#i bet most of you haven't heard all these songs before ^°^

[cherrishkissed]

𝓝𝑒𝑒𝑑𝑙𝑒 𝑖𝑛 𝑡ℎ𝑒 ℎ𝑎𝑦𝑠𝑡𝑎𝑐𝑘 ᥫ᭡

Preview ˚ʚ♡ɞ˚, small talk with a new stranger, remmick x black fem! reader 𝓦𝓸𝓻𝓭 𝓬𝓸𝓾𝓷𝓽: 1.3𝓴

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ℒate Sunday afternoon, the long straw grass grazes my legs as I walk through the pathways. The air smells of Sunday Dinner and sweet pies. Every Sunday evening, my father gathered everyone in town at the Old Riverbank Pavilion for supper.

It's a simple ritual in our village, Pa believed it was best to bring people together; that's how we all stay strong. I agreed, it was nice seeing everyone, felt like family. Of course, certain groups felt they were better than the rest, but that's expected everywhere.

I had helped my mama cook up a pot of stew earlier that day, I sneaked in a couple of bites before she saw me. Of course, she knew what I was up to, I was hovering over the pot. She scolded me for a quick set and rolled her brown eyes. She then sent me walking on down to the church to get some things. 

‘’Afternoon, Ms. l/n,’’ I hear as I walked down the road. I smiled and waved to them.

I had a reputation in the town, the preacher’s daughter; everyone knew me. 

Sweet’old girl who was always helping town folk, practicing my father’s teachings, keeping my momma's recipes and the word close on my hip.

I had to, so many dangers, and too many stories leave folks scared, so they seek shelter instead of fighting back.

I haven't come in contact with one, say, the night walkers.

I've heard some live in town, right next door, down the street, hell, maybe in the church.

I bet you that man down at the Juke Joint is one, always watching and reporting people who go missing. It’s a scary world, especially when the night comes, soft whistles, and red orbs that glow in the woods.

 God forbid I ever meet one.

I sat next to my momma while we all ate, ''Food is really good ma,'' I smiled at her as I ate. ''Thank you, sweetie,'' she says while pouring me some juice.

After sitting down and eating, my father asked me to get some instruments from the church for a simple song. I wipe my mouth and finish my juice. I walk on down to the church. I slip through the crates and put a few fans in the box.

As I'm searching, I hear the floor creak, a presence hurt behind me.

I tried to ignore it, but the feeling was close, too close.

I then turn and see a pale brunette man staring right at me.

I stare back at him, "Evening, can I help you?" I say with a speck of sweetness in my voice. He stares at the box I was filling, the musical instruments piling up pretty high.

''That's ‘gon be real heavy to carry back alone,'' he said, gesturing to it.

I look at the box on the wood floor, and it couldn't be that bad. ''Would you like some assistance, Miss?'' he asks.

''I'll be just alright, thank you,'' I say and turn back to my duty. He doesn't bother movin, he just stands there.

I tried lifting the box, felt like it was gon scratch right through my hands. I still felt him staring at me, as if waiting for something to happen. I then stop and turn around.

"Sir," I say. Indicating the question, why are you still standing there? I could surely handle myself. It bothered me most of the time when people would asks this.

''That box is older than both of us, I'm telling ya, you lift that up wrong, you gon have splinters in all ten fingers. It's best if you had some help with that old bin'' he insisted.

The box was old and close to breaking. If I did pick it up wrong, I'd probably be left with 6 fingers.

''I'll be care- ow!'' I drop the box and look at my hand. 

A nice splinter sat in the meaty part of my hand, between my palm and thumb.  I sit down on a stool and look at it, a red line of blood travels down my hand.

As I try to get it out, the man still stands outside the door, ''Is you gon come in and help me?" I ask calmly, throwing in some sweetness to cover up my attitude.

 ‘’I have your permission to come in, ma’am?” He asks, his arms crossed behind his back.

"Yes, come in,” I say, a little irritated.

I should have just listened to him instead of letting my emotions define a stranger. He was just trying to be helpful. He appears to the side of me and looks at the cut, he holds his hand out to mine.

His pale palm was faced upwards, his eyes not leaving my sight.

 ‘’Told you that box had some teeth on it’’ he says softly.

I lightly scoffed, in my mind, I was slightly annoyed.

Every bone in my body told me I could handle myself, but this stranger's voice sure did put me at ease.

 It had a smooth, steadiness, which made it hard to argue, as if he were a man who didn’t raise his voice because he never had to. He took my hand softly and carefully. He looked at the splinter. He then pulled out a small pocket knife from his slacks, alerted, I quickly took my hand back.

He looked at me, ‘’No need, ain’t gon hurt you, need to get the splinter out,” he says, glancing at my hand. I didn’t trust him, but I didn’t argue, ‘’Come on’’ he said lowly.

I gave my hand back and just watched him closely.

I looked at the blade. It was clean, shining, probably new, or just well taken care of. A nice leather handle for the hand. He took the knife and his thumb and plucked out the piece of wood in less than a second.

When the splinter came loose, he held it up for me to see, then flicked it outside in the grass.

‘’Little bit of blood never hurt nobody,’’ he said low, as if he was speaking to himself.

'’Means you’re still here,’’ he pulls out a brown drink pouch and a handkerchief.

He poured some of the liquid on the cloth, then lightly pressed it against my cut.

‘’Still feelin' somethin’ he finished off. He lightly brushed over the spot with his thumb, he then let my hand go as if he was giving it back.

‘’Now,’’ he mumbled and got up. ‘’How bout you let me carry that box? Before it takes more than just a piece of them pretty hands?,’’ he looks at me.

I stare at him and nod, ‘’Thank you.’’ Boy, did I feel stupid.

He lifted the box without a struggle. I couldn't quite figure out what it was about him that bothered me. It wasn't his voice, a smooth tone that slipped through your ear canal and settled between your ribs. His voice and manner were not the problem, nor was the way he held my hand. His gaze wasn't wrong either, he didn't stare at me long.

Nevertheless, there was something off about it. 

As we walk back, I stand beside him, ‘’I apologize for my rudeness there. I wasn’t trying to be sharp, I just don’t like anyone sneaking up on me,’’ I kept looking everywhere but at him.

He hums softly, he knew there was more to why I acted the way I did. ‘’Ain’t none," he said. "I apologize for my forwardness. Wasn’t my intention to startle you.’’

I nod slightly. It’s quiet for a moment now. As we walk, I can smell a hint of his scent, cedarwood and burnt sugar.

‘’You quiet,’’ I say and look over at him. ‘’Most men that come around here can’t wait to run their mouths.’’

He glances sideways, and a small smile appears. He lets out a small breath, ‘’Most men got nothin’ worth hearing, so they talk loud to make up for it.’’

I let out a laugh, he wasn’t wrong. I smile lightly, ‘’You got a name, sir?’’ I ask, looking over at him.

He then sets the box down on a table, “Remmick, ma’am’’ he nods at me. ‘’Is you y/n?’’ he asks, glancing at me.

I nod, “Yes, sir, you familiar with my pops?’’ I ask the man.

‘’Indeed, very close, a good honest man,’’ he says, giving me a smile.

Maybe that feeling was nothing, he seemed like a good man.

©𝐜𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐫𝐢𝐬𝐡𝐤𝐢𝐬𝐬𝐞𝐝

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𝒂𝒖𝒕𝒉𝒐𝒓𝒔 𝒏𝒐𝒕𝒆 !

thank you for reading, I plan on writing a smut part after this idk though (I will). I might rewrite some stuff as well, but please feel free to give tips <3

[bookshopsbizarreblog]

Can we talk about how good the Moon Mining song in Midst S3E14 - Shindig is? Like, I've heard lots of songs across the various podcasts I've listened to, some of them quite good. But I have yet to encounter one that was situated in the story as masterfully as the Moon Mining song, or that conveys a fraction of the emotionality. Even without getting into story spoilers, the (at least seemingly) improvised nature of each verse, the layering of shouts and cheers and merry heckling to create a whole crowd leaning into it, the way each character expresses themself and their situation (and is expressed to us as the audience), and even just the way the song is introduced paint such a vibrant and lively setting. The entire 5-ish minutes just radiates a community coming together and having fun.

S2E4 - Weather used to be my favorite episode, as someone who has a deep love of cosmic horror and general eldritch shenans, but I've gone back to Shindig at least seven or eight times just to listen and relisten to that single song. I can't imagine not getting swept up in the revelry, and its position within the episode (and season overall) just sells it so much harder. More concrete spoilers beneath the cut.

If you haven't listened to Midst, please do. Gracious goodness, it's so good.

The entire episode is a rollercoaster of highs and lows for these characters and the community of Stationary Hill that we've gotten to love at this point. Sherman and Tzila finally arrive home, to celebration and joy. The community is barely recognizable but we've seen them band together and rebuild. And at a pinnacle of tension, after the gut punches of Hieronymus' confession to Saskia and the Vault demolition plan and Weepe's victory over Kozma, we finally get a brief break. But even that break is tainted with uncertainty and pain. Right before the song begins, we get Emmet's toast to the fallen, Sherman's uncertainty and fear of staying in Stationary Hill, all the festivities and merriment tinged bittersweet. And then the catharsis hits. It's not announced as a song. It's not a side bar where the ambiance cuts away so a tune can be inserted above the story. All we know is that Goe is getting on stage, and the narrators are saying we're missing something, but what? "That's right." "It wouldn't be a party on Midst without-" "Goe: It's time, you dang raskals!"

It's like the podcast version of show, don't tell. They could have laid out that a song was coming up. They could have even just launched into it. But by merely having uncertain build up and sudden increasing excitement and anticipation from the crowd, we get dragged along with it too. Straight from all the emotions of the previous conversations into this building energy with no clear outlet. It isn't until the cheers and diegetic voices demand "that friggin' moon tune," now that we are also fully on board, that the end point is revealed. And then it slaps.

The different methods of singing for each person, of which Saskia and Ettie (x2) and Ned (whose voice makes me understand the random background lady) stand out the most. Bets and Walter's and Tzila all representing different versions of how a kid would approach being asked to sing in front of their entire community. Sylvester and the chanting and everyone joining in on the chorus and the way each person's verse is a snippet of their life and perspective and situation and story without it being overbearing. It just. The whole thing. It screams of the close-knit Stationary Hill community, which then also pays off in another big way during the last episode.

I highly recommend listening to the song again, with headphones and the volume cranked up to get the full experience if you haven't already. I'm losing my mind over this song. If tumblr woulda let me, I would have just uploaded the full 5:19 clip I isolated, but unfortunately it wound up being too big to post. So here's the link to the time where the song specifically starts.

Thank you so much Third Person ( @midstpodcast ) for creating such a full and magical world.

[misscinnamonroll16]

You want more headcanons? No? Well that's too damn bad. Some of these are from a fanfic I'm writing (I'll post it once it's done)

Floyd can tell when his brothers are upset and will pester them until they talk about

Jd has so much pent up emotions. It started when he basically took over taking care of his brothers. He felt he needed to be happy so they could be happy.

Bruce may not have cooked when they were young but he watched how their grandma cooked and kind of memorized.

John Dory is constantly tense, his muscles are so tightly wound that he feels like solid muscle. The other bros think it's just bc he's been so active all these years until he finally relaxes a little.

Once back together, branch falls into the annoying little brother role. Taking embarrassing pictures and showing them to anyone (bonus points if it's a potential partner), and telling embarrassing secrets

Branch will never let them live down leaving him (if you know, you know 😂)

Clay and Floyd scare the crap out of the others. Clay because he's been silently walking around for the past two decades and Floyd because hes just a light stepper.

Bruce is a light sleeper, having kids made that worse (or better depending on how you view it)

Floyd sleeps V quietly. The type of sleep where you think they've died bc they haven't moved and you can't tell if you're imagining them breathing

JD snores. Like super loudly. But sleeps similar to Bruce, where he could wake up at the drop of a hat. He developed that tactic when they were kids and he heard one of his bros wake up in the middle of the night.

Floyd's voice is soft and comforting, the type to talk kidnappers about their childhood and how it lead them down this path.

John Dory will use his goggles to hide his eyes when he's been crying or hasn't slept in a long time. Did this when he'd stay up all night writing one of their songs or to hide the fact that he had been crying

John is painfully independent. Will refuse help despite the fact that he needs it most.

John Dory constantly uses the excuse that he's the oldest so he "doesn't need help" and "can take care of himself" and it infuriates his brothers to no end now that they're adults and realize that it's happening

It gets to a point where they practically have to tie JD down and force him to relax

Clay walks into walls while reading bc he walks while reading. The others find it funny until it happens several times in a row. Sometimes they "redirect" him before he walks into a wall, like a roomba

Floyd and Clay are little shits.

Clay got his head stuck in one of these at one of their first concerts. Him and Floyd (and technically Branch but he was being carried) were walking along when Clay got the "bright" idea to sit his head through, convinced he wouldn't get stuck. Clay sent Floyd to get help from spruce, who had to be the mature one and not laugh at him. Spruce just pushes his ears in and he pops right out. Once they turn to walk away Clay does it again, after getting him out again Spruce just picks him up like a sleeping bag under his arm.

Clay constantly made bets he couldn't keep. "Bet you five bucks I can do this or that." Mainly with Floyd bc Floyd wouldn't hold him to it

[dre6ming]

Christmas tree shopping

The delicate beginning rush

Masterlist

Series Masterlist

Pairing: Austin Butler x singer/actress fem reader

Warnings: smut, sex, explicit content, mentions of blood, crying, bad family relationships, fluff

Word count: ~3000

Plot: Christmas tree shopping puts a small dent into your heart considering the past, so when Austin asks that you do it together, you have some holdbacks.

I love Christmas! And that's that. I've always loved it, ever since I could understand the concept of it. I adore the buzz of the crowd searching for gifts, the smell of Christmas foods, the decorations, the songs, the movies. I mean you'd have to have a big lump of coal for a heart to not like Christmas. But with all my love for this time of the year, this year I'm just not feeling it.

As I walk the crowed streets of New York all on my own, with my big fluffy scarf covering most of my face, I look around at the stores wondering where I could go next, dreading going home, where Austin waits for me so we can go Christmas tree shopping. When he proposed the idea that we go together, I just nodded and smiled, but in my heart a big hole was being uncovered. I used to go Christmas tree shopping with my dad, some of my favorite memories with him, are of us choosing a tree, setting it up in the living room and decorating it together. Those were some of the best hours in the whole year. But then the divorce happened right before Christmas, no one bought a Christmas tree, I didn't even bother decorating that year, I stayed over at Timmy's house, then the year after that, was mine and Austin's first Christmas together, but he was with his family and I went again to Timmy's house.

This year though, he wants us to have a Christmas together together. He suggested that we spend it over at his LA home, but Christmas is supposed to be cold and wet and snowy, not sunny and hot, so we are going to have a small party at my apartment on the 25th, until then he wants all the Christmas stuff to be done. Which I'm more than happy to do, but I was hoping we'd get a fake tree from Amazon or something.

I feel my phone vibrate in the pocket of my coat and I know I can't ignore him, or he will get worried, so I sigh, taking the phone out and answering the call. "Hi, Aus! I'm still looking at a few shops, they've got really nice things out here, I bought some stuff." I lie, having not bought even a single thing. "Don't worry darling, I was just checking in, what do you say, I come get you with the car and then we go to the Christmas tree market?" He asks so sweetly, it hurts my heart. "Um actually I don't know, I don't think I'm gonna be much longer, so just wait for me back at the apartment." I hate the anticipation of the disappointment in his voice. "That's fine Y/n, just be safe, I love you!" I close my eyes and rub my temple with my free hand, feeling a headache creep it's way to me. "Love you too!" I cut the call short and keep walking, smiling as I spot the rusty old sign from Frank's record store.

As I enter the smell of cinnamon and chocolate, hits me, soft jazz playing in the background. The store looks empty today, except for Frank, sitting behind the counter, reading a book. As the door bell rings he looks up from his book and smiles at me, getting up to come hug me. "Hey kid, haven't seen you in a hot minute. Though I've heard plenty of you. I never knew fruitcake makes you sick" he laughs, referencing my latest album, a Christmas ep called fruitcake. "Very funny!" I giggle, unwrapping the scarf from my neck and undoing some of the buttons on my coat.

"Well I've been busy, but I'm home for the holidays." I say, looking around, skimming through some of the new records he has in store. "Hm I bet you're busy, touring arenas and all. Hey kid look what I have here." Frank says as he goes to the back and brings out a mysterious vinyl. "It's a first edition. A mix done on vinyl in the 90's, all your favorites are on here." He explains, replacing the vinyl he had one with the new one he brought. "Last Christmas I have you my heart.." the song starts playing and I start singing along.

"Want some hot cocoa?" Frank asks, putting the closed sign on the door, as I take of my coat to be a bit more comfortable. "Of course I want some, extra-" "-Whipping cream, I know" he finishes my sentence, making both of us laugh. As Frank goes to make the hot cocoa, I take my phone out and text Austin.

Me

Hey, something came up, I'm over at Roxy's place. Can we reschedule?

Austin

Sure, hope everything is alright. Love you 💜🧶

Me

Ofc, love you too

I hate lying to him, but I just don't feel like having a therapy session right now. "Hmm perfect!" I smile taking the cup from Frank and drinking some of the delicious hot beverage. "So any big plans for Christmas this year?" He asks, and I start telling him all about the dinner me and Austin are hosting for friends and family.

Before I knew it I had spent a few good hours over at Frank's store and then I had to call Matt to come get me with the car and drive me back home, as it had gone dark outside. So now I'm in the elevator, watching the buttons of each floor light up, until we get to number 10. I walk in and the whole place is quiet, no sight of Austin or any cats, so I guess that he must be sleeping. Tiptoeing to my room I find Austin sleeping on the bed with Simba and William cuddled up to him. Walking into the closet I try to make as little sound as possible and I start to take off my clothes.

I feel a pair of arms wrap around me and I let out a small scream, startled for a moment. "Shh it's me" Austin whispers against my ear, kissing down my neck, I lean into him and reach my hand back, to comb through his thick hair. "It's ok.." I moan as he sucks the skin right above my collarbone. His hands travel down my abdomen and unbutton my jeans, his right hand sliding down between my legs, into my underwear. "Austin.." I sigh, putting all my weight on him. "Shh, don't talk." Austin says

He's skilled fingers work me like magic, his left arm tight around my waist holding me up, as he plugs a finger into me. I gasp, fisting his hair, as he moves slowly inside me. "Shh no talking." He repeats, after I try to moan his name again. This is something we've never done before, he usually likes me talking during sex, and he encourages me to be vocal, but this time he wants me to be quiet.

I'm lost in my train of thought and don't realize the moment he pulls his hand away and picks me up, taking me to the bed. "Aus?" I ask concerned as he removes my jeans but not my panties. He looks at me, but there's no tenderness like before, he looks mad? "No talking." Is all he says, as he takes off his clothes and puts on a condom, getting on top of me. "Aus baby, is something wrong?" I ask touching his face. A faint smile crosses his face and a glimmer of something sweet shows up in his eyes. My heart beats at a thousand miles per hour and I'm aroused as ever, but something is off.

"Nothings wrong, I just want to feel you." He says, kissing me, his hands going back to their ministrations. We move in sink and I reach behind me to unclasp my bra. Austin's hands go immediately to my breasts, kneading and pinching my nipples. "Fuck!" He grunts as I sneak my hand down and pump his cock, touching his tip to my covered pussy, wishing right now there was no thin layer of cotton between us.

"Please!" I beg as his head nudges at my wet pussy, brushing against my clit, sending electric shocks up my spine. "Fucking hell!" Austin curses, guiding his hand between us, to push my panties to the side, quickly sliding into me. I wince in pain, as he usually takes his time opening me up, but this time he seems to be in a hurry. His lips find mine and he swallows my whimpers. When he's all the way in, he stills and waits for me to give him the ok to move. After a few moments of sitting like this conjoined, with my legs around his waist, my hand in his hair and his around my waist, something changes, something in him, he starts feeling warm and soft, unlike the cold stiff feeling he was giving me before, it's like he melts into me.

His hands moves up my body, wrapping tightly around me. "I'm sorry!" He says in a broken voice. "It's ok, doesn't hurt anymore, please move." I say caressing his cheek, encouraging him to pull his hips back. When his pelvis meets mine again, fireworks sparkle behind my closed eyelids. Austin starts a slow pace, each time going deeper and deeper if that were possible. The room is filled my muffled moans and skin slapping noises, as both of us feel closer and closer to the sweet release. "Shit Austin, I need more, please!" I beg arching my back to give him a new angle.

Austin groans in my ear and picks up the pace, placing one hand behind my head on the pillow and the other on my clit, rubbing slow circles. "I love you! I love you so much!" I say, feeling closer to my orgasm, my walls spasm around hid twitching cock. "Fuck!" His voice sound strangled and he moves faster, sloppier. "I love you I love you Iloveyou!" I say over and over again and over again. He keeps his moves fast and rhythmic, I curl my toes and pull on his hair, my orgasm wrecking through my body, tingling head to toe. Austin keeps moving until I feel him tens and he cums moaning into my shoulder.

We sit a few minutes tangled together, breathing in sink, his heart thudding against my chest. The  without a word, Austin pulls out, leaving me empty, getting up and going to the bathroom. I'm left staring at the ceiling, wondering what this whole experience was just weird. I sit up in bed and wrap myself in my fluffy robe, getting up, going to the kitchen to drink some water.

I keep thinking what just happened, I can't imagine what must have happened to make Austin act like this. It's not that the sex didn't feel good, it did, but it felt like he was somewhere else, or at lest trying to be somewhere else. "Are you hungry ?" I jump at Austin's voice, dropping the glass of water on the floor. Without thinking I try to reach for the broom, to clean this up, but I step on a shard of glass. "Aw, fuck fuck!" I let out, holding onto the counter, lifting my leg up to see if the cut is bad. It's only a small shard, so the cut is barely a graze, but blood is already coming out of it. "Don't move!" Austin warns, walking around the broken glass and water, coming next to me. He puts both hands on my waist and lifts me up on the counter, the going to clean the mess I made.

We sit in silence, as he cleans and I feel the blood dripping down my foot. When he's done, he goes away and I start thinking if he just left me here, which I know is stupid, but my brain can't stop making weird scenarios up. "Show me your leg!" Austin says, kneeling down in front of me, cleaning my wound and putting a bandage over it. "All done!"

"Are you mad at me?" I ask at the same time as he speaks and he blushes, looking the other way, avoiding my eyes. "Where were you today?" He asks and as I open my mouth to answer he interrupts me. "Don't lie, Roxy came over, thinking you were here." I sigh and jump off from the counter, ignoring the pain in my leg. I wobble a little bit, despite my best effort, so Austin puts his hands up around me, ready to catch me if anything were to happen. I look him up and down, thinking about what I could say, I could just tell him the truth, but I haven't really told him much about mine and my dad's relationship. He waits patiently for me to answer and the way his arms are still around me, like waiting for a hug, makes me want to melt right into him, but I choose the childish part of me, pushing him away and walking past him.

"Did something happen?" His voice sounds like an echo and for a moment I feel like he didn't even speak and it was all my imagination. I turn around slowly, looking at his face, his eyes are read, teary. "Aus-"

"I know you weren't at Roxy's place, you didn't answer your phone, you were out shopping all day and yet, came back with no bags or nothing." Austin's hands are shaking, so I walk up to him slowly, taking his hands in mine, but he takes a step back, pulling away, which breaks my heart. "Can we sit down? I can explain everything." He shakes his head and I close my eyes taking a deep breath, preparing for the things I'm about to say.

"I was at Franks store, I did go out to buy somethings, but my head was somewhere else so I didn't get anything, just walked around." I start saying and he fiddles around with his hands. "Why?"

"I wanted to go Christmas tree shopping, but it just it hurt to much. I haven't gone shopping with anyone other than my dad, it was our thing, but I'm no longer a part of his life and it's, it's like slowly learning how to breathe again." His face saddens more, but this time, the sadness is pointed my way, and I appreciate his empathy, but I'd like if he'd stop. "I'm sorry I really am, it's just been hard on me to.." my voice breaks down and I lick my lips, tasting the salt of my tears.

Austin closes the distance between and hugs me tight. "You should have told me, I'm sorry, we don't have to go if you don't feel like it, baby" he says rubbing my back, holding me close to him. "I think if you go with me , I could do it. " he chuckles, kissing the top of my head and we stand hugging for a moment.

"Aus?" I ask softly something still on my mind. "Yeah?" "Is something wrong, you felt a little cold, you know, earlier." I feel him stiffen a bit, so I wiggle out of his arms to look up at him. "Well I was worried about you and my sister told me that she and the kids are down with some virus and can’t make it to Christmas, so I was just filled to the brim with worry." I smile at him, touching his hair lightly, placing some flyaway hairs back. "Oh my baby, want some hot cocoa? And how about we bake something?" I say, walking back to the kitchen counter and getting things ready for a feel better night. "Your butter cookies? With orange?" He asks puppy eyed, making me giggle. "Well I did just buy some oranges yesterday, so why even ask?" I say putting milk on the stove to warm up and already measuring the right amount of flour and sugar.

Between finishing the hot cocoa and adding the flour to the dough, someone decided to start a fight with flour, so we're now laughing, picking flour from our hair, as the cookies rise. "You're such a child." I chuckle, wiping his nose. "I just couldn't help myself" he shrugs, smirking at me.

The next morning we wake up as late as we can and now we're enjoying a shower together. His hands wash my skin tenderly, massaging all the stiff spots. "I don't think I'll ever get bored of washing your hair!" He admits, bubbling the shampoo between his hands, then applying it to my hair. "Well I'll never get bored of you washing my hair, so lucky for you!"

After what must have been the slowest start of day in months, we finally enter the Christmas tree market, hand in hand. Being here does feel weird without my dad, but not as bad as I thought. Austin squeezes my hand three times and that calms me a bit, so I take a deep breath, looking at all the trees. "Can we get a huge one?" I ask already having my eye on one. "I was thinking smaller, but whatever you want." He says, looking the opposite way the trees that are way too small for my liking. "How about two trees?" I suggest, smiling at him.

"Honey I don't think we'll fit in the elevator with this." Austin says, as he pull down the tree that's almost twice his height, from the roof of my heel. Driving around New York with this on top of the car was of course something out of a comedy. "So up the stairs?" I ask hoping he'd say "no"

"I think so." He sighs, looking with dread at the staircase door. "Ok then.." I say defeated, locking the car and getting ready to help him.

Around the 2nd floor it feels like I'm dying, we decided that best way was for me to go up pulling and him pushing form down. "I think we're going somewhere." I encourage, already cursing myself for not going to the gym enough. Austin laughs, form somewhere behind the tree branches. "Yeah the North Pole!" He jokes

On the 10th floor we  stop at the door of the apartment, him in better shape than me, but still just as tired. "You have no idea how lucky you are I love you!" Austin says, kissing my cheek. "I love you too!"

"Is it straight?" Austin asks from under the tree, trying to place it in the tree stand. "A little to the left!" I instruct. "My left? Or your left?" He asks, out of breath. "Mine, ugh no, yours. I don't know, can you get out of from there?" I ask and he comes to sit next to me. The tree is still very much crooked, but I think I like it this way. "I think I like it this way!" Austin says, rubbing my back. I snuggle into his side and stand on my tippy toes to kiss him. "I think I agree!"

"I think I love you!" He says, picking me up and spinning me around. "Did you notice that you kinda picked a tree looking like me and I picked one looking like you?" Austin jokes again, but as I look at the two Christmas trees, now realizing that the very obvious height difference does resemble the one me and Austin have between us. "I think we just did the funniest thing." I admit, going to the boxes on the floor and taking an ornament out, placing it in the smaller tree Austin chose. "Merry Christmas, y/n! I love you!" Austin says, placing and ornament in the tree I picked. "Merry Christmas Austin, I love you too!"

Tag list: @galaxygirl453

@rainydayz101

@samaraannhan20

@marlowmode

@myradiaz

@areuirish

@micaelainthe60s

@homebodybirkin2003

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@formulapierre

[tia-amorosa]

Episode 39: Cool breezes

Evansdale County

The morning is cool. Not only because it's also fall here in Evansdale County, but also because we have Zelda's house right by the sea. But it's definitely too cold to go swimming. “No message from him again… I'm going crazy”

Again and again, Zelda took her phone out of her pocket and checked to see if she had received a message. But she knew that staring at the display over and over again seemed to be in vain at the moment. “Four days… I haven't heard from you for four days, damn it! I'm worried”.

“Basically, I know that I don't have to worry about you. If necessary, you're happy to punch someone in the nose. But it's not usual for you not to write at all. There's always at least one message a day, no matter what time of day it is…hh… I have to keep distracting myself before I go crazy.” Since her first encounter with Roman, Zelda had been in contact with him almost daily, either by phone or when he managed to visit her. But there had been no news from him for days.

A little later. “It really wasn't necessary to pick me up, Amelia"/ ‘I was just in the neighborhood and you seemed to want to go somewhere’/ ”Yes, but by tour bus? Well, I don't have to pay the gas money… Hey, just let me out the front left here…“/”O.k….”. …

A popular meeting place in the city is the University Park & Grill, which was actually intended for students to offer them a place to relax after their stressful day at university. But the other residents also liked to come here. “Hey, you're making a terrible face, what's going on?"/ ‘If you play a game of pool with me, we can talk.’ In the meantime, Zelda had made friends with some people from Sunset Valley with whom she had never had close contact before.

Twyla had become quite a good friend to her by now. But she always had a strong opinion about everyone. “let me guess… Roman?"/ ‘hh, I still haven't had any sign of life from him for four days now’/ ‘is he still at the front?’/ ‘Actually, his mission should have been over by now… He always managed to get in touch’/ ‘I bet he's in bed with someone else and has written you off’/ ‘Rubbish!’.

“Why rubbish? Those soldier guys have girls sitting all over the place to have fun with them"/ ”But not Roman! Maybe he's in trouble or worse…"/ ”Oh man, don't get your panties in a twist, okay? Maybe he's got another special assignment, they're always needed somewhere”.

In a way, Zelda liked Twyla's direct manner. But when it came to Roman, she was a bit touchy. “I hope you're right…"/ ‘My goodness, you really have a crush on him, huh?’/ ”The last time he visited was six months ago. And those three days were far too short…"/ ”hh, he'll get in touch, okay? Otherwise you would have heard something in the media by now about whether something happened to some soldiers on a mission…”.

“Yeah, who would hide the fact that soldiers have been killed in action. Hh I don't feel like playing anymore, I'm putting most of the bullets in again anyway,” she smiled a little tiredly. “You're really good, despite your slightly bad mood… It's fine, you don't have to torture yourself unnecessarily"/ ‘I think I'll go and visit someone else’/ ”as you wish. And believe me, I'm sure there'll be a sign soon”.

It's Saturday, Zelda would normally be sitting at home writing her new song right now, but her lack of concentration and worries about Roman just don't allow her to continue working on it at the moment. So she took the time to visit old friends. And new ones… “No one at home? Hey, how are you, Leighton?”.

“hn, hi, you handsome one. It's hard to get used to looking at a horse with the same name as a former good friend. But I guess there was a reason Sam gave you that name. Where did the others go? Probably to the fall festival or maybe to the fish restaurant? You can't tell me, I know. And You're not worried that they won't come back, are you?”. .

Zelda lovingly stroked the soft nose of the stallion, who had been living with the Wolffs for several months now. “hn, you're a really nice guy. So was our Leighton. We all miss him. OK, if there's no one here, then I'll go again for now, OK?”. Zelda left the Wolffs' property devoutly and somewhat wistfully. Morgana was probably on duty at the hospital today.

Traveling on foot. This was something that Zelda learned to appreciate after the great catastrophe. It was often not worth taking the short distances to various locations by car or bus. She didn't have a bike, so in good weather she explored the area without a vehicle. “Roman?, No, just Blair sending baby photos again…hh, she's really lucky though”.

Lost in thought, she headed back towards the house. She was really lucky to get something cheap right by the sea. Such houses are usually in high demand. But even the house next to her is still available. “There's no point in driving myself crazy… I think I'll just pick up where I left off… this song has to be finished at some point”… the closer you got to the sea, the cooler the air became again. Zelda mentally prepared herself for a quiet evening. But things would turned out differently…

---------------------------------------------------------

@greenplumbboblover , @solorisims , @honeywinesims 🌤

[aventurinemylove]

FIRST TIME REQUESTING! So I have no clue if you're okay with what I'm ganna ask?

May I ask for a angst to fluff. (Only if you're okay with both in the request! unless you want it to be full angst) Like where reader/ y/n is near death (again only if your okay with it) wiith Dazai and Chuuya. (If you wish to add another one that's your choice!) It can be either a headcanon or short fic. Whichever one your more confterble with!

(Ps I love your smau au!)

Have a nice day/night/afternoon (it's 3:10 a.m for me 💀) but anyways if you can't accept my request I understand! But take care of yourself. ♡

A/n- OMG YOU DONT KNOW HOW FAST I GOT UP AND STARTED WRITING TYSM FOR THE REQ OMG AND IM GLAD YOU LIKE THE SMAU😭🫶

Close call

Dazai x reader and chuuya x reader (separate)

Genre-angst and fluff

Warnings- heavy topics, torture, blood, mori…

Songs to listen-skyfall adele,I bet on losing dogs mitski,francis forever mitski

Osamu Dazai

You were sent on a mission by yourself by Fukuzawa to gather information on a rival organization. You knew the risks of this but you were willing to risk it To give the Ada any type of advantage. Before your mission dazai told you to be more cautious about everyone and everything, he had a pitiful feeling in his stomach..the same feeling when he lost his dear friend, which left him wondering if his past finally catching up to him?

Ever since you left the feeling only got worse and worse, he couldn’t take it anymore it was eating him alive he felt a sense of guilt, and for the first time in year, he felt fear..? Something might have happens to you..days without contact or even texts all his texts were delivered you never left him on delivered. He couldn't take it anymore and decided he will look for you himself.

Meanwhile, you haven't texted Dazai due to leaving your work phone at the ADA in order to not cause any suspicion between you and your new boss however you couldn't stay like this forever he saw you rummaging through classified files which ended up with you having to reveal your identity causing you to fight. What surprised you was the ambush from behind which ended up with u getting stabbed in the chest and losing conscious.

Once he got there he was late...your body on the ground bleeding profusely, he couldn't believe it he failed you. The person he vowed to serve and protect you only to fail you. His heart aches at seeing you so motionless so still. He couldn't even form a word he couldn't even stand on his feet. “You're not gone [name] right..” his voice filled with sorrow and disbelief. If only he came earlier..he could've prevented this he wouldn’t have lost you.

He ran to your body and held it..for the first time in years he couldn’t mask his emotions how could he..you were special to him the only one keeping on this ground, but now that your gone he has no will to live no reason to be here. “[name] I’m sorry I couldn’t protect you, you didn’t deserve this awful fate my love..I’m sorry”. You were still conscious you heard everything how u you wish you can tell him “everything’s going to be okay” but honestly not even you knew if your going to make it”

Dazai held u so close running towards the nearest hospital he could find without any second thought begging every doctor to treat you before it was to late. He didn’t leave your side the whole time you were unconscious, atsushi brought Dazai food and made sure to give him company and any ounce of hope he had.

It was almost a month since that event you haven’t woken up not even once…this left Dazai terrified he only thought of the worst outcome. Though before u hit one month of being unconscious you woke up, every emotion hitting you but the one hitting you the most was shock and fear. You couldn't believe you were alive, and you also wondered who brought you to the hospital but soon realization and memories hit you. Dazai found you laying unconscious, you couldn't help but have guilt. Your poor husband finding you unconscious and unresponsive was a horror to think about.

You were so deep in thought you didn't notice Dazai practically tugging you into a hug crying his eyes out on your shoulder. [name] my love I'm so sorry I couldn't protect you, I'm sorry I failed you I was so scared, I was so scared of you leaving me like everyone” he said between broken sobs. “Dazai dear I'm sorry for being so careless I really should've seen it coming” you say through your tears.

To say the least, dazai is happy you're alive and that's all that matters to him.

Nakahara Chuuya

You and Gin were sent on a mission personally requested by Mori, which was odd since usually, he would have you take missions with Chuuya since he had his suspicions here and there. You always found your boss “odd” he always figured out things even he was told which was a scary thought.

On the mission, you were told to play a fair person and your objective was to woe the victim over and that's when Gin strikes. Though it was easier said than done, during the night you felt like something was coming for you or that you were being watched but you pushed your thoughts away for the sake of the mission. You found something quite odd about your victim he looks like a former mafia member though you've never seen him, you feel like his name was mentioned somewhere.

Fortunately, before the night ended you got the victim to think that you were an innocent person trying to get help from him for your company on how to grow it etc. But he knew you were from the mafia he had his eyes on you ever since you stepped in, he knew Mori would send an executive to assassinate him during this party. You had a feeling that your facade was seen through like clear glass, which made the gut feeling start to tell you “leave” or “go home” but you knew being in the mafia your life was always on risk.

Chuuya on the other hand was sweating and shaking something was telling him to watch over you that night, he had a feeling Mori had some plan since usually he would send him with you and no one else. So while you and Gin were on your way to the party he followed you guys but decided to stay hidden until he felt he was needed.

You were unexpectedly brought a handkerchief to your mouth making you pass out. Otherwise, Gin was concerned about what could have happened to you, you weren't giving her any sign to strike..unless the struck first which had her panicking since she also didn't see the host anywhere. She Knew something was wrong, so through her headset she let everyone know “Code red, our executive is missing”. Just hearing this made Chuuya jump and head to the party area before he knew it, he was frantically searching for you everywhere in the area but had no luck he couldn't find you and this made him more frustrated he couldn't believe he took his eyes off you for a bit and you were MISSING.

It was days maybe 3 days since the incident they had you tied to a chair with handcuffs tied to both hands making it impossible to use your ability. You were so beat up all these days tortured just for some information you didn't have. “Now where is that supply box” he spoke, another hit towards your ribs but you stayed silent. “OH SO WE ARE GONNA PLAY THE SILENT GAME ARE WE?!” he says but before you were hit again the doors of the area were crushed open before you knew it Gin ran to you and untied you, and carried you to the truck where they already had a medical professional on board.

Meanwhile, chuuya made sure this man was dead and he made sure that he paid for what he did to you. Chuuya had rage in him, the state he found you in made me sick and sad, how could this asshole do this to you. After his job was chuuya got back to the truck where the doctor talked to him. “Sir they will be unconscious for a few days maybe a few hours if lucky but they had a few broken ribs and a few bruises to the head”. He couldn't believe what he heard, he felt the rage he had earlier come back to him, but he kept his composer just nodded to the doctor.

He was now facing you he felt his heart shatter to 100 pieces the pain and guilt he felt was eating him alive. “If only I got there earlier” or “I should've taken the mission but compared to other missions this was one of the least dangerous. He knelt near your bed while holding your hand slowly letting the tears down.

After 3 days you finally open your eyes looking around the unfamiliar room it looked nothing like the mafia hospital room which relieved you, you didn't have to deal with mori and his annoying overbearing antics, how u hated him and wanted someone to take his spot.

While lost in thought u turn to see flowers and a note on the bedside, you grabbed them smiling to yourself already knowing who it was. As you looked at the flowers you open the note slightly smiling as you read. “My dearest [name] I’m sorry I wasn’t there to protect you as I vowed to you I will, so after you feel better let me take you out to eat, sincerely yours Chuuya Nakahara” but before you finished you saw the end “ps I’ll visit you later I'm on a mission right now”. You never knew how you got lucky with such a man but honestly, it did take you guys a while to be where you are at right now.

Later…

You were sitting down reading a book when you heard the hospital door bust open, at first you thought it was an enemy attack but you were relieved to see Chuuya at the door with a little box at hand. “My love” you heard Chuuya speak “I got you this,” he says as he gives you the box. You were shocked, to be honest, you weren't expecting anything so when u recognized the jewelry box you began to cheer up. “Thank you dear you didn't have to,” you say smiling at him while opening the box, to your surprise there was a gorgeous necklace that you'd been wanting for a while but couldn't get your hands on it, so it was surprising to see Chuuya get ahold of such an item.

You felt your eyes start to tear up as you pulled Chuuya into a tight hug and whispered “Thank you my love I couldn't ask for someone more amazing than you”. Chuuya was surprised by your sudden action but didn't complain at all. “My love I'm sorry for not being there on time,” Chuuya said his voice cracking “If maybe I was there earlier this could've been avoided”. “Chuuya it's ok, I'm fine I'm here with you look on the bright side at least we got him” you say softly.

Chuuya knew you were right, he was just happy you were alive and with him still.

[pirozhkiparty]

🖤♥️Huskerdust fic recs💖🖤

There's a severe lack of hazbin fic recs on here and I'm here to remedy that with my fav couple (since so far all the stuff I've read centers them)

Always make sure to read the tags~

Overlord Husk AUs

(I'm a firm believer in the "hell yeah, two cakes!" rule. Cannot get enough of overlord Husk fics)

Call Your Bluff by RazzAppleMagic - the very first overlord Husk fic I read and boy is it wonderful. deals with drug recovery and Angel learning to love himself. the slowburn is well worth the wait. There is also a podfic version of it by Rambling_Company

Disco Inferno by DeusExMachina - Set before Angel signed a contract with Val. Husk takes him in and helps Angel go overlord

Someone You Can Bet On by Shigariope - Major fluff alert! Angel goes to Husk's casino to ask Husk to help him get out of his contract with Val. Husk does, in the form of a (fake) marriage.

call me when you want, call me when you need by Spades - Husk wins a night with Angel, rather than his soul. Super sweet fic and the pining on Husk's part is strong.

Lucky Bastard by PoppyFieldWrites - Angel meets a hottie bartender while at the casino with Val. Turns out that bartender is none other than the gambling overlord himself

The House Edge by vixensheart - while out working the streets, Angel gets picked up by a wealthy looking individual. Only thing is though, this guy doesnt wanna bang, just wants Angel to rest and get an injury looked at.

Human AUs

At the End of Extinction by The_Bad_Samaritan - zombie apocalypse au, yep you heard that right. Husk finds a five-year-old Charlie in a zombie infested wasteland and with the help of solo traveler Angel, they go on a cross-country road trip to reunite her with her parents. This fic will keep you on your toes, trust me.

So Much (For) Stardust by Kima - War vet Husk is big pissed that he has to bartend at a club that Alastor owns, especially when one of the drag performers there pisses him off to no end, it also doesnt help that he has an obnoxious next door neighbor that always has loud sex. Surely those two things aren't related in any way.

glitter & bows by angelsfizz - Angel works at Claires at the mall and a lost kid wanders through, then when her dad comes to retrieve her, Angel has a massive gay panic because hubba hubba this guy's hot.

Could be Canon

When We Meet Again by rainbowpandas and RockyRants - we all knew this was coming. how could I leave out this fandom classic? if you haven't already read this masterpiece, Angel and Husk slowly regain their memories of when they were alive. Turns out they knew each other and were lovers. Mixes in flashbacks of their pasts with the story and will for sure leave an impact on you.

soft & tender by Spades - sweet and sensual oneshot of the two of them after they get together. Domestic, tooth-rotting, show-stopping.

Changing Channels by Onlymostlydead - a video of Angel's comes on during channel surfing in the lobby, the thing is though, he has no memory of filming it. Hurt/comfort with protective Chaggie and Husk. Read the tags for this one very carefully.

Shameless self recs

(Don't mind me self-promoting)

Bottom shelf erotica - this au was made by @/cyberrat and they let me write a fic for it. Husk is a fluffer at Val's studio and Angel is absolutely smitten for him.

little pink lies - Husk hits his head and gets temporary amnesia. Angel thinks it would be hilarious to prank him by saying that they are married.

Ulterior Motives (tell me the truth) - you can probably guess what the inspo was from the title alone. Husk hears a snippet of a song that he can't quite find the origin of. Just his luck that its from a porno starring nonother than the hotel's most obnoxious resident.

Let me know if I messed up any of the links~

[harleehazbinfics]

Blue Roses | Helluva Fic

✓ author profile

Synopsis: To continue his apology tour, Blitz goes to his ex-bestfriend's place to give an apology.

Hi! Yeah, I watched the Apology Tour EP and I loved it, mostly cuz I liked the songs and how they made Blitz suffer lmao- but hey! I made a fic to live our delulu to. Hope you enjoy! (i just really needed to get this out of my system it's been bubbling in my brain the whole day)

"Heyyyyy bitch."

I roll my eyes as his annoying voice swept across my office. I give him a sigh, then dropping my pen onto the desk to look at him and ask, "What do you want, Blitz?"

"Oh nothing, nothing. Just wanted to drop by and give you these flowers. I knew how much you liked them," he answers feigning confidence as he tosses a bouquet of blue roses, "You know how much I had to pay for that shit? It's hell and you pick the blue ones as your favorite IN HELL."

My eyes widen in surprise as I looked at the roses. I could already smell delightful scent of them. They certainly are genuine but the Blitz I knew would never give these to me just because.

"Are you high?" I asked him skeptically.

He scoffs and retorts, "God! No, I'm not! Lay off my dick, will ya? I just wanted to do something nice for once and this is the shit I get."

He plops down on my couch with a groan as he buries his head down in his hands. I couldn't help but feel pity for him. I frown looking at him then at the flowers before walking slowly towards him.

I put my hand on his shoulder and give him a small smile, "Thanks, Blitz. They're lovely."

He looks back at me with empty eyes before nodding in acknowledgement while I sit beside him placing the flowers on the coffee table.

"I heard you went to Ver's party on earth," I started, I saw him tense up, "You really have balls to go to a party that's just for hating you, you know?"

"Or just really stupid," he admits making me laugh.

"No no. I think your little apology tour went well, no?" I challenged him.

"Yeah, a real eye opener. I couldn't even get a wink of sleep last night," he sighs rubbing his sore eyes. "I'm surprised you weren't there honestly. We haven't talked in years after I just bailed on you."

"Oh, please don't compare me to your petty exes. I, at least, have some class," I say striking a posing before quickly jabbing my thumb at the pile of papers behind us, "And a fuck load of paperwork from Asmo and Fizz."

He stays silent letting me ramble on, "I don't hate you, Blitz. I just knew you had other shit to deal with and so do I. As much as I loved staying as kids with you and Fizz. I, we, had to grow up eventually. After the circus burnt down, I had to work odd jobs to get back on my feet."

"Wanna know what I dreamt of then?"

"What?"

"I dreamt that I made a lot of money, made a name for myself. So that I never had to worry about you guys being sold to someone, so we could make our own circus, we could do what we wanted to do the most. So, I did. But when I got what I wanted, I saw you doing your own shit with the IMPS and Fizz being a star for Mammon, I just couldn't but feel lonely, y'know?"

"Look, I'm sorr--"

"But I'm really happy that I got to see you again and that's all that matters to me."

He looks at me teary eyed which he quickly wipes before they could fall making me laugh at his tough guy act.

I stood up from my spot and held out my hand for him, "Looks like you had a shitty week. Wanna get Fizzy and get out for some drinks at Beelz?"

Finally, a smile crept on Blitz' face and accepted my hand. "Oh, bet."

"Alright! ASMO *bang* I'M BORROWING YOUR BOYFRIEND!"

[strawberette]

HIRAETH TASK 003. / Playlists

lyrics & playlists below ♡

songs that he would listen to // (playlist)

TWIN SIZE MATTRESS - THE FRONT BOTTOMS

She hopes I'm cursed forever To sleep on a twin-sized mattress In somebody's attic or basement my whole life Never graduating up in size to add another And my nightmares will have nightmares every night Oh, every night, every night

- lucy // corbon amodio ( lucy laid on her back / while my head spun off the track / laying still on the grass / when did days move so damn fast? ) - tears over beers // modern baseball ( that girl who's next to me / she don't know her worth in this town / 'cause her face starts to shine when that meathead behind me / is grinning as he's checking her out ) - boys don't cry // the cure ( now I would do most anything / to get you back by my side / but I just keep on laughing / hiding the tears in my eyes / 'cause boys don't cry ) - calling after me // the wallows ( don't play dumb, i know you fantasize / you could have mе on my back every night / i don't mind the things that you'vе been doing / think you need someone like me to get through it ) - dræm girl // no vacation ( and when you talked to me / all i heard was words / i couldn't say a thing / i only made it worse ) - this charming man // the smiths ( i would go out tonight / but i haven't got a stitch to wear / this man said, "It's gruesome / that someone so handsome should care )

songs that remind me of him // (playlist)

SCOTT PILGRIM VS. MY GPA - MOM JEANS.

And I've given up on love But I'm happy here I'm happy here So leave my sweater on the porch I'll leave your bag under the stairs Don't go back to our old place, it's probably locked up anyway I bet it still looks the same as when I ran away that day It doesn't matter anyway Cause I'm happy here I sleep well alone now

- letters from the sky // civil twilight ( one of these days letters are gonna fall / from the sky telling us all to go free / but until that day i'll find a way / to let everybody know that you're coming back /you're coming back for me ) - ever since new york // harry styles ( tell me something, tell me something / you don't know nothing, just pretend you do / tell me something just before you go ) - say yes // elliott smith ( i'm in love with the world / through the eyes of a girl / who's still around the morning after ) - hero // regina spektor ( i'm the hero of the story, don't need to be saved / it's alright, it's alright, it's alright / no one's got it all ) - keep your head up // ben howard ( keep your head up, keep your heart strong / no, no, no, no / keep your mind set in your ways / but keep your heart strong / may you find happiness there ) - 28 // zach bryan ( took twenty-eight years of blood i was lost in / to feel loved on my own birthday )

songs that remind me of noah & james // (playlist)

MY HERO - FOO FIGHTERS

Don't the best of them bleed it out While the rest of them peter out? Truth or consequence, say it aloud Use that evidence, race it around There goes my hero Watch him as he goes There goes my hero He's ordinary

- living on the sand // colter wall ( keep that gun locked away / locked away, boy / well, you know you're an angry young man / going in town with six rounds / you're sure to be hell-bound / that house you've got is built on the sand ) - fortunate son // creedence clearwater revival ( it ain't me, it ain't me / i ain't no millionaire's son, no, no / it ain't me, it ain't me / i ain't no fortunate one, no ) - my city of ruins // bruce springsteen ( with these hands, with these hands / we pray for your love, lord / with these hands, with these hands / i pray for the strength, lord / come on, rise up! ) - father and son // cat stevens ( you're still young, that's your fault / there's so much you have to know / find a girl, settle down / if you want you can marry / look at me / i am old, but I'm happy / i was once like you are now / and i know that it's not easy / to be calm ) - hurt // johnny cash ( what have i become / my sweetest friend? / everyone I know / goes away in the end / and you could have it all / my empire of dirt / i will let you down / i will make you hurt ) - simple man // lynyrd skynyrd ( oh, take your time, don't live too fast / troubles will come and they will pass / you'll find a woman, yeah, and you'll find love / and don't forget, son, there is someone up above ) songs that are on noah's bartending playlist // (playlist)

MR. BRIGHTSIDE - THE KILLERS

Jealousy Turning saints into the sea Swimming through sick lullabies Choking on your alibis But it's just the price I pay Destiny is calling me Open up my eager eyes 'Cause I'm Mr. Brightside

- taste // sabrina carpenter ( i heard you're back together and if that's true / you'll just have to taste me when he's kissin' you / if you want forever, and i bet you do / just know you'll taste me too ) - the spins // mac miller & empire of the sun ( the kids they call the goonies / i see the future, crystal ball / mirror mirror hangin' on the wall / who the flyest white boy of them all? ) - just lose it // eminem ( guess who's back, back again / shady's back, tell a friend / now everyone report to the dance floor ) - otaku hot girl // megan thee stallion ( ayy, can't touch me like gojo / look good in all my photos / just landed in kyoto / i'm worldwide, these bitches local / arigato ) - my chick bad // ludacris & nicki minaj ( listen, I'm sayin' my chick bad, my chick hood / my chick do stuff that your chick wish she could / my chick bad, badder than yours / my chick do stuff that I can't even put in words ) - act up // city girls ( act up, you could get snatched up / dirty-ass nails, baby girl, you need to back up )

[leahnardo-da-veggie]

The Unwanted Visitor pt 2

Part 1's here, enjoy! (And yes I am desperately trying to work out why I can find a way to finish APNS, which is why you're getting this filler fluff instead)

As we sat, I heard the scuffling of feet. Looking up, I found my parents standing in the hallway, staring at us like we'd grown ourselves extra heads.

It was a fairly normal occurrence, of course. They were terrified of Visitor, and spent most of their time either assuring themselves that he didn't exist or threatening to leave. They never did, in the end, because he never took things too far and they were too much of a pair of cowards to do anything about him.

"Well, hello, Mr and Mrs O'Dell," Visitor smiled. It wasn't a nice smile. It was a shark's grin, all teeth and no humour. “How lovely to see you two. Won't you come eat with us?”

"I-" My mother stared at him like a frightened rabbit and scurried into the kitchen, where I had left the salad and bacon out for her. Belatedly, my father hurried after her.

"Don't do that," I said tiredly. "They'll think you're gonna kill them or something."

Visitor smirked. "Perhaps I will. Someday," he said, menacingly.

I rolled my eyes. "You've been at it for over a decade now. If you haven't killed me so far, I'll bet good money that you won't ever do it," I told him. Deep down, I suspected he wouldn't hurt me, if only because he treasured having someone to argue with.

"You can't know that for sure," Visitor pointed out, still smiling.

"Yes, I can." I finished my coffee (which was already half gone, thanks to Visitor) and stood up, collecting the plates. "Besides, if you kill me, who's going to give you food?"

"I'll steal it," he said, affecting confidence.

"And how's that working out for you?" I grinned back.

"Shut up," he snapped, the classic signal that I'd won this round. I decided not to push him any further and went into the kitchen, where my parents had perched in the corner.

"Mom, Dad, you really need to stop being afraid of Vis. It encourages him," I scolded.

My mother opened her mouth, and promptly shut it again, before saying, "How do we know he won't hurt us?"

I sighed. "Mom, if he hasn't hurt you in the 10 years he's lived here, he's probably not going to."

"He threatened to kill us!" My father pointed out, shaking with rage or fear. Probably fear.

"Yeah, he's threatening to kill you, but he doesn't mean it," I explained. "It's all a bit of fun."

My parents exchanged glances, then turned to me. "Fun," they echoed.

"Yeah," I said, trying to sound convincing. We'd done this song and dance for far too long for me to retain any hope of truly convincing them.

"How can you even say that? He's a demon. A monster," my mother said, shaking her head.

"Yes, and? He hasn't actually harmed you. I mean, aside from breaking the window and hiding your car keys. And the time he set the oven on fire. And the other time he broke the windows. And-"

"You're just proving our point here! He's dangerous!" Gods, I was getting sick of their nonsense. If they were truly in so much danger, we would have moved out by now.

"I was just getting to the good parts!" It was a jest, of course, but they took it far too seriously, as they always did.

"Like the part where he burnt the house down?" My father crossed his arms, as though to exert his authority. Unfortunately, I hadn't respected him since the day he pissed himself upon seeing the dead moose Visitor had brought into the house. Honestly, a bit of gore and they were all fainting over themselves.

"Yeah, no, he's never done that," I said thoughtfully. "That'd be a good trick, though. Imagine the look on your face. Oh, yeah, speaking of which, Mom, the house isn't burning down, is it?"

"What? No." My mother glanced around frantically, sniffing the air, as though to detect a hint of smoke.

"Well, it could be," I said, turning away and dismissing them. "Visitor! If you're done eating, can you do the dishes, please?"

"No." I heard the sound of a chair scraping and felt the signature breeze of his movement.

"Fine. I'll do them myself." I picked up a cloth and began to clean the dishes, ignoring my parents. They eventually decided that they had more important things to do (such as not coming face to face with Visitor, apparently) and wandered off.

"That was rude," I commented, when I felt the breeze swirl around me.

"So was asking me to do the dishes," he retorted, appearing (this time, sans the dumb t-shirt) right beside me.

"You're right, I'm sorry." I glanced down at him with a smile. Every now and then it was a good thing to apologise. Hurting Visitor's ego too much led to him making angry outbursts, such as the bird incident. I never wanted a repeat of the bird incident. "I was just trying to show my parents that you aren't as scary as they think."

"And why would you want them to think that? This way, you have all the power," he said.

"True, but they'll keep bugging me, and you by proxy." I sighed.

"I can live with that." He leaned over and picked up a plate, drying it with the towel.

"Thank you, Vis. For helping me." I meant it, surprisingly. It had taken a long time for him to like me enough to help me out with chores.

"Of course. After all, you made me breakfast," he said tiptoeing up to ruffle my hairm

I smiled and we continued to clean the dishes together. "By the way," he said as we polished the last dish, "It's 9:45 now."

I froze and looked up at the clock. So it was. 9:46, in fact. And my school started at 10:15. "Goddamn it, Vis. You couldn't remind me earlier? Now I'm going to be late for school, you little bastard!" I threw the dishcloth down and made a beeline for my bag. Swinging it over my shoulder, I ran for the door and hopped on my bike.

Taglist down here:

@coffeeangelinabox, @dorky-pals, @calliecwrites, @kaylinalexanderbooks, @shukei-jiwa

@thewingedbaron, @pluppsauthor, @cowboybrunch, @wylloblr, @possiblyeldritch @ramwritblr, @urnumber1star, @fortunatetragedy, @bigwipscholar, @ratedn

@vampirelover890, @possiblylisle, @illarian-rambling, @the-ellia-west

@finicky-felix, @evilgabe29, @glitched-dawn, @rivenantiqnerd, @dragonhoardesfandoms

@drchenquill, @everythingismadeofchaos, @owldwagitoutofyou, (Anyone else who wants to get added can tell me in the comments, pm me, or send me an ask about it!)

[pocket-vvardvark]

Angelica teases Alethia about her crushes 😭

Tell her sister to stop bullying her pls.

It's a pretty day, the world is covered in white fluffy sheets of snow while the cardinals sing their song. Snowflakes cast down from the sky, gently succumbing to their fall on Alethia's boots. Her sister lies in the snow beside her, skipping a pebble on the only water left unclaimed by frost. 

Angelica was never good at skipping stones, and it's quite easy to tell as the pebble sinks pitifully to the bottom of the frozen lake. 

A smile makes its way to Alethia's lips regardless. The simplicity of the moment makes her relax. If only her life was always this simple, she thinks. Once the thought crosses her mind, she's already imagining how quaint it would have been. It annoys her. She would have preferred this life—a life of constantly being on the run, and fighting unimaginable dangers—simply to avoid her own thoughts. It's never good to be left alone with your mind for too long, her sister had always told her. She understands now, and feels a sudden wave of concern consume her. Glancing over to her sister, she didn't seem upset or depressed at all. Yet, it nags at the back of her mind. Angelica was a trickster and far, far too good at hiding what she really thought. 

Angelica lies there, eyes far out as she hums some silly song she heard at a tavern no doubt from days prior. Her forefingers skim the smooth surface of the pebble in her hand, and yet she hesitates to throw it. Another lurch in Alethia's belly. She, too, hesitates, even if it's for a completely different reason. 

Tucking her knees to her chest, Alethia swallows dry. 

"Angie." 

Angelica's head turns to face her sister, stormy eyes meeting blue. She smiles, but otherwise says nothing. It unnerves her, per usual. 

Alethia grunts, nudging her sister. "Say something when I call you. It freaks me out."

Knowingly, her sister's lips pull up further in a grin. 

"That's why I do it."

Alethia rolls her eyes, snorting. 

"Alright, alright. What's the matter, Al? Having trouble with your crushes? Who's it this time? Still the queen?" She relishes Alethia's flushed cheeks. 

"No!" Alethia huffs, trying to stop her blushing.

"Oh, come on! I bet one of those dashing men and women you work with caught your heart. Even momentarily?" She smiles, thinking with an impish grin. "Okay, how about...hm, I got a good long look at that count you worked with." She whistles, and it really doesn't help Alethia's flustered state.

Angelica scoffs, "Oh, please, he had a very nice ass." Her knee bounces idly as laughter fills the small space. 

Another groan, and Angelica rolls her eyes. "Alright, so what about Tharn?"

The world stops for a moment, and Alethia has to physically bite her cheeks to silence herself.

"Ooh, interesting reaction. Is it the power? Do you think he's any good in bed?"

"It was a moment of weakness." Alethia stutters out. 

"I bet that's what all sixteen of his wives said before having the most incredible se-"

"Angie, please." 

Angelica snorts, "Okay, I guess seasoned men are my thing, huh?"

That does pry a laugh from Alethia's lips, her shoulder gently bumping with her sister's.

"You like his son, don't you?"

Her laughter is momentarily silenced, overtaken by worry.

"Is that bad? Am I weird? Too pious, maybe? Or, maybe I'm just too sad and lonely for his tastes. Wait...maybe I smell weird to him, since he's a vampire a-"

The thoughts that tumble from her lips too eagerly end once she feels the warm embrace of her sister.

"Shh, it's okay. Alethia, you're the brightest star on Mundus. By Mara, no one could ever hate you. I know that." She pulls back, holding her sister's hands. "Please, Al, believe in yourself just this once." 

"I think that of you, too." 

Those words do not fall on deaf ears as Angelica's steel-colored eyes widen.

"I was thinking about you before. I was thinking about all the times you've comforted me, and yet I haven't done the same. I love you, Angie. You're the best big sister I could ever ask for."

A pin could be dropped in the snow, and Alethia swears she would be able to hear it with how silent her sister is. It seems that even the birds have quieted down.

A tender brush to her hair pulls Alethia from her doubts, paired with Angelica's smile. 

"I love you, too, Alethia. Just your presence is enough to brighten my day. You're the best little sister I could ever ask for." 

They smile and laugh, embracing once more.

She spies that impish grin again, "So, have you told him yet?"

"Mara, no!" Alethia laughs girlishly. 

"Well...coming from an experienced woman in matters of the heart." Alethia rolls her eyes as Angelica continues. 

"I think he likes you, too."

"Really?" 

A fond smile makes its way to Angelica's lips, splitting her self-doubt and fear of rejection into nothing but an after-thought.

"I do." 

[amaiguri]

Wanna see the business side of story-based games?

Me! I want to! 👋 Hi, I'm Amaiguri. I'm a full time gamedev and I've released two games before and correctly predicted how much money I would make each time! Wow!

I've been considering converting the webfic I write into a story game of some kind -- a visual novel or a RPGmaker game or maybe even a walking sim? But I didn't know what I wanted to make!

This story has been THE STORY of my early adult life here -- it is SO important to me. So, while I'm a huge advocate of making whatever you want, I wanted to ensure whatever I put my effort into would be VAGUELY marketable. (Because, lemme tell you, webnovels are not marketable XD)

Before I dive in too deeply, **BIG DISCLAIMER**:

I am not a business person. I am using big, wide guestimates to make non-essential business decisions with myself. BUT I want to share my learnings with you. So, take everything I say with a grain of salt and JOIN ME on this journey:

Earlier this month, I made a post about wanting to make a visual novel. Specifically, a kinetic visual novel where you don't make choices and you just read basically. SO I've now done research into how well they sold. I used THIS website to determine how much money each of these games made (VERY loosely):

Juniper's Knot: ~$4k USD

Higurashi (The Whole Series): ~$300k USD (Averaging like 400 reviews per game and $50 for the whole bundle)

House in Fata Morgana: ~$1 million USD

I picked these out mostly because these are the small handful of kinetic novels I have actually heard about. I'm not saying there aren't other, more successful ones I haven't heard about but I figure, if I'm supposed to be representative of my target audience, I'm as good of a sample as any for this wild estimation.

Besides, Higurashi has a whole anime -- it is definitely fair to use that as an upper end -- and Juniper's Knot -- a tiny game no one has heard of -- as the lower end. (I mean, $0 is the lower end, but... you know...)

This paints a pretty stark picture, honestly. Like, this is looking at 6 to 8 years of work for... maybe a couple thousand for me? Realistically? Maybe up to $300k if I'm super lucky and go viral? And I'm not saying that isn't LIFE CHANGING money but like in the MOST MIRACULOUS scenario here, I am compensated less than my current salary for my current magnum opus. But realistically, I'm looking at maybe $1-4k if I get lucky. I'm not a horror-writer and I'm not a romance writer -- I will not have THAT feral of a fanbase XD And on top of all of that, I don't even play that many kinetic visual novels. I'm barely in my own target demo here!

Now, compare that to the numbers I ran on RPGmaker games where you just do narrative and there is very minimal gameplay:

Rakuen: 4000+ Reviews, over $100k in profits estimated

To the Moon: $8 Million in profit

A Bird Story: Definitely sold worse than To the Moon, was cheaper to make and cheaper to buy -- estimated at $397k

Wadanohara and the Great Blue Sea: Dunno cuz it's free BUT its manga adaptation has 267 reviews on Amazon -- so the creator COULD have made bank on the actual game

See how much higher those are? Even when they're not as well known? And sure, the bottom is still $0 ultimately but the upper limit, with the most successful of these titles (and incidentally, the video game that convinced me to get into Game Design) is much much higher.

"BUT BELLE! Laura Shigihara did the music on a lot of those! You don't have Laura Shigihara!"

Ok BET! I'll hire her! The base industry rate for music per minute is $100/min. Let's suppose now she charge 10x that, cuz she's famous -- $1k/minute of music. I get her to compose a 3 minute song for $3k BUT she also brings over... say... 5% of her audience to check out my game.

That's admittedly, a high conversion rate so we'll just take 5% of Rakuen. Now, I'm imagining I'd charge like $25/copy of my game because it's gonna be like 300k words -- people pay $25 for a book of that length, so if I have art and programming also, I can do that. With just her 5% of Rakuen reviewers (21 reviewers of her 4.3k), that's like $7k USD. So, she'd probably just pay for herself and then some.

And to top all this off: I'm back in the target demo. I am ABSOLUTELY the kind of person who will play a solodev's RPGmaker game and forgive all jank and flaws and lack of gameplay if the story, art, and music are good.

That is, of course, making the assumption that I'll make good music and art 🥺🥺🥺

Now obviously, all this is WILD guestimates so like. You shouldn't make business decisions off this. I'm barely making "business" decisions -- I'm making hobby decisions. I have a full time job and I intend to keep it. BUT I think it's pretty clear where the potential money might be for me -- RPGmaker games.

Eris (Blinking): Thank you for reading!

[felixravinstills]

Send Me a Character & I'll Tell You✨️ - Festus

Ask Game

Thanks, anon! I feel like I haven't talked about Festus in a bit...

My first impression

(Somehow, I had heard about him before I read the book.) Snow has a friend who's like a golden retriever? huh. interesting.

My impression now

Wow, whoever I talked to pre-reading the book really misled me into thinking he was a one-note golden retriever type. He's like so empathetic and sweet to people he's close to, but he can be so callous at times. I love it!

I am also less vocal about it than with Felix, but I also have visions of dissecting Festus. Pulling back the layers, but like imagined visually.

Favorite thing about that character

The dogfights. I'm not joking. The moment he mentioned them in the book, I was all in. I was invested.

Least favorite thing

Needed more of him (me with every mentor). Wish we could have seen more of him. I would have loved to hear more about him and Lysistrata in the Epilogue especially.

Favorite line/scene

“I couldn’t save her,” he said. “I couldn’t stop the blood.” “I don’t think anyone could have. At least you tried. That’s what matters,” Festus consoled him. [...] “Come to my place,” Festus said, but when they reached his apartment, he suddenly broke into tears. They saw him onto the elevator and said good night. (Ch. 7)

I just know he's a good friend, okay? He might make you super uncomfortable (Coriolanus and the Train Station Alleyway Bet <- and i personally have always read this as very uncomfortable), but he's like trying? Which counts for something in my book. In the Capitol.

Favorite interaction that character has with another

This was going to go in the above section originally, but then I decided it fit better here:

Heavensbee Hall erupted around Coriolanus, and Festus organized a few classmates to lift his chair and parade him around the dais. (Ch. 20)

A character that I wish that character would interact with more

What I would give for Festus and Sejanus interactions in the book. I want to see what type of behavior led to his invite to the post-mortem birthday party memorial.

Another character from another fandom that reminds me of that character

Berga Gandor from B!, and yes, I know that no one know who that is. Alternatively, there is another character, but I think I'd get beat to death in an alley if I made that comparison, so I won't. I just think people would misinterpret what parts of each character, I'm trying to compare.

A headcanon about that character

I think he has like normal Capitolite parents. They are just the average sort you'll find. I named them Daphne and Meleager because Greek Mythology tree related names (I also named them in like February, so idk, maybe I could come up with better names now, but I've gotten used to them).

Anyway, the Creed parents are you know in a marriage of convenience. Meleager's not particularly present but not really absent. Daphne's just kind of sitting pretty and a little bit of an alcoholic but from the sounds of it most of the adults in the Capitol are having problems with alcohol. Festus can't really connect with them very well, but their dysfunction isn't as bad as... some other families both in canon or otherwise (my Ravinstills)...

A song that reminds of that character

Need More Bandages by the Mountain Goats. idk, I just do. Y'all, I am music illiterate.

An unpopular opinion about that character

I've said it a couple times, but I can imagine movie! Festus being him at his most callous. Like I'm still bummed out that he doesn't have any of his nicer scenes in the movie, but I can still imagine book! Festus acting like that in the right circumstances. I still understand why people make the distinctions between the two though. The movie's framing is def wanting us to read him as a more antagonistic character.

Favorite picture

Picture of Festus I've had saved for a while, because I liked it, but there wasn't enough movement to make a gif.

[oh-hush-its-perfect]

how the hoo characters would react upon being asked about taylor swift

PERCY: She's pretty good. Yeah, I listened to the new version of Speak Now and it kinda went harder than I thought it would. I'm not, like, a "worship the ground she walks on" kinda guy, but I guess I like enough of her songs to consider myself a Swiftie. Guilty pleasure, I guess.

ANNABETH: Oh, gosh. People always ask me this. Uh, long story short— oh, right, that's one of her songs. That's kinda funny— I liked her music a lot when I was younger. Like, "Better than Revenge" was my thing when I was fifteen. And, yeah, I've listened to most of her albums. I liked Midnights and folklore and evermore. But I was never in love with her as a person. I just relate to some of her songs. Oh, gods, I couldn't count how many times I've cried to "Would've, Could've, Should've." But I heard someone call her the "greatest songwriter of our generation," and that's just... That's a bit bizarre for me. I think she's good as an artist, though. So... I guess I like her music, but I'm definitely not a Swiftie.

PIPER: Uhhh, I don't know. Like, her music is terrible or anything, but it's not really my taste. But as a person? I don't know, the whole Matty Healy thing just rubbed me the wrong way, and... I mean, she's a rich white lady doing rich white lady things. My dad asked me if I wanted her at my birthday party once. I said no, but I also said no to the Regrettes, and I'm literally in love with Lydia Knight. I'm happy for her with the tour and all, but not really my scene, no. But Jason likes her so I try to be supportive.

JASON: Oh, my gods. She's like... I don't know if she's my favorite artist, but she's up there. I mean, like, she's just so classy and her music is just so good. The way she uses synths is like... it's like magic. And her lyrics— I mean, you can't get much more relatable than that. My favorite album is probably... Lover? Or maybe Red. Then again, maybe it's 1989. It's so hard to pick. I guess I'm kind of a hopeless romantic at the end of the day.

LEO: Taylor Swift? Well, like, she's hot.

THALIA: Not really my style. But if she did a punk-pop or metal album, I'd be down for that. Like, I heard a metal cover of "Look What You Made Me Do" once, and it went so hard. She's really got a good voice for punk, too. Saw a video of her doing a vocal growl on that one song— uh, what's it called? "We are Never Getting Back Together" or something like that? Anyway, that sounded really good. But I don't really like her environmental impact. You could ask Rachel about that. I bet she'd have a lot to say.

RACHEL: Taylor— Listen. Don't get me started on Taylor Swift. Her music is mediocre at best, and her carbon footprint? Holy Hades! I saw somewhere that that one study that said 8,000 tonnes was wrong and it's actually more like 1,000 tonnes, but that was taken from half of a year during a global pandemic. She wasn't even touring or anything. The woman's a multimillionaire. With that kind of money, you would think that she'd be more environmentally conscious, but no. Not at all. And I guess it's cool or whatever that she pays her people well, but, like, that's the bare minimum. Taylor Swift. I didn't like her before all that about her environmental impact and stuff came out, and I definitely don't like how she dates racist guys, and I hate the way people worship her and follow her like lemmings, y'know?

HAZEL: Who?

FRANK: Oh, she's good, I suppose. Never got super invested in her or her music or anything. I don't really know anything about her except that people love her, and her singles are fine, I guess. I liked that one song "cardigan."

NICO: Uh, I feel like people shouldn't really ask me about music. My music taste kinda sucks. But sure, Taylor Swift makes some good music. Annabeth played me a few songs once. I really liked "Haunted," I think it's called.

REYNA: I don't follow her life and I haven't listened to any of her albums or anything. I mostly listen to Latin music, to be honest. But she's a woman and she's extremely successful, so I suppose I'm happy for her.

[Coach Hedge immediately starts singing "Shake It Off" when asked and did not provide any further comment.]

OCTAVIAN: I can't believe some people call that trash "music." It's so low-brow and vapid. Only eleven year old girls actually like that kind of thing. Me, I listen to real music— the classics, like Mozart. My favorite song by him is definitely "Canon in D."

[weyesbloodgf]

Hi, tell us of Tamino

tamino is a belgian-egyptian singer and he has the most beautiful voice ever..... my favorite songs of his are tummy, fascination, cigar, my dearest friend and enemy, crocodile, the first disciple, habibi and indigo night!! and also his covers of mariners apartment complex, my kind of woman, and i bet you look good on the dancefloor are impeccable. you should go check him out if you haven't heard him before!! AND in addition to all of this he is gorgeous....

[allthemusic]

Week ending: 5th October

This week's songs really do complement each other. Not necessarily in a good way, mind you. British rock and rollers, both are also picking up bits of the American sound, either through hiring the same songwriters or just straight-up aping Buddy Holly. And with that sound, they also take a completely different lyrical tack, approaching romance from two different (but equally lame) directions. So, without further ado...

Nine Times Out Of Ten - Cliff Richard (peaked at Number 3)

So let's start with the good. Cliff is back to actual rock and roll. We've got pace, we've got jangly guitar, we've got a drum and guitar solo at the two-thirds mark that is genuinely awesome, we've got a proper rough edge to Cliff's voice, including a proper growly mmmmmmmm right at the end that (no joke) actually thrilled me, the first time I heard it. I've kind of got used to Cliff's new, softer stuff, and this was a nice return to the same sort of form as Mean Streak. It's maybe not quite as mean and spiteful as that one, but it's still getting the blood pumping, you know? It was noted at the time as a surprise return to form, and yeah, it's great fun.

However. Those lyrics. My goodness. Talk about iffy! Nine times out of ten, baby, I've told ya, Cliff opens, and I aim to tell you just nine times again / A-just how much I aim to hold you / Again and again and again. Okay, so he wants to really let his girl know how much he loves her. Fair enough, so far. He does spoil it a bit by calling her little girly, which is an instant turn-off in my books, but I'm sure that works for some folks. Except, he goes on to talk about how it's nine times out of ten you've refused me / And you say that you'll refuse me nine times again / But I won't stop until you choose me / Again and again and again. Yikes! If she's refused you nine times, and made it very clear that she isn't planning on changing her mind any time soon, then what you're doing has officially crossed the line into harassment, at least. And the song only gets worse, with lines imploring Cliff's love don't try to fight it, before he admits that nine times out of ten, I've tried to kiss ya / And I aim to try it just nine times again / Well if I missed the nine times that I've tried, baby / I'll bet my life I'll get you on number ten. Cliff... that's a crime. Just a straight-up crime. You do know that, right ? (Yes, I know it probably wasn't a crime when the song was released, but creepy's creepy - people in 1960 would absolutely have had a concept of it being not okay to try and kiss a girl nine times against her will, yaknow?)

If you haven't gathered, I strongly dislike the song. And yet, it's devilish, because it's good music. Partly that's because it's co-written by a genuine rock and roller, Otis Blackwell, author of hits such as Great Balls of Fire, All Shook Up and Fever. The man knew how to put a good tune together. Plus Cliff and the Shadows are good musicians, when they put their mind to it. Without Cliff's enthusiastic vocals and the Shadows' legitimately awesome solo, this track would be dead in the water, but the pace and the skill and the wholehearted embrace of the (sketchy-ass) lyrics really bring it to life. Pity the sentiments they're enlivening are so awful.

How About That - Adam Faith (4)

Half of the tracks that Adam Faith puts out seem to have a titles that are just something your dad would say, periodically, in a vaguely petulant tone of voice. What Do You Want? Poor Me. How About That. I've found most of them pretty lame, though, with the notable exception of When Johnny Came Marching Home. Which was awesome, but also wasn't an Adam Faith original. Sadly, with this number, I think we're back to business as usual.

We're fashionable, at least, with the now-familiar combination of pizzicato strings, non-pizzicato strings, hiccuping Buddy Holly-lite vocals and strummy guitar in the background. There's a bit of piano backing this one up, but apart from that, this is textbook 1960 British rock and roll-ish pop. And we're not getting much more adventurous with the lyrics, when they come in, with an opening line that scans particularly awkwardly, as Adam serenades us: You've got a face like an angel's face, / How about that. Lame, right? There's something about the repetition of "face", plus the casualness of "how about that" that just really gives a sort of bathos to the whole thing. "How about that" is something you say when you see a car with a license plate that spells something funny, you know. It's a phrase of mild surprise, nothing more, nothing less. Combine it with the rather tired and decidedly overblown metaphor of your lover as an angel, and you've got a set of lyrics that from the get-go are unintentionally kind of hilarious to me.

This sets a tone that I'm glad to report is upheld throughout the song. Not only does Adam's love have a face like an angel's face, she's also got a look like an angel's look. And in case we haven't got the message yet, angel's face, angel's look / Heaven didn't overlook / My girl. Okay, fair enough, if a bit obvious. But then the metaphors get more and more awkward, with lines about how love wasn't home till you came to me, and lines where Adam exhorts the lucky stars above to take a bow for thinking of / My girl. And finally, we hit "second coming" levels of awestruck wonder, as Adam proclaims, let this world of mortals see / Only you could ever be / My girl. So let's get this straight. This girl's angelic. So angelic that the stars themselves congratulate themselves for their part in her creation. The whole world should see her radiant beauty and perfectness. And what does Adam have to say, to conclude all this? Why, how about that / How about that / How about that. How about that, indeed?

If you didn't work it out, I didn't like either of these songs much. One rode roughshod over Cliff's girl's objections, completely ignoring her in favour of Cliff living out his own fantasies about her secrely wanting him. And Adam went far too far in the other direction, idolising and submitting to his girl to an almost comical extent, with a set of lyrics that just didn't hold up to the idealised version of her that he's created. Musically, Cliff's is at least a cool song, but I can't overlook how abysmally creepy it is. Adam's song is much worse, in terms of quality, but at least it doesn't leave me feeling skeeved out. So, reluctantly...

Favourite song of the bunch: How About That