#chris bissette

[vintagerpg]

I am generally a fan of Ben Wheatley’s horror films, especially the mushroom-centric folk horror of A Field in England and In the Earth. Those films, with feature lots of strobes and psychedelic imagery, aren’t for everyone, but Chris Bissette (Loot the Room) is fan. How do I know? Because those films of the key inspirations for Feast (2021), a system agnostic adventure zine.

The set-up is simple (but not straight forward). The PCs (and a lot of other people) have been “called” to the hexes of the forest. In the center of the wood is a stone monolith. Under that is a system of cave. Beneath that, something sleeps and wishes to wake, but to do so requires a ritual and the titular, ambiguous feast. The entity dreams, and uses (or maybe IS) the mycorrhizal network of plants and mushrooms and fungus to interact with human agents, compelling them through visions to complete the ritual. Everyone in the forest wants to be the one to do it, even though the cost is unclear.

And that’s it. From there, the adventure pretty much writes itself. The PCs are competing with all the other questionably sane people in the forest to complete the ritual (and get free of the entity’s influence). Nasty random encounters, hostile fungus and earthy horrors await. And that’s not even mentioning the necromancer. A grand old time.

[merelymatt]

#Airecon, let's play some games!

Saturday Spindlewheel is sold out but there's still 1 spot left for Friday Spindlewheel and The Hunted on Saturday. Find me at table 10/11 in the Queen's Suite RPG Zone.

[psychhound]

ttrpgs in the classroom (part 8)

oh boy have i not made one of these posts in ,,, like a year. grad school is crazy yall. lmao. but. i wanted to share what we do for our analysis unit now that we've hit it this semester!!

other games used in the unit:

we are but worms & graves for funerals

the assignment:

write an essay of approximately 1000 words doing a literary analysis of some aspect of a game, first forming an inquiry question, then looking in the text for evidence, then coming up with an argument about a deeper meaning of the text. the second draft of the assignment can either be an expanded essay, or a multimodal piece of the student's choosing. (the other option for this essay is to do a rhetorical analysis of an argumentative text about gaming)

the games:

[ID: a powerpoint slide titled choose your fighter game (the word fighter is crossed out, so it reads choose your game). it shows five ttrpg titles, with a short description of each, and an icon to represent them. the background is a light orange sky and green grass in a video game like art style. there is a fake game menu bar on the bottom. the games in the slide are functionally described below. end ID]

when we made war upon the slumbering woods by richard kelly @sprintingowl

a collaborate journey into the magical woods ... to destroy it

the treasure at the end of this dungeon is an escape from this dungeon and we will never escape from this dungeon by riverhouse games @riverhousegames

a lyric game about a never-ending dungeon and those stuck there

kenzie's project by sasha winter @stargazersasha

a Weird Academia horror game for three players

i love you, alive girl by anna anthropy

a 1-page game about writing love letters under surveillance

drifters by gila rpgs

a Weird West game of gunslingers and their guns

past semesters game options:

a dragon game by chris bissette cozy town by rae nedjadi @temporalhiccup

the process:

in the powerpoint introducing the games, i have a more thorough description of each one, and then three examples of inquiry questions that they could use as jumping off points to do their analysis on. the inquiry questions ask things like, what moral stance might this game align itself with, what other stories is this game in dialogue with and to what effect, what does this game have to say about the current state of our society? the students can use these inquiry questions or not, theyre only meant to be examples

the results:

this is definitely the most challenging project for my students, but i think that challenge is good for them! i've had really mixed results, with the most common issue i run into just being surface level analysis. they are, however, 18 and have never done anything like this before (for the vast majority of my students) so a lot of my feedback is just pushing them further and trying to get them to say something interesting. i really love a dragon game and cozy town, but i found they didnt have enough context of ttrpgs and dnd/pf to really Get why a dragon game was interesting, so i replaced it with escape from this dungeon since thats got some more meat for them like voicey rules and characters. and im a big fan of nedjadi's games and wanted to give my students something more cute and fun, but they struggled to find much to read into or say about it that wasnt very surface level. escape from this dungeon and ilu, alive girl are new games this semester so we will see how those go over!!

[monsterfactoryfanfic]

I’ve got an article out in Interstellar Flights Magazine on Alien-inspired RPGs! I talk about the Free League game, Mothership, and The Wretched, and the ways each of those texts interpret Scott’s iconic film

[haveyouplayedthisttrpg]

Have you played THE HUNTED ?

By Chris Bissette

Zero prep folk horror. Your group is lost on a barren moor and something is hunting you. Invent rumours, creepypasta and campfire tales to boost your rolls - then try not to get eaten by the tale you spun.

[aninventoryofthepossible]

Inspirations for VOID 1680 AM

Earlier this year, I released a new solo TTRPG: VOID 1680 AM. In it, you use a deck of cards, a six-sided die, your music collection and a voice recorder to create your own late-night radio show.

The cards help you dig deep into your collection to reconnect with music you love; they and the die also help you create anonymous Callers and the concerns, hopes and obsessions that drove them to reach out to you, a fellow lone voice in the darkness.

I also included steps for joining the library of Callers for other players to use, and even to submit your full show for broadcast on the "real" VOID 1680 AM. You can see some of those Affiliate broadcasts here. They're genuinely very cool.

You can check out the game here, and I'm proud to say VOID 1680 AM is now a Judges' Spotlight Winner in this year's ENNIES.

Okay, enough table-setting. Let's get into it.

VOID was the culmination of a lifelong obsession with commercial radio; both the technology (which feels retro despite scarcely being over a century old) and the melancholy romance of lonesome voices baring themselves to an audience they'll never know the scope of.

This, to me, is an apt metaphor for the act of making something - anything at all. Speak into the Void, the back cover copy says. You never know who is listening. So it is with putting something you love into the world.

So what inspired VOID? I cite both Anamnesis by Sam Leigh and The Wretched by Chris Bissette in the book itself, two solo RPGs whose tones and methods did much to help me find my own.

But if I'm being truthful, VOID's inspirations mostly reside outside of games. Here are a few things that haunted me profoundly enough to drive me to respond.

The first is Talk Radio, specifically Oliver Stone's adaptation of Eric Bogosian's play. The movie's tagline is "the last neighborhood in America," which to me frames radio's persistent relevance and puts social media - often called a "town square" itself - in proper context as one piece of the many ways people find connection with others, for better or worse.

Contra the VOID DJ, Barry in Talk Radio is very, very aware of how his audience receives him (hint: not well). Barry must be heard, and so must the similarly damaged souls who call in to dump the poison in their brain into his... and everyone who's listening in, besides. It's a host of people who want to connect but don't know how, spiraling in decaying orbit around each other until something awful happens.

VOID 1680 AM was originally much darker before I decided to pull back and let players pick their own tone, and Talk Radio is why.

Oxenfree is a narrative video game about a small group of teens stuck on an island haunted by hungry ghosts who can be tuned in and out of reality with handheld radios. There's more to it than that, but I'll leave you to discover what on your own - because I would recommend this game to just about anyone.

Insofar as VOID 1680 AM can have a "soundtrack," it is this one by scntfc, created using WWII-era radio equipment.

The Vast of Night is a quietly alarming lo-fi/sci-fi set in a small town in New Mexico in the late '50s. A radio DJ and a switchboard operator pick up strange signals, and then... things happen.

This specific radio station (stylized in the poster above) is what I picture for "my" VOID 1680 AM.

Then there's Stevie in The Fog, played by Adrienne Barbeau. She's the bridge between VOID 1680 AM and my earlier solo game, Lighthouse at the End of the World.

She is, yes: a late night DJ. And her radio station is, yes: in a lighthouse. She's living my dream, at least until the ghost pirates show up.

Spoilers, I guess?

But the most important influence? VOID 1680 AM cover artist Jordan Witt's fan art for the podcast King Falls AM years ago. This image took up residence in my head, so much so that I still use it as phone wallpaper despite never having listened to the show it's for.

When it came time to partner with a cover artist, who that cover artist would be was never in question. Entirely unknowingly, Jordan took all these loose ideas in my head and gave them something to cohere to. A beacon, if you will.

They spoke something into the Void, and I listened.

Fun fact: Jordan even jazzed up the original logo I made for VOID 1680 AM when that title only applied to the AM transmitter in my garage. Here's my original - you can plainly see the influence of Jordan's art on that O. It all really came full circle.

Those are the biggest ingredients in the stew that made VOID 1680 AM. It's fun to talk about stuff I like, but also I hope it might nudge someone - anyone - to get going on something they're after.

(That's you. I'm talking about you.)

A project finding its voice is a wonderful thing, but there's no real miracle to it, no outside influence that will tell you what to do. It's just things in your head magnetizing to each other until they got a shape that - with coaxing - can stand on its own.

See you on the dial.

[goblincow]

NEW BLOG POST | 🔗

Dragonmeet & Muppetmeet 2024 | My recent game Litter, Detective! | Running (paid) drop-in indie RPGs for strangers at a Christmas party | + what's the deal with Bluesky | + DIY zine report | + Plane Sailing Games interviewed me | + appearing in the Debut Blog category of this year's Bloggies | + timely podcast recommendations!

📝 | The Dragonmeet writeup includes extensive notes from the panels I attended that will be of particular interest to other designers, including:

A panel on the rise of journalling games with Samantha Webb, Becky Annison, Chris Bissette, Taylor Navarro and Chris Birch;

An update on therapeutic gaming with Game Therapy UK;

Tips on being good at conventions with Mol Joule & Zach Cox from SoulMuppet, Josh from Hive Mind Games and Rori Montford of Montford Tales;

Investigating queer games & queering games with games studies academic Finley Palanaki;

And brick & mortar RPG retailing in the UK with Tom Mecredy from SoulMuppet and retailers Casper from Orc's Nest and James from Leisure Games.

[theresattrpgforthat]

how many ttrpgs do you know of that came with soundtracks?

THEME: TTRPGs With Soundtracks

Hello friend! I knew of a few off the top of my head, and went searching for some more. Many of these soundtracks are playlists of already-created songs, hosted on streaming apps like Spotify, but a few are designed specifically for a certain roleplaying game. Either way I hope you find something up your alley!

Monster Care Squad, by Sandy Pug Games and The Fox in the Flowers.

Long after the crowns have fallen, long after greed has had it's day, long after war, poverty, hunger, and tyranny passed into memory, Ald-Amura's peace is broken by The False Gold, a terrible sickness spreading through its greatest guardians and most beautiful Monsters.

Unified by community and driven by a love for the planet and each other, The Monster Care Squad rises. Do you heed their call?

A game about caring for monsters in a fantastical world is already probably enough to sell a lot of folks on the pitch, but the love for this game shines through in the third-party work available, including Sounds of Ald-Amura, by The Fox in The Flowers. Sandy Pug Games is a creative collective that prioritizes support for the entire team behind any given project, which is probably why their games are so beautiful and so well-crafted.

Long Haul 1983, by SPC. (Spotify Soundtrack)

It’s 1983, and the world feels hollowed out.

LONG HAUL 1983 tells the story of a dangerous journey through an empty world. 

You play a long-haul truck driver trying to make their way home. Every day, you’ll hit the road, navigating treacherous highways, fleeing from menacing threats, and dealing with the psychological impacts of isolation.

And at the end of each day, you’ll find a payphone, make a call, and leave a message for the most important person in your life. 

They never pick up. You never stop calling.

This is a solo game, where the soundtrack is designed to enhance the experience of loneliness and isolation, using ambient sounds and hits from the time period this game is set in. The game comes with a list of songs meant to be played during certain moments, as well as a list of songs that are designed to be background atmospheric pieces. If you want something that elevates your solo journaling experience, this game might be for you.

Orbital Blues, by Soul Muppet Games. (Soundtrack)

It is an intergalactic age of cowboys, outlaws and bandits playing on an interstellar stage. It is a time of hyper-capitalism and a cut-throat gig economy. Unreliable trash-heaps carry scrappy underdogs to their next gig, and corporation freighters lumber across the horizon laden with an empire’s bounty.

These are the music-fuelled, moon-age daydreams of a rebel space age. 

These are your ORBITAL BLUES.

Games inspired by tv shows and movies have a great starting point in finding music that really fits the tone - you can start with the soundtrack of the things that inspired you. But Chris Bissette was not happy to simply show you the soundtracks for Cowboy Bebop and Firefly and call it a day. They created a custom album to play alongside the game that’s a little soulful, and a little rock n’ roll. A soulful space-western kind of game lends itself really well to music to evoke melancholy and loss, so I definitely recommend listening to some of this if you want to play Orbital Blues or any other game inspired by the same sorts of media.

The Wildsea, by Felix Isaacs, and Songs of the Lignin Tide, by Liam Peregrine Vaughan.

Your character is a wildsailor, part of a crew cutting their way across the island-studded wilderness of the treetop sea on a vessel of your very own. You’ll clash with survivor cultures and wild beasts, scavenge and salvage for wreckage and trade-goods, chase rumours, and uncover secrets. The focus of this game is on exploration, progress, and change - you’ll define the world of the Wildsea as you sail it.

I’ve talked about The Wildsea extensively in the past, so I’m just going to talk a little bit about Songs of the Lignin Tide. The Wildsea community is dedicated, inspired, and creative, and that leads to some amazing work created by players, for other players. Songs of the Lignin Tide is one of those examples. It uses a wealth of different sounds to add richness and texture to this unique and verdant setting, and it feels like the creator drew heavily from their own experiences of playing the game. I highly recommend you check it out if you want more Wildsea in your life.

Quietus, by Sinister Beard Games. (Spotify Playlist)

QUIETUS is a one shot, prep-less RPG of melancholy horror. It’s a game for a GM and one or two players, and emulates tragic horror movies like Oculus, The Strangers, The Babadook, Inside and the Netflix version of The Haunting of Hill House. If a piece of fiction can make you cry and scream, then it’s a great model for the sort of stories that you can tell with QUIETUS.

The music for Quietus is also a Spotify playlist, with a collection of songs that fit the tone of a tragic horror game. It’s an hour and forty-three minutes long, and since Quietus is meant to be a one-shot, I have a feeling you might have to play through it more than once, or let Spotify generate similar songs after the playlist finishes up.

GoblinMixtape’s Soundtracks, by Sam Leigh.

While creating a soundtrack on your own might be a daunting task, using established songs to fit the vibe of your ttrpg is much easier, and GoblinMixtape (aka Sam Leigh) has connected many designers to playlists designed to emulate the feeling of their games. There’s quite a few playlists already created by them, so I’d recommend checking out this list of playlists if you want to see the games she’s worked on before.

[soulmuppet]

Music is central to Orbital Blues, its an immediate gateway into sharing feeling, emotion and our favourite word: VIBE! We've now got 3 amazing soundtracks to play as background music in your session, inspire your next character or perhaps use as your characters Swansong. Massive shoutout to Chris Bissette and BE/HOLD for their amazing work.

[ladytabletop]

Alone at the Table 2023 in Review

This was my first year podcasting regularly since about 2019! And boy was it a fun one.

For those of you who don't know, Alone at the Table is part actual play, part analysis, and it's just me playing solo rpgs (mostly). I wasn't really sure this would work when I started it last year on a whim! I had gotten tired of having all those solo rpgs just sitting around and never actually playing, and recording The Wretched by Chris Bissette (my first recording, though not the first episode) just made sense.

I have had hurdles with journaling for solo games, but recording them? That's a different story.

Anyway, because I'm me and unable to do anything halfway, I slapped some music and effects on it and made some cover art, and thus the podcast was born. Getting picked up by @moonshotpods only a month in was a dream! Glad I took a shot at submitting the show for consideration.

Anyway, all this is to say, I'm so so grateful for how much this little show has done for me this year, and I'm blown away by how well it's been received. Thank you so much for coming along for the experience.

A look at some numbers:

14 regular season episodes

3 bonus episodes (hopefully I'll put up one more before year end)

13 games played/showcased

1 crowdfunding partnership (Wreck This Deck)

over 3K listens!!

And to top it off, I've got a schedule for next year that's mostly full (with some gaps in case of new crowdfunding partnership promotions)!

Thank you so, so much.

[indiepressrevolution]

On Sale: These Wretched Tales

Between these pages, darkness falls.

Isolated and alone, you’ll experience three horror stories about slasher killers, obsessed investigators, and haunted houses. These Wretched Tales collects three solo TTRPGs, all using Chris Bissette’s Wretched & Alone system. You’ll need a pack of cards, a tumbling block tower, and some way to write and record your story – or stories. These games use prompts, determined by card draws, to inspire scenes in your horror story. Exactly how they play out is up to you… but they rarely end well.

Currently 20% off!

https://www.indiepressrevolution.com/xcart/These-Wretched-Tales-Print-PDF.html

[vintagerpg]

Matt Sanders’ The Sealed Library (2020) is a very brief solo game for Chris Bissette’s The Wretched rules. I am not familiar with those, but if this zine is any indication, they’re lightweight and excel at presenting weighty topics in a thoughtful way.

The concept is straightforward. You’re a librarian in the greatest library ever known. The city is under siege. Everyone but you is dead. You have a barricade (represented by a Jenga tower) protecting you from the invaders . You need to save as much of the accumulated knowledge as you can before the barricade fails, or you starve to death. Lighthearted!

Play is a combination of journaling and drawing cards, then resolving the corresponding actions. Befitting a game bearing the logo “Wretched & Alone,” it is pretty agonizing. Progress on moving books to the vault is slow. Constant distractions divert your attention and waste your time. There is very little indication that you have any hope of success. You do! There is a single potential path to a victory. You can even survive, maybe. But that isn’t really the point. Rather, the player is meant to ponder the idea of preserving knowledge in the face of its destruction, the meaning of it all and their place in all of this, among other similar existential questions.

A thoughtful, if unrelentingly heavy, experience.

[gontijolab]

The Poetics of Openess on RPG Modules

I wish Umberto Eco had written Tabletop RPGs for real.

"By aiming for maximum unpredictability, we aim for maximum disorder, in which not only the most common, but all possible meanings turn out to be unorganizable."

His toughts on how the Open Work was a bridge connecting the theory of Information to the theory of Communication were really clever. I can see a lot of the intentional openess on the indie ttrpg modules. Works like Luke Gearing's "The Isle" (image below) explored the potential of meta-reading. On each reading news paths open in front of the readers cause they look at it with more mature eyes knowing info they didn't had when of the first reading. Kind of similar to what Gene Wolfe (may God have him) used to do on his stories.

When I think about the poetics of openess on TTRPGs all I can remember is this Chris Bissette's random table here...

1-3. 2d6 goblins hunting bears 4-5. An Injured bear 6. Roland, King of the Bears, with 1d6 armoured bear retainers, hunting goblins

...where the fruition of the open work invites the players to fill the gaps with their own connotations and experiences while at the same time pointing it to a bigger picture.

I'm studying Umberto Eco's The Open Work right now (I'm at 38% of it) and writing a report of it chapter by chapter. It's an anthology of essays from the 60s all regarding the trend of intentional openess in modern art. So far very good food for thought. If he was alive to see what we're creating on the indie TTRPG scene I think he would be really excited and intrigued by it.

[rollforfelicity]

I get the impulse of wanting to subvert a game or tweak the mechanics of it. I get reading a playbook and wanting to play against type.

BUT

So many TTRPGs, especially systems like Belonging Outside Belonging or Powered by the Apocalypse, have so few mechanics, and the mechanics they do have reward you for leaning into genre and archetype and fall apart when you stray too far. Not to mention they're often designed to subvert themselves as the game goes on, after the tropes have been established.

SO

The first time I run or play a game, I lean into what the game is pushing me to do. Before I try to turn the game into something else, I want to experience what the game is. If there are plot hooks or random tables, I use 'em. If there's a starting adventure, I'm playing it. I used to always make up my own thing because I wanted to be "original," but when I switched to running with what the writer provides, I've had such a lighter load as a GM, and the results have been great stories that fit the system and genre really well.

Some examples that spring to mind are Alicia Furness's Basic Witches, SprintingOwl's Pie Lent Hill, John Harper's Lasers and Feelings, and Chris Bissette's Under The Floorboards. When I've run these, I've relied really heavily, if not exclusively, on the game itself to establish plot hooks and setting elements.

[bimboficationblues]

top 5 comic book runs

this is from the last time I reblogged a "top 5" post and I just didn't get to it lol

Chris Claremont's Uncanny X-Men: the superhero soap opera perfected

Alan Moore and Steve Bissette's Swamp Thing: boundlessly creative, massively influential, frequently politically incisive, and at heart a really sweet (and bizarrely horny) love story

Grant Morrison and Howard Porter's JLA: I love how many creative conflicts and stories there are in this run, and I think it's one of the best summations (besides All-Star) of Morrison's humanistic ethos. (alt pick, and kind of the inverse of this series, is Morrison's Doom Patrol, which is a strike at the masculinist Ubermensch mentality running through cape comics.)

Marjorie Liu and Sana Takeda's Monstress: Haven't caught up, and it's still ongoing, but I think it's fair to say that it earns this spot with its themes, worldbuilding, and Takeda's excellent artwork.

Mark Waid and Mike Wieringo's Fantastic Four: this is more of a personal favorite, if I were being objective it might fall a bit lower (and perhaps as I catch up on more old and modern classics it will), but I can't overstate how enraptured I was reading this, and I think this is also the peak of Mike Wieringo's style.

[easypeasylindyvesey]

here are all the songs on my ITISWNK playlist that y'all can listen to while reading to kinda fit the vibe (if you wish). artists are listed on the left, corresponding songs are listed on the right :)

the 1975: about you, love it if we made it

6LACK: rent free

adele: someone like you, when we were young, all i ask

aidan bissett: more than friends

alicia keys: if i ain't got you

angus & julia stone: take me home

arctic monkeys: i wanna be yours

ariana grande: boyfriend (with social house), be alright, into you, leave me lonely, sometimes, thinking bout you, don't wanna break up again, the boy is mine, we can't be friends (wait for your love), imperfect for you, ordinary things, why try, just a little bit of your heart, safety net, pov, better off, goodnight n go, bad idea, ghostin

aron wright: build it better

berlin: take my breath away

between friends: affection

beyoncé: II most wanted

big time rush: nothing even matters

billie eilish: birds of a feather, i love you

billy joel: turn the lights back on

blackbear: dead inside

børns: electric love, american money

brent faiyaz: wasting time

briston maroney: freakin out on the interstate

bruno mars/silk sonic: leave the door open, after last night, put on a smile, love's train

bryan adams: (everything i do) i do it for you

cage the elephant: come a little closer

calum scott: you are the reason

camila cabello: my oh my, bad kind of butterflies, dream of you

the chainsmokers: closer, it won't kill ya, beach house, if you're serious

chance peña: in my room

chicago: hard to say i'm sorry (2009 remaster)

chris brown: forever

the cinematic orchestra: to build a home

coin: talk too much

coldplay: sparks, yellow, fix you

conan gray: forever with me, disaster, yours, memories

the cranberries: dreams

dave matthews band: crash into me (IYKYK)

dayglow: can i call you tonight?

disclosure: latch

doja cat: agora hills

don toliver: drugs n hella melodies

drake: yebba's heartbreak, imy2, hours in silence, i guess it's fuck me, flight's booked, teenage fever, lose you, from time, summer games, finesse, sooner than later, take care, doing it wrong, the real her, show me a good time, find your heart

dua lipa: break my heart, these walls

duster: stars will fall

dvsn: all that matters (spotify singles)

dylan conrique: birthday cake

eden: sex

ed sheeran: how would you feel (paean)

ellie goulding: close to me, something in the way you move, love me like you do

faye webster: i know you

fitz and the tantrums: out of my league

forest blakk: if you love her

frank ocean: godspeed

french montana: unforgettable

gabrielle aplin: skylight

gavin degraw: she sets the city on fire

gayle: ur just horny

(g)i-dle: i do

giveon: for tonight

gracie abrams: friend, feels like

greyson chance: shut up

grouplove: tongue tied

halsey: now or never, sorry, so good

hannah montana: he could be the one

harry styles: adore you, fine line, grapejuice, as it was, daylight, satellite, meet me in the hallway, two ghosts

hippo campus: way it goes

hoobastank: the reason

hozier: work song, cherry wine- live

hugo brijs: mol y sol

imagine dragons: next to me, start over, wrecked, bad liar

instupendo: comfort chain

james arthur: certain things, car's outside

james bay: wasted on each other

james blunt: you're beautiful

jensen mcrae: massachusetts

jeremy zucker: cozy

jess benko: a soulmate who wasn't meant to be

john de sohn: love you better

john legend: conversations in the dark

jonas brothers: hesitate, five more minutes

jp saxe: a little bit yours

justin bieber: as i am, off my face

jvke: golden hour

jxdn: beautiful boy

kanye west: heartless, devil in a new dress, runaway

katy perry: e.t.

kendrick lamar: die hard

khalid: don't pretend, better

the kid laroi: love again

king princess: 1950

labrinth: skeletons (lexi needed a break)

lana del rey: summertime sadness, a&w, let the light in, lust for life, norman fucking rockwell

lany: if this is the last time

lifehouse: you and me

lil nas x: tales of dominica, void

lil peep: star shopping

little mix: notice

lizzo: if you love me

lizzy mcalpine: ceilings, the elevator, come down soon, like it tends to do, staying, i guess, you forced me to, vortex

lord huron: the night we met

louis tomlinson: written all over your face, lucky again, chicago, angels fly, that's the way love goes

lovelytheband: i should be happy

luke hemmings: place in me, a beautiful dream

the lumineers: where we are, never really mine, just like heaven, sleep on the floor, my eyes, patience, white lie, donna, salt and the sea, slow it down, morning song

m83: wait

maren morris: nervous

the marías: echo

maroon 5: stutter, never gonna leave this bed, if i ain't got you - live, bet my heart, it was always you, unkiss me, feelings, my heart is open

max: butterflies

***mazzy star: fade into you*** (this is the song that the fic is based off of!!!)

metro boomin: creepin'

miley cyrus: you - live, rose colored lenses, river

milky chance: stolen dance

mitski: my love mine all mine

monsume: jade

montell fish: fall in love with you., love you more than me

morgan wallen: wasted on you, not good at not, you proof, wine into water

the mowgli's: say it, just say it

muni long: time machine

nessa barrett: die first

ne-yo: let me love you (until you learn to love yourself)

nf: if you want love

niall horan: this town, put a little love on me, still, heaven, meltdown, must be love

nick jonas: close

noah kahan: stick season, come over, strawberry wine, everywhere, everything

ocean park standoff: if you were mine

olivia rodrigo: bad idea right?, logical, love is embarrassing, teenage dream, good 4 u, lacy

one direction: steal my girl, where do broken hearts go, fool's gold, spaces, infinity, end of the day, if i could fly, long way down, what a feeling, love you goodbye, temporary fix, a.m., home, kiss you, little things, they don't know about us, truly madly deeply, magic, what makes you beautiful, one thing, i want

parson james: stole the show

partynextdoor: come and see me

patrick watson: je te laisserai des mots

phillip phillips: dancing with your shadows

p!nk: true love

post malone: stay, take what you want, i know, leave, wrapped around your finger

preston pablo: flowers need rain

quinn xcii: let me down, good either way, the lows

rag'n'bone man: anywhere away from here

reneé rapp: in the kitchen

rihanna: stay

ruby haunt: answering machine

ruth b: dandelions (slowed + reverb)

ryan woods: bad texter

saint jhn: the best part of life

sam fischer: ready

sam smith: lay me down

sarah barrios: mourn the living

sarah kinsley: the king

sasha alex sloan: dancing with your ghost

selena gomez: a sweeter place

shawn mendes: it'll be okay, why, wonder

stephen dawes: don't hate me when it's over

stephen sanchez: until i found you (with em beihold)

strawberry guy: mrs magic

suki waterhouse: good looking

surfaces: falling again, find a way, hold onto me baby, so far away, stay

sydney rose: turning page

sza: awkward, snooze

taio cruz: break your heart

tate mcrae: that way, hate myself, go away, run for the hills, hurt my feelings, stay done, messier, think later, slower, you broke me first, wish i loved you in the 90s

taylor swift: out of the woods (TV), this love (TV), i know places (TV), wonderland (TV), you are in love (TV), "slut!" (TV) (FTV), say don't go (TV) (FTV), is it over now? (TV) (FTV), all of the girls you loved before, champagne problems, tolerate it, evermore, august, illicit affairs, invisible string, miss americana & the heartbreak prince, false god, afterglow, question...?, sweet nothing, bigger than the whole sky, would've, could've, should've, message in a bottle (TV) (FTV), dress, sparks fly (TV), the story of us (TV), enchanted (TV), electric touch (TV) (FTV), i can see you (TV) (FTV), fortnight, loml, the alchemy, you're losing me (FTV), fresh out the slammer, dancing with our hands tied, new year’s day, you’re not sorry (TV), you all over me (TV) (FTV)

teddy swims: evergreen

timaland: the way i are

troye sivan: angel baby, talk me down, for him., wild

the walters: i love you so

the weeknd: shameless, earned it, how do i make you love me?, out of time, here we go...again, best friends, don't break my heart, the knowing

whitney houston: i will always love you, i wanna dance with somebody

wrabel: ritual

yungblud: 11 minutes

zach bryan: i remember everything, spotless

zayn: dusk till dawn

**updated 6/23/2024