]

Since request are open, I have a question, do you have any personal voiceclaims for the M6? :) Have a new day or night too

-🦞

The Arcana HCs: Voiceclaims

~ Hello again, venerable lobster :)

The original creators gave brief descriptions of what the M6's singing voices sound like in an ask arcana post about karaoke. My taste in music is rather eclectic, so I'm apologizing in advance in case I can't think of a song/singer that works super well for them. I tend to make up scenarios for songs instead of thinking of specific characters so all song assignments were made in the last hour ...

- brainrot ~

Julian

Jeff Goldblum

The developers said it themselves. Julian's voice and mannerisms are heavily based off of Jeff Goldblum characters. If you want to know what he sounds like, find a clip that has Jeff Goldblum singing in it

That aside, he has a "limited singing ability" and tends to "talk-sing" through songs, but is "great at duets"

Asra

Described as having an "airy, intimate voice," but is bad at karaoke because they don't get off of the couch

I know it might feel like this song just got finished being overplayed, but considering that he's a polyglot this song and voice and the lyrics just fit him so well:

Shinunoga E-Wa by Fujii Kaze

Edited to add: Vanilla Twilight by Owl City. It's literally them

Nadia

"a silky voice with impeccable vibrato ... but she only sings karaoke alone in the bath." Maybe she'll make an exception for MC

This song and voice don't quite capture the vibrato part, but the warm tone, alto pitch, and commanding power really scream Nadia. She did lead an army into battle! (Muriel's route)

Queen of Kings by Alessandra

Muriel

"a gravelly grumble that he is convinced is useless for singing"

This is with the assumption that he one day gets a moment completely to himself and just lets it all out. Considering how he was the first to know what was coming, I feel like this song sung with this kind of voice almost embodies him

The Sound of Silence (covered) by Disturbed

Portia

"a throaty, powerful voice. She brings the house down"

She goes for ballads, apparently, and seems to be an alto considering how she "squeaks on the high notes." If I listen to this with my eyes closed it's like she's in the room with me

Babooshka by Kate Bush

Lucio

"an overdone musical theater voice but he is tone deaf"

In a different ask arcana, the creators assigned him the song Victorious by Panic! at the Disco. I can only briefly imagine how easy it would be to sing that song badly. Which is why I unfortunately don't have any songs or voices to suggest.

"he will shout out the high notes and power through the rest"

[taibu]

mmmmkay so ya'll remember this from DBS? Right?

Yeah, it's a screenshot of our boy Piccolo singing karaoke so badly that literally everyone else except his son eternal wing man right hand man student Gohan is reeling over it. Very funny and very much in character blah blah blah BUT!!! You know what I think?

This is all a ruse. This one moment here? Piccolo is faking the whole thing! He's actually a great singer!

Now we know that this isn't the only time Piccolo has canonically sang in BDS, as he has somewhat admitted to singing to Pan in this episode:

Now you may be saying; "but Taibu you dumb fox, kids don't care if you sing good or bad" and you're absolutely right.

HOWEVER! I have some sort of proof for my theory. And that proof is, believe it or not, Krillin!

In the 1994 Broly-movie (which I know isn't canon and all but I have a habit of combining non-, semi- and fully canon things together in the franchises I like so sue me I suppose lol) Krillin sings to the other fighters, and while the English version made a joke about how bad he was, in the original Japanese version; people actually marvel at how WELL he is singing, hell even Vegeta is jealous!

Now, Krillin's OG VA is Mayumi Tanaka who is also known for voicing Luffy in One Piece. The connection between the two characters had actually been hinted a few times in DBS with Krillin's phone playing the One Piece opening theme.

Either way, we know for a fact that Krillin, at least in the OG Japanese dub, is a good singer. But what does this have to do with Piccolo?

Well, Piccolo's OG VA is ALSO known for voicing a One Piece Character!

Toshio Furukawa has voiced Piccolo from pretty much day one (with the only exception being when Pics was just a baby, where he was voiced by Hiromi Tsuru, who also voiced Bulma until her passing in 2017). Furukawa also voices the character Ace in One Piece.

Many OP-characters have one or more character-themes performed by their VA's, and Ace is not an exception to this, having two songs dedicated to him, and being performed by Furukawa: Save my Heart and Living Fire. Furukawa gives both characters pretty similar voices, so it is a safe assumption that Piccolo's and Ace's singing voices are also similar. And if you listen to these songs, you can hear that they are really freaking well sung!

But why would Piccolo pretend that he can't sing well? Because THAT is the most in-character thing for him to do, innit?

If people knew how good his voice was, they would ask him to sing more often in Bulma's many parties, right? Hell, they must have pestered for HOURS to get Piccolo there even once! And once he did, he probably foresaw a lot more pestering in his future, so to stop it immediately, he faked one bad performance, just to stop people from ever letting him on the stage again, for the sake of their ears. The only one who thought it was great was Gohan, most likely because of his endless respect for his teacher, or perhaps he has heard Piccolo sing to himself in the wastelands and knows he can actually sing well.

So TL:DR-version: Piccolo actually has a REALLY nice singing-voice, he only faked to be bad to spare himself from ever having to stand up on a stage again. He preserves his singing to Pan and potentially other babies he has to look after in the future, and no-one else. Gohan knows he is good, due to him walking in on Piccolo singing a lullaby to Pan a couple of times, but keeps his friend's secret because it is clearly very important to him.

And that is the long-winded way of me telling that I whole-heartedly head-canon that Piccolo is a good singer. Thank you for coming to my Ted-talk.

[sasika-lg]

where: snowcaps karaoke bar who: @easthavenstarters

It had been a long night, a lot of badly sung ABBA songs and although Sasika was having a nice enough time with her friend from work, after a swift trip to the bathroom, she was nowhere to be found. Checking everywhere throughout the crowded bar, Sasika was half-worried, half-pissed off but most of all, not surprised. Constantly the type to pull a Houdini and bail, it was more annoying that she'd had left her stuff with her friend, if she could still call her that. The brunette knew she should have kept a closer eye. 

“Hey!” she called out to the person perched nearby, someone who might have seen her. “You haven’t seen a blonde woman, sleeve of tattoos, about this height” her hand went up to indicate the height to be taller than her “—come this way, have you?”

[i4mnaribooks]

winners doesn't exist

credits: me! fw: violence, lgtbq+, blood and sensitive topics

chapter 1: all starts with a villian

Friday, December 31, 2019

Ji-hoo, a high school student was at karaoke with her friend, Seong-ro. They were singing quietly until they started to hear screams, one, and another, and another, and another... until they reached the room where they were. Seong-ro opened the door and... a person fell on him and ripped off his cheek. Ji-hoo didn't even flinch when she saw the scene and left there towards the city hall to change his name. As he walked, he smiled, his project had already worked.

Tuesday, January 8, 2020

Hye-ok is a high school student. Hye-ok was watching TV with her brother and her friend, Ho-ryu and Eum-sae. Everything was normal, an afternoon with his best friends on the last day of Christmas vacation. The 3 young people were watching the news to see what nonsense the government was saying. They laughed for a few minutes until it was time to go to sleep. Sae needed to go home, so she said goodbye to them and left.

Hye and Ryu finished dinner and went to prepare things to go back to class.

-How boring... I wish something would happen and we would be left without class, nor teachers, nor parents, nor government. I wish Sae, you and I were alone on the planet, that would be incredible. - Hye said.

-Well yes, think that if that happened, next year we won't go to university.- Ryu said. Hye looked at Ryu and they laughed. They talked for a while until their parents arrived and told them that they had to sleep.

Wednesday, January 9, 2020

Time: 7:00

-RYU!! WE ARE ALREADY LATE AND SAE HAS ALREADY CALLED 3 TIMES!!- Hye screamed, she was desperate.

Ryu finally got up and they ran towards Sae's house.

-Sorry for the delay...- Hye said angry.

-Sorry Sae...- Ryu said.

-You are always very unpunctual, come on, we are late- Sae said calmly.

Time: 7:21

They arrived at school and as always, they went to their classes. The first 3 hours were normal, they saw each other in the hallways changing classes, they ate in the middle of class, they took out their cell phones, come on, a normal day... Or so it seemed.

Time: 12:30

Hye was going to pick up some things from her locker when she realized that neither Sae nor Ryu were there, she assumed that they were not changing classes at that time. While going to the locker, she bumped shoulders with a boy.

-Be careful, huh.- Hye said.

-Sorry, I'm looking for Yuna.- The boy said in a hurry.

-Yuna? Jae Yuna? He's in the 3B classroom, if he's not there, he'll be in the theater room. - Said Hye trying to be nice.

-Thank you very much, Sung-ho, delighted.- Sung-ho smiled, Hye smiled at him and shook his hand, collecting her things and leaving.

What was it that Hye had felt? Did he like someone he just met? Hye passed and continued on her way.

Time: 13:13

Time for the first lunch and no one had gone down to the yard, strange, right? Hye got worried and started looking for everyone, but she couldn't find anyone, the only thing she found were some arrows that took her to the gym. When he opened the door, everyone was there. People looked at him since he had arrived late for the scientific performance. She looked for Ryu and Sae and sat with them. She asked them what was happening and they told them that a scientist wanted to do a performance. Hye was surprised. Everything was going well until...

-For this experiment, any volunteers? - Said the confident scientist.

-ME!- A familiar voice shouted, it was Jae Yuna. Yuna walked by me and looked at me badly, what's wrong with her? Anyway, when she went on stage, the scientist told her to stay still because if she moved, it would most likely not work. The scientist gave an injection to Yuna's arm and waited a few minutes until... Yuna's skin became paler, and paler, and paler again... Until.

Next chapter: chapter 2: somebody is alive?

[eibhlean]

Daily Writing Practice 2, Electric Boogaloo

I wasn't really feeling any prompts today, so instead have the first little excerpt from my newest short story. I like how it's starting out.

He was late. She could not abide tardiness, she prided herself on her persistent punctuality, and he was late. To the first date. By all accounts she should have written him off right then, but there was something about those warm brown eyes, the charming half-smile, the silliness. She stayed despite herself.

She won him over with a song, sung loudly and off-key. Her red hair glinted gold and copper and blue and purple in the tacky lights on the karaoke stage. Her eyes shone with enthusiasm and alcohol and she crooned into the mic some meant-to-be sexy torch song that mostly just made her look adorable as she tried a little too hard. She was too cheerful to be appropriately jazzy for the song, her smile unable to hide itself long enough for sex appeal. He was instantly in love.

He won her over with humor. He was happy, and his happy bubbled over into a deep need to make everyone else happy too. He wanted nothing more than to make the world smile. And so he told bad dad jokes at every opportunity, played little games to make her laugh, danced with her in the kitchen and chased her with pillows and made her giggle until her sides hurt and she forgot that all the bad things in her life had ever happened. And the laughter healed something that had been broken a very long time. She was in love.

It's impossible to say exactly when they moved in together. One day he came over and just never left. And from that point their love was ripped from the pages of a fairy tale or a rom-com. She baked for him, brought him breakfast in picnic baskets to be eaten on the bench outside his work. He left her love notes throughout the house, hidden in refrigerator drawers or behind the soup. Their wedding was exactly suited to them in every way, and all who witnessed knew that they loved each other deeply and truly and without hesitation. And that should have been happily ever after.

But life is not a fairy tale and does not end when the prince marries the princess. And sometimes that is exactly as it should be, for love is hard to come by and harder to hold and when you have it you should cherish it for as long as possible, past the wedding night and on to the grocery trips and the late night cuddles and the fights and the make-ups and the life that you can build together. And this is what our couple had, for a time. A marriage as designed by Mary Poppins, practically perfect in every way. Their love was real, and deep, and able to withstand anything. Until it wasn't.

Because sometimes, too, it might have been better to stop at the wedding night, before the outside world breaks back in. No marriage exists in a bubble, and the partners are not the only members of said union. Parents-in-law, and bosses, and friends, and step-children, and neighbors all become part of your marriage too. Our couple was no exception, and lives, even the very best lives, are hard. There are bills to pay and pets to feed and children to clothe and so much to distract from just being each other being with each other.

He wanted so badly to provide for her. To give her the life he thought she wanted. To take her to beautiful places and to buy her beautiful things. So he left one day, to find his way. To find his vocation. He held her so tight and he promised her that he would return soon with a fortune, or at least the beginnings of one. And she held him so tight and she begged him not to go, for he was really all she needed in the world. He would not be swayed, so strong is the pull of desire that it feels more like need than the want it really is. Off he went, into the dark forest where anything could be lurking. She remained behind, holding on to the hope that was in his eyes as he walked away.

Forests contain within them the potential to be anything. A forest can be magical, a place of wildflowers and birdsongs and sunbeams that feels as though anything is possible and isn't that a wonderful thing. Or a forest can be dark and foreboding, a canopy that blocks the sun and haunts you with the fact that anything is possible and isn't that a frightening thing. This was the second kind of forest. The quiet was tangible, as thick as the mist that obscured weeping willows and yellow eyes that peer and assess. He didn't notice. He didn't see the dark shapes that prowled the fog, looking for dinner or something worse. He believed, and belief is a powerful thing. Belief starts wars and ends them. Belief brings people together and forces them apart. Belief makes you feel that everything you want is just around the corner if only you can get there. And he believed so hard, deep in his core, that he could change their lives if only he could find the right place, the right person, who would see in him all the things he could and should be. If only he had realized he'd already found that this story might be shorter.

He wandered the woods with a skip in his step, whistling a rhythmless song. The trees were not impressed, and they leaned in angrily, asking him to stop before someone caught his scent and came looking. Branches interlocked above him, hiding more and more of the sun. Trying to warn him that he should be careful. Careful what he asks for, careful who he asks. People have been too long separated from the wild places, though, and no longer have the instincts to know when something in the dark is watching. Cold blue eyes followed his travels, unseen and unfelt and unacknowledged. The scent of his desire was strong. An aphrodisiac designed to attract only things you should not attract. Desire is also a powerful thing, and there are things out in the world that feed on powerful things . They know how to use our wants against us. How to make the right promises, how to say the very nicest words. And when the trail began to change, leading not to the city but to somewhere so much worse, he didn't notice. He didn't see when his usual path made a sharp and previously impossible left turn, brambles and thistles and ferns moving themselves out of the way to allow him to pass, so subltly. He didn't notice as the woods morphed and transformed, becoming something else. Becoming somewhere else.

[pinksdoodles1]

half the fun of karaoke is singing loudly AND badly, so yes i’m gonna sing myself hoarse because this is my chance to shine, babeyyy

[spookiekewchie]

forever's gonna start tonight

MINORS DO NOT INTERACT

Characters: Shang Chi "Shaun" x woc!reader

Summary: a drunken night out at a karaoke bar ends with you meeting a mysterious yet sweet stranger

Word Count: 1k+

Warnings: fluff, general language warning, mentions of drinking, mentions of butchering a classic, set before the events of the movie so NO SPOILERS DON'T WORRY

A/N: Basically I had a need to write some Shang Chi after seeing the movie. Also please note that since this is set before the events of the movie he's calling himself Shaun. Anyways, all mistakes are mine so pardon any errors or typos I'm sure I missed a few. The divider is by @firefly-graphics

DO NOT repost or translate my work anywhere. Reblogs are always welcome, and let me know that you enjoy my fics.

You can’t believe you let your friends drag you to a karaoke bar, you also can’t believe that they have plied you with drinks just to loosen you up enough to get you up on stage. Yet there you stand, tipsy enough to justify the belting of Total Eclipse of the Heart to a crowd that’s thankfully singing the classic along with you. Well almost everyone in the crowd is singing along.

There’s one man sitting silently and simply smiling, while the woman he sits beside is screaming the lyrics out. You can’t keep your eyes off of him, even when you try to look somewhere else they always drift back and you swear that it’s the longest four minutes and twenty-seven minutes of your life because you know that every time your gaze drifts back to him he’ll be sitting there with that warm smile on his face. It has your stomach doing somersaults, and even in the dim lighting of the bar you can tell he’s handsome. Handsome and hopefully drunk enough for you to hope he doesn’t think you’re an absolute mess for how badly you’ve butchered sung this iconic song.

With the final words uttered, you set the mic down and jump off stage to make a beeline straight for the bar. You need another shot, maybe two or three now that your tipsy buzz is starting to fade and your nerves are gearing up. What the hell were you doing here? You don’t go to karaoke bar’s and get on stage! God your friends were going to catch hell for this tomorrow, and you hope every last one of them wakes up with a hangover for what they’ve dragged you into. You love them, but dammit this is so far outside your comfort zone that you can’t help but start to feel mortified at the off key performance you just gave.

“Let me pay for those.” A voice says from beside you, drawing your attention. Ever so slightly your eyes widen, it’s the guy, and those suspicions about him being handsome were nothing compared to actually seeing him up close. It’s almost embarrassing how openly you start to let your gaze drag over him appreciatively, you don’t even realize it until your eyes are back on his and he’s smirking down at you.

Fuck. Get it together bitch, stop being so obvious. You think to yourself before shrugging as if to say “go ahead.” It doesn’t help you at all when you hear the breathy chuckle that he gives when he sidles just a little closer to you and tells the bartender to put the drinks on his tab.

“I’m Shaun,” He introduces himself, and when you give him your name in return he repeats it softly and dammit you can’t help but like the sound of it on his lips. You manage to not let your imagination run wild at the thought of all the ways you can make him say your name, and instead just watch the bartender pour your shots. “I liked the song choice.” He says after a moment of watching you pretend that you aren’t aware of how he’s just let his gaze sweep over you slowly. You were grateful that your mouth was empty when he said it, otherwise you’re sure you would have choked at the mention of the performance you were trying to forget. He means it though, he enjoyed watching you up there, belting out the lyrics and adding a few dramatic moves here and there when the crowd started to join in. He especially liked the way you got caught up in the moment, enjoying yourself despite the nerves he could tell you were feeling up there.

But there’s one part that sticks out in his mind. It’s you with your eyes shut, lost in the crescendo of the song and swaying to the beat. Your head tipped back and the microphone gripped in your hands.

I really need you tonight...forever's gonna start tonight…

You were beautiful up there, backlit by the screen as it displayed the lyrics as the light shone behind you and the curls of your hair as it gave you the effect of having a halo. Who could blame him for being mesmerized by you.

“Too bad I can’t carry a tune to save my life.” You joke, hearing him chuckle under his breath, you’re thankful when the bartender slides two shot glasses towards you. You down one, letting the alcohol burn down your throat before you face the ridiculously attractive man at your side and smile. “You know that song isn’t about what everyone thinks it is.” You say, letting your nerves take over for a moment. The curious furrow of the man’s brow doesn’t deter you as you reach for the second shot and down that as well. “I mean it is, it’s a love song, but it’s about vampires.”

“No it’s not!” He seems genuinely surprised at that fact, and you just laugh as he pulls his phone out to do a quick google search that only confirms what you’ve told him. “No shit, huh...any other music facts that you wanna share?”

You regard him curiously, trying to gauge if he’s genuinely interested or just saying what he thinks he has to in order to get you to leave with him. “I’m a treasure trove of weird music facts.” You tell him, watching as that warm smile he’d been giving you while you were on stage returns and you can’t help but find it endearing.

“I’d love to hear them.” He admits, though truthfully he’s willing to listen to you talk about anything if it means that you’re talking to him.

You’re about two seconds from taking him up on the offer when your group of friends rush you at the bar and all but drag you away, oblivious that you were otherwise occupied. You’re nearly out the door before you convince them that you need to go back inside and take care of something. You’re hoping he’s still there at the bar, and the relief you feel when you see him there makes you smile happily as you quickly make your way back over. He gives you a curious look, watching as you grab a napkin and pull a pen from your purse. When he sees that it’s your number that you’re jotting down he grins, happily taking it when you hold it out to him.

“Call me sometime, Shaun.” You say before turning and going back to your friends who are annoyingly calling for you to hurry up.

He’s got every intention of doing just that, watching as you go. He’s quick to pull out his phone so that he can put your number in it because there’s no way he’s going to risk something happening to that napkin and losing it.

“So...how’d it go, lover boy?” Katy's voice rings out as she bounces over to the bar and grins knowingly at her friend.

“How soon is too soon to call? Because I really want to call her right now.” He won’t, he doesn’t want to come off desperate. So he’ll wait until tomorrow’s lunch break to give you a call, and hopefully set up a date.

[shepherds-of-haven]

I hope you’re having a great day Lena! I was just wondering if we could have any fluff facts about the shepherds as a whole! Like fun tidbits of how they interact with each other, what some of them do if they have the same day off, does anyone host weekly game nights?? I hope that makes sense! Reading the recent short story on Patreon I love seeing how the characters interact with one another and now I need moreeeeeee🙏

Ooh, great question! I’m feeling curiously tapped dry at the moment, so I’ll probably have to reblog this as more ideas come to me; I’m so happy you’re enjoying the short story, btw!! 💖

Some group dynamic headcanons:

Many of them steal clothes from each other. Briony wears a cute sweater of Shery's (she asked), Ayla gets cold so she just takes one of Red's jackets from a chair (she didn't ask), Chase gives Tallys his scarf one day and Riel corders Trouble a pair of gloves from a fashion line he favors because his old ones are holey and they get into an argument about it... This leads to some recruits mistakenly thinking that the captains are all involved in some sort of mass relationship because they keep walking out of each other's rooms wearing each other's clothes. (The recruits believe a lot of really dumb stuff, if you couldn't tell. They LOVE gossip. It's like a competitive sport in the compound)

There is a weekly card game night, initiated and organized first by Chase, but it grows bigger over time, with snacks, cakes, drinks, and new games being procured! I'd actually say it's more like every ten-fourteen days or so than on any set weekday, and is typically proposed by anyone who senses that they or others need to blow off some steam. They all tend to meet in a private common room and either just chill and play some card games and casually drink and listen to music, or they get LOUD and raucous and play more risque non-card games (like Question or Command/Truth or Dare). The loud nights are more like once a month or bi-monthly, though! They take place in the captains' lounge so dumb recruits don't get to join! It's rare that they're in there all doing the same thing, though: maybe half will be at the table playing card games while others will be broken up into smaller groups, say arm-wrestling in the corner or playing chess at the smaller table or reading, but they're all there! Game nights are almost never held unless everyone is there, which is extraordinarily difficult to schedule, but they all make an effort to make it happen--even those who first had to be dragged into it, like Blade or Riel!

Speaking of chess games, Red and Riel have a standing game where they complete at least four more moves every night that they're around and able to meet up after dinner. Planning their next move helps them both break up the monotony of the day, and it's something they enjoy immensely. However, whenever he gets called away on a mission, Red gets sick with worry that Riel's been cooking up all sorts of schemes while he's been gone, so sometimes on the road he has, like, a schematic that he doodles on trying to anticipate Riel's next move, and it's very nerdy and ramps up in joking Anxiety. Riel, graciously, goes easier on him on nights after he comes back from long trips, though he denies it

Similarly, Blade and Trouble have a standing training session once a week where they just beat the crap out of each other. This is generally where they do the majority of their talking

Briony and Ayla first had an agreement that they would get the other one up if they overslept (Briony tends to be the one who oversleeps while Ayla is better about being up at dawn, but Ayla is really grouchy if she went to bed late and Briony is the only one who can handle her), which morphed into doing runs and sparring together at dawn and having breakfast frequently!

The girls have a standing spa night once a month where they all get together in a room (usually Shery’s) and basically do sleepover stuff and relax and chat and catch up for a few hours. This also sometimes involves showing each other new outfits that they bought that month! Sometimes there are even group baths in the big common bath, but these are rarer because Shery is shy and Tallys doesn’t like sitting in hot water getting pruny

Chase and Trouble drag Red and Halek to go drinking with them around once a month; sometimes Blade is persuaded to go if Trouble can get the drop on him and punch him hard enough to wind him. It’s complicated

Riel and Shery, of course, have tea together once a week! You’re not allowed if you can’t bring a chill vibe (Riel’s rules). Tallys, Lavinet, Halek, and Red are occasional visitors; Briony is allowed on a good day. Blade would be allowed but he has 0 interest

Similarly, Lavinet hosts a weekly brunch, either in a courtyard or at some restaurant in town! Typically it’s a girl thing and Ayla, Briony, and Shery are the most consistent attendees, but Chase has snuck his way in there often, and Riel, Halek, or Red pop up occasionally!

Tallys and Halek cook together! It’s not all that often and doesn’t seem to have any set way of materializing--it just happens somehow--but they both very much enjoy it! Sometimes they cook dinner for the whole group and have a little dinner party that they both secretly get excited for! Sometimes Shery bakes the dessert!

Riel noticed that Tallys has a little garden that she spends time weeding, so he sends gardening tools or special seeds when he thinks she needs them and she leaves baskets of vegetables or vases of flowers in his office. All of this is done without exchanging a word

Chase sporadically teaches Briony acrobatics and things like tightrope walking, just randomly whenever they’re both idle. She teaches him how to gut people with bare fists and also sometimes they paint! 

Caine caught Red grazing in the pantry late one night and now it’s like a Thing where they pass each other in the kitchen and Red sort of just looks the other way re: Caine’s bedtime and what on earth he’s doing up so late and Caine doesn’t tell anybody that Red is just absent-mindedly eating a loaf of bread at 2 AM because he was too busy working to remember to eat dinner. It’ll be like, “there’s some turkey leftover from dinner in the cold box” “oh hey, Caine. thanks. ...so, what’s the news from the midnight watch tonight?” “i’m going to go hunt ghosts on the seventh floor with my friends!” “...okay! have fun!”

Lavinet has a monthly shopping trip where she updates her wardrobe, and it is very common for others to accompany her around the city and just shop while they drop! Common partners are Shery, Briony, Riel, Chase, and once memorably Blade, who didn’t know what he was in for!

Trouble and Ayla are wildly competitive and keep arm-wrestling each other for money; this becomes a bi-weekly sporting event that is eagerly attended and bet upon by third parties

There was ONE group karaoke night. ONE. Most of them got so blackout drunk that they swore to never do it again. Even now, several of them go green whenever they hear a popular bar song (“Don’t Piss Where You Plant Your Flowers”) being sung, especially badly

The game of "telephone" gets really bad in their group. It's like, Shery will say to Briony that she's worried because she thought Riel looked a bit peaky and feverish. Briony will say in passing to Trouble that Riel is getting sick and Shery is worried. Trouble will say to Tallys that Shery is worried sick because Riel is bedridden. Tallys will be mixing herbs and Chase will ask what for and Tallys will reply that Riel is sick, but because she's mixing herbs, Chase will surmise that the sickness must be quite advanced, and will later say, "Damn, have you seen Riel? Seems like he's really sick." Red will interpret this as "I have seen Riel for myself and have determined that he's extremely ill." At least four people will bust into Riel's room, expecting him to be on the verge of death, despite the fact that they saw Riel that morning. Riel will be fine and very annoyed at the intrusion.

They rarely go out as a group to bars and establishments outside of the compound (too chaotic as well as risky, for one thing, and also, recruits don't need to see their superiors like hanging out of bushes and dancing on tabletops drunk out of their minds, and also, "Mages can't drink" (lol)), but when they do deem it a worthy occasion (Trouble's birthday, say), the girls are very punctual when getting ready, and the boys are almost always extremely late due to various shenanigans (Chase forgot that he put a booby trap on Red’s door, covering Red with flour, or a cat somehow slips into Trouble’s room and steals, like, a detonator or an important key, and they have to go chasing it across the city). This has led to the girls coming late on purpose in order to even out their arrival, but mysteriously, this has only led to even later start times, meaning they often don’t get started until like 10 or 11 PM when the most well-intentioned souls meant to be in bed by midnight... that never happens, either!

One such night once led to them ending up on a ridge in the Sun’s Embrace, like a mile outside of the city, in order to watch the sun rise together, because hiking in the dark while blasted out of their minds sounded like a really good idea. They all made it, and the dawn was spectacular, but the moment was ruined when Tallys said softly, “It’s the beginning of a beautiful new day--” punctuated by Trouble abruptly throwing up in a bush and Riel just flat-out passing out

[orionsangel86]

Crowley being the no.1 source of all problems at the wedding is both hilarious and accurate.

I'm here for all the moments such as when he:

Tried to object at the ceremony...

Interrupted Sam's speech with several snide comments and sarcastic "well done moose" moments...

showed everyone his photo of him and Bobby kissing - makes jokes about how he’s hooked up with both the son AND the father (because Bobby is the only father Dean cares to have at his wedding okay and everyone knows it)...

Hit on Benny since they "have similar tastes in men"...

Drunkenly, badly, and loudly sung "Someone Like You" at the reception karaoke...

Slumped next to Kevin and tried to reminisce about the "fun they had together" before Linda pulls him away by an ear...

Asked Rowena 3 times for his throne back and finally accepted that “Prince of Hell” is a better fit (less work, more fun)...

Showed off to anyone who politely gives him 5 minutes all the NSFW pictures he has of him and Dean together on his phone before being shoved in a corner and threatened by both Sam AND Cas...

Wrapped his arms around an awkward Cas telling him that "I admit it. You won. But I still have the memories..."

Finally brushing himself off from Sam and Cas’s threats, tries his luck with Jody, and promptly gets punched in the face by DONNA before Jody even gets the chance to blink.

Garth eventually drags him off into the backroom. Ellen and Ash have a demon trap painted in there anyway and figure he’ll sleep it off and they’ll let him go in the morning. Dean and Cas are extremely grateful.

[stormxpadme]

Alright, I looked through the online songlist of the karaoke bar that my dear siana, busy, LOTR bestie and me will be raiding next Thursday to prepare a list to choose from when the evening comes, depending on how many slots there are, on the audience mood and my voice’s form on the day. And it’s really amusing in some way ... My singing voice lessons in high school, karaoke busy years and TV show castings were between 25 years ago and 18 years ago but I still got my same 3 list of songs for such nights.

- song category 1: Well-trained, nothing can go wrong much, sung dozens of times on castings or karaoke stages OR never did before but really wanna do this evening even if it goes wrong. Roxette, Evanescence, Faith Hill, Meridith Brooks. Joining the club as “I would love to” this time are Sia and Demi Lovato.

- song category 2 aka the longest: Would love to try one day, most of them never sung on a stage, not sure if I have the range. If I’m drunk enough, if the DJ doesn’t like category 1 or my category 1 songs are all taken already, I will have to browse through this list, pick one blindly and hope not to fuck up too badly. Everything from Whitney Houston over P!nk, from Miley Cirus to Green Day.

- song category 3 aka very short: Sung many of those in singing voice lessons or with the whole class in common musical education. You can wake me at 4 a.m. on a bottle of tequila and I’ll sing you the whole thing start to finish. Karaoke audience hates them because they get sung every day at least once. Unless DJ buys me a cocktail, not whipping those out. Beatles, ABBA, Phantom of the Opera and A Chorus line.