#denmark is TOP tbh

[iiscpr]

and ball and chain ad ball abnd ball and chain and ball and

[inside-nordic-life]

Hej guys

Welcome to my blog!

I’m Julia, 18 years old, and currently volunteering in Denmark. It feels strange to write those words down. I’m a volunteer. Just a few months ago, I was still in my home country, thinking Denmark was far away. But time flies, doesn’t it? And now I’m already three months into my stay—three months of great experiences, meeting wonderful people, and learning about Danish culture.

Let’s start simple:

Where do I live?

So far, I’m staying with a host family near Aarhus. Christoph and Karen, who have two very adorable daughters, Alma and Ida. I had never been abroad for such a long time before, so staying with a host family was a completely new experience for me. First of all, I didn’t know them until a week before I came to Denmark. That made me nervous about what it would be like. Would we get along? How should I behave around my host family? What would they expect of me? I had a lot of questions! But I’m glad to say it all turned out well in the end. We get along really well, which isn’t hard because they’re very nice people. The children are sweet and are able to communicate with me, even though I can’t speak Danish yet. Living with people I didn’t know before turned out to be surprisingly similar to my family life back home. I join them for dinner, sit in the living room reading, help with cooking, or spend time with the children. Being around them is much easier than I imagined. At first, it felt a bit awkward to sit in the living room or eat their food, but I’m getting used to it. I’m still adjusting to the food part tbh, but I’m lucky to get along with them so well. I imagine it might be harder if your host family is very different from your own, or if you’re not a family-oriented person and need more alone time. But I believe this depends on what kind of person you are—whether you’re more extroverted or introverted.

What do I do?

I work at a forest kindergarten near Aarhus. Every year, three volunteers work there so they are used to having volunteers. I really enjoy my work. From the very beginning, the staff were very welcoming and friendly. I work in the "wolf group," the Ulve, and accompany the children through their daily routine. In the morning, I help the children hang up their backpacks, and then I bring the lunchboxes with fruit and bread from the kitchen for our breakfast together. After breakfast, the children either play in the kindergarten or we go on excursions to the meadow at the hunting lodge or into the forest. Lunch is usually eaten during these outings, unless we stay in the kindergarten, in which case we eat on-site.

After the excursion, some children take a nap, for which we hang up hammocks. Around 12:30, I prepare the next meal: crispbread, smørrebrød, and cold cuts. The children can then choose whether they want cheese, sausage, or leverpostej on their bread.

In the afternoon, it’s time for the children to play again. I spend a lot of time with them, whether in the sandbox, playing tag, or simply listening when they want to show or tell me something. I’m still practicing and trying to learn Danish, but it’s enough for simple conversations, joint activities, or just listening to the children. In the beginning, it was very hard to interact with them. I didn’t know their names yet and couldn’t say anything except my own. Most of the simple phrases I use now are things I learned by listening to the Danish staff. I’m really looking forward to starting language school next Monday. Although I use Duolingo and hear Danish every day, I still need to learn how to express myself. Moreover, working with children can be exhausting. Sometimes, when I get home from work, I wonder why I’m so tired because it doesn’t seem like hard work at first. But it’s the mental load—the exhaustion from social interactions 24/7. On top of that, I’m listening to Danish all day and speak English, which can also tire me out subconsciously. But overall, I’m very happy with my workplace.

For example, I understand more now, but I still can’t reply properly. If I can respond, it’s not always exactly what I want to say because I don’t have the right words. If you asked me whether Danish is hard to understand, I’d say no. But if you asked me whether Danish is hard to read or pronounce, I’d definitely say yes. I feel like they leave out most of the letters in the words when they pronounce them, and the o’s can be really tricky to pronounce. Although I’m German, which is apparently helpful for learning Danish, I still struggle. I hope language school will help me because I really want to learn Danish.

Now, this was my very first entry. I’m going to write more soon, but for now, this is it. I plan to write one blog entry every week. If I have the time or something interesting to write about, I might post more entries per week.

Thanks for reading! I hope you enjoyed it :)

[residentraccoon]

Ok we have all the songs, time to make a top, with comments even 😳

1. Norway - I love love love this one, this eerie, thrilling melody mixed with the medieval theme and old norwegian language just makes this song perfect and no other song of this year can come any closer to it. Very unique, true to their homeland, absolute masterpiece. I'm definitely following more of Gåte's discography from now on!

2. Estonia - Well they're singing about drugs here and this song is exactly like a drug - addictive. What sells it is their awesome, slightly batshit crazy energy (I absolutely love it) and let's not forget the traditional instruments. I can see a Trenulețul scenario with this one tbh.

3. Slovenia - Absolutely magical, the structure of this song is pretty uncommon and the lil RRAH sounds are interesting, love how it takes a while to build-up and I just get chills all over. This one is a piece of art.

4. San Marino - This song is destroying my Spotify wrapped and it's not even funny, there's something about this one that makes it instantly addictive. I've listened to Megara since last year when they were at Spain's NF with Arcadia and all I can say is that I love their style. Sassy pink and punk rock with a touch of Spanish traditional sounds during the bridge, they just mesh together so well. I don't understand why it's so underrated (currently last in the odds lmfao) and I'm looking forward to their live performance.

5. Denmark - Generic pop song my beloved, why is it so catchy though? I've said it in a previous post, I just reminds me of songs I'd hear in 2013 or so and I love the "Oh-Oh" parts. Lovely

6. Lithuania - The beat hits, it's just awesome fr. Lovely staging and colors, Lithuanian sounds so pretty and melodic as well as his voice.

7. Belgium - Wonderful build-up, the song at first sounds very chill and gives me Blanche vibes (I looked it up and they have the same composer so not surprised lmao) but man, the climax is greaaaaat!! Especially with that choir in the backing. My only gripe would be that he keeps repeating the title over and over again, which can become a bit tiring. But just a bit. It's still a great song!

8. Switzerland - I don't know whose idea was to mix opera and drum n bass together but they're a genius, this is really cool, like absolutely nuts. I love how the bridge is very soft and quiet, opposing the loud and dramatic chorus, I feel like the song itself is pretty messy and inconsistent but I really like that, it's very out of the box and innovative. Genius entry.

9. Latvia - Underrated, I can see why it might fail to grab an audience in the fandom but I really like this one, especially his voice. The song flows nicely too, I only wish the staging would be a bit more...dynamic though? I really want Latvia to qualify for once, felt like it might have a chance since it could attract some casual viewers (some of my casual friend watchers really liked it!) but seeing how brutal semifinal 2 is (and one spot will be inevitably taken by...yeah won't elaborate) I'm afraid Latvia's out for this year as well. I hope at least for a surprise or who knows. That's only how I feel at this moment.

10. Spain - My biggest grower of this year and a total banger, I don't understand why it slaps so hard it has no business to, the message is SO real and it's so unapologetically sassy.

11. Czechia - Same story as with Latvia, underrated to hell and back, I know the live version is...a lil terrible but the studio one I really like. Love how you can feel the frustration through her shouty lyrics and how she's blaming herself for not loving herself more instead (also the beginning might or might not remind me of Aijā I mean the intro with the drums makes me think of it-) ANYWAY

12. Croatia - Listen I'm very happy for Croatia being seen as a most likely winner of this year, they deserve it, Baby Lasagna is an amazing man and the message is on point, even if it's not exactly my favorite I definitely root for him!! Please meow back if you agree. Besides this, the glam ethno rock sound is just 👌 chef's kiss

13. Armenia - Love love love that they brought something ethnic!! The girl's energy is infectious and she's such a joy to watch, the music video is very pretty and describes their culture so well, overall I adore this.

14. Netherlands - GREAT I relistened to it so I can rank it and now I have Europapapapapapa stuck in my head how wonderful. This tells me already that this is such an infectious bop that will never leave your head. Possible televote winner, love the quirkiness and Joost is really goofy we stan.

15. Greece - Welcome to Greece, everyone who visits the country is obligated to listen to this the moment they step out of the plane- /j It's so Greek, so fun, so ethnic, geez what's happening with everyone being so diverse and true to their culture this year? This song screams summer vacation in Greece and I'm here for it.

16. France - The raw emotions in this...he sings with his heart and soul, his voice is very deep and gruff which feels a bit unusual to hear such an intimate and emotional ballad from him, but this is what makes the song special.

17. Italy - Love her attitude and how she sells the song, it's very sassy and fun, won't be surprised to see Italy get yet another Top 5 finish with this.

18. Ukraine - Interesting mix of melancholic pop and energetic chanting and rap. Alyona just nails the rap part perfectly. Overall nice song, grew off me but still great.

19. Ireland - This makes me have chills all over my body. It's very haunting and suspenseful, I love the uncommon unique sound and how they recite the lyrics as they are a poem/creating a curse, I simply love how avant-garde Ireland are this year! Finally they're taking a risk and even if the song is unconventional i hope it will have a following that will help them get through the semi! 🤞

20. Poland - Oh look another grower, it's such a cute song for some reason and her voice is so pleasant to the ears.

21. Serbia - At first I thought it's a bit boring but now I find myself mumbling "Lila Ramondaaaa", like it has a hook even if it's a melancholic ballad.

22. Portugal - The emotions in this are immaculate, she conveys all her struggles in life so well into a ballad that's somewhat soft-sounding. Epic.

23. Australia - For some reason this song takes me back to 2015-2016 and I don't get why?? Maybe I heard music that's similar to this in that period, who knows. That chorus slaps immensely, as well as the didgeridoo(I hope that's the instrument), but I'm not extremely head over heels about it. It's enjoyable still!

24. Malta - Contrary to popular belief I enjoyed the revamp, she made it easier to sing live and it just has more oomph, good job, Malta.

25. Finland - The whole 3 minutes are absolutely batshit insane and I love it fr, these dudes are a delight to watch. The song tbh I like it but not that much to rank it higher, but I appreciate the craziness, the message, what sells it is definitely the staging and the guys' stage persona.

26. Austria - Mmmmm I know it's a fan favorite but I'm not a big fan of this, like I've said before in some other posts. The hype at first was highly irritating (especially on twitter, dear god 💀) for such a...just okay/good song? First of all I appreciate the throwback to the late 90s/early 00s eurodance/synthpop music that was popular back then, I think it does a great job imitating the vibes of it, but at the same time is it just me or this song feels so...calculated and has this eurovision-specific formula in its structure/sound? It was definitely made for it being performed live and to pander to the yass queen slay ate and left no crumbs-side of the fandom? Which honestly kinda drags it down a lot for me.

27. Sweden - I can't unhear parts of Air in this, well actually that's their style, neat electro pop tbh, I can bop to this, pretty enjoyable.

28. Moldova - Falls flat but what makes it a bit stronger is the vocalisations in the chorus, as well as the lil ethnic sounds. That drum is also quite catchy. They have to pull out a wonder-staging for this to qualify.

29. Georgia - If Georgia isn't qualifying with this one then that means their only hope is borrowing Loreen at this point. It's a competent girl bop with powerful vocals, that has a dedicated following, but I appreciate that even if it's a girl bop it's not so aggressively in your face like...other examples I've seen before. I'm personally not big on it, but it's nice.

30. Azerbaijan - Oh? Azerbaijan sends something in their language, what is this 2050? And not with a melfest reject? For the 2nd year in a row? I'm very impressed, but even with all these I don't feel that attached to the song, just glad they took a risk instead of renting a swede for safe qualification like they did in the past years. I love the ethnic touches though.

31. Luxembourg - Cute and peppy french bop, although a bit generic and that's about it, no strong feelings.

32. Cyprus - Mmm your regular girlie pop of the year, unsurprisingly from Cyprus as well. Pretty catchy, has a cool vibe but I'm not feeling anything about it.

33. United Kingdom - Just a competent mid-tempo boy bop, honestly nothing much to say since it kinda failed to impress me. Good effort though.

34. Albania - I don't get why they changed it into english, why they turned it more upbeat (I liked the balladier version more) and the rap part feels disjointed. Albania wanted to relive their 2016-2017 era I see.

35. Germany - I'm sorry but this song bores me to death and can't listen to it without zoning out which is a shame because he's a competent singer (his voice is the best thing about Germany this year) and I'm afraid they're again heading for a bottom 3 finish 💀

36. Iceland - Mmm this isn't is, Iceland. Very sorry. Sounds like it would get 13th in 2004, it's a very by-the-letters eurodance.

I will not rank Israel here. It's still mind-boggling that they're still allowed to participate.

[mindthelspace]

Eurovision 2024 first impressions

Wasn't sure what to listen to at work, and then I remembered that all the Eurovision songs have now been released! So I thought I'd give 'em a listen.

Until today, I'd heard small clips of the songs in Youtube top 36 lists. That was it.

Caveat 1: I've paid zero attention to any of the national finals, so I'm blissfully ignorant of 90% of whatever drama happened in those.

Caveat 2: Everything below is the personal subjective opinion of me, a knobhead on Tumblr. You will probably disagree with a lot of it and that's fine.

Caveat 3: "Why are you not boycotting when Israel are-" Yes, I know. I do follow the news. I'm not going to go into why I'm not boycotting because that's not what this post is for, but I promise I have thought about it and can explain my reasons.

So, with that out of the way:

Croatia: Strong start! I really like this, and get why it's one of the favourites! I might be on Team Croatia this year- I'd love the winner to be someone who hasn't won before, or hasn't won for decades!

Netherlands: It's... alright, I guess? But I'm not sure it's as funny as it thinks it is, and might get a bit old fairly quickly.

Switzerland: This is interesting, and a nice break from their pattern of the past few years. I'll be happy if this does well :)

Italy: I like this better than I thought I would, based on the little clips I've seen. Still a bit confused about why it seems to be topping literally all the Youtube rankings, though.

Austria: Meh

Sweden: This is the ONE song I couldn't make it all the way through. I, yeah, sorry, I hate it. Sounds AI generated. Sweden, please, you have good music, I know you do, I've heard it, you don't need to send this kind of crap every other year, please!

Ukraine: Ukraine my beloved, always understanding the assignment <3

Greece: Way more interesting than the clip I'd heard previously made it sound!

Germany: This is exactly what I was afraid would happen if LotL didn't do well. I'm getting flashbacks to Michael Rice and his 2019 last place.

Belgium: Meh

Cyprus: Extremely Meh. This is like a composite of every bland, inoffensive, radio 1 song ever.

France: It's a nice ballad. 'For the Mum's, I think is the phrase. S'fine.

UK: Apparently 'obnoxious ear worms' is my country's new schtick. Although like Italy, I do like this a bit more than I thought I would. Also starting to notice a lot of the songs sounding a bit 80's-lite?

Georgia: S'fine, I guess. 50/50 as to whether it breaks their NQ streak.

Malta: Wow, there are a lot of trendy girl pop songs that I have absolutely no feelings about this year.

Armenia: This is enjoyable and I respect it.

Azerbaijan: Another Whelming-to-decent one, but I do like that they're singing in their own language for the first time!

Albania: Snore

Australia: I get what they were going for, but I find this a bit cheesy.

Ireland: Look at Ireland taking a risk! I so, so, hope this works out for them and breaks their NQ streak! I am slightly concerned, just because this is the kind of experimental that can be difficult to translate to a three minute stage performance, but if they give it the creativity it needs it could be their best entry in years!

Lithuania: A nice little catchy thing. Quite like it.

Denmark: Oof, Denmark really are in their wilderness years, aren't they? Look, this isn't bad, but there are a lot of songs that sound similar to this, and this has 'lost in the shuffle' written all over it.

Poland: There's nothing about this that makes it stand out from all the other trendy-girl-pop-songs objectively, but I do have a soft spot for this one.

Spain: This is really cute! I think I've found my favourite Big 5 :)

Czechia: Oh look, we have some pop-punk this year. Cool.

Serbia: I'm... not feeling much for this *now*, but I think it might grow on me once I've heard it a few times.

Finland: I am CACKLING

Portugal: I'm a bit undecided about this, tbh. Might have to see how it is live.

Norway: I knew I'd quite like this, and I do! I feel like the live performance is really going to make or break it though.

Luxembourg: So I've heard this song is *also* Israeli propaganda, and if that's true, a) that sucks, because Luxembourg, mate, this is your re-entry, you didn't want this, and b) it's disconcertingly cheerful.

Estonia: Whatever this is, it has no business going this hard.

San Marino: Another pop-punk. I'm a bit more intrigued by this one than the Czech one. I can't see it doing amazingly, but if the performance is good it could get San Marino a rare Q.

Slovenia: It's OK. Seemed like it was going somewhere and then... didn't.

Israel: Was debating whether to ignore this (and sit there wondering about it), or give in and listen to it once so I could stop caring. Went for the latter. You'll be relieved to know it's bland as shit. The inevitable background booing might even be an improvement.

Iceland: I didn't get Hera Bjork in 2010 and I don't get her now.

Latvia: I really want Latvia to break their NQ streak, especially with how they were basically robbed by the semi draw last year, but this just... needs to be more than it is. A really good live performance could save it, maybe? I don't know. I wanted to like this but I'm not hopeful.

Moldova: Slovenia Two. Another one that was sort of going somewhere for a minute, and then stopped.

In conclusion:

So much Eurodance

So much 80's

Loooads of really similar songs. More than usual. Some of them are inevitably going to cancel each other out.

The "everyone follows the runner ups of the previous year" trend seems to be holding, with lots of similar-vein-as-Noa-Kirels, and a few similar-vein-as-Kaarijas.

This is definitely a year that's less my cup of tea. That's OK. I was spoilt last year. And there are still some solid entries.

[wizardscrown]

it’s been a while like always, since i’ve been on here tbh but felt like sharing these last.fm playback of 2023, idk.

general:

obviously, blind guardian takes first place 🩵

though, i find it weird that heavy load (sweden) didn’t make it on my top 5 artists but their track “take me away” did make it to the top 5 tracks.

as for children of bodom…i’m very surprised that they remain 2nd even if i haven’t been listening to them a whole lot recently…but i still have lots of love for them.

top albums of the year ✨

lots of german and finnish metal albums that continue to be my absolute favorites! timeless gems 🩵

the way heavens gate and heavy load really altered my brain chemistry in 2023 is so fucking indescribable. my absolute favorites!

final thoughts:

anyway, final thing i just wanted to point out is that…who allowed me to listen to music this much 😭

2023 was a year filled with lots of good and bad events. without getting personal, i discovered beautiful music that really changed my life for the better.

honorable mentions:

heavy load (sweden)

heavens gate (germany)

gotham city (sweden)

hällas (sweden)

dark star (england)

randy (denmark)

enforcer (sweden)

glacier (oregon, us)

Q5 (washington, us)

angel fury (california, us)

eternal champion (texas, us)

spell (canada)

questions to anyone reading this…

who was your top artist? or what are some artists/bands you discovered in 2023 that you adore! :D

[druidx]

A Year of Writing - 2023 Writing Wrap-up

➼ Quick Stats

Total words Written in 2023: 75,022

Average Words/Work (published): 2501

Started in 2023: 24 works

Finished in 2023 (started anytime): 22 works

Published in 2023 (started anytime): 22 works

Number of Works still in Progress (started anytime): 77

Mostly wrote in: February (8 works edited, 5 published)

Longest work completed or added to in 2023: The Ruby Falls (179,282)

Shortest work completed or added to in 2023: It's Fashion, Boss (357)

Top Genres: Sci-Fi (13 - just pinching out Fantasy at 12)

Top WIP(s): The Ruby Falls and Young Dagger, False Dream (previously named Alexis Dalliance vs the Evil of Titan)

Top OC(s): Aderyn, Mio (10 fics each)

Below the cut: Review of 2023's Plans, Work I'm proud of, Work that shows I'm still learning, Breakdown of 2023, Plans for 2024, ICYMI

➼ What were my writing plans for 2023?

❌ Post The Ruby Falls Nope. I'm closer, but still no cigar. I've edited 1.75 sections, bringing the total complete-&-almost-ready-to-post sections to 5/15.

✅ Finish stuff Yes! I completed 7 works this year which were started before 2023, the oldest of which was Tales of the Starbound - The Old-Timer's Tale from 2015.

❌ Post more 'For Posterity' items Nope. Forgot + no time + burn out/ no energy

❌ Study Romance? Nope. Forgot this was a goal TBH

❌ Read more Nope. Last year I read 10 books, this year I've only read 5 (not counting fanfics). I did try, but yeah. (My Storygraph if you're interested)

✅ IDK, everything beyond The Ruby Falls is flexible currently. Technically, this one is complete! 😅️

➼ Work I'm most proud of

Home That Our Feet May Leave, But Not Our Hearts (Starbound) This was an experiment in writing a time loop, and also changing tenses through a story. It may not have been 100% perfect, but I feel like I learnt a lot writing it and I'm really happy how it came out.

Greetings After a Long Departure (TESIV:Oblivion) I thought long and hard about how it must feel to touch the statue and gain the Blessing of Akatosh, and I'm pleased that the description really came off as well as it did.

➼ Work that shows I'm still learning

I think maybe I'm stuck in the 'taste vs ability' trough. Aside from the two above, and maybe Two Foxes (TESIV:Oblivion), I feel like there's been some je ne sais quoi missing from my writing this year. I joined Writeblr to learn and grow as a writer, so if anyone has any tips or ConCrit I'd love to hear it. I really don't want to plateau again.

➼ Breakdown of 2023

I traveled a lot this year. Denmark, Albania, Scotland, Denmark again, and off again to Denmark for Christmas. It's for sure been inspiring, but it's also been exhausting and hasn't left me much brain-space for writing. Not to mention that 2nd day of holiday in Scotland I got "bitten by a Haggis", and spent the next 3 months healing a hole in my shin, and I'm still recovering from that. With all the traveling, maybe this year should have been a 'feed the well' year instead of struggling to finish works I didn't have the energy for. Ah well.

That said, I did quite well with my PodFic project. 50 Fics were recorded and ~80 still remain.

➼ What are my writing plans for 2024?

IDK. The future is a foreign country (to paraphrase L. P. Hartley).

Continue hacking away at The Ruby Falls and whatever else catches my fancy.

Eat more red meat/ protein. Can't write if your brain doesn't function.

Figure out what je ne sais quoi missing from my writing.

Pick up abandoned projects. To whit, 'For Posterity' items and Podfics.

➼ In Case You Missed It

Starbound

Tales of the Starbound - The Old-Timer's Tale - 1,616 words. A day in the life of Quihui & contemplation of Caseswing's building regime. Tumblr or AO3

Home That Our Feet May Leave, But Not Our Hearts - 3,212. Mio, the Last Protector, attends her graduation. The only problem? Earth no longer exists. Tumblr or AO3

You Never Forget Your First - 712. In the dead of night, Kata finds her Captain alone on the bridge, singing a mournful tune... Tumblr or AO3

Crasberry Saviour - 761. During a trip to buy ship parts, Yuudai reveals how she lost her leg. Tumblr or AO3

An Ancient Vault - 389. Mio falls down a hole and discovers an Ancient vault. Tumblr

Look Back, by Looking Forwards - 1,653. Mio helps one of her crew celebrate a religious event. Tumblr or AO3

Aurorabee - 406. Mio goes clothes shopping with her mother. Tumblr or AO3

Original Works

Mouth of Silver - 781. A courier comes across some unsavory creatures while making his way through the woods. Tumblr

A Cryptid Files Short - 404. A hedge witch provides potions of safety. Tumblr

TESIV: Oblivion - Vanilla

Greetings After a Long Departure - 1,014. Rowan gets a sweet surprise when xe finally returns to the Temple of the One. Tumblr or AO3

Two Foxes - 500. The new Grey Fox goes a-visiting to Castle Anvil for some advice. Tumblr or AO3

A Light in the Darkness - 619. Travelogue writer Arkved of Cheydinhal describes another local Cyrodilic festival. Tumblr or AO3

TESIV: Oblivion - Modern AU

It's Fashion, Boss - 357. Aderyn arrives to an event in a snit with the Grey Fox over his time management skills; he teases her about her fashion sense. Tumblr or AO3

A Little Something-Something - 1,459. Aderyn brings Jena to a GFS charity 'meeting'. Tumblr or AO3

A Floral Surprise - 728. On the morning of Martin & Baurus' Anniversary, Aderyn and Belisarius lay out flowers and gifts, conscripted by their respective friends. Tumblr or AO3

Night Exercises - 2,407. Fortis runs a training exercise for Aderyn at night. Tumblr or AO3

Get up - 1,016. Martin and Baurus sneak away from a gala event, only for a detonation to rock their world… Tumblr or AO3

Self Indulgent AU - 18,102. HoK is adamant she knows who her parents are. The Mythic Dawn thinks differently. Who is right? Tumblr or AO3

[paranoicdatenshiintokyo]

My opinion in all Eurovision 2023 entries, but it's all positive (1st part)

I'm obsessed with many things, and one of them is Eurovision. That means I'm currently enjoying my favorite time of the year. Today, I want to do something specific - express my personal opinions on all the entries for Eurovision 2023. However, I'll only be highlighting what I like from each song, and I hope to spread some positivity.

Don't get me wrong - I don't like all the songs. I have my own top 37, but for the purposes of this exercise, I'll be listing them alphabetically. There are many of them so let's go with the first half of them! Would you be able to say any positive thing about the song that you dislike the most this year? Tell me!

------------------ ・Albania (Albina & Familja Kelmendi - "Duje") Deliciously dramatic. Albina's parents seem so nice I wanna have lunch with them! ・ Australia (Voyager - "Promise") Powerful! Have you watched them in Madrid's PreParty?? Looking forward to their performance in Liverpool! It's gonna be alright, I promise! ・Armenia (Brunette - "Future lover") Full of emotion. This is one of the 2 songs of this year that have made my tear up. I don't have to say anything else. If my future lover sings to me this song, I'll fall in love. ・Austria (Teya & Salena - "Who The Hell Is Edgar?") Genius. Catchy. Absolute perfection. Inteligent lyrics with a message. Catchy and well produced music. A fun female duo. A dance not so complicated so I can reproduce it... I can not ask for anything more! This is one of my absolute favorites of this year :D ・Azerbaijan (TuralTuranX - "Tell Me More") Ya'll, I genuinely enjoy the song! I think it's bold. There's an evolution throughout the song that makes it interesting. I like the rap part. ・Belgium (Gustaph - "Because of You") This song makes me happy and I love music that makes me happy. Gustaph has a lot of charisma and a really great voice! I also enjoy the 90's sound of the song! ・Croatia (Let 3 - "Mama ŠČ!") Okay. I FUKIN LOVE THIS, I GENUINELY LOVE IT!!!! This is bold, punk, genius, irreverent in a good way, original, out of the box, smart, fun, chaotic... I only can say good things about it. "Joke" entries always have a soft spot in my hear, and I don't even think this is a joke entry. This is high quality music, guys! This is what I love about Eurovision! I just need to stop screaming Mama kupila traktora 24/7 to stop annoying my neighbours lol ・Cyprus (Andrew Lambrou - "Break a Broken Heart") Very well produced song! And Andrew seems a really talented singer. I love the UUUUUUUHHHHUUHHUUUUUUUUUHHHUHHHHHHHH part. ・Czechia (Vesna - "My Sister's Crown") I love to hear so many different languages in one song. The chorus? OMG, the chorus is absolutely powerful. I always get goosebumps when I listen to the song. Love it! This is an anthem. ・Denmark (Reiley - "Breaking My Heart") Tbh, I like the voice effect in the studio version lol The song is stuck in my head and it's well done. ・Estonia (Alika - "Bridges") What a beautiful melody and what a powerful and talented voice for such a young artist! ・Finland (Käärijä - "Cha Cha Cha") I don't know if I'll be able to put into words what I feel about this song... I fall short if I say that I love the song with all my soul from the first second I hear it. Talented, brilliant, incredible, amazing, show stopping, spectacular, never the same, totally unique, completely not ever been done before, unafraid to reference or not reference, put it in a blender, shit on it, vomit on it, eat it, give birth to it... ・France (La Zarra - ""Évidemment") I love the mix of musical genres. This son is so elegant and exquisite... I love what France is bringing to the table this year! (Not gonna lie, I usually love France entries every year!) ------ And that's all for now! What is your less favorite song of Eurovision 2023 and what do you like the most about it??

[six-paths-of-jeanmarco]

OGAE Second Chance Contest 2023 (My Top)

inspired by @residentraccoon's post and this one video yt keeps recommending me even tho I haven't enjoyed the lame karaoke party they also happened to host the contest at that much

1 OLLIE - Venom (Estonia) - best song that hasn't been sent to Eurovision this year imo 2 Ulrikke - Honestly (Norway) - they should've went with this one if they really wanted a safe choice for the win 3 Jann - Gladiator (Poland) 4 RODAN - Introvert Party Club (Czechia) - very biased about this one; I mean, come on, it's the ultimate introvert party anthem 5 Vicco - Nochentera (Spain) 6 Lazza - CENERE (Italy) - I'm still surprised they haven't sent Il bene nel male instead giving how obsessed the fandom was with it 7 Filip Baloš - Novi plan drugi san (Serbia) 8 Ruta Mur - So Low (Lithuania) 9 Chérine - Ça M’Ennuie Pas (Belgium) 10 Elsa Lila - Evita (Albania) 11 Marcus & Martinus - Air (Sweden) - overrated tbh, Six Feet Under is so much better 12 Andreea D Folclor Orchestra - Perinița mea (Romania) - typical Romanian wedding song and I happen to hate weddings but this grew on me way more than I want to admit lol; genuinely wondering if they would've flopped just as hard as D.G.T. or it would've been the most unexpected dark horse of the year, had it been sent to Eurovision instead 13 KUUMAA - Ylivoimainen (Finland) 14 Jerry Heil - When God Shut The Door (Ukraine) 15 Will Church - Hold On (Germany) 16 Ryan Hilli - In The Silence (Malta) 17 CONNOLLY - Midnight Summer Night (Ireland) - still weirded out by the moves she made in the middle of the performance; no seriously, was she feeling good or 18 Harmonija disonance - Nevera (Lei, lei) (Croatia) 19 SunStroke Project - Yummy Mommy (Moldova) - I like the beat and that's kinda it; very disappointing compared to their other entries and tbh Du-mă would've been a much better entry 20 Edmundo Inácio - A Festa (Portugal) 21 24.Avenija - You Said (Latvia) 22 Langi Seli og Skuggarnir - OK (Iceland) 23 EYJAA - I Was Gonna Marry Him (Denmark) - not a fan of the lyrics in the least, just wait for the guy to come back or go with him lmaooo; they should've sent Freedom instead imo

[thevagueambition]

@pilferingapples: people don't like rye bread???? it's ...it's rye bread

I think danish rye bread is a particular type of rye bread and that that type is often an acquired taste?

Danish rye bread uses only rye. From what I gather online, other types might use a mix of rye and wheat? That wouldn't be considered "true" rye bread in Denmark.

When I say rye bread I mean something like this

This, on the other hand, would never be considered rye bread in Denmark:

That's white bread! Acceptable white bread, but still white bread ;)

Anyway, I think most people like danish rye bread from a bakery or something, but store bought rye bread can be a bit tough. The cheaper ones especially, since they get dry very fast. I know a number of non-Danes who live here who don't really like it

A Chinese exchange student once asked me how to prepare danish rye bread to make it palatable and it was very like. Idk man we just live like this 😂

(tbh the real answer is which toppings/spread you put on it)

[theartistknownaslymond]

As yet untitled Jerott/Danny...something. Flungst? Angff?

Still not writing anything anyone actually asked me for smh...

Setting: post-Checkmate by four or five years, so early-mid-'90s

Characters: Jerott Blyth, Danny Hislop

Background (for more on the characters in the band AU, see notes at the end of the fic): During his relationship with Peder, Jerott got accustomed to travelling to Denmark via Paris - it made the journey longer but it was an opportunity to see his mum and to catch up with Danny. Danny helped him navigate his first openly queer relationship and was there to try and help Jerott not relapse too badly when he broke up with Peder. Even though Jerott doesn't need to go to Paris so often now, he still does - just for a few days every couple of months - so he can see his mother and see Danny and maybe record some music with Danny or play a couple of gigs. The vibe is Married and they just don't know it - but Jerott always seems to have some pretty young thing he's dating after meeting them at a movie premier or something, so Danny figures they just don't stand a chance. It's really just never occurred to Jerott that Danny would be interested in him because surely Danny is far too wordly and experienced to think of Jerott like that.

They do not get together in this fic, but the idea is that it can't be too long afterwards tbh.

CWs: reference to severe weight loss from illness; references to the AIDS pandemic and deaths, plus associated horrors (families not letting friends grieve, doctors not wanting to touch patients, general relentless misery of losing so many people/worrying about the obituaries). Also gratuitous descriptions of food.

---

Outside the metro station, Jerott slung an arm over Danny's shoulder and pressed his friend close for a hug. As he turned his face to present each cheek for Danny's kisses and suppressed a cough at the cloud of Chanel he was greeted with, he noticed the difference in the body beneath his hold.

"Alright - Jesus you're skinny, Danny!" he pulled back and let his hand remain on the shoulder of his friend's jacket, squeezing gently to confirm the contours he'd felt - bone and sinew far closer to the surface than he remembered.

Danny tossed their chin and twitched an eyebrow, grey eyes dark and hooded. "Oh, merci, he's in early with the compliments this time. What have you done now, doudou?"

Jerott studied Danny more closely: they were immaculately styled as always, but the silk blouse and the corduroy waistcoat beneath Danny's jacket hung unevenly against their body, implying a rumpled and gappy silhouette beneath the folds of the Burberry trenchcoat. The lines around the top of their voluminous trousers hinted at a belt cinched tighter than the fabric had been tailored for. Danny's face was sharper than Jerott remembered, too: the jaw almost uncompromisingly square, cheeks a little hollow beneath a subtle hint of pink blush.

"It wasn't a compliment..." Jerott said with the frankness that Danny expected of him. "You look like shit. What's up?"

Danny's brows shot up at Jerott's pronouncement and they looked down at him with a half-vexed smirk. "I look like shit?"

"You look like shit," Jerott nodded.

It was guaranteed to get a rise, and thus guaranteed to provoke some measure of honesty. Besides, even if it wasn't entirely true - Danny could have styled a Saturday morning midden outside a chip shop into something quirky and compelling - it was still true that Jerott preferred to see Danny with softer edges, more of a curious, assessing twinkle in their eye, more warmth beneath the pale tones of their skin. In general - healthier. It was a natural way to feel about one's friend, Jerott supposed.

Danny's eyes narrowed and their shoulder moved a little beneath Jerott's touch. Their lips - a natural pink that looked too pale, especially when one was used to Danny's array of neon-bright lipsticks - pursed a little and finally, shortly, Danny replied, "I've been ill. I'm fine now, thank you for your concern."

Jerott's hand tightened on Danny's shoulder again and his jaw shifted. He didn't manage to get a word out before Danny added, "It's not that. It's not. I've had so much blood taken for tests I don't think I'd feed a midge. I'm fine now, really Jerott."

Jerott noted that his heart had quickened anyway - he'd heard from Francis that Turkey had recently taken a turn for the worse as the weather cooled; he'd had Dagbladet Børsen delivered to his newsagent in Glasgow for several years now and he read the obituaries in a state of suppressed terror once a week, faithful to people he no longer knew, sometimes catching himself praying to distant gods that he wouldn't read a name he recognised there. He regretted the scientific understanding that had almost led him into a different career and now called him to spend sleepless nights poring over articles in medical journals, because it was that or give in to the whiskey again.

He swallowed and made himself take a deep breath - he'd not realised how much worry he attached to Danny and their defiant, flamboyant Marais lifestyle in the present context. But there, for a moment, he'd felt like the street had opened up beneath his feet and the air had turned to hot ash in his lungs.

"Ok. Good. What was it then?"

Danny's eyes had widened again and light seemed to have returned to their pale irises. They smiled crookedly, but it was more fond than defensive now. "Believe me, doudou, you don't want the details. Just some bug." Danny turned away and began walking down the pavement, strolling slowly enough that Jerott had time to light a cigarette and catch up.

"Some bug?" he repeated in a mutter around his filter, making a show of returning his fags and his lighter to his jacket pockets and wondering whether Danny had noticed how worried he'd been, or if he'd managed to hide it.

"Mm," Danny agreed, gazing performatively up at the rooftops of the buildings they passed and ignoring the odd cry of recognition from passers by. "Not helped, of course, by the fact that half the people I know do have it. I'm so bored of funerals, Jerott. Stressed and tired and literally sick of them."

Jerott took an involuntarily sharp inhalation and coughed at the way the smoke prickled in his throat. He grimaced and glared at the pavement, and decided, savagely, that he needed to do something about this - he'd never once in the years they'd known each other heard Danny's voice thrum with such brittle rage.

"You know what, Danny? Screw the market. There's a place yemma and I always eat at not far from here. I'm taking you there to get some proper food in you."

Danny stopped walking and blinked at him with limpid eyes. "Excuse me?"

"Algerian. Tagine, couscous, dips, bread?"

Danny still looked like they were trying to figure something out, but Jerott's brows rose and he pointed at the front of their waistcoat. A distinct growl had emerged from that flat belly at the mention of bread. "I heard that. Come on - we can go to the market afterwards."

Danny's frown deepened and they pressed their lips together, but then they nodded and shrugged. "Yeah. Yeah ok, lead on." Their voice sounded somewhat strangled to Jerott, like there was some undefined emotion trying to escape Danny's fearsome, formidable control over it.

Two silent streets later, when Jerott had finished his cigarette, Danny sounded more like themselves again: "So, will I finally get to meet dear yemma there?"

"No," Jerott eyed Danny and smiled knowingly. "Kahina doesn't just...hang around in cafés, Danny. We eat here together when she's visiting family in the dixneuvième."

"Ugh, then what's the point?" Danny exclaimed dramatically. "You want me to believe you sprang fully formed from the brutalist architecture, doudou, but the woman who made you what you are exists somewhere in Paris, and one day I will meet her!"

Jerott smirked tolerantly and stepped into the entrance of a building to hold the door open for his friend. "The point is -"

He didn't need to finish, as Danny's hands were clasped against their chest and they were already exclaiming rapturously as they walked into the restaurant: "Oh, do you smell that?"

The owner, recognising Jerott, approached to make small talk about his mother, and Danny listened thirstily, totally unconcerned by the proprietor's less-than-subtle attempts to suss out their identity. They introduced themself with a shark-like grin and shook the owner's hand: «Danny. I'm Jerott's friend.»

Jerott closed his eyes briefly and sighed at the effortless way Danny fudged the pronunciation of the word ami(e), so that it might even have been any one of several similar terms meaning lover or darling. He rubbed the bridge of his nose with his fingers and smiled stiffly at the owner. «Danny's in the band I play in. Danny knows Lymond and played in Russia with him.»

The owner nodded and attempted his own, reassured, smile, and he did not flinch from Danny's enthusiastic handshake. «Another...» he had been about to say 'musician' Jerott supposed, but ran instantly into another question of conjugation. His moustache twitched. «You play an instrument, like Sidi Blyth. How nice. What do you play?»

«All sorts,» Danny chirped happily. «I like synthesisers, but woodwind is my first love.» Their eyes roved over the decor of the restaurant, past rugs and lamps to seek out the guitars and percussion instruments the owners had salvaged when fleeing their home and now displayed in pride of place. «You don't have woodwind instruments here?» Danny gestured to the wall.

«No,» the owner answered with some relief. He showed them to the table upstairs that Jerott usually shared with his mother.

Over mint tea, as they waited for the selection of dishes Jerott had ordered, Jerott watched Danny gaze out of the window to the other side of the street, their long, freckled fingers tapping on the tablecloth in time with the frantic beat of the music playing from a cassette deck in the corner of the room. The midday autumn light was drawn to the crystal pendant of Danny's earring, and faint spots of rainbow colour were cast in fragments across Danny's cheek. It occurred to Jerott all over again how tiresome it was that anyone bothered trying to define Danny - once he'd learned a way of speaking around the need for masculine or feminine conjugations, Jerott had soon forgotten how clunky he'd found it to begin with. He'd simply become used to Danny as a singular aspect of the world - language rearranged itself around Danny, and Jerott saw no reason why it shouldn't.

Generally, though, Danny didn't care what pronouns strangers used. Danny had made their resilience and self-awareness key aspects of their personality, and Jerott reminded himself that Danny was steely enough to have survived being perceived - in whatever way they had been perceived - by Soviet Russia.

But sometimes, Jerott had begun to realise, the carefully constructed armoury of Danny's identity grew heavy in the face of others' engagement with it. And now Danny did look drawn - bruised by recent sadnesses, nervy about what might come next, both younger and older than Jerott had seen them look.

"Have you had Algerian before, Danny?" Jerott asked, summoning Danny's attention away from the flock of pigeons on the opposite building's roof.

Danny smiled fleetingly and took a sip of tea, then paused to look Jerott over with a more customary, lascivious flick of their lashes. "Not for want of trying..."

Jerott rolled his eyes. "How have you lived in Paris for over a decade and never tried Algerian food?"

"Maybe I've just been waiting for a recommendation from an expert," Danny said snippily. "You always did curries back when we were recording Checkmate. You could have made...this..."

Danny's eyes lit on the food that was arriving and between them, Jerott and the restaurateur explained the dishes as they filled the surface of the table.

"I didn't have much experience cooking Algerian then," Jerott said, helping himself to bread and pickled vegetables. "Curry in Glasgow, curry in Pune, curry in Nevada - with so little seasoning it might as well have been rice pudding..." he trailed off, muttering imprecations in Urdu.

Danny folded their arms and watched him. "So which one of these innocent-looking beauties is going to blow my poor Ashkenazi ass off?"

Jerott pulled a face and bit on a pickled chilli. "They're not hot, Danny, they just have flavour." He pointed out the dishes he knew how to make and explained what was in them and Danny dutifully helped themselves to some of each. Danny loved to make a show of bitching, but they were also eager to express their appreciation: every first bite was accompanied by a moan of delight or some other sound that made Jerott want to kick them under the table. Eventually he gave into the desire and prodded Danny's leg with the toe of his sneaker.

"All right, Meg Ryan - you can just tell the restaurant owner you like it..."

Danny wiped a drizzle of paprika-red oil from the corner of their lips and pulled an exaggeratedly lusty face at Jerott before kicking him back. Then Danny sat back and chewed pitta, watching Jerott's expression and preparing their review.

"It's good, Maeve. Like some of Adam's funky Georgian dishes but..."

"Less walnut?"

"Less walnut," Danny agreed, sipping tea. "It's not as rich as I thought, either. Good choice of comfort food, doudou," Danny surveyed the bowls again and dove in for more helpings of a few select items.

Jerott watched Danny load their plate up and smirked with satisfaction. "Just because it has more seasoning than chicken soup..."

Danny held a finger up. "You do not get to insult Jewish penicillin, no matter how delicious your fancy beans are."

Jerott giggled into his bite of borek and repeated, "Fancy beans..." so that Danny kicked him again.

When the owner had taken away the empty starter bowls and refilled the tea, Jerott looked again at Danny's face in the shifting afternoon light. It seemed to have taken on a new colour - their lips looked redder again, their cheeks brighter, their eyes less like the washed-out grey of the few low clouds outside.

Jerott raised his glass of tea in a salute. "Well, the fancy beans seem to have done more for you in one sitting than however many weeks of chicken soup you've been living off..."

Instead of a filthy rejoinder, Danny pressed their mouth shut and looked away. "Mm."

"Danny, I was just -" Jerott began to apologise, surprised by the frown on his friend's face.

"I know, I know," Danny attempted a breathy chuckle. "It's fine. It...would be fine, only -" they looked down at the exuberantly patterned table covering and traced the patterns on its surface with one short, un-painted fingernail. When they looked up at Jerott the deep, serious pain on their face was such that Jerott hadn't seen since Francis' near-fatal encounter with the river.

"I'm the one who makes the soup," Danny said. The attempt at levity in their voice made Jerott's chest tighten more than if Danny had just let themselves speak bitterly. Instead, the lightness in their voice faltered and stumbled, and Danny swallowed. "Ok, Diamme - you remember, from the cabaret? - Diamme brought me soup and pletzls from the deli when I first got ill, but he shouldn't have been outside himself. Diamme's funeral was last week. The rest of us couldn't attend - the family wouldn't have any of it. They gave him a good Catholic burial. So we're holding our own wake next week and I need to cook for it. I promised I would."

Danny's arm was shaking a little on the table, their fist clenched. They looked down at it and moved it beneath the table, letting out a tut of disgust.

Jerott sat in silence, his arms folded and jaw locked, remembering again all the horror of that moment when he'd imagined that Danny had the illness. The only illness that mattered those days. Anything else was trivial, wasn't it?

"I haven't cooked for myself in months, Jerott," Danny let their eyes fall blankly to the tablecloth. "I'm a catering service for wakes and funerals. Meals on wheels for people who used to be..." nothing seemed to change about Danny's expression or the tone of their voice, but an invisible barrier blocked any more words from emerging.

"Why didn't you say something?" Jerott murmured, sitting as still as Danny, noting that he could barely hear his own words over the hammering beat of his heart. "How many times have we spoken on the phone since you got ill?"

Danny looked up and met his eyes, and, glassy and wide-pupilled, their own grey gaze made Jerott shiver. A bleak laugh made it past their lips. "What, you'd deliver from Glasgow?"

Jerott didn't understand how talking with Danny could so often make him want to laugh and weep at the same time, but he gave Danny a perplexed smile all the same. "Sure. I'm serious though, Danny - you could have told me. It's no hassle to come to Paris and help you cook."

Danny bit their lip and looked down again, wresting with a smile or a grimace - Jerott couldn't say which.

When the restaurant owner returned to their silence he looked alarmed and Jerott tried to smile in reassurance as the man set down hot dishes of stewed aubergine and tomatoes, chicken, olives and dumplings.

«Is everything ok?»

«M'sieur it's perfect,» Danny looked up swiftly, their throat white as a swan's, drawing Jerott's troubled gaze as Danny swallowed down their grief again and smiled for the owner. «My first time trying Algerian food and it's better than I could have imagined. Restorative and delicious.»

The owner left again, somewhat mollified, and Danny turned a wonky smile on Jerott. "Do you think he believes me, Maeve? Have I ruined it for when you come back here with yemma?"

Jerott shook his head. "He believes you. Nothing ruined."

Danny sighed and leaned forwards on the table to survey the new dishes.

"Danny," Jerott was thinking about the way Danny's demeanour had switched for the restaurant owner. About the performative body language and cheerful lilt to their voice. About the things Danny was used to hiding. "You didn't even tell me you were ill. Why didn't you say anything?"

Danny was slowly pulling apart one of the chicken wings they'd plucked from the top of the tagine, their mouth pressed into a sharp line, the look they shot Jerott an attempt to make him back off that was half-hearted at best. "I didn't think I'd be ill that long. Do you tell me every time you get the sniffles, doudou?"

Danny didn't let him reply - they rolled their eyes and swept a hand through the air. "Yes, yes, you do, I know...always complaining about something..."

Jerott ignored the toothless attack and waited.

Danny spooned a heap of olives and dumplings onto their plate and gathered some bread before looking up at Jerott again.

"I didn't want to tell you because it's been miserable here, doudou." Danny's fist clenched on the table beside their plate. "I feel...responsible? When you were with Peder and you started telling me things, I was...I felt like your guide to this wonderful world where anything was possible, anyone was welcome, and if we all just talked it out and understood each other things would be ok. Better than ok, they'd be mind-blowing. Amazing. Earth-shattering."

Danny rolled their eyes at their own words, and Jerott contrasted their pale, pinched expression now with the way they used to lean across café tables and excitedly demand details of the Copenhagen queer scene. They way they'd grab Jerott's hand and shamelessly reel off advice filled with clinically precise vocabulary that had made Jerott's mind reel with possibilities he'd never even imagined. Their smile - proud, filthy - when Jerott chose to report back on a weekend spent with Peder, and the way they'd regale him in turn with tales of leather daddies and kink clubs that left Jerott speechless and perched on the edge of his seat.

Danny shook their head and the gems dangling from their ears swung and twinkled in the sun again. "I feel like I sold you a lie, doudou. We've talked it out here so much and none of us have anything to say any more. We can't talk our way out of death. There's no understanding it, or making meaning of it. It's unfair, and it just is."

Jerott held Danny's gaze, and felt something icy and uncomfortable squirm in his chest. Danny didn't even look on the verge of tears now, their expression was suffused with frosty, brittle fury, something that wasn't nearly as hopeless as the image they were trying to conjure. Hopeless people, in Jerott's experience, weren't near as angry as Danny clearly was.

He took a deep breath and nodded. "Ok. I mean, I don't regret...what did you call it? Joining this 'wonderful world' - and I'd have shagged Peder with or without your advice Danny, no offence."

Danny's jaw twitched and a startled flush of colour spread over their neck above the collar of their blouse.

Jerott pressed on, unable to offer any answer to the bigger questions, but still stung by the idea of Danny forcing themself to suffer stoically in case actually saying anything about how bad things were frightened Jerott off. "Do you regret it? Would you go back to...where were you when you found your people, London? Edinburgh? Would you leave them, go back to Glasgow and put a suit on and do what your dad wanted you to do? If you'd known about AIDS?"

A flash of annoyance passed over Danny's face again - maybe at the mention of their father, maybe at the mention of the disease by name, maybe at the realisation that they'd shared quite so much about their past with Jerott over the years - enough to allow Jerott to ask a question like that.

"I can't regret what I just am, Jerott," Danny said curtly.

"So why do you think I would, if you'd told me how bad things had got here?"

Danny hissed, drawing a sharp breath in over their teeth. Now there was a glossy sheen over their eyes, and they tried very hard not to blink. "M'sorry," they murmured after a moment.

"Yeah. I know," Jerott said gruffly and broke their stare, looking down at the dishes cooling between them and giving Danny the privacy of a moment to flick away the water gathering at the bottom of their eyes. He explained the tagines again and then helped himself to some of each before letting out a breath he hadn't realised he'd been holding and raising his eyes again.

Danny had returned to pulling apart the piece of chicken and they sighed deeply before saying, resentfully, "I can't believe you used my own tricks on me. I've taught you too well."

"I can't believe you 'talked it out' with everyone except me, you asshole," Jerott grumbled, but he smiled ruefully at his dish as he dunked bread in the sauce.

"To be fair, I also didn't tell Francis," Danny said in a voice more like their own, and Jerott had to snort with laughter. "Can you imagine? He'd have set up a Michelin-starred restaurant for my little crowd of queers and misfits. BDSM and brunch bar. Kink and croissants. Attached to an empty hospital building where the infected can get treated by all the experts we can find who are willing to touch our dirty, dirty bodies..."

Again, there was that lurching sensation, when Jerott didn't know whether he should be laughing along with Danny's smirk or weeping with fury at the image they painted. He grimaced.

"Would that be so bad though? Letting Francis help?"

"Perhaps not," Danny conceded. "I do still have some pride though. And I know he's already donating an unsustainable amount to research."

Jerott made a sound of agreement between bites of food, and was soothed somewhat by the sight of Danny voraciously attacking what was on their own plate.

"So what do we need to prepare for next week? When's the wake?"

Danny didn't miss Jerott's phrasing and looked up sharply. "We?"

He shrugged. "If you think my cooking's up to your standards..."

Danny narrowed their eyes. "It could be...if you can follow orders better than you used to..."

"And do you want company at the wake? I'm here to make up numbers, isn't that what playing second guitar to Lymond is all about?"

"Are you asking to be my date at a wake, Jerott?" Danny's eyebrow arched delightedly.

"Not a date, but a friend who isn't about to fuck off just because life's tough, puce."

Danny ran their eyes distastefully over him and  pointedly pushed an olive stone out from between their pursed lips. They took it and deposited it on a side plate with careful deliberation. "Hmm, yes, and how is your lovely girlfriend? Kelly is it? The teenager?"

Jerott sat back and folded his arms. "She's twenty-three, Danny. And no gossip until you agree to my help."

Danny glared at him. "That's rude."

Jerott shrugged again.

Outside the restaurant, above the slate grey rooves, the autumn breeze nudged aside a cloud and the anaemic sun shone through, speckling the grubby window-pane with glitter. Abruptly, Danny let the act drop - just for a moment - and smiled warmly at Jerott.

It was agreed.

Jerott laughed in relief to see Danny relax.

---

Notes

doudou - teddy bear; puce - flea (because what kind of Married would they be without absurd nicknames for each other)

yemma - mother (Arabic)

Jerott Blyth

Band AU Jerott's mum is Algerian, a refugee who arrived in France during the war of independence, and his paternal grandmother was from pre-partition Lahore. He was born in Paris, where his dad met his mum while taking art classes between shifts on placement for medical school. His dad was a surgeon and his mother worked in an art gallery, but has always painted for herself too. Both his parents encouraged his musicality from a young age and he started classical guitar lessons as soon as he could hold a guitar. His parents divorced when he was around eleven and he lived with his dad in Glasgow - his dad's home city - until his dad died of cancer when Jerott was 18. Instead of joining Francis Crawford, who he met at the Solway Moss battle of the bands just before his dad's death, Jerott turned away from music to be a doctor like his father. He went to stay with his mother in Paris while studying and through her met a charismatic older man (Graham Reid Malett) and went off to find himself at an ashram in India instead. The medical degree was forgotten and he learned sitar, Ayurvedic massage, yoga, and some Hindi and Urdu at the ashram run by Rajneesh. He spent a few years in Rajneesh's cult and moved to a new ashram in Nevada with GRM - and none of it did his self-acceptance as a bisexual man any good. Having made a pass at GRM and been rebuffed, he later revealed his crush on Francis during a therapy session with GRM, who began to become obsessed with Francis through Jerott's recollection of him and through his music. GRM engineered a way for them to join Francis' new recording collective, St Mary's, and Jerott gradually realised the extent of the problems with the movement he was in, and with GRM particularly. He reaffirmed his loyalty to Francis, but GRM did him lasting damage that drove him to self-destructive alcoholism. He nevertheless tried to help Francis undo the mess GRM had done and in the process met Marthe - who it was easier to admit to being in love with than Francis. She needed a European visa and the potential for a passport, as well as a boost to her career, so she married him despite knowing she wasn't attracted to men. They had a deeply unhappy marriage and lived in France, using properties Marthe was able to inherit from a relative once she was resident in the EU. Jerott had a drunken one night stand with a Danish guy called Peder at a low point in his marriage, and then he ran into Peder again at another vulnerable moment (the end of Checkmate). He and Peder had a couple of good years together but it didn't work out. Since Peder, Jerott's seen some guys and some girls but hasn't really had anything long-term or meaningful - but at least he always had his best friend Danny to go to for advice!

Danny Hislop

Band AU Danny was born with PAIS and is intersex. The oldest child born to Rabbi Hislop in Glasgow, they were amab and given surgery to make their physical body allign with this assignation. While they were raised as a boy, they knew this wasn't right for them, and the bar mitzvah really cemented that feeling. Danny's family didn't understand their nonbinary identification (NB I know not all intersex people are nonbinary, but Danny is) and Danny left home at 14 with a clarinet and a grade 6 piano qualification and went to stay with a blue-collar, union-stalwart great uncle in Edinburgh. The great uncle helped Danny reconcile their faith with their identity somewhat - the discussions around tumtum (people of unidentified sex) taking place in rabbinic communities came a little late for Danny, but at least they became aware of the term through their uncle. At sixteen they made their way to London in search of a community that matched how they felt about themselves - they became bat mitzvah as well by choice, partly as a way of reclaiming what they felt was forced on them incorrectly by their father. They lived in squats and it wasn't initially a great time to be young and of indeterminate gender in a big city - it took a while to find the right people and they experimented with some stuff they regret. Then they found a healthier community, moved on again to Paris with a friend, became an apprentice in a kitchen and played saxophone and clarinet at jazz clubs. They settled in the Marais - which is both the Jewish and the queer quarter. When Lymond called for auditions to join his experiment in Russia, Danny submitted a klesmer cover of Lymond's song 'Crisco Disco', along with evidence of their fluent French and passable Russian (Danny tries to learn something from everyone they meet, and Paris has a big Russian expat community). They proved themselves resilient enough to travel the USSR with Lymond - though they probably had to deal with a lot of fuckery regarding pronouns and people's perception - and they remained a valued member of St Mary's afterwards, though they still live in the Marais near their drag cabaret friends. They've kind of been in love with Jerott Blyth since seeing him cover for Francis by playing a guitar solo that should have been impossible sober, while so drunk that he also shouldn't have been able to stand up. They are not proud of this fact. They also strongly believe that Jerott will never see them as anything more than a kooky friend who's into far kinkier shit than Jerott could stomach.

[haldanare]

On the white tank top, in the US they are often referred to as “wifebeaters” which is kinda fucked up tbh.

Yeah I know, I just kind of blanked on if they were called tank tops in other places than Denmark lmao. Wifebeater is a pretty wild name tho, ur right

[koolkat9]

DenEng 5, 16, 23 and 38

Send me a ship and a number and I'll tell you

I haven't really thought about this ship or Denmark in general and I'm running on four hours of sleep but I'll try to figure something out.

5 - Nicknames? Pet names? Any in-jokes?

I always make Arthur call his partner "love" "darling" "dear" regardless of ship

Denmark...Hmm...I always love Arthur's partner calling him bunny in their native language so "Min kanin" and probably babe tbh.

16. - Do they keep secrets? Lie? Cheat?

Arthur hates being honest with his feelings or letting himself be vulnerable, so he lies and hides to avoid it. But Denmark has probably got good at telling. After all, "eyes are the windows to the soul" is very true for Arthur.

Denmark...Nowadays he's probably more willing to be open, but he's a nation as he's been through a lot so in the past yes he's lied and kept secret.

They wouldn't cheat because I like to think most, if not all nations, are non-monogamous. So if they have more than one partner it's all consensual.

23. - How do they hug? Kiss? Tease? Flirt? Comfort?

Denmark is very affectionate and eager to be so. Always kissing and hugging Arthur whenever he gets the chance. Often times its a quick peck or squeeze in passing. But when he has a time, he will press fully into his Arthur in a hard kiss or embrace. Sometimes it's a little tight but also oh so warm and secure feeling. These physical intimacies is his main way of flirting

Arthur is a bit more timid. He's only just getting used to embracing love and being open about it. So his kisses and hugs are slow build ups, carefully pulling his partner towards him and then just melting into a kiss or embrace. Arthur's main source of flirting is through gifts and love notes.

I don't think either are the best when it comes to feelings. Denmark isn't good at emotions other than happy (I don't know, I see him boarding toxic positivity sometimes because he refuses to let himself feel anything else). But if Arthur's upset, he'll hold him because he knows contact is a way to relax Arthur even if it's only slightly.

Arthur may be emotionally constipated, but he will step up to comfort his loved ones. He may not always have the right words (though sometimes he does, having a lot of experience boost morale at least in a military sense), but he is always there with a warm mug of tea and a nice knitted blanket. Oh and cuddles. Lots of cuddles.

38. - What are they like in the bedroom? Any kinks/fetishes/turn-ons? Anything they won’t do?

Arthur is a kinky bastard. I don't know what Den would be like in bed, but he'd at least indulge Arthur if he isn't as keen on it. I've talked about Arthur's kinks a lot on my spicy blog so I'll try to keep this short: he likes to be choked, he likes both tying up his partner and being tying up, seeing his partner in lingerie, degrading his partner and being degraded. There is more but these are the top ones.

Um...I really can't come up with any thing for Denmark. I'm sorry. He'd probably like Arthur decked out in leather, makeup and piercings.

[residentraccoon]

Oh no Top 30 moment 😳

1. Norway - this will be my 1st the whole season ❤

2. Estonia

3. Slovenia

4. San Marino

5. Denmark

6. Lithuania

7. Belgium

8. Latvia

9. Switzerland

10. Czechia - just now I realised that it's literally in my top 10 and it's so underrated I actually really like Czechia you guys are just mean

11. Croatia

12. France

13. Spain - grower of the season for me

14. Netherlands - europapa lives rent free in my head at this point it's actually insane and idk what to do

15. Italy

16. Ukraine

17. Ireland

18. Poland

19. Finland

20. Malta

21. Austria

22. Moldova

23. Australia - I loved the language inclusion and the slightly 2015ish sound it's very nostalgic to me for some reason, but I think I need a few more listens tbh

24. Serbia - okay please do not @ me but it kinda underwhelms me a lil...but who knows it might grow !!

25. Cyprus

26. Luxembourg

27. United Kingdom - mmm I have no strong feelings to this tbh...solid entry though

28. Iceland

29. Albania

30. Germany

[deep-hearts-core]

(tonight we're gonna party like it's) 1999

god damn i haven't done one of these in a while. its charlotte nilsson time baybee

Lithuania REAL SHAME about this staging. it's a nice song and aiste has a great voice clearly but she doesn't have the right kind of stage presence for this. the dancing around that she was doing didn't feel right for this genre, it was discordant and distracting. also the pink lighting didn't work. if i could go back in time and fix this i'd tell the lithuanian delegation to keep the camera close on her upper body at all times.

Belgium nice song nice voice well staged but she's too damn quiet. i can't really hear her. especially at the beginning. sad bc i have no other complaints about this one except for maybe "is that guy blowing into a horseshoe crab?".

Spain she's a good singer so it's a shame about that dress. also, the verses are kind of boring and i only really enjoy the chorus. also, i keep misremembering this song as having the tune of a bosnian song called "zena svijetom upravlja" or something like that that a friend of mine submitted to a tumblr fancontest forever ago. also also, did i mention that dress? distracting.

Croatia love the "ah-ah-ah-ah"s in the chorus. favorite thing about this song. (maybe because that's what's familiar because that's the thing that everyone puts in the fourth place compilation recap vids or whatever). she looks nice in that dress i guess but something feels kind of off with the staging. i can definitely tell that this followed immediately after dana international. there's something in the way she's moving that's making it clear she's trying to imitate dana in some way.

UK i love this one!! love a girl band, the main singer is really good, and those silver outfits are great. that "say it again, say yeah" is the most catchy/memorable line i've heard so far tonight that i hadn't already seen in a recap video. unfortunately one of the girls was a little pitchy in the high harmonies and that got on my nerves a little.

Slovenia i mean i don't love it but there's nothing to hate about it really. she sounds good. nice classic eurovision ballad.

Turkey this is every turkish entry ever, right? it's not bad really it's just not my speed. i spent most of my time watching this thinking about danish barbershop quartet the clementones and admiring the stage, because this year's stage is cool. more on that later.

Norway ngl kind of disappointed? the dance routine was good, i guess? idk it's not my kind of song and he wasn't great vocally. and that shirt wsa sort of. a choice. didn't work imo.

Denmark you can always count on denmark to do a good happy duet with a guitar. love this. if they hadn't fucked up that very last note this would have been absolutely perfect to me. <3

France like if that song "free fallin'" got eurovision'd.

Netherlands early dutch country is also every eurovision song that follows it for the next like 5-6 years, more at 10! nah but it's alright. and she's pretty, which helps. the song started before she started singing and i was like "?? this is gonna be so good?" and then i remembered it was the netherlands and my expectations instantly went medium. lol.

Poland great belt on this man. not like a literal belt but like his voice near the end when he's belting his high notes, that's good. good tone. song's ok i guess.

Iceland this song slams and i fucking love it in studio but the staging was... a little too over the top, tbh?

Cyprus her voice isn't a good fit. the slow start goes on for just a little too long and she's just kind of shrill.

Sweden it's good, i can see why it won, but her outfit is just so MUCH. i hope it was a candidate for barbara dex. the eyeshadow. the flesh colored fabric underneath the pretend crop top. no thank you charlotte.

Portugal not bad. rui bandeira is kind of a guy who looks like a girl who looks like a boy iykwim. idk it kinda sounds like all the other ones.

Ireland this song is too low for them and it does funny things to their tone quality. too much vibrato.

Austria she's cute, i like the guitar line, this is very radio-friendly and american in a way that allowed me to like... yes tune out but not tune all the way out and just kind of vibe.

Israel it is a sign of how brainpoisoned i have become that i saw a quartet of guys on the stage and thought, "ah yes, the guy in the different shirt is the lead, he has the tenor and the bass on either side of him, and the other guy is the bari". i'm in hell. good song though. i mean i guess. why is it happy birthday?

Malta their harmonies aren't really locking. given, i have a much higher bar for that these days due to the aforementioned brainpoison, but still, some of these chords are heinous. also the song is just sort of not good.

Germany song is alright except for the bridge which is unnecessarily cheesy. i mean, even for the thing that it is, which is a eurovision song.

Bosnia & Herz d... dino merlin? idk this one is weird, they're like conjugating french verbs or something and also this one was muted in the video archive i had and the dino merlin official youtube upload had terrible audio quality so i feel like i can't really judge it

Estonia the onstage aesthetic vibe of this is beautiful, and i like the song, too. it's a shame that it's not a good vocal fit for evelin. a clear precursor to randajad and good use of the stage too.

My top 23 1)Denmark 2)Estonia 3)Portugal 4)Iceland 5)Sweden 6)Austria 7)Belgium 8)Poland 9)Israel 10)Germany 11)UK 12)Slovenia 13)Spain 14)Croatia 15)Ireland 16)Turkey 17)Netherlands 18)Lithuania 19)Cyprus 20)France 21)Norway 22)Bosnia 23)Malta

shoutouts again to my friend rachel's prefsorter, because we can't always have gerbear

Miscellaneous commentary the little cgi tour of europe at the beginning was cute. but also very funny because of how squished together and contiguous everything was. lmao @ the host greeting the "distinguished guests" and everyone there in nice clothes. like wow the contest has changed in 20 years obsessed with these postcards btw. cartoon eve fully tits out. jesus represented as a hot guy in a suit. joseph and his brothers singing in barbershop harmony. the baby moses video game. priceless recaps are so short? i already have a hard time remembering how each song goes but like the recap snippets help absolutely not at all lol at the sun prop. it was a really excellent stage, honestly, a lot of contestants were able to use it really well, but after last year's debacle i just kept giggling whenever i saw the thing move. overall like...it's hard to judge the songs in this era, it's hard to rank them, because really i don't like most of them? like they just aren't really my style. i feel like for many of the 90s rankings the margins between songs are going to be very thin and i'm going to have trouble remembering a lot. i don't listen to a lot of 90s music so it's like... ok? sure? do i even know if this is good? no i don't!

[dru-reblogs-stuff]

Updates from the Balcony

I've been a bit bad at updating this over the winter period, partly because there was not much to see and partly I was away in Denmark over Xmas, then had some health issues which drained me of life 😅️ I'm half-plant myself I think; definitely takes some prolonged sunshine to get me alive again. Anyway. Plants.

So the big thing that happen in late Nov, early Dec is that my Bird of Paradise flowered! She's somewhere around 17 years old -- I thought she'd matured around 10, so I had practically given up on her ever flowering, but she did and I was so happy 😊️

And and and! I think there might be another one coming? I noticed this today:

Or it may just be another leaf, we'll see. My main issue is when I bought this beastie, I did not know they were supposed to grow outside and turn into a monster bush. So she really needs a bigger pot, but I have neither the space nor muscles to transfer her. It was hard enough last time, and she was much smaller then. But I figure if she's flowering, she's happy enough?

The other indoors critters:

The dendrobium is slowly growing, it has little roots reaching out of the bark now. The spiky thing has some new leaves and the cactus is a cactus. The amaryllis has once again not flowered and just put out those big-ass leaves, but I think I know what's wrong now - I'm not feeding it enough during it's growing spurt and it's pot is too small. I looked at my Mum's which are flowering beautifully and they're all in ones twice the size. But like, I only have so much desk space 😮‍💨️

I tidied up the Aloe because there was lots of dead underbrush and a couple of leaves that weren't very healthy. I lifted it up and, shit that thing has grown a lot while I wasn't paying attention to it. But it's super leggy so IDK quite what it needs now 😅️

And now the Balcony:

Left is what the spring box was doing back at the start of Feb, and right is what it's doing now. I'm told that eventually the leaves will die back and then I can just plant some summer plugs on top of the bulbs. So that's just a waiting game IG? Also it's funny - I bought a mixed bag of crocuses, they were supposed to be all different colours, but nearly all of them were yellow 😅️ I'm a bit disappointed that only one snowdrop flowered, but Mum said they sometimes need some time to get established, so next year should be better.

The flowers are looking at bit scraggy because the cyclamen has ended and the dianthus and sea thrift haven't flowered yet. But they're getting there! There's two buds on the thrift and I spotted one on the dianthus.

Strawberries! Back in October(?) I was bitching to my Uncle about the £1 strawb plant I bought from Wiko and the fact that it really hadn't done very well or given nice fruit, so he said he'd give me some of his. They went to my Mum over winter, and I had every intention of potting them out myself but the day I meant to do it, I was distracted by my nephew so I left it with Mum and she did garden magic. The two £1 Wilko strawbs are in there, but she said they might not do anything. I'm not too upset - I got joy from them with their flowers and they were only £1. But I am looking forward to having nice strawbs to eat.

And finally the blueberry bush. It is also a bit leggy... I was supposed to prune it this year before it started budding and I. Did not. But I'm sure it'll be fine. Mum gave me some ericaceous food pellets (that look exactly like raspberry Millions so, that was interesting) for Xmas and today I mixed them into the soil (of which I need some more TBH), so hopefully that will help it keep fruiting well this year. And then I must prune the damned thing after the season is over because, again, there is only so much space 😅️

Oh, one final final bit of news -- I might be adopting some Jasmine from my Mum's neighbour (neighbour does not know this - Mum's going to propagate it from where it keeps sneaking over her fence). So we'll see what happens about that 😊️ And I'm sure by the time summer's over I'll have ended up with another tomato plant and other things. Gardeners do like to share the bounty 😅️ 🧡️

[psychelis-new]

Top 5 shows & films & books & songs & items 🫶🏼🫶🏼🫶🏼🫶🏼

Hey, thanks for sending darling<3 Have a lovely day/night and take care of you!

Top 5 shows I don't watch tv/tv shows these days tbh, so I think it will be an old list (let's see what I remember LOL). i'm gonna mix tv series and random shows: 1. The wheel of time 2. Only murderers in the building 3. X Factor 4. Nine perfect strangers 5. MasterChef (I rather watch youtube videos these days)

Top 5 films (first ones that comes to my mind) 1. Minamata 2. The Aeronauts 3. The Imitation Game 4. The Protégé 5. The Photograph (Special mention cause I struggled to find the title: Eternals)

Top 5 books Haven't been reading for a few years now, so *runs on goodreads and comes back* 1. The Mangle Street Murders by M.R.C. Kasasian 2. The impossible Lives of Greta Wells by A.S. Greer 3. The seven deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle by Stuart Turton 4. How to stop time by Matt Haig 5. Silence: in the Age of Noise by Erling Kagge

Top 5 songs I'm gonna leave it to Spotify here cause my mind is a weirdo these days (more than usual) 1. Every breath you take | Denmark + Winter 2. Letters from the sky | Civil Twilight 3. Closer | NIN 4. Up late | Ari Lennox 5. 31 Janvier | Georgio, Victor Solf

Top 5 items 1. Spoon (Dunno why but yeah) 2. Camera (phototgraphy) 3. Tarots 4. Black pens 5. Duct tape