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luveline · 1 year

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what about a grumpy!reader / Eddie + roan. Reader is trying so hard not to let work things get to her but she ends up being a bit grumpy at home, that's when Eddie and our favorite girl Roan intervene.

Maybe. Just a thought. I just love them (and you) so much ❤️

thank you!! i love you <3 eddie and roan —your small family tries to cheer you up after a bad day. fem!reader, 1.4k

"It's a new one called the macarena," Eddie says, his hands around Roan's wrists guiding her arms into the right positions. "Macarena by maca-Roanie."

She's dancing on his thighs. You have no idea how he can cope with it. While Roan isn't a heavy girl, whenever she does it to you it makes you squirm.

Eddie hums the song and poses Roan's arms, across her abdomen and then hands on her hips. "Hey, maca-Roanie," he sings, making her shake her hips in time with the song, bodily turning her to the left.

She giggles at the suddenness of it, and her eyes light up with happiness when she sees you're back from the bathroom.

"Dance with us!" she pleads, laughing more as Eddie messes up the move and quickly corrects her arms.

"Maybe in a minute," you say, as gently as you can manage despite your foul mood. Neither of them deserve to feel shitty just because you do.

"Now," she whines, her foot slipping off of Eddie's thigh. She runs with the momentum to the end of the couch, her hands grabbing for you. "Please! Dad will sing the song again."

"Sorry, Ro," you say, giving her shoulder a quick rub.

You walk over to the TV to turn down the volume a touch before collapsing with a puff into the fat armchair. Relief courses through you as you shield your eyes from the light.

"Is she okay?" Roan whispers.

Eddie must pull her or yank her toward him, if her little yelp and subsequent laughter is anything to go off of. "She's okay, mini me. Today's been really long, that's all."

"It feels as long as yesterday."

"That's the problem. Come on, let's go make a cup of hot cocoa, okay? I'll show you how to do the dance again."

You're glad that they leave, though that soon melds to a bone deep guilt, kind to make you wanna get up and put on a smile and learn Eddie's new dance. You try to force yourself up.

You sink deeper into the armchair.

"Can I give her a hug?" Roan asks in the kitchen. She must think you can't hear her far away.

"I'm sure she'd love that, but let's give her ten minutes, okay?"

"Is she mad with me?"

"No," Eddie says fondly. "She's definitely not mad at you. Just tired, babe."

"Will you toast my marshmalloweds with the flamethrower?"

"Blowtorch," he corrects. You hear a drawer opening, a click, and Roan's impressed Woah.

I'm such a fucking dick, you think, curling into a ball. My poor loves.

You sizzle in your bad mood, folding in on yourself as tightly as you can. They don't deserve to feel the cloud hanging over your head. Hopefully it'll blow over soon, and luckily they don't seem to mind. Eddie knows better than to think how you feel has something to do with him, or Ro, or that you'd ever take it out on them.

You don't want work to make them feel shitty too.

The kettle whines on the stove. You used to make cocoa in the microwave until Eddie found out about superheated water and said it was too dangerous. You can see him in your head pouring the hot water into their matching mugs, Garfield and Odie, Roan's very favourites donated from the Great Munson Mug Collection when she was a baby. Your heart hurts thinking about it 'cos usually you're standing there at the counter listening to her tell you how much she loves Odie the puppy. Eddie used to cut the Garfield strips out of every newspaper and save them in a plastic binder for her until she slowly lost interest, but the love is still there. The plastic binder is proof, tucked up on your bookshelf next to your photo albums and Eddie's records.

"Sure you got it?"

"Yes, daddy, I have it. Thank you for asking me."

"Are you kidding? You're so welcome. Please don't burn your fingers."

"I have the handle. You're doing that thing Y/N says you do with over drotectivity."

"Over drotectivity, huh."

"You're worrying about things more than normal dads worry and it's gonna give you chives."

"Sweetheart." Eddie snorts, their footsteps approaching the living room. "It's called over protectiveness, and she thinks it gives me hives, not chives. Which it doesn't! I got hives one time and it was from that discount laundry detergent."

"When Y/N put ointment on your back and said you felt like a rattlesnake!"

You peek up from the depressed leather of the armchair your face is smushed in. Roan crosses the room with your favourite mug in her small hand, the weight of it straining her wrist. Cocoa sloshes over the side and a marshmallow rides the wave down onto the hardwood.

"Don't slip," you say softly.

"Won't slip," she says, grinning. Her smile is all Eddie like a master copy. "I made you cocoa in the best cup with just pink marshmalloweds 'cos the pink ones are for love."

"What are the white ones for?" you ask.

You take the mug from her before she can burn herself. Eddie presses down on her shoulder as he sits on the floor in front of your armchair, wielding two mugs in one hand precariously. He swoops Roan into his lap and smiles at you from over her neatly coiled curls. "White ones are for making you taller."

Roan points at her mug emphatically. "I got lots of white. I wanna sit in the front seat of the car."

"That's a good reason," you say, slouched but not entirely collapsed in your chair, wondering why they've sat themselves at your feet and already knowing the answer. "Thank you for cocoa, Roro. I'm sorry I didn't dance with you earlier."

Roan shrugs and leans back into Eddie's chest. He narrowly avoids scalding her, slurping a sip from the rim of his mug rather than have it pour down the side to splash her pyjama-clad shoulder.

"That's OK. I didn't want to play Wombats with you last night and you still hugged me after teeth."

She can be such a peculiar kid. Her vocabulary keeps growing in an explosion of mispronounciation and wrong definitions, as well as these unexpected shorthands; teeth means brushing her teeth. She'd brushed her teeth and dragged you to her room, imploring you to climb into bed with her for a half hour which you happily spent stroking her hair from her forehead and exchanging sleepy conversation.

"Honestly, I didn't even think about Wombats. I just wanted to spend time with you," you say.

Roan's little chin dips up and down as she nods, her hair bouncing against her cheeks. "Exactly! We don't have to dance. We can just sit down all night."

"I like sitting down," Eddie adds.

You lick your lips. They're too good for you, sometimes.

"Thank you, guys," you say, taking a sip of cocoa.

Roan preens. Eddie puts his cocoa on the floor and his hand on your arm, the gap between you feeling smaller and smaller by the second, your bad mood at a low simmer rather than the roaring boil it had been. The ring on his pinky finger is distinct as his loving hand keeps you company, smothering the heat.

They chat to one another and don't mind when you have nothing to say. All the sugar and love-flavoured marshmallows cheer you up some, enough to put down your empty mug and want a hug.

"Come here?" you ask, laying back to make room.

Roan makes a sound that can only be described as a rabid giggle and leaps onto the cushions. Eddie isn't far behind her, mugs forgotten and nearly kneed over as he encapsulates the two of you in his arms.

"I'll be less grumpy tomorrow," you promise bashfully.

"You're kinda cute when you're grumpy," Eddie says, indifferent. His smile curls against your shoulder. "Don't force it."

"I like happy you and sad you," Roan says.

You smile softly, tucking a silken curl of hair behind her ear. "I'm not sad," you promise, looking her in the eye and meaning every word, "I can't be sad for long with you and dad around."

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cockslutpadalecki · 1 year

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You Better Run

Summary: Once you’re on his list, there’s only one two ways off.

Characters: Sergei Kravinoff (Kraven The Hunter) x F!Reader.

Words: ~1K.

Warnings: mentions of multiple orgasms, a little blood consumption, rough sex, mostly just PWP. MINORS DNI.

A/N: Saw the trailer and became immediately feral for this man. I know it’s not much, but it’s all I got right now. Not beta’ed so all errors, spelling mistakes and general bullshit are entirely mine. While likes are gold, feedback is golden. Please support our content creators by sharing our work.

The unmistakable stench of blood is heavy in the air. A thick brew of copper and death that makes your nose itch. You try to scrunch it up to ease the sensation, but as it magnifies, you know you need more than that.

You need friction. You need your hands.

You tug against the weight around your wrists, but it fails to lessen. In fact, the pressure intensifies— tightens until you feel the bones in your wrists protesting, and a low rumble follows.

“Tryin’ to get away so soon?”

All you can do is whine in response, the deep, rippling ache between your drenched thighs ripping away your ability to speak.

The hunter fucks like he fights.

Raw. With violent precision. Every move calculated to maximize pain. But you’re grateful he’s not being driven by the need to kill you.

His needs are far more carnal than that.

More weight is forced against your back, the heady aroma of damp soil and hot sweat heavy in your nose. Can feel it wet on your skin as he covers your body with his, the weight pressing you hard against the trunk of the tree in front of you. The scrape of bark is freshly coarse on your flesh— flesh already rubbed raw by the friction of your body shunting against it with animalistic momentum.

A hand moves to cradle your jaw. Stray fingers smear cooling blood across your lips. You try to keep them out of your mouth, but he curls them inwards, encouraging your lips to purse around his probing digits.

The taste is stronger than the smell. Like rolling a dirty penny across your tongue. It initially makes you gag, but as the taste slowly fades from the back of your throat, another replaces it.

Briny. Almost sweet. The taste of you.

You’re reminded of his fingers buried in your cunt— positioned perfectly to make you surrender to his will.

Minutes was all it took for you to submit.

With some reluctance, you start to lap at his fingers, nipping your teeth along his knuckles in an attempt to stifle your moans. Your stomach tightens, rolling and twisting as you shamefully— eagerly— anticipate each thrust that follows.

Fierce grunts sound from behind you— gutturally deep and rough. “You can leave when I let you,” he tells you, his nose in your hair. He tightens his grip around your wrists, using his steel hold to pull you sharply back onto his dripping cock.

You see white. Your knees give out. You shiver and quake, wedged in like a vice as you come yet again. You’ve lost count, your brain fucked out.

“But if you keep comin’ around me like this,” he whispers, voice broken and jagged with lust, “you won’t ever be makin’ it out of my sight.”

***

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#kraven the hunter #kraven the hunter x reader #kraven the hunter x you #sergei kravinoff #sergei kravinoff x reader #sergei kravinoff x you #aaron taylor-johnson fanfiction

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axelsagewrites · 9 months

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Heyyy! Ok so hear me out..can I request a Modern AU! Aegon x Fem! OC fic. The OC is neighbors with Aegon, Helena, Aemond, and Daeron. She’s always had a bit of a crush on Aegon but he’s always too busy drinking, smoking, having sex ( the OC’s and Aegon’s windows are directly across so the OC can see everything going on in Aegons room and even sees him fucking a girl), etc. to notice. So, the OC gravitates towards Helena and becomes Helena’s best friend. There’s also one rule the OC can never date or have sexual relations with any of Helena’s brothers. Years later (cut to Tom Glynn-Carney’s Aegon), the OC and Helena are still best friends but the OC goes to a frat party and sees Aegon, obviously oblivious to her because he sees her as his little sisters weird friend/neighbor but he accidentally OD’s. The OC manages to save him by rushing to him and getting him to a hospital. Aegon wakes up and is majorly thankful. Aegon and the OC start to become friends and then very quickly secretly date. Things get out of hand and the OC gets pregnant, and she has to tell Aegon. Aegon starts freaking out not wanting the responsibility and basically tells her to literally get rid of it. Helena finds out about the pregnancy and starts freaking out and gets super mad at the OC and leaves her. The OC tells Alicent but Alicent is way more forgiving and is shoot to have her first grandchild, and tells the OC that she is always welcome to stay if she wants. The OC feels abandoned and scared, etc. That’s all I have for this idea, it sort of just poured right out of my head lol. If you think of an ending or anything extra for the story please feel free add it, I sort of lost momentum of inspiration behind the idea towards the end ( ass you can see lol).

Aegon Targaryen*Neighbour

Pairing: modern!aegon x f!reader

Word count: 2785

Warnings: sad aegon, drunk aegon, high aegon, substance abuse, addiction, over dose, hospitals, flirty aegon, mentions of sex, mentions of pregnancy, fighting parents (nothing graphic or descriptive), one bed trope, angst

Masterlist Here

Your stomach tied itself in knots as your parents’ car stopped behind the moving truck. “Ready to see our new home?” your mum asked but your six-year-old legs were already flinging you out of the car to run up to your new front porch.

“Its huge!” You yelled as you barrelled up to the front door, your dad not far behind with keys in hand so you could run inside to go place dibs on your room.

“I pick the back room!” you called as you ran back down the stairs however your mouth quickly tightened closed when you saw the woman in the doorway. You made your way behind your dad’s leg as he laughed, placing his hand on your head.

“This is our neighbour Alicent sweetheart,”

“Hiya, its nice to meet you,” she smiled before glancing behind her and sighing, “Come inside Aegon. Show our new neighbours what we brought,” You grabbed onto your father tighter however your grip relaxed as the nine-year-old blonde boy walked in with a plate of cookies. “Why don’t you give them to the girl?”

Aegon outstretched the plate to you, and you gladly accepted the wrapped-up treats, “Thank you,” you grinned a toothy smile at the older boy who looked like he was itching to get back to the ball he’d been forced to leave behind to come say hello.

Aegon was your first crush however as you grew up you realised how wrong that was. When you were 12 and he 15 you became a little bit obsessed with him however you also experienced your first heart break. Your window was directly opposite from Aegon’s and one night while doing homework you looked up to see him kissing another girl. Sure, you were 12 and he barely knew you apart from you being his little sister’s best friend however you were heart broken still.

It didn’t help that the older you got the dumber he seemed to get. You were privy to all his dirty little secrets because he never remembered to close his blinds when him and his friends all shared three beers or when they passed around their first joint. It got a bit better when he went to college however the summer, he came back you had to race to close your blinds nearly every night when he’d bring a girl over.

By 18 you were completely over your crush and desperate to go to college and get away from Aegon. However, the summer before your first and Aegon’s last year of college you spent a lot of time with Heleana at her house.

Alicent had finally convinced Viserys to add a pool in during the spring and it was nice and ready the day summer break rolled around. In preparation you and Heleana had went swimsuit shopping and had even picked up pool games to play with Daeron who was now 7.

Aemond, who was 19, returned the day before Aegon and greeted you with a warm hug and an offer to fetch you a shirt, “That thing barely covers you,” he rolled his eyes as all four of you tested out the pool.

“Perv much?” you joked as you relaxed into the water as Heleana cannonballed in for the seventh time.

“Stay back Aem,” Heleana said as she swam to your side, flinging her arm over your shoulder, “She’s mine,”

You laughed at her joke, even playing into it as you always did, but Aemond scoff, “Don’t worry about me. Its Aegon your gonna have to worry about,”

“Yeah right,” you scoffed back, “he barely knows I exist,”

Heleana rolled her eyes at both of you, “Yeah right. Besides I already told her that if she gets with either of you, I will murder you both,”

You laughed at her, but Aemond decided to swim up to your side to annoy her more, “But what if she’s my one true love?” he dramatically swooned back but you decided to take it a step further and push him back into the water. Aemond came floundering back to the surface with a scowl as you both cackled, “I take it back. You can keep her,”

However, what you didn’t realise was Aegon decided to come home a day early and as you and Aemond were sat at the side of the pool, exhausted and wet, watching Daeron to make sure he didn’t drown Aegon was watching you through the kitchen window.

“Holy fuck,” he murmured when he saw you in your bikini, something he didn’t think you even owned. Then again, he also didn’t know that you had a figure apparently cause right now all he could think was oh damn and to make a mental note to burn all your sweatshirts.

However, Heleana had just decided to go to the kitchen for juice when she saw her brothers’ stares. “Oh, hell no,” she snapped, swatting at her brother’s shoulder.

“Hey! The fuck?”

“You are not fucking my friend- “

“I wasn’t going to- “

“Uhuh, keep it that way,” she scowled as she grabbed the jug of juice Alicent had prepared for you all, “I swear to god Aegon if you even try anything I will kill you. kill you dead.”

That summer was a newfound torture for Aegon. Seeing you at his house near every day in a bathing suit was a sick twisted punishment from god. Especially since even when you weren’t there you were lounging in your room in a tank top and shorts with the window cracked open. In a way it was payback it was just a shame you never caught his stares.

When college rolled around, he thought he was saved but that was until he saw you around campus. Yep, just both of your luck. While you did your best to look the other way anytime you saw him the longer, he saw you around campus the harder it was for him not to stare. Glow up didn’t even describe the change you had. He was mesmerised. So, in typical Aegon fashion he decided to dive into a bottle blondes’ bed and close his eyes pretending it was you on their knees in front of him.

One night you decided to kick back and relax. you had just handed in your last assignment before winter break and thought your first frat party would be a great way to celebrate. You and Sansa, your roommate, got all dolled up and headed to her older brother’s frat, Sansa figured it meant at least this way you knew you were both safe since Robb would be there.

The music was already blaring, the drinks flowing like waterfalls, and the dancing was questionable at best. You and Sansa had met up with a couple friends and were half dancing half talking when you felt a strong arm sling its way over your shoulder, “Look who it is!” Aegon slurred in your ear. “My favourite little neighbour,” he said, his drunken hand moving to squish your cheeks.

You pushed him off of you as you turned round while your friends shared a concerned look. Youd never told them you knew the best tight end of the football team after all. “Hey Aegon. You all good?” you asked, eyes squinting when you saw how bloodshot his were.

“Yeah totally,” he said, his eyes searching the room at a million miles an hour, “Hey I was thinking you should- “he started to say, putting his arm around your shoulder again when Robb came over, “Hey man!” he said, leaving your side to bear hug Robb.

“Hey buddy,” Robb said as he pushed Aegon to arms distance, “You are doing, okay?”

“Never better,” Aegon said, his body now swaying. Robb pulled him in, whispering something in his ear with a stern face before helping him to walk towards the stairs.

Sansa looked to you with a disgusted face, “What a riot,” she said, all the girls agreeing with her, “Can’t believe you need to deal with him,”

“Yeah. He’s a good guy though. Deep down I think,” you said, remembering all the time Heleana told you about their parents screaming matches where Aegon would take them into the basement to have a movie night. Or how his father locked him outside after he failed an exam. Hell, you’d seen the sleeping around and drinking get worse ever since Viserys had died five years ago.

Your friends laughing snapped you out of your thoughts. “Ill be back guys,” you said, heading to the stairs to try find him.

As you searched the corridors you knocked on each door and received a “occupied,” called back at you. that was till you got to this door. you knocked but no one replied. Something didn’t feel right though so you knocked again, “Aegon?” you called but there was no response. Something inside you wouldn’t let you leave so you took a deep breath and tried the door handle.

The door slowly crept open, and you felt your skin flush cold, “Aegon!”

You weren’t sure why you got in the back of the ambulance or why you stayed at the hospital while the doctors took him back, but you almost cried in relief when they said you could see him. He looked as white as a ghost, his lips dried and cracked, dark red rings around his eyes, as he laid in the hospital bed.

“Aegon?” you whispered, half wondering if he was dead since he defiantly did not look alive.

“Where am I?” he murmured, his eyes struggling to open, “What happened?”

“Careful,” you said, moving to stop him from sitting up. Aegon’s eyes finally opened, and he stared up at you in shock as you sat on the side of his hospital bed, “You’re in the hospital. You had an overdose,” you told him, figuring it was best to tell him sooner than later.

A million thoughts looked like they were buzzing behind his eyes, but he only asked one thing, “Did they call my mom?”

Aegon begged you not to tell his family. apparently, he’d deliberately changed his emergency contact to his father’s number when he fell into a coma so that no one would ever receive a call. This of course made you press on how many times things like this happened and you never seen him look so ashamed.

“Let me help you,” you begged, “We can get you into therapy and- “

“I don’t need it- “

“Damn it Aegon!” you snapped, “You’re lying in a hospital bed with tubes coming out of you and you don’t think there’s a fucking problem?” his head dropped, his eyes welling with tears, and you felt your heart drop. You sighed, your own tears building, “I’m sorry Aegon I just-I just worry about you. I want you to be happy and healthy and just- I want you to get better,” you said, reaching for his hand.

Aegon took yours, squeezing it gently but you knew it took way more strength than you could imagine, “Thank you,” he whispered, his voice hoarse and threatening to break, “for coming to find me. If I was you, I wouldn’t have,”

“It’s a good thing you’re not me then,” you joked, and you saw a tiny smile crack onto his lips, “but the only way I won’t tell your family is if you do something about it. otherwise, you’re gonna leave me no choice,”

Aegon took your words to heart and with a little push from you and help from the hospital he had a therapist within a couple of weeks. Turns out when he’s not out drinking and whoring, he’s actually a pretty chill guy. You began to hang out and even when you went back home for winter break, he kept texting you nonstop. While Heleana found it weird her brother was suddenly so close with you, she was also just relieved to see him sober.

Still, you tried to take a step back, but you found yourself weirdly missing him. You ended up going back to college together in his car to save your parents the trip and took turns driving. The whole way you were both scream singing Taylor swift or giving dramatic renditions of Lana del ray songs. Then you realised the sun was setting.

“There’s a motel 3 miles up. Do you want to just stop? I hate driving at night,” you said and Aegon agreed before turning cruel summer back up to full blast.

You both grabbed a couple things out the car before heading into the classic movie run down looking hotel. The receptionist was halfway through her cigarette and the whole room screamed the 60s with faded orange polka dot walls. “Hey, can we get two rooms?” Aegon asked as he fished out his credit card.

She tapped her long red nails at the ‘cash only’ sign before turning to the computer as you know both pulled out whatever cash you had. “Sorry Hun we only half one room,”

You felt your cheeks tinge as Aegon awkwardly cleared his throat, “Is it a twin?”

“Nope it’s a double,” she said as she peered over her glasses at you both, “Is that gonna be a problem?”

Aegon glanced at you but the idea of driving any further as your eyes were barely staying open made you grab his cash and slam it on the counter, “We’ll make it work,”

The room was as nice as you could expect. Though you did make Aegon triple check it for murderers as you guarded the door. “All safe. So…” he said, words trailing off as he looked at the bed.

You sighed as you dumped your stuff on the ground, “So,” you said as you plopped on the bed.

“I could sleep in the car- “

“Just get in the bed Aegon,” you sighed as you pulled off your trainers, “I mean we’ve known each other for years,”

He nodded but paused for another moment before asking once more, “Are you sure? Cause I get if you want me to sleep on the floor,”

You laughed a little at his words as you finally kicked off your shoes. “Its fine. Promise. I trust you,” you began to take off your jumper when you realised, he hadn’t said anything, “You okay?”

“Yeah,” he said as if snapping out of a daze, “Just can’t think of a time someone said that” he said it like a joke, but you could see in his eyes it wasn’t.

As tempting as it was to make a joke to try lightening the mood you just gave him the best smile you could before excusing yourself to the bathroom to get ready for bed. Aegon went in after you and as he was sorting himself out you took off your bra and jeans and slipped under the sheets in just your shirt.

Aegon came back a couple minutes later as you scrolled your phone. Silently he took off his shirt and you did your best not to stare or even look but it was near impossible. Him slipping under the covers however snapped you out your daze when you felt his almost bare, bar his boxers, legs brush against yours.

You glanced over at him and saw his cheeks tinged a bright pink as he cleared his throat, “You tired?” he asked, staring at the ceiling.

You smiled a little at him. After all it had been you acting like that for years without him ever noticing. “A bit. You?” he just hummed in response. You sighed before rolling onto your side facing him, “Aegon?”

“Yeah?” he replied as he turned to face you, his nose accidentally brushing yours in the process. You could feel his breath fanning your face as his eyes bore into yours. up close you could really see the lilac in them.

You weren’t sure who leaned in first, but you felt his soft lips press against yours as his hands trailed up your sides. Your hands found his white, blonde hair, admiring how soft it was as your mouths mixed. You knew your best friend would kill you if she ever found out but suddenly that didn’t feel important.

Dating your best friend’s brother in secret at a university across state was wrong. You knew it, Aegon knew it, if Heleana knew about it, she’d scream it, but you couldn’t stop yourself. Suddenly every waking moment was spent with Aegon. Everything was going perfectly bar the little white lie you kept from Heleana.

That was until the two pink lines showed up in the bathroom.

Part two here

General taglist: @strvngestark @headinfantasy @meg-ro @427120lxld @obx-josie18 @ravenmoore14 @tessakate @justtilly @jjkjbhj @clairacassidy @valeskafics

HOTD taglist @jmii722 @hypocritic-trash-baby @starkleila @jacesvelaryons

#aegon targaryen #aegon targaryen x reader #aegon targaryen imagine #modern Aegon Targaryen #modern aegon #modern aegon Targaryen x reader #aegon x reader #aegon imagine #hotd #hotd imagine #hotd x reader #modern hotd #house of the dragon #house of the dragon imagine #house of the dragon x reader #game of thrones x reader

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badsongpetey · 19 days

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The Water Guardian (aka Cryptid Keith AU) Part 10

The irony of climbing, at least for Lance, is that it makes it hard to talk, and talking is his forte. Well, maybe that’s not the actual irony, which is for once in Lance’s life, he’s glad for a reason to stay silent.

The cliff is moderately challenging, it wouldn’t be so bad with ropes or at least chalk for his hands, but as it is, it’s taking a good deal of his concentration not to misstep, and to keep up with Keith. Gone is Keith’s hesitance and fear, replaced by something intense, something urgent, and Lance is doing his best not to fall too far behind.

If he’s being honest, he’d kind of hoped getting out a bit would help Keith shake off his nerves. The Keith he’s grown to know is far from timid. He’s brave, and smart, and kind, and.. FUCK! Lance’s hand slips with his concentration just as he’d shifted his weight and now he’s dangling by the other hand over 100 feet up.

“LANCE!” Keith yells from above him. “Lance! I’m coming!”

Lance grunts and uses the momentum of his swing to grab onto another handhold and stabilize himself.

“I’m okay.” He says through clenched teeth. “I…” he grunts again, louder, as he pulls himself up to the next foothold, “… I got this.”

He hears something move over the rocks above him, and then suddenly Keith is right next to him, eyes wide with fear. “Lance! Are you hurt?”

Lance scoffs. Here he is, winded and clutching the cliff face like a long lost lover, and this asshole doesn’t even have the grace to be out of breath. “I’m okay, hot shot. Don’t get your mullet in a twist.”

Keith makes a sour face at that, but doesn’t move from Lance’s side.

“I’m okay. I just need a sec, just to catch my breath.”

Keith nods and lets out a breath, purely from relief and not exertion Lance jealously notes. “Guess that makes me King of the Cliffs.”

The guffaw that takes over Lance is completely unfiltered. “Oh my god, this isn’t a competition!”

Keith sniffs thoughtfully, “I agree, you really haven’t been much competition.”

“I think I liked you better when you hid from me.” Lance laughs.

“Ah,” Keith says softly, still close, “I think that’s not true at all.”

Lance’s breath catches. This close Keith’s eyes are swirling galaxies of violet and flame, and he can’t imagine any creature, human or dragon, could have eyes more beautiful. Then those eyes turn to look up.

“I think we’re over halfway there. I could carry you…”

“YOU CANNOT!” Lance sputters. “I do not need to be carried, by you, or anyone, anywhere. I’m fine. I’m great. I can carry myself, thank you. Not.”

Keith blinks and chuckles. “Okay, okay, I’m sorry to suggest your majesty is anything but completely self-reliant.”

“Ah-HA! See! You acknowledge my victory!” Lance shouts, triumphant.

Keith slides away, giving Lance room to move. “Yeah, yeah, King of the Falls.”

“Your Majesty.” Lance corrects.

Keith shakes his head. “Does it offend his royal ego if I hang back and climb, so very painfully slowly, next to him?”

“His highness is offended by the wording of the offer, not the offer itself.” Lance sniffs, holding back a smile.

Keith sighs theatrically, “I’ll take what I can get.”

Lance doesn’t stop the smile as he resumes climbing, grateful to have Keith by his side for more reasons than he can spare the brainpower to think about.

Continued on:

#klance #voltron #keith kogane #lance mcclain #vld #water guardian au #dragon keith #klance au

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bambi-slxt · 5 months

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🤍𝐇𝐮𝐫𝐫𝐲 𝐔𝐩 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐖𝐚𝐢𝐭🤍

𝕞𝕒𝕥𝕥𝕙𝕖𝕨 𝕤𝕥𝕦𝕣𝕟𝕚𝕠𝕝𝕠 𝕩 𝕗𝕖𝕞

word count: 500+

genre/tropes: friendship, fluff

warnings: none <3

notes from bambi: cute little blurb before bed - thank you so much for 400+ followers! you guys are the sweetest.

“Matt, come on! We’re gonna miss it!” I pulled him through the door and shadows raced over his wide smile. “Hurry up!” If my panting punctuated my words, my laughter accented them–I felt breathless from exhilaration.

The grime-covered walls blurred past as I sprang over scrap piles and spreads of junk with Matt in tow, holding as tightly to his hand as he held mine. Rounding a corner, I saw the stairs–perfect. We bounded up the steps. I ignored the barking pain in my thighs, knowing the reward far outweighed the setbacks.

“It’s right up here, right?” Matt asked, pushing off a wallet the landing to give himself momentum.

“Yes, hurry,” I begged, flashing my still-joyous smile at him. He shook his head and broke into a sprint as I followed close at his heels.

The parking garage lost power years ago and now its’ lights lay dormant, dusty, and decrepit. Still, I tried the switch on the wall just in case.

Nothing.

Not surprising, and anyway, fluorescents ruined the experience.

“We’re almost there,” I gasped out. Adrenaline rushed through my brain and I felt light-headed. Matt chuckled and tugged me along the concrete walls. We jumped over a crumbling parking stop, fighting the incline, turning the corner, there’s the ladder, hurry, hurry, hurry, up, up, go go go go go GO-

And there it was.

The roof.

BOOM!

Green and blue sparkled against the backdrop of the night sky, glittering with fire and smoke.

“They just started!”

“Fuck yeah.”

CRACKLE!

Dissipation.

“Fucking fireworks, Matt.”

“I know,” he said, leaning on my shoulder to catch his breath, blue eyes drawn helplessly to the sparkling abyss above.

“I can’t believe we made it up here,” I breathed.

“The fact that the cop didn’t catch us was wild.”

“Or the concierge!”

“I thought for sure, for sure, she was gonna get you.”

FEEEEEE-

“Dude, I know! And the fucking alarm?”

“Oh my god, the fucking alarm-”

BOOM!

Pink lit up the air, dancing wildly across my vision.

“Holy shit.”

CRACKLE!

Dissipation.

“This is easily the best place to watch them.”

“No, literally. I used to come up here all the time when I was younger, all of us would.”

“Yeah?” Matt turned to me.

“Yeah!” I said, “We would pack camp chairs and blankets and a cooler for water and sandwiches and stuff, and we’d get some bug spray and head up here to watch them fire off over the harbor.” I laughed, memories resurfacing. “My cousins took their speaker one year and we got here early, and by the time the fireworks started, all the other kids were dancing with us.”

FEEEEEE-

“Here comes another one.”

“I’m guessing yellow, wh-”

BOOM!

Orange burst across the water and rained down like meteors.

“Fuck.”

“It’s kinda yellow?”

CRACKLE!

Dissipation.

“We forgot the water,” Matt said with a groan.

“Shit.”

“It’s downstairs, on the hotel lady’s desk.”

I scoffed. “You’re kidding.”

“No ma’am.”

“Jesus,” I giggled, holding my stomach.

“But, hey, at least we made it up here!”

FEEEEEE-

“Green!”

“Again?”

BOOM!

I laughed in Matt’s face as brilliant purple lit up his scowl. “You’re bad at this.”

“Shut up.”

CRACKLE!

Dissipation.

request to be on the taglist under this post right here

tags: @pinksturniolo @malirosee @st7rnioioss @nonat-111 @cindylcuwho @evie-sturns @h3arts4harry @fanficsbymia @dazednmatthews @sturniolo-rat @mattsmad @sturniolo04 @bellasturn @blahbel668 @yomamaslays4lyfe @stasiesturn

#bambi slxt #the sturniolos #sturniolo triplets #the sturniolo triplets #the sturniolos fluff #sturniolo triplets fluff #the sturniolo triplets fluff #matt sturniolo #matthew sturniolo #matt sturniolo fanfic #matthew sturniolo fanfic #matt sturniolo fluff #matthew sturniolo fluff #matt sturniolo fanfic fluff #matthew sturniolo fanfic fluff #matt sturniolo x reader #matthew sturniolo x reader

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eagleeyecherrypie · 5 months

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Dickkory fans were robbed and malnourished: a rant

Being a fan of Richonne and watching how The Ones Who Live played out really makes me see how absolutely starved we were as Dickkory fans. I finished TOWL with mixed emotions. On the one hand I was over the moon with happiness. On the other, I was sad and jealous…of myself. What I mean is, the part of me that is a Dickkory fan was savagely jealous of the Richonne fan in me. One was over here fat and happy while the other was counting her ribs again. Both shows had the same potential with the chemistry between their two leads being off the charts. TOWL showed us what could have been while Titans left me wanting and there is no excuse for it.

Exhibit A:

I’ve lost count of how many times Rick declared his undying love for Michonne both in actions AND (very importantly) in words. I mean, I’m so full I’m about to pop.

It literally got to a point like “Dude we get it. She’s the air you breathe and you can’t imagine your life without her. Okay, okay.”

We. Were. FED!!

Exhibit B (or as a lesser man might say, Number 2):

Meanwhile Dickkory fans (me included) are/were over here living off crumbs and trying to find meaning in anything and everything. We all became experts in body language and read into everything we could just to add substance to their story:

“See, every time she touches him he short circuits. Dude is down bad”

Or “When he paused and sighed while mentioning her boyfriend that one time, that means he’s so in love with her that it pains him to imagine her with someone else”

Even the actual “love confession” was weak in my opinion. Far too passive.

I know Titans was not a love story but the man couldn’t have just said the words one time? Or at least used his actual words to discuss how he felt about seeing their baby from the future.

Don’t get me wrong, we got the occasional full bites instead of crumbs, but I would argue that this made the situation even worse. They got our hopes up. We got a glimpse of what could have been.

The show should have just kept all of that instead of teasing us with a love story so RICH with potential only to let us down again and again. They basically either completely ignored it or just keep dangling it in our faces until the final credits rolled. Not to mention the absolute travesty of the wasted chemistry between two actors. Brenton and Anna did the best they could with what they were given. I believe the few crumbs we got were mostly coming from them trying to drive the story along. We all loved the build up in season 1 (the GOAT) but they (the writers) completely lost momentum.

I could even forgive some of this if they just ran out of time to tell the story (again, I get it, Titans wasn’t a love story), but the truth is that they wasted so much time on unnecessary and frankly boring storylines:

🥱

🙄Why? What were the writers actually trying to accomplish here? Who or what was holding them back from greatness?

In conclusion:

Fan fiction is the only thing that got me through with Titans. (Shout out to the ones who held it down with those BTW. I’ve pretty much read them all.) Meanwhile, I personally haven’t read even one story about Rick and Michonne because there is zero need. I left fully satisfied with zero notes. Their story is complete.

Le sigh 😔

#dickkory #titans hbo #koriand'r #dick grayson #richonne #twd towl #dc titans #not my gif #towl #towl spoilers

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thearchercore · 2 months

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I totally agree with you that it feels like a weird mockumentary/very meta because they're filming during actual races with the actual drivers there whose terrible race weekends are being immortalized in a movie.

However, my additional two cents: If they completely made the movie from scratch and everything was a re-creation - no real F1 drivers or cars, etc. they'd have to have multiple fake F1 cars made to race each other, multiple actors cast for other driver roles, and honestly? I wouldn't trust them to make it good LOL. It would probably be full of super fake looking cars and completely wrong racing lines and actors who don't look like they could fit in an F1 car. At least currently it looks very real, even though it's almost too real.

Also, sadly, I know we're all criticizing this so far, but ultimately this movie isn't made for us. It's again made for people who know nothing or very little about F1. Brad uttering the words 'build it for combat' told me everything I needed to know. For viewers who aren't into F1, I'm sure it will seem like a very impressive and accurate looking movie.

All we will get out of the movie is pointing out everything they got wrong, and being in the know of easter eggs when real F1 drivers/information is shown.

As F1 fans I think we unfortunately have to lower our expectations.

i never had expectations to begin with but are we sure non f1 fans would tune in? like yes, brad pitt is an appealing factor for the middle aged audiences but if a movie has no clear plot, no extensive marketing, and no clear word of mouth recommendation effect, the title could get easily lost once released.

what's being proven now is that movies that do well in the box office need to build a momentum, a FOMO effect in the viewer that makes the screening of the movie an event they cannot miss.

if the f1 movie does not step up its game in that sense, i dont see it doing well enough to break even. especially when the drivers themselves (that could be a big marketing force if used well), dont seem too onboard with the movie lol

#f1 movie discourse

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burinazar · 2 months

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I’m on a three day road trip with my sister with the chief goal of rehoming my rats annd auxiliary goals of visiting some people I know and also spending time (like, the two of us) together. I drove, ahem, several hundred miles today. (For a fun game try guessing how many hundreds. It’s probably more than you think.) The forward leg is nearly finished; we’ll be dropping off the rats at their lovely new home tomorrow morning and then coming back at a slightly more leisurely pace and visiting people i know along the way over the next two days.

I’m a swirl of emotions; rat ownership has been such an important part of my life for the last decade. I’ve never known my adult self as a non rat owner. But I decided last year it was time to give my heart a break after the current group, and then decided earlier this year (once I found out I got a position abroad) that the best thing for these particular girls was rehoming them to my amazing friend’s mischief before I went, and all of that is what I know is the right decision at this time for me and the rats. But I’m going to miss having rats so much. So much. I’m pretty sure I will again someday. I really do love them.

Also, on the last portion of today’s drive we got caught in tornado weather and it was the most terrifying and stressful driving experience of my life. I’ve always found storms immensely fascinating but this was the first time I felt genuine fear from one.

…

Now this was obviously A Bad Thing to have happened lol, and a mostly coincidental one on top of that, unrelated to like, anything I actually decided to do. And the end of rat ownership is, if not exactly A Bad Thing an extremely bittersweet thing. But it’s…being hammered in for me today that the inertia based manner in which I’ve lived my life for a long time is probably over for the foreseeable future. There’s probably not going to be a single empty “just exist and float forward and follow the path of least resistance” day between now and whenever the hell I manage to get used to living in Japan. Things are potent and uncertain in a way I think they haven’t been since the first half of college.

That’s scary, and it could turn out badly (arguably most of the Things from back then that were exciting for the forward momentum they conferred upon me turned out badly), but it’s also exciting. My heart was pounding in absolute fear today in a way I could actually feel in my chest, as the sky turned colors I’d never seen it. I was terrified and obviously I’m not happy that happened to us as but I’m also trying to remember last time I felt anything like that, the fear which reminds you that you don’t want to die, especially potent to anyone who remembers the passive feeling of not caring what happens to you or wishing something would take away your choice and quietly end it all for you. And I’m lying in bed tonight writing this on my phone and wiping off tears that are welling up thinking of the rats I’ve loved and lost and the ones that are leaving me now, and all told I’m reminded I am still alive and not the block of interwoven self fulfilling prophecies and mental inertia I am capable of imitating for years on end. I am still a person for whom things are happening. It sounds stupid to realize but on some level I just believed everything interesting that was ever meant to happen to me was far in the past. But as long as I’m breathing changes can come into my life (and I am, and they will). It all goes on, and so can I.

#man i’ll miss having rats though #Did I have some kind of journaling tag #btw it was 700. miles that is. and change. good night

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starcrossed591 · 9 months

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CDrama Year in Review 2023

I'm still very much a CDrama beginner--I just started watching them in the summer of 2022--but since this is the first year I got into them in earnest, I figured I might as well do a year in review a la @dangermousie (whose lists I have found incredibly helpful in deciding which CDramas I really, really need to go back and watch as part of my CDrama education--so thank you!). So, without further adieu, here is my ranking of 2023 CDramas, in order of least enjoyed to most enjoyed*.

(See also: KDrama Year in Review 2023)

*Disclaimer: *not* a measure of objective quality

10. Royal Rumours: This drama was not great? Meng Zi Yi and Jeremy Tsui were fun, but the story started out messy and got messier. For some reason I still finished it, I think because I had a lingering cold and it was all my brain could handle at the time *shrug*

9. Gone with the Rain: I actually really enjoyed this one! The pacing was inconsistent, but Zhang Nan was fun as the irreverent Mo Xi, and we love a grizzled general. Special shout to the teacher who was not actually evil, just a sad lesbian whose gf disappeared on her

8. Love You Seven Times: Intriguing concept, not a strong enough FL to carry it through. The reincarnation stuff really worked for me at first, especially in their first mortal tribulation (as people, not CGI animals), but I got tired of it pretty quickly. I admit, the gifs of Ding Yu Xi as a sexy cat demon *did* pull me back in, but not enough for me to actually finish the thing, alas

7. Destined/Chang Feng Du: Started out really strong, and then stalled out on me. I think I only got up to about episode 22 or so, after their epic desert crossing and new start in a new state--they lost all narrative momentum for me there. I stopped watching and then just...didn't start again. I do, however, remain a big Bai Jing Ting fan, and will be keeping on eye out for whatever he does next

6. Hidden Love: (Contemporary) Age gap romances are hit or miss for me, but Zhao Lu Si absolutely stole/carried the show for me in this one. Although more fun imo when the main couple are in the the will-they-won't-they phase than in the family melodrama after they get together, still the only contemporary CDrama to get me to give it a go this year--and I'm glad I did

5. My Journey to You: Featuring my favorite murder girlies Esther Yu as Yun Wei Shan and Lu Yu Xiao as Shanguan Qian! Gorgeous costumes and sets, sweeping cinematography, and plot that kept me on the edge of my seat. Full disclosure, I have not actually watched the last two episodes because I got busy and then saw weird chatter about them, so I have no comment on the allegedly weird ending

4. Till the End of the Moon: Look, I know the ending wasn't ideal, but for the majority of its run, this drama owned my entire soul. It also introduced me to Bai Lu as Li Su Su, who inspired my first actual tumblr post (that wasn't a reblog) because I was so obsessed with her. And everyone knows that Tantai Jin is the CDrama ML of the year. 10/10, no regrets at letting it take over my life (and the OST my Spotify) from April to May of this year

3. The Story of Kunning Palace: More Bai Lu is always a good thing, and she's extra fun here as the transmigrated former evil empress and totally-over-your-nonsense Xiang Xue Ning here. The reverse haremness of it all totally shows why Bai Lu is the chemistry queen, especially with the princess (Liu Xie Ning) and cranky, morally grey, would-fail-gym-class strategist Xie Wie (Zhang Ling He). So glad this drama made it out of the CDrama vault and didn't languish indefinitely in censorship hell

2. A Journey to Love: Finished this one two days ago as of this writing and am still not normal about it. Ren Ruyi (Liu Shi Shi) and Ning Yuan Zhou (Liu Yu Ning) lead an exceptionally strong ensemble cast in this wuxia that explores the complicated relationships between love, duty, loyalty, loneliness, and companionship. Ruyi and Yuan Zhou are far and away one of my fave OTPs of the year, but just as compelling are the relationships between friends/brothers/fellow assassins Yu Shisan, Yuan Lu (ugh my heart), Qian Zhou, and Sun Lang. This drama definitely has one of the strongest ensemble casts of the year. And the character growth of Yang Ying from little princess abandoned in the cold palace to who she becomes by the end will stick with me for a long time. Plus another 10/10 OST!

1. Lost You Forever S1: I'm not normally a reverse harem girl, but the longing, loss, and hard resolve portrayed to perfection by Yang Zi as Xiao Yao really did it for me here. This whole drama struck an emotional chord for me, and where TTEOTM consumed my soul, LYF took over my heart. Xiao Yao's relationships with her power hungry, overprotective cousin Cang Xuan; hot snake demon Xiang Liu/playboy archery shufu Feng Feng Bei; and perfectly devoted Tushan Jing are all equally compelling to me, and while I may know who she ends up with in the end, who I *think* she should be with changes based on who's on screen at any given time. And A'Nian, my favorite bratty princess who really just needs some strong parenting, holds a special place in my heart. I know we may never get S2, and even if we do, censorship means it probably won't be what the drama makers are capable of, but I'm so glad for this little piece of absolute perfection. And, again, a top notch OST!

Fave Drama: Lost You Forever, by just a hair over A Journey to Love. See above.

Least Fave Drama: Royal Rumours--truly why did I finish this, what was past me thinking

Biggest Disappointment: 2023 is also the year I read Dreamer in the Spring Boudoir, my very first CNovel! But then I didn't even bother checking out its adaptation, Romance of a Twin Flower, because it got rid of everything that made the novel such an addicting read, including a brilliant, strategic, ice cold FL and an ML who actually kind of sucked at the beginning, only to grow on you very, very slowly over time. I'm grateful that the chatter around the drama is what brought the novel to my attention, but other than that, hard pass.

Favorite Male Character: Lots of good ones this year, but I'm gonna go with Cang Xuan (Zhang Wan Yi) from Lost You Forever. The conflict he faces between getting enough power to protect the people he loves the most and that power making him incompatible with those loved ones is so compelling, and his yearning for Xiao Yao even when she's right in front of him is wrenching. Full disclosure, I also just really love the sound of his voice

Favorite Female Character: This could easily have gone to Li Susu (TTEOTM), Xiao Yao (LYF), or Ren Ruyi (AJTL), but I'm gonna go with Bai Lu's Xiang Xue Ning in The Story of Kunning Palace. Something I really loved about this character was just how jaded Xue Ning really was, even in her second go round at life. Yeah, she wants to make amends for the harm done in her previous rise to power, but that has hardly turned her into a good--or even pleasant--person. Instead, she's incredibly skeptical and still plays most things ice cold, especially with her family. As a bonus, we got plenty of Bai Lu's fantastic side eye as she basically had to do high school all over again when she gets called into the palace despite her very best efforts not to be.

Favorite Ship: Ren Ruyi and Yuan Zhao from A Journey to Love have got to be it. They balance each other out so well, and over the course of the drama, learn to communicate effectively with each other whenever they have a problem. They also recognize that not all problems can be solved by ~love~, which makes their relationship even more compelling when they decide to prioritize each other in a way that respects what the other wants from life.

Favorite Secondary Ship: Little princess Yang Ying and Yuan Lu absolutely broke stole my heart in A Journey to Love. Doomed love even more than the main OTP, these two's youthful romance was such much fun to watch, especially as they egged their respective mentors on in their own romance. Yang Ying's recognition that her first love did not have to be her only love is also something I always love to see, even as it broke my heart that (spoiler) she and Yuan Lu never really had a chance at an HEA. Their relationship really exemplified a key theme of this drama: that you should love the people you love while they're still with you because tomorrow is never promised.

Non-2023 Dramas that I Watched: Two non-2023 dramas I watched that deserve a special shout out are Love and Redemption and The Sword and the Brocade. Love and Redemption prepared me to really appreciate the big swings that Till the End of the Moon took, and The Sword and the Brocade went a little way to filling the Story of Ming Lan shaped hole in my heart. The Sword and the Brocade also had absolutely searing critique of the concubine system, even as it featured one of the most genuinely good-hearted FLs I've seen. Would recommend both!

Most Looking Forward To: Yes, I'm a sucker and the censors (not to mention the characters) will probably break my heart, but I'm still crossing my fingers that Lost You Forever S2 will live up to the promise of part one. See above: still a CDrama beginner, have not yet had all the optimism knocked out of me. Sue me.

#CDrama #year in review #Lost You Forever #A Journey to Love #The Story of Kunning Palace #My Journey to You #Hidden Love #Chang Feng Du #Destined CDrama #Till the End of the Moon #Love You Seven Times #Gone with the Rain #Ren Ruyi #Yang Ying #Yuan Lu #Bai Lu #Meta #CDrama Review

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m3loria · 15 days

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❛ WELCOME TO MY WORLD ❜

꒷꒦ insight from user _luvfix! ─ 041720

﹙ ✦ ﹚ as we all know, there's sight of a new group debuting under louvix audio next month. we are all.. clearly, very fucking confused as to what is going on, but we've been let it on some things. it's a boy group, they're clearly going to have more members than RiX, and they're going to be called ❝ MELIORA ❞, pretty name i have to admit, even with the speculation. i'm aware that RiX disbanded about four years ago now, so bringing them up again seems to be a bit of an odd choice, but in the end, they all connect together with a specifically crafted string of events. the formation of this new group (who we weren't even aware was being formed until early january) can be thanks to many of these events. whether they will be successful or not is a mystery, but for now i simply hope the company has changed their ways.

TRACK I : the company ❪ LOUViX AUDiO ❫

if you'll believe me, louvix audio originally started out as a tiny family business out in the small town of namwon-si in the north jeolla province in 1991. the company started as a private record label that managed miniature talent around the city, the original ceo soo jinho and his wife min sarang operated the company, and their son soo jaejin (our future & now ex ceo). in the early 90s all throughout the late years of the decade when it was first formed, louvix audio could be described as invisible, simply a label no one had ever heard of that tried their best to get out of their mountains of debt with trot songs no one exactly wanted to hear. a far cry from what this mess of a label has became today, but in the days where it was at it's lowest, there seemed to be no potential.

but though all hope seemed lost, our good friend jaejin seemed to see potential in the company with an admittedly catchy name. it took him a few years to actually convince his parents to reroute the company to seoul, mainly because they never wanted it to be more than it was, they were planning on shutting down the company by the end of the decade, but he knew he couldn't lose such a gem without doing something with it.

so jaejin did something just a little dirty.. he lied to his parents. once his parents had abided by his wishes, he swindled his father out of the ceo position! truly not his best course of action.. because he got disowned almost immediately. but who cares? he had a company, and a plan, which was easier said than done, because breaking into the entertainment industry as a no name company in a place as big as seoul would prove to be difficult, and it was evidently.

for the time being, whilst trying to make themselves known among the idol industry, louvix audio began a little bit of a career patching firm for actors and actresses who seemed to have effectively destroyed their own careers. while they were trying to make their name in the idol industry, slowly they became much more known for taking in the people who had pitch forks at their throats and made them seem more.. human, even with the eyebrow raising suspicions most people in the public had about this whole.. thing.

before ever reaching the success they did with their second boy group, louvix audio had a few idol group projects, projects we'll get into in the next section.. projects that frankly, no one gave a shit about. maybe the creativity was too ahead of it's time, or maybe it's just that no one had enough time to pay attention to groups from tiny companies that tried to patch up broken careers. most of their early groups disbanded within one year of their career, and if they even did get some attention, tragedy after tragedy followed them, causing for their collapse.

though there was a clear decline in attention throughout their early days, louvix audio eventually rose to the infamy they're now left with. it was really in the 2000s that they started to pick up momentum in the industry they so desperately wanted to get into. i assume that a cheshire grin must've spread across jaejin's face once he realized what the company was good for, producing "angels", marketing their idols as the sweetest beings to ever grace the earth, up the parasocialness, deliver to fans' every single request.

the company made a name for themselves for having "sweet" idols, their groups following 2001 always being crafted as sweet trainees who simply wanted to make music together. they had a reputation for fixing careers, so it only made sense that their idols would.. naturally be sweet.

and that's how it was for almost up to two decades. with jaejin as ceo, louvix audio quite literally lived up to their name, they were regarded as "the lovely's", and who could really argue with that? they were so good at covering their tracks and keeping their idols without scandal that it seemed the lovely facade they placed upon their idols wasn't much of a facade at all. it wasn't until 2016, with the disbandment of their biggest group, the uncovering of jaejin's years of tax fraud and forging, as well lawsuit after lawsuit against the company for complaints such as child endangerment, unfair pay, the violation of child labor laws, and so much more that the rose tinted glasses had been lifted.

after spending so long building his company up from ash, getting disowned by his parents and making sure to do anything to achieve public spotlight, soo jaejin, along with several staff members (including dance teachers, vocal coaches, and even musical producers) were charged for their crimes. quite literally more than half of their entire company were either behind bars or now fired, which included the ceo. their last big group disbanded, and everything was now back at square one.

there was silence for about a year and a half, until someone new took the position of ceo, who is our current ceo today, a woman by the name of mae eunkyung. her main job was 'to patch up this mess of a company', as she said in an interview after obtaining her ceo position. she's been here since the beginning, practically doing everything for louvix audio back when they were trying their best to make their name big. she's often suspected to be the secret lover of our former ceo, who, it's important to be said, did confess to having an affair with someone in that company, but it's most likely to be someone who caught charges with him in comparison to the woman who seems to have such a clean slate with no sign of mishaps whatsoever.

in all honesty, she seems too perfect, which is pretty shocking because who expects much from kpop ceos these days? it seems that every other month a ceo is purposefully sabotaging their own groups, but i guess a ceo being a decent person is enough to make me have a little more faith in humanity.

so!! that's where we are now, the current ceo is a woman who is much too nice that it causes suspicion, and almost everyone has been changed to avoid the same situation from happening again. seems that they dropped the whole "angel" thing too, but it doesn't mean they still don't have some strange marketing tactics. considering this will be their first group in four years, i'm curious to see what they'll try to pull now.. but i guess all we can do is wait.

꒦꒷ ʾ THEPROFiLE !

NAME LOUVIX AUDIO

TYPE PRIVATE

FOUNDER SOO JINHO & MIN SARANG

FOUNDED MAY 16, 1991

BASED GANGNAM, SEOUL, SK

TRACK II : a turbulent first few years ❪ the first groups ❫

though they've now had their existences completely scrubbed from the public eye, courtesy of jaejin's own insistence, the first few groups of louvix audio became the building blocks for the groups coming in the future. they've unfortunately never reached the fame their successors would have, which sucks in hindsight because these groups and their early disbandments were the only reason louvix audio and their future groups could rise to the top like they so desperately wanted to. it's sad to see how quickly they faded from view, and how the company did so much to erase them from everywhere they could. considering most of these groups were pre-youtube, we only know about their existences because of the members again bringing them back into the limelight with their own videos.

VALENTINE R!SING 「 1997–1998 」 was the first ever group out of louvix audio, a group that put pink in.. well everything. it was strange to discover that their first ever group was a girl group considering the company is better known for their boy groups, and it's also pretty strange that their lineup was so stacked.. yet they didn't fare well. their lineup consisted of a breakthrough actress, a rising mc, the daughter of a famous music producer, a former solo artist, and.. some unknown. the lineup seemed to be destined for success, they were pink pop perfection, but their downfall was also inevitable. their debut barely gained traction, and when it did, it was only because the members didn't exactly seem happy to be on stage. the members were picked apart for their clear lack of passion for the idol life, and when the buzz down died, so did everything else about them. in recent years they've gained some traction because their old title tracks are much too irresistible, but the members will never return to the idol industry, some of them fading into the background.

꒦꒷ ʾ THEPROFiLE !

GROUP NAME VALENTINE R!SING ( 발렌타인 라이징 )

FANDOM NAME CHOCOLATE HEARTS

DEBUT DATE FEBRUARY 14, 1997

DISBANDMENT DATE SEPTEMBER 2, 1998

MEMBERS KYUNGHWA, MIHEE, SOMIN, JIAE, CHANMI

LAND (lost angels of neverland) 「 1998–1998 」 was a boy group clearly ahead of their time, i have to say, their concept was pretty magical, i'm hoping for a resurgence in the near future. the group that sported four members captured the hearts of the public pretty quickly, and they could've been something if the company actually cared to put any effort into using their fame. the problem with them was that they were all piggybacking off the success of their center member, who, after an insane modeling gig, became the only member people actually bothered to remember. even people who didn't stan the group knew him by name, and when that happened, so did the jealousy. the group fell apart in a matter of eight months, all of it culminating into a physical altercation that left their reputation strained. if louvix audio just put a little more effort, maybe they would be remembered as a group with a promising concept and good music.. but i guess were in the universe where it was all destined to go wrong.

꒦꒷ ʾ THEPROFiLE !

GROUP NAME LOST ANGELS OF NEVERLAND ( 네버랜드의 잃어버린 천사들 )

FANDOM NAME ETERNITY

DEBUT DATE JANUARY 20, 1998

DISBANDMENT DATE SEPTEMBER 25, 1998

MEMBERS JUNHO, ZERO, HYUNJUN, TAESOO

AETHRA 「 2000–2002 」 was a trio that were as popular as they were a ticking time bomb. though they only lasted a good two years, they carved a name for themselves in a more infamous way than the members probably would've wanted. consisting of aeri, tahlia, and runa, the group would garner the most success louvix audio had captured in years, especially opening up to the japanese market, the members were terrific moneymakers for the company that had been struggling for the better half of a year. though they had good beginnings, the members quickly fell into a deep cycle of partying, substances, and violence that took up their lives more than actually being idols did. it all culminated into their final stage in 2002, where all three members, exhausted beyond recognition, decided to quit the idol life and walk off stage. it began with runa, who expressed her frustrations with the industry before stomping off, then followed by aeri and tahlia. the company was forced to make a statement about their decisions, stating that each member had requested to terminate their contracts, and even with the chaos in their lives, the three remain friends to this day, still despising louvix audio.

꒦꒷ ʾ THEPROFiLE !

GROUP NAME AETHRA ( 에이트라 )

FANDOM NAME 7TH HEAVEN

DEBUT DATE MAY 15, 2000

DISBANDMENT DATE AUGUST 1, 2002

MEMBERS AERI, TAHLIA, RUNA

so yeah.. the first few attempts were met with disappointment after disappointment, it's a wonder that they didn't just give up and went through with their whole 'actors rehabilitation project' or whatever that was, but i guess it wasn't a mistake for them to not stop, because they're biggest successes would come in the following years, even if it came with some sacrifices.

TRACK III : now comes the success! ❪ the golden groups ❫

it would all become something in the mid 2000s, which is when our named company finally found their calling, producing the most "angelic" of idols who would capture the hearts of the public, all with clean slates and completely free of scandal. they would, quite literally, put every other company to shame with the amount of parasocialness they allowed to pass by, their idols would be beloved simply due to the fact that the company had insanely good marketing. when you look back at it now, it's dangerous how much the company let breeze past just to keep up the images of their idols, but then again, when has a kpop company ever been necessarily ethical?

RIX (meaning 'rising of six') 「 2006–2016 」 was the group back in their heyday. if you didn't like them, everyone assumed you were trying to be different. the hexad quickly captured the hearts of the public for their down to earth attitude and genuine group bond, they were beloved because they just seemed like a group of guys who liked making music together. RIX were jaejin's magnum opus, following their debut in 2006, they shot to soaring heights of success, winning rookie award after rookie award, nothing could compare to their success, they were a powerhouse of a group. a good year after their debut, they were dubbed "angels", they were so loved that it seemed physically impossible for any of them to slip up.

for the ten years they were made to stay together, RIX practically held up the louvix audio building, everything they touched turned into gold, they were selling things out left and right. they had charmed south korea, then they charmed japan, then china, then thailand, then they completely charmed the west with their indescribable charisma, they were hard to miss in 2007–2011, they were quite literally everywhere. you couldn't get rid of them, unfortunately, and because of their success, it was only right to push single after single out of them. the group were overworked yes, but they kept it all under wraps with their perfectly placed smiles, smiles that were a little too perfect to actually be anything real.

but while their success was enjoyed, there always has to be an end. though RIX was originally meant to disband in 2013, on account of the seven year contract all of them had signed with the company, they went on for three years longer than they initially planned, it only took some begging from their higher ups, who practically depended on them for the income the company was making at the time. the last few years of RIX's activity were slow.. nothing like their glory days where you could find them plastered everywhere, painted smiles all up, figurative halos circled over their heads, screams after screams dedicated to them, it seemed that they simply went into hiding, what happened? where the hell did they go? people begged louvix audio for updates, but in an unusual manner, the company kept their silence.

hey remember that whole 2016 incident that put half of louvix audio's staff in jail including their ceo? yeah, the reason all the commencing lawsuits got so much traction was because the six members of RIX each filed lawsuits to end their contracts, along with every other charge staff members at the company had brought against them, the group had also accused the company of looking past physical abuse against their own trainees and idols, abuse that ranged from the usual forced diets to some trainees even accusing staff members of putting their own hands on them (which didn't stop at those who were underage). the whole thing was a mess, a legal battle that ended in louvix audio keeping copyright of RIX's name, and the group disbanding after ten years together.

to this day, even with new groups having debuted after them, louvix audio will never replicate the success they had with RIX, there seemed to be something raw, genuine, real about them. even today they are remembered as a loved group, the members saw particular horrors under that company, but they remain best friends till this day. they'll probably never be a group again, yes, but they'll stay in good memory.

꒦꒷ ʾ THEPROFiLE !

GROUP NAME RIX — RISING OF SIX ( 릭스 / 라이징 오브 식스 )

FANDOM NAME LUCKY8

DEBUT DATE APRIL 5, 2006

DISBANDMENT DATE JULY 19, 2016

MEMBERS MINHYUK, MAESI, FANG, DAE, ISEUL, SIHYUK

ANGELS KISS! 「 2007–2012 」 could've been the group, they were the group honestly, but there was a huge issue, louvix audio was only focused on RIX. though their first girl group in seven years was met with a similar amount of success, the company put a clear emphasis on their predecessors, and because of that, they started putting cracks into the carefully crafted facade their former group was so heavily keeping up. though their company was known for producing "angelic idols", as the years went on, the members slowly put that image to question. they were blasted for having "attitudes", being "attention seekers", they clearly bickered during behind the scenes interviews and not all of them got along it seemed. they were putting the "angelic idol view" that their company has crafted to shame with their shenanigans.

in comparison to their male counterparts, the members of ANGELS KISS! were deemed as "rowdy and rebellious". the members were often seen partying, drinking, doing substances, a lot of them were accused of dating around. they were deemed "whores", they were slutshamed, they were called irresponsible simply because they had private lives. did it all matter if they were performing well on stage? none of them ever gave 0%. they loved their jobs, they just also loved having lives outside of that job. they totally weren't jeopardizing anything!! they delivered good music and were never slacking, so who cared?

everybody, the answer is everybody. now, louvix audio isn't exactly a perfect company, but they were the company that composed of the perfect idols, so with a group that was challenging that carefully placed image, they had the least amount of content given as a result. the group worked day in and day out, killed themselves at practice to be given minimal rewards from their own company. their labelmates were the favorites, they got all the shiny stages and five star hotels, got to perform in the biggest stadiums in the country, but them? eh, they were also there. it didn't matter if they even sold out RIX in some aspects, it didn't matter if their fans were begging for bigger venues, for them to go to their countries, for them to expand to the west, this was what louvix audio felt they needed.

it seemed to work well, for the time being, the members got their act together (which meant they just began sneaking around), and they were rewarded for it. their success expanded, they caught the hearts of japan, of the us, of everyone. they were just like their seniors, except they brought girl crush like nobody ever did before. they were loved because they were unapologetic, maybe some people got bored of the picture perfect image RIX would showcase, stating that ANGELS KISS! was clearly the less fake of the two. the members were obvious about their issues, they didn't disguise anything, they showed everything, which included the ugly. if two members had fought, you would know, if the members were having trouble during promotions, you would know. they was still a facade there, but their smiles didn't look completely plastic, they had.. personality.

of course, this world isn't exactly fair, and the group eventually got a worse end than their seniors. it was in early 2012 that the "exposé" dropped. a former staff member, who had, in her own words, had been holding a grudge against the members, decided to go all out and blast all of ANGEL KISS!'s business in a lengthy document that would be copied, shared, and mark it's place in kpop as something that in retrospect, was not as messy as people made it seem, but back then? back then you'd think the members were sacrificing infants in rituals with how bad the outrage had gotten. the former staff member had hacked into the leaders phone, leaking everything of her's for the world to see. her messages between the members, her personal email, her family's personal information, and worst of all, her photos, personal photos, personal details, everything, it was a shit show. then, in the following months, the same would happen to each member, the person clearly had a grudge they were holding, and because of this "exposé" that member YEONA was revealed to have a relationship with ISEUL of RIX.

but why would this be bad on the girls? i hear you question. it's not like they necessarily did anything wrong, they had their privacy invaded by someone they thought they could trust. well, louvix audio didn't take too kindly to this. no no, they found it more important to punish the members than catch the culprit first. ANGELS KISS! would be put on an extended hiatus for months, canceling their oncoming tour with their largest US venue ever and completely scrubbing the internet of their existence. for months, whilst the investigation was ongoing, people were wondering what would happen if the group. they were finally answered when, later that year, the company announced that each of the girls decided to terminate their contracts with the company, ending their journey as a group together after just five years, three years of their original contract left. the news was devastating, people were angered, and they have every right to be! the group disbanded over something that wasn't even their fault.

but even with the protesting trucks, the petitions, the outrage, what was done was done, ANGELS KISS! would never again be a group, they were finished. it would be revealed later that the company had forced YEONA and ISEUL to break up, forbidding any of the members from even getting anywhere near the building. it's devastating really, because, if you take away everything, all of the members had their lives destroyed over something that could've been easily done with, but no, the company decided to end them. to this day, we still hope for the group to at least make mention of their old name, but it seems that the members all seem happier now that they're out of the idol life. i can only hope for the best for them.

꒦꒷ ʾ THEPROFiLE !

GROUP NAME ANGELS KISS! ( 엔젤 키스 )

FANDOM NAME AUREOLE

DEBUT DATE JULY 30, 2007

DISBANDMENT DATE NOVEMBER 20, 2012

MEMBERS EUNHYE, YEONA, AMARIS, NABI, BLAIRE

﹙ ✦ ﹚ well there you have it! most of the history of louvix audio and the clown show that was their groups before meliora. this is a little personal, but i was around for the craze of the last two, even own some of their albums.. with that being said, i really do hope this new ceo is hoping to change things, the company's always had problems, and we really don't want any more hacking staff members. i don't think i'll be tuning in for MELIORA, but i wish the members the best of luck under a company with a history such as this one. — user _luvfix

#◝﹙ a little history ! ﹚#fake kpop group #fake kpop idol #fictional idol group #fictional kpop boy group #fictional kpop community #fictional kpop company #fictional kpop group #fictional kpop idol #fictional kpop oc #idol oc #kpop boy group #oc kpop group

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spicyvampire · 2 months

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Hi, since GMM has many Thai BL series, just wondering, do you have favorites from them? If you do, do you have 10 you like most so far?

I do not have the best relationship with GeeMeeMee but over the years they have provided some tasty bls here and there, I'll try to give you a little top 10

1.Not Me (2021)

To me that's like the best GeeMeeMee show ever made, great activism story, all the storylines are compelling, it gets accidentally funny with the twins stuff and the fact that Yok the resident arsonist is tryna fuck that cop so bad, but with Yok's help Dan finished realizing that he was part of a system that was beyond fixing and it was better to get himself free of it than staying, honestly has one of the best storyline and character development ever written in a bl

2. 3 Will Be Free (2019)

A gay mafia son, a stripper and a gogo bar manager walk into a bar, shenanigans ensue. To this day, the only GeeMeeMee show to have given me an endgame throuple and frankly one of the only cannon throuples we have in bl

3. Moonlight Chicken (2023)

By god Wen fucked that old man in the chicken shop, but in all seriousness this bl probably has the best breakup storyline I've ever seen in any media ever, it's a truly masterpiece; also we saw the story of a deaf character who uses sign language and that's not something you see often in bl tbh, wish we had more Gaipa and Alan but you take what u can get

4. Cherry Magic Thailand (2023)

Honestly this one took me by surprise, I'm not a fan of remakes but they did a really good job adapting those japanese characters to a Thailand setting while keeping some of the japanese background there, and go a bit further and deeper than the original did with some of the characters

5. Wandee Goodday (2024)

This one was my obsession for the last few weeks, unfortunately I think the show lost some momentum around the middle of it, and it needed more balance on some stuff, like one of Dee's big trauma wasn't even resolved even if they showed it affecting him pretty severely at least twice, while we spend like almost the whole 2nd half of the show on Yak's, overall very silly and enjoyable and also nice asexuality representation which is not something you see often in bl

6. The Eclipse (2022)

I'm not really a high school boy bl type of person and I usually avoid them but they got me with this one, I think Akk's storyline ressemble Dan's a lot in the sense that he had to realize he was part of a system that is bad and is using him to maintain a bad status quo and then had to free himself from it even if that's all he's ever known, Ayan is of course of a great help with his flirtiness, shenanigans and overall fuck the rules attitude

7. Bad Buddy (2021)

Thai bl's Romeo and Juliet, what I loved the most about this one was the attention put on the dynamics of Pran and Pat and their respective families, and how even if they didn't succeed in changing their fighting parents minds, they stayed together and continued to love each other because at the end of the day, the love was between them and it had nothing to do with their parents

8. He's coming to me (2019)

I love me a ghost story like any other guy, so this was right up my lane, I gotta admit it's been like 4 years since I've seen this so I don't remember the storyline clearly, but it left a good impression on me, so much that years later I still think of it as good

9. Only Friends (2023)

Top 10 messiest friend group ever created, this could have been higher on the list if they didn't do Boston dirty in the very last goddamn episode of the show

10. Dark Blue Kiss (2019)

I honest to god remember nothing about the mains but this show has the best coffee shop au in the ql universe and it's from 2019, SunMork chemistry is just firing all over the place, definitely my favorite Gawin ost too

#ask #oof this was hard

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andiwriteordie · 2 years

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andi !! here’s a prompt that is so self indulgent but i know in my heart you would write so well!! mike and will in college in a big city, running to catch a late train home from dinner/a club meeting/an event. it was raining outside, they’re out of breath, will has crashed into mike from the momentum of being pulled inside the car, and mike’s got his arms wrapped around will and doesn’t seem to be too keen on letting go. (oh. and at a second glance— the car is deserted except for the two of them.)

hehehehehe okay this one was fun, and i flipped it just a teeny bit, but here you go my dearest suni <3 some modern byler in nyc together!

—

i get lost with you.

It’s raining outside.

It’s raining outside, because of course, it is, and Mike’s Converse are water-logged, and his socks are soggy and gross, and he’s completely soaked to the bone—so much so that he probably looks something like one of the sewer rats that New York City is so famous for. It’s raining outside, and look, rain definitely wasn’t in the forecast today, because Mike had checked—many, many times, thank you very much—before leaving his dorm this morning and making the three or so hour drive to Will’s place for their date.

Then again, Mike supposes he didn’t really pay much attention to what the weather would look like at nearly two in the morning. Truth be told, he’d expected the night to look a little bit different—that he and Will would go out for dinner at whatever place Will had decided on (since this is Will’s city, and he knows it far better than all the shitty travel websites Mike had been trying to look through), maybe walk around a little bit and do some sight-seeing (since Mike’s only been to NYC a few times and is nowhere close to being familiar with his boyfriend’s home), and then head back to to Will’s place for some much needed alone time (since it’s really a pain in the ass to go from seeing each other every single day over the summer to only seeing each other every couple of weeks).

But then tonight, things hadn’t exactly gone like how Mike had planned. Though, if Mike’s learned anything this year, it’s that sometimes the best things happen to him when life doesn’t go according to his plan.

(Will Byers?

Not exactly part of Mike’s plan.

Will Byers?

Absolutely, without a doubt, the best thing that’s ever happened to Mike.)

So yeah, Mike’s vague plan to get dinner and sightsee for a few hours before going back to Will’s place had been all but thrown out the window in favor of a much more spontaneous, chaotic kind of evening, stretching into the darkest hours of the night. Honest to God, Mike doesn’t know how they ended up this far away from Will’s place in Manhattan, and it’s not really that reassuring when Will takes out his phone and pulls up the Maps app and sheepishly admits he doesn’t really know where the two of them are at. But at the same time, Mike can’t bring himself to care.

He hasn’t laughed this hard or had this much fun since—well, since camp earlier this summer, back when he was with Will and with the rest of the Party. College is great and all, and yeah, Mike has a handful of friends at Brown. But none of them are the Party, and none of them are Will.

And truthfully, Mike feels most like himself when he’s around Will anyways, so that’s why it doesn’t matter that Mike’s Converse are water-logged, or that his socks are soggy and gross, or that he probably looks like one of New York City’s rats.

All that matters right now is that he’s with Will—right where he belongs.

“Come on!” Will laughs, and he looks up from his phone, turning around to look back at Mike. There are rain droplets caught on his eyelashes, and his cheeks are a slight shade of pink, probably from running around the streets of Brooklyn or the Bronx or whatever the fuck burrough they’re in right now, because Mike lost track a while ago. “There’s a station right up there!”

“You said that a block ago,” Mike points out, unable to keep a cheeky grin off his face. Boyfriend or not, it’s still fun to see Will get a little riled up, and besides, Will looks really cute when he rolls his eyes.

(Mike would know. He’s an expert at making Will Byers’ eyes roll.)

Will indeed rolls his eyes, and then he narrows them slightly at Mike, playful and fond but also exasperated. “Sorry,” he says dryly. “I thought it was closer than it was.”

“Yeah, well,” Mike replies easily, and he grins again as Will’s eyes narrow in suspicion, “I probably shouldn’t have trusted you to navigate us in the first place. God knows you have no sense of direction—”

“More than you!” Will huffs, spinning around and pushing on Mike’s chest lightly. There’s an offended look on his face, but he’s also clearly trying to hold back his smile. “I’m not the one who got his entire cabin lost in the woods for six hours—”

“That was one time, and I wasn’t even a counselor yet, so really, it was Jonathan’s fault—”

“It was definitely more than one time,” Will interrupts, rolling his eyes again at Mike. There’s a smile tugging at his lips still and a fondness in his eyes that both seem to say, You’re an idiot, but you’re my idiot.

And God, he looks beautiful, wrapped up in the windbreaker Mike’s glad now he grabbed on his way out this morning, ecause maybe a couple hours ago, Will had gotten chilly, and of course, Mike had given him the windbreaker without any hesitation. And honestly, it’s more to Mike’s benefit than it is Will’s because of the simple fact that Will Byers wearing his clothes is something that Mike’s not sure he’ll ever get over.

“I don’t remember there being any other times,” Mike whispers back, just to be stubborn and just because it’s stil fun to tease Will like this, to get him riled up, to see if he’ll take the bait, to jump back into the push and pull that is their relationship.

Of course, it’s Will, and he takes the bait—because God forbid either of them let the other one have the last word. He narrows his eyes again, that playfully exasperated look stillon his face, and he takes another step towards Mike, pressing on his chest lightly.

“You got lost last summer in the woods with Dustin and El,” Will reminds, his voice low and teasing. “Lucas, Max, and I had to come find you and your campers. Remember?”

Rain continues to fall from the sky above them, and Will Byers stands right in front of Mike, with his playful little smirk and his rosy cheeks and his eyes full of a dare—challenging Mike to finish what he’s started, to join him in this dance of theirs, and to find an adequate enough quip to keep this argument going.

And truthfully, Mike can’t find it in him.

The rest of the argument’s there. The bantering’s there too. The playful back-and-forth, back-and-forth that they’re both so accustomed to—that’s all still there, buried somewhere in the back of Mike’s mind. But right now, Will Byers is right here, shivering a bit still from the cold and the rain, and his hand is still pressed gently against Mike’s chest, and he’s here, he’s here, he’s here.

And all Mike wants is for him to be closer.

It feels natural when Mike reaches his own hand up, curling his fingers around Will’s wrist. The touch is still like electricity, even now, and Will must think so too, because his breath catches as Mike pulls him closer and kisses him—slowly, carefully, deliberately.

Will’s lips are slick with rain water, and the faint taste of the strawberry ice cream he’d ordered a couple hours ago lingers still. With his free hand, Mike reaches out towards Will, wrapping his arm around his waist and pulling him close, close, close but still not close enough. Immediately, Will’s other hand reaches up to cup Mike’s face, and his fingers are gentle but freezing against Mike’s cheek.

The closer now that he is, the more Mike can notice just how much his boyfriend is shivering—an unfortunate reminder that, as much as he’d like to stay here in this moment with Will underneath the street lamps in some shady Brooklyn or Bronx or whatever neighborhood, the two of them should get out of the rain and go home.

“We should get going,” Mike mumbles, though he makes no effort to pull away.

“Yeah,” Will whispers back, just as breathless as Mike feels right now, “we should.”

He doesn’t move away either, still looking up at Mike with a softness in his eyes reserved only for Mike. The street lamp above them shines right on Will, casting him in a gentle, golden glow, and when he smiles again at Mike, less playful and more tender now, Mike feels a bit weak in the knees.

It’s funny in moments like these to think about everything that brought them here. All the chaos and the fighting and the drama that brought them here—to these little moments stolen for the two of them, where Mike looks and where all he can see is Will Byers.

And maybe, just maybe, it’s too soon to tell… but Mike gets the feeling that moments like these are only the beginning for the two of them.

So, he leans forward, pressing another brief kiss against Will’s lips, before pulling away and smiling. “Come on,” Mike says softly, “we should get home.”

The subway station’s dark and empty, Mike counts at least two rats that scurry past them on their way down, and oh yeah, the train’s about to leave.

“Shit,” Will swears as the two of them make it down the last of the steps and catch sight of the subway doors closing. “Shit, shit, shit—”

And look… look, Mike’s only been to New York City a few times with his family, and God knows that they were not taking the subway on those trips to the city. His first time riding on one of New York's world famous subways was, in fact, just earlier today, and it’d been a rather harrowing experience, if Mike’s being honest. Will had definitely given him shit for it, but that’s nothing new.

Anyways, Mike’s experience with New York City and its public transit is fairly limited, but he knows the stupid subway system runs 24/7. If they miss this train, then that’s fine, because then, they can just wait here until the next one comes in.

All of that to say, Mike doesn’t really get why his boyfriend—his “used-to-be-on-the-track-team” and “doesn’t-get-breathless-chasing-after-six-year-olds-at-camp” boyfriend—is currently hauling ass towards the subway like the world will end if they don’t make it to the subway car this time. But whatever reason Will has for hauling ass towards the subway, Mike is getting dragged right alongside him—Mike, aka the “horrible-at-every-sport-but-especially-track” and “does-get-breathless-chasing-after-six-year-olds-at-camp” boyfriend in this relationship.

It’s great.

Somehow though, Mike manages not to trip over his own two feet, and he manages not to fall to certain death when Will pulls him into the subway car right as the door closes. The momentum does, however, send him crashing right into Will’s arms, and together, the two of them stumble backwards, barely able to stay upright until Will’s back hits the metal pole in the middle of the subway.

“Ow,” Will mutters with a wince, but still, his arms wrap around Mike, grounding him, holding him close, and steadying him. He’s still soaking wet—they both are—but not shivering as much as he was moments before.

“Sorry,” Mike breathes. He doesn’t make an effort to pull away, because this time, he doesn’t need to. This time, they’ve got nowhere to be, and they’re no longer caught in the rain and the cold, so Mike can just be here. He can just enjoy this moment with his boyfriend.

Will blinks the rain droplets out of his eyes, and he gazes up at Mike, a small smile forming on his face. His arms are still wrapped around Mike’s waist, and he’s pinned up against the metal pole in the middle of the subway, Mike’s body flush against his own. Surprisingly, he’s just as breathless as Mike is, though Mike thinks it’s not from their little sprint into the subway car.

“‘S okay,” Will whispers back, resting his hand carefully against the small of Mike’s back.

A beat passes.

There’s nobody else in the subway car, Mike notices. That’s a little surprising, especially for New York City, but hey, he’s not complaining here. Alone time with Will is something that’s awfully hard to come by—especially being in a long distance relationship—so Mike will take any time the two of them can get alone together that the universe is willing to give them.

“You gonna let me go?” Will murmurs, his voice low and his expression teasing. That playful look from before has returned to his face, and he knows exactly what he’s doing, goading Mike back into their familiar back-and-forth, flirty dynamic. Will has Mike exactly where he wants him, or maybe Mike has Will exactly where he wants him.

“Never,” Mike whispers back.

And then, without another moment of hesitation, Mike’s lips are crashing into Will’s, and his hands are cupped around Will’s face, pressing him back into that metal pole even more and keeping him right where Mike wants him. A small, muffled noise escapes Will’s lips in the briefest moment of surprise—to which Mike nearly has to laugh, because Will knew exactly what he was doing and really shouldn’t have been surprised.

There’s something to be said about the way that kissing Will makes Mike feel—that even after all this time, a kiss from Will Byers would still feel like electricity, like a lightning strike during the middle of a storm, like every single one of Mike’s senses has been awakened and brought to life by the sheer proximity to Will. It’s no wonder that Mike so consistently has felt drawn to him, even in those years where he’d never admit it, and it’s no wonder that every single step towards Will Byers had sent Mike Wheeler careening towards a point of no return.

Every single bad decision that’s brought him to this point just fades away, because Will is here, his body still a bit cold and damp just like Mike’s own, his arms pulling Mike closer to him and pressing the two of them together, his lips soft and warm and pressed against Mike’s—never once giving a moment of respite because that’s not Will. Because Will’s always kept Mike on his toes, always met every single challenge with one of his own, always pushed Mike and pulled Mike, and always made Mike better because of it.

And in this moment, the rest of the world seems to disappear, the way everything always does when Mike is with Will. Everything about Will demands his attention simply because he’s Will, and his presence is intoxicating and magnetic, continually pulling Mike closer and closer and closer to him without any effort at all.

“You,” Will mumbles against their kiss, and he runs his hands underneath Mike’s shirt, causing Mike to shiver at his touch, “should come visit me more.”

It’s not a demand, because God knows that’s not Will either. For as long as Mike’s known Will, he’s known Will as the type of person who only asks for something when he really wants it.

That fact causes a smugness and a warmth to bloom inside Mike’s chest, and he pulls back, just enough to breathe and to smirk at his boyfriend. “Should I?” he whispers.

A smile tugs at Will’s lips, and he rests his hand gently against the small of Mike’s back, pulling him closer still. “Yeah,” Will breathes, his voice low and raspy, “you should.”

He kisses Mike again now, slowly deepening the kiss with each moment that passes—and Mike hums, leaning into the kiss and running his thumb across Will’s cheek carefully.

“Okay,” Mike murmurs, his lips still lingering against Will’s, “but only because you asked so nicely.”

Will huffs out a little laugh, his eyes crinkling as he smiles. “And because you like me,” he teases back, and he adds, with a kiss between each word, “You. Like. Me. So. Much.”

This time, Mike can’t help but laugh, and he smiles back at Will as the two of them meet his eyes.

Just like before, the argument’s there. The bantering’s there too. Their playful back-and-forth, back-and-forth—all of that is still there. Mike doesn’t think that’ll ever change. He hopes they never change.

But right now, all Mike can do is smile at his boyfriend and kiss him in an empty subway car in the middle of the night somewhere lost in New York City and whisper, “Yeah… I really do.”

#andi's asks #byler #byler ficlet #hehe!#this was fun #andi writes not dies

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whatwouldvalerydo · 3 months

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The theory of blow magic - Quidditch tent rumors - 2/9

OC's mentioned in this part belong to: @slytherindisaster @the-al-chemist @lifeofkaze and @that-scouse-wizard

Warning: minor sexual references (nothing major)

Come morning Ethel and Selene were sitting together at the far end of the table inside the Great Hall, breakfast cold as they studied a piece of paper, brows knit together as they turned and twisted it trying to make heads and tails of the piece of drawing in the right corner.

“It looks old are you certain?”

“As certain as I can be. I feel it in my bones.” Ethel gave a firm nod “Plus I heard it was found in the Ravenclaw changing tents so it must be some strategy.”

“Or a new play in order to try and gain an advantage.” Selene gasped, looking up in order to ensure no one heard them or paid close attention to what they were doing “Do you think they would resort to a last minute tactic.”

“Of course. Probably spent all year devising it. But why does it say magic?”

They both looked at the page once more, pushing each other as the idea came to their minds at the same time “They’re going to use magic.” Came their voices in unison, several people turning to look at the pair of friends.

“But that’s cheating.” Selene said alarmed while trying to keep her voice down.

“Indeed but it is not like we can go ask the captain if they plan on cheating. They would never divulge such information. And one gust of perfectly timed wind can blow someone off course at just the right time.”

“That is a vulgar notion. They cannot do that right at the end of the season. We must find out more.”

Ethel nodded her head before finally taking a piece of bread from her plate and shoving it in her mouth, trying to look as nonchalant as possible as she located Reuben in the crowd at the Ravenclaw table “Just look at him, chatting away.”

“Clearly up to something. We must to something.” She said casting a nasty look his way.

Cleaning the crumbs from her fingertips, Ethel devise a plan in two seconds flat “We divide and conquer. If there are several pages of this play, then someone must have found more. We ask around and if push comes to shove” she inhaled deeply “we go to the source.”

“Reuben?”

“No, the other source.”

Selene’s eyes widened “You know Leila will not utter a word.” Watching the girl in question pass the Ravenclaw table without sparing a glance at Reuben, the girls smiled at each other “The fates appear to be on our side.”

Letting some distance be created, they both nodded at each other as they bolted down the length of the Great Hall in pursuit of Leila. Turning a corner, Selene bumped into someone, causing Ethel to bump into her, the momentum carrying all three bodies to the ground.

“What the bloody muggle Hell are you two doing?” Laurent huffed as he gathered himself, a glare being directed at the two girls “Watch where you’re going would you?”

Apologies left their mouths as the girls got back on their feet, looking past Laurent, a heavy sigh leaving Ethel’s mouth “We lost her.”

“For now.”

Also getting up, Laurent picked up the piece of paper Ethel had dropped “Great, another one of these.” He rolled his eyes, passing it over to her.

“Wait, there are more? Can we have it?”

Shaking his head, he smirked “What’s it worth to you?”

“Only the very outcome of our most beloved game?”

Looking between them, Laurent shook his head “Don’t know what you two are on about, but we found a similar page in the Dueling club. Then someone started rambling about a curse or something.” Selene looked at him up and down as if the boy before her was talking a different language entirely “I don’t know who’s trying to stir trouble, but if it’s anything I know, someone is trying to blow some smoke up our asses right at the end and is playing a prank.” Passing then, he chuckled to himself “Blow magic, of all things.”

Looking over their shoulders, the pair straightened their backs and dusted their clothes. Hoax or not, something was happening and if by any chance it led to Quidditch being sabotaged, they would never forgive themselves for sitting back and doing nothing.

#selene fraser #ethel hexley #laurent yaxley #reuben willows #leila hellebore #hphl #the theory of blow magic

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taste-in-music · 9 months

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My Top 30 Songs of 2023

Hello everyone! Welcome back to my annual countdown of my 30 favorite songs of the year. 2023 had a lot of great music releases, and I’m so excited to recount the songs I returned to this year. And now, let us commence with the list!

Here are 10 additional honorable mentions: "Wide Eyes" by Loviet, "I Cry When You Sleep" by Pearly Drops, "Dreamgirl" by Father Koi, "My Love Mine All Mine" by Mitski, "Batman Song" by Cat Missal, "The Neighborhood" by Grace Enger, "I Been Young" by George Clanton, "Bright Red" by Ryan Beatty, "Dumbest Girl Alive" by 100 Gecs, and "The Narcissist" by Blur.

30. Angora Hills by Doja Cat: “Angora Hills,” a hit off Doja Cat's latest album Scarlet, is airy yet effortlessly self-assured, trading between quick-spit rap verses and a chorus of kitteny coos. But don’t get too lost in the sparkling keys and cutesy voicemails. There’s a spark, an edge, a darkness lurking in the murky bass and ominous synths which lends the song a greater intensity. “'Cause love is pain but I need this shit,” Doja Cat raps on the second verse, playing out cleverly rhymes romantic fantasies with an exhibitionist spin. “I wanna show you off,” she suggests on the song’s chorus, the red-hot desire roiling just beneath the surface.

29. Slut! by Taylor Swift: I think everyone was a little surprised hearing “Slut!,” the first vault track on 1989 (Taylor’s Version). When I first saw that title, I thought I was in for a catchy package of sassy one-lines and circa-2014 pop feminism. Instead, we got a tenderhearted ballad of wispy synths and Swift’s insightful musings on love in the limelight. Commentary does creep in (“Everyone wants him, that was my crime,”) but Swift focuses more on choice imagery of a love worth risking it all for: aquamarine swimming pools, thorny roses, and lovedrunk confessions. Sometimes, the most defiant thing is knowing that no matter how people might try to strip you of dignity, they’ll never be able to take your love away from you.

28. Nothing Matters by The Last Dinner Party: All-female British rock outlet The Last Dinner Party made a splash in 2023 with their confrontational yet exuberant debut single “Nothing Matters.” For a song with such a nihilistic title, it packs a punch of gravitas and a wry sense of humor. Lead vocalist Abigail Morris knows just when to heighten the melodrama, stretching the word “sailor” into “say-lahr” and belting the final refrain to the high heavens: “You can hold me like you held her / And I will fuck you like nothing matters.” In the music video, the group stomps around a gothic mansion in frilly petticoats and leather boots, tearing up feather mattresses and lip synching down to a camera positioned six feet deep in a grave. It all exhibits a keen ability to balance out the toughness with a cheeky wink, making it clear the group is only just getting started.

27. Running Out Of Time by Paramore: Much of Paramore’s sixth album This Is Why tears into the absurdity and stress of modern life. On “Running Out Of Time,” Hayley Williams captures the breakneck speed of life accelerated by packed schedules and the 24 hour news cycle, describing a self-destructive ouroboros of trying to catch up with the clock, doing her best to do good and always coming up short. “Intentions only get you so far,” she sings, “What if I’m just a selfish prick…?” It captures the stress and self-doubt, but also the conviction to keep moving forward despite it all. Williams provides a spirited performance as always, her vocals cutting through a pop rock groove that provides just enough energy to keep you from falling down the doom spiral completely.

26. Designated Driver by Taylor Janzen: Taylor Janzen’s debut album I Live In Patterns offered up several tracks which balanced heartfelt lyrics with propulsive pop flourishes, but it was “Designated Driver” that maintained the most momentum for me throughout this year. Atop a steady thrum of shimmering synths, Janzen unpacks her mixed feelings on being the "dependable friend," cracking under the pressure like a windshield. As the song builds, Janzen unveils the self-doubt eating away at her, where the raw emotions draw the other person in to detrimental effect: “you put your trust in a daydream / ’cause you love this dying part of me.” Janzen has the acute ability to put language to even the most obscure shades of anguish and giving them a more anthemic spin. “Designated Driver” is the song you can blast to get you through the grief, even as the toxicity shrinks away in the rearview.

25. One Of Your Girls by Troye Sivan: “One Of Your Girls” is a song so smooth that it’s easy to miss the melancholy which saturates its sparkling chords and clever lyrics. Troye Sivan taps into unrequited desire atop a lush, bassy thrum, describing a love interest who “everybody wants,” but who needs to keep their queerness covert. Sivan ushers in the song’s sing-along chorus with a languid sigh, glazing his voice in vocoder to keep the ache at bay: “Give me a call if you ever get desperate," he relents, "I'll be like one of your girls.” Pair it with a gender-bending music video, and you’ve got a song that delves into just how far a person might go obscure the hurt and save face.

24. I Need A New Boyfriend by Charly Bliss: It’s been four years since Charly Bliss’s last album Young Enough, and in 2023 they blasted back onto my radar with the scuzzy, snarky single “I Need A New Boyfriend.” This time, Charly Bliss sprinkle their anthemic rock sound with a touch of hyperpopping, bleep-blorping synths and churning electric guitars. Frontwoman Eva Hendricks laments her loser lover who grouches through parties and gives backhanded compliments, her observations both witty and scathing: “It took me three years but I finally figured it out / I’m just too fun for him,” “’Cause even though we had a five year plan / I couldn’t stay with him another minute.” By the song’s riotous end, you’ll also have the conviction to kick such soul suckers to the curb.

23. Feather by Sabrina Carpenter: It’s rare that a bonus track from a deluxe edition from an album is the source of a pop artist’s ascent to stardom. Rare, but not impossible. Case and point: “Feather,” the floaty bonus track from the deluxe edition of Sabrina Carpenter’s fifth album emails I can’t send. A downy kiss-off about leaving an ex in the past, Carpenter dreamily narrates the steps to her ghosting process over a softly strut beat of key glissandos and memorable ad-libs. It’s the humorous side of “Feather” that makes it a notable hit in Carpenter’s catalogue, the touches of sarcasm cut through the sweetness and showcase her multifaceted charisma as a performer. That little chuckle she lets out as she says “I’m so sorry for your loss” is the stuff superstars are made of.

22. LEFT RIGHT by XG: There was a handful of weeks back in the spring where every iota of my brain space was taken up by XG. The global girl group broke through with videos of the group’s rappers adding their own verses onto iconic modern beats, (group leader Jurin’s verse over ROSALÍA’s “SAOKO” is a bop and a half.) In a departure from the bombastic samples and in-your-face performances of those videos, XG takes a subtler approach on “LEFT RIGHT,” an ebullient blend of R&B and pop that goes down easy but has the same insidious ability to get stuck in my head. The lyrics are goofy yet earnest enough to make up for it. This boy has the narrator’s heart “Spinnin’ round and round / Just like my Pirellis, burning on the ground.” When a love is so strong it can pull you any direction, you’ve got no choice but to kick into gear and let the vibes carry you away.

21. Hummingbird by Metro Boomin ft. James Blake: When I took my seat in the theater to watch Spiderman: Across the Spider-Verse, the second installment in Sony’s stunning animated superhero franchise, I knew the music was going to slap, (the needle drop for “What’s Up Danger” from the first movie is one of my all-time favorites.) While the soundtrack has many a banger, it was ultimately the tender hearted “Hummingbird” that I latched onto. James Blake lends his silky soft vocals to wistfully pine for a love that always remains just out of reach. Metro Boomin elevates the distance Blake describes with spacious and spacey production, dappled with piano and a chirpy sample of Patience & Prudence's "Tonight You Belong to Me." It’s a love song that spans time and space, across the Spider-Verse and well beyond.

20. Patty's Diner by Upstate: “Patty’s Diner” by Upstate came to me via a recommendation from a friend, (shoutout @bellamysgriffin) and I don’t know whether to thank or throttle her for it, because it’s one of the most potent tearjerkers I’ve heard in recent memory. Upon my first listen, I found the song to be starkly understated, nothing but a plucked guitar and traded verses from both lead vocalists. The central character is Patty, a diner owner who passed away from cancer. Now, her memory lives on in late-night radio commercials and fading recollections of her kindness, all recounted with a melancholy shrug. In its staggering simplicity, “Patty’s Diner” captures something potent about the grief we hold for loved ones: it can come with a smile as well as tears. Take a page from Patty’s book and keep pushing forward. What else are we supposed to do?

19. There It Goes by Maisie Peters: On her sophomore album The Good Witch, Maisie Peters writes a lot about the breakup experience. A whole number of spunky kiss-offs from that record could’ve landed on this list, but as the autumn chill locked in for the final months of the year, I found myself more and more drawn to the album’s penultimate moment of reprieve. “There It Goes” shows Peters letting go of the relationship by pivoting towards self-improvement. Atop a warm strummed guitar groove, she lists off the steps to reconnecting with her friends and herself: going to yoga class, reading novels, stumbling through the streets of Stockholm. Much of The Good Witch focuses on the thunder of emotions which come from heartbreak. “There It Goes” is the calm after the storm. It demonstrates the much harder to describe but no less essential development that happens after growing apart: growing up.

18. Only Love Can Save Us Now by Kesha: On her latest album Gag Order, Kesha pivoted from the party anthems that put her on the map in favor of a sparer, darker sound. Then halfway through the album, “Only Love Can Save Us Now” swings in to prove that Kesha can still serve up a barn-burning banger if she wants, and thank god she does. On “Only Love Can Save Us Now,” Kesha unloads a list of unapologetic declarations over a typewriter-clack beat, each line wry and searing: “Yeah, I'm possessive / Maybe I'm possessed, bitch / Fuck yeah, I'm selfish / Shut up, eat your breakfast.” The chorus kicks in with a rollicking guitar, gospel choir, stomping drums, and jangly pianos which all lend a folksy intensity. “I don’t got no shame left,” Kesha sings in the song’s final moments, “Baby, that’s my freedom.” It’s a moment of deft catharsis on an album so heavily defined by what it holds back, a defiant invitation to exorcise your regrets and then invite your demons to come and join the dance party.

17. Mother Nature by MGMT: It’s been five years since MGMT’s last album Little Dark Age, and it feels like I’ve lived a whole lifetime since then. “Mother Nature,” the lead single off their fifth album Loss of Life, shows that MGMT have seemingly grown as much as I have. The song is warm and welcoming, built from sunshiny strummed guitars I’d usually expect from Alex G or Big Thief. But the stargazing, larger-than-life scope of the group’s past work remains, merging the mundane with the magical. “I wrote the fairytale on the midnight drive,” Andrew VanWyngarden sings in the song’s opening moments, “Wanting to know if I'm more than alive.” The rest of the song walks this line between enchantment and ennui, alluding to a greater darkness looming just beyond the horizon. The bridge makes a swing for the anthemic, describing a castle siege over scuzzy wails of distorted synth, a last swipe for hope “before the fantasy is cast into the fire.” I can’t wait to hear how “Mother Nature” fits into Loss of Life, but it’s a song that is determined to live life to the fullest, even in the most barren of landscapes.

16. brrr by Kim Petras: Over the past few years, Kim Petras has become one of the pop landscape’s most audacious players, knowing when to wallop her listeners with unrestrained discussions of sexuality and when to play it coy. She finds a perfect balance between these realms on “brrr.” Built off a beat of squelchy synths and throbbing bass, “brrr” is equal parts daring and alluring. Petras addresses a love interest who puts up thick walls of ice around their heart and makes it clear that she sees right through the charade. “I’m not one to be afraid,” she lilts teasingly on the pre-chorus. Instead of being put off, she buys in, the implication clear as she delivers the title line with a wink and a smirk: “...you think you’re so cold, brrr.” Leave it up to Petras to make even the iciest of imagery steamy as hell.

15. labour by Paris Paloma: It starts with a low male voice, way back in the mix, counting her in on four. Then, the storm clouds roll in. On social media, “labour” by Paris Paloma has been deemed an anthem of female rage, but unlike the immediate, memetic quality of its viral peers, “labour” understands that rage needs time to simmer before it explodes. Paloma airs out every grievance of how this women’s work batters us in body, mind, and spirit, ruthlessly recounting bursting capillaries, cracked skin, every bullshit archetype and patriarchy-serving expectation thrown our way. Paloma knows that at the end of the day, no amount of spectacle could hit harder than the all-too-simple truth at the song’s core: “It’s not an act of love if you make her / you make me do too much labour.” Her vocals layer and layer until the final chorus slams into you like a tidal wave of anger, and by the song's final moments, Paloma has made the narratives made to hold us back into something wholly her own.

14. Nymphs Finding the Head of Orpheus by Nicole Dollanganger: Of all the tales Nicole Dollanganger spins on her album Married In Mount Airy, “Nymphs Finding the Head of Orpheus” is by far one of the most elusive. Dollanganger offers up a foreboding atmosphere of feather-light strings and dark ambient reverb. The imagery centers on rebirth, the baptismal potential of a tepid pool, bodies reclaimed by nature. It has little to do with the gory bacchanal of the mythical moment in the title, but the insinuation remains, seeping in at the seams to suggest violence and regeneration as potentially interconnected. On an album so concerned with all the evils of men, perhaps the most terrifying thing of all is what lies beyond our standard perception of human actions, of nature locked in shadow. On "Nymphs Finding the Head of Orpheus," Dollanganger offers a glimpse of this disembodied face in the darkness, one we’ll never be able to truly know.

13. Sandrail Silhouette by Avalon Emerson: "Sandrail Silhouette" opens DJ Avalon Emerson's album & The Charm, reintroducing a new side of her craft. A departure from the electronic spin of her past work, the song feels organic yet gleaming, constructed of a move-and-shaker groove of rich strings, shuffleboard keys, and gloaming skids of bass. Emerson’s vocals waft over the landscape with the calming timbre of someone telling a bedtime story, stringing lyrics together like beads on a friendship bracelet. It’s an environment that’s easy to get lost in, so much so that it hit November before I even bothered to ask, what even is a "sandrail silhouette?" I have no clue, but it’s not so much about the words themselves as it is about the feelings they evoke, a wistful nostalgia that is aching yet hopeful. This feeling comes across in obtuse details (“Go ask a sequoia”) and stunning clarity alike (“Tell me I got more time / When all my friends are having daughters.”) Like the yearning for the past Emerson describes, my love for this song is hard to put into words. It’s easier to just sit back and let myself feel it.

12. WHAT A MAN by DEBBY FRIDAY: “WHAT A MAN” by DEBBY FRIDAY simply slams so fucking hard. I don’t know what else to say. From the very first listen I came to immediate conclusion that it slammed into oblivion and was one of my favorite songs of 2023. "WHAT A MAN" unfurls like an erotic noir thriller, all churning bass and musings on a love that’s slipped the narrator’s fingers. DEBBY FRIDAY’s lyrics are obtuse yet evocative, contributing to the seductive atmosphere: “I held a heart / It wasn’t mine / When he came looking / I wasn’t kind.” Stacks of escalating synths ratchet up the tension until all hell breaks loose on the back of a scorching electric guitar solo that’d make Andrew Lloyd Weber’s Phantom of the Opera jealous he didn’t come up with it first. It’s the kind of song that rips loose and is over all too fast, asking for forgiveness in the aftermath of ruin, and never, ever permission.

11. Top Dog by Magdalena Bay: Hands down the best pop song of the year to reference Laura Dern, a race that should by all means be a lot more competitive than it is. From its opening references to the actress, synth pop duo Magdalena Bay make it clear that this isn't a song where they're going to be taking themselves too seriously. Everything about "Top Dog" oozes lackadaisical confidence, all with a cheeky wink to the listener. Against a backdrop of strummed guitars, they pepper in samples of cameras snapping and, fittingly, dogs woofing. Not only that, but they also add in a healthy dose of aughts nostalgia with a synth palette that feels directly pulled from dial-up bleeps, Motorola ringtones, and 8-bit power-ups. Mica Tenenbaum’s vocals are a pitch-perfect balance of airy nonchalance and self-satisfaction, traversing through the goofy canine metaphors without once sounding like she’s forcing a punchline to land. It makes for a song that’s loopy, loping, and effortlessly fun.

10. Honey by Samia: It’s hard to pin down what makes the title track of Samia’s sophomore album so special. “Honey” is subtle yet anthemic, an ever-growing conviction coming into fruition over the song’s duration. “I’m not scared of sharks / I’m not scared to be naked / I’m not scared of anything,” Samia sings in the song’s opening moments, going on to narrate a continual climb towards self-confidence and determination. My favorite detail is the gradually growing backing chorus which appears and reappears with more intensity with each new iteration of the song’s main refrain. “It’s all honey,” Samia repeats, over and over at the song’s close. All the times I’ve listened to this song, and I still haven’t pinned down an exact meaning for that line, but maybe that’s the point. The nonchalance, the uncertainty, the acceptance that no matter where life takes us, it's sure to be sweet.

9. Welcome To My Island by Caroline Polachek: In the opening moment of Desire, I Want To Turn Into You, Caroline Polachek shows off the titanic potential of her voice, letting out a dexterous, breathtaking belt that warps and careens into the stratosphere. Even if the song was just comprised of its first thirty seconds, it’d probably still be on this list. But then, of course, there’s the rest of “Welcome To My Island,” a facetious introduction to the sonic space Caroline Polachek will go on to explore over the rest of the album. Over a glimmering, twitchy beat, Polachek half-raps, half-belts a series of pitches for her personal paradise of waving palm trees and placid oceans. On the song’s bridge, she gets more vulnerable, revealing the pathos amongst the phthalo blues: “I am my father’s daughter in the end,” she sings like she’s on the brink of tears, “no nothing’s gonna be the same again.” But when the groove snaps back over an outro of brassily tuned guitars and defiantly chanted “hey hey hey”s, it’s clear that Polachek’s island is worth booking an extended stay, self-doubt be damned.

8. bad idea right? by Olivia Rodrigo: “bad idea right?,” the second single on Olivia Rodrigo’s sophomore album GUTS, followed on the heels of operatic ballad “vampire” by not following it at all. Like the preceding sophomore single “deja vu,” it’s snarkier, wonkier, and (in my opinion,) way more engaging. While Rodrigo undeniably knows how to pen and pull off a dramatic power ballad, her comedic chops deserve recognition too. On “bad idea, right?” she chattily recounts a night of terrible decision making, tossing out hilarious, memorable one-liners at a dizzying rate: “…you're callin' my phone, you're all alone / And I'm sensing some undertones,” “I only see him as a friend / (The biggest lie I ever said,)” “I just tripped and fell into his bed.” The production ups the ante with a strutting bassline, ad-libs which drive every line home like Rodrigo’s inner monologue coming to life, and a squealing guitar solo in the song’s back end. " All in all, "bad idea right?" captures the tumultuous clownery that having a crush conjures up, self-aware embarrassment colliding with lovesick horniness that makes you look a wealth of poor choices the eye and brush it off with a “fuck it, it’s fine.”

7. Echolalia by Yves Tumor: Echolalia is baby babble, the sounds humans make when they don’t have a grasp on language, but still need to communicate some innate need. On their latest album Praise A Lord Who Chews, But Which Does Not Consume (Or, Simply, Hot Between World,) Yves Tumor taps into these primal urges, transmogrifying them to a cosmic level through the medium of phychedelic rock. Such is the case on slow burning second single “Echolalia,” a hazy whirlwind of devotion and desperation. “Looked up to god,” they sing in the first verse, “You looked so good.” Tumor’s voice stays in their husky lower register, gritted out with hushed intensity over an alluring blend of gleaming synths, burning bass, and heaving breaths. “The way I’m thinking, is this unnatural?” they inquire in the song’s final moments, then lay their hesitations to waste in the heat of the moment, “you look so magical." At its most intense, “Echoloalia” strips away the set dressing of pretty words and veneers, unveiling the desire, hunger, and everything that simmers just below the surface, begging to break free.

6. Casual by Chappell Roan: I’ve long bemoaned how many a great pop album has been brought to a screeching halt by a ballad haphazardly thrown in to make things more “emotional.” A pop artist holds genuine promise to me when they’re able to clear this hurdle and make an album’s slower moments just as compelling as the bops. I'm glad to announce that Chappell Roan pasts this test with “Casual,” a mid-album on her debut album The Rise and Fall Of A Midwest Princess. On "Casual," slower pace of the song provides space to let Roan's simmering frustrations with a one-sided situationship reach a breathtaking boiling point. Roan pines for something more official with a girl who insist on having “no connections,” pointing to front seat cunnilingus sessions and dinner dates with her maybe-belle’s parents as proof that they're much more than a casual fling. Eventually, Roan just can’t take it anymore. “I hate that I let this drag on so long,” she confesses at the top of her lungs, “you can go to hell.” It’s testament to Roan’s promise as an emergent pop force that she can establish compelling stakes which make the emotions of her ballads tangible, never skippable.

5. A&W by Lana Del Rey: I already gushed about “A&W” back in March for how it showcases Lana Del Rey’s versatility as a performer, her veracity as a lyricist, and her astuteness in curating her personal history. As the year progressed, “A&W” kept pulling me back into its tumultuous depths, trying to parse its meaning and always falling just a bit short. Over the course of the song’s two-part structure, Lana Del Rey deftly maps a trajectory from childhood innocence to reckoning with how the world will wolf women down without mercy, their physical bodies exploited as their humanity goes unseen. “It's not about havin' someone to love me anymore,” Del Rey states, “No, this is the experience of bein' an American whore.” Lana Del Rey has grappled with these themes of for her whole career, walking the line between nostalgic recollection and ironic deconstruction, but on “A&W” they sharpen into focus and hit both the heart and gut like never before. That switch up into the second half of the song still sends a chill down my spine every time it’s ushered in on the back of those skittering trap drums and roiling bass. “A&W” is everything that makes Lana Del Rey Lana Del Rey, it's alluring, eerie, it’s Venice, bitch, and it’s one of her best songs, period.

4. Boy's a Liar Pt. 2 by Pinkpantheress ft. Ice Spice: When I listen to “Boy’s a Liar Pt. 2” by Pinkpantheress featuring Ice Spice, I feel the popular music landscape shifting beneath my feet. A strange thought to have about a song that’s so pointedly small in scope. Even with the Ice Spice verse extending the length of “Boy’s a Liar,” the song just barely exceeds two minutes. Given such restrictions, the amount of detail both artists manage to cram in is nothing short of impressive. Pinkpantheress jam-packs the beat with bouncy synths and a drum pad which races like a fluttering pulse. Ice Spice spends most of her verse telling off the useless titular liar, but adds in a one-two punch of vulnerability near the end with a heartened confession: “…I don't sleep enough without you / And I can't eat enough without you / If you don't speak, does that mean we're through?” “Boy’s a Liar Pt. 2” is more than just a rare remix that exceeds the quality of the first installment. It’s the bona-fide hit of the TikTok generation that feels fully born of the app’s tendencies, it’s mile-a-minute pacing, nostalgic skew, casual intimacy, and brutal honesty all rolled up into an inescapable earworm. I’d take part three in a heartbeat.

3. Psychedelic Switch by Carly Rae Jepsen: Throughout her career, Canadian pop connoisseur Carly Rae Jepsen has captured love from all angles, rendered its scope of e•mo•tion in a slew of shades. “Psychedelic Switch” off her latest album The Loveliest Time shows her setting the disco ball to spin, covering the entire spectrum of light and color in one go. Over a pulsing, dance-floor ready beat, she swirls together metaphors with the precision of a gourmet mixologist, taking odds and ends of all things dreamy to capture the onset of a whirlwind romance. This love is like a psychedelic trip. It’s like lucid dreaming. It’s like meditating. It’s sunsets and paradise and coming home. It's the all-encompassing rush of euphoria that only pop music can capture. Jepsen finishes off the concoction with a dash of sighing violins, a twist of bass throbbing like a heartbeat, and a couple drops of reverb-washed ad-libs. Every one of Jepsen’s album cycles has the fan-favorite standout to add to her growing canon, and from the very first listen I knew “Psychedelic Switch” had cemented itself within her ranks of cult classics.

2. Not Strong Enough by boygenius: When Lucy Dacus, Phoebe Bridgers, and Julien Baker announced their first full-length project as the singer-songwriter supergroup boygenius, the record, (the record,) had the aura of something larger than life, a culmination of three generational talents celebrating their chemistry as collaborators. If there is any song on the album that captures this magic, it’s “Not Strong Enough,” a song which burst out of the gate sounding like an instant classic. “Not Strong Enough” chronicles the search for identity amidst uncertainty, the line “I don’t know why I am / The way I am” may just be its driving force. And boy does it drive, as the singers search for clues listening to The Cure while drag racing down canyon highways, skipping old exits, roving out in search of a meaning that may never materialize. This freedom and frustration culminate on the bridge, where Dacus’s mastery of vocal dynamics takes center stage. “Always an angel / Never a god,” she sings, starting off with a whiff of timidity before escalating to belt it up to the heavens, backed up with stunning harmonies from her peers. An angel may only ever be second-best, only ever identified through its relation to a higher power, but that just makes the journey towards self-actualization more transcendent.

1. Sepsis by Blondshell: For the longest time, I was determined to put any other song but “Sepsis” at the number one spot on this list. Initially, my pick from Blondshell’s self-titled debut was “Kiss City,” an amazing song, but sadly not the one I played over and over, screaming along because the lyrics hit too damn close to home. Much of Blondshell grapples with addiction, and on “Sepsis,” Sabrina Teitelbaum explores how the validation one gets through situational flings is one hell of a drug. Atop the ebb and flow of electric guitar, she interrogates the tendency to keep returning to a man she should be avoiding, a dick with a front-facing cap who’s bad in bed. Still, she keeps coming back, pissed therapist be damned, because “if I’m in love, nothing hurts.” Teitelbaum hones these observations through the metaphor of curing ailments and fast-acting sickness, “he’s going to start infecting my life / it’ll hit all at once like sepsis.” It’s a metaphor which exposes how self-destructive these habits are. “What if I’m down to let this kills me?” she howls at the apex of the bridge before, the sentence slurring into a frustrated scream as the entire song tumbles back into a cavalcade of fiery chords. If there’s anything “Sepsis” and my relationship to it proves, it’s that confronting these unhealthy habits is difficult, but essential. Sometimes, you’ve got to recognize that these coping mechanisms aren’t a “cure” and are only “making it worse.” It’s only then that true healing can begin.

Thank you so much to anyone who has interacted with this blog over the past year. I hope you all are having a happy holiday season!. My top 10 albums list should be out soon. See you then!

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