#gain ajr

[gain-ajr]

[follows-the-bees]

AJR is a punching bag for many of the online music critics. Mainly because AJR make very earnest music. They write about struggles: mental health, trying to balance having a life with friends while gaining popularity, and just the struggles of being in your 20s and early 30s.

But they always end their albums and many of their songs on an optimistic, earnest note. (One song is literally called Touchy Feely Fool!)

Their newest album The Maybe Man is tied together from beginning to end. Starting with someone struggling to find out who they are to realizing that who they are at the moment is important.

And if their music/lyrics aren't your thing, no worries. But the amount of hate for people writing sincere songs really is pervasive with just the culture of making fun of people who are earnest and unapologetically themselves.

Their songs also hit my ADHD just right. There's always something there to latch onto and hold my attention.

Anyway. Be you! Have fun! Don't others stop you or make you feel ashamed of something you love.

(Also, I highly suggest going to see them in concert: they put on a show, including wirework, puppets, lots of using multimedia that makes it more Broadway, trap doors, and flailing dancing.

Lyrics of the last song 2085 on their last album. It balances the "more stupid" parts of their songs with the over-the-top sentimental.

[stevesjockstrap]

It’s Inertia

Steve/Eddie • Rated M • No UD, childhood friends, idiots to lovers, misunderstandings, pining • cw: underaged drinking and some fooling around • read on ao3

@stcreators event 5: tropes

@steddiesongfics Inertia - AJR

A box on my bingo square c/o @lucassinclaer

“Promise we’ll be best buds forever?”

Steve looked up from the mud pie he was squishing in his hand, finding Eddie stationed at a fallen log to ‘bake’ their pies. They’d been playing together like this all summer, since Eddie had moved to town. He was a few years older than Steve but scrawnier, ‘gangly’ his mom would call it, so he looked younger than his age.

They’d quickly bonded over shared horror stories of their parents, both getting left home too young. Eddie’s stories had put a lot of his own to shame though. But now he was with his Uncle Wayne and he seemed to be doing better. Gaining weight and his eyes weren’t as sunken in as they were earlier in the summer.

“What do you mean? Of course we will.” Steve walked over to plop his pie into the line of them on the log. “Why wouldn’t we be?”

“School starts soon… and I don’t know anyone. We’ll be in different classes and stuff.” Steve watched as Eddie drew in on himself, making himself even smaller in his crouch by the log. Steve hated it. “Kids don’t usually like me. Even when I went before- I mean, I’ve always been the weird kid.”

“It’s Hawkins,” Steve shrugged. “Everyone’s weird. You’ll make friends. And even if you don’t, we’ll still hang out. We’re going to be best friends forever.” Steve felt better when Eddie’s shoulders dropped and he smiled at him. “Who else is going to make world famous pies with me?”

They laughed and Eddie wrote their initials into the mud pie he made, adorning it with leaves and rocks. Eddie put twig candles on it and they both pretended to blow them out, making wishes.

Steve closed his eyes, wishing hard that they would be best friends forever. He’d never had a friend like Eddie before.

“It’s just me.”

Steve started as cold hands pulled his blanket from him before relaxing, not even bothering to open his eyes. Eddie frequently scaled his trellis and crawled in his window, claiming nightmares or weird sounds in the trailer park were keeping him up.

If his parents were in town, in the mornings Eddie would quietly get ready with Steve and sneak to the front door and they’d both wait for the bus outside. More often, they got the run of the house, giggling at each other over burnt toast in the kitchen.

They got through middle school this way, Steve trying his best to look out for him at school but always seemed to turn the corner too late, Eddie’s nose bleeding or hunched over from a gut check. Eddie always waved him off afterwards.

“It is what it is, Stevie. Maybe a few more broken noses will make me pretty,” he joked as they walked to the trailer.

It was on the tip of his tongue to say that he already was, but he just laughed along instead.

“For I never saw true beauty til this night.”

Stepping backstage to a mild applause and a lot more snickering, Steve blinked into the darkness and came face to face with Eddie. He was clapping slowly but loudly with a teasing look on his face.

“Nice job, Romeo. All the practicing really paid off.” Eddie had jumped right into helping him prepare for this torture when Steve’s English teacher had suggested he perform the monologue at their eighth grade talent show to earn enough points to pass.

Steve rolled his eyes at him. “I missed an entire line. But thanks. You’re up.”

They exchanged a sardonic grin as Eddie shouldered his guitar and walked past him onto the brightly lit stage.

He was transfixed as he watched Eddie immediately take over the stage, singing and jumping around and meticulously hitting the chords. He’d similarly watched Eddie practice this song unendingly, but seeing it now live and in front of a crowd was astonishing.

The song came to an end and Steve clapped extra loud and whooped, earning a huge grin from his friend as he ran towards him for a hug.

He thought maybe Shakespeare had actually known a thing or two.

“Oh, oh!”

He was having a good dream. A very good dream. Then suddenly he was cold, and a hand was shaking his shoulder.

“Wha-? Eds?” He croaked.

“You, uh, it’s okay Steve. Um, I think I’m gunna go. I-it’s, uh, yeah-“

Steve shook his head and tried to reach out for him. They’d always slept all curled up together. It was fine. But once he was finally able to focus on Eddie’s face, he felt like he’d been dunked under in his freezing cold pool. He looked terrified.

“Hey, what?” Steve tried again, finally sitting up and realizing the issue. “Oh fuck,” he gasped.

“It’s fine, Steve. I-it’s normal and everything, you know. But,” Eddie blinked at him from practically across the room, jumping into his jeans. “I’ll see you later.”

He was gone before Steve would fully wake up.

He sat there glaring at his awkward boner until it finally went away. Eddie would probably never want to talk to him again. He pulled the pillow over his head and tried to force himself to go back to sleep.

His dream had been about sharp hip bones and dark curly hair.

“Ah, how the mighty have fallen. Tussling with Buns of Steel didn’t seem to go very well for you, huh?”

He moved the bag of ice he was holding to his face to peer through his good eye (well, better than the swollen shut one, but it was still pretty blurry) to find Eddie propped against the doorway. He had Steve’s pile of books and notebooks tucked under an arm. Eddie must have saved them from the hallway.

Steve sighed. “That’s what I get for sticking up for our kids, huh?” Billy always seemed to have a problem with Lucas and by extension the rest of the party, but now that Max had finally told him they were dating, he seemed to be even worse. Steve had finally had enough and thrown the first punch, but as Henderson usually reminded him, he didn’t win fights.

Eddie nodded shortly before coming over to help him stand. “Let’s ditch the rest of the day, man. You’ve earned it and you need a chauffeur.”

Back in his empty house, Eddie procured him some mystery pills to take (he hadn’t asked questions), and they cuddled up on the sofa.

As the pills started to kick in, his body started reacting to Eddie’s close proximity and the muscle memory of what seemed to keep happening when they got high or drunk together. It had started the first summer after Eddie hadn’t graduated on time. Just blowing off some steam and making his friend feel better. That’s all it was.

But now Eddie was sober, laughing lightly at the dumb movie they’d put on, rumbling Steve’s body with it since they were pressed so close.

Steve sunk his hand into Eddie’s hair and something in his chest relaxed when Eddie hummed at him and settled impossibly closer, laying his head on Steve’s chest.

Somehow their legs shifted and Eddie’s was between his. There was a small gasp from one of them before their mouths met and he had a lap full of Eddie.

He smiled into the kiss, feeling better than he had in a long while. Maybe since the last time he’d been drunk and this had happened.

Waking up on the couch the next morning, Eddie still wrapped around him, he realized he never felt this light or content with any of the girls he had fooled around with.

He mentally shrugged and made himself try to go back to sleep, it was probably just because he had known Eddie for so long.

“Chug chug chug!”

He finished shotgunning his beer and tossed the empty at Tommy who let it drop to the floor, laughing hysterically at him.

Steve had thrown a huge house party again because Eddie had told him he could charge everyone triple rates and he needed a new guitar.

But now as he watched him laugh and lean into Chrissy Cunningham from his perch in the dining room, Steve’s stomach clenched. He tried to blame it on the shit beer he’d just downed.

“Steve!”

He spun at the sound of Eddie’s voice a while later, a zing going up his spine.

“I’m gunna, uh, take Chris home. Jason’s been all over her and she needs a ride. Sorry I can’t help clean up.”

Steve tried to make his face remain neutral. He knew that was Eddie’s covert way of saying he wasn’t coming back. Every other party he had thrown, Eddie stayed. He just nodded and Eddie sent him a wary smile.

Ignoring all the garbage and spilled cups, he lined up shots in his empty kitchen. Hopefully that would be enough to let him pass out so he could sleep in his big bed all alone tonight.

He tried not to let himself think about the real reason he’d thrown the party, or what Eddie and Chrissy were getting up to.

“Where are you gunna go?”

Eddie was packing. Decided today was it. Called Steve to come help. Steve’s throat hurt, like there was glass stuck it in. There must’ve been some in his chest, too.

“Probably Indy, maybe Chicago if the van will make it. I gotta get to a bigger city and start playing at bigger clubs, where someone important will actually hear. Could try to save up some money and record a demo.”

Steve knew Eddie’s dream of being a rockstar had been steadfast but unattainable in their small town. He knew that. But seeing it now, right in front of him like this was different.

“There’s nothing here for me.”

It felt like a physical punch to the gut and he almost sunk to the floor, instead allowing the doorframe to hold more of his weight as his knees threatened to give out. “Oh.”

They hadn’t been spending as much time together since Steve had graduated and Eddie hadn’t (again). Steve was dating Nancy, working at the dumb mall with his dumb ice cream outfit. Had met Robin and spent the summer irritating Eddie and Nancy with their dumb antics. But he still made sure Eddie was included, Robin and Nancy helping him with studying and essays. Steve hadn’t been able to get into college with his grades so he wasn’t a great candidate for that, but he was there for moral support.

He pinched the bridge of his nose and nodded. Swallowing past the shard of glass in his throat and nodded, helped Eddie load the boxes and garbage bags into the van. They stopped for a quick tight hug before Eddie got in and drove away.

He didn’t let himself cry until he was alone in his bed.

“You’re really marrying her?”

The abrupt question sunk in his stomach like a heavy stone. Steve wasn’t sure who had told him. They’d stayed in touch over the years, Eddie sending postcards from his travels and calling when he could. Steve knew he spoke to the kids from time to time. It must’ve been one of them who spilled the beans.

“That’s the plan. She’s the niece of the Wallace Investments’ CEO. It’ll, um, open a lot of doors for me. And for dad’s businesses.” An ultimatum from his dad. It was the story he didn’t really want circulating, but it was the truth. He could never lie to Eddie about anything. Well, anything except for one big thing.

“You make it sound more like a business merger than a marriage,” Eddie scoffed.

“That’s because it pretty much is.”

Steve quickly changed the subject to his new album and a new tour starting. They exchanged some more small talk before someone was shouting at Eddie and he had to go.

“Good talking to you, Stevie. I’ll send you a postcard from the next place.” It sounded exactly like the write off Steve knew was coming sooner or later.

He brushed off the questions from his friends and new fiancée as he shut himself off the next few weeks, only breaking out of the fog to check his mailbox.

If his Corroded Coffin cassette got extra attention in his car for only his ears, that was neither here nor there.

“What the fuck?”

Steve looked around at all of his friends, then turned back to Robin when his eyes landed on Eddie across the room.

“This is an intervention, Steve. We’re all tired of you both moping. You’re staying in this room until you work it out-“

“Or you kill each other.” Dustin piped in. There were some muffled laughs from around the room.

“Hopefully it doesn’t come to that, but yes. Sort out your shit, dinguses.”

Something she said finally processed in his brain. “Wait… both?” But no one was listening to him as they all filed out.

Jonathan and Jeff patted him on the shoulder as they passed.

Once they were alone, Eddie threw himself into a folding chair with a sigh.

“You didn’t send any postcards,” Steve found himself saying. Of all the things he wanted to say to Eddie now, he wasn’t sure why that had stung the most.

Eddie shrugged. “I couldn’t.”

Frowning, he approached him. “Why not?”

Eddie watched him sink into his own folding chair. He assumed they’d both been tricked into thinking this was just dinner. But they’d been lead back into this private room instead.

“I didn’t think you’d want me to, really. And I sort of fell into a pit of despair after you told me…” he swallowed hard like he couldn’t say the words.

Steve clenched his jaw. He couldn’t be upset over that. Really.

“It’s, um, off. You know, the wedding. The marriage. We, uh, I- I guess everyone involved sort of saw it wasn’t going to pan out.”

“What?”

Eddie looked hopeful now, and Steve stopped to actually take in his appearance. He looked terrible. Big dark circles on the bags under his eyes. He was paler than he’d ever been and his hair somehow looked both greasier and drier than he’d ever seen it.

“It’s not happening. I think-“ he chuckled dryly. “Well, I sort of fell into my own pit of despair. And my dad and my fiancée let me off the hook.”

“Steve.” Eddie’s eyes were wild.

“Yeah?”

“You’re not getting married?” He asked like it meant everything.

Steve shook his head and suddenly Eddie was very close, standing between his legs with his hands on his shoulders.

“You’re not getting married?” Eddie repeated.

He cleared his throat, looking up into Eddie’s bewildered face. “No, Eds. I’m not getting married.”

They blinked at each other for a long moment before Eddie’s hands came up to cradle his head and he looked deep into his eyes for a moment.

“Can I kiss you?”

Steve gasped but nodded and before he could close his eyes, his mouth was overtaken by Eddie. Kissing him when they were both sober and after all the years spent apart was earth shaking.

Finally, when his brain caught up, he pulled back.

Eddie’s face closed off and he moved away so he was no longer touching him. Steve couldn’t have that, so he reached out for his belt loop and pulled him hard so he fell into his lap.

“Eds, I- I’m just, what is happening?”

Eddie took a deep breath before cupping his face again. “It’s you. It’s always been you for me. I’m sorry it took me so long to realize.”

“Forgiven,” Steve sighed before capturing his lips again.

He wasn’t going to let him go now that he finally had him.

“Well I think they figured it out,” Jeff quietly chuckled from the doorway.

“Thank fuck, they’ve been driving me more insane than usual.” Robin grinned at him. She held her hand up and Jeff high-fived her. “We make a great team. C’mon, you’re buying dinner for everyone, hot shot. And we’ll have to work out a visitation schedule, this doesn’t mean I get zero Steve time.”

Jeff rolled his eyes but couldn’t help but laugh as they walked back down the hall together. “You got it, Buckley.”

[abcwordsurge]

aromantic character prompts

Because I'm so desperate to see these that I guess I'll just make them myself.

The aromatic character will be called "X," the plot convenience secondary character will be called "Y."

X feeling left behind when their best friend Y gets a romantic partner

X going on a blind date with Y, really enjoying themself, but panicking when Y asks to kiss them (or tries to kiss them without asking, for a little extra angst)

X nervously asking Y to be their queer platonic partner

X responding to "one day you'll find someone"

X listening to Y's romance troubles and trying to figure out how to say "I have literally no idea what you think you will gain by telling me this"

two (or more) romantic characters comparing their experience (i.e. an aro character in a relationship and a loveless aro talking about their difference, or aros bonding over their mutual annoyance over allos' tendency to invalidate them)

X realizing that they're aromantic and breaking up with their partner (or communicating and transforming their relationship into a QPR??)

and dialogue prompts:

"no, please... please don't say you love me"

"oh my god, same!"

"why is none of your art about love? don't you feel love?"

"I didn't know you felt that way about me"

"you don't even know what that means, do you"

"oh, I get it now, I don't like them, I just think they're pretty"

"I'm sorry I can't feel the same about you"

"I don't want to explain myself to you!"

"wow, that makes me feel so much better"

and, tip, just... listen to AJR's "Turning Out" trilogy. they just inspire me so much. sometimes when I'm writing something about an aspect character I put on those three songs in a loop to get into the mindset of an aspec person confused about romance.

feel free to use these with or without tagging me- because I am firmly of the opinion that if someone writes a fic (or draws something) based on the, like, ten words I wrote, they owe me nothing, because that art is theirs. but also I'd love to know I inspired someone haha

happy writing!

[bella-lestrange51]

Evan Rosier Hc

unlike Pandora, Evan is a coffee enthusiast

He’s not a night, owl nor a morning, bird, rather a dusk, and dawn fawn

He abilities like his twin. Well, she is a seer, he is, however, an empath of sorts. He can tap into others’ on command (once he started to gain more control over his ability) And can detect other emotions even before they can

Gives gray cat vibes. He acts as if he is a different towards affection, but is super clingy in private.

His dream animal is definitely a stingray (projecting)

Super fascinated with the ocean and marine life. Which is the opposite of a sister who focuses more on space

He has seasonal depression, which hits in the start of the winter ( definitely not projecting again lol)

He took Latin in school

His favorite color is a bluish gray like stingrays (definitely not because of Barty’s eyes)

His patron is a jellyfish, and not a sting because of a very distinct memory he has of standing in front of the stingray section of the aquarium with his family still together and happy, it brings him a lot of joy, which is why it’s his Petronas instead of a stingray

Top five wrapped artist are Billie Eilish, Peggy, Halsey, Lady Gaga, and AJR

Evans favorite Disney villain is Cruella and his favorite Disney princess is kida from Atlantis 

[oh-shtars]

Hey Saph! @wings-of-sapphire/ @signed-sapphire

Stupid tumblr tends to glitch and not let me edit my drafts for some damn reason so sorry for the inconvenience and that it took so long. I have to screenshot your ask and my response down. 😭😭😭

- Interestingly enough, Mag’s main motive is not really to gain more power. (It’s still one of the benefits though, so sure. He’ll take power. Yayyy.) But most of the evil actions he does is out of vengeance. Losing his village took its toll on him. The universe turned its back on him so he feels like he’s justified to take something back for himself.

So now, he finds pleasure in putting others under distress in the same way he used to be.

- So as I said in my previous point, Magnifico loves toying/playing with his victims. Giving them that fake sense of hope and security just to see their look when they realise they’ve been fooled. (But this hypocrite hates being the laughing end of that stick lmaooo)

- He can be superficially charming and manipulative to get what he wants. But it is relatively easy to break down his facade compared to Amaya because of his anger issues.

- He would project his own insecurities/issues towards other people to lower their own self-esteem. An “I’m down, so other people are coming down with me” mentality.

- Just like Star, and being a parallel of Star, Magnifico assumes that people only really like him for what he could offer them. So he could be already suspicious and assuming the worst whenever you ask him for a favour. It’s a contradicting feeling. One, he loves the attention. But on the other hand, he’s so pissy on how ungrateful people are and always expect something from him no matter how much he tries.

(Especially with his belief that his father only valued him as a potential heir and never really saw him as a son. This isn’t true. Oliver is just horrible at communication)

- I imagine Magnifico’s relationship with King Oliver is similar to Shen and his parents from KFP2. How both believed their parents “hated them” for never reaching what was expected of them.

- Magnifico is highly likely to underestimate things and can be impulsive. Amaya usually helps with giving him some second-thoughts and opinions before he could go and do something stupid.

- Mag smiles at the smallest compliments and gets a tiny bashful at certain flirts.

- Magnifico does get symptoms of PTSD from time to time. He can be set off just with the look of uncontrolled fire and he overthinks and gets stressed when things are beyond his control in the kingdom.

(I am just now remembering Aled’s drawing of the Starboys burning the kitchen down. Hmmmmm……)

…….

And tbh, that’s really all I could think of right now. Idk, he makes more sense in my head and I think it will click when I actually start to get into writing his scenes. I’ve made him quite complex that even I couldn’t put it into proper words. 😅

But if you really want to get to know his vibe, I think these songs might help give you an idea. The first one is like, my go-to song when I think of RFTS!Mag’s character though:

………

Also, @signed-sapphire, I read through your TFS!Au and if I understood it correctly, our Magnifico’s are basically:

“I’ve suffered through so much, so I’ll do anything I could to keep our people safe and not let it happen again.”

Vs.

“I’ve suffered through so much, so the ungrateful btches of this kingdom will feel my wrath because I say so-“

Saph.

Look me in the eyes. Are you sure our AUs aren’t made to be this hilarious Swap!version of the other or something? This is getting freaky-

[badrrr]

Keep Shaykh Musa Jibril in your Adiyah. May Allah grant him a speedy recovery. May Allah allow this illness to be an expiation of his sins. May Allah raise his ranks in this dunya and akhira. May Allah keep him around for generations to come to benefit others and gain ajr آمين آمين

[slowdancingtorock]

Ireland - Day 7

Today's entry will be very short as I basically did nothing besides eating, reading and watching YouTube. I got to play a round of chess against a colleague, which was great fun. Maybe I'll later join the movie night for either Hunger Games or Karate Kid but probably not as I will be on a phone call with my dear roommates (yay!).

I did some reflecting on the past week and what I my main take away is just how good it is for my mental health to be here. While my problems and anxieties are still just as big as they were before coming here they are not as threatening to the quality of my sleep or my overall mood. I don't know if this is due to a sudden gain of confidence due to being in a position of power or just the fact that I have something to do. Either way, this routine is good for me and I hope that my transfer to Dublin won't disrupt it.

Anyway, there really isn't anything else to write about. It's still rainy, some new kids arrived today, some departed and I still haven't gotten a proper lanyard, so I am stuck with the one I made myself - let's see how long I'll get away with it/how long until someone finds the motivation to get me a proper one.

My song of the day is Record Player by Daisy the Great and AJR, a smooth song that just smoothly flows with no interruption but no real direction, kind of like this day was. It happened but it didn't get me anywhere, also "Guess I gotta go and get famous for doing nothing" sort of presents this entry, as it might as well not even exist. I started blogging because I wanted to process my thoughts and experiences somehow and also wanted to get back into writing but at the same time knowing people will read it makes me want to deliver something. So, here I am writing abouty day-to-day life in Ireland and songs and people even if nothing happened. Life is good but not always exciting, like Record Player :)

[grapecaseschoices]

meet my @/infamous-if mcs

Ori Zhou, lead singer of Gains 

fc: Chella Man

Potential RO(s): Inadvertently romancing ValenReign (what happens when you and your wife fall in love with the puppy himbro with good intentions)

age*: 26; height: 5′10″

Genre: Electronic, indie pop, power pop 

Band/Music Flavor: Gympop; Himbro punk rock (”100 Bad Days” by AJR, “Stacey’s Mom” by Fountain of Wayne, “My Own Worst Enemy” by Blink 182, “Teeth” by 5SOS, “Shut up and Dance” by WALK THE  MOON)

Style:  It isn’t that different on stage and off stage. Colorful t-shirts, hoodies, cargo shorts. Overalls. Sleeveless shirts. He likely wears nicer graphic shirts over his a-shirt when performing / meeting fans. 

Bisexual

transgender, genderqueer (he/him)

has cochlear implants, communicates in english and asl. 

Alana Carita, lead singer of Promised Promises

fc: Zion Moreno

Potential RO(s): 7 Lawless. (what happens when you realise that the ex-best friend whose guts you hate may have(?) always been in love with you)

age: 27; height: 5′11

Genre: Country (TexMex/Tejano influneces), Folk (pop & indie influences) 

Music/Band Flavor: Yearning; The Soft Rock That Played During Your Mom’s (and yours) Favorite Romanic Moments In Films (”Ashes” by Lindi Ortega, “Crying” by Veronique Medrano, “I Was Born To Love You” by Ray LaMontagne and Sierra Ferrell, “Wheres’ My Love” (Acoustic) by Symyl, “The Story” by Brandi Carlile)

Style: A dollop of romantic academia, a sprinkle of quirky, a cup of romantic cottagecore, a handful of pink and general pastels, with 1940/50s silhoutte and 1990s flair. There’s a lean to the bows, flowers, and frills on stage giving a sort of faerie tale aesthetic. 

Sevensexual.  

transgender, nonbinary (she/her)

Layla “Lala” Sandoval, lead singer of DramaWhore.

fc: Francia Raisa

Potential RO(s): August Pierce (what happens when you try to mind your business and the music but fal for the dryly sarcastic lowkey adrenaline junkie?)

age*: 28, height: 5′4″

Genre: PENDING

Music/Band Flavor: PENDING

Style: Similar to Ori’s. She is a big fan of overside hoodies, especially hoddies with slogans on them. Enjoys graphic tees, (at times baggy) jeans, short shorts. Has leather jackets, loves them. And that’s more the persona and vibe on stage; the ‘fits are tighter. It gives less homebody or out for a hike and more Latine bred in NY and serving street fashion (baddie with a hint of skater)

Queer

nonbinary (they/them)

 Bethany Josnel “BJ” Coleman, lead singer of (TBD)

fc:  Giveon Dezmann Evans

Potential RO(s): Orion Quinn (what happens when you notice the pining despite your very  best efforts.)

age: 27, height: 5′9″ 

Genre: Alternative R&B, Soul, Soft Pop

Music/Band Flavor: Sexy Stylish Swipe Right Jams; Modern Knightly Devotion (���bend yr” ear by Son Little, “Fall In Love With You”  by Montell Fish, “Lovely” by Billie Eilish  ft.  Khalid,  “Best Part” by Daniel Caesar ft. HER, “Moonlight” by Kali Uchis) 

Style: Grandpa-core (brown oxfords, light slacks/dark khakis, button up, and sweater, a watch that has roman numerals). On stage PENDING (but something like this; when Prince and a marching band member had a baby and it’s the Darkling)

Queer (preference  men)

cisgender (he/him) 

[pokimoko]

summer winter reading/writing/arting tag

Thank you so much for tagging me @thealterscrolls in your post, you know I love an excuse to overshare about things I like and/or are working on. Though, I'll be nice and keep each list to a maximum of 8 cause otherwise I would go overboard and that would make this already long post longer than necessary. Alright, let's get into it:

Describe one creative WIP project you're planning to work on over the summer: No summer for me for a while but hey, winter for me personally is a great time to work on stuff cause excursions outside the house are at a minimum, and I don't have to feel bad about being inside all day when the sun's already going down at 5 o'clock in the afternoon. Anyway, I'm hoping to work on my In the Absent Place prequel slash companion fic focusing on Jake and the events that lead into that story. It's been an idea I've wanted to do for months and I have indeed started on it but I keep getting distracted from it by other ideas and fandoms (and also working on zine fics). But I do want to finish it. I also have a fic for The Owl House and one for Wolf 359 that I keep coming back to (aka the fics that have been distracting me), so we'll see if I ever get round to finishing those.

Recommend a book: When it comes to reading books, I am both very easily entertained (I rarely give out 1 or 2 stars) and extremely reserved with what I consider a great book, to me at least. I have given only a few books 5 stars. These are those few books: • 'Project Hail Mary' by Andy Weir • 'Piranesi' by Susanna Clarke • 'Loveless' by Alice Oseman • 'Radio Silence' by Alice Oseman • 'Elatsoe' by Darcie Little Badger • 'Good Omens' by Neil Gaiman & Terry Pratchett • 'The Witch's Heart' by Genevieve Gornichec • 'His Dark Materials' series by Philip Pullman

Recommend a fic: There are so many great fics I've read that are lost to time because I'm stupid and rarely bookmark stuff (it's that same 5 star problem, y'see). But here's some I have bookmarked or remember really liking: • 'Mens Rea' by yellow_caballero (Moon Knight) • 'the dotted line' by zippe (Moon Knight) • 'An Evolving Situation' by whiskyrunner (Moon Knight, ongoing) • 'Puddlejumping' by Davechicken (Moon Knight) • 'Misguided Ghosts' by petrichorishly (Lucifer) • 'Thermotemporal Equations' by blinkytreefrog (Captain America) • 'No Echo' by sh0rtwave (Wolf 359) • 'you were the song that i'd always sing, you were the light that fire would bring' by rnelody (The Owl House)

Recommend Music: I like listening to a lot of genres, but I think indie pop is probably my go-to, so pretty much all of these will fall under that. Here are some of the songs I've really been enjoying lately: • 'Word to the Trees' by whatever mike • 'Christmas in June' by AJR • 'Kelly Time' by Owl City • 'Bite Down (Bastille vs. HAIM)' by Bastille • 'Jigsaw' by Conan Gray • 'Bloody! Bloody!' by Junie & TheHutFriends • 'Serotonin' by girl in red • 'Talking to Myself' by Will Jay

Share one piece of advice: Nothing you learn is a waste of time. Nothing. Doesn't matter how obscure or pointless it feels like it is, everything comes in handy some way or another eventually (and, hey, even if it doesn't, it can still be fun to have that knowledge). So learn! Learn whatever you want, however big or small. Learn that fictional language or lore from your favourite story. Learn about a show you've never watched from an hour long video essay. Learn about that obscure historical event you found in a Wikipedia rabbit hole at 2AM. Learn not because you have to but because you want to and because you're interested. Because no time is ever wasted when you've gained something new.

That's it for me. I'll tag @pizzee, @yellowocaballero, @theophagism, and @mockspector. Consider it my not-so-sneaky way to learn about your projects and/or favourite books/fics. ;)

[gain-ajr]

[paper-star-ships]

what are some songs you’ve been listening to lately ???? do you associate anything w them??? like f/os, aus, general scenarios, that one book fair you went to when you were in third grade on oct 27th or whatever??? fav lyrics from said songs??? ((yes, this is me desperately trying to get new music recs…….))

I watched an animatic for P03 from Incry//ption and it reintroduced me to The Orion Experience so I've been listening to Roll With Me and Digital Affection on repeat as a result <3 I am robot-obsessed lately 😔😔 Roll With Me reminds me of Momo from Stray specifically <3

Also AJR just dropped a new song called Yes I'm A Mess a couple days ago and I ammmm obsessed :) I've been listening to the AJR records I got for my birthday so I have jump started my interest in their songs ngl,,, I have an au involving me, Rosie, and two of our RE f/os and it's based on a game called Teardown, where essentially you do illegal demolition for money ✨ the whole au is basically "Filly has deep routed anger issues but she's embarrassed about them so instead of seeking therapy she takes a sledgehammer to the property of the rich to gain profit illegally"

Also!!! Today I remembered 24 Hours by Nicholas Podany which is PEAK paper starts and also a HOT BANGER :D

You'll Never Hear It Coming by Dirt Poor Robins is Spike Spiegel coded actually... also it's a bop

[nicepersondisorder]

you seem to have good taste, do you have any music recommendations ?

HEHE TY<333

prepare for a Long Post >:3c

okay so. ghost & pals, r.i.p. the producer, SOOOO (I LOVE HIM!!!!! AND HIS SONGS !!!!! warning tho, if u look up on yt there r gonna be flashing lights in the videos. also his music is noise music so its not for everyone). mitski (she has a new album!! my favorite song is i'm your man. mecore). mistki is pretty popular tho so i wouldnt be surprised if u already know her.

continuing. ferry ! they have a story and they write songs abt this story. the songs r neat even without context tho :3

moving on to the bands. linkin park (my beloved). ajr (my beloved again). mccaferty. set it off (i always cry a bit when i listen to you are loved). get scared. uhhh i also rlly liked hollywood undead at some point but i havent listened to their songs in years so idk

now just single song recs bc i Like them.

dogdog by abu-se-ken. this is So Mecore song i Love it. beautiful. masterpiece. abu-se-ken has neat songs in general but half of them dont have subtitles and i dont know japanese so idk the translations </3

world.execute(me); by mili. this is such a nice song & i always imagine my favorite robots to it. ais gaining consciousness.... dreamy sigh

i'm here by one ok rock. yes. the song from sonic frontiers. stuck to me xjsbbfjsbfs

good kid and a fox spirit by kikuo. really cute vocals, a bit sinister meaning, overall pretty nice song :3 kikuo's song r just rlly cool, i didnt recommend him in the first part bc i assumed since he's pretty popular vocaloid producer u mightve heard of him.

gonna be basic here and say no children by mountain goats. everyone heard of them. everyone knows them. there's at least one animatic in a fandom with this song. i love this song regardless. you are going down with me // hand in unlovable hand 🎶

gonna be even more basic and say fall out boy. especially hold me tight or don't. i will forever take "and when your stitch comes loose // i wanna sleep on every piece of fuzz // and stuffing that comes out of you, you" literally because i Can Not tell what the hell it means otherwise lmao

uhhh i think thats it . i probably forgor a bunch of stuff but these r the main things i listen to sooooo . enjoy!

[ahlulhaditht]

Bilād al-Maghrib, Atlantic coast. Sha'abān 1444 - March 2023. Allahumma Barek

AbdurRahman bin Mahdī al-Basrī (from Basrah in Irāq) is one of the early Salaf (pious predecessors). He was born in year 135 Hijri.

He was coming from a background very far from 'ilm - Islamic knowledge, yet Allāh granted him great tawfīq (success) in seeking knowledge, and he started his path in search of knowledge as early as 10 years old.

There is one kalām from him that is very insightful about the importance of the Niyyah - intention, in everything we do, our daily actions.

Now that Ramadān is approaching we need to focus on our niyyah - intention before we start the acts of worship during this sacred month.

He said : If I were to author a book I would start every chapter with the Hadīth reported by Umar bin Khattāb رضي الله عنه - may Allāh be pleased with him- on the Niyyah - intention :

عن عمر بن الخطاب رضي الله عنه مرفوعاً: «إنما الأعمال بِالنيَّات، وإنما لكل امرئ ما نوى، فمن كانت هجرتُه إلى الله ورسوله فهجرتُه إلى الله ورسوله، ومن كانت هجرتُه لدنيا يصيبها أو امرأةٍ ينكِحها فهجرته إلى ما هاجر إليه».

‘Umar ibn al-Khattāb (may Allah be pleased with him) reported that the Prophet (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Verily, the reward of deeds depends on the intentions, and each person will be rewarded according to what he intended. So, he whose migration is for the sake of Allah and His Messenger, then his migration is for the sake of Allah and His Messenger, and he whose migration is to achieve some worldly gain or to take some woman in marriage, then his migration is for that for which he migrated."

We don't fast Ramadān because every Muslim does it, we do it because it is fardh - obligatory upon every Muslim, we do it for Allāh, to please Him عز و جل and to find our Ajr - reward on Yawm Al Qayamah - the Day of Resurrection.

Niyyah is عمل قلبي - 'amal qalbī - a deed of the heart. We do not say it aloud, as some misguided innovators have stated. To say it aloud is a بدعة - bid'ah - Innovation in the Religion, as the Prophet ﷺ never did so.

We have the Niyyah in our heart to fast the following day, and that is sufficient.

[capitalism-is-parasitism]

AJR economics

The collaborators sought to rebut geographic determinists (notably Jared Diamond) who argued characters of the land were responsible for, say, Europe being richer than Africa. AJR’s answer was that some countries had better, more “inclusive” institutions that allowed the fruits of economic growth to be broadly shared, whereas others had “extractive” institutions where a small cabal could capture all the gains. The former grow over the long run; the latter don’t.

[cakeemoji]

(There are many AJR songs I personally enjoy, but I will obv try to keep the recs limited lol /lh)

Bang!, World's Smallest Violin and maybe Karma are probably their most popular (which is fair), but I'll try to throw a few different albums in here, from newest to oldest (cause it's convenient tbh):

Inertia / Hole in the Bottom of My Brain

Way Less Sad / Bummerland

The Entertainment's Here / Next Up Forever

Bud Like You / Netflix Trip

(And if you want something less high-energy: God is Really Real, The Trick, and Dear Winter are all great, I find)

(Only album not mentioned is Living Room, cause I honestly haven't listened to it yet 👍)

This still turned out to be quite a bit of songs, srry (hope it doesn't seem overwhelming), but thanks for letting me fanboy about AJR a bit; and I hope you find smth you enjoy, too :)

haii thank you so much for the collection of ajr recs =] !!

i'm giving Bang! a listen right now and i love the vibes already.... i heart the instrumental to it and theres smth catchy abt it that scratches my brain in all the right ways <3 given how popular they are, im surprised with how i haven't heard about them until now :0

and don't be sorry, it's not overwhelming at all! i love listening to new music and don't find a problem in sharing smth u adore again, thank YOU so much for taking the time to send in some song recs - i really appreciate it!! they've gained a new fan already :>