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fellulahh · 5 years ago

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MC and Diavolo accidentally switch bodies for the day

Taking a sip of the drink that Solomon had just prepared for her, MC narrowed her eyes at the white haired sorcerer. A small, cheeky grin appeared on his lips as he watched her eagerly.

Finishing the drink, MC set the glass down on the counter as she began to grow suspicious of Solomon. Although he was usually sly, there was something that seemed so cunning about the expression he had.

“What is it?” She asked quietly as he began to chuckle. “Solomon what did you do?!”

“You know that conversation you and I were having the other day?” He asked casually as he sat back in his chair.

Without any further discussion, MC knew exactly what he was referring to. Widening her eyes, she turned her head to gawp at the empty glass in front of her. “You didn’t!” She gasped in horror.

“MC don’t worry about it! It’s fine - I did nothing different than what we discussed.” He explained with a smile, “You said you wanted to get your revenge on the brothers after they all took that lust potion around you so guess what? I used the last of this body switching one in your drink.”

Although Solomon found it terribly amusing that MC had just drunk a syrup that would switch her body with somebody else, she wasn’t so thrilled. It wasn’t the fact that he’d slipped it into her beverage - it was actually her idea in the first place - it was the fact that she was now going to face the effects of the syrup.

“How does it decide whose body I switch with?” She asked quietly, glancing up at Solomon with a worried expression.

“The last person you touched.” He grinned, “I just can’t wait to see which one you turn into!”

“Solomon!” MC suddenly panicked as she shot out of her seat.

“What is it?” He asked confused, “you’ll only change bodies for a day?”

“That’s not the issue here!” MC waved her hands frantically, “the last person I touched was Diavolo!”

“Oh shit...” Solomon mumbled. “You mean?”

“I’m going to turn into Diavolo!” MC cried before letting out a sharp breath, “and Diavolo is going to turn into me!”

“Fuck...” Solomon breathed, trying to weigh up the options on what they should do.

“We have to go to the palace.” MC shook her head, causing Solomon to look at her as though she was being ridiculous. “We need to tell him!”

Sighing, she marched out of the room before she could even give him a choice. Time was against them as they raced through the house. The affects of the syrup could take place at any second. MC silently prayed that Diavolo didn’t have some important meeting with all of the high nobles.

She seethed to herself as they travelled across the Devildom. ‘This is a disaster!’ MC kept repeating to herself until eventually they made it to the palace.

Barbatos let both of them into the castle, surprised to see the state they were in.

“Barb where’s Diavolo?!” MC asked quickly, “I’ve got to see him right now.”

“He’s in his study?” Barbatos arched an eyebrow, “would you like me to call for him?”

“There’s no time!” MC shook her head, “please just take me to him.”

Following her orders - and given how urgent they seemed - Barbatos began walking through the palace at a fast pace. Solomon chose to hang back as MC followed the Prince’s servant.

The palace had never seemed so big as they continued turning left and right down various hallways until eventually MC was lead to a colossal door.

Knocking gently, Barbatos awaited Diavolo’s call before letting MC in. As she practically fell into the room, the Prince stood up from his seat in surprise.

“MC?” He asked concerned, “whatever is the matter?”

“My Lord I am so sorry.” She panted as she leant over, “Solomon gave me a syrup that would make me switch bodies...”

Talking had never seemed to hard as she tried to regain her breath.

“He didn’t realise that you and I were together earlier.” She continued, ��I drank it to get my own back on the brothers but Solomon didn’t know that I hadn’t seen them today.”

Diavolo’s eyes never left MC’s face as she frantically tried to explain what was happening.

“He says I will switch bodies with the last person I touched.” MC finished.

Recollecting their catch up they’d had earlier, Diavolo remembered the hug they shared as MC left. “Me?” He asked with wide eyes.

“I’m so sorry!” She repeated with an anxious expression.

“What you mean to tell me is you drank a syrup that would force you to switch bodies with the last person that you touched? And that person is me?” He asked, trying to understand the situation.

“Yes...” MC answered as her face sunk.

Diavolo showed no emotion for a minute as he paced in front of his desk. Fear grew in MC’s body as she anticipated a scolding from the Prince.

But then, as he perched his firm butt on the edge of his desk, he looked up at MC. “So once this syrup takes effect, I will be you for the day and you me?” He requested clarification.

“Yes, My Lord.” She nodded.

“Well this sounds positively exciting!” He suddenly grinned, catching MC by complete surprise.

“I’m sorry...” she knitted her eyebrows, “you’re not angry?”

“Why would I be angry? I have nothing important scheduled for the rest of the week and therefore do not need to worry about you being me.” He explained, “and with me switching bodies with you I can finally grasp an understanding on what it is like to be a human!”

Diavolo seemed to find this incredibly exciting.

“I must say MC, my life was far more boring before you came along.” He chuckled. “I think you and I could have some fun with this. How long has it been since you drank the syrup?”

“About 25 minutes, My Lord.” MC breathed.

“Excellent.” He smirked, “Five more minutes should do it.” As he glanced at her, he noticed the worry in her eyes. “You seem frightened?” He questioned.

“I’m sorry My Lord, I just didn’t expect you to react so...well?” She spoke unsure. “I came here thinking you’d be furious.”

“While this isn’t quite how I imagined spending my afternoon, that’s not to say I am disappointed because of it.” He chuckled, “now come on, MC. Wipe that worry off your face!”

In all truth, Diavolo was just pleased he was involved in such chaos without being the one who orchestrated it.

“Now...lets not spend the afternoon fretting.” He smirked, “it’s time we had some fun!”

What did they get up to?

Now being in Diavolo’s body, MC decides to give Barbatos some super weird orders. “Can you get out and buy me some peaches without the pit?” “My Lord, all peaches have pits?” “Then find some that dont!”

“Barbatos will you carry me to the kitchen please?” “I’m sorry my Lord but I don’t think I will be able to support your weight...” “how rude! Would you speak to your King like that?”

After about ten minutes though, Barbatos guesses exactly what’s happened

“How did you know it was me?!” MC questions, “because Lord Diavolo always uses his fluffy pen to write out shopping lists! You used the dip pen - a rookie mistake.” “Ah.”

MC walks into Diavolo’s chamber and while alone, takes a sneak peak down his shirt, ‘it’s even better than I imagined!’

Meanwhile Diavolo - in MC’s body - remains sat at his desk trying to calm his mind. ‘Well maybe just one feel...’ he thinks to himself before quickly grabbing his newly accustomed breasts

“Oh my!” He grins to himself

FaceTimes Lucifer, “Hey cutie, how are you doing?” “MC?? Why are you at Lord Diavolo’s?” “We’re talking about you.”

MC pulls a prank on Mammon by messaging him, “hey Mammon, Lord Diavolo’s pretty mad at you...” “ha! If he was it’d be Lucifer messaging me. Prove it.” *MC sends a selfie in Diavolo’s body looking pissed off* “o—oh shit what did I do?!”

Diavolo goes to the House of Lamentation and tells all of the brothers that he (MC) is in love with Diavolo so they should all stop pining over her

He also does whatever he can to make Lucifer blush while in the human’s body. He knows she’s the only one capable of making his heart go soft. “Did you know your hair looks sexy pushed back?” “MC, please.”

Back at the castle, MC’s ordering for a new portrait to be painted of her (Diavolo) to hang above the throne. And of course, the pose she chooses is her dabbing

She also sends a selfie to Solomon, “Hello Harry Potter, it’s Lord Diavolo here to tell you u nasty”

Afterwards, she calls Simeon to tell him “It’s Diavolo here - I’m really sorry to tell you this but MC’s my favourite exchange student.”

When it comes to going to the toilet, MC tries incredibly hard not to look down but as soon as she catches a glance of Diavolo Jr she screams “oh my GOD”

She posts an inspiring article on the RAD newspaper with “words we can live by” and its ‘sex drugs and sausage rolls’

While not pranking the brothers, Diavolo’s ‘testing’ what it’s like to be in a human body. *punches wall* ‘interesting...that was painful*

He momentarily forgets he’s MC and has some of Mammon’s spicy noodles before immediately regretting it ‘oh HELL that’s hot!’

Accidentally mentions something to Lucifer that only Diavolo would know and the eldest brother’s like “...how did you know that, MC?”

When Luke gets excited to see MC (or in this case Diavolo), the Prince tells the angel that he (MC) is going to marry Diavolo and Luke runs off screaming “YOU CAN’T MARRY A DEMON!”

If MC gets approached by anyone and they ask any questions, she answers them very ‘seriously’ “My Lord, I hear there are talks of the exchange program being extended. Do you have anything to say on this?” “Yes. Shakira Shakira. No further questions please.”

#obey me #obey me shall we date

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shaafaith · 3 years ago

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Me and my emotional support dab pen against the world

#me

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dailyaudiobiblechronological · 3 years ago

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5/10/2022 DAB Chronological Transcription

Psalm 50, Psalm 53, Psalm 60, Psalm 75

Welcome to the Daily Audio Bible Chronological, I'm China. Today is the 10th day of May, welcome. It is so great to be here with you guys today. Oh, it's been allergy season of for sure. I was like, I'm really just not affected this year. Like, praise God. I've really been taking care of my immune system and supporting my body and then I ended up getting mastitis a couple of weeks ago and then my immune system just got vulnerable and the allergies were like, let's get her. And so I'm like slowly feeling more and more human every day. But it just gets your voice, man. My husband, Ben, he was like, you sound awful. I was like, thank you. But if you've ever had allergies or like a head cold or sinus, anything not fun and it changes your voice. You know that you sound worse than what you feel and maybe that's not everyone's case, but thankfully that one's fine. But anyways, hopefully wherever you live, you're not being attacked by allergies. And if you are, I mean, you've healed in Jesus name, man. It's still not fun. But you know, what is fun, bouncing around in the Psalms. That is what we get to do today. I'm so excited about that. I just love reading the Psalms because there's just so much goodness and there's so much encouragement. There's so much just beautiful takeaways and truthfully, it's so comforting. Like that's what I always leave feeling is comforted and seen and like, wow, I'm not crazy for having this big emotion or wow, like someone else felt that too. And I feel not alone. And isn't that a beautiful, powerful feeling? So let's see what we are reading today. We are in Psalm 50, Psalm 53, Psalm 60, and Psalm 75. And we continue on with the New International Version for this week.

Commentary

Truly so much beauty and in today's reading of the Psalms. And I especially really love in the beginning in the Psalm 50 where we're reading God saying, I am your God, listen to me. I will speak. I am your God, your God. I bring no charges against you concerning your sacrifices or concerning your burnt offerings which are ever before me, which I think basically means like, hey, I'm not holding anything against you. If you messed up a piece of this up or I don't know if that's what exactly that means, but I bring no charges against you. It means I'm coming in peace. There's no weapons here. I'm genuinely coming in peace. I have no need of a bull from your stall or of goats from your pens. For every animal on the forest is mine and all the cattle and 1000 Hills I know every bird in the mountains and the insects in the fields are mine. If I were hungry, I would not tell you. For the world is mine and all that is in it. And that really just shows me that this is the Lord, he is clearly establishing who he is again and again and again and just reminding his people the Earth is the Lord and all that is in it. Right? And so he's breaking this down. And when you say that, when I say the words, the Earth is the Lord and all that is in it, it's like, yeah, that's cool. But then when you break down each scripture and you're saying, I know every bird in the mountains and the insects in the fields are mine, that kind of zooms into that phrase a little bit more like, yes, everything in the Lord in the Earth is the Lord. When you start thinking about every insect, every bird, every mountain, every Hill, every whatever, like, the Lord sees it and he knows it. One of my favorite scriptures has always been over the years believe is in the Gospels, where it just talks about, consider the birds in the air, then neither sow nor reap. And yet they're taken care of. What about the lilies? They're just springing up, basically meaning, like, do you think that those things aren't cared for by the Lord? Do you think that those things are just like on a rotating clock of being like, oh, it's time for the birds to be fed magically? Oh, now they're not hungry anymore because they're just magically taken care of. Like, oh, they're not robots. The Lord provides for them. And the lilies, the flowers, like the wildflowers they're cared for by the Lord. And it makes me think of such an interesting imagery. But we've been in the house that we're in now, Ben and I, for three years, and for the first year, we started to plant a garden, and our yard wasn't really established. So we were like, let's just plant the things that we want in pots. So I planted some tomato plants. And then at the end of the year after the harvest, I dumped the soil that was in one of the pots and the tomato plants in our front garden bed, like, in the front bed with other bushes and things that came with the house. And then last year, a tomato plant grew up out of the ground in the same place that I put I didn't plant anything there. Yes, whatever remaining of what I dumped in there grew, and it just blossomed next year. And it was so funny because we were like, did you plant tomatoes here? No. Did you plant tomatoes here? No, I didn't either. Well, then how did this get here? And then it was like, oh, right. Just without thinking, I guess, I accidentally planted tomatoes here, and they were taken care of, and they got the amount of sun that they needed, and they were watered by the rain because we didn't know that they were growing there. And we just kind of came out one day and we're like, oh, this isn't a weed. This literally has flowers and tomatoes are coming off of this. Like, this is incredible. And so that just again and again kind of reiterates that the Lord's taking care of things like that that aren't little, but to us, they're little. Why on Earth would we think that we aren't cared for by the Lord? And so that just kind of is like this ongoing conversation that I'm having with myself of like, oh, man, I feel like I got to take care of this or the Lord doesn't want to be bothered with this or I kind of got myself into the situation. I don't know if the Lord's going to be frustrated with me in this and ultimately just realizing, of course he cares if he cares about birds. I hate birds. I think birds are so gross. I think it's because I got attacked by a bird a couple of years ago. We were, like, on the beach or something, and I was terrified after that. But birds are gross, okay? They're just gross. And I'm like, if the Lord cares for you and you are taken care of and these flowers, they are being tended by the Lord and anything else, that's just the examples that we have in scripture, then why not? Why wouldn't the Lord take care of me? And so there's been this song that has been released for over a year now that it's kind of founded from that scripture that has been one of my favorites over a couple years, but also really just things of who the Lord is and when we forget it's, like, be reminded of who he is and that he is provider and that we truly are in lack of nothing? And when we remind ourselves of that and we come into that place of rest, it's so powerful, when you lay down our armor, and lay down the things that we are trying to make happen in our own strength, because we feel like God's not coming to our defense or he's not going to come take care of us,when we come out of alignment with that narrative and we step into the truth, so much changes. And so I just want to play this song, and let it wash over you? If that has been you and that you have struggled with or something that you can relate to, may you just find something in this song? That you can hold on to, that you remind yourself of who the Lord is, and let it just wash over you, and carry you into the next day, and the day after that. As often as you want to play it. But yeah, may you just be encouraged by it.

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thosequeenboys · 5 years ago

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Super Trouper (John Deacon x Reader)

Summary: You and John Deacon became good friends during college. When John joins a band, you both thought it was a fun hobby - until it became more. Over the years, you each followed your own career paths and shared your love of music, staying in touch mainly through letters, as friends -- until he invites you to Queen’s show at Madison Square Garden in 1980.

A/N: This piece was written for @imcompletelylost for the Possessed by Love Event. I was so excited to be your creator, as we have some musical interests in common that I incorporated into the story. I hope you enjoy them. The story is based on my favorite ABBA song. Thank you @yourlocalmusicalprostitute for coordinating this event. Thank you, @warriorteam1924 for great beta reading, ideas & support. Also thanks to @mirkwoodshewolf and @iwilltrytobereasonable for brainstorming and your terrific ideas.

Warnings: 2-parts fluff to 1-part angst. Band and song dates may not perfectly align with the story time frames. I hope music historians will be forgiving, and any lapses will not detract from the story.

It’s 1971, and you and your best friend, John Deacon, were in the cafeteria line pushing your trays along the railing. Each of you grabbed a plate of sodden fish and chips from under the orange warming lights. After four years, you still missed a good old American burger and fries, but aside from the food, attending college in London had been a great experience.

“They asked me to audition. Seem like a good gaggle of guys.” John laughed at his alliteration.

“They call themselves Queen? Like, Your Majesty?” you queried.

“Indeed,” John affirmed. “The lead singer, Freddie, is an art student. He’s drawing a crest. And there’s Brian and Roger. They’re science students.”

“Lovely!” you enthused.

“A good distraction from studies.” John concurred. “Though they do seem quite ambitious.”

“Can’t hurt to give it a go,” you shrugged. “Though good thing you all will have those polished degrees to fall back on,” you said, only half joking.

“I am pleased to confer your degrees upon you. Congratulations to the class of 1972,” the Dean asserted with a tight grin. The audience broke out into polite applause. You looked around a bit bewildered. You missed the American tradition of giddy graduates tossing their mortarboards in the air with abandon. After a quick embrace, you and John made your way to the local pub to meet up with his band mates, now considered your friends.

“So, Y/N,” Brian said, placing a beer down before you, “You’re heading back to America next year? So willing to leave our lush gardens, cultural sophistication -- and our dear friend, John?

“Not to mention, the next band destined for greatness,” Freddie declared with a broad smile as he tucked his chin slightly, his long hair falling into his face.

“Yes, well,” you took a deep breath feeling four sets of eyes upon you. “The advertising agency I worked for during school offered me a position in their New York office. Always wanted to live in New York. I will miss London’s beauty and culture,” your voice lilted with the faint British accent you had picked up.

“And…” Roger prompted you to respond to the end of Brian’s statement.

“And, yes, the people I’ve met,” you spat out. You shot a glance at John, and you melted as you felt his eyes meeting yours. “And the memorable times I’ve had. With them.” you added, trying to sound light, but you felt tears collecting on the rim of your eyes and you blinked to dissipate them. You knew their presence resulted from the thought of leaving the most important person to you-the lithe, long-haired brunette, whose grey eyes you were now lost in-your best friend, John. Only a friend, the last four years had established. You grabbed a napkin and subtly dabbed at your eyes.

John blinked, and his lips fell into a grin that made his eyes crinkle. “You can’t be talking about our first day as chemistry lab partners when your signature hand movements to Dancing in the Street knocked the beaker clear off the table, smashing it to a million pieces.” John smirked.

“No,” you laughed, moving past your embarrassment to counter, “I’m actually thinking about the time we stayed up all night to write our English papers and finished each other’s sentences, taking sips of beer after each successful line.”

“Some of the best writing the University has ever seen,” John deadpanned, as he looked up wistfully. “And one of the highest English scores I ever earned, legless or sober.” He added, rubbing his chin.

“There it is then,” Roger interjected.

You both looked at him mystified.

“You’ll stay in touch by writing letters. Though you’ll each have to finish your own sentences, I suppose.” Roger concluded, unleashing his playful smile.

*****

Your tight bell bottoms skimmed the floor and the loose open-neck cotton blouse with colorful embroidery flowed around your curves. You glanced at your bags piled by the door, moving over to check one to distract yourself from the impending onslaught of emotions. A soft knock interrupted your nervous efforts. You rezipped the bag as John entered and halted, taking you in. His swallowed, and his mind revisited the thoughts he repeated to himself over the last few weeks. If only. If only this conversation could be different. If only I said something sooner. If only we wouldn’t be risking our friendship. If only you wanted this to be more. ‘If I only had the words to tell you, If you only had the time to understand. Though I know it wouldn't change your feelings, And I know you'll carry on the best you can.’ (1) You’d probably go anyway, he had concluded.

“Thanks for seeing me off,” You said, avoiding his gaze.

“I…I brought you something,” John blurted out, as his long fingers dug into the front pocket of his faded bell bottoms. He thrust a rectangular box toward you.

You forced a smile through your tense face and lifted the lid. You pulled out a delicate sterling silver chain that held a mounted luminescent grey oval stone with angular cuts that refracted blue hues. “John, it’s…beautiful,” you said, as you reached behind your neck to fasten it.

“Here, let me,” he moved behind you, his strong fingers overlaying yours to ease the clasp, as he thought of the day he purchased the gift. Brian had accompanied John to the jewelry shop, and as they peered into the display case, Brian suddenly gasped. “Oh, a moonstone. So beautiful how it catches the light and changes colors. This is really exquisite, John. And, it will be a reminder that even apart, you’ll still share the same moon.”

Back to the present, John stepped in front of you and admired the gift resting splendidly between your collarbones, perfectly framed by your open blouse. “I’m not into all that crystal nonsense,” John said, “but it’s said to be a calming gemstone. And a wise man said, it will remind us that though we’re apart, we’ll be sharing the same moon.” John figured Brian wouldn’t mind him lifting his line.

“Oh John, that’s lovely,” you leaned in to hug him, and as he returned the embrace, your denim jeans pressed together and your arms pulled each other close. How could you be leaving this, him? You had to accept that nothing more was meant to be.

“Wait! I have something for you!” You pulled away suddenly, knowing time was of the essence, and reached into your bag, retrieving a long black box. You held it out to John, who opened it quickly. He held up the beautiful pen engraved with JRD.

“Now that we’ll be writing to each other….” You indicated.

“It’s perfect.” John said his eyes shifting between you and the gift. Before you could embrace again, a horn blared. “Cab’s here. Let me grab some bags,” John looked down, hefted two bags and headed out the door. You looked around your flat, grabbed your last suitcase and purse. As you entered the hallway and slowly shut the door, you knew this special chapter in your life had ended. And you hoped Roger was right: that your friendship with John would continue from afar.

*****

Sirens blared outside as you dragged yourself up the four flights of stairs. You felt a corner of the record digging into your side through your thin fabric bag. Once inside your apartment, you pulled the record out of the beautiful jacket, and read the song list on the label. You propped open the heavy lid of your record player and blew on the vinyl disk before placing it gingerly on the turntable. You flipped the on switch, and the album turned rhythmically. You carefully lifted the needle, hovering it over the fourth groove as the record turned, waiting to release it at just the right place to start the song, at just the right indentation to avoid a scratch. You steadied your fingers and eased the needle down carefully. After a beat, success! ‘Is this the real life? Is this just fantasy?’ (2) You took a deep breath as the beautiful, familiar melody consumed you, taking you on an emotional journey, flooding your small flat. You kicked off your heels, curled up on the couch and grabbed your writing kit from the side table.

Dear John,

I’m listening to Bohemian Rhapsody-on my own record player! What a work of art! I loved your last letter describing your creative adventures with the boys at Ridge Farm. The song sums up how I’ve been feeling recently: my fantasy of working at a big ad agency has been replaced by the reality that starting out, it’s more grunt work than glamour. Accepting that helps me stick with it. And, it calls into question, what really matters in life? And what is Scaramouche, anyway? Ha-ha. Give the boys my love and let them know I am so proud of them and so pleased you’re all getting deserved recognition. Too bad those hard-earned degrees are going to waste! Cheers, Y/N

Dearest Y/N,

Yes, the reception for A Night at the Opera has been a whirlwind and exceeded our wildest dreams. Speaking of which, I had a dream we were back at Uni playing the finishing sentences game in your flat. I handed you my notebook and instead of words, there were musical notes. Probably because I’ve been writing some songs. In fact, I wrote You’re my Best Friend for you. True story. Yours, John

*****

Dearest Y/N,

I know we were both disappointed that we missed each other during our recent US tour. I hope your business trip was all it was supposed to be. Well, we’re back in London now, having had to cut the tour short in Boston, as Brian was very ill-and is still recovering from Hepatitis. Suffice it to say, it was very scary. But, you know him, as ill as he was, he was still writing. He was afraid we’d kick him out of the band, which we would never do. We are brothers, family. I thought the band was just a hobby, and now I can’t imagine my life without being part of Queen. Love to you always, John

Dear John,

My goodness, I hope Brian has recovered, and you have as well from a stressful trip. Speaking of trips, mine was…very good. I met someone special… Eric. We just clicked-about life. He’s in Boston. And get this! He was supposed to see the show you had to cancel because of Brian’s illness. He was so impressed that I knew you all ‘way back when.’ Can’t wait to see him next weekend. Not picking out the wedding gown yet….But, I did pick up Billy Joel’s early album Street Life Serenade. The Entertainer reminds me of you and the boys: ‘I am the entertainer. And I know just where I stand. Another serenader. And another long-haired band. Today I am your champion. I may have won your hearts. But I know the game, you'll forget my name. And I won't be here in another year, if I don't stay on the charts.’. Well, you don’t have to worry about the last line. You guys will be on the charts for the foreseeable future-and beyond. I also thought it was funny that he wrote, ‘if you’re gonna have a hit, you gotta make it fit, so they cut it down to 3:05.’ (3) Tell Freddie he proved that wrong with Bohemian Rhapsody! Take care and hugs to Brian. Cheers, Y/N

****

Dearest Y/N:

That’s a great song! Joel’s descriptions are certainly accurate, but they don’t capture everything. It’s been a tough time. Tensions permeate the group, and there are lots of arguments. I do think in a weird way they help to fuel creativity, but it can feel exhausting. Even though you and I are not together, I feel you with me, soothing me, steadying me. Truthfully, that helps calm me-and helps me to soothe the boys and try to keep us all focused. I hope you are happy. You’re my Best Friend. Love, John

Dear John,

I’m sure you are a great calming influence for the band. You are a stalwart trouper during tough times indeed!

Speaking of calming, your beautiful necklace has been soothing me as I try to move on from the failed love affair with my Bostonian. The line from Summer, Highland Falls sums it up: ‘How thoughtlessly we dissipate our energies. Perhaps we don’t fulfill each other’s fantasies. We are always what our situations hand us-it’s either sadness or euphoria.’ (4) It was a roller coaster of grand fun and tense irreconcilable disagreements. He was very inflexible, wanting everything on his terms. I realize everything was easy with you and me; there was a give and take. Knowing you’re there for me – and that we share the same moon – helps. Cheers and love, Y/N

*****

The boys were nursing warm drinks in a Munich bar, as John pulled the letter out of his jacket and scanned it again. The boys eyed him, sensing relief that John found hard to cover.

“It’s OK to gloat, John. Glad she dumped that selfish bloke,” Roger said. “You’ve been a trouper all these years, being a great friend to Y/N. It must be hard though. I mean, you’ve always wanted more…”

Freddie put his beer down loudly on the table and took a commanding tone. “Enough with this letter-writing rubbish. Now is your time, John! Invite her to our upcoming Madison Square Garden show! YES!!! We’ll have your dressing room decorated with lights and big bouquets of fragrant flowers brought in from the nearby Flower District! And Moet of course!” Fred’s words spilled out of him, as the images came into focus.

Roger jumped in. “We’ll arrange a limo to bring her to the show. She’ll be escorted to her front row seat-and then backstage after the show to meet you privately. Finally! You’ll tell her how you feel; ask her to move to London and….”

“Guys, wait, wait!” Brian said in a measured tone. “This is John’s decision. It’s a big step for him, and he…”

“Really, Dear,” Fred interrupted, trying to hold back an eye roll and a disdainful tone, “Must you be such a Dolly Downer?”

John looked at his band mates warmly, touched that they clearly wanted what was best for him. “Well, I do appreciate the premiere matchmaking services of Mercury-Taylor. And May is right, it’s a big step.” John hesitated. He felt he was on a precipice looking out into a sea mixed with excitement and anxiety, like waves gathering, crashing gently toward each other before rushing out at low tide. He added haltingly, “It…it may be too late.”

“Well, you won’t know unless you try. It would be nice for you to share the same moon on the same continent,” Brian said with a wink to John.

John smiled as a lyric came to his mind, ‘You can't be everything you want to be before your time. Although it's so romantic on the borderline tonight.’ (5) “Maybe it’s my time. Our time,” he said, casting a smile at his friends.

“Wonderful! I’ll tell Miami the arrangements to be made!” Freddie said decisively.

******

Your office meeting stretched into the night, not an unusual occurrence, though the head of the firm addressing a small team of top-performing staff was unprecedented. “We have acquired a number of significant clients in London, and we will be expanding our office there. If any of you are interested in a position, please let me know in the next two weeks.” As the meeting ended, your colleague turned to you, “How about we let off some steam at the Palladium?” Sounded good to you. After the bouncer removed the velvet rope, you were welcomed to the club by pulsating music and lights thrown off a large disco ball hanging from the ceiling. You entered the dance floor and started to move to the blaring beat, ‘Gimme gimme, gimme a man after midnight.’ (6) You realized it wasn’t any man you wanted. It was John. Maybe you should take a position in London. Maybe you and he….But you were getting ahead of yourself. Tomorrow you’d have a front row seat at Queen’s Madison Square Garden concert and a private reunion with John afterwards. For now, as usual, you let the music envelop you and move through you, expressing your feelings.

*****

You were ready to go in a black leather miniskirt, white sleeveless tank top and your white go-go boots. Your nerves were making a cameo; as you clasped John’s necklace your fingers shook. You entered the waiting limousine and stretched out in the back, enjoying the rare city view from a car. It sure beat riding the subway. Upon arrival at the VIP entrance, you were escorted to your seat. Your stomach felt hollow, and you had to consciously remind yourself to breathe. As you settled in, taking in the huge stage, thoughts coursed through you: Here you were: sitting front row at Madison Square Garden, seeing Queen-a band you knew and truly admired, reuniting with John -- and hopefully clarifying your future. You tried to push it all aside as the hot spotlights lit the stage, signaling the start of the show.

In the wing backstage, John shifted from foot to foot as he peered out onto the stage lit only by four glaring spotlights that cascaded over the smoke. He could already feel the heat from those lights, but he knew there was more to the warmth creeping through him: you were out there, and the two of you would be reunited soon. A smile bloomed across his face as he took in the roar of the crowd. ‘Suddenly I feel all right, and it's gonna be so different when I'm on the stage tonight. Tonight, the super trouper lights are gonna find me shining like the sun, smiling, having fun, feeling like a number one, Tonight the super trouper beams are gonna blind me, but I won't feel blue like I always do. 'Cause somewhere in the crowd there's you.’(7)

Ratty gave the queue, and Freddie led the boys in a bounding stage entrance. John took his place behind Freddie’s piano. The powerful beams prevented him from seeing the fans, but he wasn’t blinded. He saw more clearly now than he ever had.

The show was magnificent, and after the encore, the boys met again in the stage wing, as the roadies handed them towels.

“Your dressing room is ready!” Freddie reassured. “We snuck in a few candles, though we are violating New York City Fire Code,” he added with a wink, and glance at Roger, who tried unsuccessfully to conceal a laugh.

Brian rolled his eyes and raised his hands dramatically in front of himself. “News Headline: Queen burns up Madison Square Garden. Literally.”

“For a good cause, though!” Roger defended.

“Thanks, Guys,” John said softly, nodding to his best friends. “Wish me luck.”

John’s heart beat faster with each step down the long corridor. As he opened the door he spotted you seated on a couch, and he gasped. You stood, and he reached out his hand, which you took, as you swayed your hips slightly to release some nervous energy.

“Y/N, I’d hug you but…I’m a sweaty mess,” John said, suddenly self-conscious. “You’re so beautiful.”

“You look gorgeous-you always did,” you said. “The show was fantastic! And I love what you’ve done to the place,” you said coyly, gesturing around the romantically lit room, dotted with lush bouquets and a champagne bucket. “Who knew The Garden had such impeccable decorating taste?”

“It was Fred and Roger’s doing, actually,” He chuckled. “Sit, sit.” He bent into the couch and still holding your hand, he eased you down with him.

You both started to speak at the same time: “Y/N, I wanted to tell you that I….” “John, my company has positions in the UK and I’m thinking of taking one….”

“Is that what you want? To return to London?” John asked, trying and failing to temper his excitement.

You stared at each other. “If,” you said, gathering courage and then shaking your head to change the point. “It isn’t just work I want to return for…It’s…well, I know you probably have girls lining up, but I…”

“No.” John cut you off. There’s never been anyone serious. There couldn’t be. There’s only been you. All these years.” He swallowed before continuing. “Tonight…the reason for all this, I was planning to tell you that I love you, always have, always will, and ask if you’d consider coming back to the UK. Back home, to me….”

“Yes! A definite yes!” You embraced with some distance between you, and John broke apart sporting a broad grin. “Oh, Y/N! I…. I need to shower and then we can continue our plans. I’m so happy! And I need to tell the boys that their matchmaking efforts worked-and that as Brian said, we’ll be enjoying the moon together-from the same place.”

‘Whenever we’re together, that’s my home,’ (8) you said, letting your happy tears flow.

Song Notes

1. If I Only Had the Words, Billy Joel

2. Bohemian Rhapsody, Queen

3. The Entertainer, Billy Joel

4. Summer, Highland Falls, Billy Joel

5. Vienna, Billy Joel

6. Gimme, Gimme, Gimme (A Man after Midnight), ABBA

7. Super Trouper, ABBA

8. You’re My Home, Billy Joel

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onestowatch · 4 years ago

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Surfaces Is Bringing Their Happy Place to the Masses [Q&A]

Photo: Dan Franco

When Colin Padalecki met Forrest Frank on SoundCloud, back in 2016, they had no idea that their whimsical exchange of DMs would evolve into the brotherhood of a lifetime, an ever-growing discography, and a roster spot on one of the hottest independent record labels in the world—10K Projects.

Since then, the two friends have formed a genre-bending band called Surfaces and an audiovisual world of neo-soul, beach-pop, reggae, and gospel music. Or better yet, an imaginary happy place, right smack-dab in the middle of “The Lone Star State,” where the two Texans make masterful R&B music with spoken-word lyricism that elevates positive thinking for the soul.

All in all, the guys from Surfaces have been releasing music together for four years now. Thus, with each year comes a brand-new album from the hardworking duo. While Caribbean rhythms and heartwarming subject matter remain notable fixtures of their songwriting, another mainstay is the scenic artwork that’s accompanied every album release so far.

Each time that Padalecki creates an official album cover for Surfaces, it’s as if he’s giving their supporters a behind-the-scenes look at the way in which they find inspiration before a songwriting camp. In many instances, the artwork that he designs serves as a catalyst for the band’s recording sessions, because it sets the mood. His graphic illustrations of sunsets, beaches, and waterfronts augment the heartfelt stories that have been told for the duration of four albums now by his bandmate, Frank, whose lyrics and jazz-rap cadences always seem to carry a positive undertone.

The meaning behind his uplifting words stem from a spiritual assertion that was instilled in him from a young age by his family. In fact, his band’s biggest hit to date was influenced by his faith. “When I think of the lyrics [from “Sunday Best”]... for me, personally, the only way I’ve been able to find that kind of complete stress-free lifestyle is through my relationship with God,” shares Frank. Of all the songs that have been penned by Surfaces over the past five years, none of the releases contain a single ounce of vulgarity in them. This is a very unique distinction for a secular band—especially one that is part of a record label that’s been home to some of the most popular rappers of the SoundCloud rap era.

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But nevertheless, their working relationship with their record label has actually enhanced their creativity. Because the company’s CEO has created a healthy environment for artistic expression, regardless of the genres his artists belong to. “I feel like Elliot [Grainge] runs a really tight family kind of shop. He doesn’t have a lot of artists on his roster, but he has a personal relationship with all of us and the other people we work with like Molly, Sam, and our managers. So, [signing with 10K Projects] just made sense,” shares Padalecki. “Elliot gave us full creative control, which is truly a blessing when it comes to something like a record deal. At any moment in time, we could just ask him to meet us for lunch and he cares enough about us on a personal level to go do that. He trusts in our decisions when it comes to song making, album choices, and everything. They’ve been nothing but supportive and we’ve been nothing but grateful for 10K, it’s almost like a family.”

Indeed, a stress-free creative space, cathartic chorus lines, and the full support of 10K Projects have proven to be key components in a winning formula that’s yielded multi-platinum successes for Surfaces. So, as the old adage goes: If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. Which means when it comes to dropping new music, the guys are sticking to what works.

When they made their best-selling album to date, Where The Light Is, they recorded the tracks during the day, while the sun was out at Frank’s boat house to perfectly capture a positive and happy mood. Catching a vibe in a sunny environment has proven to be tried-and-true method for the band and a blueprint that Colin Padalecki wanted to follow during the making of their latest album, Pacifico.

“We rented a house in Malibu for about a half a month. It was kind of like this creative camp that we set up and we pretty much woke up every single day in this really gorgeous house with this really gorgeous view of the beach line of Malibu and the sunset peaking over the mountains every single day,” says the multi-instrumentalist. “It was just nice to not have to worry about anything with Forrest, his wife, and our creative collaborator Conrad [Public Library Commute]. Nothing felt forced… we were just trying to capture the essence of that trip. The whole album pretty much describes that vacation of ours. And we just tried to capture all aspects of it through sonics.”

On April 9, Surfaces introduced their fourth studio album to the world with the lead single called “Wave of You.” It’s a vibey beach-pop track that explores the depths of a romantic relationship through the eyes of Frank. It also displays his willingness to expose his own real-life experiences. “I think it’s really powerful. A relationship can be so powerful and when you’re really drawn to someone it’s like the tide pulling you into the wave. It’s awesome, but it’s also really fragile and dangerous,” says Frank.

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Upon the release of two follow-up singles to “Wave of You,” Surfaces officially dropped Pacifico on June 25. The new album arrives on the heels of one of the most challenging time periods this world has ever seen. In the wake of a global pandemic, a little bit of sunshine is exactly what the the world needs. Pacifico, fittingly, is a breath of fresh air for their supporters and a fitting soundtrack for the beginning of summer after nearly a year-and-a-half of worldwide shutdowns.

One of the main aspects of this album that displays the band’s growth as musicians are the amount of artist features present. Before the release of Pacifico, the only collaboration they ever published was “Learn To Fly” with Elton John. Their collaborative effort with the Rock & Roll Hall of Famer was an absolute banger, but it was never officially featured on an album by Surfaces. Instead, it was published as a one-off single. But this time around, the group teamed up with four collaborators: Public Library Commute, Salam Ilese, Xavier Omär and Quinn XCII.

Their contributions to Pacifico have added a whole new element to this delightful collection of sun-soaked music. In fact, the story of how they ended up recording their collaboration with Omär in person is almost as compelling as the story of how the co-founders met each other. “We’d been huge fans [of Xavier Omär] ever since the SoundCloud days. We had a second verse open [for “Come Around”]. So, we DM’d him and said, ‘Yo what’s up! We’re huge fans!’ He said he was a big fan of ours too. So, we told him that we’d love to link up and talk about music because we have a song that he might like,” recounts Frank. “Then he said, ‘Oh cool, but the only thing is, I don’t live in L.A., I live in San Antonio.’ And we were like, ‘Yo, Colin lives in San Antonio (laughs)! So, we basically drove down the street and recorded with him.” It’s a fond memory of their first encounter with one of their favorite musicians… and it’s strikingly similar to the way that Padalecki met Frank on SoundCloud about five years prior.

“Hearing (Omar Xavier’s) melodies recorded at my house brought me back to my high school days of listening to Middle of Things,” says Padalecki. “It had a huge impact on me in high school. So, him coming over and hanging out with us like friends, getting lunch with us, and then getting to the music later was really special.” While collaborative efforts like “Come Around” and “On Time” have certainly added a new dimension to the songwriting and emotional depth of Surfaces, fans can rest assured that their trademark penchant for feel great grooves remain true all throughout Pacifico.

In just five years, the duo behind Surfaces has traveled all over the country. The last time they took the show on the road was during the “Warm Winter Tour” back in 2019. This August, they’ll hit the road again for a North American tour called the aptly titled “Good 2 Be Back Tour.” To the masses they’re a homegrown duo that never fails to bring light and positivity to the forefront of their music. But internally… they’re just two friends having the time of their lives. And why wouldn’t they be? It’s not every day that pop icons like Justin Bieber partake in a “Sunday Best” dance craze dedicated to you by your fans on TikTok.

More importantly, it’s not every day a pop-rock band comes along and reminds us of Bill Withers, Hall & Oates, Beach Boys and Chance the Rapper all in one breath. “That’s pretty good (laughs). I like that,” confesses Frank when the unique comparison was brought to his attention. With the release of Pacifico, Surfaces is now four albums deep into a promising career in music. And to think, it all started with a litany of recording sessions at Padalecki’s college house in Texas. It appears as though the guys from Surfaces are just as good at building songs as they are at giving form to the happy place from which all of their songs originate.

Pacifico is available everywhere you can stream it.

#surfaces #pacifico #interview #pop #rock #soul #album reviews

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jenniferxprentiss · 5 years ago

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You Are In Love

Chapter One: Oh, Shit

read it on ao3 here; inspired by this song

okay, first of all THANK YOU from the bottom of my heart for all the support. DM me to be on the tag list for this - I’m not doing it for this first chapter because I think most of my tag list wants to see smut haha.

anyways, I don’t have any like, chapter upload schedule. I’m gonna write when it makes me happy and I guess that’s when I’ll post. thank you a thousand times over to @f-m27 for letting me bounce ideas off of you, you’re the real MVP.

please please let me know what y’all think? please?

“Will, I’m pregnant.”

JJ felt the familiar lump form in her throat, tears stinging at the corners of her eyes. She was in her office, blinds drawn and door shut, paperwork spread around her on the desk. Once the test had come up positive, she couldn’t focus on anything else, and Will was out of town for work again.

“What’re you going to do about it?”

She felt anger burning in the pit of her stomach, scared tears giving way to angry tears, dripping down her face silently. She couldn’t believe Will had asked her what she was going to do - like it didn’t take two people to get pregnant in the first place.

“Me? What am I going to do? You’re the father! What are we going to do?”

There was a long pause, Will letting out a sigh. JJ wanted to reach through the phone and slap him, or better yet, fly to wherever he was working and do it in person. She wasn’t even sure where he was anymore - it wasn’t the sort of thing she kept up with - and the thought of building a family on their rocky foundation brought a fresh wave of tears to her eyes.

“Where…” JJ stopped to take a deep breath in a poor attempt to hide the thickness of emotion in her voice. “Where even are you right now?”

“Louisiana.”

His voice was tense and tight, serving only to anger JJ even more. She longed for the long lost part of their relationship where they could talk about anything and everything without a wall of awkward silence between them.

“Of course.”

“It’s the job. You were in Fresno just a few days ago, cher.”

“It’s not the same.” JJ sighed, holding the office phone between her cheek and shoulder, fingers fiddling with a stack of pens she had made, frowning when they toppled over again. “It’s just not the same.”

She could practically hear him rolling his eyes and pictured the annoyed, pinched expression Will was probably making. In a feeble attempt to change fate, JJ uncovered the pregnancy test, letting out a sad, breathy chuckle when it was still positive, little blue plus just as bright as it had been.

“It’s not the same because you make more than me? What — what’s so funny?”

“I just checked the test again like the little plus sign would disappear and save me from this fucking nightmare.”

Her tone was laced with sadness and disappointment, covering the little white stick with post it notes again. She never cursed - a sign of exactly how upset she was - and Will let out a soft chuckle through the crackly line. He sounded so close and a million miles away all at the same time, and it made her heart clench again.

“I don’t know what to tell you, cher. I know you want me to have all the answers but I don’t, I’m not even close to knowing.”

They sat in silence for a moment, tears blurring JJ’s vision as she tried desperately to swallow her pain and anguish, back of her hand wiping at her eyes. Her mouth opened but she couldn’t speak for the lump of emotion and tears in her throat.

“Okay. I have to go, Will. I uh, I just wanted to let you know.”

“Thanks. I love you, cher.”

JJ took a deep breath, chewing at her bottom lip in thought. Did she love him? Enough to start a family with him? She shook her head fingers still fidgeting with the now curled edge of the post it note.

“You too.”

She hung up the phone, slamming it into the base as the tears began to fall. JJ slumped forward, head in her hands, letting out ragged sobs. Her chest was tight, aching with the effort of her sobs.

It felt like she had cried for hours before she ran out of tears, sniveling pathetically and dabbing at her face with a tissue. Her head was pounding from the tears, throat dry and hoarse. She was trying her best to gather herself to head home, her office engulfed in orange light as the sun set.

There was a soft knock on her door that made JJ jump, frantically wiping at her face before the door creaked open. Emily peeked her head in, sliding through a small crack in the door and pushing it shut behind her, a soft frown on her lips. She was sure everyone had left hours ago, feeling a soft flush creep up her face in embarrassment.

“Hey…” Emily made herself comfortable on the chair in front of JJ’s desk, frown still on her face as she studied JJ. “Are you okay? I heard you crying and I… I didn’t want to leave you alone.”

A soft smile played on JJ’s lips, shaking her head softly despite her pounding headache. Stupid tears and stupid emotional headaches, though it didn’t compare to one tenth of the heartache she was feeling.

“Yes.” JJ lied, her face crumpling, more tears spilling out with a shuddered breath. “No. No, I’m not okay.”

Emily fidgeted with her hands, unsure of where to place them. Her heart ached for JJ, mind racing as she tried to figure out exactly what could be wrong. She settled for walking over to JJ and leaning down, wrapping her arms around JJ gently.

“It’s okay. It’s alright, Jayje.”

JJ couldn’t help the strangled sob she let out into Emily’s shoulder. Her hands clutched at Emily’s shoulders as sobs wracked her small frame, finally letting herself truly cry out all of the pain.

At some point Emily sunk to her knees, arms still tightly wound around JJ, whispering calming words into her ear as she rubbed her back in her best attempt to be soothing and platonic. Her heart was aching at JJ’s pain, and she wanted to kill whoever made her this upset. Her mind floated to that cop JJ was dating - Will Lemonade or something - but she quickly put it out of mind. They were happy, as far as JJ had let on.

JJ was sniveling now, face still buried in Emily’s shoulder. She felt ashamed, letting herself break down like that but it was Emily, and Emily was always her safe space. She let out a soft sigh, pulling back and wiping her face with her sleeve again, ignoring the makeup smearing into her ivory blouse.

“Honey, it’s going to be alright.”

“I don’t know that it will be, Em.” She stood, helping Emily up from the ground before grabbing her bag and phone, motioning in the direction of the door. “Walk our with me?”

“Yeah, Jayje. Anything you need.”

They walked out of the building in silence, JJ still hiccuping and sniveling softly. Her arm was wound around Emily’s, walking into the rapidly setting sun. The sky was pink, casting them in a perfect light, and JJ felt her heart ache once more.

“You never told me… what’s going on?”

JJ took a deep breath, feeling tears prick at the corners of her eyes. She braced herself for the fallout, heart beating hard in her chest - so hard that she could hear the pounding in her ears.

A beat of silence passed, Emily looking at her with an expression laced with concern and care, and the sight made JJ’s eyes fill with tears once again. She puffed her cheeks out, breathing out a long sigh before turning to Emily, lips pursed into an unreadable, tense line.

“Emily, I’m…” JJ took a deep breath, eyes downcast. “I’m pregnant.”

Oh, shit.

#my writing #you are in love #jemily #jennifer jareau #emily prentiss #mine #writing

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simple-heroics · 5 years ago

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Momo Yaoyorozu Fluff Alphabet | Part 2 | Letters M-Z

Guys, I love her so much. This took awhile to finish but here it is! Read Part 1 here.

credit to creator of the fluff alphabet prompt list here

Marriage - Do they want to get married? How do they propose? What would the marriage be like?

In a word…yes.

However, Momo never dreamed of marriage as a little girl nor did she ever feel like she needed marriage - or any relationship - to be happy. She has her family, friends, a fulfilling career, tea, and other passions (i.e advocacy, fundraising, etc.) to keep her busy.

Momo doesn’t date to get married or because she’s lonely or needs another person to feel complete. She dates you because she loves you. She marries you because she wants to spend the rest of her life with you. (Oh, and the legal benefits. One of which is that threats against spouses of various federal employees is a federal crime. Including pro heroes. Don’t fuck with Creati’s baby :) :) She will use every possible way to ruin a person’s life forever if they come after you.)

Basically, YOU make HER want to get married. And you bet your ass she’s gonna put a ring on that.

Forget about “stimulating the economy” and that trickle down economics bull shit. Momo is making your ring - a symbol of YOUR LOVE - herself, and only the best of the best for you. She spends hours researching designs, meanings of various gemstones, the durability of metals. All the “samples” she makes are a small fortune in and of herself.

When she proposes, Momo takes you to a botanical garden - the same one you both went to on one of your first dates. Literally rents the entire place out. While you walk around, you start to get nostalgic just as she hoped and reminisce.

Holding your hands, Momo talks about the first time she saw you, her favorite memories, how you’ve made her so happy. She tells you how you’ve changed her and helped her grow as a person, how everyday has been such a blessing.

Then she makes the ring, right then and there, for you. Softly, reverently, she asks, “Can we spend the rest of our days together like this?”

Marriage actually makes Momo much more comfortable with PDA. Whereas before she would only go as far holding your hand, now she presses loving kisses to your face and strokes your hair and is in general at least 20% more touchy. Marriage gives her a sense of security and - in a weird way - “propriety”. It’s one thing to lovey dovey with a datemate in public; it’s another to be affectionate with one’s spouse.

Oh, yeah. She loves the sound of it. Whenever your name comes up, it’s always “my spouse, y/n” or “y/n, my spouse”. It just makes her so giddy to say.

The feeling’s mutual of course. Anytime Creati is on TV, kicking ass or looking so pristine in an interview, you’re like:

Nicknames - What do they call their s/o?

Momo is full of sweet, doting nicknames: darling, my love, dear, dearest, beloved. These are usually accompanied by a kiss on your hand or temple.

All in private, though. You’d have to take her by surprise with a sudden visit to the office or it’d have to be an intensely emotional situation for Momo to call you those sweet names in public.

But Momo doesn’t need to call you a pet name in public for people to know who you are to her. Just the soft, almost reverent way she says your name - practically cooing it - says it all. Everyone knows that you’re her darling even if she doesn’t outright call you it in public.

On Cloud Nine - What are they like when they are in love? Is it obvious for others? How do they express their feelings?

Okay, so this is gonna be a little contradictory but…I see Momo as being both the most relaxed she’s ever been in her life and more focused than she’s ever been before.

You teach her that it’s okay to be herself and not this image of her “best self” she always has in her head. You make her feel safe enough to be let go of her perfectionism and accept her enough that she gradually drops one insecurity after another. She can be messy around you. She can be loud or quiet or giggly or grouchy or literally anything else. She’s just Momo with you.

Finally with some kind of outlet, the explicit permission to be free, it’s like watching an entire lifetime of tension slip away.

But….because you make her feel this, so happy and light and free, Momo is overwhelmed with gratitude and love that it kind of kicks itself in reverse. She has to be absolutely perfect for you.

And it can become a cycle. Not a great one, either. So please keep in check with each other and help balance yourselves out. Please. She just wants to make you the happiest person on earth which - in her view - is hard because you already do that for her.

Like I briefly touched on above and will even more so below, it’s Very Clear that Momo Yaoyorozu is in love. People who have known her for years have never seen her happier nor have her own colleagues ever seen her so…intense.

Because Momo has a very solid, very real reason to make it through missions waiting for her at home. She has a precious person to make the world a safer place for now. She was absolutely dedicated before but now? Now it’s personal.

PDA - Are they upfront about their relationship? Do they brag with their s/o in front of others? Or are they rather shy to kiss etc. when others are watching?

Given Momo’s upbringing, the answer to most of these is no. Definitely not. Not only is Momo shy about PDA but she was taught that doing so is disrespectful to people around you and even your significant other. Japanese etiquette only affirms this. The most you can expect from your girl is holding hands or linking arms while you walk around.

That doesn’t mean Momo stops touching you in public. In fact, sometimes it’s like she can’t keep her hands off you but her affection is expressed in small, subtle touches disguised as helpful gestures.

Tucking your hair behind your ear, straightening your collar, dabbing the corner of your mouth, brushing imaginary lint off your shoulder.

As for bragging…Momo doesn’t necessarily “brag” about you. But she does talk about you. A lot.

Out with a friend? “S/o said hi!” Doing paperwork? “S/o got me this pen.” Eating dinner with a colleague? “I should bring s/o here.”

Momo absolutely adores you. Even though she doesn’t go shouting this to the word, it shines in the little things.

The biggest giveaway? The way she looks at you with those bright, shining gray eyes.

Quirk - Some random ability they have that’s beneficial in a relationship. I just love this prompt for BNHA imagines.

Momo has a lot of secret talents that you’re always discovering at random. Her parents put a lot of thought and care into their only daughter’s upbringing, especially her education, and it shows. Your favorite so far?

Her dancing.

And it’s not like Ashido’s dancing or really many people your age. I am talking classical ballroom, mostly for the sake of those fancy banquets and soirees that the Yaoyorozus often attended. Momo knows how to elegantly through a ballroom as well as she does in the field.

But that’s not what you’re interested in. It’s the quiet, private part of your lives where’s it’s just the two of you in your home. No one else, no demanding tasks, no where to be. Just you and some lo-fi music.

Momo will gently take you in her arms and sway you around the room. And this is where you see her at her most relax, taking one of those skills hammered into her from a young age and just…letting go of all the rules. She makes it her own and just moves fluidly to the music, taking her with you.

Catch me when I swoon.

Romance - How romantic are they? What would they do to make their s/o happy? Cliché or rather creative?

Extremely romantic! Didn’t I tell you that she’s doting? And affectionate? And absolutely mesmerized by you?

And looord, does she know how to treat you.

As she grew up without want for any tangible object in the world, Momo is not a gift giver. Love, to her, is expressed in the time you spend with a person. This leads to fun weekend trips, surprise visits on lunch breaks, concerts, you name it.

Momo always finds a way of incorporating a little personal touch into the most cliché of clichés and making them entirely your own thing.

Support - Are they helping their s/o achieve their goals? Do they believe in them?

You have been nothing but supportive of her pro hero career - one that demands so much from Momo and by extension your relationship with her. And Momo is READY to support you in any way she can.

This girl legit researches and creates an entire long term plan on how you can achieve your goal, whatever it may be. School-related? Hello, Momo-sensei. Fitness goal? She goes to the gym and exercise with you, encouraging you the entire way. Artistic goal? Oh, what a coincidence. That random gallery owner happens to be a friend of her mother’s!

You maaaay have to pace her a little bit. She believes in you wholeheartedly but needs to be reminded that they’re your goals and you’re the one working towards them. Not necessarily you and your enthusiastic girlfriend.

Thrill - Do they need to try out new things to spice out your relationship? Or do they prefer a certain routine?

Momo has a high risk job where people’s very lives are at stake. For god’s sake, she was thrown headfirst into danger in her first two weeks of high school with USJ incident and it’s just been one thing after another ever since.

Give her a routine. Give her that calming domestic bliss.

Seriously. It’s crucial for your relationship and Momo’s own mental health that she has some sort of routine with you. Routine is comforting; routine provides a sense of security and safety. For that, Momo sets some serious boundaries between her personal life - with you specifically - and work.

You won’t be going on skydiving dates or anything with Momo. But you will wish each other good night every night, whether you’re in each other’s arms in bed or phone when she’s away or even just text if she’s on a stakeout. It’s these little, consistent things that make your relationships so strong.

Understanding - How well do they know their partner? Are they empathetic?

Part of the way Momo shows her love is learning you and everything about you. She’s spent hours dedicated to studying and now she studies you. It’s likely that she knows you better than you know yourself.

She knows everything about you: your favorite food, your hobbies, your goals, where you were born, who your best friend in high school was, everything.

She collects every piece of information about you, always listening and observing, and holds it close to her heart.

That said…and don’t hate me for this…but Momo isn’t the most empathetic person. Of course she’s kind and caring and an overall lovely person. But she is a person who follows things by steps, who uses logical thinking to predict people. Sometimes she gets so wrapped up in her line of thinking that she…misses out on the emotional side.

You’re probably the more empathetic person in this relationship, trusting your instincts and just letting yourself feel out situations while Momo tries to think her way through them. Both have their pros and cons, and it honestly teaches each of you a lot about each other.

Value - How important is the relationship to them? What is it’s worth in comparison to other things in their life?

Momo’s a busy woman. If she takes the time and energy to not only enter but maintain a relationship with you, you mean the absolute world to her.

And she reminds you of that every. single. day.

However…Momo is a selfless person. She gives a lot in the relationship and to you but to her, it’s not a necessity (close, though) but an indulgence. She sees herself as selfish for keeping you in her life, ever aware of the dangers of dating a high-ranking pro hero. She sometimes thinks of herself as selfish by staying with you, loving you, as she does.

Her worst fear is that you’ll suffer for her “selfishness” or be used against her in some way. Or worse still…that she’ll be forced into a situation where she’ll have to choose between you and her duty as a hero, between saving you or the public.

Even Momo doesn’t know which she would choose. She prays she’s never, ever put in the situation where she would have to make such a terrible choice.

Wild Card - A random Fluff Headcanon.

You know that one cool couple who is always hosting fun get-togethers with friends? Like, there are all of these monthly hang outs and yearly traditions that literally everyone in the squad looks forward to every year?

That’s you guys.

Momo LOVES playing hostess and you know how to have fun. Seriously, you’ve expanded Momo’s world beyond posh banquets and afternoon tea and she adores you for it. You host regular hot pots. Movie nights. Brunches. Beach days. White elephant parties. Every year there’s a cake baking competition with a golden whisk as the prize along with a full 365 days of bragging rights. (Bakugo, who didn’t even want to come, won it last year and will die before giving it up. Nobody cares who wins the golden whisk next year as long as it’s not that gremlin.)

Y’all know how to throw a party.

Probably of one the best things about this relationship is that you’re not in a “couple only” bubble. You cherish your other relationships, and it shows in how you often include others in your lives. :)

XOXO - Are they very affectionate? Do they love to kiss and cuddle?

Doting. Doting is the exact word that comes to mind when I think of Momo and affection. Almost immediately after meeting you, Momo was just so achingly fond of you and those feelings simmered for loooong while before the confession finally happened.

Now she just can’t help herself.

If she’s not playing with your hair, she kissing your fingers. If she’s not doing that, she’s hugging you. If it isn’t a hug, it’s a full on cuddle session where she kisses your face and holds your hand and murmurs sweet affections and -

Yeah. Momo restrains herself in public to subtle, sweet gestures but once your alone? She makes up for lost time.

Her favorite is leaving soft, delicate kisses on your temple after tucking your hair behind your ear and whispering how much she adores you.

Yearning - How will they cope when they’re missing their partner?

Momo keeps incredibly focused and on task at work. But as soon as it gets quiet and she’s alone…she yearns. She pines. She sighs. And she video chats you.

She does a very good job of staying in touch and communicating when you’re separated for any reason. Like I mentioned above, Momo always wishes you good night. And good morning. No matter what.

Please send Momo encouraging texts throughout her long, hard day. Please send her cute pictures. Please tell her love just because and tell her you can’t wait to see her again. It’s those little things that get her through missing you.

On a more angsty note…Momo worries about you. A lot. She has actual nightmares about something bad happening to you - being held hostage for ransom, a villain looking to get revenge against Creati, you getting caught up in a random public attack and her being unable to save you. These nightmares are at their worst when she’s away from you. The longer the separation, the more vivid and terrible they are. There have been times that she’s called you in the middle of the night just to hear your voice - the only thing that can calm her pounding heart and soothe her enough to go back to sleep.

So while she keeps in close constant because she does miss you a lot, Momo also does so to give herself some peace of mind. She needs to know you’re okay.

Zeal - Are they willing to go to great lengths for the relationship? If so, what kind of?

Y E S. Oh, my god, yes. Momo would do anything for you.

Sometimes, it honestly scares Momo how much she would do for you. She’s always been a dedicated person, a true perfectionist that approaches everything with well thought out strategy. She does things by steps. She’s the woman with a plan.

Then you came along and her whole universe imploded, forming a whole new one in the dust of her past and creating something new and unfamiliar and beautiful and terrifying.

So much so that even Momo doesn’t know her own limits anymore - not when it comes to you. She had lines before, boundaries, places she would not go. But with you? God only knows what she wouldn’t do for you.

Momo doesn’t like to linger too long on what kind of incredible, possibly terrible things she would do for you if pushed. But she promises herself that she’ll do everything in her power to keep it from coming to that.

#bnha imagines #bnha imagine blog #bnha headcanons #boku no hero academia #boku no hero academia imagines #boku no hero imagines #boku no hero headcanons #momo yaoyozoru #yaoyorozu momo #yaomomo #momo yaoyorozu x reader #yaoyorozu momo x reader #yaoyorozu x reader #creati #fluff #fluff alphabet #with a bit of angst ngl

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oh-theatre · 5 years ago

Text

Dearest Divine

A/n: I honestly don't know where this came from, I just was in the mood for some angst and also logicality so...this! Also, Objection will be posted tomorrow I just needed to get this out

words: 1574

summary: Logan opens a letter long-awaited

pairings: Logicality, background prinxiety

warnings: implied death, implied illness, angst, swearing

Ao3 Link

“You still haven't read it?” Virgil questions, Logan sighs getting tired of hearing the same thing over and over. The party had gotten quite loud, and a little too much for Logan's taste. He was also gaining quite bored with the rich facade as if anyone in this room actually cared about the charity and weren't just here to look pretty.

“Don't pressure him Virge” Roman reprimands his husband, examining the room with a drink in one hand and Virgil's hand in his other. “He will read it when he is ready” That doesn't help, he should be ready, Virgil is right.

“Ro, it's been two years” Virgil reminds, Logan wonders when he should begin to tune them out. “Would you wait for two years?” Roman scoffs, Virgil waits expectantly.

“No! But that's because I'm impatient, and Logan is different and…” He trails off watching Logan, the man's eyes were glazed over, thinking of anything else. “Look what you've done” Roman whispers, Virgil hits him softly.

“I didn't do anything” He responds, he snaps carefully in Logan's face, grounding the intellectual. “I'm sorry L, we will stop talking about it” Virgil promises, Logan wants to thank them but shakes his head.

“Sorry boys, but I'm growing bored of the tiresome event, I think I'm going to take my leave” Logan announces, Roman and Virgil share a concerned look. “It's been...an evening” He decides, he starts to leave quickly stopped by the pair.

“Where do you think you're going?” Virgil inquires, Logan raises an eyebrow. “Dude, you have to be here. It's for you…” He gestures towards the poster, another thing Logan hated. The smiling face, the frozen blue eyes, fake...all of it.

“It's for money” He corrects, though he feels awful he’ll apologize to his friends in the morning. “He...wouldn't want any of this” Logan claims, Roman sighs, his demeanor softening. Virgil huffs, folding his arms. “I'm going home” He finalizes. He begins his way to the door, grabbing his coat.

“You don't know that!” Virgil cries, his voice almost carries but the guests turn back to their own affairs. Logan spins on his heel, his face kept even, a steady lock keeping his emotions in check. Virgil and Roman catch up to him. “Even if it is for money, the money is going to the cause. And yeah, he wouldn't want it for himself but for everyone else?” Virgil had a point, and evidence to back it up. “You two would throw events like this all the time, all going to a different equally important cause”

“Yes but-” Logan begins but Virgil isn't done.

“Let them do this for you, ignore the fancy dresses, the drunken groups…” Virgil's slows, a supportive smile. Logan eyes the crowd, the singing, the dancing, the hyenas tearing each other apart at the auction. No one batting an eye at the issue, they're not doing this for him.

“Goodnight Virgil” Logan gives it one last look before making his way out the door, the cool air filled with city silence hitting him instantly. Driving home, listening to soft classical music and the hum of the air conditioner used to be pleasant. Now it was a chore and every small thing annoyed him. Arriving home, he parked the car lazily slumping into the house. Purposely ignoring the incessant amount of calls from his friends.

The house felt empty, which it wasn't. Far from it, lined with carefully picked furniture, and the constant flash of soothing warm colors was no accident. Everything was there, missing only the fresh smell of cooking that typically was wafting from the kitchen.

Usually, if Logan simply threw his coat down, he would be reminded to hang it up. But now, it would lay there until Logan found the energy to hang it up. It was almost sad how desperate he was for anything because he used to beg for silence, peace...now he wanted anything but. Virgil was right in a sense, those parties were their trademark. But he knew, when they threw them, they meant more than a gathering to show off how much money one had.

Picking himself off the couch, he hoisted himself to his office. The office was always the one place he was alone, no matter what. It wasn't a rule but it was respected, he always made sure of that. Now the entire house was like that and the office was the only place it felt normal. Logan had to wonder why he insisted the room be lit solely by candles, but the amber warmth was something he never regretted. However, the dusty envelope on his desk left untouched was something he regretted. He refused to move it.

“Read the letter Logan,” He told himself, the gold stamp now shining duller than ever. He sits now, tracing his fingers alongside the handcrafted chair. It could be early morning or mid-afternoon and Logan wouldn't be able to tell. That was the beauty, the selling point of his office. Time stood still, it was just him and his pens, the pile of books and drafts sitting next to him. The coaster where the occasional tea would sit, though it hadn't seen a stain in years, Logan's tea just wasn't as good. “Just do it” He pushes. As he had done so many times before, he took the letter opening, examining his wriggled reflection. Except for this time it was different, he took it one step further. His hands shook as he blew the dust off the envelope, holding it perfectly still after. He slides the opener under a slit, running it along, the sound of separation piercing. And then it was open. He wasted no time pulling out the paper, and unfolding it, the last thing to do was to read it.

Dearest Divine,

Oh, this was not going to be easy, Logan concluded, taking a breath before continuing.

Take your time. I know a part of you will be itching to rip open the letter but wait. Not too long, just until you're ready.

Logan smiled, it's small and almost missed but its there.

Remember when we took that walk around the park? It was very late, and you warned against it. What was it that you said?

“We could be kidnapped, or worse killed” Logan remembers, as he reads the same words on the page.

But then we took the walk anyway, and we saw the most adorable puppy. We sat in the grass for just a little while and watched the stars. And you told me about the constellations, the stories and the names, and the most beautiful ones. You told me which was your favorite...

“Microscopium” Logan barely whispered it had been crossed out and rewritten, the dry stain revealing a misspelling of the word.

See? I listen. I personally like ‘Pictor’.

“Painters ease” Logan sighed, it was simple but sweet.

After that, I did try to listen but you just looked so entranced. Has anyone ever told you that your eyes sparkle?

“Only you” Logan replied, only slightly hoping for a response

I could listen to you talk about stars forever, because you are my star

Guess you really can write as you speak, Logan had always wondered whether that was possible.

Logan my love, my life I know you're fighting, you're fighting so hard. But there's only so much you can do, I know it's hard to believe but the doctors are trying.

It was faint but Logan squinted swearing he could see something, investigating further it had appeared the remnants of a small drop of liquid had seeped the letter. A tear Logan presumed, as soon as he saw it, it became more prominent as if it had surfaced. Odd, but then it grew. A moment of panic set in as he realized the tears present on his own face, tickling his cheeks as they trickled down.

“Oh goodness” He rushes dabbing the paper softly with the ends of his shirt, this was it, this was all he had he couldn't destroy it. Wiping away his tears, keeping the letter further away for safety he continued.

Lo, when I'm gone...don't push them away. I know it'll hurt but you need them. They love you and whether you care to admit it, you love them. And they'll need you, they are going to be hurting, you will be trapped in your own grief as the rest of the world pushes forward, don't do it alone.

He really did owe Virgil and Roman quite the apology.

I'm so lucky to have loved you and to have felt your love in return. Someday soon someone else will get to experience it, and it's magical. You love so deep and so true, it makes me wonder what I did to deserve you.

“What you did to deserve me? Isn't that my line?” Logan wonders, he's not sure to who but a small part had always wished he was still here.

I love you so much starlight, you were and always will be my love. From the moment we met at the gala, to the promises we exchanged in whispers, to the everlasting love even through our darkest times, I love you.

“I love you” Logan had not dared uttered those words since his passing, they were simply reserved for only him, it felt like something had unlocked in him.

Yours forever and always, Patton

#tw angst #tw death #tw death mention #logicality #logan sanders #patton sanders #roman sanders #virgil sanders #prinxiety #sanders sides #thomas sanders #youtube #writing #my writing #ao3 #archive of our own

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fmimogen · 5 years ago

Text

hello cool cats . my friends , my buddies ... it is i , dab , once again with another muse . i also write the resident bitch , giovanni , so if we haven’t plotted on him yet . i’m suing DJISAJODS . anyways , under the cut , u can find some info about my baby , imogen . she’s an old muse of mine that i haven’t written in a while , so pls excuse the dust hehe . as always , i would LOVE to plot with every single one of you , so smash that like button , and i will come runnin !

new york’s very own IMOGEN CARNAVALE was spotted on broadway street in balenciaga triple s sneakers . your resemblance to ariana grande is unreal . according to tmz , you just had your twenty-fourth birthday bash . while living in nyc , you’ve been labeled as being brash , but also quick-witted . i guess being an aquarius explains that . 3 things that would paint a better picture of you would be glowy stars on the ceiling , sparkling champagne , and signing documents with a bright pink gel pen .

╰ * MINI STATS !

FULL NAME : imogen diana carnavale

NICKNAME(S) : gen / gin , immy

AGE : twenty - four

GENDER + PRONOUNS : cis female + she / her

ORIENTATION : bisexual / biromantic ( pref for women )

ZODIAC : aquarius sun , scorpio rising , aquarius moon

BIRTHDAY : february 1st , 1996

PLACE OF BIRTH : new york city , new york , usa

LOVE LANGUAGE : quality time

OCCUPATION(S) : technology entrepreneur , coo of spacex , socialite

DRINKING / DRUGS / SMOKING : yes / sometimes / only weed

TRAITS : brash , honest , cutthroat , a boss bitch , erudite , quick-witted , eloquent , confident , charming , logical , rational , a little cold , unattainable , ambitious , inconsiderate , selfish , captivating , imaginative

LIFE GOAL : successfully send someone to mars

╰ * BACKGROUND INFO !

manhattan , new york city has been the home of the carnavale family ever since imogen’s great great grandparents immigrated from italy . imogen wouldn’t have it any other way . though nowadays , she spends her time drifting back and forth between washington dc and nyc .

ever since she first opened her eyes on february 1st , 1996 , her family knew she was special . besides being born into a family of great wealth from aristocratic roots and lucky investing and stock trading , she was a curious and talkative baby , always babbling nonsense and looking at the world with wide eyes , never quite getting enough of it all

it became clear very early on that the rest of the world thought she was special too --- prodigious , if you will . she began speaking in full sentences early on , and would later be moved up many grades because the schooling was far too easy for her . she was one of those kids you hear about on the news occasionally --- twelve years old and getting accepted to a prestigious university .

her parents never put any pressure on her to be like this , no . they supported her endlessly , and made sure she had all the love in the world as she pursued her dreams . imogen relished in it all . she loves learning , and she’ll never stop . she’s curious and imaginative to this day , always asking questions ; always trying to figure things out .

she obtained her bachelor’s degree in physics when she was fifteen , and went on to obtain her master’s in astrophysics when she was eighteen years old .

obviously , this garnered a lot of attention in that community , and when she started her doctoral program , there was quite a lot of pressure being put on her , and for the first time , she was painfully aware of it . her parents still supported her and cherished her , yes , but she was under the watchful guise of big names in astro - technology . it was something she’d never dealt with before , and when she’d show off her research and they weren’t impressed , she completely cracked under pressure . that had never happened to her before , really ??? she was always good at everything she did --- it was supposed to be a breeze .

time after time , her research got denied , or she got a less than excited response , and she felt herself growing more and more ansty and anxious that she’d spent so much time pursuing this and it would all fizzle out into nothing .

she became so desperate for something to stick that her parents paid a peer to drop out so imogen could use their research for her dissertation . their research wasn’t completely done or anything , and gen definitely still went on to work more on it ... and it led her , eventually , to the discovery of an exoplanet that orbited a solar - type star . obviously , she defended her dissertation and got it approved , and ended up winning the nobel prize in physics for this discovery just last year , in 2019 .

this , of course , opened many doors for her , and she ended up being offered the position of coo at spacex , and now works closely with elon musk on developing new space technologies .

however , none of this would’ve happened if she hadn’t stolen the beginnings of someone else’s dissertation research ... alexa , play dirty little secret

╰ * PERSONALITY !

imogen tends to be more logical than emotional , which can cause a strain on her relationships more often than not . she’s not very considerate of other people’s feelings . she doesn’t mean to be that way , but it’s definitely how she comes across most of the time

she’s very cutthroat ; obviously willing to do anything to succeed . in this way , i can see her being rather intimidating . she’s friendly , don’t get me wrong , but she’s cunningly intelligent , and very quick to shut down any sort of emotional response to something in favor of figuring it out once and for all

this makes her come of as a bit of an ice princess sometimes --- unattainable and cold . she doesn’t let people get close to her , and she doesn’t even really realize she’s doing it ?? she’s actually kinda naive and oblivious , but don’t you dare say that to her out loud

maybe a little bit cocky but ... maybe it’s kinda justified . even if she stole the start of someone else’s research , she is still brilliant

incredibly charming and eloquent . loves to talk about anything and everything . she’s very starry - eyed and and dreamy

honestly ? she’s just a little out of touch with people her age because she’s only ever been peers with people way older than her ? like , hello , she started uni when she was twelve okay . this also has a detrimental affect on her relationships

she wants to be sweet but she just doesn’t come off that way a lot of the time , unfortunately . she cares very deeply about people , and is very compassionate , but she has difficulty expressing that

loves the idea of love , but it always ends up fizzling out for her because she’s so focused on her work or she accidentally said the wrong thing or something like that

find some wanted connections here !

#wealthyhq:intro #ok i . must sleep i have work at 6am can u beleive that .

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jungwoohoos · 6 years ago

Text

uni!jungkook

genre: fluff

word count: 2.1k

you can’t throw a ball to save your life, but being on a volleyball team with jungkook makes you really want to try

You thought Saehyun was drunk when she first asked you to join her intramural volleyball team

But after some tests--”you know I can’t walk in a straight line even when I’m sober, WHICH I AM”, you figured out she wasn’t drunk

And you were even more confused

Because she’s seen how uncoordinated you are when it comes to your eyes and limbs communicating

One time at a barbecue, you somehow managed to fall into the KanJam bucket when going for the frisbee

The frisbee ended up veering off course and hitting your niece in the head

You had to bribe her with an unlimited supply of mint chocolate chip ice cream for her to stop crying

And there was that other time you asked to borrow a pen from Gyeongsuk and got poked in the eye

He’s on the basketball team so it wasn’t like he mistakenly aimed for your face

It just somehow...landed right in your eye

If Saehyun had asked you to join her team, you knew she had to have been desperate

You went back and forth for a little bit

“Saehyun, you know what I’m like with limb eye coordination. I’m going to dismember myself before the first game even happens”

“But, but”

She gives you that look, eyes big and mouth pouty, hands clasped in earnest right below her chin

She gave you the spiel about it being one of her biggest life goals, to be captain of an intramural volleyball team

With her little frown and puppy eyes, you had already made up your mind

“I’ll send you the hospital bill after the season’s over” you mumbled into her shoulder when she crushed you into a hug

The bill was coming a lot sooner than you thought

You had already gotten hit twice in the head

You weren’t even trying to do anything--you were just standing there??

There must be some sort of gravitational pull toward the center of your head

You tucked yourself into the corner after suffering those two mini concussions

4 other people from the team were tossing the ball around

You wanted to stay in your safe zone a little longer before putting yourself in danger for a full game

Saehyun comes over a few minutes later, and you have to swat her flitting hands

“I’m fine I’m fine, stop, stop” and her flailing arms finally take their place at her sides

The game’s about to start in 5 minutes, so you start walking towards center court

“Oh!! I forgot to tell you. Jungkook, that guy from my tech drawing class, is coming. You’ll like him. He’s cute :))”

“Ugh yes, I knew there was some legitimate reason as to why I’m sacrificing my life to join this team”

She just flicks your arm and keeps on walking

You’re intrigued though because when Saehyun says someone’s cute, they’re usually pretty cute

Although you kinda had someone in mind

Coffee Thottie

Saehyun gagged every time you said that, but she’s never seen him get up to throw his garbage away

He is a certified thicc hottie

He’s typically tucked away in the corner of one of your favorite coffee shops

Sometimes he’s doodling on napkins and other times it’s nicer drawing paper

You’ve never gotten the chance to sneak a peek because you get too nervous

You two kinda know each other because you’re regulars

So he’ll always give you a little smile when he sees you

His eyes crinkle up, and his cheeks squish together

And his hair falls into his eyes when he’s drawing

No matter how long he’s been there for, he always cleans up his stuff and moves if he sees someone older walk in

And there was that one time when you spilled tea all over your shirt because he stretched his arm behind his head and his bicep bunched up

You were able to furiously dab at it before it stained too much, but it was too late because you were warm from seeing him and your chest was burning from your tea

You knew nothing would ever happen because you don’t even know his name or if he’s in school

So you just let yourself enjoy Coffee Thottie because it made your days much more bearable

The refs started gathering everyone toward the net to explain the rules

Just a lot of jargon you didn’t understand, but you were a valued member of this team now so you nodded like everything made sense to you

You saw someone walking toward the group out of the corner of your eye, but he settled somewhere behind you so you couldn’t see who it was

After the coin toss, which Saehyun won, everyone started getting into their spots

Saehyun had planned where everyone was going to be to maximize play efficiency

She put you in the back left corner for those “tight hits”

Mostly because only 4% of the hits ever came that way

You were fixing your way when you heard your name being called

“Jungkook’s going to be right next to you, so don’t worry!! He’s very athletic!!”

You made sure your hair was out of your face before turning to your right

God

It’s Coffee Thottie

Jungkook is Coffee Thottie

Your brain short-circuited, and you prayed that you weren’t drooling, but Coffee Thottie was standing next to you with a surprised look on his adorable face

And he was wearing shorts, which you had never seen him wear before

Thottie yes he was

He sticks out his hand, which snaps you back to reality, and you fumble a bit before you take it in yours

His hand completely envelops yours, and you’re pretty sure you can stay like this forever

He gives a small smile (only minimal eye crinkling, sad) and introduces himself

After you exchange names, you both interrupt each other

“You go to Green Bean rig--”

“You’re always drawing in Green Be--”

You both laugh and nod, confirming each others’ thoughts

You hear the whistle blow, and Saehyun yells for everyone to get in formation

“I hope you’re good at volleyball because I think Saehyun will go on strike if we lose because of me” you say before scooting to your spot

There’s a little tinkle of laughter from him

Hehehehe

Oh boy, you know you’re done for

The game honestly doesn’t go too poorly

Putting Jungkook next to you was an ace choice because he was able to save all the hits that would have somehow found a way to hit you

He’s so supportive when you go to serve and hit him in the back

He pretends like it threw out his back, hunched over and cramping, but he gave you a thumbs up and mouthed “don’t worry” when he saw you getting worried

And you got some pretty nice views of his butt

Which was truly what got you through

Along with his cute smile and encouraging comments

You ended up winning 3 out of 4 sets

Saehyun fell to the floor and almost started crying

Everyone loitered for a bit, getting their bags settled and putting on their coats

You and Jungkook had somehow started talking about skittles

You were adamant that red was the best color, but he had never even heard of red because green was clearly the superior color

“Okay, but tell me why the red ones are always left after the bag’s empty. It’s because they’re gross!!”

“It’s because you’re not hanging out with people who can appreciate the true culinary genius of red skittles, Jungkook”

Jungkook thought it was cute how passionate you were about the conversation

Your eyebrows would furrow in concentration, and you had a habit of biting the inside of your lip and then letting it bounce

That was a little distracting to say the least

He had no idea that the cute friend Saehyun was talking about was you, the cute girl who always sat by the window and read

He liked to draw you sometimes because you looked so peaceful when you were reading

And he thought he would catch you looking sometimes, but you always averted your eyes so soon after, so he could never tell

But you were definitely looking at him now, and he liked the warm feeling that was settling in his stomach

Saehyun was calling your name, the signal that it was time to head out

She was your ride, and you didn’t feel like walking across campus in the rain

You didn’t want to stop talking to Jungkook though

Because he was looking at you with those eyes

And because you felt obligated to educate him on his incorrect decisions

But Saehyun’s halfway out the door and threatening to let you walk, so you wave and tell him that you’ll see him at the next game, two days from then

And so you start this little routine

The nights you didn’t have games, you would sometimes see him at Green Bean

You’ve started joining him in his corner table

Which you really like because the nook is perfect to curl up in with your book

He always buys your drink for you

Will point outside and say there’s a dog to distract you so he can pay

But sometimes you get him back by buying grapefruit tarts

He actually likes the peach tarts a little more, but he knows how much you love grapefruit, so he doesn’t say anything

He likes watching how your face lights up when you eat something yummy

At games, there’s still a lot of encouraging

Jungkook’s learned that you somehow always attract the ball

So he makes sure to make sure you’re never in danger of getting hurt

The times where you accidentally collide and you put your hands on his arms are just an added bonus

You’ve gotten really comfortable around each other

Your favorite activity is to make fun of each other

How he can’t look anywhere close to the sun without sneezing

How you hoard deodorant because you sweat a lot

You become each others’ go to for emotional support

Which you never really expected

But it happened one day when you had had a draining day

Your code for your final project had been running for 17 hours and then crashed

10 hours before it was due

This was still when you hadn’t known Jungkook for too long

But for some reason, your thumb hovered over his name on your phone

So you called him blubbering because you were convinced you were going to fail the class and never graduate or get a job and be able to support your dog-son

It was a lot to put on someone you had only really met a month ago

Honestly, he didn’t know what to do for about a minute

Because you sounded really upset, which made him upset

But also because he had never really been that great at comforting people

But he knew you loved fireflies, and parts of his room had been glowing on and off for the last few hours from the fireflies outside of his window

He picked you up, making sure to give you his sweatshirt

Which only made you look cuter, all cozy in his clothes

And he sat you on a bench and held you

Let you cry and let whatever you needed out

But also made sure to point out the fireflies once you had wiped away your tears

How they must feel lost sometimes, especially during the day when they can’t glow

But the moment they find the nighttime, they can be themselves

You’re the same way

School’s hard right now, but if you push through, you’ll find a place where you’ll be fully comfortable with who you are and what you can do

It’s cheesy, he knows

But it was worth it when you whispered a “thank you” against his neck and kissed him on the cheek

And now months after that

You’re celebrating the fact that your volleyball team is INTRAMURAL CHAMPIONS

Saehyun did cry when you won the championship game, and she started puttering around, tears blurring her vision, to set up a party

It was almost 1 am, and everyone was blissed out and a little tipsy

Most of the team was passed out on the ground or had gone out to get food

You and Jungkook were on the couch, half watching the nature documentary that was playing

You weren’t talking, but it was a comfortable silence

His legs thrown over yours, head on your shoulder

You liked how he was so big but could curl up into a little ball around you

His hand was playing with yours, rubbing circles into your skin and running his fingertips over yours

You knew you two would have to talk about it sooner or later, but for now, you were content with feeling his steady heartbeat against you

#man i really went off on this didn't i #uni!jungkook just makes me wooooooo #my writing #bts headcannon #bts imagine #jungkook headcannon #jungkook imagine #bts scenario #bts fluff #jungkook fluff #uni!jungkook #bts drabble #jungkook scenario #bts fic #bts jungkook #jungkook fic #kpop fic

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whatevenismyaestheticidk · 5 years ago

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Things I’ve heard high schoolers say pt 1

-Person:I don't want to go to college. I want to join a rock band.

-Person 1: A dangerous pogo stick

Person 2: Do you mean a jackhammer?

-Person 1: I only have five minutes, what can I do in five minutes!?

Person 2: Masturbate

Person 3: Dab

-*Person 1 snaps fingers in a Z formation and points* No.

-Person: It's the computer Jesus.

Person: I’m okay with being the human embodiment of a cookie recipe.

-Person: Her eyes were as blue as... the color blue.

-Person: angrily clicks pen

-Person: Fight me *said while dabbing*

-Person: Did you just assume the gender of that table?

-Person: How does that child have popcorn! It's Wednesday!

-Person: Yo no speako Shakespearean Englisho.

-Person: I AM looking at an AC! *shouted across campus during finals week*

-Person: You fancy English tomboy! *shouted during an argument*

-Person: The salt the salt it burns! *followed by horrendous screaming and someone collapsing on the ground*

-Person 1: It's spiky.

Person 2: Depression?

Person 1: No a porcupine.

-Person: I don't know what fake tan you put on, but you’re not brown. *Indian girl to another Indian girl when one thought a food was spicy*

-Person: Thicce. When she thicc but she French. *pronounced thick-ay*

-Person: Everything's breaking and falling apart. *cue a chorus of 'my life' and 'same'*

-Person: I searched up the word 'search'. Nailed it!

-Person: *to the tune of making my way downtown* Make a meringue right now.

-Person: Legiterally. *legit +literally*

-Person: See, the problem is, I don’t want to.

-Person: We're boycotting Amazon. Siri play despacito.

-Person: Dishwashers are just machines from the evil overlords. You don't do the dishes, the dishes do you.

-Person: It makes me want to dig my own eyeballs out of my sockets and eat them but I'm fine.

-Person 1: Is this strawberry jam?

Person 2: Yes

Person 1: Ehhh I'm allergic but it's fine.

-Person: You human bobby pin.

-Person: Technically, Fire trucks are just giant water guns.

-Person 1: But what happens if you take helium and sulfur hexafluoride at the same time?

Person 2: You die.

-Person: I want to breath fire like the dragon that I am.

-Person: (girls name)! Stop trying to graph life!

-Person 1: Great I’m a pterodactyl with 3D printers for ears.

Person 2: Oh my god it’s me!

-Person: I will consume your soul!!!

-Person 1: Did you just fall and accept it?

Person 2: Yes.

-Person: Dang. Life is just crunchy.

-Person: I relate to that shoe, because I am also alone in this world.

-Person: Being alive is to0 much of a commitment. TBH I have enough commitment issues as it is and I’m just not fully committed to this whole life thing.

-Person: Swiper no swiping! *shouted as another student tried to steal their water bottle

-Person: (persons name), you either have to solve the problem, or you have to stop whining and ignore it. That’s how life works.

-Person: I want an emotional support komodo dragon to emotionally support me by killing my enemies.

-Person 1: Move the table by (mans name).

Person 2: What? Physically?

Person 1: No, mentally… of course physically (person’s name)!

-Person: What do they speak in Brazil? Brazilian?

-Person: I’m not going to have five kids fuck you buzzfeed.

-Person: How many calories are in a Pringles container? Cause I just ate all of them.

-Person: I could listen to him say penguin forever. If someone ever says penguin as good as he does I’ll just….

-Person: And then his reply just savaged me yeah!? I just want him to like me.

-Person: Me watching my life fall apart like ‘that’s a shame’.

-Person: Carry yourself upstairs! For gods sake (person’s name) it’s not that difficult!!

-Person: Do I look like the basic gluten free white bitch? Okay I thought so.

-Person: How could I give up on life when I never even lived it in the first place?

-Person: Have you ever gotten into a TED talk spiral? Like just a spiral of knowledge and inspiration?

-Person: You don’t know true fear until you almost drop your laptop without its case.

-Person: So they just yeet you into the water when you die.”

-Person: And in that moment she made four very straight girls turn gay for five seconds. That’s how fine she was.

-Person 1: Why is the sky screaming?

*thunder*

Person 2:It probably has cramps.

-Person: I’m here, I’m queer, and I shall be scoping you my dear.

-Person: You. 20-20. Vision. Person. Gah!

-Person: I guess I’ll just phase through the walls.

-Person: He has the moral backbone of a chocolate eclair.

-Person 1: Not even sarcastically though, why do you care more about my life and health more than I do?

-Random Girl walking by: same though

-Person: Wait are potatoes a fruit?

-Person 1: Come on (person’s name), chop chop!

Person 2: I’m chopping!

-Person: I thought I ran into (boys name) but it was actually just a bench.

-Person: Are streptsils supposed to burn?

-Person: Does static electricity work here?

-Bro 1: Close your eyes bro

Bro 2: Okay bro

Bro 1: What do you see bro?

Bro 2: Nothing bro

Bro 1: That’s my world without you bro

Bro 2: Bro

Girl: I swear to god if you two do that again… *insinuating that this wasn’t the first time they had done so*

-Person 1: And how do you exactly get to the sketchy parts of London?

Person 2: Google maps.

-Girl in a dark room to roommate: Well you know what? *Turns on light* well fuck you I hope your eyes burn.

-Person: Oh my crapety crap crap.

-Person: Oh yes, we love a spiky shistar

-Person: Tbh no one else can hate me as much as I hate me sooo yeahhh

-Person: So I guess I’m just gunna dab and pretend like everything’s okay then cry later.

-Person 1: Well you’re... fricking... stupid.

Person 2:Wow language.

Person 1: I’m 15 I can do whatever the frick I want!

-Person: *shouting*I don’t have energy for this today!

-Person: I didn’t know the lady was not wearing garments.

-Person: That went from getting water to doing drugs. That wasn’t a jump at all.

-Person: I am a bright and colorful piñata and god is a 13 year old birthday boy whose parents have just announced their divorce.

-Person: Oh my god I just got a message! *pause* Never mind it’s just my cellular company

-Person: I only know how to express love in either dramatic, multi-page, 19th-century-style love letters or single memes presented without commentary so jot that down

-Person 1: As a member of the stop the bull community I kindly request for you to cease this activity.

Person 2: Oh yah? Well as a member of the START the bull community I wanna ask you to umm BACK OFF.

-Person: I’m feeling very third wheel. You and (boys name), (boys name) and (girls name), (girls name) and 8-ball.

-Person: My entire life is the ‘awkward YouTube phase’.

-Person: Sliding into (girlfriends name) dms like *proceeds to perform a giant sock on hardwood floor style slide*

-Person: (Teacher’s name)’s voice just puts you to sleep. If you need to take a nap, just listen to a recording.

-Person: And then there’s me, having a mental breakdown over a water bottle.

-Person: Like girl, I know you’re thirsty but just drink some soda.

-Person 1: I’m sad lemme have some.

Person 2: Who broke up with you this time?

Person 1: HEY!

-Person: Excuse you, I’m always ashy.

-Person 1: 3/8 people on this group chat aren’t straight. That’s 0.375. Quick maths. Who needs to pass the math final when you can calculate the amount of gay in the group chat?

Person 2: Politicians use statistics to argue their points anyway so you need it in life.

Person 3: That was intelligent, (Person 1) you’ve been outplayed.

-Person 1: YAY WERE ALL GOING TO DIE

Person 2: Me in the face of the apocalypse.

-Person: God I miss Lagos, even the bumpy ass roads. at least Lagos had LESBIANS.

-Person: Does anyone else want to pretend their okay with me? No?

-Person: 8-Ball Bitches!

-Person: I’VE GONE BACK SO FAR INTO THE CLOSET I’M IN FUCKING NARNIA NOW

-Person: Attack! *Squeals as she’s squirted wit a water-bottle* Ahhhh you fricking fudger!

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dustedmagazine · 5 years ago

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Dust Volume Five, Number 8

Graham Dunning and his mechanical techno rig

Our occasional survey of records we might have missed continues with a late July edition of Dust. This time around, our hot and hazy listening spanned localities and genres from Norwegian folk to Black Dirt jam to Swedish dream pop to Ohio noise-electronics, Kashmiri war metal and well beyond, with the usual stop-over in Chicago for free-improv jazz. Writers included Bill Meyer, Justin Cober-Lake, Ian Mathers, Jennifer Kelly, Jonathan Shaw, Andrew Forell and Nate Knaebel. Stay cool.

Erlend Apneseth Trio with Frode Haltli — Salika, Molika CD (Hubro)

Salika, Molika by Erlend Apneseth Trio

This project unites two musicians who have set themselves the task of reconciling contemporary means with Norwegian folk music materials in the 21st century. Erlend Apneseth plays Hardanger fiddle, a violin variant with sympathetic strings that give it a striking resonance; his trio includes a drummer with a feel for Norway’s pre-rock popular dance grooves and an acoustic guitarist who doubles on sampler and other electronics. Frode Haltli is an accordionist who has shuttled between the worlds of folk and free improvisation. Their collaboration scrambles lucid memory, which is represented by archival field recordings of folk songs and dances, with a mildly feverish dream of a trip through ambient textures that somehow detours every now and then through beats that’d earn you an extra beer if you played them in a Nordic country dance hall. The field recordings exert a gravity that counteracts the lightness of the spacy passages, and Haltli tucks his virtuoso command of the squeezebox into hiding spots, ripe for discovery.

Bill Meyer

Hans Chew & Garcia Peoples — NATCH 10: Hans Chew & Garcia Peoples (Black Dirt Studio)

NATCH 10 - Hans Chew & Garcia Peoples by Hans Chew & Garcia Peoples

After a few years off, Jason Meagher's Black Dirt Studio has resumed its NATCH series of releases, with volume nine (ignoring the prefatory release) coming from Wednesday Knudsen and Willie Lane in June, and the latest pairing Hans Chew and Garcia Peoples. The series offers artists the freedom to collaborate however they please to create freely available releases. Chew and Garcia Peoples make for an ideal match on paper, and the actual pairing pays off.

Garcia Peoples started their cosmic psych just last year, with two albums out in short order. Pianist Chew has been putting in his time for longer, taking his roots-of-rock and Southern rock sound into increasingly spacey places, turning more and more toward a jam sensibility without sacrificing his songwriting. His Open Sea started taking hints from Traffic, so it's no surprise that this release includes a Dave Mason cover, “Shouldn't Have Took More Than You Gave.” Chew fits effortlessly into Garcia Peoples' jams for a couple tracks, and they meet him in his bluesy-ness for “No Time.” In the middle we have the acidic meditation of “All Boredoms Entertained,” the hinge between the two more rocking segments. The partnership works best when everybody takes off, and the 10-minute opener “Hourglass” burns as hot on record as it would at a festival.

Justin Cober-Lake

Death & Vanilla — Are You a Dreamer? (Fire)

Are You A Dreamer? By Death & Vanilla

On their third album, this trio from Malmö, Sweden show a devotion to making the most gossamer strain of dream pop without ever losing sight of a knack for peppily compelling song structures. Two of those four earlier albums may have been live soundtracks for movies, but none of these eight deceptively sharply-written songs fade into the background for a second. Singer Marleen Nilsson may be swathed in gauzy atmospherics throughout, but whether on the swooning opener “A Flaw in the Iris,” the foreboding thrum of “Mercier” or the orchestral surges of “Nothing Is Real,” she effortlessly commands center stage here. The music deserves the obvious comparisons to Stereolab and early Broadcast, but Death & Vanilla manage to put their own spin on the influences they share with those earlier acts, and the result is a good reminder that there more than enough room on that territory for multiple bands.

Ian Mathers

Graham Dunning — Tentation LP (White Denim)

Walk Tentation down on the turntable without foreknowledge of who made it or how it was made, and you’re likely to think that you’re hearing a bit of in sync but off-kilter techno. It sounds like some lost Kompakt release got shaken up and dubbed out with a bag half full of Lego pieces. But the truth is stranger than that. Graham Dunning plays a real time mechanical techno with a homemade, eternally changeable set-up that can simultaneously play a stack of records whilst affording him the means to fuck with individual sounds. True to his techno ambitions, this stuff bumps in ways the kids won’t question. But his willingness to get hung up on a sound and play with it, and then play with it a bit more, mark him as an experimenter with a feline sense of play. “Do I put a bit more reverb on this bit of echo,” one can imagine him musing, “or do I just knock it under this bump in the rug?”

Bill Meyer

Erin Durant — Islands (Keeled Scales)

Islands by Erin Durant

Erin Durant has a lovely, old-fashioned country voice, flute-y with vibrato at the top-end, rich with emotive sustenance in the mid and lower ranges. It’s the kind of voice that careers are built on, yet Ms. Durant, born in New Orleans now living in Brooklyn, refuses to take the easy road of relying on in-born talents. She brings into complication, depth and contradiction into her songs with a sharp, modern writer’s pen and an idiosyncratic cast of supporting musicians. Her crew on Islands is headed by TV on the Radio’s Kyp Malone and includes percussion-centric composer Otto Hauser, the boundary pushing pedal steel artist Jon Catfish DeLorme, at least once on harmonica, the eccentric folk singer Kath Bloom, and a large ensemble of brass and reeds. So when on opener “Rising Sun,” she playfully dabs at the Animals’ blues-rock chestnut (verses begin with the phrase “There is a house in New Orleans”), it’s within a precise lattice of country guitar, of multi-tonal percussion, of flickering bits of flute and woozy surges of trombone and trumpet. It lighter and more delicately structured than the song it references, yet built out elaborately with complex layers of instruments. The title cut, likewise, lifts off in airy weightlessness from the gospel chords of piano, as tied to tradition as it needs to be for resonance, yet fundamentally self-determined. There is nothing lovelier than Durant’s massed, multi-voiced choruses here, but the prettiness isn’t everything, far from it.

Jennifer Kelly

Four Letter Words — Pinch Point (Amalgam Music)

Pinch Point by Four Letter Words

The Chicago-based trio Four Letter Words comes full circle on its second album. Pianist Matt Piet, tenor saxophonist Jake Wark and drummer Bill Harris first convened to play a night of trios at the venue Constellation, but then pursued an investigation of written material before returning to spontaneous music making for this nicely packaged, short run disc. You can get a lot out of this music by focusing on Harris’ inventiveness and humility, or Wark’s angular impetuousness or Piet’s astonishing capacity to pick the best ideas of a half century of jazz practice and put them in just the right places. But you might get more from listening to how the trio collectively imagines musical environments, realizes them, and then pushes off to the next idea at just the right moment to leave you wishing they’d stayed a little longer.

Bill Meyer

Jake Xerxes Fussell — Out of Sight (Paradise of Bachelors)

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Guitarist Jake Xerxes Fussell has a knack for curating old music, but his first two albums were more than simple collections of reworked folk music. His sharp playing and intelligent production (give William Tyler some credit here) have turned old tunes into something a little more vibrant. For Out of Sight, he adds a proper band to his presentation, and the presence of Nathan Bowles on drums is worth noting, even if that sympatico artist largely keeps in the background. In expanding his lineup, Fussell also expands his sound; he no longer just mines particular folk traditions, but instead he inserts himself into a larger Americana conversation.

The move, intentionally or not, puts more of Fussell himself into the album, to its benefit. If anything held back his previous releases, it was this sense at the edges of the sound that Fussell had tied his own hands, his traditionalism tending toward that curator impulse. The songs on Out of Sight come from a variety of places (though if you plotted most of them on a Seeger-Lomax axis, it would make sense), but they're put into Fussell's current vision. “Three Ravens” builds a broad frame for a singular meditation, the sort of moment his work has hinted at without maintaining. Fussell sounds like he's deep in tradition, but committed to pushing it forward in his own way know, and it's a wonderful step for a gifted artist.

Justin Cober-Lake

Halshug — Drøm (Southern Lord)

Drøm by Halshug

“Kæmper Imod,” the first track on Halshug’s new LP Drøm, could easily fit onto the second side of Black Flag’s The First Four Years, which chronicles the singles and EPs the Flag released during Dez Cadena’s tenure as front man. The Danish hardcore band hits all the necessary notes, channeling Greg Ginn’s ugly guitar tone and the vicious, overdriven quality of Southern Cali hardcore, c. 1981. The song might be a love letter, but the first side of Drøm doesn’t move far beyond the established sounds of a style now nearly 40 years old. On second side of the record, Halshug does some more varied stuff. “Tænk På Dig Selv” shifts in and out of competing rhythms and makes a winning ruckus. Most interesting are the industrial racket of “02.47” and the extended instrumental “Illusion,” which moves from hard rocking groove, to thunderously exuberant crusty riffing, to arcing drone, and then back again. It’s a hugely fun, sonically engaging song, which makes you wish Halshug would ditch the Hermosa Beach vibe that dominates much of the record.

Jonathan Shaw

DJ HARAM — Grace (Hyperdub)

Grace by dj haram

Philly based producer DJ Haram (Zubeyda Muzeyyen) builds the tracks on her Hyperdub debut Grace on darbuka rhythms in homage to her Middle Eastern roots. The album also reflects her involvement in the experimental scene as a DJ and half of noise/rap duo 700 Bliss (with Moor Mother). Over the delicate percussion she layers flutes, big slabs of synth, heavier beats and disruptive stabs of noise. “Candle Light (700 Bliss Remix)” introduces vocals with an impressionistic poetic rap over a purely percussive backing. There is an urgency here driven by the restless, relentless rhythms which makes Grace is a disquieting and claustrophic listening experience. Fans of Muslimgauze and Badawi will find much to admire. DJ Haram uses a limited palette to full and focused effect building atmosphere and impressively drawing a line between middle eastern and western electronic music.

Andrew Forell

Tim Hecker — Anoyo (Kranky)

Anoyo by Tim Hecker

Tim Hecker may make music that envelops the listener with beatless, thickly textured sound, but don’t call it ambient. For while ambient music holds at least the possibility that you can get lost in its drift, Hecker likes to short-circuit comfort. Soft sounds turn grainy, plush clouds disappear and if you catch him in concert you’ll feel the music as much as you hear it because it’s that loud. Anoyo is a companion to last year’s Kanoyo, and like its predecessor originated with some collaborative sessions between Hecker and an ensemble of gagaku (Japanese traditional ceremonial) musicians. He mixes their sounds up with warped and reversed strings and squelchy synthetic bass, and shapes the resulting amalgam into aural vignettes that are less extravagantly mobile than the tracks on Kanoyo but equally dislocating as national traditions and diverse equipment collections swirl and meet on uncommon ground.

Bill Meyer

Kapala — Termination Apex (Dunkelheit Produktionen)

Termination Apex by KAPALA

By its very nature, war metal is retrograde stuff. The fact that the bands most strongly associated with the subgenre (Proclamation and — yes, seriously — Bestial Warlust) hailed from nations that haven’t experienced much by way of war-related trauma for decades doesn’t help. Does it make a difference that Kapala live and record in Kolkata, and that India and Pakistan have effectively been at war in Kashmir since Partition, and have been in a U.N.-mediated ceasefire (sort of) since 1965? And that both nations are nuclear powers? And that India is led by a fiery Hindu nationalist? And that the cover art for Termination Apex features a stylized mushroom cloud? Yikes. Aesthetically, war metal has its appeal. It features simplistic riffing, technical primitivism and hammering percussion, all taken to sonic extremes. But its romanticization of industrially scaled destruction and nihilism is repugnant and culturally corrosive. Kapala will attract some attention just through exoticism — metal from India? Sure, I’ll check it out. But a reactionary artwork is a reactionary artwork, wherever it comes from.

Jonathan Shaw

Khaki Blazer—Optikk (Hausu Mountain)

Optikk by Khaki Blazer

“Mothafucker ain’t nobody playing grooves in 13. You can’t get paid for playing grooves in 13. Ain’t nobody gonna shake their booty. That’s why you’re fucking broke,” observes an uncredited voice in the spikily difficult “4/4,” a typically intricate rhythmic concoction of electronic squeaks, blurts and rattles for this Kent, Ohio-based outfit. Pat Modugno who heads up Khaki Blazer, as well as Mothcock and Fairchild Tapes, constructs giddy, multilayered rhythms. In “Conga Line” sampled, altered voices do battle with rackety bursts of drumming and urgent, antic whistle of a melody. The parts work every which way, throwing elbows, stepping on toes, in furious conflict that somehow resolves itself into slinky rhythm. Whether in four, in six, in seven or in thirteen, Khaki Blazer cuts never take the easy way, but they are grooves all the same.

Jennifer Kelly

Lambchop — This (Is What I Wanted to Tell You) (City Slang/Merge)

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Fourteen albums in and Nashville’s increasingly sui generis Lambchop, led as always by Kurt Wagner, is doing something that feels unusual, at least for them. 2016’s digitally-enhanced FLOTUS was a sprawling statement of a record, and given the restlessness that led to the processing Lambchop used there it wouldn’t be a surprise if their new record went off in a totally new direction. Instead the focused, somewhat more straightforward This (Is What I Wanted to Tell You) could almost be a hefty postscript to FLOTUS. It doesn’t boast anything with the majesty of the two ten-plus minute tracks on the previous album, but all the songs here sound even more comfortable in their own hybrid skins, and as always Wagner is in fine lyrical form. It remains to be seen if this constitutes as Lambchop settling down, but if so it’s in a richer and more bracing way than most bands half their age can manage.

Ian Mathers

Régis Renouard Larivière — Contrée (Recollection GRM)

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Régis Renouard Larrivière was born in 1959. But if Discogs is a reliable reporter, despite having been involved in music as a student, instructor, and composer of musique concrete, this is only his second album. Presumably his works are intended more for the multi-speaker listening environments available to the Groupe de Recherches Musicales; certainly it’s not hard to imagine this LP’s three pieces caroming from speaker to speaker, elevating the listener into a mind-altered state induced more by unfamiliarity than sensate distortion. The way they leap off the vinyl of this 45-rpm LP is a trip in itself. No substance, prescribed or otherwise scored, will get you where this stuff takes you. Even when a sound seems familiar — there’s some identifiable drumming amidst the synthetic twitter and boom — it behaves in ways that are unconcerned with the laws of music. Despite its unnatural sound content, Larivière’s music moves more like some force of nature. “Esquive,” for example, evokes leaves in an updraft, circling and dispersing. Like those leaves, each sound has tactile identity that invites you to deal with his compositions at the atomic as well as meteorological level. Strap in, enjoy the ride.

Bill Meyer

Gabriele Mitelli / Rob Mazurek — Star Splitter (Clean Feed)

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The recurrent astronomical imagery in Rob Mazurek's music makes this much clear; his horizons are farther off than most. A restless multi-media artist (his work includes sound and light installations, painting, and composed and improvised music performed with various brass and electronic instruments in the company of musicians from at least three continents), he nonetheless has certain modes that he revisits. In Gabriele Mitelli, he has found an astute companion to follow him into the realm of ritual. In 2018, the two men stepped into the Mediterranean and blew their horns in the direction of the African refugees trying to cross the sea in untrustworthy vessels. No one showed up while they played, but the energy they projected took wind and you can still get a taste of it on Youtube. On Star Splitter, which was recorded on dry land in Florence, they add electronics, voices, and unidentified objects to their brass (Mitelli: cornet, soprano sax, alto flugelhorn; Mazurek: piccolo trumpet) to stir up four sonic maelstroms in celebration of planets from our solar system. Direct our ears in their direction and see how far your own horizons recede.

Bill Meyer

Tony Molina—Songs from San Mateo County (Smoking Room/650 Records)

Songs From San Mateo County by Tony Molina

Tony Molina is a master of concision. No sooner have his songs stated their killer riff or indelible melody than they’re over, and damned if you wouldn’t like to hear them again. His blistery guitar and way with tunefulness evokes Teenaged Fanclub, and here, on a collection of unreleased and unfinished material from 2009 to 2015, it becomes clear that he doesn’t have to work that hard to hit that sweet spot. The odds and sods are as fetching as anything on his last three albums. Sure he plays fast and loose with some baroque guitar licks on “Intro” and “Been Here Before,” and maybe that’s a little bit off center for power pop genre. But he weaves them in, at least in “Been Here Before” in a way that reinforces the doomed romantic vibe. He rocks a little harder than usual, too, on cuts like “Hard to Know,” with a sidewinding guitar break worthy of Brian May in his prime, but as usual, any hint of rock star excess is limited: the cut is less than a minute long. “Separate Ways” layers sublime dream pop hooks over an incendiary racket, like J. Mascis stepped in to a Raspberries session. The whole collection is so catchy and so satisfying that you have to wonder what else Molina has languishing in his hard drive. Let the songs out, man. We can always use more of these.

Jennifer Kelly

Mark Morgan — Department of Heraldry (Open Mouth)

The rise and fall of the guitar in popular and critical esteem relates directly to the fact that a lot of people play the thing, and a lot of them sound like lesser imitations of someone doing something that you never wanted to hear done with the thing. If this is your problem with the guitar, Mark Morgan is not part of your problem. The former member of Sightings makes a case for the instrument as a vehicle for creative sound manipulation that cannot be refuted by lazy reference to the dozens of records in your collection, or memory, or once-clicked, never closed browser pages. This music sounds like it is being chewed and digested during the passage from his amplifier to your eardrum. Molars indent twangs, incisors gnash chunks of fuzz, and acids strip off the crusty coating and lay bare the jagged bones of sounds that you really, really shouldn’t be swallowing, but that you really need to hear.

Bill Meyer

Private Anarchy — Central Planning (Round Bale)

Central Planning by Private Anarchy

Titular intimations of both anarchy and planning suggest internal tension that is born out by the music on this album, which is the inaugural vinyl release by hitherto cassette-oriented Round Bale Recordings. Private Anarchy has a bit of an identity crisis; shall one emulate the petulant, gotta get this off my chest delivery of David Thomas c. 1979 or the twangy stride that the Fall hit around the same time? Since the combo is really one man who is acquainted enough with the 21st century to put a laptop computer on the LP’s cover, Clay Kolbinger has taken the time to figure out how to do both at once. The admittedly derivative sounds are well executed, with enough apprehension to suggest that he is similarly motivated by a discomfort that cannot be assuaged.

Bill Meyer

Rodent Kontrol — Live (Fuzzy Warbles Casettes)

Rodent Kontrol Live (FW13) by Fuzzy Warbles Cassettes

Delivering post-Meatmen teenage punk knuckleheadedness at its explosively deranged best, the short-lived Ann Arbor high-school band Rodent Kontrol played this impromptu live set on the University of Michigan's WCBN in 1987 following a performance by the Laughing Hyenas. The latter were one of the toughest acts to follow, but Rodent Kontrol's calamitous, search-and-destroy assault is so gleefully unhinged, and full of the kind of ill-defined yet apoplectic animosity that can only be mustered by the young and the reckless, they truly give Brannon and co. a run for their money. While Live is on the one hand an amusing artifact, it is on the other a true gem of a release in our current era of archival overabundance. Make no mistake, this is rough, sloppy, perhaps offensive stuff, and Rodent Kontrol didn't break any new ground musically or aesthetically. But the nearly sublime agitation exuded by these guys here is truly something to behold, creating a genuinely unnerving sense that something very bad about is about to happen, and when it does it will feel absolutely good. If that's not the point of this kind of thing, I don't know what is. In addition to the 1987 live performance, this cassette release (also available as a download) adds a 2012 reunion show featuring a slightly tighter, slightly more "mature" version of the band, but certainly no less nihilistic.

Nate Knaebel

Sail into Night — Distill (self released)

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In the three years since this Dubai-based Pakistani duo’s very promising debut, it feels like if anything they’ve pared down their already elementally satisfying, nocturnal variety of post-punk slowcore to its simple, direct, powerful essence. Zara Mahmood’s harmonium, Nabil Qizilbash’s guitar, a drum machine and their vocals continue to be enough to generate surprisingly heavy music; although you’d be hard pressed to fit the music stylistically anywhere in the heavy metal realm, emotionally and tonally it exists somewhere between the “stonegaze” of a band like True Widow and the stark grandeur of early Low. From the chiming “Lighthouse” to the closing grind of “Apart,” Distill packs a lot of dark energy into a compact 30-minute run time.

Ian Mathers

The Schramms—Omnidirectional (Bar/None)

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You might know Dave Schramm as an original member of Yo La Tengo or for his guitar work for a whole slew of artists ranging from The Replacements to Freedy Johnston. You might even remember a string of clever, understated country-pop albums from the early 1990s through the turn of this century under the nom de guerre The Schramms — though it’s been a long time. But this seventh Schramms album, the first since 2000, will take you right back to all that’s wonderful about Dave Schramm: quiet intelligence, unshowy but impressive skills, an alchemical way of slipping abrasive rock sounds into soft pop melodies, quality over flash, but still a bit of flash. Take, for instance, the way that “Faith is a Dusty Word” opens up from a rambling piano ballad into swoon-y Pet Sounds-worthy vocal counterpoints, or how contemplative “New England” blossoms from wispy indie pop into a bitter sweet rock anthem, a la American Music Club. Schramm plays with long-time drummer Ron Metz (their partnership dates back to the 1970s Ohio cult band The Human Switchboard) and bassist Al Greller, an original Schramm, so it’s all very burned in, with the easy, unstruggled-for precision of people know what will happen next. Subdued, well-thought-out guitar pop is definitely not the flavor of the month these days, but who cares about fashion when it’s this good?

Jennifer Kelly

Slow Summits — Languid Belles (Hundreds and Thousands Records)

Slow Summits come jangling out of Linköping, Sweden like the keychain on a building supervisor’s belt. Their debut EP Languid Belles presents four tracks of perfectly rendered, chiming and literate indie pop. The foursome of Anders Nyberg (vocals, rhythm guitar), Karl Sunnermalm (lead guitar, harmonica, keyboards, glockenspiel), Mattias Holmqvist Larsson(bass, keyboards, percussion) and Fredrik Svensson (Drums) enlists Amelia Fletcher (Tender Trap, Talulah Gosh, Heavenly) on backing vocals on two tracks. If these guys worship at the altar of Postcard-era Scotland their songs pay more than just homage to Orange Juice, The Pastels and international contemporaries The Go-Betweens, Beat Happening and Felt. Sunny melodies and kindly sarcastic lyrics driven by a tight and swinging rhythm section hit every serotonin and dopamine center of the musical brain. Slow Summits are the latest Scandinavian band to keep on your radar; Languid Belles is irresistible and will leave you “simply thrilled honey”

Andrew Forell

The Way Ahead — Bells, Ghosts and other Saints (Clean Feed)

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Peel back one layer of the Scandinavian jazz scene and you’ll find another layer. If you’ve spent much time paying attention to Cortex, Friends & Neighbors or Paal Nilssen-Love’s Large Unit, you’ll recognize most of the members of this horn-heavy, piano-free octet. André Rolighten (tenor saxophone, clarinet) and Tollef Østvang (drums) write the tunes, and as you’d surmise from a band that finds three ways to pay homage to Albert Ayler in the album name, those tunes owe a lot to his ecstatic/anguished sentimentality. But they aren’t locked into Ayler’s modes; there are also passages that have a distinctly European brass band feel, and some brusque, almost boppish moments. The band might seem ironically named if you take the title literally; this music is rooted in the 1960s, a time before most of the band’s members were born But if you recognize that name comes from an Archie Shepp session with a similar line-up, their sincerity comes into focus. These guys are just trying to blow some life into music much like the stuff that first made them want to play the kind of jazz they’re playing, and they’ve got the wind power to do it.

Bill Meyer

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