#the last one is from the discovery collab

[calmbigdipper]

So many Kavehs — which one is your favorite?

[coquelicoq]

Hello! I just saw you post some Maitre Gims, and I know you like Stromae, so I was wondering what are french/french speaking singers that you like the most? You may have answered smtg like that already but i couldn't find it and I am, as always, very curious ^^ -☆

mc solaar!!!!!! and stromae for sure. and i had a whole renan luce phase in college. otherwise i mostly just listen to individual songs and don't tend to know a ton by the same artist, but i've liked some individual songs by christine and the queens, lous and the yakuza, tryo, kana, bénabar, vianney. some other artists but that's a sample. currently only know two french-language songs by mika but i like them. always looking for recs if you have any!

[canmom]

nooooo stop writing sexy letters i'm trying to beat you at chrononauts

as mentioned a little earlier, today I read This Is How You Lose The Time War by Amal El-Mohtar and Max Gladstone...!

Before we dive into the spoilers, a brief word about what this book is...

TIHYLTW is a semi-epistolary novel about time travellers Red and Blue and, essentially, their enemies-to-lovers romance as they play spy games across the broad, branching timeline, acting respectively on behalf of the ultra-high-tech 'Agency' and the biopunk 'Garden'. Each chapter consists of a brief vignette depicting one or the other at their work, ending with the discovery of a letter (in some abstract, poetic form like a dead fish) from their counterpart, followed by the contents of that letter.

A lot of the structure of this book is explained by the knowledge that this was written as a kind of chain-writing project: El-Mohtar and Gladstone hashed out the broad premise but then alternated writing the chapters, with Gladstone taking on the role of Red and El-Mohtar as Blue. Each would respond to the other's letter and advance the story a little bit. In essence, then, this is also something like a play-by-post roleplaying game. I have played both chain-writing games and play-by-post roleplaying so this all ends up feeling quite familiar.

What's remarkable, given that approach, is that this book manages to maintain a generally consistent voice and clear narrative progression. But knowing how it's written still gives you some insight, because you can read it in the light of improv comedy. For example, when Red describes Blue's world, so far undefined, as 'viney-hivey elfworlds', this is what in improv terms we call an offer: you define something and hand it off to the other person to iterate or play on it somehow. In this case, El-Mohtar has Blue gently rebuff this as 'full of silly stereotypes' and ask for a more genuine reply about her own life (this is early in the romance, where they are expressing mutual curiosity which also serves as exposition); Gladstone can oblige and give us Red's backstory.

In some cases, the fingerprint of chainwriting is very obvious. One chapter has Blue sign off 'see you in London next' - Gladstone responds to this by setting the next chapter in an alternate-world city called 'London Next', 'the kind of London other Londons dream'. This wordplay, reinterpreting the last entry in an unexpected light, is such a blatant chainwriting move.

Two writers who vibe, with a back-and-forth, is probably about the ideal scale for this kind of game. At university I played chain-writing games in a large group, where each player got to contribute only one section to the story; this too often became a 'too many cooks' situation, whose pacing would suffer from the lack of larger structure. As a player in that kind of game, you'd have to balance leaving your own fingerprint by adding elements to the story, and advancing what had already been written (I very much tended to the former). Too often it would fall to the last person in the chain to try and hastily tie the story up in some sort of resolution.

Play-by-post roleplaying games don't have that 'one entry per player' limit, but the problems of time zones/availability and the general principle to not 'godmod' meant that often the game would either die pretty quickly or turn into a situation where each person was essentially writing their own story in isolation, with minimal interaction with others. Which can be fun: a collection of web serials on a theme is a perfectly valid writing project. But it's not really a collab in this way.

A project limited to just two writers, on the other hand, can build up a rhythm, and this is what happens here. A lot of the charm of this novel is the playfulness of the back and forth, not just in the letters themselves, but also in the settings introduced and gradual expansion and iteration of the concepts. This feels like it would be a tremendously fun game to play (ehem).

Now, let's apply the Spoiler Zip, and talk about some details.

So this is essentially a spy story; it is a story of the two characters, both prodigy agents, mutually defecting from the Time War to elope together. Though there's plenty of drama when they get found out, death fakeouts, a kind of classic gay personality synthesis...

Most of the chapters end with a 'Seeker' appearing to swallow up the remnants of the letter that has been read. With 'hunger' becoming a symbol of the relationship in the letters, and the time travel theme, I guessed that this character would somehow represent a synthesis of the two characters retracing their relationship. Well, almost!

Broadly, the dénouement is: Blue strikes a (rather vaguely defined) decisive move in the Time War, but Red's superiors figure out some of the situation and set her up to entrap Blue; Red appears to have killed her (with a letter naturally), but she goes rogue and attempts to assimilate enough of Blue's being (through the letters) to enter the Garden and innoculate her against the poison at birth, thus allowing Blue to turn out to be alive and save Red from space prison. So it's not quite another 2010s SFF story in which a lesbian carries the ghost of her dead girlfriend in her head but... it sorta is, innit.

As might be evident from that paragraph, the time travel model in this story is definitely of the 'timey-wimey' variety. It's not really about that; the logic is much more poetic than it is, well, logical. Characters move very freely 'upthread' (towards the distant past) and 'downthread' (towards the scifi future). Their adventures tend to take them to fairly recognisable bits of history, with a reasonable sprinkling of mythology.

What they're actually doing in these places is broadly speaking similar to the card game Chrononauts if you've ever played that, attempting to shape the futures by changing the past, but generally speaking in subtle ways - we're given various examples of saving crucial people from disasters, inspiring inventions, and so on. Of course, they must have a reason for this subtle approach: in this case, 'chaos' is anathema to both sides.

Our characters, as superspies constantly assuming different identities and assassinating people and all sorts of other things, are pretty disconnected from the people whose lives they mess with - something that becomes more explicit later, with the remark that the work involves, often, killing and saving the same people in different timelines. As such, there are few particularly well-defined characters in the story besides Red and Blue - the only real exception being Red's scary, nameless Commandant. Now and then we'll get the allusion to a historical figure, such as Genghis Khan, but only rarely. These bitches have eyes only for each other. Their interactions are frequently compared to a game (mostly go, sometimes a little chess), and the places they pass through are relevant largely insofar as they constitute moves in the game.

This is where I think the comparison to Italo Calvino that I made earlier breaks down. Here, the setting is in large part colour: material for the playful romantic interactions of our two spies. There are definitely some imaginative setpieces - I liked the computer cult of Hack, and the prehistoric valley of bones - but in contrast to Invisible Cities where the relationship between Marco Polo and Kublai Khan is a frame story and the vignettes about cities are the main focus, here the balance is opposite.

On that front of setting, I think I found the factions themselves a little insubstantial. Of course, the point of the novel is in large part that their differences are generally superficial and should be transcended - but beyond that their natures are fundamentally opposed, we never get a huge sense of why the Agency and Garden are battling over the timelines. One is plant themed, the other is robot themed. One plays the long game, the other likes finesse. But both Blue and Red are in some major way alienated from their society - indeed, Red even suggests this is the major qualification for becoming a time agent in her society. They fight the Time War because... they were constructed to do it, because it's a relief from existential despair, and later, because it's sexy to fight a Time War with someone?

If interpreted as an enemies to lovers arc, well, it's not really that. More of a strangers to lovers arc; there is little to not antagonism outside of the occasional bravado about who will win the game. They're really the ultimate u-haul lesbians. But perhaps that's putting a foreign frame on it. 'Courtship through scifi strategy duel leading to transformation through synthesis' is literally a premise I wrote too, I can't possibly complain about it!

I refuse to add another 'lyrical' to the pile, but I can't deny the craft on display here. Still, sometimes the allusions feel a bit too 'local' to my time and place to belong to truly alien beings. Sometimes this is lampshaded - for example, in the first letter from Blue, Ozymandias is quoted, but immediately described as an 'overanthologised work of the early Strand 6 nineteenth century'. That sets up a callback later in one of Red's letter. Another time, Blue recommends Red a fantasy novel written in the 50s, remarking that it is (somehow) the same in every timeline it appears. It's tricky to know how to call this - if the allusions were made up or too obscure, you'd lose the playful way in which they are invoked, yet having a strange transhuman future creature throw out references that feel like they belong to a 20th century university student feels like it familiarises a little too much.

Some of the wordplay also feels... how to put this. The example I'm thinking of is that the characters start riffing on a 19th century etiquette book to help Red get the hang of letter-writing, and this makes reference to a scented seal (wax thing that is used to close an envelope). So Red embeds her next letter inside a seal (marine mammal). My natural assumption is that the characters are speaking $mysterious_future_language, but this kind of pun makes it impossible to read them as speaking anything other than English, right?

But that's the tone of this novel. It's constantly teasing. The Utena influence (I'm told Gladstone is a fan) is certainly strong.

There is something, too, to the way that Red's arc is to step away from the cyborg state where all her inconvenient organs and biological needs can be shut off, and expose herself to what we could call more human experiences - hunger, crying. This is clearly deliberate and rich in metaphorical valence (she is becoming more akin to Blue, and more distant from her utilitarian origin), but she's also coming towards us. This isn't a flaw in the novel, but more a limitation of the medium: we can only see through our own experiences, and thus to write a comprehensible emotional arc for an alien being, we must build our own 'bridges' (to use the novel's metaphor, see what I did there you fuckers) to their experience, and make them more human...

Taken as a spy story, I think the issue is perhaps that the characters are too important. Far from cogs in a vast, grinding geopolitical machine, it feels like Red and Blue are the most important people in all the universes, the only players that matter on either side. Their courtship is inevitable - they just don't need all these other chumps, who can't see how sexy it is to write emotional letters to your rival spy. Everyone else is basically an NPC.

As much as I rib it though, this was basically the perfect train book, and made that five hour journey pass in a breeze. I don't know that I'd really put it on Calvino tier, but I'd still definitely recommend giving it a read, it's a good playful book about lesbians doing a hilariously overcomplicated courtship and what's not to love about that.

As a final addendum - I've been gently reminded that El-Mohtar is 'the prototypical bi woman married to a man who goes to great pains to constantly remind everyone she's not straight', which, you know, fair enough lmao. If my bi granny hadn't married a guy (eight years her senior, no it did not go well), then I wouldn't exist! I just think it's kind of funny.

(and ftr? I don't actually give a shit whether the people who write a book belong to the 'right' identity category. On the contrary, I think everyone should write a gay romance at least once, it's good for the soul, maybe you'll realise you like it more than you thought you would, eh~)

[ryukenzz]

Fear's Favorite Test Subject

♱☠︎.𝕮𝖔𝖓𝖙𝖊𝖓𝖙: Headcanons of the Fear and his most prized possession. These headcanons will be about As Nodt as a yandere mad scientist with a female reader in mind.

♱☠︎.𝖂𝖆𝖗𝖓𝖎𝖓𝖌𝖘: There will be content that'll include human experimentation, yandere themes, manipulation, gore (subtle flesh picking, needles, drugs, etc.), As Nodt being a warning himself, mad scientist themes. If any of these topics are triggering for you, I would suggest not reading this for your own comfort. If I missed any other warnings, please don't hesitate to let me know!

♱☠︎.𝖂𝖔𝖗𝖉 𝕮𝖔𝖚𝖓𝖙: 1.3k

♱☠︎.𝕬𝖚𝖙𝖍𝖔𝖗'𝖘 𝕹𝖔𝖙𝖊: This is for @nagumoan's Dance with the Dead collab. This is also my first time writing yandere, so I hope this is good jdskf. I gave As Nodt a backstory of him as a neurologist that went into being a neuroscientist. I tried my best with the research I did for these careers, so I apologize if I got any facts wrong 😭.

The Neurologist and His Patient

As Nodt. Oh boy. The very embodiment of fear itself. This quiet man would be formidable as a mad scientist. He is no Mayuri or Szayel, but he is a madman in his own right. His knowledge on the nervous system and negative human emotion makes him one of the worst, if not THE worst mad scientist to come across. And when you add “yandere” to that status? It’s essentially game over for anyone who intrigues him.

A long time ago, As Nodt was a renowned neurologist. He barely spoke to anyone, always preferring to keep to himself and just do the job. To him, the idle chit chat was distracting and unnecessary while attending to his patients. He was a firm believer of interruptions being a hindrance to his work. He barely even spoke to his own colleagues. It all became a daily routine, over and over. Every day was silent. Every single hour became dull. That is until he made an unintentional discovery while looking over a recording of a patient's video EEG test session. Your EEG test session.

His dark eyes were trained on the recording, reviewing your results. The tapping of his pen against his clipboard matched the tempo of the machine in the video. His interest was intrigued by the amount of activity your brain displayed. Your reactions to the variety of clips being shown was brilliant. But, what really had his sights set on you was your fearful reactions. The way your beautiful face contorted whenever a killing scene appeared sparked an unfamiliar feeling. It didn’t sit right with him, but… it piqued his twisted curiosity. How much fear can the brain take before it breaks? How long does it last? He wanted to explore the possibilities. He needed to find the answers. And these thoughts began to chip away at As Nodt’s curiosity… all until it descended into something twisted and deranged.

It seems that dual graduate program will be useful to him, after all.

From that day on, As Nodt began to keep tabs on you. Your appointments, the days and times where you came and picked up your medicine, all of it. He even made arrangements to make sure that you went to him and him only. You didn’t think much of it at first, believing that he favored certain patients over others. As didn’t say a word to you in the beginning, his only responses alternated between blank stares and curt words that lasted two seconds at most. Even with his custom doctor’s mask and lack of eyebrows, his demeanor did the talking for him.

But eventually, he began to make small conversation with you. His words were still short, but definitely way more than what his coworkers received. The sudden change didn't make much sense. As Nodt, the most nonsocial person on Earth, showing interest in something other than his job? Impossible.  You figured that was just his personality … but little old you failed to realize that your new friend lover was leading you on a gurney straight to Hell.

As the months went by, As Nodt stopped showing up to work. You didn’t even realize he was gone until you came in one day and another neurologist handled your appointment. You assumed he was on vacation, so you didn’t worry too much. You went home that day and did your daily routine, watching a cheesy reality show with a snack. It was only a shame that you didn’t catch the small camera that was placed within the console below the flat screen. Or the carnival teddy bear’s eyes that were now camera lenses. Every small corner in your home had been turned into a secret watch party for As to learn everything about you. From the clothes you wear down to the way your fingers moved when you held something of value. His dark eyes burned everything into memory. He couldn’t wait to see that look of fear in your eyes again.

The Fear and His Frankenstein

The day you were taken from your home was akin to a scene right out of a psychological horror. You came home from your errands as normal, but things just felt out of place. The feeling of being watched crawled all over you like flies on a piece of food. It was a mystery… up until a small flash on the TV console caught your eye. You thought it to be a reflection of light from outside, but they don't flicker like a heartbeat. The moment you got closer to it, As Nodt came from the shadows and used a chloroform cloth to make you pass out. It took five minutes for you to finally go unconscious. The neuroscientist’s face crinkled into a creepy expression as he carried you out bridal style.

When you woke up, you were met with grim lighting and advanced machinery. The room was filled with computer monitors, graduated cylinders with foreign chemicals, and multiple shelves of books. You were in a lab. Your eyes studied the room until they landed on As Nodt’s figure. You were filled with confused relief to see him, and went to ask where he had been, but he cut you off with a deep and eerie command.

“Experiments should keep their mouths closed until they are given permission to speak. And I did not grant you that, so I suggest shutting your mouth unless you want to end up like the failures in those tanks.”

Life after that first day was pure agony. Every single moment brought misery. It would make even the strongest people crumble. As Nodt would tell you it’s “for the sake of research and health” but you knew better. He was sick and obsessive, but what could you do? You had little to no power, so your insults and words meant nothing to him. They were as valuable as the dirt that clung to his shoes. Throw every single curse word at him if you want to. It won’t save you from what will come.

His experiments were tormenting and painful. Needles and brain-prodding machines chipped away your sense of self every day. There was no hour where you weren’t being picked at with a needle, or an MEG scanner being attached to your head. The flashing lights and constant clips of horror movies was nothing compared to the pain-inducing drugs that invaded your nervous system. Or the electric buzzing that made your senses numb. The daily experiments were already bad enough, but when it came to his punishments, he became a sadistic creature. Anything that would bring you pain, physically or mentally, As Nodt would turn it up ten notches. 

For every offense that you commit, this silent scientist will base the experiment on whatever it was you did. If you leave the house without permission, he’ll use a special medicine that renders the nerves of your hands useless for two weeks. He’ll feed you and all, but don’t see it as a token of appreciation. Now, if you mess with his other experiments… you’ll wish you’d be one of those brains in the tanks. As Nodt would strap you to a chair and use an MEG scanner and clips of him experimenting on the other “failures” to torment you for hours. In your best interest, and others, don’t underestimate his ruthlessness. If you desire to keep your body and consciousness intact, just keep quiet and be his good little test subject.

“Why do you insist on being so difficult? Because of your constant insolence, I’ve been forced to end the trials of two nearly successful subjects. Thanks to your little belief of escaping, they’ve paid the price. You’ll make up for that, won’t you?” 

♱☠︎.𝕬𝖚𝖙𝖍𝖔𝖗'𝖘 𝕹𝖔𝖙𝖊: I apologize for posting this three days after Halloween is over hfbdjf. But I hope you all enjoy these spooky headcanons for As Nodt!

©ryukenzz 2023. Do not copy, paste, steal, translate, or repost my work.

[ja-khajay]

Tagged by @ervona to post about 5 songs I've been listening to lately! Making a little mix and match playlist based on the half dozen tracks on my phone and songs I've recently discovered. I will detail a bit about each under the cut :)

Nouar - Cheika Rimitti (rai)

Twilight of the Thunder god - Amon Amarth (metal)

What's Golden - Jurassic 5 (hiphop)

Sledgehammer - Peter Gabriel (pop)

Potions - Puscifer (? rock ?)

NOUAR

A few months ago, the combination of discovering a rai playlist on Spotify based on an artist I listen to with friends and another discovery of a radio station that exclusively plays north african and middle eastern music, the latter which became my go-to listen on the way from work for a while, I discovered this specific track. It's a huge niche hit, unknown to the general public but racking up in the millions of views online among fans of the genre and it's easy to see why! This is an absolutely hypnotic track which cleverly layers it's intrument with a catchy sung melody, periodically cut by the rythmic choir repeating its title. The main singer in the dialog has an outstanding voice and this all makes for a looping, hooking listening experience that makes you want to play it forever.

Twilight of the Thunder God

In a very different vibe, we have a track that perfectly matches it's overdesigned, historically based (yet inaccurate) cheesy madness of an album cover. This is the only song if this band I'm familiar with as a big hit. Power metal is among some of my favorite genres of music of all time, especially in it's overbearing energy and gratuitous use of double-pedals on the kick drum, fast bass and general theatrics. While I'm not a fan of growled vocals, this track compensates in my mind with one of THE catchiest hooks I know of in the genre. When I listen to TofTG, it's because I suddently remember it one day and get instantly compelled to download it on my phone and scream its lyrics at the sky until it leaves my head where it's stuck. This can take weeks...

What's Golden

Yet another radio discovery! I'm shamefully bad at hiphop, despite liking the genre a lot, no-one around me listened to it for ages so I don't have similar backlog as in other genres and as such as a grown adult am discovering it all with enthusiasm. This song sums up so many aspects I love in the genre which i'll definitly be using to nail what specific sub-genres are my favorite some day... catchy with a great flow and an instrumental that hooks you, it's impossible to not nod along to the beat and drop what I'm doing to listen to the full thing when it comes up on my playlist.

Sledgehammer

Yeah yeah it's a classic you all know it. And for a reason! This is one of, if not the only song I know which I can't separate from it's music video. I typically dislike MVs and prefer listening to music in pure audio format, but Sledgehammer comes with such a well crafted, wlel synched and creative film attached that it's always playing in my head when I hear it. This song was introduced to me by a mutual a few years ago which I'll be tagging in this post later as a thank you! I don't get its appeal as a dancey song, but it's definitly a track to dramatically walk to, which is probably the appeal the rest of this site sees in Once in a Lifetime...

Potions

For the nerds in the audience, this is a Reznor and Maynard collab so you know what you're getting into. The first thing that strikes me in this track is how loud the bass is - it turns the classic rock instrumental it's made from into something else that's just slightly overwhelming. And on top of that, very delicate vocals detail a raw, simple story of love and addiction. Where I chose this song above the many others of the band I'd been listening to a lot last month is this particular theme it has fits very well with a book series I'm reading right now, and it was easy for me to let my mind fly away with it on...:)

***

Runner ups: The Shame Of Life - Butthole Surfers / Ai vist to Lop - Mont-Jòia / Feuer Frei! - Rammstein / For me, Formidable - Charles Aznavour / It Mek - Desmond Dekker & the Aces

***

Tagging, your turn! @steamclouds @prolibytherium @internationalspacehobo @paristonhilll

[promptsblog]

Anon prompt requests: (Part 2: Vlogger prompts)

Here are some vlog-themed writing prompts:

1. Your character starts a vlog to document the last year of high school. What secret does the camera capture that wasn't meant to be shared?

2. A group of friends discover a channel where the vlogger eerily resembles one of them. What happens when they start watching the videos?

3. Your character is an investigative journalist, vlogging their discoveries as they uncover secrets within their insular world.

4. A vlogger who specializes in debunking myths decides to tackle a local urban legend.

5. Your character starts accepting challenges to boost their view count, but the challenges begin to escalate in dangerous ways.

6. A famous vlogger mysteriously disappears. Your character decides to follow the clues left in their last few videos to find out what happened.

7. A collab gone horribly wrong.

8. Your character’s pet gains internet fame through their vlog. How does this sudden popularity change both their lives?

9. A beauty vlogger starts receiving mysterious products from an anonymous sender. The products seem high quality at first but start to have some strange effects on the vlogger.

To be continued...

Part 1

[soundsandstuff]

new sh*t that dropped last week

new music friday recap - jul 12

here are my highlights of some of last week's (7/7-7/11) new drops — or at least the ones i listened to:

the tops ★

aaa - hyukoh & sunset rollercoaster (💿)

after that incredible lead single (young man), this collaboration between hyuko (🇰🇷) and sunset rollercoaster (🇹🇼) was probably one of my most anticipated july releases; and let me just say this: it blew my mind.

melodically, this album is a delight. from your feel-good sunny-summer-day indie rock moments to more atmospherical and immersive psychedelic tracks - the album navigates so smoothly through very different sounds in such a captivating way. you just can't stop listening.

the production in this is also incredible. there are so many details to discover within each track which make for the overall listening experience a very entertaining one.

it's a solid 9/10 for me. this is easily one of my favorite indie rock releases of 2024.

top 3 tracks: kite war, young man, aaaannnnteeeeennnaaaaaa

2. charm - clairo (💿)

for someone who has been a clairo listener since her early days, it's always exciting to listen to her new records. it feels like catching up with that one friend you see every couple of years. you see, over the course of her career, she has partnered up with different incredible producers for each project to give us a peek into her life and her journey of self-discovery.

we have witnessed her growth happen before our eyes through her work, both sonically and thematically. this is most evident in this record. her lo-fi bedroom pop days from the start of her career are far behind her as she steps into a territory where she feels most confident.

there's a certain warmth to this record. this record has a very 70s inspired sound. it's jazzy, it's folk-y, psychedelic at times. it's very cohesive as a whole, and has some captivating melodies all throughout. her voice, as always, is mellow and whisper-y at times. however, this fits perfectly in the theme and context of this album making giving a sense of intimacy

i think this is a 8.7/10 for me.

top 3 tracks: slow dance, terrapin, echo

the saved ⟡

still what i'm looking for - mac demarco & ryan paris (🎵)

this is the second mac demarco and ryan paris collab, and it's just as incredible as the first one. though this only features ryan paris' vocals, it feels like the perfect choice for this nostalgic adult contemporary melody injected with mac demarco's signature style. fingers crossed we get more collabs in the future.

2. floating parade - michael kiwanuka (🎵)

welcome back, michael kiwanuka. this is his first single in three years, and by the looks of it we're in for a very promising new era. it's soulful, it's dreamy, definitely a must-listend.

3. mary jane - orion sun (🎵)

the strings in this song are sick, complementing very well her very signature ethereal soul/rnb sound. her pen game also remains top tier. it did resonate thematically a lot with me. there's a certain honesty and vulnerability behind her work, which i quite enjoy.

4. drugs n' lullabies - isaiah falls (💿)

though his soulful vocals are a delight to listen to, the production behind this record is the star of the show. the production here is incredible, giving this rnb/soul record a very fresh sound. its funky with a little psychedelic groove to it, it's soulful, and there's some hip-hop influence all throughout the record.

not dull moment listening to this record, for sure. i was so eager to listen to the next song, waiting to be surprised — and i was every time. the downside: some of the songs are a little short, sometimes a little too short. with a production like that you can't help but want more.

there's a few tracks i would've removed, if i'm being honest, as they feel a bit like fillers in comparison to some other stronger songs on the record. however, there's still a little charm in some of these lighter tracks.

overall an 8.5/10 for me. i'm a big production guy and this record gave me everything i needed.

top 3 tracks: city birds, love me or love me not, meet me by the moon.

5. posse ep volume 2 - metronomy (EP)

this is a very interesting project. posse vol 1 left very big shoes to fill, and i'm not sure metronomy quite achieved it in this one. however, it was a very enjoyable project to listen to. he's showcasing once again his range as a producer with very interesting sounds and an interesting lineup of collaborators. saved 3/5 tracks which i will definitely be revisiting.

top 3 tracks: nice town, my love, with balance

6. yustyna - artemas (💿)

though i often feel hesitant when it comes to acts that blow up on tiktok, artemas is one i am very intrigued by. i love this sort of post-punk/pop noir vibe he brings to the table. he kind of reminds me of the sound blackbear or the neighborhood used to have around 2014. maybe it is that nostalgia that draws me towards his projects.

my only downside with this projects is that it feels a bit shallow at times, which makes me question the authenticity behind it. with a sound like this you would expect maybe a little more lyrical complexity or depth of some sort. at times it feels as he's pushing this hedonistic persona on us a little too hard.

nonetheless, this is a very interesting project with a very cohesive production all throughout. saved some tracks from here, and will be keeping him on my radar for upcoming releases. who knows, maybe his persona will be a little more convincing on his next project.

overall 6.5/10. i wasn't really blown away overall because how one-note it felt lyrically/thematically, but i see the potential.

top 3 tracks: i always kew you'd be the death of me, dirty little secret, you're simply wonderful.

7. big ideas - remi wolf (💿)

this is a project i haven't finished listening yet. however, i was super into it during the first half. i must say my favorite song so far have been the more rnb oriented tracks; however, my favorite think in this record is how many different sounds and genres she is exploring with. theres fun pop songs, some more on the rock pop side. i do love a variety. remi wold is definitely on my radar.

top tracks so far: motorcycle, kangaroo

the okays & the skips ⏭

x's - cigarettes after sex (💿)

if you're a fan fof cigs after sex's hazy psychedelic dream pop sound, it is always pleasant to listen to one of their records. i will be honest tho: there's no much novelty going on here. it seems they have grown comfortable on that one specific sound and the recurring themes of longing and heartbreak, which over time seems to have also diluted the depth their lyrics once had.

this one's an okay. giving it a 6/10. it's not a bad record, but there's certainly not a standout track. it seems as if there hasn't been one since their self-titled record. gun to my head and i still couldn't tell these songs apart from each other.

however, it does feel like a record you would find yourself listening to one day. though one-note , there's a certain comfort to their sound. sometimes you just need to float away on the hazy reverb-heavy guitars as greg gonzalez whispers moody melodies of heartbreak into your ear.

top 3 tracks: hideaway, baby blue movie, x's

2. no questions - tyga & sabrina claudio (🎵)

this one is just okay. sabrina claudio brings her silky vocal performance into the track, which is always a treat. however, there's just something about tyga i'm not really a fan of. there's just nothing unique (?) about him or his delivery. feels like any other rapper that goes viral on tiktok everyone will forget about in a couple of days.

3. dreams i see - kid kudi (🎵)

nothing special about this song tbh, and the production feels lazy and generic even. i miss the experimental kid cudi. this was a skip for me, sorry.

4. corazón - nelly furtado & bomba estéreo (🎵)

her lead comeback single was incredible. the sound was exactly what we expected from the one who gave us some of the most iconic bangers of the 2000s. it had a certain familiarity to her signature sound, but with a more current feel.

however, this sound feels very foreign to her, and bomba estéreo feels like an odd collaborator given the lineup of collaborators she has already teased for this era. she is outside her element, and i understand her choice to experiment with different sounds (as that is sort of an unwritten requirement the general public is demanding from pop artists in the 2020s); but it feels a bit... off. a skip.

5. heaven - toro y moi, kevin abstract & lev (🎵)

a little more hip-hop/pop than your usual toro y moi, which is kind of a bummer considering there's a certain uniqueness to the production of his previous work that i kind of enjoy. wasn't necesarily bad, but just okay i guess?

6. open this wall - berlioz (💿)

ever since their debut ep (jazz is for ordinary people), berlioz has been on my radar. its something that i only could describe as feel good jazz infused with house. this project is a little more house-y than their debut ep, which sometimes does give it a bit of an elevator music kind of vibe. i would've loved if they kept exploring a bit more the jazzy sound of their previous record. nonetheless, there are some very enjoyable moments in this record, which you just can't help to vibe to. i guess this one is a good okay.

top 3 tracks: ascencion, peace, something will happen

the flops ⬇

woman's world - katy perry (🎵)

bit disappointing that the long-awaited return of the once pop legend that gave us some of the biggest pop anthems is a vague attempt at a feminist anthem. the biggest irony is that she partnered with known abuser dr. luke in what seems like a desperate attempt for a new no. 1 single. by the looks of it, this upcoming era promises to be another miss.

[jackredfieldwasmyjacob]

my besties eurovisionspain just made this article about 12 artists that could be great choices for next year benidorm fest so i had to talk about them!!! here's the full article but i'll go over the artists / groups for all of you who don't speak spanish plus give my little opinion :)

(the links in the artists' name will go to the song the eurovisionspain team selected to be a showcase of them, so think of them as how a benifest entry for them could be like)

delaporte: delaporte is a duo formed by spaniard sandra delaporte and italian sergio salvi known for being one of the biggest electronic pop bands right now. i actually know them through their project titanas, made to celebrate female voices in the spanish music industry; my personal favourite of them is clap clap, their collab with anaju.

arde bogotá: arde bogotá is an indie rock band formed in cartagena (murcia) in 2017 by antonio garcía, dani sánchez, pepe esteban, and josé ángel mercader, known for the characteristic voice of their vocalist. i've actually been listening to their song antiaéreo for a while now, so i'm glad they're on this list!!! also i love how hard los perros (the song linked under the name) goes !!!

julieta: julieta is a pop and urban artist that sings in both catalan and spanish that goes from pop to reggaeton to house. i had not listened to anything from her but i knew her and i knew she was a girlie i should be on the lookout for. also y'all know how much i love when artists sing in another language that isn't spanish or english so !!!!!

GOMZ: GOMZ, whose real name is raúl gómez, is an indie electropop artist who first rose to fame (I KNEW I KNEW HIM) when he composed tu canción, the song that represented spain in esc 2018. his song sounds nice !!!

judeline: judeline was born in cádiz, and with only 20 years old, she's one of the biggest newcomers to the spanish urban scene. just as with julieta, tho i hadn't listened to any of her songs i knew who she was and yeah, this girl is gonna go far for sure !!!!

joe crepúsculo: NOT JOE CREPÚSCULO 😭😭😭 he's a well established indie pop / electronic artist known for his dance anthems and irreverent attitude. y'all i've seen this man live without knowing who he was and he knows how to give a show that's for sure. he's just a weird little man, just an absolute sicko.

fillas de cassandra: they're a female duo from vigo formed of maria SOA and sara faro who fuse galician oral tradition and modern sounds with a feminism focus on all her songs. i actually have listened to them before, specifically to their song lisistrata (PLEASE LISTEN TO IT AND WATCH THE MV IT'S GREAT), and after learning a bit more about them i might be a bit obsessed with them??? like just from their name ('daughters of cassandra'), their themes and sound, the fact that most of their songs titles reference greek mythology, and how much i loved tataravoa (the linked song, means 'great-grandmother' in galician) that i instantly put it in my playlist... also galician !!!!!!

bajocero x: bajocero x is the stage name of madrid-born daniel lópez, a newcomer to the urban pop scene who actually was a reserve artist in the previous benidorm fest! i like his sound he has potential!

SAMURAÏ: I CAN'T BELIEVE SAMU IS HERE LET'S GOOOO. samuraï is the stage named of aroa, also from madrid, an indie pop-rock artist with a very strong visual and vocal presence. GUYS YOU DON'T UNDERSTADN I'M OBSESSED WITH HER. like i've listened to all her songs so many times she's one of my biggest discoveries of 2023 if not the best i am so in love with her it isn't even funny. her last ep called artillería is so good and it also follows a theme in the naming of the songs which i love so so very much !!!!!! i'm struggling to pick only one song of hers to show to y'all (the linked song is very good btw one of my faves), so i'll give you three: the first song of hers i listened to, her collab with la la love you, and imo her best song in the last ep.

KAI NAKAI: kai nakai is the stage name of iratxe aguilera, a basque singer from gasteiz that does feminist urban music in basque language (euskera). i didn't know her and !!!!!! i do love me some minority language in a popular genre honestly

dulzaro: he's an artist from valladolid who fuses traditional castilian-leonese sounds like jotas, charros and corridos, with traditional instruments like cucharas, panderetas, panderos and botellas de anís, and modern sounds and mixes, to make a quite unique sound. i didn't know him but now i love him so much holy shit !!!! just look at the link and that music video!!!! it's chock full of castilian folklore and traditions and even the town screams castilla y león like it's so fucking perfect!!! and it's a jota !!!!!! oh how i would love this to go to eurovision fuck i know it'd have the same placement as eaea but i don't care this shit is so fucking good.

maría peláe: OH I LOVE HER. maría peláe, born in málaga, is probably one of the new generation of folclóricas [flamenco personalities] in the country, with flamenco full of social messages and almost an agressiveness to it. SHE'S AN ICON she's so funny and sassy and EVERYTHING!!! i love her song por si te vas so much (the music video for it is so good actually) but i might love el grillo (the linked song) even more like it has sooo much lola flores (the greatest flamenco artist ever) energy!!!!! i absolutely adore her

GUITARRICADELAFUENTE: MY MAN. born in aragón, he is a singer songwriter known for his unique sound and his traditional sounds - always with a guitar at the center, that combine rumba, flamenco and indie sounds. he's actually so good it's actually criminal he hasn't gone to benidorm fest. also i'm contractually obligated to link the song that made me discovered him because that song changed the course of my life, nana triste; but also his most known song that actually was who made him known to the public is guantanamera, a version of a traditional havanera that's almost become a classic here. also that mv is how i imagine paradise (it's the town where his grandma lives i think, in aragón).

[whataweirdfeeling]

HELLO welcome to WAWF WEDNESDAY your monthly WAWF update [1st Wednesday of each month]

Considering it is now the month of May @whataweirdfeeling favorite short film is at its 6th & final of the ongoing hexalogy that is 'CLAIR' Find out more about the film and check out what else WAWF has been up to and more

Read below to find out what else WAWF has been up to this month

WAWF NEWS: LVL 6

CLAIR is a bi-annual/seasonal short film by our curator @vyngak [Half released Nov 30 & half May 3] based on clairaudience and the paradoxical nature of music and history symbolically repeating itself through quicker stronger and faster natures The path of CLAIR is a journey all told as a true story of real world events intuitively experienced then reimagined in a glamorously exaggerated fictional universe All for the love of music All for the love of art Walk through CLAIR’s plethora of tastes mediums and discoveries Grow with it as it has and will continue to grow with the ever changing universe Watch and listen to each CLAIR on our curators Instagram @vyngak as we approach the official release of clVIr [lvl 6]

WAWF’s CRANKING

Recent: Hyperdrama [Album] - Justice

Bars ~ WE STILL DON’T TRUST YOU [Album] - Future, Cold Visions [Album] - Bladee, The Coldest [Album] - Skilla Baby,

Alt ~ All Born Screaming [Album] - St. Vincent, Teething [Album] - Porij, Your Day Will Come [Album] - Chanel Beads

Smooth ~ PARTYNEXTDOOR 4 [Album] - PARTYNEXTDOOR, Jeremy [Album] - Yung Bleu, Boundaries [Album] - Sinéad Harnett

Lowkey: BRODIE WORLD [Album] - AG CLUB

Bars ~ My Gift To You [Ep] - Hardrock, Molly Santana [Album] - Molly Santana, BORN2BEGREAT [Single] - Untiljapan

Alt ~ Still Corners [Album] - Dream Talk, Save The World [Album] - AceMo, Dennis [Album] - Sega Bodega

Smooth ~ Two Star & The Dream Police [Album] - Mk.gee, Still [Album] Erika de Casier, Fabiana Palladino [Album] - Fabiana Palladino

Still in Rotation: 99.9% [Album] - KAYTRANADA

Bars ~ The Life of Pablo [Album] - Ye, Whole Lotta Red [Album] - Playboi Carti, Birds In The Trap Sing McKnight

Alt ~ The Slow Rush [Album] - Tame Impala, City Club [Album] - The Growlers, Thunder [Single] - Roy Blair

Smooth ~ Blonde [Album] - Frank Ocean, “Awaken, My Love!” [Album] - Childish Gambino, Heaven or Hell [Album] - Don Toliver

Throwback: Kala [Album] - M.I.A.

Bars ~ Stankonia [Album] - OutKast, The Shining [Album] - J Dilla, #1 Girl [Album] - Mindless Behavior

Alt ~ Contra [Album] - Vampire Weekend, The Lumineers [Album] - The Lumineers, Plastic Beach [Album] - Gorillaz

Smooth ~ 4 [Album] - Beyoncé, Corinne Bailey Rae [Album] - Corinne Bailey Rae, Comin' From Where I’m From [Album] - Anthony Hamilton

WAWF’s MAKING

Welcome to #WAWFsmaking where you can check out new @whataweirdfeeling creations or join in on the fun

In honor of the official release of clVIr [lvl 6] this Friday [May 3rd] @whataweirdfeeling wanted to keep it animated with the official release of the new show/mini series we have been working on.. STAY TUNED

Join WAWFie [WAWF internet Explore] on his first adventure! Through 'The Adventures of WAWFie' #WAWF will grow and learn about each and every one of the intricacies the World Wide Web has to offer..through animation of course

See Ep 1 of 'The Adventures of WAWFie' on Instagram @whataweirdfeeling and let us know in the comments where you would like WAWFie to venture in the next episode

WAWF’s Wearing

In honor of 'CLAIR' check out our new @whataweirdfeeling x T33n Ang$t article '#WAWFt33n' styled with some specific editorial T33n Ang$t pieces similar to those of past CLAIR films

Also be sure to check out our new @whataweirdfeeling x Backtracking Film collab drop for WAWF Shop Drop 004 - 'Keep Calm and #WAWF'

Backtracking will be showing May 4th at the Grace St. Theatre

Along with promoting/supporting growing artists like these WAWF magazine pushes fashion culture and much more

Words/Curated by

[papillon82fluttersby]

Thanks @real-life-senshi for tagging me! I rarely do these kinds of 'get-to-know-you' posts but why not?

The Rules: Tag (9) people you want to know better and/or catch up with, then answer the following:

Four Ships:

Victuuri (Victor Nikiforov x Yuuri Katsuki, Yuri!!! On Ice): I got pulled into the YOI fandom when someone I was following started posting what I thought at the time was an annoyingly excessive number of YOI-related memes and gifs. I ended up watching the series out of curiosity to know what the hype was all about and enjoyed it a lot, which led me to find other people equally interested and talking about it around here, and ultimately led me to the wider world of AO3 where I found many talented writers both in this fandom and others. So I would like to take this opportunity to formally thank the aforementioned YOI-meme poster who unwittingly introduced me to the fandom: @rosepetalrevolution please receive my most heartfelt thanks and this metaphorical gift basket 🎁

Judiki (Julian x Dick Kirrin, Famous Five): If you've been around my blog lately, you know I've been introduced to this pairing by the lovely and talented @sweetsorcery and @majormcnerdy-geekinfantry-blog. This pairing was an unexpected and delightful find that is now living rent free in my head.

Zeus x Ganymede (Greek mythology): @littlesparklight is solely responsible for my discovery and enjoyment of this ship! This prolific writer has also produced many different works around various Greek myths, both shippy and non-shippy, and I can only urge you to visit her AO3 page.

Writers x Readers x Artists: I love collabs. I love when a reader makes a comment that sparks a future idea for a writer. I love when an artist surprises a writer with art for their fics, or when a writer makes a snippet based on a piece of art. Just keep that virtuous circle going!

(I just realised that the 3 ships I listed are all MM but that's not exclusively representative to my tastes. I equally enjoy MF or FF or any other combinations!)

Last Song: The Eurovision 2023 playlist that I listened on repeat for my ratings. I don't really listen to a lot of music on my own; I find it too distracting when I'm reading or looking stuff up on my computer. I listened to music a lot more when I used to draw, though; I always had music as a background then.

Currently Reading: Bill Bryson's The Body: A Guide for Occupants (non fiction) ... as well as a lot of ongoing fics on AO3 -- mostly original works but some fanfics too.

Last Movie: That would be Alexandre Astier's Kaamelott (Premier Volet), based on the legend of King Arthur. It started as a short-format humoristic TV series made of 3-minute episodes, then evolved into 50-minute episodes as the plot got more involved and explored deeper concepts, and the conclusion should now be in the form of a movie trilogy, the first one of which was released a couple of years ago. For a long time, my awareness of the franchise was mainly about the earlier 3-minute humoristic episodes, as they benefit from regular (but out of sequence) reruns on TV. Only recently did I watch the full 6 seasons in the order they were meant to be watched, which greatly enhances the experience. I hope they can get the final two movies made!

Craving: TIME. Seriously. Give me time to read the growing pile of books sitting on my 'to-read' shelf. Give me time to re-read books I've enjoyed in the past and see if I have the same outlook now as I did then. Give me time to read and re-read and comment on AO3 fics. Give me time to resume drawing and learn how to properly use digital art tools. Give me time to practice the piano again. Give me time to exercise so I can feel fitter and stronger in my body. GIVE ME TIME.

Tagging: Absolutely no pressure doing this! Just tagging some of my mutuals and people whose posts and contents always brighten up my dash :) @moonwhing @proantagonista (whom I have not mentioned above but whose YOI fic "Winter Song" was one of the earliest I read and convinced me there was really good stuff to be found in fanfic) @sweetsorcery @majormcnerdy-geekinfantry-blog @littlesparklight @rosepetalrevolution @happyheidi @somethingyoirelated @sheepskeleton-art

[polizwrites]

WIP Update - 7 Jun 2023

Another super-productive writing week, at least when it comes to  new ficIets!  I touched 11 fics (2 WIPs  & 9 new works)  for a total of  4309 words - my highest weekly total of the year so far!

On Ao3, I posted:

Chapter 8 of Never More to Go Astray  - my Stuckony Star Wars fusion WIP with Jedi!Steve, Mandalorian!Bucky and bounty!Tony. 

Unsealed Fate - Angsty Stony Soulmate AU

A Private  Performance  - Steve & Tony Music AU

On Tumblr I posted:

Reclamation -  Stony Tattoo artist AU (and alternate version of   CTRL+Z)

Coffee, Tea or Me?  - Stony innuendo-filled Flight Attendant AU

Keeping All My Secrets Safe Tonight -  Stony James Bond-style Spy AU

Potential for Retribution - Bucky POV Wingfic AU - will tie into Half of the Flesh and Blood That Makes Me Whole

Dressing for the Occasion -  Established WinterIron  with mild D/s

Where Will He Be Tomorrow?   - young!Tony self-discovery with help from Natasha

 A Shift in Their Relationship - Established WinterIron shapeshifter AU

Tony Stark’s Pride 101 - WinterIron  Pride fluff

I  have  13 active WIPs  with my  current  deadlines being  the Bucky Barnes Connect Four Alt-Juniverse event, the WinterIron Pride Prompt Party  and Choose Your Own Stony Story, all of which wrap up at the end of June.

See  below cut for what I’m working on/planning to work on - arranged more or less by bingos/challenges/etc.  As always, feel free to send me   prompts or plot bunnies as well as asks regarding  any of these projects  or any other WIPs I’ve got out there.   Interaction really helps feed the Muse and keep me motivated!

Seek & Destroy Collab

After reading @psychiccatpanda‘s amazing   Morguna and the Green Queen, I  got the itch to explore the Soldier’s POV and talked  Faustie into   collab’ing with me!  We’re working on a new part of the series, and I’ve  contributed about 900 words towards the  2500-ish we have so far.   Going to see if I can squeeze any of my BBB squares into this fic.  

Stucky Bingo Round Four [SB_R4] (Ends 31 May 2023)

Thanks to a last minute drabble and the adoptable - I managed an assisted blackout with  twenty-five fills!   Masterpost link 

* I4 - AU: Changed into an Animal - I threw together Avian Avengers - a drabble where the Avengers’ bird forms are revealed - with some being more obvious than others.  It’s a true drabble at 100 words.

Avengers Bingo Round Four [AvB_R4] (Ends 2 June)

Managed a blackout for this  3x3,  card by writing different   pairings for my two favorite Avengers - Tony and Steve.   Masterpost link.

* B2 - Crossover AU –  posted Chapter 8 of my Star Wars fusion Stuckony fic:  Never More to Go Astray.   It came in at 1106 words  and I (hopefully) only have one more chapter to wrap the fic up.  

Stony AUniverse Daily Drabbles & Doodles [Ends 3 Jun]

This fun event  hosted by  @stonyauniverse   presented a week’s worth of AUs that you can then combine with one (or more!) of three prompts to create a drabble or ficlet or a quick sketch.    I was able to write something for each day for a total of just over 1800 words and have been posting them here on Tumblr.  I will eventually be sharing these on Ao3, with the potential of expanding on one or two of them should the Muse cooperate.

Unsealed Fate - an angsty Soulmate AU established Stony ficlet

A Private Performance -  a music AU Stony ficlet - platonic leaning toward romantic

Who’s Oblivious Now?  - a College AU Stony drabble  with bonus WinterHawk mention.

Once Bitten, Not Shy -  Stony Werewolf AU - one night stand leading to more

Reclamation -  Stony Tattoo artist AU (and alternate version of  CTRL+Z)

Coffee, Tea or Me?  - Stony innuendo-filled Flight Attendant AU

Keeping All My Secrets Safe Tonight -  Stony James Bond-style Spy AU

Choose Your Own Stony Story  (CYO_SS] - Ends 29 Jun]

Another fun event hosted by @stonyauniverse​ - this one uses flow charts where you choose a starting point, a genre and a prompt and are then assigned an AU and a  trope to create a fanwork that incorporates all four into a single work.   I was challenged to combine the following:   AU: Med School, Hurt/Comfort, Miscommunication, and Bathing.   Blind Luck is coming in at 825 words at the moment.  It will will need a bit of  trigger/warning tagging  (cadavers & eye trauma)  but am holding on to it until I get my Tony Stark Bingo card later this month to see if I can incorporate any of those fills as well.  😁

Bucky Barnes Connect Four Alt-Juniverse Event (BBE_C4)[ends 30 Jun 2023]

Signed up for this event over at @buckybarnesevents - you get a four-square card featuring ideas for AUs.  The prompts can be used as stand-alones or combined with each other or other events.   Thanks to crossovers, I finished out one card and have a WIP that combines 2 square and an idea to combine the other two. .

* C1 - Interior Designer - combining this with my Gender Swap square for a continuation of  Shifting Alliances  - domestic Bucky/Maria (bonus Peggy/Steve) fic.   This ficlet came in at 639 words and will post by the end of the month.. 

* C2 - Gender Swap  - see above

* C3 - Professor/Student --  Possible continuation of Technicalities  from Bucky’s POV - could combine nicely with my FWB square below. 

* C4 - Friends with Benefits –   I may combine this with my BBB Never the Fall that Kills You square and/or  Professor/Student above.

WinterIron Pride Prompt Party  [WI_PPP]  (Ends 30 Jun)

This is a daily prompt event hosted by the WinterIron Discord server  that will be running all month. I’m shooting to write something for at least half of these and have completed five prompts with Tumblr ficlets  so far:  Day 1: First Meetings = Potential for Retribution;  Day 2: Yearning =  Dressing for the Occasion ; Day 3: Gender Euphoria = Where Will He Be Tomorrow?   Day 4: Dragons are Gay = A Shift in Their Relationship;  Day 5: Fluidity =  Tony Stark’s Pride 101

Hot Bucky Summer [BBE_HBS]  (Ends Aug 30)

Another @buckybarnesevents​  event, this time with weekly smexy prompts.  I’d like to complete at least two fics per month for this challenge. 

Week One:  “What should I wear?” + Collar  - Posted Dressing for the Occasion to Tumblr on the second as a crossover with the WI_PPP  Yearning prompt as well as last week’s  Flash Fiction Friday prompt [#FFF203 Yes Sir!!] . It came in at 325 words and will get posted to Ao3 before the event ends. 

Week Two:  “What Should I Call You?” + Alpha -   combining this with the ACB June Monthly Mission AU: Sugar Daddy as well as the Knot In My Name Anti-AI A/B/O event    prompts: Sugar Daddy AU.   Tentatively titled  A Sugar-Coated Pill,   up and coming politician  Alpha!Bucky starts a sugar daddy/sugar baby relationship with a young omega!Tony.   But both of them have secrets they’re hiding.   It’s up to 637 words and will get posted to Ao3 by the 14th - but may go multi-chapter :: shrug::

All Caps Bingo [ACB_R1]  (Ends 30 Sep)

I’ve got twelve completed fics, two WIPs and  will be pursuing the One Fill, One Bingo  Challenge for Row 5.  

* I1 - Mutual Pining - may combine with something on my BBB card - see if the Centerfold fic idea fits in here.

* G1 - Isaiah Bradley -  Planning to add more to The Fist, Defeated.   (possibly present day)

* O3 - Pararescue Sam Wilson - may try to squish this into an expansion of   A Rising Star -  a previous Flash Fiction Friday fill.  

Sam Wilson Bingo [SWB_R3]  (Ends 15 Oct 2023)

I have three fills and one WIP -  I need to work on cross fills between this and the All Caps and Bucky Barnes bingo!

* G3 - Joaquin Torres - see ACB Pararescue Sam Wilson above.

* O2 - Steve Rogers  – see AvB  Dog Tags  above.

WinterIron Bingo  - [WIB_R1]   (Ends 16 Dec 2023)

I have seven fills completed and three WIP for this brand-new bingo event that I’m helping mod!  Along with crossfilling against my other bingos,  I’m going to try to combine my B column squares for the Iron Soldier badge (complete a bingo with a single work). – Alpha Tony Stark, “That was not my intention.”, James Rhodes,Alpine loves Tony and Blind date.

* N1 - Bucharest –  I think I can fold this into a future chapter of My Love is Vengeance -  where a young!Tony and a recovering!Bucky have been kidnapped by Hydra, who still thinks Bucky is the Soldier.  

* G4 - AU: College Students – looking to expand Beaten to the Punch with some backstory on Bucky and Tony as science camp counselors to fit with this square - will also cross over with my WFB  Volunteering Together square.  

* O5 - Gentle – use this poem  as inspiration?

* ADOPTABLE1 - 1990′s   – picked this to prod me into picking My Love is Vengeance back up.  Chapter 4 is in draft form at  1492 words and will be posted on 6/9; Chapter 5 is in progress at  719 words.   I have some decent notes that should allow me to finish this up in six or seven chapters total.  

Bucky Barnes Bingo  - [BBB_R5]   (Ends 10 Jan 2024)

Am still trying to match up squares to crossfill, but have five fills,  three WIPs and a couple more Vague ideas already.

* B4 - Shapeshifters -  wrote . A Shift in Their Relationship  as a crossover with the WI_PPP prompt Dragons are Gay.  This came in at 404 words and will be posted to Ao3 before this event is over.  

* U2 - Clint Barton/Hawkeye -  Dredged up my year-old Winter Soldier/ young Clint WIP   You Can’t Stop It With a Gun.  Chapter 3 was already in progress and is now up to 548 words.    

* C2 - Yelena Belova –   The plan is to use this prompt in the next chapter of Peresmešnik,  (aka Three Avengers and a Baby) , which is currently sitting at 1100 words (400-ish of which are mine). 

* C5 - Marriage of Convenience/Pretend Couple -  next chapter of   Lady Natasha’s Consort and Lord Steve’s Companion.    Not quite sure where to take this next at the moment.  😕

* K3 - Magic -  Aro!Bucky sickfic idea?  

* Y2 - [image: IW Bucky with the good hair] Last week’s Flash Fiction Friday prompt [#FFF198 What Comes Next]   was a perfect match for an idea I’d already been playing around with to fill this square.   I banged out Getting Prepared -(updated title = Preparations)   an A:IW missing scene set between the time that T’Challa and Okoye come for Bucky and the moment he sees Steve again.  I will post it to Ao3 sometime in the next month or so.

* Y3 - Alpine  - see WIB Iron Soldier combo.

* Y4 - Forgotten Things -   I may use this for Chapter 2 Half of the Flesh and Blood That Makes Me Whole, a Bucky POV remix of at least the first part of Take What Was Wrong (And Make it Right),   which is current sitting at  52 words.  I’m expecting at least one more chapter, possibly two, depending on how far I want to take the remix.  

Warm and Fuzzy Bingo  - [WFB]   (no end date)

I got my card from  @warmandfluffybingocards back in February but really hadn’t done much with it  - however, I’m picking it back up for some crossover possibilities!

* N4 - Affectionate Teasing – I can fill this with Starting Something New , but am going to hold off on posting to Ao3 until the next Tony Stark Bingo round starts.  😁

* O5 - Volunteering Together – see WIB AU: College Students

————

On  other creative fronts:  I have an Mothman Stuffed With Character figure in progress. I am prepping for a con in June  so am  pretty well booked up through the middle of this month.

That said, if  you’re looking for one of a kind gifts for birthdays or other celebrations later in the year, check  out Stuffed With Character    over on Facebook for a full list of my designs (now over 100!).   These soft stuffed figures are  mostly Marvel and monsters, but I have some Star Wars, Star Trek, DC   and Disney figures as well. Plus I love to take custom design   requests  for any fandom!

[chloroform-e]

2023 musical discoveries

What I'm grateful for :

Songs

Something to believe (Weyes Blood) : I feel something akin to wonder that this song found me when I needed it, just like Pony Pony Run Run sang about : just a song missing inside you. It's not even the words, really (although I want to start saying "the waters don't really go by me" to every how are you), but mainly the way Weyes Blood sings the chorus. It unlocks a mix of hope and sadness that I find weirdly comforting.

No Woman (Whitney) : Phoenix (maybe my favourite band ever) covered this song years ago, but I never paid attention to it until last summer. I was in a folksy mood and something clicked. There are a dozen tiny moments in this perfect song that make me so happy, that make me want to twirl my arms and dance in the street on my way to work. I focus a lot on lyrics when listening to music, but what moves me the most here are the instrumental phases : the drums and guitar kicking in after "I'm not ready to turn", the guitar solo toward the end.

Artists

Waxahatchee : I first got to know her music through her covers and collabs (the Plains record is brilliant), and I'm still getting into her entire catalog. I'm so glad I discovered Saint Cloud in July (I say "perfect album" a lot, but this one really really deserves it), and that I have all of her records to go through, little by little (and perhaps new music in 2024 ?).

Nation of Language : of course I had to end with them. I still get teary-eyed when watching clips from their live shows on Instagram, wishing I were there. It feels like their songs were made in a lab for me : music that I can dance to, that can make me cry. A song like Sightseer encapsulates all that I love about new-wave : how it's yearning and melancholic, cold and dancing.

[heartsleevemag]

Friday Five

by Vi McDonald

Welcome to this week’s installment of Heartsleeve Magazine’s Friday Five playlist! From up-tempo tracks that’ll make you feel like you’re in an eighties movie, to some of the crunchiest, coolest new rock tunes, here are five songs that kept our blood pumping this week.

1. "Bad At Letting Go" – Leland, MUNA

Danceable and in denial, Leland's "Bad At Letting Go" is replayable in the way that only a MUNA collab can be. Depicting a romance where things have gone wrong but Leland doesn't want anyone to know, it's about burying your emotions but having them bubble up to the surface anyway. MUNA's influence shines especially brightly, from the production to the vocals to the theme of honest avoidance, as they croon in the second verse, "The tears that are slipping right off of my skin, I don't want 'em to sink in."

2. “Welcome to the DCC” — Nothing But Thieves

With a sound that would be perfectly at home in a neon cyberpunk dream, Nothing But Thieves' new eighties-inspired dance track introduces a new world. "Welcome to the DCC" tells of a utopian heaven called Dead Club City where "If you believe it, it can happen." Even though it'll get you moving, the track has a thrumming tension underneath that hints the DCC might be too good to be true. The video suggests this too, with characters getting sucked into the DCC universe through advertisements and entering a world where there's nothing but endless partying and neon lights. "It's almost time for us to open the doors to you," NBT shared as a caption for the music video. What else will Dead Club City have in store?

3. "Just A Girl" - From The Original Series "Yellowjackets" – Florence + The Machine

Florence Welch once said, "You said that rock and roll is dead. But is that just because it has not been resurrected in your image?" And when Florence decides to resurrect a classic like No Doubt's 1995 hit "Just A Girl," in her image, it infuses the track with an ethereal, foreboding energy. Fitting for the psychological horror-drama show Yellowjackets, this track is a spooky, cinematic rock masterpiece. Tense cymbal crashes and uneasy strings crash open into chaotic harmonies over the song's four-minute runtime – this track singlehandedly convinced me to binge Yellowjackets in its entirety before the new season premieres.

4. "SCARING ME" – Cleopatrick

You got me – this one's not a new discovery. More of a rediscovery, "SCARING ME" is the third track on Cleopatrick's 2022 EP, DOOM. After becoming particularly enthralled with (and seriously overplaying) the two opening tracks, "ZUCK," and "OK," I decided to revisit the EP. "SCARING ME" winds down from the heavier sound of the first two tracks, but continues the theme of examining how relationships are affected by modern society, and how the things that we do affect those relationships. The instrumentation is probably the coolest part – after the song went viral, the band shared how it was made on Tiktok, using layered textures and vocals as an instrument. Cleopatrick is "gonna do a coupl shows" – their words, not mine – in the UK this summer. Check 'em out here.

5. "CHOKER" – ROMES

The very definition of a modern rock track with grunge and 90s influences, "CHOKER" showcases the heavier side of Romes' music. "If you've ever felt emotionally strangled, trapped inside your own mind, or felt like there's no way out, just know that someone else is fighting through it too. You're not alone," the band shared on Instagram following the song's release. And it feels that way, lyrics like "I wanna feel what it feels like to exist," holding a raw desperation that feels cathartic and expressive, like this was something the band had to get out in order to keep going.

Listen to the Friday Five playlist and check out last week's additions on our Spotify, and don't forget to follow us so you don't miss the next one!

[marvelmusing]

Billy Russo Masterlist

Last Updated: 22/07/22

My Masterlist

»»---------------------►

SERIES

Introductions • Part 1 • Part 2

Your colleague Dinah suggests a training session at a private firm - Anvil - and you meet the company’s charming CEO.

Love and War • Part 1 • Part 2

You are tasked with eliminating two dangerous fugitives. When the time comes, will you be able to finish the job?

Love Languages • Part 1 • Part 2

A series based on the five love languages, and how each one applies to your relationship with Billy.

Disastrous Dalmatian’s • Part 1 • Part 2

A 101 Dalmatians inspired meet cute. When your dog Pongo falls for a random Dalmatian in Regent’s Park you become acquainted with her owner, Billy Russo.

Guilty of Love • Season 1 • Season 2 • Season 3

When the wanted vigilante Billy Russo turns up in your house one night, you’re expecting a fight. After all, you’re the one tasked with bringing him in. What you’re not expecting is for him to be making you dinner. Things only become more and more unexpected from that moment on.

White Picket Fence • Masterlist

Billy and you have to go undercover as a newly married couple in the suburbs, and you’re certain your house is bugged so it’s 24/7 of you two acting like a married couple.

Trials & Tribulations

Also known as The Trials & Tribulations of Billy’s Long Suffering Marketing Director - a social media AU, featuring CEO!Billy Russo.

Don’t Blame Me • Part 1 • Part 2 • Drabble

You’re the only one who will love and appreciate Billy exactly the way he is, and you will do anything to prove that to him - even if that means keeping him locked up in your spare room.

The Chelsea & Jess Dumb!Reader Universe Collab

His Best Kept Secret • Duplicate • Ineptitude • Off to the Races •

In the Dark • Part 1 • Part 2 • Part 3

You wake in a strange bed, in a strange room, and are startled to find a pair of dark eyes watching you. Featuring dark elf!Billy.

The Other Side • Masterlist

After the events of The Punisher (season one) Billy Russo stakes his claim on New York, quickly establishing himself as a force to be reckoned with amongst the city’s criminal underworld. When you get assigned to an undercover operation that seeks to take down Russo, a conflict of interest occurs. You may or may not be falling for him?

Building Blocks & Daisy Chains • Coffee & Collisions

Whilst babysitting your nephew in the park, you bump into Karen, a friend of yours, and she introduces you to Billy Russo.

Puzzle Pieces • Part 1 • Part 2

Frank and Billy took down Rawlins together but now you all have to deal with the aftermath. Billy’s mind is more fractured than the scars on his face, and the pieces of your own life are crumbling under the weight. Will the two of you ever assemble the jigsaw?

ONESHOTS

NSFW Alphabet

Comfort Character

Billy comes to your apartment in need of some TLC.

His Smile

Agent Madani expresses too much interest in your boyfriend for your liking. Billy unknowingly provides you with a reminder that he’s yours.

Good Boy [18+]

You make a discovery about your boyfriend, Billy Russo.

Partition [18+]

You and Billy have some fun in the car on the way home from a gala.

Sweetness

Billy Russo loves all things sweet, but you take up a particular spot in his heart.

Valentine’s Day

You and Billy both plan some last minute surprises for your first Valentine’s Day together.

Waiting

You’ll always wait for Billy, and he’ll always come home to you.

Barber Shop

You give Billy’s beard a trim, giving him the opportunity to think over how lucky he is to have you.

Birthday Boy

You plan to give Billy the best birthday ever.

Doodles

As Billy’s assistant, you sit in on client meetings with him, and this afternoon is particularly boring for you both.

Surprise [18+]

You have a surprise for Billy, which he discovers sooner than you had anticipated.

Hunted [18+]

As part of a training exercise with Anvil, you’re tasked with remaining hidden in the city for an entire week. When Billy tracks you down on the last night he decides to teach you a lesson.

New Tie [18+]

You buy Billy a special gift to show him who he belongs to.

Imagine [18+]

You ask your one of your friends, Billy Russo, to take your virginity. Billy is more than happy to oblige.

Crosshairs [18+]

After a few months of stalking Billy, you make the decision to curb your obsession, believing that he deserves better than you. Billy doesn’t agree.

A Little Revenge [18+]

Operation Cerberus was covered up, leaving Billy and the rest of his unit with blood on their hands and no place in the world. You decide to give a little power back to Billy.

Early Morning

After a hard week at work, you’re exhausted, and Billy insists you take a break.

Rescue Mission

During a disastrous blind date you reach out to your best friend Billy, and he offers to come to your rescue.

Bonded [18+]

The hunting season begins and Billy tracks down his future mate.

Fresh Ink

After having a few friends around for drinks at your apartment, you and Billy have a talk about his tattoos.

Monthly Comfort

You’re on your period, and Billy wants nothing more than to make you feel better.

A Night Out [18+]

Vampire!Billy takes you to a local feeding club, and you let him drink from you.

Back in Time

With you by his side, Billy returns to the fire station in Albany where his mom left him as a baby.

Shower Thoughts

The past comes back to haunt you and Billy during your holiday, and the following altercation takes a toll on Billy.

Distracted [18+]

You become a distraction when Billy is attempting to finish his work for the night.

Balance Between Forces

A Star Wars AU. You can’t explain the pull you feel towards the Sith Lord, Darth Russoti. No matter where he is, you can always find him.

Hair Salon

You have a short haircut and you decide to recreate the famous Russo slicked back look with your own hair.

Experiment [18+]

You ask to try something new with Billy.

Perfect Remedy [18+]

Billy has had a long day at work, luckily he knows exactly what he needs to de-stress - and it starts with you on your knees.

Sleeping Beauty [18+]

After a long week, Billy decides to take care of you while you sleep.

Rough Day [18+]

After a long day at work, you know exactly what Billy needs to relax.

Gonna Find You

Your husband has been kidnapped, and you plan to find him yourself.

Never Hurts to Dream

Featuring Singer!Reader. Lisa deems Billy her ‘cool uncle’ meaning that he’s the only adult allowed to take her and her friends to their first concert.

New Year Celebrations

How you spend New Year's eve with Billy.

Blood in the Water

When Billy goes to get the paperwork for your new life together, Agent Madani pays you a visit.

Take Over

It’s fair to say that the Russo case has taken over your life. But maybe you’re okay with that.

Twisted Games

Billy loves to play games, and with his advantages as a vampire, he always wins.

A Marriage of Sins [18+]

When you hear of a demon living in an abandoned church in the woods, you know you need to investigate. But how could you know that the demon was just your soulmate waiting to marry you?

The Twins • Reinforcements

Featuring William ‘Billy’ Russo & Jonathan ‘Jonny’ Russo the co-CEOs of Anvil Security.

Misbehaviour [18+]

Billy takes you to one of his favourite restaurants, but you can’t seem to behave how he wants you to.

DRABBLES

Cam Boy!Billy

God of Love!Billy

FU in my Head

Personal Trainer!Billy

Mamma Mia AU

Single Dad CEO!Billy

His Dark Materials AU

Vampire!Billy

Scream AU

Sleeping with a Ghost

MOODBOARDS

Moodboard Masterlist here

[bitchlessdino]

Alien Remnants in Society: Lee Jung Chan Findings

Pairing: astrology major!Chan x genderless alien!reader

Genre: suggestive, fluff, humor

Word count: 2.7k

Tags: suggestive language, astronomy major!chan, genderless ace-presenting alien!reader, lowkey stalker chan, prodigy!chan, horny!chan, fellow alien enthusiast!vernon (Hansol), aggressive!reader, mentions of blood, strangulation

author note: this is different from what I normally do so I have my reservations about it, but either way I hope yall enjoy it and enjoy the rest of the collab of @svthub's SPOOKTEEN in this link

Lee Chan is a smart kid. He’s one of the top students in his assigned major, performing above expectancy levels in his other classes, and got into his university with a full scholarship with a 1600 SAT score. This guy is absolutely gifted, but what does he focus all his free time on? Aliens.

Every genius has a quirk. For Chan, it was aliens.

When he was 8 years old, somehow studying and comprehending the second law of thermodynamics and being entertained by the likes of his beloved Jurassic World legos, his interest in the wonders of otherworldly beings was piqued when his normal SpongeBob program was interrupted by the local news reports of crop circles and their relevance to the existence of aliens.

This kid is a prodigy, he was still convinced Santa existed, but a prodigy. How could he be convinced by measly crop circles you may wonder. He wasn’t, but when he’d ask his parents or locals about the ideas of aliens, ideas and theories were blurred, making the boy decide to investigate himself. Every interview, every textbook definition, every historical recording, he’s put in a journal which he called ‘Lee Jung Chan Findings.’

Now he’s 20-something following a peer and suspecting finally, at last finally, that they are not who they say they are, but in fact, an unearthly life form and he was going to prove it.

It started with some mild stalking, which in his defense was an…idea at the time, not a good one but an idea (he has no idea how has yet to be arrested), and he’d observe what set you off from the rest. Some of his notes recorded the following:

‘Doesn’t take advantage of the school cafeteria,’

Or, 

‘Makes minimal to no sound, possibly to avoid attention,’

Or even the more ridiculous,

‘Avoids Taylor Swift music like the plague. Who doesn’t like Taylor Swift?’

Chan, himself, could feel his sanity slowly depleting, running on months’ worth of time into his research, having his notes looked over with fellow Alien enthusiast Hansol from the music production department that he met through his historical literature class. He could even feel the skepticism from a believer as big as he is, and Hansol is getting a low bearing D in Anthropology. And listens to Drake unironically.

“Are these a bit of a stretch? I didn’t see how any of these would point them out to be extraterrestrial.”

Chan could understand where his friend was coming from, but what more could he provide? All he knew was you showed up one day on campus and you were not like any student that he’s met or observed before. He prides himself in having a keen sense of people and their behaviors. You didn’t seem to line up close with anyone in his experience, which intrigued him. Your presence just made you seem like you were made to, well, exist and fade into the background.

Chan noticed you though. He sees all.

He'd be lying if he said there wasn’t a time he thought of giving up. His research was already reaching the length of a year, to his standards long considering he grasped the concept of astrophysics statistics in a week. He felt discouraged, he was feeling wronged. It was as if the world was against him and wanted to see his dreams die.

Calm down, Macbeth. Save it for Halloween.

However, as if someone heard his agnostic prayers, he stumbles upon a sudden breakthrough. The strangest discovery thing yet. Upon following you out of the library like he does every Thursday night, he loses you almost immediately, initially unfortunate, but loses himself on campus. The lights that typically stood tall and bright blew out, causing a surge of mystery in what he couldn’t see.

There was one lone light left, standing the brightest, the tallest of any star in the sky. He stands right underneath it, comforted by its glow until he hears it shatter, explode actually. The light of the pole not only goes out but shards of glass fall from right above him, making him instinctively pull away from its perimeter but unable to leave unscathed.

He touches his cheek up inspection, using the flashlight on his phone to detect blood, concluding a cut on his cheek. “What the fuc–”

He uses the sleeve of his crew neck to hold down the spill, in doing so he detects a low but distinct hum. His sensitive ears start to pick up its resonance and the little scientist in him decides to follow it. It grows louder and more apparent in the darkest alley of the college town but tonight a light glow emulates in place of its usual pitch black. 

He treads lightly, seeing a figure with what looks like its arm in the air, sporadically shaking in a constant and repetitive motion. What looks to be the elbow part of theirs is bent, armpit glow, the most insane thing he ever witnessed in real life. Still clutching his cheek, Chan pulls out his phone from his front pocket, pressing buttons single-handedly to get on his camera. He begins videotaping the event, making sure the image is clear and focused, stepping just a little closer until his foot hits a hard lump on the ground. He stumbles to grip his phone and fails when it drops right beneath his feet but it's too late.

Your head snaps towards him and in a blink of an eye, your hands are around his neck threateningly as he’s flat on his back on the ground. Your finger presses in the vital parameters of his neck, squeezing with only enough space for a single breath. Your knees barriers between one of his legs as your torso towering over him, your eyes dark and stoic, like ones of a cold-blooded murderer.

He put his hands up defensively, “L-let’s not get hasty here.”

“Tell me why I shouldn’t eliminate you.”

He realizes this is the first time heard your voice. Your smooth yet calming, what he imagines one of that help sleep audio tapes would sound like. Your face, still emitting that strange glow, flawless up close and personal. He already knew you were physically aesthetic to look at but, with his view, his human instincts naturally come out, feeling a stiff discomfort in his thick denim bottoms. Never in his life did he think being held on the ground by his neck, threatened by a nonhuman creature to get his life force taken out of him would make him so, for lack of better less crude words, horny. This probably was something he should think to bring up with his therapist.

“Now, I completely understand where you’re coming from, you have every right to be mad, but this would be a very big mistake if you were to kill me. I’ll explain why–”

“You, measly human, have been stalking me for an earth year—”

“M-measly?” he stutters.

“You are violating what your people call, ‘right to privacy,’ and make it a point to disrupt each and every one of my environmental studies. I can easily evaporate you. Give me reasons why I shouldn’t.” There has been yet a shift in your tone or eyes, and despite that, your words, mainlines in his body like an IV, leading the blood straight to the least helpful body part at the moment. 

Why couldn’t this have happened during prom night when Chae offered to be his ‘first’ in Mingyu’s van?

“I mean you absolutely no harm! In fact, I admire you. Your presence. Your existence is an incredible personal and scientific discovery–”

“Flattery is an earthy construct to reinforce wants and desired results, your poor attempt at such gives you a disadvantage in this case.”

“I simply want to understand your…people? Your culture, your way of life. I am nothing but a man of discovery…and my word. So, in exchange for letting me live and perhaps, study you–”

“I believe other humans use the phrase, ‘fat chance.’ This is that.”

“You can study me!” he exclaims. “I give you anatomical permission!”

You cock your head. “Why would that interest me?”

Despite being in a near-death situation, his slight narcissism still comes through. “Well, not to toot my own horn, but I am somewhat of a genius by Earthly standards here. I would provide you valuable insight and information.”

“I read that be unlikely.”

“Would it not prevalent to understand the human mind as you ask me, a human, questions?”

You pause, actually considering it, and your grip loosens around his throat. It makes Chan both relieved yet slightly disappointed, for reasons he’ll never understand. You look back at him in wonder, only blinking blankly at him before commenting.

“You are…peculiar.”

“That’s what I'm saying!” Chan agrees proudly.

And with that, you are somehow convinced to let him live. Not getting into why, but he was an interesting pick, and the next day you’re in his dorm room in front of those outdated human cameras that never have nearly enough tape to record something important. Emotions for you did not come out the same way as a human does but annoyance was becoming more than a recurring response. Chan currently being the main source of that irritability right now.

“So, first off. Where do you come from?” Smiling from ear to ear, he is ecstatic to interview his first report of an alien.

“A place unknown far from where you reside. It’s a destination no currently advanced human technology could possibly reach.”

Chan takes a beat to scribble that in his notes. “Great…how did you travel to Earth?”

You blink. “If I answer that imposition, you must be prepared for deat–”

“Okay, touchy subject,” he chuckles nervously, “Skipping. Next Question, um, what brings you to our planet?”

Your silence is worth a thousand words, only giving him that menacing glare you had when your hands were around his throat. He instinctively places his hand against his neck, the sensation of your alien grippers lingering on him. That’s right, he almost died, but why was that thrilling?

“Okay, same response as the previous question. Now, Taylor Swift. Good or bad—“

“How do these questions bring worth to your research?”

He ponders. “Well, they give an idea of the qualities of life forms outside the human’s existence. There’s hardly ever an opportunity for us to interview an extraterrestrial being such as yourself.”

“And you believe whether or not I partake interest in what you call ‘music’ here revolutionary information?”

He shrugs, seeing your point, “It’d be interesting in my research to get opinions of observations you’ve made appointing yourself as a resident here. You’ve taken place on this Earth as human for years. You’re bound to have gained some personal biases…So Taylor Swift?”

“...It interferes with my communications.” You answer plainly.

“She is an international treasure. Anyways. Communications. Is that what you were doing when I found you last night?”

“The actions I partook was a form of communication, yes, however it is to a farther receiver that does not currently locate where I am now.”

“You mean your overlords?”

You roll your eyes, the first almost humanistic action you made today. “...sure.”

“I’m kidding, but about the comms. What makes you flapping your elbow, and the ultra-bright armpit, or whatever is your alien counterpart to the name, It’s a way of communicating? Are your bodies born with communicators or was something implemented into your body in order for that to happen?”

“Once again, that information is classified.”

“Okay, but the glowing armpit. What’s that about?’

The interview drowns for about an hour and you feel the human urge to sleep, which was rare since your species does not require as much as your counterpart does. The questions fall into the category of ones that could be answered and ones that could have Chan disintegrated, and he reaches his final ones, his rather important ones.

“Does your species believe in love?” he asks with a glint of hope in his eyes.

“We believe in the construct of building strong soldiers, leaders, and world builders. And by doing so we mate and use monogamous bonds to produce strong offspring and prevent unfavorable ones. Some are evolved enough to reproduce asexually and create a variation of their person that would do good for our society.”

That answer stuns him, quite a culture shock if he was honest, and he saw the muppet movie.

“...but love? Don’t any of you create bonds out of romantic intention?”

“Romance is a human concept that is, ironically, overromanticized to the point that your people are desperate enough to depend on technology to provide you a potential mate. My people have come far to realize we are our own people and reproduction is clearly recreational. There have been some cases where ‘intimate bonds’ are formed, but they are rare. Most of what my planet values are knowledge and sustenance. It’s what keeps my people alive.”

“So then the sex, mating you call it, is it not pleasurable as humans can perceive it to be?”

“Our pleasure receptors are not as sensitive or necessary as humans. It does not serve all the same purposes as it would for you.”

Chan hums, jotting that down, and pauses, glancing you up and down, before he proceeds with the next question. “Have you personally experienced…it?”

“Mating?”

“...yes.” a tinge of pink creeps up on his cheeks.

“I have yet to. My current tasks take precedence before I can move on to partaking in a career in reproduction if I decide to do so.”

His eyes shot open. “C-career?”

“Are we done here, tiny Earthling?” You blink at him blankly.

“Tiny–Sure we can stop for today. We can proceed with more tomorrow.”

“More,” you repeat, “what other information possibly desire?”

“Just,” he softly coughs, shutting down his camera, “other things. Meanwhile, we can get on with your study, if you want.”

“I’ve noted all I needed in my internal archive,” you respond standing up from your seat.

“Oh yeah, like what,” he smiles, curious.

You approach him at a steady pace, leveling with his gaze, and peering at him as his breath drew out of him reluctantly. It was much closer a distance than the one last night and in a much brighter setting. He's startled by the tension in your eyes, gripping the desk behind him for comfort, maybe restraint even.

“You have an escalated image of yourself and falter when I do anything to undermine that.”

“I’d think that's a natural response–”

“A lot of humans are more humble. Have a sense of shame. Not you. You do admittedly have higher level attention of most but lack the emotional intelligence.”

“Wh–rude.”

“And,” your arms border his sides, just hardly grazing his arm hairs on the desk, “You exhibit blood to your facial epidermis, an accelerating heartbeat, and perspiration, an abundance in fact, while in my presence.”

He grips harder against the wood, rapidly blinking his eyes, and sucking in his gut to minimalize physical contact.

“...You are an alien that tried to kill me.” He points out matter of factly.

“You use humor as filler, but your heart just accelerated by 20 beats per minute…I trigger your human nervous system. Why?”

Why was that? Because he expected a Simpson’s rendition of a foreign life form, not you. He may have known you to be wearing your human skin suit, something that should’ve set more flashing red warning signs than it actually did, but all he could feel was a gravitational pull towards you, something much more complicated than he could’ve ever explained.

“Like I said. You almost killed me.”

Your gaze drops down, letting Chan do the same, both pairs of eyes locked on the raging erection in his pants. His hands immediately shoot covering it, “Fear is an elevated study of arousal! It’s backed by science.”

“If your cerebral cortex is projecting that idea, okay.” You back off of him, picking up your own items with intention of leaving. “I would like to interject. I am not clear why you chose to dissect me when you are so close with my comrade.”

He squints, his arouse state faltering in a matter of seconds, confusion in his place. “What? Who?”

“He is the specimen with a human-made tablet in his hand wherever he goes. The goal was for him to make himself inconspicuous in the human eyes, but he discovered your people’s ‘Netflix’ and has been utilizing it non-stop.”

Chan’s eyes shot open again for the umpteen time. “HANSOL?!”

[dourpeep]

The Chalk Prince

Summary: Between the lines of his existence, lies a story. But above all, Albedo is most thankful that he has found his happily ever after. Contains: Albedo x gn!Reader, fluff, papa Albedo A/Note: for @xiaosmoon Valentine's Day collab, day 21, "kissing them while they're asleep." I had a lot of fun thinking of what to write for this, but the idea of making it like one of those fairytale kisses where the prince kisses their fated lover and everything just suddenly seems to be good won out-

Long before the Mondstadt of today existed, there was once a lonely boy whose eyes shone of seaglass and had hair spun of the finest flaxen thread. Born of the earth and the dreams of a lost nation, he set out with his master, his mother and creator to discover more about life.

He was little more than a child then, unsure of the world and its secrets, eager to discover more but every new experience making him cower. Yet with this apprehension, he took each step in calculated pride.

‘The true nature of this land will unfold as you move on, ■■■■■■.’

He didn’t quite understand what it was she meant at the time, instead offering a wide-eyed look and the nod of his head.

The art of creation and the transmutation of the world surrounding.

To be able to take something—a dying branch from a tree, a delicate butterfly—and transform it into something entirely new. An opportunity to take what little life gives and make it into something more.

So the boy dove into his studies, to his master’s delight

With every new discovery shutting away the loneliness, the boy bloomed and grew in skill and curiosity.

There was a time, long after he first was created, that he and his master set foot on the grounds of a great mountain shrouded in chilling winds and ice. ‘A promise.’ She said, staring out at the bleak landscape as he leafed through the few notes he took. She told him, that day on the mountain, that she knew he would achieve more than he could imagine.

-

Albedo’s thoughts were taken the moment his pen plucked from his grasp.

“What’s today’s date?”

His brow creases, lip turning down into a small frown. Surely, it hasn’t been that long since? Between his research and side project, he’s ensured to keep track of his meals, breaks, as well as any notable events.

So, he answers, only to be met with a tap to his nose and an exasperated sigh from his lover.

“You’ve been here since Tuesday, Bedo—it’s Friday morning, come home and rest, please?” You press a kiss to his temple, smoothing out a few stray hairs. They stick right back up. “You’ve done enough work to last a whole month, at least.”

…Perhaps those few power naps he took weren’t naps after all.

“Papa!!”

Upon his return home, a little voice speaks up.

Bright and just as interested in Teyvat as Albedo himself. Colm tugs on his father’s coat, prodding at him with questions about some weed picked out from between the stones of the cobbled road, asking him if he liked the cream cake you slipped him between experiments. Each little inquiry was met with a smile and finally followed by the gentle pressure of his lips to his child’s forehead.

“Mm, yes, the cake was just as delicious as you said it’d be.” To his delight, there was another piece tucked away safe for later.

“We can share!”

But, as all things tend to be, there was a time and a place for everything.

The little pout of Colm’s lip tugs at his heart, Albedo’s resolve only crumbling a bit before he shakes his head. He soothes it by hugging him tightly.

“How about we share it tomorrow for breakfast? Then we can start the day off properly.”

The bribe seems to work well enough, so long as he tells a story before bed.

Nighttime routines seem to go by quick. Teeth brushed, pajamas on, and worn rabbit tucked in beside his son, Albedo finally sits on the edge of the bed. Twin eyes of brilliant green stare back at him.

And with that, Albedo tells his story.

By the time he has fallen asleep, the moon peeks above the rooftops. With Mond quiet for the night, all that’s left is a last second check of the locks before bed. They secure with a click, gently illuminated by candlelight.

With a single exhale the light is extinguished, dousing the house in the dark.

-

You look so peaceful, near ethereal with the moonlight shining through the thin curtains and illuminating your face in a gentle light.

But Albedo couldn’t seem to bring himself to move closer. After all, this is the kind of thing that princes do—rescuing their fated lover from an indefinite sleep, braving the dangers to risk it all in the name of a love that they’ve never known before, the pursuit of a happy end.

Not him, aside from his namesake, not an alchemist from the city of Freedom.

His mind drifts back to that half-written draft.

It isn’t until after a moment longer of watching you sleep at peace that he leans in.

Lips touch in the gentlest brush, savoring the softness of yours, the familiar feeling. In his chest he can feel the way his heart flutters and rejoices. He finds himself retreating all too soon. Through half-lidded eyes, Albedo takes in the sight of you, your lips parted gently and features soft, serene.

You lay still. With every breath, your chest rises and falls, a steady rhythm.

“Hm.”

He shifts, careful as he adjusts his position until he has you snugly in his arms.

Though his life is nothing like the fairy tales that he tells his son, Albedo rests peacefully with the fact that he has found his happy ending.