#the first was pretty easy because I was listening to that on the radio and went ohhh you know who that is?

[clegfly]

Hello three iromo au fans ever come get your food!!!!!

[babsvibes]

(You knew this was coming from me)

A song for Zekina?

Also Becky Krespe x Darryl because I'm needy lol

Ooo let’s see what we’ve got in the tank

Zekina: I Melt With You by Modern English seems fitting for them! I aaalmost went country, but I found this first lol

Barryl: I Can’t Help But Feel by Surfaces very pop but chill at the same time? Sure yeah that makes sense lol

[xetlynn]

Until Dawn- By Your Side: Chapter One, Blackwood Pines

(Josh Washington X reader)

[Prologue] [One] [Two]

Ever since that day I’ve rarely looked Jessica in the eyes. I’ll talk to her like normal, she’ll come into my room to bother me but I never initiate anything anymore. I was pretty disgusted by her actions. Same with everyone else’s. I’ve gotten extremely close with Sam because of everything too. Her, Chris and I check in with Josh a lot.

Mainly me, they just text me asking for updates since they don’t see him as often as I do. My parents have even been getting annoyed with my “behavior.” How I’m never home, barely doing my homework and treating Jessica poorly. I’m not meaning to. I really want to look at my sister and not see a bad friend, but looking back on my pictures with Beth and Hannah it’s difficult. Knowing Hannah was devastated from what they did to her, it being a stupid prank or not.

And when Josh told me his plan to have everyone come up for this winter I was skeptical on if it would be a good idea. “Are you sure, we haven’t gone up unless it was for a search party, my love.” I run my fingers through his hair, he smiles softly up at me. He was laying his head on my chest, his arms wrapped around my torso.

“My sisters would want to have fun up there. Like we always have.” He kisses my collarbone. “Are you sure there’s no other reason?” I question him, his nose twitches and I knew I already caught him in his lies. “What other reason would there be?” He decides to ask a question in return. I stare down at him with a straight face, he lifts himself off of me.

“Why are you looking at me like that?” His brows furrow and I crack a smile, grabbing his arm. “I know you better than that, my love.” I pull him down to kiss him on his lips. “What are you scheming?” Kissing him again. “I can’t believe you caught me that quick.” He entraps me in between his arms, his body laying flat on mine. I hear him take a deep breath, I knew he was wondering if he should tell me or not. Knowing him since we were children I’ve gotten to observe every little thing about him. Something he’s done with me too.

“I just maybe want to get it out of them, that they’re guilty for it.” He finally whispers out, I stay silent for a moment. I can hear his heart beat start to quicken and before he panics I speak up. “How can I help?”

I sat on the bus with Sam, she gave me one of her earbuds as we listened to what’s on her device. It’s the radio talking about the Washington twins. I notice her stare out the window. My body stiffens slightly, it’s never easy hearing updates about the twins and it be nothing new. Nothing good. Then she clicks a button switching to a video of my boyfriend. Of Josh. I smile at the sight of his face.

“Well hello friends and fans… alright let’s do that again.” He goes back up to the camera, not really zooming it in, beginning to talk once again with the same intro. “Alright. Well hello friends and fans! It’s beyond awesome to have you guys all back this year. First off, I gotta say I am super excited to welcome all my pals back to the annual Blackwood winter getaway!” He does a little cheer. “So, um… let me just let you know, let’s take a moment to address the elephant in the room for a second…” His mood switches. “I know you’re all probably worried about me and I know it’s gonna be tough on all of us going back after what happened last year, but I just want you all to know, it means… it means so much to me that we’re doing this. And I know it would mean so much to Hannah and Beth that we’re all still here together, y’know thinking of them. I really want to spend some quality time with each and every one of you and share moments we’ll never forget. For the sake of my sisters, you know?” He gives his speech, I lean into Sam further and further as I listen to him. I feel her laugh at me a little bit but I can’t help it. “Okay… so! Let’s party like we’re fucking porn stars, okay?! And make this one trip we’ll never forget, alright? Yes!” He pumps his fists up in the air. I scrunch my nose because of his wording but Sam and I both snicker at it quietly.

When the bus finally stops at Blackwood Pines, Sam and I get out together and begin to walk forward while looking around. We were told to meet here by Chris like we have many times before. “Weird, looks like we’re before him.” I smile, twirling around. She opens the gate for both of us. “Surprising. I feel like we’re the last usually.” She huffs, I hum in agreement. We then hear a noise behind us. “Hello?” Sam calls out. “Someone there?” I ask out, furrowing my eyebrows. Squinting, checking if I could possibly see anything.

After not getting anything in response we continue on. I keep checking behind us though. Thinking maybe someone was there, playing a prank on us.

Once we get to the gate there’s a note taped onto it. “Gate’s busted, climb over. -Chris.” I read out. “So he is here and didn’t meet up like we agreed.” I cross my arms, irritated. “I wonder why.” Sam whispers. We try to open the gate still but nothing budges. I sigh and head over to the rocky wall of the fence. Sam right behind me.

“I’ll boost you.” I tell her, jokingly. The wall had too many things sticking out for a boost to actually work. I squat down a tiny bit as she begins to climb. Staying there for her as support. She does a jump and I make a face but successfully she gets on top of the wall. “Alright, your turn.” She says, taking a second to breathe.

I groan but do the same thing she did. Lifting myself up, very slowly as I don’t think I have the same amount of upper body strength as her. We jump down together. I trip a little bit and she helps me so I don’t fall. Both of us chuckling. Making our way to the area we need to get to.

We pass by the sign about Indigenous people and butterfly prophesies. “Oh, cool!” Sam grins. She skims over it but we continue forward. Finally getting to where we used to meet Josh and the twins… along with Chris.

Speaking of, “Is that Chris’s bag?” I point over to the bench. Sam moves a little closer to me. “Chris?” She calls out, we go closer to the bag. “Your bags here, but where are you?” I roll my eyes.

“Are you here? You’re not in the bag are you?!” Sam asks. I hear buzzing. “His phone.” I mutter, taking it out of the pocket. “Ah ha!” Sam grins, “look who it is.” I smirk. Ashley’s name popping up on the screen.

“Hey noseys.” A voice calls from behind us and we both jump. “Chris.” Sam sighs out. “You scared us.” We both say clinging onto each other. “I’m sorry, but are either of you my secretary?” He points a finger in our faces.

Sam takes the phone from my hand and lifts it up. “It was buzzing.” She defends our choice we made to snoop through his belonging.

“Cool. Well, thanks for letting me know. I can take it from here.” He takes it from her. He checks the message and we stand there awkwardly.

“Oh! So, I found something kinda amazing.” He goes over to his bag. “What?” Sam asks and I just lean against her, tiredly. Still intrigued nonetheless.

“I’m not gonna tell you guys, you gotta see for yourselves. Come on, it’s this way.” He leads the way, I get off of Sam and we begin to walk once again. “Where?”

“Right around here. Gonna blow your minds.” He dramatically says. “Mhm, sure.” I take a breath. “Just see before you give me attitude, [Name].” He tells me.

We get around the building and we see a Wanted poster but it doesn’t show the face of the person, It was ripped off. Only the name showed. “Victor Milgram.” I read out.

“Nice. You think we’ll get a visit from America’s most wanted?” Chris asks and I nudge him for being insensitive. “Looks like someone thought so.” Sam speaks. “oh come on. This place is abandoned most of the year.” He then starts his trail once more. “Nobody comes up here.” I think about how I came here quite a few times with Josh and his parents in the search parties for the twins. Knowing that his statement unfortunately is not true.

Him saying “Ta Dah.” Gets me out of those thoughts for a moment. “Pretty rad right?”

“Yeeeeaaaah.” Sam sarcastically says. I didn’t say anything, I just gave our friend a bored expression. “Come on! Look at these beauties.”

“Beauties is not the word that comes to mind. Why is this even here?” She questions it. “Yeah, I’m not into it.” I agree with her.

“What do you mean?” He looks back to the shooting range. “What the hell is a shooting range doing at the base of a ski lodge?”

“Dude. Have you ever met Josh’s dad? [Name], you out of everyone should know why this is here.” He points to me and I frown, knowing I have to agree with this idiot who thought a gun range would blow our minds.

“Josh’s dad thinks he’s like Grizzly Adam’s or something, for sure.” I whisper to Sam. “Wanna try?” Chris offers the shot gun to both of us. I shake my head. “You go ‘head, Grizzly.” Sam jokes with him after what I just whispered to her. Both of us laughing quietly. “Alright, here goes.” He lifts up the gun, getting it ready. He shoots the first target. He then doesn’t miss a single one and I give him a small applause.

“Wow. Nice shootin’, Tex.” Sam gives him a smile. I do a small cheer for him. “Alright. I’m bad.” Chris starts dancing causing us two to give him dirty expressions. “I’m a badass!”

“I’m gonna go ahead and guess it was a wild case of beginner’s luck.” Sam teases him after his stupid dance. “Nah, I don’t think so girl.” He wags his finger before lifting the gun back up. Shooting another target and getting it. “Well, anybody and their brother could shoot a bottle that big, that close.” She chuckles.

A squirrel shows up and my eyes widen slightly hoping Chris doesn’t go for it. “Don’t do it, Chris.” I mumble but I know he heard me when I saw his gun move to a different area. “Nice shot.”

“Your ass just got saaaacked!”

“Ugh.” I grimace, walking away from them to go back to the front of the building. “You two, our rides coming.” I say, not paying attention to what they’re doing as I head forward. I hear Sam urge Chris to come on. Him whining slightly afterward. I get to the door, trying to open it but it’s locked. I hear Chris say “a year goes fast.” And immediately choose not to ask what they were talking about.

“Hey, the doors locked.” I push on it again, to show them. “Yeaaah, Josh wanted us to keep it locked. Keep people out.” Chris informs me and then I drop my shoulders remembering that conversation we had. “He said that? What people?” Sam furrows her brows.

“He said they found people sleeping in the station one time.” I tell her, vividly seeing the conversation I had with him in my head before packing for this trip. “Creepy.”

Chris shows his key and I get out of the way for him to unlock it. He gets it open and lets us in before him.

“Ah, real gentleman.” Sam goes in, me right behind her. Sam goes to the railing and looks around as I follow Chris. “I thought the car was closer.” She complains. “Guess we gotta wait.” My boyfriend’s best friend responds.

“What a crazy place to set up house. No matter how rich you are.” He stares at a Blackwood Pines poster. “They’re not so rich.” Sam disagrees. “The only bought a mountain.” She sarcastically adds in. I watch Chris walk around the room. Both of our eyes landing on a screen. It looks like cameras surrounding the Washington Cabin. I see a thing of a bedroom and then it clip back to the front of the house. I frown, confused on what we’re looking at.

The cable car sounding closer, we both join Sam back outside. “You coming?” Sam asks Chris as I get in before her. We sit beside one another. “I was gonna catch some z’s but I guess.” He makes a horrible joke. Chris sits on the other side of me.

“Here we go.” I announce as the car moves. “Right, adventure begins.” Chris smiles.

Long awaited chapter :0

Masterlist

Josh M.L.

Taglist: If you want to be added lmk!

@my1fx

[babydaddyleorio]

seamless phantom

01. Chrollo

Chrollo sat on the couch, his head thrown back over the edge and throat on full display. His eyes were closed, and his legs were spread wide. Tonight, he dressed in loose black slacks with his tie undone around his button-down. His fingers danced in the air as if he were conducting a concerto as he listened to the classical music playing from the radio on top of the stool in the corner.

“How’s that file coming, Shal?” Chrollo suddenly asked. The blonde on the other side of the room pauses his typing at his boss’ sudden voice before leaning his head back in his chair.

“Almost ready!” Shalnark called in his usual chirpy voice.

Chrollo hummed in response, going back to his music. Shalnark waited, whispering “c’mon” repeatedly under his breath impatiently for the loading bar on the screen to finish. Finally, a popup appeared that said complete.

“Boss, it’s done.” 

Chrollo slowly opened his eyes, his gaze focused on the ceiling as gravity made his hair hang behind him. He slowly sat up straight, stretching his limbs as he rose from the loveseat’s cushions. He walked towards Shalnark, sticking one hand in his pocket as the other rubbed the back of his neck to relieve the tension built there.

“What did you find?” He asked as he came behind Shalnark, leaning his head down with excited eyes to see the computer screen. Shalnark started typing rapidly before a profile popped up.

“Let’s see, her file says that she got in this morning and is currently staying at the Hunter's hotel. She has a party scheduled in a few hours that she’s hosting ⎯ It’s to celebrate the launch of her latest fashion line.”

“Think I can make it?” Chrollo asked while briefly glancing at him, and Shalnark tapped his chin while trailing his eyes to the side.

“Well, it is on the other side of town, plus it’s a fancy event meaning you’d have to dress appropriately, and there's bound to be a lot of people there since she’s pretty popular. So in conclusion, I’d say it’s possible, you might have to break the speed limit though.”

“I believe I can manage that.” Chrollo nodded with a smirk, lazily stretching his arms in front of him as he clasped his hands together.

“I also should mention that it’s invite only, so you may have to steal someone’s identity to get in.”

Chrollo yawned in disinterest. “Can you print me an ID real fast for a guest?”

Shalnark nodded. “Yeah, just give me a minute.”

Chrollo was always fascinated with Shalnark’s skills. And he watched with humorous eyes at how easy it was to get his hands on an ID that did not belong to him.

“Alright, here you go.” Shalnark handed him the plastic card and Chrollo thanked him.

“Well, I’ll be on my way,” Chrollo said, saluting as he walked out of the motel room he was in. 

“Good luck!” Shalnark shouted as Chrollo left, but he didn’t need to wish it because Chrollo always got what he wanted, and he currently had his eyes set on you.

⎯ 🕸

Shalnark was right about there being a lot of people here tonight. 

Chrollo whistled under his breath as he made his way into the hotel’s foyer. The guests all looked to be pretentious snobs showcasing phony smiles. Chrollo humorously upturned his lips to fit into the crowd around him. What Shalnark forgot to mention was that it was a masquerade party that was being hosted tonight. Chrollo's eyes were covered in a black, studded design and his hand twirled the stick it was attached to between his fingertips.

“Vincent Yoshino.” Chrollo read the fake name on the ID out loud, raising his eyebrow in consideration with a head tilt. “Has a nice ring to it, I suppose.”

He walked further into the building, taking note of how the people were mingling. He checked his watch, 5 more minutes until the party began. He could take this opportunity to quickly scope out the layout of the first floor, maybe he’d go right now while he still had time to spare. As Chrollo reasoned with his thoughts, he was unaware of the Louboutins that were marching in his direction.

“Hello, handsome.” 

Chrollo paused, glancing beside him to see a tall woman. She had tanned skin, a flawless bob, and blinding crimson lipstick. The dress she wore was nice as well, hugging her figure as she walked closer to Chrollo.

“Good evening.” Chrollo politely responded, nodding his head with a grin.

“Haven’t seen you here before,” She drawled, giving him a once over with a smirk. “Would’ve remembered a catch such as you.”

Chrollo chuckled, mentally wishing that this woman would find someone else to bother.

“Well, I typically don’t like showing my face at large events. I am not a fan of socializing with others, you see.”

Take the hint, Chrollo thought to himself tiredly.

The woman eyed him ravenously before extending her hand.

“My name is Chiyo Hano, but everyone calls me Chi-Chi.” She said and Chrollo remembered reading her file on his way here as well. She was a very famous model, known for her sculpted face. 

Chrollo grabbed her hand, shaking it softly. “Vincent Yoshino, nice to meet you.”

The party was beginning to start, and Chrollo took that as his chance to slip away. He walked in, and he saw you standing above the banister, smiling largely while waving at your incoming guests.

Chrollo smirked and effortlessly grabbed a drink from the waiter's platter as he passed him.

Let the games begin.

[moonylantsovs]

Heyyy can u plz write a season one Bellamy blake x reader griffin/Kane SMUT where they are enemies and leaders of the 100 but don't see eye to eye on anything but have too much sexual tension and attraction towards each other and decide to give into their desire for one night cause they think if they screw each other they get their attraction out of their system?

Invisible String [B.B]

summary: hating him was easier than loving him. especially when clarke went through so much trouble to keep them away from each other. but for some reason, her attraction to him was much larger than her dignity

pairings: bellamy blake x caroline griffin (oc) a/n: the oc has no description, so feel free to imagine whoever you wish, I just write better when the main character has a name

tags: (18+) wells jaha lives, cursing, the nickname "princess" cause it's kind of cringey but fits their dynamic, SMUT; hate sex, (kinda) dom!bellamy, dirty talk, hate sex, hair pulling

Hating Bellamy Blake was almost too easy.

He was too cocky for his own good and was even worse at listening to orders than Caroline. He had been tormenting her, her sister and Wells since they landed.

But a long time has passed since their first days on Earth. The camp was functioning well and Caroline and Clarke found a way to work with Bellamy. After a kid died and Murphy was banished after being accused of killing some privileged kid, they formed a truce. Bellamy was the one leading the hunting trips and watching over the delinquents who were building the wall, Clarke was in charge of keeping the peace with the Grounders (the liberty of her having a thing with their Commander) and Caroline decided who got which job and worked with Raven to make radios and get in contact with The Ark.

She was not that thrilled about her mother coming down because, before she got arrested, she was not exactly mother of the year. Still, she felt guilty about the innocent people who were dying up there while there was a safe planet waiting for them.

Caroline let out a sigh and stood up, instantly drawing Raven’s attention to herself. She wiped her sweat off of her face with a rag and placed it down on the table, before saying, “I think that I’m done for today. I have to discuss some stuff with Bellamy.”

Raven snorted and raised an amused eyebrow, her tone taunting. “Oh, I bet. So much for staying away from him.”

The Griffin rolled her eyes at the reminder of her sister’s warning and wordlessly walked out of their work tent. Bellamy was very blunt with his flirting when they weren’t spitting insults at each other and when he wasn’t sleeping with half of the camp. Caroline was slightly annoyed and brushed it off quickly, but Clarke was down-right pissed. Her protective older sister was on and she was quick to tell Caroline how bad of an idea getting involved with Bellamy was. Her lecture was at least five minutes long but Caroline did not listen to a word that she said. She was not stupid. She knew that even flirting with Bellamy was a bad idea, but she was not planning on it. She liked to believe that she had standards.

“Hey, Princess.” Bellamy greeted her when she entered his tent without knocking. “You’re early.”

“No, you just slept in.” Caroline deadpanned while scanning his bare chest with a blank look on her face while he sat on the edge of his makeshift bed. “Some of us have been up and working for hours.”

Okay, yes, Bellamy was an asshole. But he was a hot asshole. If you asked her, she would say that the fact that he was annoying only made him more attractive. But that might just be her daddy issues talking.

He furrowed his eyebrows and asked, “Shit, is it really late?”

“Yeah, it’s almost lunch.” She shrugged and walked across his tent to grab one of his shirts. She absentmindedly threw it on him, silently telling him to get dressed. “I told Wells to let you sleep. You were keeping guard pretty late last night.”

She told herself that it was because he needed his eight hours of sleep if he was going to function properly. He was even more grumpy when he slept for only two hours.

Bellamy’s lips tugged into a grin and then fell open as he let out a dramatic gasp. “Was that you being nice?” She rolled her eyes and he was quick to add, “I’m sorry, I only ever saw you being nice to Clarke and Wells. Is it snowing outside?”

“Shut up.” Caroline muttered, her eyes involuntarily flickering toward his hands. “Just get dressed. We have work to do.”

He grabbed the blue shirt that she gave him but made no move to put it on. He simply raised a knowing eyebrow. “Are you sure that you want me to do that? You don’t want to keep checking me out?”

Caroline felt heat rushing to her face. Her mouth opened and closed a couple of times, but no words came out and she was desperately trying to find something to say. A couple of seconds later, she simply blurted out, “Don’t flatter yourself. You’re not that good looking.”

His smirk only grew. “Oh, so I’m not that good looking?” He stepped closer and she wished that the ground would swallow her whole. “I knew you liked me, Princess.”

“You wish,” She shot back, but made no move to step away from him. His scent was intoxicating and she could not look away from his face. His dark eyes were flickering between her eyes and her lips and she swore that they only got darker when her breath hitched.

Bellamy lifted his hand to brush some of her hair away from the face and he licked his lips, an action that only made her stare at his lips longer. He pushed his face closer to her own and just as he was about to lock their lips together, Wells’ voice rang through the air.

“Bellamy, did you take my─” He cut himself off when he looked up from the ground to see his best friend standing inappropriately close to the guy that she hated for months. His eyebrows shot up in surprise and he silently looked back and forth between the two of them for a couple of moments. He swallowed and awkwardly croaked out, “I’ll come back later. Or never. Probably never.”

Caroline watched the place he was standing at a couple of seconds ago in shock. She quickly stepped away from Bellamy and cleared her throat. “Get dressed and meet me in the map tent.”

Bellamy watched her leave the tent in a rush and chuckled to himself the second she left.

-

Caroline wished that they could simply work in silence, each on their own side of the tent. After what happened earlier that morning, the last thing that she needed was to spent the next couple of hours before lunch with Bellamy. Especially because he seemed completely unfazed. If anything, his amusement only grew every time he would catch her staring at him which would lead to her having to look away or narrow her eyes into a glare to seem annoyed rather than flustered.

He saw right through her. That might be the reason why she hated him so much. She had always tried to keep her walls up as high as possible because she was afraid of letting people in. But Bellamy could read her like an open book.

“We should move Jasper from the gate and get Miller there.” Caroline suggested as she leaned over the map of their camp. “I love him to death but he runs at the first sight of danger. There is no one better than Miller. I trust him to stay there more than anyone.”

Bellamy surprised her by shaking his head. Her eyebrows furrowed. Was Miller not his best friend? “Guarding the gate is a big responsibility, yes, but it’s also dangerous. The guards there are usually the first to go. We have to put someone disposable there.”

Caroline let out a humorless laugh and looked at him in disbelief. “Are you kidding me? No one in this camp is disposable. We put the most competent person there, no matter how much either one of us cares about him.”

The Blake shrugged. “I don’t know if losing him is worth it.”

“And losing someone else is?” She retorted and stepped away from the table and scoffed. “I cannot believe you. You talk shit about The Ark, Jaha and the privileged for sending us here and labeling us as disposable but you are not any different. For some reason, those kids out there trust you but you are willing to sacrifice any of them if it means saving your ass and the two people you care about.”

Bellamy clenched his jaw, his eyes flashing with anger the second that she compared him to the monsters that killed his mother and locked up his sister. He stepped closer to her and glared down at her. “Stop pretending that you know me, Princess. You can’t psychoanalyze everyone in your life just because of one decision they make.”

Caroline glared back at him, not intimidated. “And you can judge people based on who their parents are? That’s ironic. I would not be surprised if you were planning to tell me that I should guard the gate since you clearly hate me so much. Putting me there is the easiest way to get rid of me, right?”

“Maybe I do hate you?” His words made her falter in surprise. “How can I not? You always have something to say about every decision I make. You take every opportunity to argue with me. Whenever I think that we are starting to see eye to eye, you do another thing to drive me crazy. And I hate myself for it a lot more than I hate you because despite you being everything that I’m against I still…” Bellamy did not finish his sentence and simply stared at the clueless look on her face. After a couple of seconds of silence, he muttered, “Fuck it.”

Caroline stumbled back in surprise which led to her sitting on the desk. Before she got the chance to kiss him back, he pulled away. His breath fanned across her lips and he stared at her, trying to find any hint of disgust or hesitance. He did not find any. But this time, she was the one that kissed him. She gripped his shirt to keep him closer while one of his hands tangled in her hair. Her breath hitched when he used his grip on her cair to pull her head down in order to reveal her neck. He did not think twice before he messily started placing open-mouthed kisses over her exposed collar bone.

She moaned and spread her legs so he could comfortably stand between them. His other hand found her waist and she ran her fingers through his hair, pulling on his curls lightly to spur him on. He pushed down her shirt to reveal her bra so he could keep sucking hickies down to her breats. The hand on her waist squeezed it and he paused, squeezing his eyes shut to get it together.

“Did you─ did you ever have sex?” Bellamy asked,his dark eyes practically piercing through her soul.

Caroline’s eyes almost softened at the genuine worry in his voice. He was grounded enough to ask the eighteen year old, who spent the last six years of her life locked up, if she was a virgin or not. Luckily, after Clarke broke Wells’ heart, she was more than fine with being his rebound to keep her mind off of other things.

She rapidly nodded, tugging at his shirt so he could get back to what he was doing before.

“Words, Caroline,”

Caroline. Not Princess or Baby Griffin. Just Caroline.

“Yes.” She breathed out. “I had sex before. Now stop being so uncharacteristically considerate and kiss me.”

Bellamy did not need to be told twice. He leaned back down to kiss her and her hands quickly found their way around his neck to pull him closer to her despite them already being chest-to-chest. His tongue slipped into her mouth and easily won the short battle for dominance.

Caroline placed her hands on his chest to push him away. He gave her a confused look which disappeared when she pulled her shirt over her head. He smirked and then copied her actions, exposing his chest. This time, she shamelessly checked him out.

Bellamy was pleasantly surprised when she reached down to pull his pants down along with his underwear. Her hand wrapped around his dick and started to slowly move her hand up and down, almost as if she was teasing him. He let out a low groan and leaned his hands on either side of her. He rested his forehead against hers and kept his eyes on her as she jerked him off.

“Fuck, Princess.” He cursed, his breath hitching. He was ashamed of how close he was just from her jerking him off.

He pulled her hand away and just as she was about to ask him what he was doing, he pulled her off of the desk in order to pull her hands down. He wrapped his arms around her thighs to place her back on the table and she gasped in surprise when his fingers slipped between her legs. His fingers teased her opening until she was whining into his mouth.

“Don’t tease.”

He chuckled and dipped one of his fingers inside of her. “Patience.”

She did not argue and simply leaned back, letting him pump his fingers in and out of her while he rubbed her clit. She moaned his name lowly, aware that if they were too loud, the others outside could hear them. Bellamy almost moaned at the sight of the girl squirming and trying her hardest to stay quiet on the table. The girl who never kept her mouth shut and was a force to be reckoned with was completely at his mercy.

Before Caroline could finish, he pulled his hand away. She panted and gave him a weak glare. “You’re a dick,”

“I didn’t hear you arguing when you were moaning my name.” He shot back and cupped her ass to bring their bodies closer together. He wrapped one of his hands around his dick and slid inside of her. He let out a deep groan and she let out a high pitchen moan due to his lack of patience. Bellamy placed one of his hands over her mouth and whispered, “Be quiet for me, Princess. You don’t want the rest of the camp to hear how much you hate me, do you?”

She shook her head and her eyes rolled to the back of her head when he pulled out and roughly pushed back inside her. He was no better than her. He was cursing and groaning as she rolled her hips back into his own.

They spent a couple of minutes like that, soaking in pleasure and the thrill that they got from the fact that anyone could walk into the tent at any minute. “I’m close.” He muttered and used the hand that was not covering her mouth to rub her clit in order to get her closer to the edge.

Caroline’s nails dug into his shoulders and the moaned against his hand, almost reaching her peak. He groaned at the pain and only snapped his hips against her faster. Her vision blurred and her eyes squeezed shut when she finally fell over the edge and came around him. Her walls squeezing him like a vice was what pushed him over the edge and he was quick to pull out and finish on her stomach.

Caroline panted and leaned her forehead against his chest when his hand fell from her mouth.

"So much for hating me, huh, Princess?"

She groaned. "Clarke is gonna kill me."

[gyuvberry]

RED ( PRE - RELEASE)

Pairing ; Ricky x Reader

[ NOW PLAYING ]

▶️ Pre - Release

▶️ Track 1 (tba)

▶️ Track 2 (tba)

▶️ Track 3 (tba)

5 years ago

Shen Quanrui was the definition of perfection in your eyes. The first time you ever saw him, it was his lips that caught your attention right away. They were always stained a dark, beautiful shade of red.

Red is your favourite colour, and on Quanrui it was breathtaking.

It was easy for you to fall in love. He was exciting, with his motorcycle and tattoos, and at the ripe age of sixteen that’s all a girl could want.

Your best friend however, told you that he was the kind of guy who breaks hearts. Looking back now, you wonder how different life could’ve been if you had listened to all the warnings.

The thing about love is that it fucks with the wirings in your head. It’s like a drug, when you get high it feels awesome and you do shit that feels fun in the moment, but only to have horrible consequences await. Atleast, that’s the philosophy of love you believe now.

For you that consequence was the pregnancy test that was now in the trash.

“Y/n, are you okay? What does it say?” Your best friend asked anxiously from outside the door.

You couldn’t bring yourself to answer, chest heaving, your body jerking back and forth as you were physically unable to comprehend all the emotions running through you.

You need to see Quanrui.

You always preferred sunrises over sunsets, once again related to your fixation with red. But somehow Quanrui looked pretty even in your least favourite light.

You gave him a nervous smile which he awkwardly reciprocated.

Let’s get one thing out of the way, Shen Quanrui did not like you, in fact he never had any interest in you. Sure, you were objectively pretty but not his type.

You were outgoing and loud, and frankly it made him a little uncomfortable, especially with the way you would always approach him when all he wanted was his peace and quiet.

Parties weren’t much of his thing for the same, but it was their last one before graduation so he had to go. If the boy knew how the night was going to end, he would never have gone.

He’d been at the party for barely five minutes before you came skipping over as usual, only something about you was different that night. Perhaps it had something to do with the four shots of vodka you had downed, ending with you confessing your feelings.

“Please kiss me Quanrui,” you had practically begged.

At this point Quanrui had ended up drinking too, figuring that he’s going to need the alcohol if he wanted to get through till the end of the night.

And maybe we can blame the alcohol, maybe we can blame you because of your incessant begging. But nothing changes the fact that you ended up pathetically losing your virginity in a random bathroom at a random party within an unimpressive five minutes.

Quanrui didn’t know what came upon him, he blames it on the exhaustion but regardless he was quick to run away from the scene of the crime. He did feel a little bad later on, but he didn’t want to make you think he wanted anything more than a one-time hookup. Shen Quanrui does not like you.

And while you didn’t expect things to change completely between the two of you overnight, you thought you mattered more than to be abandoned after sharing such an intimate experience with each other.

And you were definitely not prepared for when a month later, you were draped over your toilet bowl vomiting profusely. At first you thought it was just a stomach bug, but your best friend insisted that you take the test.

Texting Quanrui to meet you was the easy part, now to tell him about the predicament you’ve both found yourselves in was going to be difficult.

“I have something I need to tell you—” You started, but were interrupted by a sigh erupting from Quanrui’s mouth.

He was surprised to see you contacting him, after a month of radio silence. He didn’t mind, of course, but he did feel bad about leaving you that night so he agreed to see what you had to say. Alas, in his head the conversation was headed in a direction you never intended to take.

The boy pressed a few fingers to his temple before speaking, “Listen Y/n, I’m going to have to stop you right there, I know what this is about”.

“You…do?” You said, confused.

“I’m very sorry for…whatever happened between us at that party but I can assure you that it meant absolutely nothing”.

Any hope you had left your body instantly.

“I don’t like you, I never did. It was all an accident. Besides, I’m moving to Seoul”, he ended his speech firmly.

For a moment, all you could do was stare, your hand unknowingly wrapping itself around your stomach. Finally, you managed to mutter a meek, ‘I understand”.

And that is how Shen Quanrui went from being the love of your life to being the cruellest boy you had ever met.

[lostloveletters]

Damn Yankees (Bucky Egan x OFC)

Summary: The Great American Pastime puts Sergeant Holly Dean and Major Bucky Egan’s friendship to the test when her struggling Nationals play yet another game against his beloved Yankees.

Note: I introduce you to Miss Thing herself. By the way, the Yankees and the Nationals (also interchangeably referred to as The Senators back then) played 8 or so games against each other in mid-to-late June 1943, which I don’t think is a point of accuracy anyone cares that much about. Anyway, do not interact if you’re under 18, terf or radfem, or post thinspo/ED content.

Word count: 2k

Warnings: Inevitable historical and technical inaccuracies. Internalized thoughts about death and loss. Holly and Bucky are extremely annoying about baseball so if that’s not your thing…

Holly didn’t flinch when the door to the Air Exec office abruptly opened, and she didn’t have to look up from her typewriter to see who pulled up a chair in front of her desk and made himself comfortable.

“Morning, Bucky,” she said.

“It’s a good morning to be a Yankees fan, Holly.”

The first time Major John Egan walked through the office door, restlessness radiated off of him. Holly didn’t understand why he was assigned to Air Exec in the first place. He didn’t seem to either, but he gravitated toward her, initially amazed at how quickly she could type. When the novelty of that wore off, her feverish devotion to the Washington Nationals made him hang around anyway. 

“You’re not even from New York."

“Sure, but who doesn’t love a team that wins?”

She bristled at his gloating. “Being a Nats fan builds character.”

“You know what they say about Washington, first in war, first in peace, and last in the American League.” 

“We’re second this year,” she reminded him. 

Mostly because all of the good baseball players enlisted, including Bucky’s hero Joltin’ Joe DiMaggio, who had enlisted the USAAF earlier that spring. Bucky hoped he’d get assigned to Thorpe Abbotts at some point. Holly figured he’d stay stateside as a fitness instructor.

“Behind the Yankees,” he said.

“We’ll see after tonight’s game.”

“We’ve been wiping the floor with you.”

She scoffed. “Wiping the floor? It’s been pretty even wins.”

“You tell yourself that.”

“Well, we’re gonna win tonight.”

“Wanna bet?” he asked.

The incessant clicking from her typewriter stopped as she lifted her gaze to him. “When the Nationals win tonight, you have to do all of my filing tomorrow.”

“Alright.” He rapped his knuckles against the top of her desk as he considered his wager. “When the Yankees win tonight, you’ll do as much of my paperwork as I can get away with giving you tomorrow.”

Holly stuck out her hand. “Deal.”

Bucky gave it a firm shake. “Looking forward to my day off.”

“I’ll bring a radio to the hardstand tonight. Woody’s gonna be working late on Brady’s fort, so you can eat your words when no one else is around.”

“More like you’ll want Woody to tell you a joke to cheer you up when the Nationals lose again.”

Easy-going Woody was the perfect chaperone. Otherwise unnecessary, considering Holly and Bucky were both adults, but Holly quickly learned that just about everyone at Thorpe Abbotts had an opinion as to what constituted acceptable behavior between a man and a woman. She already had enough people talking about her, anyway.

Colonel Huglin approached, making a beeline for Bucky.

Holly resumed her typing without missing a beat, keys clicking along with the others in the room. “Good morning, Colonel,” Holly greeted.

“Good morning, Sergeant Dean,” he said, kindly enough. “Major Egan, I need to speak with you in my office.”

“‘Course, Colonel.”

“I’ll talk to you later, Major,” Holly said.

Bucky smiled, giving her a nod. “Sure will, Sarge.”

The game was technically at one in the afternoon on the East Coast, but the time difference made it a night game for those listening across the ocean. Unless Bucky got held up by Huglin, she knew he’d be there. He practically had the Yankees’ schedule memorized. 

——

The summer sun wasn’t close to setting by the time the game crept up and Holly made her way to the hardstand. She kept the portable radio tucked securely under her arm while she walked. Silently prayed she wouldn’t somehow trip on the way and smash the radio to pieces just because she wanted to listen to a baseball game.

Woody waved at her in the distance, arm sweeping excitedly through the air. 

“I haven’t seen you all day!” Holly shouted.

“Too long to go without seeing the likes of you!” Woody yelled back.

Woody, of course, being Private Kate Woodward, part of Ken Lemmons’ ground crew and her best friend on base, probably in general, the more she thought about it. Blonde hair in twin braids, green eyes that glistened with determination, grease smudged on her face, and a wrench in hand, Woody was practically the poster girl for the fearless wartime woman, in Holly’s biased opinion.

“What brings you to my humble hardstand?”

“Bucky and I are gonna listen to the Nationals-Yankees game. He has to do my filing tomorrow if the Nats win,” Holly said. 

Woody laughed. “Good luck.” She scratched her forehead, marking her face with another streak of grease. “Just so you know, Brady might be coming out here later.”

“Checking on his fort?”

“I think he doesn’t trust me or something. He’s been coming around almost every day to see how the repairs are going,” Woody said. “I’m certainly not complaining about his company, though.”

“I’m sure.”

“Maybe one of these days he’ll give me a personal tour of his cockpit.”

Holly choked out a laugh, covering her mouth with her free hand. “Woody!”

“Get your head out of the gutter. I’m strictly talking planes here.” Woody grinned. “Your Yankee’s pulling up.”

Bucky parked the jeep next to the women, raising an eyebrow at Holly’s attempts to stifle her giggles. She handed him the radio as she climbed into the passenger seat.

“Hey Woody, how’s it going?” Bucky asked.

“It’s going, Major.”

He nodded toward the plane in question. “Everything coming along okay?”

“Just like Kenny said, it looks a lot worse than it is. It’ll be back in the air in no time.”

“Wouldn’t expect any less from you guys.”

She shook her head, an amused smile on her face. “I oughta get back to it. You have fun doing Holly’s filing tomorrow.”

“Hey, I thought we were friends!” Bucky shouted as Woody jogged away, leaving them to listen to the game. 

Holly took the radio from Bucky, setting it on her lap. “I’ve used this one before,” she said. “It should pick up the station well enough.”

“How’d you get that out here?”

“Said it was your orders.” She smiled, tuning the radio until the boisterous announcer’s voice emerged from the speaker and nearly drowned out Bucky’s laughter. 

“It’s a beautiful afternoon here in the nation’s capital folks! We’ve got the New York Yankees in DC up against the Nationals at Griffith Stadium. Now, the Nats have been down the past two games, but we’re hoping they’ll be able to rally this time around—”

“Is Early the starting catcher?”

“Yeah, pretty sure he is.”

“There’s a National I like.”

“‘Cause he’s the only person who might be chattier than you.”

“It’s one hell of a distraction strategy.”

“You’d know,” she joked, lightly elbowing him in the side.

Jake Early was one of Holly’s favorite players on the Nationals. Not a great hitter, but one hell of a catcher who took to imitating radio announcers and auctioneers or even singing to throw off opposing batters. It was one of the highlights of watching a Nats game in person, in her opinion.

“Have you ever been to a Yankees game?” she asked.

He nodded. “A couple. Listening on the radio is one thing, but seeing them in action? I felt like I got struck by lightning. How about you?”

“I went to a few Nats games every season growing up, but Stan and I went on a lot of dates to home games. One time he nearly broke his hand catching a ball that got hit into our section.”

Bucky shook his head. “What a souvenir, though.”

He knew about Stan. Everyone did. Bucky had the sense to not walk on eggshells if she brought him up. Holly had taken the news better than most people expected. She and Stan had a long discussion about it before he shipped out. Allowed herself to cry at night for a week or so afterward, but pulled herself together and pushed forward. At least, she tried to.

Every now and then, her sailor’s bloated corpse would inevitably be dredged up for curious newcomers to Thorpe Abbotts. Her ears rang with the whispers, always some variation of, ‘Her fiance—Navy, I think—yeah, at Midway—I know—poor girl.’ Stanley Conway’s ghost did little more than serve as an explanation to strangers as to why his former fiance could be…weird was the nicest way someone put it, though a plethora of less than complimentary adjectives had been applied to her and her odd behavior over the past year.

But Bucky liked her. Hung around her even when he wasn’t working in the office. Sometimes her melancholy made him do more of the heavy lifting conversationally. If he minded, he never told her. His friendship made it tough for her to remember to refer to him as Major Egan and not just Bucky, sometimes. Stan would be proud of this Holly, though, the one who made stupid bets on baseball games with an officer. 

Bucky took out his flask, taking a swig before offering it to her. She regretted how quickly she accepted, her throat burning as she shoved it back in his hands.

“What is that?” she hissed.

“Whiskey.”

“That’s not whiskey.” She coughed. “You could put that in the gas tank and drive into town with it.”

“You’ve got the taste of a sailor, that’s what the issue here is. Should’ve joined the WAVES if you wanted rum.”

“I was going to. Stan said he didn’t think it’d be a good idea for us to be in the same branch and all that,” she said. “I kinda wish I had. The Service League is almost better than the Majors right now, especially the Navy league since they got Ted Williams.”

He balked. “You sound just like Crank! And DiMaggio’s in the Army league—he’s one of us!”

“So what? If it’s about who’s the best, Crank’s got a point, Williams can bat 400 no sweat.”

“DiMaggio did during his ‘41 streak.”

“Yeah, during his streak. Williams ended the whole ‘41 season with 406.”

“I was gonna be nice and drive you back after the Nats lose. You can walk, toots,” he half-joked.

“Woody can drive me,” she said, turning to glance behind her. Between the dusk and distance, she couldn’t tell if Brady had made his way out there yet. “I’m staying out here with her, anyway.”

“Want me to hang around?”

“If you want.”

“I’m asking what you want.”

She hummed, slouching back in her seat, a far away expression on her face. “I want the Nats to win.”

Bucky slouched against her, shoulder-to-shoulder. Glanced between her face and the radio a few times, hoping the Nationals would pull off something big for her.

He didn’t pry for details. Wasn’t quite sure how to ask her about it. Part of him was too afraid to know. He was afraid of a lot of things he’d never admit, but the place Holly drifted off to terrified him. So he took it upon himself to get her out of there. He talked about the game. And how he won the bicycles for Buck. And that he was just kidding when he said he wouldn’t drive her back to the womens’ barracks—couldn’t leave her and Woody out by themselves, after all.

Bucky didn't know how much time had passed before Holly finally spoke again.

“Sorry,” she mumbled.

He blinked. “For what?”

“You know.”

“I have no idea what you’re talking about. I mean, the Yankees are down bad, and I’m having a ball,” he said. “So you’re apologizing for nothing, doll.” 

He felt like someone poured club soda over his brain when she smiled, brown eyes glimmering gold. His gaze fell to her lips, his tongue darting out between his own for a moment. His shadow fell over her like a blanket as he leaned closer.

“And it’s strike three, you’re out for the Yankees in the top of the ninth!” The announcer’s voice blared through the radio, nearly making him jump in his seat. “That’s the game folks! The Washington Nationals win on their home turf against the New York Yankees—“

“We won! Oh my god, we won!” Holly sat up, nearly knocking the radio off of her lap in her excitement. She landed a few playful punches on his arm. “Take that, Egan!”

He rolled his eyes, smiling nevertheless. “It’s a good thing the Nats don’t win more often, because you’re the sorest winner I’ve ever met.”

“You can dish it out, but you can’t take it. That’s what I’m hearing.”

“Hey, I’m a man of my word. I’ll do your filing tomorrow,” he said, bringing his flask to his lips. “Damn Yankees.”

[bittysfoodbaby]

ok so on top of me being a diet film major at school i'm also on the executive staff of my school's college radio station and that combined with omgcp means it's headcanon time!

you're listening to 91.7 WSMU-FM. don't turn that dial!

lardo started doing radio to keep up the promise to do something technical to her parents after becoming an art major. she chose radio tech ops and programming because it was a chill and easy gig that didn't take too much time out of her day. she ended up being pretty decent at her job and later became known for her cable management skills.

jack first met lardo when he was dating camilla and eventually got involved with the station as a graveyard shift dj to hang out with camilla more as friends (#studentathletethings). lardo often took on the late-night shifts for tech ops, which is just making sure the station doesn't go down in the middle of the night, and noticed that Jack wouldn't use the automated software and do everything manually from spinning tracks to doing his talk breaks live. eventually they became friends over "the old days of radio" and jack referred lardo to becoming the smh team manager.

holster acted as a consultant to the promotions and PR team for one of his finals and observed a morning shift as part of the project. the "bro, we should start a podcast" part of his brain was promptly activated and convinced ransom to do a morning show with him. they mostly talk about college sports and get very heated over college hockey and how much cornell has fallen as a hockey team.

shitty grew up listening to wsmu and used radio as another way to be rebellious against his family. he appreciates the community service and outreach the station does and is ranked the best voice on the station. he hosts a show about local music in samwell and the greater boston area.

bitty joined the promo team after smh found out about his blog and convinced him to join radio after they all realized they did radio together. eventually he became the webmaster of the station's website because he was the only one other than shitty that knew how to use wordpress. his ego grew after he forced hosts to write blog posts during their shifts for the station website and be active on twitter.

chowder used to dj local events in high school and was a pretty decent dj and producer back in the day. when he found out the rest of the team was pretty much doing radio he convinced a radio show about live dj sets boiler room-style.

(side note: farmer finds out about chowder's secret life as a dj through a girl on the volleyball team who's friends with a wsmu sportscaster who knows holster.)

dex found himself working in tech ops after a freak accident involving the station's backup recording software went down. he ended up staying because it's the only non-hockey or non-school thing he had.

nursey was approached to be on the station's student spotlight show for his poetry and found out that the whole team was working on the station. he then romanticized the image of analog radio in his mind and what being a late-night DJ was like. he immediately switched to a mid-day jazz shift the next semester.

i swear i have more but i still have fics i need to write before posting more LMAO

[atlitudes]

I'm Cataloging Every Occurrence of the Piano in Malevolent in a Spreadsheet for Leitmotif Analysis. No, I'm Not Kidding.

As the title of this post reads, I've spent the last few weeks listening to every episode of Malevolent and logging every time the piano is heard (both within the story and as background score), to analyze the data for leitmotif/music based theory-crafting. I originally was planning on getting through the entire series before posting anything, but I am very quickly realizing that this is going to take me a while, and I start a new semester in two weeks, so there is a high likelihood I will not finish before I get too busy to chug through as many episodes a day as I am now. I'm on episode 16/44 and I've already logged 137 instances of piano music. I'm not even halfway done. And this is all I've been doing for the past multiple days. For this reason, I've decided to post the link to the spreadsheet before finishing.

If you're familiar with Malevolent, and just how much music is in it, you might be asking, "OP, are you utterly fucking insane?" And well, dear reader, the answer to that is probably yes, but while you might call it madness, I call it love. So, before getting into the meat of things, I wanted to explain why I even decided to do this. Spoilers ahead for Malevolent (obvious, but yeah). If you don't give a single shit about why I did this and want to get straight to the sheet, scroll to the bottom for the link.

So. About 2 weeks ago I finished my first listen-through of Malevolent. One thing about the most recent episodes struck me as very very significant: John and Arthur's "collective force" being titled as the Dies Irae.

Now, a full-bodied explanation of why I find this so important and the possible implications will come at a later date, but long story short, the Dies Irae is a very significant piece of musical literature-- it is, perhaps, the most commonly quoted leitmotif of the past 800 years, and it symbolizes death. So, understandably, the Themes of this kinda sent me down a spiral.

But the Dies Irae being mentioned in such a way also got me thinking: music is a pretty integral part of Malevolent. So, is the Dies Irae quoted anywhere in its soundtrack? I suddenly got very very excited at this prospect, particularly if it might be in Faroe's Song, because well... god that would hurt lol. I scoured the available songs on the bandcamp aaaaand... no luck (as far as I can tell). Regardless, even if the Dies Irae wasn't a part of the soundtrack, I became curious about what kind of leitmotifs were in the podcast, and what they might mean. And so, the spreadsheet was born.

I explain this in the User Guide part of the sheet (please read it before going through the rest btw), but I only track the piano parts of the podcast. The reason for this is two-fold:

First, score wise, piano is very easy for me to pick apart, and I don't see a lot of significance in the suspenseful string music for horror moments (though I don't deny there might be something to it, I simply won't be able to find it.) To me, the piano is also significantly more important than the strings because it's a notable part of the story-- Arthur and his relation to the instrument is a key part of the plot, and multiple of the piano compositions are made by him. For this reason, I found tracking the piano in the podcast worthwhile.

Second, I also don't touch any of the non-original radio tracks in the podcast (i.e. You Call It Madness (I Call It Love)) because this video by The Final Fantasmagorie already does an excellent job of covering them (please check it out!!), and I felt it would be redundant, especially considering the astronomical amount of ground I already have to cover. If these tracks start being featured as leitmotifs in the piano music then... well, I might change my mind, but so far, no dice.

If I noticed a non-piano piece of music (such as the wraith humming in Ep3) that I haven't found any analysis of whatsoever, I also noted it just so there was some record. Other than that, just piano tracks.

Explanations and disclaimers out of the way, here is the link to the spreadsheet. I might open it up to comments and/or editors at some point, but for now, it's just available to viewers. Once again, please read the disclaimer and user guide before the rest of the sheets.

Thanks for reading, I know this was a very long post, and I appreciate it if you've beared with me! Enjoy!

[avocado-writing]

Could I request some reader/Gabriel, or reader/Jim? Either with Gabriel’s musings over falling for/being fascinated with a human(?) partner, or reader and Jim indulging in soft courtship and just being idiots in love with each other? Thank you so much for doing these, love your writing so much! 💛

this was fun! I love jim 💕 enjoy!

Jim x reader w/ background aziraphale x Crowley

The first time Jim hears you singing, he’s the only customer in the coffee shop. Aziraphale trusted him with a ten pound note and an order in his head. You clearly don’t even realise that he’s there, you simply belt along with the music you have gently playing over the speakers as you set up the espresso machine. 

It’s lovely. He’s so enchanted by it all he can do is listen. 

When you turn, you yelp. A look he doesn’t realise crosses your face - it’s embarrassment - and you bristle. 

“How long have you been standing there?”

He blinks, put off by your hostility. 

“Not long,” he states. You still seem to want something more from him. He doesn’t know what it is, so instead he offers the truth. “I like your voice. What song is it?”

You seem surprised by that, and it drops your guard and your irritation. 

“You don’t know this song? It’s pretty famous.”

Jim shrugs. 

“No.”

“It’s Take A Chance On Me by ABBA,” you tell him. Jim listens to the music for a bit, enjoying the tune, then smiles at you. 

“I like it more when you sing it.”

You’re a bit taken aback but finally end up smiling. 

“That’s very kind, uh…?”

“Jim.”

He reads your name off your employee badge and commits it to memory, only to find he’s totally forgotten the drinks order. 

🪽 

He next hears you sing when you’re closing up a few weeks later, but it’s okay - he works there too now. Aziraphale let him get a job there under the promise he’d behave. And he does. He’s quite a natural at it, actually, he enthuses about the coffee to every customer who comes through the door and they’re happy to chat with him. 

And he’s pretty easy on the eyes which doesn’t hurt. 

You’re singing under your breath, he can hear the music you have playing quietly on your phone. As he wipes down the tables, he peers over your shoulder. 

“Is this ABBA too?”

You laugh, not unkindly. 

“Huh? Oh, no. This isn’t ABBA. This is I Wanna Dance With Somebody by Whitney Houston.”

“Oh.” He listens to a few bars. “I like this one too, I think.”

You take it easy on him. Apparently he has amnesia, so that’s probably why he doesn’t remember a lot of music. You start the song again, louder this time for him, and hum along to it. 

He listens to your voice more than the song, and finds himself getting a strange fluttery feeling in his chest. When he goes home and asks Aziraphale about it, he’s told it might be affection. 

🪽 

He listens to the radio a lot when he’s in the bookshop now. 

The classical stations, the oldies, the top 40. All of it. He listens and he listens. He makes a mental note of what he’s heard you singing, because those are the ones he likes the most. He uses the internet - under watchful supervision - to research the artists he knows you enjoy. He likes to be able to keep up a conversation with you, likes the way you light up when you talk.  

He likes you. 

🪽 

“Are you sure about this, angel?” Crowley asks, narrowing his eyes. Aziraphale straightens Jim’s tie. 

“Yes, I think it’s a perfectly lovely idea.”

When Jim suggested he would quite like to ask you out to dinner, Aziraphale had decided it would probably be fine, under the condition that if you declined he wouldn’t bother you about it again. Jim didn’t know much about human culture but understood that it was frowned upon to pursue someone who said no, so agreed. 

And now here he was. In his little suit Aziraphale had loaned him. A bunch of flowers in his hand. Waiting for your shift to end. When he sees you coming out of the shop and locking up, Aziraphale sends him off with an encouraging pat on the back. 

He and Crowley watch from the window. 

“If he remembers who he is, this could turn into a nightmare.”

“Perhaps. But look at them, they make each other so happy. I think… maybe they both deserve that.”

Aziraphale loves love, and Crowley loves Aziraphale, so keeps his mouth shut and watches the scene unfold. 

[rotisseries]

WHAT WAS THAT THING YOU EXPLAINED TO ME AGES AGO FOR WAITING ROOM ABOUT HOW TO LISTEN TO SONGS THAT ARENT ON SPOTIFY ??? I NEED RED FLANNEL GEORGIA AND I NEED IT NOW

AKAJDFJSKFKS OK THIS IS MY FAVORITE SPOTIFY FEATURE YAY!! relying on people to have uploaded things as a podcast sucks so bad because they get taken down a lot and also it breaks up the vibe because the title and artist are always something random and the little picture is just a sunset or whatever idk IT BREAKS UP THE VIBE

so you can do this from any device, (i prefer to do it from my computer though for reasons that'll be explained later) and if you have spotify premium you'll also be able to listen to it on all devices, but first thing you're going to do is go into your account settings and turn on the local files option

once you do that, it'll access any downloaded audio files you have, and you can listen to them on that device. they'll be stored in a spotify playlist named local files, similar to the liked songs one. (i would also recommend making a separate folder for the songs you want downloaded on spotify, at least on the computer, i know you can change which folder it takes from there. otherwise you might end up with random audio you downloaded for something specific in your spotify library.)

if you have premium, you can also turn on spotify on other devices, and add the song you downloaded to an actual playlist

and it'll sync up on all your devices and you can download the playlist on every device. if you don't have premium though you'll either have to download it on every device or you can only listen to it on the first one you downloaded it on.

now for actually getting the song. this is really simple I tend to go straight to youtube and it's usually pretty easy to find the song I want, and then I just put the link into a youtube to mp3 converter (dodging the hot moms in my area. maybe next time ladies) and then I download it. make sure it's in the right folder and boom! I now have mitski's cover of let's get married to cry to on demand! soundcloud also works though obviously because any audio file will do, and a lot of unreleased songs get uploaded to soundcloud, and there’s a handy little download button right there and you don't need an account! great if you run into a song that isn't on youtube. totally unrelated but I have phoebe bridger's cover of iris downloaded

now. reasons I tend to do it from my computer specifically.

1. most shady websites are just easier to navigate lol. it's twice as hard to deal with pop ups when things are also rotating your phone screen around. so yeah i'd prefer to hit up the mp3 converter from my laptop

2. if you have any songs where the only video for it has an annoying intro or outro, it can be easier to edit it out. like lil nas x's cover of jolene was from the youtube channel for some fucking radio station or whatever so I had to edit that out. and my laptop's native audio file player has a trimming option, so I didn't have to download extra software like I would on my phone

3. and most importantly to me, you can make it aesthetically pleasing. when you just download the audio file it won't have an album picture and it won't have an artist name it'll only have whatever the file name is as a title, which you can change obviously but it doesn't fix the rest of it. on the computer it is so easy to download a metadata editor, and you can edit the file's metadata however you want and it'll have the little artist line and the album if you want and you can put whatever picture goes with the song but this is of course not required it just matters a lot to me personally

anyway have fun!

[ronsenthal]

Ron Speirs x Reader

Summary: The war is almost over now, everybody seems much more relaxed and in a good mood, then some music starts playing and things take a different turn

A/N: I had this idea while listening to one of my fav songs, this masterpiece by Frank Sinatra and Antônio Carlos Jobim which was also quite a popular song during the late 30's and 40's so I hope y'all enjoy it! Friendly reminder that english is not my first language so I apologise for any mistakes you may find

No more training, no more frozen feet, no more drenched clothes, explosions, no more blood, no more hours waiting for a cold shower or for crappy food. No, this time everything has changed. It was quite a shock for everybody at the beginning as the general feeling was the "what now?" or a "then what?" but as the saying goes, the good things are easier to get used to.

The germans had surrendered just a week or so ago, it was still way too recent but at the same time it was so long ago that all the fancy bottles of fine wine, champagne and booze that Nix could get his hands on and all the rest he could give to the other guys we're all long gone. Still, the hangover feeling could be felt in the air.

The Bavarian Alps were quite a nice view after so many horrors, such a reminder of how beautiful the world could be. During the day you always caught yourself enjoying the landscape, what a view! And at night the cold breeze coming from the mountains and the smell of the trees would get blended with tobacco and bavarian booze.

In one of those nights and after days of hard work a much needed (and deserved) weekend pass was awarded to the company. Every chance and tiny bit of happiness was celebrated, not only for the ones who survived way too many horrors, but also was a celebration for those who couldn't make it, for their memories and their efforts so the world could be full of life, joy and hope once again.

Since the invasion was concluded it was so much easier to get things from back home, some would say you could even "find" one thing or two from the scraps of what once was the place of the most powerful and rich people in Germany.

At some point there was even music, american music.

It didn't take so long until someone had the brilliant idea to arrange a party involving obscene amounts of alcohol and some fun. Of course you being so close to the guys would get some special treatment as you always took care of them during the bad times, so you were always the first to get invited for social adventures.

In one of those parties Luz, Tab and Perconte would invite some nurses back from the hospital in the city nearby so it really felt like one of those summer parties you had back home.

Unfortunately being one of the few women in the army also had its cons, you couldn't keep your eyes away from the pretty dresses the other girls were wearing while you felt like wearing old bandage scraps. Sensing that you were uncomfortable Luz stepped forward and invited you to dance with him.

What would you do without George Luz? You two always clicked from the very beginning after you were assigned to Easy Company as a Commanding Officer from intelligence to work alongside Nixon. George being the radio man was always in contact with you and Nix so both could get information to decide the next steps. He helped you so much on getting along with the other guys, always with a joke and a smile here and there.

You danced with him until your feet hurt a little and your head was spinning from all the moves, and of course, the booze. From time to time you two would get a couple of whistles from the other guys, jokingly, because they knew between the two of you there was only friendship, the one siblings would often share.

After what seemed like hours you decided to take a break to catch some air, he wouldn't complain as he took a theatrical bow before heading to the closest toilet he could find.

You decided to go outside to smoke a cigarette and enjoy some silence, but your soul almost jumped out of your body as you saw a silhouette in front of your eyes.

It was him, the personification of the devil himself, the reason for so many sleepless nights and daydreams. Everybody knew the legends of Captain Speirs, yet one could count in a single hand the people who knew a little bit about the guy and of course you were one of the few who could poke the beast.

- Jesus Christ Speirs, didn't you killed enough people by now? you snapped as soon as your eyes adjusted to the bad light outside

- I'm.. uh.. so sorry Y/L/N. He said in such a soft tone, sounding almost like a real apology, you could sense even embarrassment in his tone.

Suddenly the sound of the crickets were louder than the faint familiar music still playing, but you two stood still once again sharing the silence between the smoke coming from the cigarettes in your hands.

As you started to slowly move to head back inside you could hear him taking a big breath.

- Please Y/N wait! w-would you give me the privilege to dance the next one with me? he said as he gently grabbed your left arm.

You stood there a little shocked and amazed by what had just happened because 1. he was nervous, 2. he just asked you to dance with him and 3. he was so nervous that he was stuttering and the hand on your arm was so cold.

If you told nobody would believe that the so stern and scary Sparky could be so nervous around a girl. It took you a few seconds to realize that he was looking at you, waiting for your response, he was blinking more quickly than normal, craving for an answer. Even in the dark you could see his long eyelashes moving and how his pupils were dilated as if he was some cat.

- Yes, I would like that. You said slowly enjoying every single letter of the words that came out of your mouth and enjoying the view of every little piece of his body relaxing.

- Good. Was the only response he gave you before tossing his cigarette on the ground and then reaching his hand for you to take.

This time it wasn't so cold, it was warmer, it even felt safe!

As you two entered the house together holding hands suddenly and slowly the voices and laughter took another tone, giving room for some whispers, gasps and shocked looks.

Nix, who was just sitting in a corner torn between some dumb discussion with Harry and fighting to open another bottle of whisky, suddenly stopped and slapped Dick across his chest. Even the so composed Major Winters dropped his jaw as he saw what Lewis was trying to put into words, but couldn't.

The music kept playing and after a few seconds everything was going back to normal and the laughs and voices came back once Luz told some joke to the guys.

You were really surprised because never in your entire life could you picture yourself dancing with Speirs. You did imagine a thing or two involving the captain, but it never crossed your mind that he could enjoy dancing, and even worse, that he could be a really good dancer.

He was holding your hand so gently, never averting his gaze, no words were needed as your eyes were speaking. But suddenly he once again bravery took the next step.He said letting out a cute and small laugh.

He looked so good while smiling, you wondered why he didn't show that very often.

- You know, I thought that I would have to wait the entire night to have the chance to dance with you. I was plotting on how to get rid of Luz.

- You could have just asked earlier or you could have scared him as everybody is afraid of Captain Ronald Speirs. You said with a smirk on your face.

- No, because I'm a nice guy and I wouldn't want to scare your little friend. He sounded exasperated, almost jealous as he said the last two words, then he took your other hand for you to take a spin.

Your world was certainly spinning really fast at this point, was he really jealous? of you? of you and George of all people.

The music stopped and the singer was making some announcements but you stood still for a few seconds before letting go of his hand. Suddenly there was no air inside and you had to compose yourself after your realization.

You couldn't find him for the rest of the night, in fact nobody could. It was a bittersweet end for such a nice day and you knew that it would certainly take some time before you could sleep at night.

The next day at the breakfast table nobody said a word and you were the last one to finish your meal. As you were preparing to get up your seat you were met with a pair of kind eyes, as if waiting for you to speak out.

Dick always had this aura around him, always prepared to be a good listener and then would offer his piece of advice. But as you took quite some time he finally said.

- He likes you, really.

- I beg your pardon? you said squinting your eyes.

- Y/N Your poker face is as bad as mine, and I mean it. He, Ron.really.likes.you

- Shut up Winters!

- It's true, if looks could kill, poor Luz would be receiving his requiem mass by now.

You rolled your eyes at him, even though something in your heart made you believe in his words, one of Dick's superpowers you thought to yourself, but still it made sense.

You spend the rest of your day trying to avoid other people. But then decided to end your misery and joined the guys for some more music and beers.

Only this time there was a certain someone waiting for you. He almost jumped out on his feet as he saw you walking through the doors. He was looking so different, he was the so confident and dangerous captain everybody was afraid of.

And took your advice and was ferociously glancing at the boys as if you were more valuable than one of his silver candelabras. But you could see his beauty as his clenched jaw was moving from side to side, he looked like one of those warriors from stories, from marble sculptures of famous heroes. As he took his cap off you could admire his dark hair moving while his hands were putting a few strands of hair back in place.

The same hands that suddenly were holding yours so gentle, he didn't have to ask you out.

You knew that Dick was right, and this time you also knew deep in your heart that you would never want to change partners again.

Taglist: @mads-weasley, @footprintsinthesxnd, @sweetxvanixlla, @xxluckystrike, @malarkgirlypop, @lostloveletters Let me know if you want to be added!!

also a special shout out to @ewipandora, thanks for the little push, I really needed that and HEY I'VE DONE IT!!!!!

[anobodysposts]

Giving directions [AtsuHina] [Day 2 of Flufftober]

For @flufftober

Prompt: "Left. Other left!"

Words: 687. Rated: G.

Summary: Osamu was tasked to take Atsumu to the airport, for Shouyou's surprise arrival. However, Atsumu was about to test Osamu's patience.

AO3 Link.

He trusted Osamu most of the time. Most of the time. Until he offered him a sheet to cover his eyes. 

“What are ya planning, Samu?” Atsumu couldn’t hide his reservations. 

“Can ya just… put it? I have a surprise for ya,” Osamu said. 

Atsumu’s suspicious grew even bigger. 

“Not gonna tell me why?” 

“No. Just do it, we are runnin’ outta time.” Osamu checked his phone, he was afraid they were going to be late, just because Atsumu couldn’t trust him for once. 

“If something happens, you’ll be the first suspect,” Atusumu said, after covering his eyes. 

“I can live with that. Let’s go now.”

Osamu thought that convincing Atsumu to cover his eyes was the most difficult part of the task. Oh, boy, he was wrong. 

“Left! No, the other left!” 

“My left, or your left?” Asumu wasn’t even sure what was going on. So far, he had pushed a table, and was pretty sure something fell and broke a glass. 

“Left!” Osamu facepalmed. 

“Well, if I could just take a look where we goin’, we would not be having this conversation!” 

Osamu wondered what he had done in a past life to deserve this. Guiding him to the car, without a doubt, had become a Herculean task. 

“I’ve been ordered to not tell you anything. So, just get in the car, Sumu!” Osamu pushed his brother, letting all his frustration out at that moment. 

“Are ya plannin’ to throw me or somethin’ like that?” Atsumu touched everywhere on the car, making sure that he wasn’t in the trunk. 

“It’s very tempting right now, but I can’t. Someone else needs ya alive.” Osamu wondered if he had said way too much. 

To make sure that Atsumu wouldn’t keep talking, Osamu put the radio as loud as he could. He had promised someone that he would take Atsumu to him, and he was planning to keep his word. 

“Planes?” Atsumu asked after what it felt like forever. There was no radio loud enough to hide that particular noise.

“Maybe.”

“What do ya mean with maybe? I can hear planes!” Atsumu wondered why they were so close to the airport. Unless… But that couldn’t be. He was miles and miles away, too busy to visit him. 

“Shut up, Sumu.” Osamu took a deep breath. 

After finally finding a parking spot, Osamu helped his brother to get out of the car. He led him to the entrance, knowing that he couldn’t guide him any longer. 

“Wait here.”

Atsumu could barely stay in that place, and he had the itch of taking off that sheet. But he ended up not doing that. He tried to listen to his surroundings as carefully as he could, but with the noise of the planes and people around him, it was impossible. 

“Sumu-san,” a gentle voice said, behind him. 

Atsumu slowly turned around. Was he hallucinating? Did he miss Shouyou so much that he could  differentiate his voice between the crowd?It was impossible! He was supposed to be training. However, the moment their hands touched, Atsumu knew it was him. 

“I’ll take that from you,” Shouyou announced, so he could look directly into his boyfriend’s eyes. 

And the crowd faded just like that. Everyone, including his twin, disappeared. All his devotion was for Shouyou, and only Shouyou. 

“Shouyou-kun,” Atsumu was without words. 

He barely stroked his skin, as if Shouyou was made of porcelain, and he could break if Atsumu was too rough.  

“Miss you, Sumu-san!” Shouyou couldn’t take it any longer, and he jumped for a kiss. 

Touching those lips, after so long, felt like he was drinking water after being thirsty for so long. 

“And thank you so much, Samu-san! I bet it wasn’t…” Shouyou took his time before finishing that sentence. “Easy?”

“Thank you, Samu. Ya not gonna replace Google Maps any time soon, but ya made this happen,” Atsumu recognized. 

Osamu just nodded, and took his keys out. “Ready to go?” 

He had never seen his twin brother this happy, and even if he could be a real pain in the ass, it had been completely worth it. 

[corvid-language-library]

JLPT Journal 29/07 (Countdown: 125 days)

Today I:

Did listening practice on YT + made shadowing audios for specific phrases/vocab

Watched grammar video about 代わりに

Read an NHK Easy article

Reviewed 34 kanji + learned 5 new

Watched comprehensible input videos

Listened to the radio

N3 vocab from today:

Colour coding denotes pitch accent

地方（ちほう）district, region, area, locality; the country, countryside, the provinces, rural area

単位（たんい）unit, denomination

囲む（かこむ）to surround, to encircle, to enclose, to fence, to wall in

伝統（でんとう）tradition, convention

特徴（とくちょう）feature, trait, characteristic, peculiarity, distinction

位置（いち）place, position, location

広がる（ひろがる）to spread (out), to extend, to stretch, to reach to, to get around, to fill (e.g. a space)

端（はし／たん [suffix]) end (e.g. of street), tip, point, edge, margin; beginning, start, first

農業（のうぎょう）agriculture

企業（きぎょう）enterprise, business, company, corporation

効く（きく）to be effective, to take effect, to be good (for) (eg medicine)

Thoughts

I've been using listening practice videos to mine vocab related to specific topics and create more shadowing audios for certain vocab/grammar/functional language. Some of it I'm pretty sure is text-to-speech though (or at least it's a pre-written essay someone's reading aloud and doesn't reflext natural speech) so I'm using it just for learning sentences/vocab in context rather than shadowing because I don't wanna sound like a robot lol.

Other than that I'm just doing my best. Putting in my hours, getting my immersion/comprehensible input as much as possible, hoping it'll pay off in just over 4 months time.

[multipleheartbreakhotels]

I Sing You Joke

The Joking Starts When I Listen To The Music

February 25th 2006

Laughter. It's such a powerful thing especially when you make people laugh more particularly when you make your favourite band laugh. The first time I listened to them, was in 2004 on the radio covering some songs, I fell in love with them in an instant, the bass, the electric guitars, the drums, and the voice, especially the voice. Later in 2005, I heard them again, but this time with their songs. When I searched my local record shop, I had to dig very deeply since they were local artists. Once I found their single titled “I Bet You Look Good on the Dance Floor” I bought them immediately with a CD player. The moment I reached home, I listened to it non-stop, but there were unfortunately only 3 songs, until 2006. The beginning of the year with a new album by my favourite band is an excellent start the year, and to my delight, it was much longer than the other album of course, they also shared the same song which was one of my favourites at that moment, I brought the record home and listened to it religiously to the point where my roommate got sick quite literally when she got a fever I had to take care of her, so instead of listening to "Dancing Shoes" or "A Certain Romance" we listened to something my mother used to put when I and my brothers were sick, Mozart. I could only go to college while she was sick, I could not go to work or the pub, the millisecond she got well, I, well, we went to the pub. This was a very special night because not only was it for being back but also it was my 3-year anniversary for working in that pub, the time of my show starts at 11:05 it was 10:45 so shite luckily my roommate was also coming to my show, but she is equally late because we are both getting ready late

"MARYA WHERE IS MY BLUE DRESS?" Emilia yelled from her room

"IT'S IN MY ROOM ON THE BED" I yelled

back preparing my bag and ready to go, she came to my room

"Ok, but why is it here?" Emilia asked me

"Em?" I asked glaring at her, 

"Sorry," She replied,

she got dressed and we both ran to the pub, Lucky for us it was near and it was easy to run there for me since I was wearing Converse but Emilia was wearing high heels to feel fancy, how could you feel fancy in a local pub? I thought. I opened the door to the bar

"What the hell Marya it's already 11:10" the bartender Victor yelled

but before he could say another word I got to the stage removed my jacket and threw it not caring where

"Hello ladies and gentlemen apologies for my lateness, my best friend's lazy arse was weighing me down," I said into the microphone.

Laughs were coming from people who sounded like music to me, and after their laughs, they started to clap as a greeting for me

"Thank you Thank you" I said to the audience 

"So what shall I tell you today? Mhm Oh, tonight is a very special night, today is my anniversary and no it's not my romantic anniversary unless you think me being yelled at every time I come here late is romantic or sexual " I said

"Ooo Marya your so late it's already time to finish" I mimicked Victor and people started to laugh harder,

"Oi your such dirty-minded people ai......but anyways tonight is when I started to work in this bar the day I started to remove your innocents" I joked.

"It marks 3 years, imagine I was working here for one year, and I was still shocked that Victor has not killed me yet I am pretty sure the reason he is always behind that bar is that he is preparing to murder me, planning the day, and sharpening his knife, so if today is the last you will see of me let my last words be 'Thank you for letting all my friends plan a murder on me and not succeeding, and letting some random french bartender kill me instead' I see women are laughing more, I guess after seeing this you will know what tea to final spill to your ex-college-best friend-roommate" I said

taking the microphone from its holster and continuing speaking for 20 more minutes until I noticed a group of people standing next to the bar, there was a boy my age his back towards me with a leather jacket I wanted to get a better look at him when he finally turned to me, I stopped talking only for a second but it felt like hours, 10 minutes after I was done speaking

“Thank you, ladies and gentlemen, and all the undecided I hope you pissed your pants and you will see me tomorrow night, I basically live her bye bye” I announced

and left the stage, took my thrown coat and bag, and placed them on a stool next to the bar. As Emilia was flirting with any living male soul, I sat at the bar talking to Victor, more precisely, the wall and drinking a bloody Mary,; it was my favourite drink.

"Excuse me, Sir?" One of the boys that I saw earlier from the stage,

"Could I get a-?" He said

not sure what drink to order, his friend that was sitting on the bar stool, the same boy with the leather jacket whispered something to his friend's ear

"A bloody mary, please? For the lady" He finally finished his sentence.

"I should be getting you drinks instead," I said with a smile,

"I get free drinks here so what would you like?" I added,

"How about their most expensive pint?" He asked with a heavy Northerner accent.

"Victor, the most expensive beer you have for this gentleman, please," I asked,

"You have 18 pounds, Marya?" He said,

"No, but I work here, so I give you customers, and you give me free alcohol" I marked.

"I give you money, not alcohol,"

"I give you customers, which means that come with free alcohol and money" I added.

"Fine, you work tomorrow also no holiday" He debated,

"Deal" I smiled,

and he placed the beer to the guy.

"Matt," He said

as he held out his hand,

"Marya, you don't need to know that though I already said my name on stage and it's on the board" I joked,

"And these your fellow shadows?" I asked,

the reason I called them shadows was because they were behind him and I could hardly see them from the light and choice of clothing.

"That's Jamie" He pointed to the blond guy dancing,

"I'm Nick," The brunette with green eyes said.

"Matt, I found a couple of lads come on" He said excitedly

"Will you excuse me?" He said as he finished his entire pint,

"You are excused," I said

and did a fancy bow, they laughed slightly and left, and then the guy next to me, who I assume was also Matt's friend showed me his hand in a gesture to shake it,

"Im Alex," He said in a hoarse or puberty voice with an equally heavy Northerner accent as the rest of his friends.

I shook his hand "Marya" I smiled,

his voice reminded me of something or more precisely someone, I could not put my finger on it though. We talked for hours about our favourite musicians bands, and books it was my favourite subject, and even baking. The night ended with them taking me back to my apartment, while Emilia went out with some lad from the pub.

"You don't have to it's unnecessary" I assured them after they asked if they could take me home,

they didn't exactly ask though they just said they would take me home,

"We are already walking out, and besides you live near us, it's okay" Alex reassured me with a smile,

it was a drunk smile, Matt was also happy to take me home slightly more drunk than Alex, while Jamie and Nick were flat-out drunk, we were all basically knackered.

"Wait, didn't you come to the bar with someone?" Matt asked slurring his words,

"She went with some random bloke, and they are gonna shag," I said,

"How are you sure they are gonna shag, detective?" Nick asked with a funny questioning look on his face,

"Well, her telling me Im gonna shag him tonight in a drunk whisper gave it away" I giggled.

When we reached my building

“I think that’s meh building,” I said slurring my words,

"Yup, it is" I added,

"Wait, wait, wait" Alex said quickly,

"Could you gimmie your number?" He asked while he was searching his phone in his pockets,

"Why not, if I can remember" I giggled,

while the rest laughed, he handed me his phone, and I gave his phone back after I typed my number.

"What does Bella, mean in Italian?" He asked,

"I am too drunk to know, but Bonita I am a pretty drunk bitch, well Bonita is only the pretty part" I giggled,

and he typed something in his phone.

"Well, we shall see each other in the next drunk street," I said in a fancy voice

"We shall" Alex answered in a tone equal to mine,

and he and his mates left. I got up to my apartment as best as possible trying to not let my neighbours think I was an alcoholic it was already bad that they called me a stripper just because I worked in a pub and I was a dance teacher, the moment I opened my apartment door and went to my room I fell asleep, knowing and not knowing how bad and good tomorrow will be.

Tags 💌: @ohladymoon @martinipoliz @i-m-a-leaf-on-the-wind @alexturntable @alexturne @drinkingbitterboy @arcticshadowturtles @cluedoenthusiast @dropofdrool @alovesreading @mywritingonlyfans @jetskisonyourmoat @bellaturner @almluv

[cdsmusicblog]

Are songs shorter nowadays and is it a problem for the popular music industry?

I feel like when we compare popular music from the 1980-90s to the 2010-20s, one of the main difference is the length of songs. At the 2024 Grammy Awards, a lot of the nominated songs were under 3 minutes with, for example, “Dance The Night” by Dua Lipa or SZA’s “Kill Bill”. But why is that?

In the 50s a 45-rpm single could only hold about 5 minutes of music so songs were, on the average, 3 and a half minutes long on vinyl records. In the 60s/70s artists started experimenting with longer pieces like Bob Dylan’s “Like A Rolling Stone” being more than 6 minutes long or “Bohemian Rhapsody” by Queen lasting 5 minutes and 55 seconds. In the 1980-90s, as CDs didn’t have the same restrictions as vinyls, the average song length was about 4 minutes but since 1990, on the Billboard Hot 100, songs length went from over 4 minutes to around 3, regardless of the genre. This decrease was caused by radio edits that shortened songs to 3 and a half minutes but it is mostly because of streaming platforms and social media.

The way streaming platforms work is pretty simple, an artist is payed every time a song of theirs is played in its entirety no matter its length so it is more economically profitable for them to make shorter songs. Listeners have to be engaged in the first 30 seconds of a song, making shorter intros and directly engaging and catchy hooks reduces the chances of the song getting skipped.

Social media, especially Tiktok, have changed the way we interact with music and artists; on the one hand it allows creativeness and an easy way to connect with people but it is also so fast-paced that it ruins our attention span, which is why shorter songs are preferred on those apps. We can see it with the 2023 Tiktok hit song “Super Shy” by the kpop group New Jeans being only 2 minutes and 34 seconds long

It is more profitable for artists to release shorter songs but some of them also do it to experiment with their art, like the singer PinkPantheress who said in an interview that she thinks songs don’t need to be more than 2 minutes and 30 seconds long. Her saying that resulted in a lot of backlash, people, from simple listeners to professionals, have expressed their opinion on the matter and have said that songs getting shorter is a big issue in the music industry. In a way I agree because if artists start to only make music for economic purposes, we will lose the art of it but at the same time, music length is something that has been changing for decades now and the popular music artists of our time are experimenting with their creations just like they did in the 60s and 70s so I don’t think it is necessarily wrong to think they way PinkPantheress does. Popular music has always, and will always be influenced by the latest technology and the way we, as the audience, consume it so I don’t see why it would be alarming or a threat to songwriting/ the music industry if songs are getting shorter.