#this cannot be the most unhinged way this lyric has been used | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

rosethornewrites · 3 years ago

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Fics I read this week!

MDZS/The Untamed, entirely. Including Tumblr fics here now, even if I shared them as well.

A lot of these are super short since I decided to embark on a journey to clear my AO3 “Marked For Later” list of anything under 3k words by reading them.

This is also a lot of fanfiction and I might have a problem. Any fanfiction addict support groups out there?

Also, I learned that I can only post 100 links. So this is going up early and I’ll separate the Not Rated, E, and M ones into a different post for next week.

Finished:

Not Rated (or Tumblr fics):

Parents, by @bloody-bee-tea

Untitled, by @mondengel

Untitled, by @cerusee

Xue Yang - The Third Jade of Gusu, by inawritingfrenzy

As Long as You're Here, by Aitheriomeraki

You are the last person I need to tell me exactly what I already know. You’re going to tell me to go back to cultivating the righteous path. You’re going to tell me that this is against the principles of a cultivator. I’m going to hear you drone on and on about what’s wrong with what I’m doing. You’re going to tell me that I’m acting like a pure disgrace, completely out of line, extremely unhinged and unruly and every other word your Lan vocabulary can muster up.” His words felt heavy but unstoppable, tears making their way to his eyes.

“You’re-” He was about to continue before getting cut off.

“Wei Ying… zhiji.” Lan Wangji breathed out like a plea, like a prayer. -------------- OR Lan Wangji talks to Wei Wuxian the day after killing Wen Chao.

Things we lost in the fire, by KatAnni

Three instances in Lan Wangji's life that involved fire. One of them certainly ends better than the others.

OR Wangxian can be cute in any situation, even when someone sets fire to their inn.

Sleep Talk, by breezebrocolis

"...But being awakened through such ungodly hours is worth it after all, because Wei Wuxian discovered that, contrary to popular belief about his boyfriend's sleeping habits, there’s a moment when Lan Zhan sleep talks, and he's the only one who knows it."

and

"...for now, after all and a year more, he'd never choose to have those lonesome minutes back. It turns out that filling the gaps with emptiness was necessary once, but it doesn't really fit him anymore. Lan Wangji has Grace on his side for now, the print of Wei Ying's delicate fingers into his skin."

In other words, a study about WangXian's sleeping habits.

Hold On, by voxnoxsox

“And really,” Wei Ying continued, “it makes no sense. Why would they not want to hug you, Lan Zhan, or, like… Do you warn them off or something? Give them the ol’ icy Lan glare?”

“No,” Lan Zhan said, when it was clear a response was required. His mind was a little preoccupied with Wei Ying’s hands still running up and down, up and down.

Rated E:

The Dreams of Youth, by Sami (25 chapters)

"Mother, I have to go, with or without you. Please come with me."

"A-Zhan, you're five years old," she says.

"With or without you, Mother," he pleads. "Please come with me."

Lan Wangji starts again from the beginning.

Rough and Tumble, by SugarMilkTea (3 chapters)

Lan Wangji and Wei Wuxian are paired together for sparring, because of course they are.

Wei Wuxian is better than the rest of the disciples, because of course he is - so Lan Wangji takes him to another field to train privately.

Things escalate, because of course they do.

and if we choose to fall (who's to say it isn't flight?), by KiaraSayre (2 chapters)

Wei Wuxian has an idea and makes a talisman. A sexy talisman.

to live this way is not for the meek, by la_muerta

Yiling Laozu and his band The Restless Dead are one of the biggest names in the rock scene, playing to thousands of screaming fans in sold-out concerts all over the world.

But underneath the black leather, makeup, and untouchable, arrogant facade is a side of Wei Ying that only Lan Zhan gets to see.

Awareness, by syriala (last in a series)

Awareness is slow to come to Jiang Cheng, mostly because he doesn’t want to be aware. He’s warm and comfortable and Jiang Xiuying is bound to be still around and that is really all Jiang Cheng needs in life.

But then there’s an open mouthed kiss to the hinge of his jaw, Jiang Xiuying slowly trailing his way down Jiang Cheng’s throat, and it’s enough to get Jiang Cheng’s eyes open, however reluctant he might be.

Jiang Xiuying seemingly knows him better than Jiang Cheng does himself because he is already looking up at Jiang Cheng, his eyes sparkling and a teasing grin on his lips.

“Good morning,” Jiang Cheng says, his voice still rough from sleep and Jiang Xiuying leans up to capture Jiang Cheng’s lips in a kiss.

The heat behind it tells Jiang Cheng exactly where Jiang Xiuying wants to take this today, and Jiang Cheng can’t say that he minds too much.

yours for the taking, by SugarMilkTea

“There’s still time to back out, you know,” Wei Ying says, quiet enough that even the attendants waiting at the corners of their table won’t hear.

Lan Wangji pauses in the middle of reaching for the sash on Wei Ying’s—on his husband’s—outer robes. A pit opens in his stomach. His hand falls to his lap, and he lifts his eyes to meet Wei Ying’s. “Is that what you want?”

---

The components of the marriage ceremony are easy in theory. The handfasting, the bows, the feast... and the Taking.

housed by your warmth, by wangxiians

wei wuxian may never grow to enjoy mornings but he enjoys this, he really enjoys this – stolen time together, bodies reuniting, waking up before the world.

Rated M:

Heaven Hath No Fury, by Lady Mythos (Lady_Mythos)

The two biggest mistakes Yu Ziyuan has made are as follows: assuming Wei Wuxian was the cause of all her problems and assuming Cangse Sanren was dead.

Or, Cangse Sanren has a lot of things to say to the bitch that abused her son.

weird and awkward, by sami (3rd in a series)

At the age of sixteen, Lan Zhan falls in love, somewhat against his will.

Have Your Cake and Eat it Too, by adrian_kres (4 chapters)

Like half of all sound-tied people, Wei Ying was born with words in his heart and needing the melody they belong to. It’s his soul marker, and he’s been searching for his soulmate his whole life. Things change when he hears a tune being hummed in a cafe that matches his lyrics perfectly. Except he didn’t see who was humming it! To help, his brother’s soulmate puts him in contact with the beautiful pianist Lan Wangji, who makes Wei Ying question if he wants to find his soulmate at all…

Until The End, by abCEE (40 chapters)

"When I - when I tied my ribbon around our wrists, I knew what I was doing and I privately honored it." Wei Wuxian's brows continued to meet as he tried to understand where the conversation was going until realization dawned on him. "Wa - wait! Lan Zhan, is it what I think it is?!!" "It is usually done at the end of a wedding ceremony -" "What-" "But it could have been acknowledged as an engagement." "Lan Zhan!" He cannot believe what he is hearing now. "But my ancestor revealed herself -" "And we bowed… three times. We bowed, Lan Zhan!"

In which wangxian are married since the Cold Pond Cave incident, knows how proper communication works, and had confessed in the middle of the Sunshot Campaign. Things went up and down from there.

Breaking The Ice, by aflaminghalo

“Why are are you asking for punishment?”

Bring Your Honor, Bring Your Shame, by Terri Botta (Isilwath) (21 chapters, third in a series)

Nie HuaiSang has a problem. His brother is losing his mind.

Rated T:

don't close your eyes, by howodd5ever

In which Lan Wangji and Wei Wuxian actually talk about the porn book.

Another Road, by Rynne

Something in the Guanyin Temple goes wrong. When Lan Wangji opens his eyes, he's fifteen again.

Phobia, by yougetsomekisses

What if Lan Wangji had been thrown in that dungeon with Wei Wuxian?

Snow Hunt, by InsanitysxCreation

A short scene of a winter hunt.

Entirely self indulgent, in that the idea of Lan Wangji in white leather gloves arrived in my brain and wouldn't let me continue until I'd written this.

真金不怕火炼 | True Gold Fears No Fire, by adrian_kres

In the immediate aftermath of a successful Sunshot Campaign, Wei Ying is kissed by Lan Zhan at the Phoenix Mountain Hunt while blindfolded. But when the blindfold comes off, Lan Zhan is nowhere to be found. Now, Wei Ying must deal with this heartbreak on top of forced therapy he was mandated to complete due to using demonic cultivation to end the war. Through it all, Wei Ying learns he has value, and that his assumptions about what happened at the hunt may not be entirely correct.

Fantasy, by snowberryrose (3 chapters)

In which Wen Qing leaves Or: Wen Qing rescues herself

Canon divergence from episode 20

Chapter 2: Qin Su’s choice Chapter 3: Xue Yang’s end

Four Parts Honey and One Part Vinegar, by masked (6 chapters)

“You know,” Ouyang Zizhen says thoughtfully over dinner one day, “I’ve never seen Wei-qianbei get jealous before.”

Lan Jingyi pauses for the briefest second, remembers the sect rule of keeping silence during meals, and decidedly forgoes it. “What?”

“Well,” Ouyang Zizhen continues, “Hanguang-jun always has a lot of admirers everywhere we go, but Wei-qianbei never seems to mind it.”

“Why are we talking about this?” Jin Ling asks flatly.

Four times Wei Wuxian doesn't get jealous, and the one time he does.

sweet dreams, by ShippersList

Distance won’t hinder Wei Wuxian from giving his Lan Zhan a goodnight kiss.

Sugar Baby, by nirejseki

“Huaisang,” Nie Mingjue said, and uh oh, that sounded like his ‘bad news’ voice. “We need to talk about your spending.”

That was worse than Nie Huaisang had thought.

“Is the talk going to be about how amazingly economical I am in making intelligent and aesthetically appropriate purchases?” he asked hopefully, clutching his latest and most aesthetic fan.

“Oddly enough,” his brother said, “no.”

Somehow, Nie Huaisang hadn’t thought so.

He was...No, He was Incompetent, by Corundum_Creations

He was Lan Wangji, a Twin Jade of the Lan Clan and he could face anything... so how did he become so incompetent with taking his Wei Ying and hiding him away?

The Resentful Cultivator Who Cried 'I'm Fine', by Mikkeneko

"Who's possessed?" another voice joined the scrum, and Wei Wuxian moaned in despair as Jiang Cheng came marching over to join the rest of the party, glaring daggers at Wei Wuxian for being the source of all this trouble. Purple lightning crackled on his wrist as his eyes narrowed. "This idiot got possessed? I can take care of that with Zidian! Stand back!"

"Ahaha, Jiang Cheng, there's no need for that!" he protested hurriedly. "Really, I'm not possessed!"

"Ah," Lan Jingyi nodded knowingly. "That's exactly what someone who was possessed and trying to throw us off the trail would say!"

---

While on a night-hunt with his friends and family, Wei Wuxian takes a near miss from a dangerous beast. Fortunately he wasn't hurt... but for some reason, they have trouble believing him when he says I'm fine.

Why I Can’t Help But Love Red, by spiralingbutmakeitanimerelated

Lan Wangji takes a bath after a night hunt. Wei Wuxian has questions about the night he branded himself.

Not Till Then Dare I Part From You, by forgottenenvy

WangXian share a tender moment as Lan Wangji braids flowers into Wei Wuxian's hair.

Snowmelt, by sugar_shoal

Lan Zhan has been badly injured on a night-hunt. Wei Wuxian panics only a little. Jiang Cheng drags them all to a nearby abandoned hut to wait out the encroaching blizzard.

Head Empty, Only Wei Ying, by nana_banana

Wei Ying is getting married? To someone not Lan Wangji? Fuck. Not if Lan Wangji has anything to say about it.

sparrow heart, by CeliaBlair24 (fourth in a series)

They pass notes through the spaces between their desks about nonsensical, inconsequential things. About the weather and birds, romance novels, and the forest behind the Cloud Recesses where they spend all their afternoons playing.

And Wei Wuxian is smart, both by the books and on his feet. If he wanted to, he could easily play Lan-xiansheng’s favorite class pet --studious and diligent about being studious; creative besides-- but he doesn’t. He listens to Lan-xiansheng and Jiang Wanyin’s complaints with half an ear and when all is said and done, he turns his back on them both and greets Nie Huaisang with his cheeky smile.

Otherwise known as "Nie Huaisang falls into like."

Retrospective on the State of the Field: Qinghe Patron X (QPX) Studies, by bladedweaponsandswishycoats (jeweledichneumon)

"Qinghe Patron X, eh?" Nie Huaisang chuckles, noticing the heading. Licking his lips, he circles the listing for the conference panel with a yellow highlighter. Despite the moniker having become common several years ago, he still gets a kick out of it. Of course he'd have to go to that one. He takes a moment to feel the faint touch of regret that he isn't on the panel himself; it is always more fun messing with people as a panelist than trying to rely on the Q&A period to say something provocative but relevant.

In which immortal cultivator Nie Huaisang likes to fuck around with scholars attempting to study what they think they know about him, and other shenanigans he gets up to (both with and without the help of his friends) in the modern age.

The year is 2021. Lan Wangji still goes where the chaos is, though these days that can mean a lot more than night hunts. Especially when Wei Wuxian and Nie Huaisang are dedicated to making sure being immortal never gets boring.

A Story for the Ages, by Supernova_Sage

Lan Wangji saunters over to the mystery section. He can hear people whispering, but he isn’t close enough to make sense of the conversation. The lilt in the voice makes it sound like one person is asking a question. Hmm. If he can hear whispering, they’re still being far too loud. He shakes his head and continues his browsing. He pulls his phone out to check the time. It’s nearly 6p. He really should get home. He still needs to feed the bunnies and feed himself and look over emails and—

He stops in his tracks. Stops when he sees the book that he’s been waiting to check out for months now. Every time he’s stopped by, though, it’s been checked out by someone else. And now it’s finally here. Sitting on the shelf in front of him. Once he manages to collect himself, he reaches for it. His fingers don’t touch the spine of the book, though. Instead, he finds his fingers brushing against the fingers of another.

DanTian - Into the Dark (LWJ), by ArchiveWriter (fourth in a series)

Wangji's memory holds images of Wei Ying. Wangji does penance by reliving his memories, and by making sure Wei Ying is loved. Wangji burns the millet porridge he's supposed to stir whilst Wei Ying fetches water for tea.

chasing echoes, by SWANPYRE

Lan Wangji must learn to co-exist with what he has learned his entire life to despise.

Snowfall, by nightflower

During a winter storm in Cloud Recesses, Wangji's old scars ache. Wei Ying takes care of him.

relics of love, by cl410

“Oh my god. Oh my god.”

Lan Zhan pinched the bridge of his nose. “The bunnies were almost eaten.”

“Our son was almost traumatized for life,” Wei Ying said, choking on a laugh. “Lan Zhan, he almost witnessed a double homicide on our own balcony.” He wheezed with laughter, clutching his ribs.

“We will install higher locks,” Lan Zhan said grimly.

Rated G:

A-Yuan's guide to eat the rich (a.k.a. How A-Yuan single handedly stopped a siege from happening and saved everyone), by fanficaddictXOXO

A-Yuan is only three years old. But he knows many things. He knows how to write his name. He knows potatoes are better than radishes (Xian gege said so). But the most important thing he knows is that the handsome gege with a white forehead ribbon is rich.

Obviously You Hate Me, by Sarehz

Wei Wuxian leans across the round table. "Okay, this isn't going to work."

From across the very same table, Lan Wangji raises one puzzled eyebrow. "Mn?"

"This!" Wei Wuxian gestures between them.

Begotten, by ecorie (6 chapters)

“He’s mine.” He echoed what had once been teasingly said in jest, and added, “This is my son.”

Against all odds and without a choice, Lan Zhan brings A-Yuan back to Cloud Recesses. Xichen keeps his brother’s secrets, and shields the child when Lan Zhan could not.

Alone Stands the Quiet, by ecorie

The story of the Yin Iron starts with a celestial war and ends with Lan Sizhui.

A Good Plan, by nirejseki

“The…Lan sect?” Meng Yao said doubtfully. “Are you sure?”

“I am,” his mother said, her mouth tight. She looked upset, the way she always did these days when he referenced, intentionally or otherwise, the original plan that she had had to send him to join his father, sect leader of Lanling Jin. She’d raised Meng Yao on a steady diet of stories of what his life would be like when his father finally took him back the way he’d promised her he would, stories that had filled his days and nights for years and years and years, and then just last year she’d suddenly stopped talking about it entirely. It was as if the person who’d told those stories had nothing to do with her.

Meng Yao didn’t know what had happened, but he assumed it must have been pretty bad.

“It'll be a good fit,” she added.

The Late Great Custody Debate, by stiltonbasket (5 chapters)

"You owe me child support," Lan Zhan blurts, before Wei Wuxian can open his mouth to say hello to him. "Take responsibility."

Or, the one where Lan Wangji's pet rabbit has a better love life than he does, and single father Wei Wuxian develops a healthy fear of attorneys, courtesy of his next-door neighbor.

Switcheroo, by nirejseki

Mo Xuanyu thought that this Wei Wuxian person whose body he’d stolen must have been a really interesting person, mostly because he’d been here for three days so far and nobody’d noticed the switch yet.

A Kiss for you, my love, by Speechless_since_1998

"Ladies and gentlemen."

Suddenly the attention of the whole hall turned to Nie Huaisang, near the orchestra with a microphone in one hand and a glass of champagne in the other, "On this wonderful evening I would like to share with you all the happiness I feel. for a wonderful couple who got married today. " Wait a minute did he say marriage? He must have heard right, even Lan Zhan had stiffened. “Let's give him a wonderful round of applause. To Wei Ying and Lan Zhan newlyweds. " Hot shit. They weren't supposed to attract attention.

The attention of the room focused on them, whispers in the crowd, some scandalized, some excited. Nie Huaisang motioned for him to keep the game, but what was she supposed to do ?! "Lan Zhan, we mustn't ..." He didn't have time to finish the sentence as Lan Zhan kissed him. In front of everyone.

Soulmates, by Yacs_Weasley

Ever since he was a little boy, Wangji had longed to find his soulmate.

Stay with me, by KatAnni

Sizhui's memories come to him in pieces, and some of them in dreams. This time, he dreams of Wei Wuxian putting him in a tree. He runs to the Jingshi immediately, to find his Baba.

The truth, by syriala (first in a series)

“Do you even remember a single person of those you killed after the war?” he demands to know and Jiang Cheng turns his glare on him.

“Why should I?” Jiang Cheng asks and a fearful hush falls over the crowd. “Do any of you remember even a single person you killed in your lives?” he asks them and is met with a pretty telling silence.

“You’re a monster,” someone whispers, but in the quiet it rings out loud and clear.

Jiang Cheng has heard these words a lot in the past sixteen years, and so he simply smiles at them, even though they sting like always.

He reminds himself that the people that matter know the truth, that they know him for who he truly is, and that it has to be enough.

Boys, by nirejseki

“Hey,” Lao Nie protested mildly. “Who’s the father here, me or you?”

“If a-die wants a new wife, little uncle will find one that isn’t inclined to kill him.”

That sounded like a recitation.

“Then what’s even the point,” Lao Nie grumbled, and reached out to ruffle his son’s hair, enjoying how Nie Mingjue yelped when he did, glaring up at him with offended dignity.

Loss, by FlutterFyre

Lan Wangji knows something is wrong.

Hearsay, by syriala (second in a series)

“A girl went missing a few days back,” Wei Wuxian says, voice serious, and Jiang Cheng can just imagine the accusatory look on his face. “Coincidentally you were seen in that area during the same time.”

“So?” Jiang Cheng wants to know and Wei Wuxian makes a frustrated sound.

“What did you do with her?” Wei Wuxian asks him, even though he clearly already made up an answer for himself.

An ally, by syriala (third in a series)

“I just don’t want you to force yourself to face them,” Jiang Cheng finally says and Jiang Xiuying smiles at him.

“I’m not forcing myself. I am going on my own free will. It will be fine. And besides, Lan Xichen was never the reason I left.”

“But he didn’t stop you either,” Jiang Cheng mutters, and then rolls his eyes. “Fine. Accompany me, see if I care.”

“All I see is you caring,” Jiang Xiuying honestly gives back and Jiang Cheng flushes bright red.

Escalation, by syriala (fourth in a series)

“How can you lie to him like that?” Lan Wangji wants to know but it seems to be morbid curiosity more than anything else, because he goes right on. “You’re coming with me to the Cloud Recesses. There will be a trial.”

“A trial,” Jiang Cheng scoffs out, because it’s a farce and nothing more.

Lan Wangji has already decided on his sentence. And they all know it's going to be death.

Resolve, by syriala (fifth in a series)

“Regarding the accusations made against me today,” he starts and cuts his glare over to Sect Leader Yao, who has the good grace to shrink back at the venom in that glare, “I have something to say.”

“Speak,” Lan Wangji demands, but he doesn’t sound too sure all of a sudden, doesn’t seem too happy with the proceedings, and Jiang Cheng does rather enjoy the feeling of triumph it brings him.

“I am innocent. I did not kill any demonic cultivators, nor did I torture them.”

His voice rings out in the courtyard because everyone is silent for two seconds, but then chaos erupts. The voices calling him a liar are the kinder ones, and Jiang Cheng shakes his head at them.

“And I have proof,” he continues, raising his voice so that it carries over the others.

Devotion - Gather, by syriala (sixth in a series)

“What?” Jiang Cheng asks, because for once he is in no immediate danger of being murdered by the other Sects and Jiang Cheng really doesn’t think that look is fair.

“You absolute asshole,” Jiang Xiuying hisses at him and Jiang Cheng knows that if he wasn’t injured Jiang Xiuying would try to slap him over the head or shake him until he sees sense.

“What? What did I do now?” Jiang Cheng wants to know because he was asleep! There is no way he could have done something to upset Jiang Xiuying like this!

“I don’t even know where to start,” Jiang Xiuying says and starts to pace Jiang Cheng’s room, without giving any thought to the fact that this is Jiang Cheng’s bedroom and he really shouldn’t be here.

Well, Jiang Cheng is not going to say that to him, because with the mood Jiang Xiuying is in right now it wouldn’t go over well for Jiang Cheng, Sect Leader or not. Not that he actually cares anyway.

It’s Jiang Xiuying after all.

Home in Lotus Pier, by syriala (seventh in a series)

Jiang Cheng's angry frown turns into a confused frown when he sits down for breakfast and finds a box next to his bowl of congee.

“What is this?” he asks into the room, because someone is bound to be around, but he doesn’t get an answer and Jiang Cheng heaves out a sigh.

He tugs the box close and opens it and he’s surprised to find that his favourite tea is in it. It’s hard to come by lately, as it is entirely seasonal and only grown in a small spot in Sect Leader Yao’s territory, and after everything that happened at the Cloud Recesses a few months back, he already mentally said goodbye to it.

He wouldn’t be getting any more supplies from Sect Leader Yao after all, so this is more than surprising.

But the gifts don't stop there.

Parallelism, not equivalence, by DreamaholicsAnonymous

Wei Wuxian reminded him of Xingchen, Song Lan thinks, not for the first time.

Bring Your Secrets, Bring Your Scars, by Terri Botta (Isilwath) (fourth in a series)

Nie MingJue keeps his promises.

All Your Madness, I Will Tame, by Terri Botha (Isilwath) (fifth in a series)

Wen Qing in the Burial Mounds.

Puppy, by Speechless_since_1998

Returning home, Lan Zhan found his husband hiding behind the sofa and A-Yuan sitting on the ground playing with a puppy dog.

The puppy must have been a few months old, probably hadn't even been weaned. It was harmless, but Wei Ying didn't care. It was enough that it was a dog to be afraid.

“Ah, Lan Zhan! You finally arrived! Take that monster away!" Wei Ying pleaded, refusing to come out of hiding.

A-Yuan puffed out her cheeks, "Shiro is not a monster!"

Heaven, he had already given it a name.

Being Good, by ricochet

Lan Wangji tries to be good.

no shadow can touch, by sunflowersfield

When it is time to hand out the mics, Lan Zhan forces himself to lower his expectations. Their exchange will be fleeting, and Wei Ying will barely even look at him.

Or: Wei Ying is cast in a musical at his local community center. Lan Zhan is the theater technician.

make a mess (inside my heart), by avenqelic

Wei Wuxian looked comfortable against Lan Wangji’s white sheets, curled up in his blankets. Lan Wangji’s chest ached, mind swirling with possibilities – falling asleep looking into Wei Wuxian’s eyes, waking up in his arms, holding each other close as the moon shifted across the sky and the sun rose.

Finding a way home, by ThisIsWhereTheMagicHappens

Prompt idea for a less than one thousand words one shot! Lwj walks into a coffee shop and barista wwx cannot stop flirting with him while both of them are dying on the inside because the other is so handsome! Wwx writes his number on the cup! Up to you if lwj has an existencial crisis after finding the number or if he even finds the number. Bonus points if the oneshot ends with lwj going back to the cafe and wwx smiles at him when he sees him! — this is a.a. now with a prompt

DanTian - Planting Gentians (LWJ POV), by ArchiveWriter (1 chapter plus art)

Wei Ying's been up their old mountain early in the morning. Wangji does needlework and indulges in watching Wei Ying's hands. A slice of domestic contentment because I like them happy.

Tease, by annjellybean

Now, Wei Ying had long outgrown teasing his husband mercilessly the way he used to back in their childhood days, they had been through so much since then, he had honestly forgotten how to do so. That being said, it did not mean Wei Ying had completely forgotten his gremlin roots, and as a self-proclaimed gremlin husband, today he wanted to tease.

Pure Morning, by ShizunThirst

It’s on mornings like these that Lan Wangji can love Wei Wuxian the way he deserves to be loved.

deeper etchings, by fensandmarshes

“And remember, a-Yuan,” comes the voice, lowered but still loud as though it shuns the petty boundaries of the house, “you absolutely cannot tell diedie about this.”

Lan Wangji pauses, there in the middle of the portal array, halfway through setting down his bag, and tilts his head just slightly.

Caring Warmth, by MountainMist

Wei Ying is sick and lonely. Head empty only Lan Zhan.

And how Lan Zhan takes care of him.

just them, together., by adeptiwings

It was okay, now that it was just them.

the boy with rabbit ears, by dragontea

Lan Zhan got lost in an amusement park and found his way home in the company of the boy with rabbit ears.

heart-shaped knots, by twigofwillow

There’s been a ghost in Cloud Recesses for over thirty years, but no one has talked to her until now.

Setting Suns and Dawning Realisations, by wereworm

Wei Wuxian's plans for a romantic night out in Caiyi with Lan Zhan are ruined when he works late, the sun already setting by the time he makes his way home to the Jingshi. Instead, they enjoy a quiet night in and Wei Wuxian comes to terms with the peace that he'd fought so hard to earn and the life that's he's finally allowed to have.

[For the prompt: a sweet wangxian date night in]

Won This For You, by Preludian_Staves

He looks up as his husband comes into the room with something suspiciously large hidden behind his back.

A single soul (no more), by Lysdance1

The core transfer surgery goes as in canon BUT it leaves the spiritual link open between Jiang Cheng and Wei Wuxian and, well, what goes one way can go both ways.

"It's what keeps him (mostly) sane, a tether in this dark place where he cannot feed and cannot sleep and cannot escape; through the link he feels - trickles of love, Jiang Cheng's worry for him. It shouldn't be enough, but somehow, in this dark, dark place, it is. It reminds him, faintly, of home, and in the dark he hears the rhythm of one, luminous, far away soul."

To Need Someone, by Preludian_Staves

"A-die?"

"Hm?"

"What does mean to need someone? To want them with you?"

Approval, by Speechless_since_1998

"You look tired, "he said, sipping his tea. He shouldn't, it wasn't kind. But he couldn't resist teasing him a little.

Lan Zhan stared at him blankly, "I've been drinking."

"I saw."

"I kissed Wei Ying."

"I saw that too."

And thanks to the gods there was no uncle because he hated worldly occasions, otherwise he would have a heart attack.

"We had sex at his adoptive parents' home."

"And?"

Lan Zhan raised an eyebrow, "Aren't you surprised?"

"Oh, sorry, now I'll try again ... Really? !!"

"You're not funny."

Unfinished:

Not Rated:

An Obsidian Among Jades, by bluebeads

What happens when a sad lost mantou cheeked Lan Zhan teams up with a cheerful one to find his family in the unfamiliar streets of Yilling. A Yu Ziyuan Ultimatum AU which I submitted a while ago on angstymdzsthoughts Also a Gusu Lan Sect Wei Wuxian.

I've had enough, by pluma1007

He is ascending. They’re minds unhelpfully supplied.

Then, Wei Wuxian is gone.

The cultivators are in disarray.

“Wei Wuxian… Wei Wuxian ascended!”

“How can this be?! A monster ascended?!”

“No! My core! My powers had diminished!”

Hearing that, the cultivators checked their cores. Gasps rang out the mountains. Enraged cries are heard, cursing Wei Wuxian. There are also those who kowtowed, praying for forgiveness. There are others who praised him.

Song of Joy and Regrets, by HelloKitten

The Archery competition at Qishan this year has hit a snag. As the Sects face the wrongs perpetrated by their future selves, Wei Wuxian finds himself adopted by half of the cultivation world who are determined to save him from himself.

Baby Wangxian suffers. Adult Wangxian's job here is done.

"I'm starting to see a pattern to all his plans..."

"Do they all involve him being bait?"

"Yes" came deadpanned responses.

Hua Cheng is not amused.

Rated E:

the long way back home, by Misila

Wei Ying always knew he was the single discordant note in the Jiang household. That was why, after graduating from university, he didn’t return home. With him gone, Yu Ziyuan wouldn’t have anyone to compare her son to, and Jiang Fengmian wouldn’t have to keep avoiding his own family to prevent further conflict.

…Right?

(Seven years later, married to the man of his life and with a four year-old son, Wei Ying returns to his hometown and tries to reconnect with his siblings and befriend his nephew; but, most of all, he struggles to figure out what’s wrong with his brother and how to help him, despite Jiang Cheng not wanting to have anything to do with him anymore.)

Will You Stand Beside Me, by trashgavin

Wei Wuxian takes all his strength and spits blood in Wen Chao’s face. His eyes narrow and he speaks, though his voice is quiet and full of pain.

“Go to hell.”

It only makes Wen Chao laugh. He releases his hair and stands to his feet. “Bring me a whip.”

Rated M:

For the Dust and the Dirt, by Nyxelestia

His breath came out in shaky gasps, but still he could do nothing as the demonic copy of himself brought the blade down to the bare skin of Wei Wuxian’s uninjured shoulder. He whimpered when he felt a small cut, then when the blade lifted. He didn’t have time to even think of relief before it came back, right next to the first cut in a different direction, then again below in a line, multiple small lines in multiple directions like…like a character.

“Like I said,” the demon mused as Wei Wuxian realized what it was doing. “I’ll write it down for you.”

A brutal assault on a Cloud Recesses student leaves the Cultivation world reeling. Wei Wuxian struggles to recover, while everyone else tries to make sense of an ominous message. But since when do demons care about sect politics, anyway?

Between Wen Ruohan's rising aggression, simmering tensions across the guest disciples, and the mysterious fierce corpses still popping up all over the place, Wei Wuxian would rather ignore the confusing, horrifying visions the demon left him with.

If only the demon's taunting predictions didn't keep coming true at every turn.

I Know How Those in Exile Feed on Dreams of Hope, by rabbit_habits & saltedpin

“What does it mean, that Wen Ruohan has all the Yin Iron?” Jiang Cheng asked, dragging himself up into a sitting position – her medicines must have worked quickly, because his ribs gave only a twinge when he moved.

Wen Qing settled down beside him, head bowed as she packed away her supplies, her shoulder brushing his arm when she moved. “It means that no one in the cultivation world can oppose him,” she whispered.

—

Canon divergence AU in which Jiang Cheng and Jin Zixuan are captured by the Wens after escaping from the Xuanwu's cave, before they can return to rescue Wei Wuxian and Lan Wangji.

Misunderstood, by Silver_Flame_2724

There is something called a memory ball that shows the memories of a chosen person.

In order to further incriminate the already dead Yiling Patriarch, the cultivation world decides to use this memory ball at the next Discussion Conference to show how evil the demonic cultivator can truly be.

What appears, though, truly shocks them all.

laughing shadow, by ich_bin_ein_stern

During the commotion involving Wei Wuxian, A-Ling refused little sleep. His screams carried across Koi Tower, putting wailing ghosts too shame. He was inconsolable by everyone. It was only when Jin Zixuan unintentionally passed the room holding Wei Wuxian while trying to calm down his son did A-Ling miraculously settle down. Since then, he has slept peacefully every night. Yanli expressed, in the quiet and security of their bedroom, that perhaps Wei Wuxian's spirit soothed A-Ling and continues to do so.

At the least expected times, Jin Zixuan swears he can hear the distant sound of a flute.

But when he stops to actually listen for it, he hears nothing.

Come From My Inkstone, by magicgenetek

“So your plan,” Nie Mingjue said dubiously, “is to move into the Burial Mounds to write and illustrate erotica about you and Lan Wangji seducing the Yiling Patriarch to earn his trust and sell the public on the idea that he's not a threat, then convince him to give up the Yin Tiger Seal?"

“The way I said it sounded better,” Nie Huaisang said. “And you forgot the part about me seducing the Ghost General, that is crucial.”

“I hate this, and as your brother, I am begging you not to actually stick it in a fierce corpse. How much money do you need?”

Rated T:

Here We Go Again, by Alliandra

He looked over to where the swordswoman was still fighting, but her focus seemed entirely locked onto that fight so it was unlikely that she could have had anything to do with the energy drain. He was still wracking his brain for something else to do to assist, so this thing didn’t kill them both, but now he was feeling weak, dizzy and currently not far from helpless.

~~~~~~~~~~

It has been several months since the events at the Guanyin temple and Wei Wuxian is wandering around on his own. After he helps a stranger kill a very dangerous beast he uncovers what seems to be a conspiracy aimed at ending his life. He heads back to Cloud Recesses with his new companion in tow, looking to get Lan Wanji's help in working out what is involved.

Meanwhile, Jiang Cheng and Jin Ling made a surprising discovery under Koi Tower that may well be linked to the threat against Wei Wuxian's life.

Can they all work together to find out what is going on and put a stop to it, before something disastrous occurs?

A place of Gold, by ThisIsWhereTheMagicHappens

A few days after Wei Wuxian has parted from Lan Wangji on a forest path, he gets surrounded by Jin officials in an Inn, who formally ask him to return to Jinlintai to fill in the position of Sect Leader, as is his right and duty.

Wei Wuxian thinks it is an artful prank. Until it is not.

Blossoming flowers in a full moon - 花好月圆, by ThisIsWhereTheMagicHappens

What if Wei Wuxian wasn’t able to get out of Lan Wangji’s grip at the cliff in Nevernight? What if Lan Wangji refused to let go?

All will be well when the day is done, by abCEE

The one where Yu Ziyuan time traveled but she thought that it was her visions of her alternate life.

She learned that there is a brat named Wei Ying who brought destruction to her and her family's life.

And so in her present, she vowed that she will never allow that to happen.

In which Yu Ziyuan found the four-year-old Wei Ying, newly pushed out of the inn where his parents left him, and decided that no, this child must never be associated with her, her family, and their sect at all.

And so Yu Ziyuan thought that she could bring him somewhere where someone may or may not find him but definitely far from where her husband could find him. If he's lucky, he'll survive that winter, if he's not, then death awaits the fevered child.

This is the extent of mercy that Yu Ziyuan could give a child.

With this, she'll raise her children without having to deal with a brat that brings trouble where he goes according to her visions of her alternate life.

Like the tag stated, this is definitely not Yu Ziyuan centric.

Rated G:

How Jin Zixuan Helps Everyone, by BryxcrSt

The Yunmeng Heroes, Twin Jades, Nie Huaisang, The Peacock, Cinnamon Roll Ghost General and Lan Qiren suddenly transport back to the past before the Conference in Qishan, with their very memory of how all their clans battled Wen Rouhan's and now they're all ready to prevent it from happening now that they're back to the past. Especially Jiang Cheng and Wei Wuxian.

Surprisingly, Jin Zixuan wants to help them instead of standing out of the front line like how he used to but what can he do?

To Repeat, Repay, and Repair, by adrian_kres

Wei Wuxian has died again and his family grieves. Lan Sizhui, now married and with children of his own, grieves the loss of both fathers, as Lan Wangji has entered seclusion. But somehow, he unknowingly sends himself back to the time he spent in the Burial Mounds at three years old. Will his family take his confused, nonsensical warnings seriously? Are they doomed to repeat the same fate?

#the untamed #mo dao zu shi #chen qing ling #cql #mdzs #wangxian #untamed fanfiction

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szintalikedthat · 4 years ago

Note

Hello! I saw your post about playlists and I have a request for a vibe!

🎵 + When you're feeling really disconnected from yourself but also sort of angry at everything and then your cat comes and loves up to you and you're still angry and sad but you're also filled with so much love for this teeny tiny animal

Hell yes!!!!

What makes this ask so awesome, is that not only it is a really interesting vibe that I just felt in my heart on 6 different cosmic levels, but it comes with a full blown 5 act structure, which I will be more than happy to indulge... especially because telling a narrative arc with strategically ordered songs is my favourite thing about building a playlist.

When I was thinking about where to begin, I felt like the only genre that can truly encompass the range of emotions contained herein AND even the cuteness of a cat, was none other than emo. Am I right or am I right? But I have to confess, I'm not super familiar with the emo scene, cause when it happened, I went through a phase of listening to very little to no music. And like I said, I cannot accurately pinpoint musical genres because I just sort them in my head completely differently, so... this playlist has maybe like one or two songs that are actually emo, I think(?) and is not so much emo overall as much as "Songs that made me feel like what I thought emo should feel like". However I do know that some emo bands like to have one foot in metal and the other in electronic music, so this is what created the backbone of this playlist that holds it all together - an electronic and/or industrial metal streak. Fingers crossed that this will be up your alley.

I made a spotify compilation of it all but I also linked the individual songs thru youtube in case someone doesn’t use it.

Enjoy! 🎵

1. Dissociation Every Day is Exactly The Same - Elektrik People

I consider this kind of a blatant choice in my neck of the musical woods but if there has ever been a better song written about that very emotion that you were talking about, I haven't heard it. I offer it to you now like a special gift directly from the playlist of a very personal OC who himself has some issues and dissociative tendencies. Yes, I'm talking about my OCs I'm projecting onto of whom nobody fucking asked, because I don't want to make this too personal, what about it. Don't we all? And yes, this IS the Nine Inch Nails song, but I chose this version - and tbh I like this one better than the original, with all due respect to Mr. Reznor - because the soft, slightly slurring vocals and reverberating instruments really make it sound as if I myself were hearing it through a disconcerted haze.

2. Realization X - Hatari

I put this song in as a kind of segway between the previous song and the next; it's like a moment of coming-to, a realization of one's true pain that was blocked before, and includes all the disillusionment, hatred, and grief that it entails, but is also still kind of... catchy, in a way? If you will. Song translation

3. Fragmentation Buried Alive - Otep

And there we are, the true, unfiltered cacophony of negative emotions, spoken in their full and direct brutality. What really gets me about Otep every time, is that besides some of her lyrics just being genuinely great poetry, she can speak the most simple, emo, generic words with such incredible cadence that you quake as you feel the emotion in your veins right there where she's at.

4. Spiral Victimized- KoRn

Look, I might be a little bit biased, but when you're asking me for trauma induced, frothing dissociative rage, I'm definitely thinking of Jonathan Davis, because let's be honest, no one brings it to the table like he does. That's just objectively true. There is no shortage of such musical numbers in KoRn's repertoire but as opposed to some of their maddening, blunt and grunge-like earlier sounds, I decided to bring something from their newer catalog, which encases the madness in a cleanly yet jagged, cutting-edge electronic shell, and thus will fit in with this playlist very nicely.

5. Contact Teardrop - Massive Attack

So I asked myself, "Is there a song that makes me feel the emotion of touching extremely soft fur and would fit into this playlist" and I immediately knew that this song would be THE perfect answer. I wanted the shift to be as sudden as possible, but at the same time still a little bit organic, which is a high expectation but this song has an almost KoRn-like chord progression just in major instead of minor. I couldn't have invented a better one if I tried.

6. Decision Neon Gravestones - Twenty One Pilots

Okay, I'm not even going to make any jokes about this or anything. I think this song is a really brutal confrontation about a very heavy topic, and the biggest takeaway that I want you to have from it is that, I think, there is a point at the bottom of your hopelessness where you HAVE to make a conscious decision to move upward even if you don't feel like you can do it or whether it's even possible, before the healing can start. And sometimes it really be like that.

7. Clarity Bring Me The Horizon - Can You Feel My Heart

Note that after the Soft Cat neither of the songs are really as unhinged as we started, and that is for a reason. I think that this song must have been insanely popular at a time, sorry about that. I swear, I'm trying to make choices that are not too obvious but it felt like it would just hit the right emotional beat. I think you can read a lot into these rhetorical questions, in the song I mean, but the cord progressions always make me feel a certain opening up to hope through teary eyes.

8. Power Suffering You - 16 Volt

At the end of it all, by any means I wanted to end this playlist on a positive note, so here we are. There's just something about this song that gets me every time. It leans into its own early 2000s proto-emo roots with such a sweeping, unapologetic confidence. This song be like "You're goddamn right I'm a fucking whiney little bitch with my depression and unprocessed negative emotions, you wanna fight about it? You wanna take it outside?" What else could I have for it than respect? The rhythm is mercilessly pumping, the riffs are almost bizarrely catchy. I wouldn't necessarily call this song positive on a surface level, but it always makes me feel weirdly upbeat. Once you read into it a bit metatextually, this song is the pinnacle of depressed but reclaimed power, an almost fashionably earworm-like rallying cry of healthily channeled righteous anger. I actually almost put it at the beginning because I think playlists should begin strong - I like to make playlists that either sweep you or slap you on the face with the very first chord lol - and I think this song, almost literally slaps. However I immediately realized that no, this cannot happen, not this time. This song cannot be at the start because this is exactly the goal where I want you to mentally arrive at.

Okay, enough of the playlist infused therapy session. I hope you had some kind of positive takeaway and maybe even some songs you didn't know before. Now go and stick it to the man!

#playlist requests #music prompt #playlist prompt #music #mine

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wincore · 4 years ago

Note

AGREEEE, WORKING OVER THE WEEKEND IS THE WORST esp since im in uni full time and i work 9-5 on the weekends which means... no breaks for me ever.. 🥲

MASSIVE CRUSH ON OIKAWA OMGGG I SUPPORT THIS!!!!! but i am unfortunately much older than 15 and still enamored by 2d men 😔 life’s rough like that HDJWKDJ YES ATSUMU CAUSES PROBLEMS ON PURPOSE.. HES THE WORST!! btw.. ive heard that the oikawa to atsumu stan pipeline is very real... so if u get to s4.. u may develop atsumu brain rot like me 👁_👁

OOO alright run on, extracurricular, vincenzo, true beauty, love alarm, & perfect crime. NOTED!! ive actually been meaning to watch extracurricular for a while now, it looks so interesting!! now that it has the wincore seal of approval i must watch 😤 OMGG SAKURADA DORI I SAW HIM IN ALICE IN BORDERLAND!! super good show but really gore heavy at some points 👁

ahh ok thank u for the reccs, ive been thinking about starting demon slayer too!! shoplifters sounds really interesting :oo crime??? i havent watched a full movie in a while so i will def check it out!! THESE R ALL GOING IN MY NOTES APP.

NEXT YEARRR omg it sounds far away but i know time passes so quickly nowadays so I WILL WISH U LUCK ONCE AGAIN 💛 i hope u update us when the time comes!!

UGHWHHD EVEN THIS SYNOPSIS IS MAKING ME MISS UR WRITING?!? I LOVE THE WAY U WORD IT... “given a choice to pretend, you find that jaehyun is the lesser of the two burdens to bear” AHHHHHHH omg “he’s in a relationship and doesn’t rlly care about the soulmate system” THIS IS ALWAYS SUCH A PAINFUL SCENARIO IN SOULMATE AUS PLSS!!! Wait is the soulmate of yn gonna be an oc/vague character or another member :O EITHER WAY... PAIN! THIS IS GETTING ME SO EXCITED AND U HAVENT EVEN MENTIONED ANYTHING ABOUT WHAT JAEHYUN’S LIKE IN THIS FIC YET

RUNWAY CHARACTER CAMEOOOS YESS I LOVE RUNWAY YN!!!! i actually reread it last night and ugh i was reminded how much i love yns personality... just the process of experiencing all tht self doubt with them!!! so real & makes u root for them :’)

“if jeno plays edward i need him to that apple scene like taemin did” WHHHHHWJDJJWJDBW THIS MADE ME CHOKE ON THE WATER I WAS DRINKING LMFAO

GODDDD THESE TROPE/MEMBER PAIRINGS, HARD AGREE HARD AGREE!!! HAECHAN AND RENJUN ARE E2L 100%!!!! i think bc the ppl in the bff2l category cant convincingly hate yn back LOL

“gets complimented on his lyricism often but like every song’s about you” STOPPPPP HES SO PERFDCT FOR THIS TROPE!!!!!

OMG I SEE EXACTLY WHAT U MEAN ABT SICHENG IN ROYALTY/CHAEBOL AUS... i think like u said it’s because of his poise & the way ppl are generally in awe of him but also bc of his reluctance to open up!! more reserved until he trusts u... funny and kind but sometimes perceived as aloof... those r some prince tendencies! “what are corporate businesses but modern day kingdoms” LMFAOOWJDJ SERIOUSLY THO

“mans really said i will not give you any onscreen idol personality to work with” HDJWJDJWJSJ LITERALLYYYY this is why i have trouble reading jaehyun fics sometimes bc sometimes they can feel “inaccurate” but its mostly just bc there’s no Standard Personality Stereotype to go off of. but a random & uncommon trope i think he’d pair well with is exes to lovers!! Yes im basically just a jaehyun + angst advocate.

“i think most of them would pair well with bff2l??” FACTTTTTTT and no im not just saying this bc its one of my favorite tropes.. heh... i think i told u this before?? but ur like the main reason i started enjoying e2l!!! i didnt like it before bc i love the PINING in bff2l but then i started reading ur works n was like OH SHIT! THERES LOADS OF PINING HERE TOO...

i think yangyang is not bff2l or e2l, he is in his own category which is Annoyer2Lover HDJWKDJ ex: troublemaker, wasted nights

OMGGGG I DID NOT EXPECT ROYALTY AU TO HAVE SUCH A LARGE LEAD IN THE SURVEY??? and cryptids is so low 😔😔 cmon guys, vampires r fun!!!

WE R LITERALLY WRITING ESSAYS TO EACH OTHER RN BUT I LOVE IT 🥺🥺 its a such a nice break to read ur response when im burnt out from studying!!

OMG IM GOING THROUGH #moonwrites AND IM LITERALLY AN IDIOTTTT IVE BEEN OFF TUMBLR FOR SO LONG I DIDNT REALIZE THAT ROMEO ROULETTE HAD A PREVIEW OUT????

“And I get what out of this?” “Me?” IM IN LOVE WITH THIS CHARACTERS PERSONALITY ALREADY LMFAOO

“—and when this whole game you’re playing is over, you’re going to say I rejected you.” ?!?!???? THE WAY JAEHYUN IS A LITTLE SHIT! THEIR PERSONALITIES ARE BOTH SO FUN PLSJWJDJEJ IM MORE EXCITED NOW!!

pls disregard the part in my last ask where i asked abt romeo roulette.... i had no idea all of the information i needed was sitting right in front of me 😔😔

- tata

WHAT 9 TO 5 ON EVERY WEEKEND???? the system has failed you this honestly feels like a villain origin story 😭 when does it get better???

ALSO let me answer the other asks separately for better readability lol we really out here writing essays GOOD THING i have practice writing but like. this is infinitely better to write 🥰

PLSSS SOMETIMES I WILL SEE AN EDIT/TIKTOK OF OIKAWA AND BE LIKE DAMN I REALLY NEED TO CATCH UP I MISS THIS MF also are you daring me to ruin my life for 2d men bc i will do it without hesitation. wait till i watch hq again and get that atsumu brainrot with you he seems annoying enough for me to like ^_^

AND YES PLS I WAS SO ABSORBED IN IT!! extracurricular was the most gripping show i’ve watched in a while like yes enough teen romance give me two unhinged teenagers doing crime 🤩 AND OMG??? THAT’S WHERE WE SAW HIM TOO and although niragi was literally vomit-inducing human trash, sakurada dori is like. a good actor. except i hated coffee&vanilla which starred him it was literally so cringe i couldn’t 😭 i blame the writers for that though. IM EXCITED FOR S2 OF ALICE IN BORDERLAND THO i really like horror (and i can tolerate gore if ive been desensitized enough) and like i read the manga too!!! the games were really interesting (although morbid).

😭😭 MY NOTES APP IS FULL OF RECS FROM FRIENDS ALL OF THEM HATE ME FOR NOT WATCHING THE SHOWS BUT LIKE. i binge 3 or 4 at a time and strike them off and then go 6 months without watching a single tv series hhh.

THANK YOU SO MUCH!!! I SURE WILL UPDATE !!! it’s so exciting to think about grad school sometimes :33

AHHH IM SO GLAD YOU LIKE IT AND THE PREVIEW TOO SGSDJKDS there’s a few differences in the actual fic i think bc i changed up the language (and i dont remember what else bc i refuse to look at my writing) JAEHYUN RLLY IS A LITTLE SHIT he’ll be like hm yeah im pretty chill :) and then proceed to beat yn at her own game at times. (she wins mostly dw) the fact that i made her soulmate cha eunwoo like girl if i were you i’d crash their relationship 🥱 (jk) but like. jaehyun too is 🤩 despite being dry af

ASDKDSKDS YOU REREAD ALL (ALMOST) 19K WORDS ??? IM SO GLAD YOU LIKE THAT FIC SM AAAAHHH IM FEELING LIKE AN ACTUAL AUTHOR 🥰 i loved runway yn too they were like boss attitude with 20% anxiety.

LOOK JENO BETTER BE PULLING MOVES LIKE THAT TO IMPRESS THE GIRLS 😤 if he hits himself in the forehead with the apple, bonus points bc that was true comedy (as invented by taemin)

AND YES. LIKE I KNOW MARK HATED DONGHYUCK SO MUCH HE WANTED TO LEAVE SM BUT LIKE HE’S TOO NICE WITH EVERYONE ELSE 😭😭😭 i cannot picture him pissed off apart from that summer fight </3

thinking about dejun getting rejected by a girl he wrote a song for. rip brother.

IM GLAD YOU PUT THAT INTO WORDS BC THAT’S EXACTLY WHAT IT IS!!! he’s got all of these regal qualities but he’s still human ykyk so it makes for the most amiable person on earth 😌 i love this characterization of him!!

oof exes to lovers with jaehyun... i had a similar idea a while ago (with theme song sincerity is scary by the 1975) that i discarded bc i don’t think i’m cut out to write that 😭 (YET) so i will keep this is mind. u r so right about jaehyun feeling inaccurate bc it’s like he’s very mild in personality onscreen sometimes?? so him having strong personality traits makes me go 🤔🤔 that man is overreacting. (jkjk but like you get the idea)

WAIT RLLY OMG BC OF ME???? i would never enjoy e2l irl bc irl dudes are 🤢🤢 and if they annoy me i will end them. but in fiction the mutual pining and initial disgust at yourself for liking the other??? helllooo 🤩🤩🤩 especially if it’s in a romcom style <3 bff2l is also better in fiction bc if the relationship doesnt work out irl and the person become uncomfortable with me i will just get annoyed jskshdl

LMAO YOU ARE SO RIGHT ABOUT YANGYANG HE’S JUST THAT™ DUDE skgkhs he feels like someone fun to hang out with but he would annoy you the whole time. also he is cute 🥰

AND EXACTLY!!!! IM HAPPY FOR ROYALTY AUS BUT CMON. LOOK AT THOSE VAMPIRE TEETH. feel like media ruined vampires for people 😔

THIS IS SUCH A NICE BREAK FROM STUDYING HONESTLY!!!! im like working on two semi-large projects AND studying course and out-of-course material simultaneously so my brain is a little fried. thank u for this 😘

#tata 💖#anon #answered

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migleefulmoments · 4 years ago

Text

Abb/y has something to s/ay

Let me premise this by reminding everyone that Abby -like Trump-doesn’t “get” comedy. They literally do not understand jokes, punchlines, or humor. So a satirical show about the Hollywood song writers falls flat. Her time away did nothing to sway her conspiratorial aspirations or her misogynistic hatred of Mia. She watched Royalties not once, but twice... not to enjoy Darren’s creativity and performance, not to support the celebrity she stans, and not even to crack up at the humor, no she watched twice because she was looking for confirmation bias. She wanted to document all of the ways Darren wrote his CrissColfer truth into Pierce’s life and she obsessively listened to all of the diss-tracks he wrote to attack his wife.

Let me also premise this by saying I loved the show. I thought it was funny and the songs are so damn catchy. The lyrics are quintessential Darren- funny, very clever, and raunchy.

******************************************

R/oyalties, the Tale of Two Shows with a Heaping Side of Meta

ajw720. So I just finished watching R/oyalties for the second time, this time solely focused on the meta. Look, we all know, the show is not good, it was not well written and the short format didn’t help as there was no option to develop character or plot. But D knew it would not be good, he apologized for it back in January 2019. And I think the effort he put into acting was the effort it deserved. Ok.

But his songs were genius. As were the videos, hence why i call it the tale of two shows. It truly was like watching content made by completely different people. I concur with MH, D is “intensely talented.” And the part of this show he poured his blood, sweat, and tears into, the songs, are evident of this.

But this is a post about that Heaping Side of Meta. I think D, knowing that that show would not be made in the manner he envisioned, instead used it as a vehicle to make some bold statements and parallels with his career and public life. Shall we begin? And please, unlike the perfect song, this is not a perfect post and after the second round of watching i canceled my Quibi subscription and never plan to look back, so please feel free to add. I know some of these have been pointed out but I thought it was valuable to have one post.

One idea to inpsire the song? A tiny FROG on a dime.

D’s shirt 1st seen in Episode 2: “It is hard to soar like an Eagle when you are surrounded by turkeys”

And of course “Call me Goldilocks bitch” Remind you of something?

How about the entirety of Episode 3 when we are told that an artist is completely the product of the team. That no matter what the artists expresses they want, it doesn’t matter because the Label/manager/publicist/on camera agent/legal will always have a say. And how it will play in America or the Foreign market are key metrics of how the product is produced and presented. I love the line of the songwriter that tells P/ierce and S/ara to “get out while they are young.” Or the line by one of her team “we don’t want something different, we want something the same that is different.” And in the end P&S simply took one of KK old songs and reworked it, making something different that is not different and her team loved it.

And of course, the line that was an utter slap in the face to the most over praised “director” of an indie band video ever when D reminds her of the real director in his life, the man set to direct major motion pictures, “you know who would be perfect to direct? C/hris. C/hris would shatter this.”

Not much in Episode 4, but the gorilla suit in my opinion was mocking of a certain MMR video where we watched Swiller and a banana in a song about a gorilla. Images I never need to see in my head again.

Episode 5, a gem, I am still so fucking proud of D and how he mocked her throughout the entirety of the episode. New lines I love of that amazing song he wrote about her (in addition to those i posted previously here) “Some people say I’m a genius, which comes from the greek word for Latin, and other people will say, alright in fact i’m a fuckin’s genius” “I’m not saying I’m a god, but I’m not saying I’m not a god.” Mocking at its finest made all that much better by the band’s name “Switchback Jacket” that D describes as “butt rock emo” that is performed by a band that doesn’t actually sing, they are just the public image. He literally told us that what we see is an image created for the public and that it is completely fake. And he used his beard to make this statement. Just brilliant. I cannot praise him enough for this, stealing her moment in the sun and making her look like an utter fool, telling us just how narcissistic she is.

Also some wonderful lines from that episode that are beyond telling:

“Power, it felt good to remind Kevin that I hold power over him. You always want to be the one with power”

“p/ierce wouldn’t know where to take a shit if I didn’t tell him.”

“she is like my wife except we don’t have sex and we are friends.”

“alright boss, I am ready to record that song, but where should i take a shit?”

“You will do anything to succeed.”

Episode 8 starring “Poly Amorous and the Unicorn Guild” an episode used to shine a light on how absurd it is that people believe D&PBB lived with platonic roomie B/enny for something like 4 years. 3 grown ass adults, all of whom have money to spare lived together in a relatively small house for four years. It is pure comedy that anyone would believe that this is normal. But hey these are the same people that explained away the infamous arm around her while at an awards show with D looking on:

And the cherry on top of this episode, the inclusion of C/huck (for some background, see my post here).

I really like the one bit of dialogue between P&S, where D pretty much tells us once again that M will use anyone to get what she wants:

“Did it ever occur to you that maybe just maybe, I don’t like where we are now? There were a lot of really great things about the way things were. Things that are worth preserving. Not that you just take and use and through out.”

Episode 9 had some really impactful lines:

“you think i wouldn’t steal for my career? You think I wouldn’t lie? I would do anything.”

The Neils being the nameless individuals, nothing more than a number, who are the ones who actually create the product. And then the song, some of the translations are D telling you how he feels, because sometimes i think in terms of his public image he is just a Neil trying to escape the cage that has been built around him:

“I dream about getting away, I have been locked up in this cage wishing i could make my escape. I hate that I need you.”

And finally Episode 10, where we learn the Neils get no credit and no royalties. This reminds me of a script C wrote that never saw the light of day but suddenly the next season of AHS had the same theme as his script.

And that is all i got, if you have more please add. I think the fact that D took what he knew would be a mediocre project and projected his voice and story throughout it was pretty genius and a smart way to utilize this vehicle, that was clearly payout for so many that have used him for years and to shine a bright light on the truth.

elicc The “perfect song”’s performer is called Bailey Rouge, a clear link to TLOS.

He is a genius.

ajw720 @elicc damn, that was on my list and I forgot. And we all know who Red is inspired by, so seems fitting Bailey Rouge would get the perfect song.

ajw720. Just adding one more I thought about putting in my original post but admittedly think it’s a stretch. But maybe not? Just adding here for fun.

When Theo tells P to bottle up all his romantic feelings I couldn’t help but think of a certain chapter in a book

*******************************************

Oy Vei! Abby didn’t use her time away getting any therapy or perspective. She hasn’t learned any lessons. I have no doubt she’s been reading just as much as she did before and she’s speaking to Cassie, Flowers et al all day. It’s really sad. It’s sad that she can’t see how silly she sounds, what an asshole her version of Darren is. If she could restrain herself even a little bit it might come off less unhinged because turning every single moment of Royalties into some crisscolfer wet dream reeks of desperation.

Abby hates Royalties. In last week’s “Dear D” she had the audacity to say

....Fans that are beyond devoted and mainly because of the way you have treated fans with respect and a level of caring that far surpasses the majority of public figures. And while I am not enjoying the show itself, the music shows how diverse you are as a writer and how you can virtually write for anyone or any genre. The songs are fantastic. Memorable. And really fun.

She knows the the Langs wrote the show and Darren wrote the songs but what she can’t seem to comprehend is that Darren IS Royalties. Everything in the show is Darren’s.

Staying in the closet would be less painful than trying to express oneself through a short-form satirical comedy. Can you imagine trying to express your devastation and pain through Kick Your Shoes off or Break It In?

“I’m the king of the hard fuck....pile drive the bed like a young buck...if you like feathery shit thats pretty cool but I don’t need that...people say I fuck too soft, saying that I can’t please a woman”

BTW Abby- “call me goldilocks bitch” isn’t a reference to TLOS it’s a reference to Goldilocks and Three Bears because because he fucks perfect, not too soft, not too hard. It’s much more believable that he is referring to a random nursery rhyme than it is to believe he is referring to a children’s book his lover/husband/boyfriend wrote 8 years ago. You might love the book but Chris has moved on and written new things.

Darren wrote funny lyrics. I loved Kick Your Shoes Off because it’s written by a man whose watched his wife and female friends wear painful shoes for the same of fashion even though its painful as fuck.

“Yeah, I’m a bad bitch so don’t be mad bitch. I turned the room into a catwalk like a sad bitch. I can’t feel my toes in these stilettos. when I walk out my roomate says you’ll regret those....Beauty is pain but oh I look amazing. You won’t hear me complaining but oh my instep (inside?) is screaming...kick your shoes off (kick em off) ooooooo I do what I want..(Kick em off) ooooo Hey I can’t walk in these, blisters start to bleed now both my feet are swollen. Kick your shoes off (Kick em off).....It’s like i feel so good when my shoes are on, but like i also feel sooooo good when they are off”

Abby’s convinced I am So Much Better Than You is straight up about Mia because Mia is in the video. She listened to it on repeat the day after it came out. In her “Letter to D” last week she said

Especially after you made an effort to mock her for the entirety of Tuesday when her episode aired (and for the record I am still really, really proud of what you did with that episode and how you handled the roll out, that is the fighter I admire and that inspires me. I listened to I am so much better than you on repeat on my drive home from work yesterday).

Good Lord The lyrics are as silly as all the other songs: “My mirror wants to bone me (but it can’t because it’s a mirror)” How did Abby miss the obvious TLOS mirror/ Halloween costume reference here?

“You keep doing push ups while I get buff eating mac and cheese (with overpriced lobster and truffles because I’m worth it)”

“Some people say I’m a genius (which comes from the greek work for latin) Some other people will say yeah I’m right I’m a fucking genius (I’m not saying I’m a god but I’m not saying I’m not a god).

“And even when you sneeze, God blesses me, he blesses me. And even when you sneeze, god blesses me, he blesses me, he blesses me”

“I’m am so much better than you at everything”.

She believes Darren would be- and stay- married to a women that he publicly ridicules and attacks. I don’t get why she thinks that is something admirable .

She thinks Also You is referring to Ben living with them. Where to start with this one? She says

“Episode 8 starring “Poly Amorous and the Unicorn Guild” an episode used to shine a light on how absurd it is that people believe D&PBB lived with platonic roomie B/enny for something like 4 years. 3 grown ass adults, all of whom have money to spare lived together in a relatively small house for four years. It is pure comedy that anyone would believe that this is normal. But hey these are the same people that explained away the infamous arm around her while at an awards show with D looking on”

I’m gobsmacked. Also You is about Polyamory. She doesn’t even understand her own theories if she thinks that is the message Darren wants to share about Mia and Ben. In no world would someone try to proclaim their wife was cheating on them with a live-in houseguest by writing an episode called Poly Amorous and the Unicorn Guild. Also, someone needs to explain cuckholding to her because her theories about Ben and Mia make Darren a cuck.

OMG I just realized that Darren is a cuck and Royalties proves it. He hired Kether to be his costar in Royalties,...Kether is in You’re the Worst as Lindsay. Lindsay cuckholds her husband. Bam! mic drop.

Why isn’t Perfect Song about Mia, you know, if we are playing confirmation bias “No one is as good as you because you're my perfect song”

#CrissColfer #Darren Criss #Abby Speaks

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theparaminds · 5 years ago

Photo

Is the shape of an individuals’ existence one which must always be positive? Must the weight of modernity be ignored for falsehood happiness? If you were to ask P.H.F. he’d say: fuck that. Curse the idea that one cannot explore their own emotions freely and without judgment. Curse the notion that there is a constant joy we all must produce. Instead, P.H.F., and his art stand as testaments to the power of emotional catharsis, to the moments unhinged and life-altering. It’s not angst, it’s a way of healing.

Having been refining his sound and style for years, tides of change have landmarked an artistic journey that caresses both ends of the stylistic spectrum. The harshness of rebellious beliefs juxtaposed by intertwined hearts and self-reflection so currently rare, but so currently in need. As a new project exists nearby on the horizon, P.H.F. has found the sonic foundation on which his future ideals may grow. The aforementioned balance within his audio-centric universe has come to a perfect equilibrium.

Across the world’s oceans, the kids are much alike in their uncertainties. They often lay in bed crying and waiting for an answer, waiting for something to give them peace. And through that, through that confusion, exists the power of P.H.F.. In their sound exists an understanding and an indescribable hope that every adolescent so desperately clings on to daily. An environment of certainty is developed in uncertain and tension-ridden times. And while P.H.F. himself does not have every answer, as truly none do, they understand that the very act of connection is of importance; to reach a hand, hold it tight and remind you that all will be alright.

Our first question as always, how’s your day going and how have you been as of late?

I’m pretty good. I just moved homes for the 5th time in 2 years, but other than that I’m all good.

To start at the beginning of your journey, what would you say were the defining characteristics of your environment growing up and how do you feel it put you upon the artistic path you traverse currently?

My environment at home was always pretty supportive, I think I always gravitated towards creative shit because it was the most intuitive. I’m not really that good with being patient so if something doesn’t stick quickly I usually drop it. The more I went through school it got worse and worse, but it gave me self motivation to actually start doing music and art on my own and then it just kind of clicked. I was also super introverted and liked being alone 99% of the time, So as soon as I had Garageband and a keyboard I started figuring out how to write a song and produce.

What experience or memory within adolescence and growing up had the largest impact upon you and why does it stand out above others?

It kind of sucks that the main ones I remember are traumatic, but my half brother used to let me steer the car going 100km down our street when I was real young. I don't know, I loved it though.

And in looking at that time, how would you compare those who influenced you back then to who shape you currently? Do you find that your tastes have grown with time and how do you feel it reflects upon your personal growth?

Actually, that kind of makes sense then because I’m still obsessed with cars and stupid shit like that. I think my tastes have definitely grown over time, but there is like a base level that stays the same. Same canvas different paint. Personally, I think I have grown a lot but I don't know if that has anything to do with music or art and more just the people I’ve surrounded myself with through the last 10 years. Shout out to my friends because I would never say this to their face.

Currently, what do you find to be the defining characteristics of your personal state both interpersonally and within your work? What is it that overarches through daily life?

Honestly trying to take some negative shit and turn it into something uplifting or motivating. Maybe more so in my work because I’m not out here trying to be on some motivational speaker shit. I like it when people tell me my music helped them get through some shit because that’s why i make it. Even though the content is depressing or sad or whatever, the songs are supposed to make you feel good about that and to feel less isolated.

And with that, do you find it to be what you have been pulling from most while approaching the new work you’ve been creating? Or is the inspiration more so cemented in abstract ideas and memories?

It goes in between both actually. I like the oscillation between extremes of abstraction and minutiae. For some reason lately, I've really been responding to lyrics that are almost completely uneventful but there's something about them that captures the vibe.

What strikes you as the largest shifts in your process to approach music and art as a whole from when you began to currently?

I hope I'm getting better, that's all I can say really. Also, my gut instincts are way stronger and quicker the more I make. Also, it’s not rocket science. People like to place a lot of importance and intellect on art, which I think is fine sometimes, but it ruins it for me and I think it sucks because it becomes less and less egalitarian. You can write, record and produce a song in under an hour if you wanted honestly.

Does it matter for you to have a piece of art received by an audience the same way it was crafted or is there peace in allowing others to form their own answers and truths from a work?

I hope they hang their own shit on it! Sometimes my stuff can be quite specific lyrically, but like I said before, I try to make it pretty open. I honestly don’t care if you know the lyrics or not but I want you to sing-along. There are so many songs I LOVE and have no idea what they actually saying. It doesn't matter.

What to you does the ideal studio space look like and what aspects do you think are key within any sort of creative space?

The ideal studio is open and light! I actually don't really like recording studios because they are so dark it's its just a weird vibe. I just finished recording the new album with my friend Nick Nonneman in LA. it was perfect because we just did it at their house - their roommates were fucking angel. My friend Nick Santana was on drums and we just thrashed it out in a week. It’s essentially just hanging out with your mates, but your sort of working. Plus I could always hear Nick’s dog, Pete, who is deaf and blind, claw on the floor and it made me smile.

At this stage of your life, what do you find to matter most on a day to day basis? Is it simply happiness or is the constant ability to create? Or, is there something even more so essential for you?

Feel like my happiness comes from the ability to create. I can’t think of a better feeling than when after a few hours you finish something you didn’t even know existed, like from conception to execution - you just did that. Also, even though I work alone a lot - when you’re creating with other people and you lock in, shit is peak.

Looking into the horizon of the future, which ideas and milestones do you hope to touch on and eventually achieve as you continue to grow?

I definitely want to make more music videos. It’s a part of this that I really want to explore more but it’s a lot more organizing and structure, which is something I suck at now.

As a wrap-up, what is a mantra you feel you have been living by and how has it helped you find peace?

Not super positive, I guess but nihilism in the grand scheme.

Do you have anyone you want to say thank you to or truly anything to say into the air at all? The floor is totally yours.

Thank you to whoever reads and let alone finished this, I love you. Also, new album drops start of next year on Danger Collective Records. And thank you to you for asking me these buzzy ass questions. P.L.U.

Cover photo by Lizzie Klein

Follow P.H.F. on Instagram

Listen on Soundcloud, Spotify and Apple Music

Words and Interview by Guy Mizrahi

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relaxedreptile · 7 years ago

Text

Muse

A/N: This was requested! Have mercy on little ol’ me, as this is my first scenario for Kyungsoo, a man whose personality is not drilled into my mind as well and as evidently as let’s say... Baekhyun’s is. I hope you all enjoy this, especially the lovely one of you who requested it to begin with.

Sending love.

It’s been four months since my last painting. It’s been four months since I was last paid. It’s been four months since I lost my inspiration.

Being any kind of freelancer is extremely difficult, so I am not alone at my pity party, but it is usually the freelancers and the entrepreneurs who have the most drive. Against all odds, all disapproval, here they are with a home and a source of income and a pet and maybe even a family.

Within our little crew, everyone is treated with the utmost respect. There is no competition (that isn’t healthy) and there is no criticism (that isn't constructive). Outside of it, however, is where problems seem to arise.

Being an artist leads to heaps of sticks that only have short ends to them. You have to produce your own work and find a way to sell it and turn your masterpiece into money. Landlords are hesitant when you apply for an open apartment, worried that one day your monthly payments will stop until it gets so bad you’re forced back onto the street. Not to mention the constant inner turmoil that comes with finding your own inspiration, applying that to your work, and then finding someone that has similar tastes to you that is willing to buy what you produced.

“Art cannot be forced,” You’re constantly telling yourself. So why are you sitting on the floor, paint brush in hand and a blank canvas at your feet, praying that you can think of something, anything, to paint.

“I should’ve just gone to law school like dad wanted,” you sighed out into your otherwise silent studio apartment.

Deciding that maybe some fresh air and a glance at the night sky would do you some good, you pushed your supplied aside and made your way over to the sliding door that led out onto your balcony.

At the beginning of your career, when you first moved into the city and found this adorable apartment, you used to spend all of your dawns and dusks out on this balcony painting and sketching and memorizing how the sun appeared from your balcony.

Now, the sky did as much for you as your sleazy ex-boyfriend.

Your apartment was on the eighth floor of the brick building, giving you a solid view of the bustling city-life below you. Inspiring or not, it sure was beautiful to look at.

You were used to the sight of billions of lights flooding out from windows or the many virtual advertisements littering the sides of buildings. You were used to the sound of a couple drunk teenagers singing 80’s music on their way home from a liquor-heavy celebration and the screeches of speeding car’s tires against the slippery roads.

The sound of your neighbor singing was definitely new to you.

You had never spoken to him minus a couple good mornings and excuse mes from the few times you had run into each other at the elevator, stairwell entrance, or at your own front doors. He kept to himself.

Thinking about it now, thinking about him, you realized you didn’t even know his name.

You looked over to your left (in the direction of the singer’s apartment) and allowed yourself to be slightly intrusive and listen closer.

Your mind recognized the song he was singing, it was from your uncle’s favorite movie, The Godfather.

“Speak softly, love, and hold me warm against your heart. I feel your words, the tender, trembling moments start. We’re in a world, our very own. Sharing a love that only few have every known.

Wine colored days warmed by the sun, Deep velvet nights, when we are one. Speak softly, love, so no one hears us but the sky, The vows of love we make will live until we die. My life is yours, and all because, You came into my world with love so softly, love.”

You smiled as you continued listening, your mind flashing back to all of the times your uncle used to play this song on your aunt’s piano at family gatherings.

You wondered if your neighbor had anyone special on his mind while he sang such intimate words.

The sound of footsteps invaded your ears and caused a panic within you. If you were caught doing the audible equivalent of staring, you may just hop over the railing to escape the embarrassment that would surely follow.

Your body was too late in reacting, however, and you now had a clear view of the mysterious vocalist standing no more than fifteen feet away from you. His body was too lost in singing, however, and you could now stare at this man all you wanted without him noticing.

He was Asian, but you could not tell where he was from exactly. The lyrics flowed out with a slight accent backing them, which allowed you to pinpoint him as being Southeast Asian.

Unless you were completely generalizing him. Truthfully, you doubted that. Being the artist you were, you had trained yourself to notice details and pay attention to what they told you.

The man’s skin was tinted with melanin while his eyebrows sat mostly straight along his brow-bone. He was the owner of the most luscious lips you had ever seen and you weren’t afraid to admit that you were quite jealous of them yourself. He was close enough to you so that you could see his top lip was fuller than the bottom, and his mouth had no sharp edges. Rounded and curvy, his pink lips formed the prettiest sounds along with the tongue that darted out every now and then to wet the soft area surrounding where it usually resided.

Your hands itched for a pencil, yearned for some paper. You hadn’t felt so inclined to put something down in such a long time, this feeling of such intense wanting took you by surprise.

Knowing you couldn’t let such a pure, beautiful moment go without being captured in some way, you whipped your phone out of your back pocket and took the quickest, creepiest, most regretted photo you have ever taken and darted backwards, way out of the view of your neighbor.

Your new muse.

You had been working on your sketch for three days, two nights. Relying mostly on your memory of that night, that man, rather than the photo you took. You considered deleting the photo altogether but you decided it could be a good accuracy check later on in the process.

You had finished his body, the portion you had decided to include in your work, and were now working on adding in the way his arms were bent at the elbows over the side of the railing. You were slightly discouraged that you couldn't draw the entirety of his face seeing as how you had only seen the right half and were worried that the body proportions would be entirely off if you drew a portrait of him that wasn’t a copy of what you remembered from that night.

The sketch marks of the drawing brought extra attention to the way the man’s clothes hung slightly loose on his body, showcasing his biceps that were on the leaner side rather than being beefy and overly muscular. The shadows and highlights made sure that any defined muscle was brought to the viewer’s attention, telling them that while they weren’t overly impressive, they weren’t formed purely from mindless weightlifting and training. They were crafted by whatever the singer did in his daily life. Naturally.

Your hands were having the most difficulty recreating the look on your neighbor’s face. Whenever you tried to capture the way his jaw was slightly unhinged and the wrinkles formed from the slight creasing of his forehead and eyes that were shut tightly, the imagery represented an expression filled more with pain rather than the emotion that undoubtedly came along when singing about love, whether or not you were the one in it.

You had turned off the auto shut-off on your phone so that you could keep the photo you secretly took up without you having to constantly tap the screen when it started to dim or turn it back on when the phone screen blackened entirely. It took longer than you would care to admit to figure out how to do just that, but what else is google for, right?

As your phone was the main clock in your life, you hardly noticed how late it was by the time you finished your drawing until your strained eyes squinted to read the green LEDs on the oven a few feet in front of you to check exactly how late.

A sigh escaped into the otherwise silent apartment and was followed by a groan caused by the way you were trying to stretch your stiff, tired muscles after managing to stand up from your spot on the hard kitchen floor.

Knock. Knock.

“Who’s at my door this late?”

The question was meant to be rhetorical, you didn't expect to get an actual reply from the person on the other side of the door.

“It’s Kyungsoo.” Sneeze.

You held back the “who?” that was threatening to come out of your mouth.

Cough. “Your neighbor.”

You panicked.

Had he seen you watching him, listening to him on the balcony the other night? Did he know you took the picture?

You knew the only way you would find out is if you just opened the damn door so you skipped over to the heavy hunk of wood, undid all three locks, and swung the door open.

Your neighbor—Kyungsoo— was standing on the lame doormat your sister had gifted to you as part of her housewarming present, soaking wet.

“Why are you?…” You gestured to the dripping mess before you. “You can’t hear the rain? It’s practically a zoo out there.”

Once you started to listen in, you realized that it was in fact raining and one glance at your back windows told you he wasn’t lying about the zoo. Just how long were you working on that drawing of yours?

You looked back to Kyungsoo and waited for the explanation as to why he was standing in front of you at the moment.

“I just finished up work and I must’ve left my keys back at the restaurant because I have looked everywhere and they are nowhere to be fucking found but I’m starting to go numb so I was wondering if I could…” He managed a sheepish smile, obviously feeling guilty. “Hop in the shower? Maybe get something to eat after I find a way to dry your clothes?” “No, no. You wouldn’t have to do all-” “It’s no problem, “ you smiled a genuine a smile at the beautiful man before you, “what else am I going to do while I’m up this late, anyways?”

Your hands ushered him in quickly, taking the soaking sweatshirt from his cold, wet body and hung it up on the back of one of the dining chairs in your kitchen.

You showed him where your bathroom (and shower) were and told him to leave all of his clothes on the counter so you could sneak in and retrieve them for him.

Your feet remained rooted outside the bathroom door, your body leaning against the wall, until you heard the water kick on. One minute passed by in your head until you knocked a couple times on the door, registered the lack of a reply, and slipped inside.

“Don’t look at the shower door, anything but the door.” You reminded yourself over and over as you bent down to pick up the discarded clothes off the tiled floor, gulping when you got to his underwear. You had to be careful walking around, as the floor was soaked with the rainwater Kyungsoo was cloaked in before he hopped into the hot, steamy goodness a shower could bring. You felt even worse for your neighbor now, thinking about how weighed down his body must’ve been, walking for god knows how long out in the shitty weather.

On your way out, silently praising yourself for avoiding the sight you would’ve seen if you gazed at the cloudy glass that prevented any details of the human body within the shower to be revealed, your mind became distracted by your seemingly well-deserved compliments.

Kyungsoo’s body, while partially hidden from view by the steamy door, was not completely obscured from your view when your eyes found the mirror that reflected everything you would’ve seen if you looked at the shower head-on.

Maybe you couldn’t pinpoint the crevices of his body and the outlines of his muscles like you forced yourself to do during the creation of your drawing, you could easily trace the seamless outline that was Kyungsoo with your eyes.

You started down at the heel of his foot, trailing up his left calf and thigh, rounding over the curve of his ass, then following the upright posture of his back. Your gaze looped around his neck, threaded through his messy hair, down his face (pausing at his swollen lips), skidding across his prominent pectoral muscles and flat stomach, pausing at his…

You gulped. And if it weren’t for the sound of the water beating against Kyungsoo’s chest, he probably would’ve heard it.

Your body darted out of the bathroom, borderline slamming the door shut behind you before resting your back against it. Wet clothes in hand, you closed your eyes and sighed, unable to get what you had just seen out of your mind.

Being an artist meant you had trained yourself to pay attention to the small details (although this detail was not small) and most of all, remember them. Your memory was good, too good at this point for you to just push an image out of your mind.

Who knew your hot neighbor, who was still a stranger to you, was packing?

You didn’t even try to scold yourself for the kinds of thoughts you were having about Kyungsoo and his body. Surprisingly, one of the main points your brain made was that it would be an absolute dream to draw him. All of him.

“Snap out of it, Y/N.”

With a bit of encouragement, your feet led the rest of you to the back corner of your apartment, where your makeshift laundry room was. While your father disagreed with your life choices, he would never leave you high and dry. A small sum of money was flown to you through a bank account your father alerted you of after the new address of his daughter reached his hands. After saving every penny of that money for close to a year, you put it towards home renovations. Your own bathroom, for example, and the washer/dryer duo you have to repair yourself every once in a while due to their cheap nature. Now, you’re back to saving and make sure to only use it for rent or utilities when you can’t avoid it (AKA, when you’re in a creative slump and can’t sell any artwork). So far, you haven’t needed to tap into it.

You shut the dryer door with your hip and spun around to find Kyungsoo standing right in front of you. With a towel around his waist. His hair dripping down his face. And the most awkward smile.

“I was calling you but you obviously didn’t hear me. Maybe I should’ve taken longer in the shower?” You decided that he had the cutest laugh in the world. Deep and hearty but not overpowering, you wanted to hear more of it.

“Your clothes won’t be dry for at least another twenty minutes,” you turned around to throw your own laundry in the wash, “I don’t know how many of my clothes would fit you but I can… Kyungsoo?” “Is this a picture of me?” You felt your blood run cold.

Your body refused to turn around and face your neighbor, hoping to prolong your potential ignorance to the situation for as long as possible.

“Y/N?” How did he know your name when you just found out about his barely ten minutes ago? “Yes?” Your body whipped around to face him. “Did you draw this?” His toe pointed towards the discarded picture on the floor. “I, uh, saw you singing outside one night. The image of it was stuck in my head, I had to get it out on paper,” you could feel yourself start smiling like you always did when explaining your artwork, “you looked so lost in the song. Have you ever even seen The Godfather?” The look on Kyungsoo’s face told you everything. “It’s the movie the song you were singing is from. Speak Softy Love? It’s the love theme.” “I… I just heard it on Spotify when I was browsing.” “Well, now you know.”

You felt like Kyungsoo was owed to some explanation as to why there was a pencil sketch of the neighbor you just formally met for the first time laying on your kitchen floor.

“I’m an artist,” you blurt out. “I was going through a slump when I saw you standing outside, which is where I usually go for inspiration might I add, and you were standing there in such a beautiful way and I can’t help it if I see something pretty I want to draw. I’m sorry if you think it’s weird I can burn it or rip it or throw it out if you want me to, I won't mind.” “You want to get rid of this?” Kyungsoo feigns hurt. “It’s not like you would let me sell it, right?” “Actually, I was going to ask you if I could buy it.” “You? But you can look in the mirror and it’s basically the same thing!” “Exactly. You’re incredibly talented, Y/N, and I would love to have this drawing. You’re saying you do stuff like this all the time? Being an artist, and all.” “I haven’t really made anything for a while, before the portrait.” You had moved over to stare down at the drawing along with Kyungsoo. “Next time you make anything, a sketch or a painting or whatever else your artistic mind come up with, I wanna know about it first. It’s about time I start decorating my apartment’s walls.”

His head turned on top of his neck to look down at you, his attention now on your lips while yours was trained on his on paper.

“Can I give you a down payment for the drawing? To make sure someone richer and better doesn't come around and snatch it?” You giggled before finally looking up and meeting his gaze. “You don’t need to give me any money right now.” “I don't have any money on me, as you could probably tell,” you both glanced down at his barely covered body. “Then-”

You were unable to finish your sentence before Kyungsoo placed both of his hands on the sides of your face, forcing you to keep look at him. You could hear your drawing flutter downwards and onto the ground.

“I hope this is enough to cover it.”

His lips were incredibly soft and warm against your own, causing your body to immediately arch into his and keep the kiss going. Neither of you were demanding. You and your lips took their time at drawing out gasps and mewls from the two of you, your own eyebrows furrowing as you concentrated on how good it felt to kiss your neighbor.

You had started to thread your fingers through Kyungsoo’s hair when you heard a soft thud and felt something fall at your feet.

The towel.

Kyungsoo broke the kiss and followed your gaze to reach his only source of coverage laying uselessly on the floor. While your eyes rose upwards to scan his body (and the exact part of his body you were trying to forget earlier on), his eyes rested on your face to gauge your reaction. When he realized it was a good one, he smiled and put his hands back on your face to receive the eye contact he wanted.

“Are you going to undress too or are you just going to leave me hanging?”

You left one more kiss on Kyungsoo’s lips before you started working on unbuttoning your shirt.

#do kyungsoo #do #kyungsoo fluff #kyungsoo angst #kyungsoo smut #exo fanfiction #exo fluff #exo angst #exo smut #I hope you all enjoy this #I wrote this on three different plane rides #intercontinental piece of work right here #rr:do kyungsoo

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jarrettkeesh-blog · 7 years ago

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New BROCKHAMPTON album

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4cucHc2vef4

So! New BROCKHAMPTON album. This is the boy band’s third album in the Saturation Trilogy. 3 amazing, coherent albums in one year. The group is making a name for themselves in the rap game for sure.

The album was preceded by a release of a single entitled, “BOOGIE”. It was also released with a music video to match the pure spazziness of the song. The track features samples of what sound like police sirens and a ripping saxophone riff repeated. All around this is an amazing intro track that gets the listener hyped up and ready to match the intensity of this album. One of my favorite lines from the songs being from Kevin Abstract, “Best Boy Band since One Direction, Makin’ n****s itch like a skin infection” Because that’s actually me. I’ve been waiting so long for this album and I’m just ecstatic that it’s here.

The next song, “ZIPPER”, includes a staccato string sample met with a Slim Shady-esque intro from the groups Joba who tells us that he probably has a dual personality. His unhinged appearance and edge in his voice reinforce that. His verse goes on to tell us about despite all his fame, it doesn’t affect who he is. The rest of the song goes into a similar theme stating that they are above all of their wealth, calling themselves Aladdin as he started from poverty and became a prince.

In “JOHNNY”, one of my favorite tracks, all the verses are beautifully accompanied by guitar chords and a muted trumpet riff. Joba’s verse steals the show for me in this song. Not to discredit the other verses, but this one stood out. Further playing his crazy personality, Joba is mellow on this track. He reflects on how immature he is. He’s quit drinking and drugs but still cannot find the happiness he wants. He goes on to talk about how life is truly unfair and this line is interesting. “I spin a little wheel when I’m feeling moody” This is either a reference to a bullet in a chamber or a fidget spinner. I’m hoping its the latter.

The next track is almost an interlude but has enough substance to stand alone. “LIQUID” illustrates the sadness that surrounded the group before they took off. The beat is certainly minimalist and contains synth jabs throughout. Kevin struggles at home. Dom talks about a troubled neighborhood and growing up in poverty, eating ramen noodles. The outro is Kevin singing about growing up with only imaginary friends and no actual friends. Not something you truly want to jam out to so-to-speak. But the track really evokes emotion with some hard-hitting lyrics in the brief time it's playing.

The Interlude “Cinema 1″ is a track continuing the ongoing story between all the albums and the music videos.

On, “STUPID”, a piano pedal note is heard before Meryln’s hard entrance. The whole gang takes on a more staccato, accented, and jagged flow which is backed up by the quarter notes. My favorite verse is CT’s own Dom McLennon. He raps about a seemingly aggressive weapon to aim at the human race but his intentions are to ease tensions and relieve stress while also calling out people who claim to be tolerant but truly are not. Kevin is a runner-up with his verse in my book, as he again speaks his mind about being gay in a community that isn’t all that accepting of homosexuality. He’s fed up with the rap game’s lack of empathy towards gays and is very vocal about it. Although at this point, he’s getting to the point of Logic saying that he’s half black. One gripe I have with this song is the chorus. I just find is droning and having no real relevance to the message of the verses.

My favorite song on the album is “BLEACH” By far the most chill cut on the entire record. The hook is addictive thanks to Ryan Beatty, who Kevin mentions he's gay in a tweet. This is another emotional song, getting into the heads of the members of the group. Certainly clashing with the upbeat single released before. My favorite verse has to go to Ameer Vann here. His monotone delivery hides truly heart-wrenching lyrics as Ameer is ashamed of what he is. He tries to drown his sorrow in materialistic things but hides in his sheets and hope he one day doesn’t have to face judgment from God. If there’s one thing I love in a rap song is a beat change. And I’m so glad BROCKHAMPTON experiments with this in this song. The outro provides us with a verse from Joba and Kevin Abstract to bring us even more emotion.

The next song leads us to the latter half the album, “ALASKA”, which features a minimalist beat with a jabby bassline and weird vocal samples. Then the beat adjusts into staccato strings progression similar to “ZIPPER”. The boyband takes turns in stating how much hard work they’ve put in and how their new fame has affected their lives. Favorite verse goes to Kevin Abstract. He has worked restlessly, pumping out 3 solid projects in one year. He has led them to something extraordinary. His verse talks about just that. He never quits and references Mark Zuckerburg in either one of two ways. One as himself. A creative mind who worked to be successful. Or, Zuckerburg being rappers who are out to copy people like Kevin and claim it as their own.

Initially, I hated, “HOTTIE”. The frankly annoying chorus stuck out completely. But the more I listened to it, the more the production as a whole grew on me. The weird, windy, whistling sample in the back is mixed in perfectly. You hear it enough that it grabs your attention but it doesn’t overwhelm the listener with how annoying it could be. Joba shines on this track. I was very surprised to learn that the vocals were him in some of the verses. He has an incredible range and is my opinion, one of the more talented in the group. He sounds like an easier to listen to Alt-J.

“CINEMA 2″

“SISTER / NATION”. Now, this is a track. Definitely second behind “BLEACH” The immediate change in feeling is instant as the only sounds in your ears are this electronic synth-bass and Merlyn Wood repeating some words over and over again. The hard-hitting 808 and angular lyrics make me think how much Death Grips influenced this song. Again, Joba gives us an inside about his psychotic tendencies where he talks about his mental problems and going off his meds. He mentions “I juggle all my personalities” and how he hears voices. This is clearly a sign of DID (Dissociative Identity Disorder). Matt Champion’s verse really resonates with me as his he matches his flow with how hard the beat is. His triplet flow only escalates the tension the beat, as if he’s feeding off it. What definitely solidifies this as one of my favorite tracks, is his call out of the people who claim to be making music for the “Culture” while making the most money out of it. I happen to agree with this sentiment. Beat switch into Dom McLennon’s verse. I dislike this verse actually because of the almost mumble-rap autotune effects on his voice. I would have much preferred to see no effects for that part and see how much he can do with his own voice. The second part of the track enters as only the black members rap. This half of the track’s theme is clearly racially driven and the negative experiences all the members have faced. Favorite verse goes to Dom McLennon who, this time, conveys his emotion of the situation through the speed of his flow. The spacey beat and echoey effect create the perfect platform for this rapid-fire section. Dom sets up a society in which there’s no skin, no heart, no face. He wonders how the world would be if existence was just that.

“RENTAL” is the next on the track list and in my opinion is lacking any lyrical genius. I like the song to listen to. But there is a lot of musical talent. This is definitely proof that BROCKHAMPTON are musicians, not just rappers. They can create a solid song without making hard-hitting lyrics. However, Don McLennon’s verse is the only solid one on the entire song. I relate a little too much to his lyrics. Solid song.

“STAINS” comes next on the list. A very modern beat with synth driving the whole song. Minimal drums and an all-around catchy background sound for the musical and rapping going on over it. At this point, I don’t know if it’s preference or just talent but Dom McLennon steals my favorite verse yet again. His relatable thoughts and emotions that were once indescribable are so easily written down in this verse it’s hard not to relate to anything the dude is saying.

“CINEMA 3″

Finally, the album ends on a much different note. “TEAM” is completely different from all other songs. It gives way to bearface laying smooth vocals over Mac DeMarco level of distortion on the guitar. He sings about someone named Evanie. I don’t know who that is and I don’t really care because I much prefer the second half of the song. However, I do appreciate the heavy guitar strumming towards the end of the first part. It’s just a good vibe. As we enter the second half, Kevin Abstract starts backs into the rapping. Backed by some hard funky lines in the background. It’s definitely a good moment for the end of the album. Sadly, only a portion of Dom McLennon’s verse made it onto the track but he released the rest of it on his twitter. Just an amazing fact that the last track on the album leads right into the first track on the first Saturation which is a nice little easter egg which ends it perfectly.

All in all, this was a solid album that BROCKHAMPTON created all in one year. 3 albums in one year. Each one could stand on its own. This is truly a feat and should not be taken lightly. My rating of the album is 8/10.

#music #review #brockhampton #blog

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theinquisitivej · 7 years ago

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‘Baby Driver’ - A Movie Review

‘Baby Driver’ is the latest film from director Edgar Wright, who is most known for the Cornetto Trilogy, which includes ‘Shaun of the Dead’, ‘Hot Fuzz’, and ‘The World’s End’ (the latter two being some of my all-time favourite films). Aside from that, he is also responsible for the classic British comedy series ‘Spaced’, and ‘Scott Pilgrim vs. the World’, which, depending on your disposition, will either sell you on his directing style, or give you something to hold against him. The most recent film he was involved in was ‘Ant-Man’, which he was set to direct until he decided to leave the project because he felt he didn’t have as much control over the writing as he would have liked. I’m always keen for people and companies from different artistic spheres to collaborate and produce exciting new projects. As such, it is sad when a studio like Marvel, which has done a fantastic job organising one of the strongest film series in mainstream cinema, featuring consistent heart and a diverse range of creative talent, runs one film in a manner that doesn’t gel with the work style of someone I respect as much as Edgar Wright. However, this isn’t enough to sour my opinion of either party, or to make me believe that what they went on to produce was significantly compromised. ‘Ant-Man’ is one of the most fun Marvel movies for me to watch, and it has so much more heart and sincerity than you might expect from a movie with a troubled development. And if ‘Baby Driver’ is any indication of Edgar Wright’s creative passion and his drive to keep on making unique movies in his own masterful style, then I’d say he’s doing very well for himself.

The film is similar to the 2011 film ‘Drive’, in that it follows a getaway driver with a withdrawn personality who starts to open up when they bond with someone, only for their work, which they previously had some level of control over, to wind up catching up with them and boiling over. That may sound like an unfair reduction, but ‘Drive’ is an intense film dripping with atmosphere and engaging style, so when I say ‘Baby Driver’ is like this film, but with a twist that injects it with Edgar Wright’s own approach, I mean that as high praise. Although ‘Drive’ wasn’t lacklustre in this department, what distinguishes ‘Baby Driver’ from its comparative counterpart is its emphasis on sound.

Sound and music are both very important to Baby, the getaway driver and titular character of this film. You discover why Baby listens to music for what appears to be every hour of the day, but even before we are given this explanation, the film’s song selection and truly exceptional editing presents the settings as if they are viewed from Baby’s perspective, making for a world that is seemingly shaped by music. Even when there is no music, or we cannot hear it, the film’s sounds have a noticeably deliberate quality to them, like a rhythmic beat. When a film presents the audience with constant noise, it can come across as an obnoxious, uncontrolled cacophony. It’s clear from the word go that this is not the case with ‘Baby Driver’. The film opens with two jaw-dropping sequences that display two different styles of editing, each one being implemented perfectly. One sequence will cut to different camera angles that move smoothly as they dance with Baby and his music, before cutting to a shot that displays an action that is appropriately synchronised to the music or the lyrics. The other sequence will use an extended shot to show an expansive environment which Baby moves through with grace and fluidity while simultaneously stumbling into things as they come his way, demonstrating how this character almost literally navigates this world through his music. The film is filled with outstanding technical accomplishments that serve a clear purpose of expanding upon its characters through every formal tool the movie has available. It’s the best kind of filmmaking, and ‘Baby Driver’ will stay on my list of examples of how to use sound in film to masterful effect for a very long time.

While ‘Baby Driver’ features none of the usual suspects of the cast of a typical Edgar Wright film (at least that I was aware of on a first viewing), the film is certainly not the weaker for it. A lot of Baby’s characterisation may be accomplished through the film’s formal features, but Ansel Elgort is definitely putting the effort in to deliver a performance that carries across Baby’s charismatic energy, as well as his unique vulnerabilities. Lily James (you may know her as Disney’s live-action Cinderella) similarly moves and acts in a way that sells the passion that her character, Debora, has for songs. She is a sweet compliment to Baby’s character, but James manages to play Debora as being more than the support role through her deft mixing of fear and brave resolve once she gets involved in some tense situations, which I feel gives the character a real strength. Kevin Spacey plays the mastermind of these heists with a snappy authority which is somehow mixed with a down-to-earth sarcasm. As you would expect, Spacey pulls this off in a tremendously watchable way. Jamie Foxx, Jon Hamm, and Eiza González play the different members of the heist crew Baby is involved with, and they all do a great job capturing the distinctive quirks that make each character unsettling in their own unique way. It’s appropriate that the cast is so radically different from who you would expect to see in a Cornetto Trilogy film. While each film in that trilogy treats complex themes like struggling to know how to grow up with a level of seriousness, those movies are, at their heart, comedies. ‘Baby Driver’ has some terrific comedic moments, but I would say it’s more of a tense thriller with a sweet heart to it than it is a comedy. Every performance within ‘Baby Driver’ accentuates its tone, leading to a cast which may be different, but nevertheless fits the movie they’re in brilliantly.

I will admit that I think I enjoyed the first half more than I did the second. I adore the ways Baby and some of the other characters are characterised in the earlier parts of the narrative, and while there are still sequences in the second half which are terrifically shot and edited, the earlier sequences are probably my favourite ones in the film. Still, the characterisation in the first half does succeed at making the tense atmosphere as we advance towards the climax that much more nail-biting. You care about the characters and want to see them safe, so the editing and unhinged performances make the danger even more unbearable. The second half isn’t bad by a long shot, and I’m sure I’ll find even more depth to the narrative and the film’s construction when I watch it a second time. I just think that the elements that most interest me about ‘Baby Driver’ are pooled in that first half.

‘Baby Driver’ is another excellent film from Edgar Wright that shows he is just as capable at delivering tense dramas with characters you care about as he is at crafting terrific comedies. His use of sound is masterful, and worth the price of admission alone. The second half might not have been quite as interesting to me, but it’s still leaps and bounds above what many others have released this year, and I can’t wait to see what Edgar Wright does next.

9/10.

A film that managed to make me laugh, got me on the edge of my seat, and had me tapping my foot to its wonderful beat all the way through.

#The Inquisitive J #film reviews #film review #film criticism #film critic #critic #movie critic #edgar wright #baby driver #baby driver review

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news-mashable-yahoopartner-blog · 8 years ago

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Katy Perry's 'Chained to the Rhythm' is cotton candy political pop

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"Chained to the Rhythm" is a new kind of Katy Perry song, certainly.

"Are we tone deaf / Keep sweeping it under the mat / Thought we could do better than that / I hope we can," Perry sings. "So comfortable, we're living in a bubble, bubble / So comfortable, we cannot see the trouble, trouble."

Still, the song's lyric video features a very cute hamster, eating tiny versions of people food, because this is still the girl behind "Last Friday Night."

SEE ALSO: Katy Perry's new video features a hamster in a dollhouse because OK

Today a feminist got her wings. Thank you @gloriasteinem ❤👼🏼

A photo posted by KATY PERRY (@katyperry) on Jan 21, 2017 at 6:37pm PST

The LA Times questioned if "Chained to the Rhythm" is, "the first major pop song about fake news." While it evokes the warped reality of the Trump era for people who are consumed by constant terror, it doesn't make any concrete declarations. It does what pop music does best and provides a beat for your own projections. It hints at political awareness without actually being political, which would require some specificity.

Instead, Perry relies on her audience's awareness of extra-curricular political activities, like her tireless support of Hillary Clinton, to send the message, often through social media.

And sure, it's a fair for any pop star in 2017 to assume that their audience is tracking their moves on social media. Perry is the most followed Twitter user after all (sorry, @realDonaldTrump).

Lady Gaga pulled the same trick at the Super Bowl. Conservatives applauded her for putting politics aside, while liberals insisted that her performance was a multi-layered middle finger. Indeed, Woody Guthrie's “This Land is Your Land” was written in response to “God Bless America” — Gaga literally played to both teams.

It's a sly move. Lady Gaga and Perry are able to keep things nice with sponsors like Pepsi while convincing their Instagram followers they're pulling off acts of resistance for the masses.

But let's be clear for a second: Katy Perry has no moral obligation to create overtly political pop songs, but it does make sense for her to at least dip her toes in the waters of activist music.

Spending a couple years putting in the time on the campaign trail proves that this is pretty important to her. And from a more cynical perspective (and we should always be cynical with celebrities), it's the only way to get attention right now.

At some point, the need for pure pop escapism will return, probably stronger than ever. But for now, people crave entertainment that addresses a dystopian reality. They want 1984 and Melissa McCarthy as a slightly exaggerated version of an unhinged Sean Spicer.

Less than a month into Trump's presidency, being apolitical just isn’t good branding, as celebrities like Taylor Swift found out by skipping the Women's March and generally staying out of all political discussion. Swift’s sample size girl squad version of feminism isn’t going to cut it anymore — especially if she intends to profit from the social movement without concrete action.

Today is the day. Go out and VOTE 🇺🇸

A photo posted by Taylor Swift (@taylorswift) on Nov 8, 2016 at 8:01am PST

Most white women, after all, voted for Trump. Identifying yourself as a proud member of that demographic amounts to no more than a declaration of complacency if it's not backed up by action. For fellow A-List pop stars like Beyoncé, just performing while embracing their identities is considered an aggressive move — remember #BoycottBeyoncé? So it's important for their peers to step up.

If we're using the Super Bowl as a way to gauge the the intersection of pop stardom and politics now — as perhaps we should have in the aftermath of Janet Jackson and Justin Timberlake's performance — Perry's performance in 2015 is a good time capsule. Is there a greater symbol of carefree entertainment than Left Shark? Now, with lyrics like "stumble around like a wasted zombie," she's calling people out.

But Perry has come a long way, especially in the last two years. Let's not forget that she splashed into the mainstream with her queer tourism anthem, "I Kissed a Girl." On that same album — with the groan inducing title, One of the Boys — she offered three minutes of pure pop homophobia with, "Ur So Gay." In the years since then, she's had a few notable slip-ups, particularly with cultural appropriation, practically a rite of passage for pop stars.

When your holiday shopping is woke af ❗️ @blklivesmatter www.merchforthemovement.org

A photo posted by KATY PERRY (@katyperry) on Dec 23, 2016 at 10:42am PST

But lately, Perry's been a much better champion for human rights. In addition to her campaigning, she's been supporting Black Lives Matter, producing a pro-Muslim PSA and showing up for the Women's March. Though a far cry from political anthems, her Olympics single "Rise" and even Prism's lead single "Roar" are signs that Perry is thinking about the bigger picture.

There is a difference between being a high profile activist and making political art. Whether Perry will cross that threshold with this album remains to be seen. But we'll definitely be looking to her Grammys performance on Sunday night for clues.

Image: Capitol records

BONUS: This is what Katy Perry's Super Bowl halftime show looked like from inside the stadium

#_uuid:b0108e1a-8b9c-3d97-89b7-17ecca4ecbde #_author:Tricia Gilbride #_lmsid:a0Vd000000DTrEpEAL #_revsp:news.mashable

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d00dt00nz · 4 years ago

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Obligatory promo stuff at the top because it sucks and I hate it and let’s get it out of the way! follow me on twitter where I’m active, check me out on spotify for music, or like my facebook for sparse updates on music stuff. Thank you. The Cover art is by Ellie Tison

This one’s a lil bit long so I’ll put it behind a break

A while ago I posted about a song that was called The Howl that Lay the Canyon Bare. I mentioned that there were a few false starts on that song. One of those songs was a ripoff of Jackson Browne's The Pretender. Basically, while I didn't like the song, it became some kind of freakish mushroom creature. It budded its spores and they grew into their own creations. There was another song that came from it but it's not very good and I didn't use it. This song, however, did.

Basically it came from me wanting to write like, a fast paced and kind of old fashioned rock song. Not necessarily a standard blues rock structured song, but maybe something that was had the same force and power. My old song had some lyrics that I liked “I'm gonna get a good job in the city, I'm gonna buy a big screen tv/I'm gonna make a lot of friends and forget their names, 'cause they don't mean much to me”. Sometimes I think it's a shame for lyrics to go to waste because I always have a pretty tough time of writing them. A lot of times I'll just pluck lyrics from unused stuff, which is a little annoying because then I can never use that unused thing.

That lyric was written while I was still working at the RESP place and I was feeling pretty miserable and gross. I felt evil. I wanted to write something gross. More recently when I actually wrote this song proper, I was feeling a little less evil, but still very aware of those same evils. This was back in Febuary when my boss had recently laid off everyone except me. The amount of work hadn't reduced. He'd essentially used Coronavirus as an excuse to save a few bucks on his business. To this day, we don't have any masks, sanitizer, or gloves. The car the company gives me is literally falling apart. I have no right rearview mirror, the transmission is broken so that sometimes the engine just revs but the car doesn't move, the AC is broken, the winter tires are still on, the entire car shakes all the time, and up until recently it'd stall if you took a turn too sharply. If you can recall that time in Febuary, it was also when there was a whole asinine debate in the media about how many deaths were “acceptable” to keep the economy going.

Obviously I know that capitalism is “evil”. We all know that somewhere in the back of our minds, and saying it in that way (especially online) is pretty trite. At some point I started reading books about socialism in my spare time. I don't claim to be an expert, I couldn't make it through Kapital (that fucking thing is like a thousand pages and he spends the first 200 talking about a coat). I just want you to understand that it is something that I don't just invoke for cheap jokes. I think it'd be a good thing. Anyway, the evils that capitalism is based on really started to show their faces around that time. We had to let people die because we couldn't let the system slow down. A lot of liberal leaning people like to begin and end the conversation with “greed”, as if so many problems could be solved if we fixed the individual, personal problem of greediness. Maybe that'd go a long way if we could somehow magically shame people into good behaviour, but the way things are set up means you'd have to convince the people who make the rules to act against their own interests. The whole idea is silly.

The entire idea behind a neoliberal model of capitalism is a lack of true accountability. Kurt Vagnathghet (note to me, fix this spelling later when you have internet. Or don't and leave it in as a dumb hilarious joke) has a little part in Cat's Cradle where a brilliant engineer relinquishes his position as president because he is uncomfortable with authority – he'd rather be told what to do. The narrator wonders why until he begins delegating tasks to the engineer and realizes that the engineer has now managed to detach himself from his own humanity. He simply has become a cog in a system that sustains him. He is free of any real accountability because nothing is his own decision. He simply carries out orders because he must in order to maintain his own place in the world. That's kind of like the model we have today. Everyone is beholden to someone. Even CEO's are beholden to shareholders. Even shareholders are beholden to other shareholders. They cannot act against their own interests because there will always be somebody to replace them waiting in the wings. Yes, they make the rules, but they don't make the rules collectively, which means that if they stop “playing the game” then they'll lose what they have to somebody who is. I'm not saying I have sympathy for these people, I'm just describing the mental gymnastics that this system demands. I don't believe that people are inherently evil or selfish, but I do believe that we have a system that benefits those who are selfish and punishes those who are selfless. It's a self sustaining system where nobody is really in charge of their own life and the only real way to feel any control over your situation is to become vile – and the more vile you become, the more control you feel. It's not a question of staying true to your values, it's a question of how evil will you allow yourself to be.

Of course this only applies to people with that ability in the first place, as in people who are white, from a wealthy family, live in the western world, that kind of stuff. In my more unhinged moments I consider this about myself. I don't know if I could ever be in a position to take advantage of people, but what if I could? How much would I be willing to screw people? How immoral and wrong would I act if it meant a life of comfort? What if I just started scamming and hurting people? What if I “played the game”? How amoral would I allow myself to become before it wasn't worth it? These are questions I don't know if anyone can really answer. It's disturbingly easy to take an opportunity when presented with one. I'd like to say that I would stay true to myself, but would I? Would anyone?

Over the course of history, our ruling class effectively managed to replace the task of governing with a series of complex and often injust or imperfect systems. Over time, even the highest powers in the land have become beholden to something – something that is no longer even human. Something incapable of moral judgments because it does not think. It turns out we were living in the matrix a long time before computers were invented (That's really corny but let me have this one. I want to feel cool okay?). They created this system to absolve them of responsibility, and in doing so have rendered themselves powerless.

I wanted to outline this grotesque reality and my own personal worries in the most grotesque way possible. I didn't want to create nu metal, so I went to the second most grotesque form of music: 70s rock and roll. I wanted to have this angry frantic energy. It was really fun to record because I rarely get to just have straight aggressive 8th notes like I'm some sort of punk. It's also nice to just crank up the volume and the compressor and have a good time with distortion and different guitar tones. I love the dry sound that I was able to get. I do have to say, it's tough to keep that tempo and energy up for an entire song.

Vocally it's not the most difficult song, but a bunch of fun to sing. You get to be really aggressive with your delivery, and there's a bit of a showiness to the melody. For better or for worse, it's got that musical theatre kid energy to it with some old fashioned sounding musical phrases. I kinda like it for that. The lyrics are really unpleasant, so it adds to the fun where I can just say all this ugly shit and have this frantic energy behind it. At one point the compressor I was using did something weird on the vocal take, and it really jacked up a particularly deep breath I was taking. I decided to leave it in because it added to the vibe. I thought it'd be a weird quirk. Like the sound of somebody doing a big fat line of coke. Just getting fucked up.... Real twisted shit.

On the chorus I decided I wanted to add a little bit of variety and put in some sax backing. It was supposed to mingle with some vocals, which would have been a cool effect but the effect never really came through. I'm still not 100% on how to get a good sax sound out of a recording. At any rate, it does give this big echoy chaotic sound which I was pretty satisfied with so I left it in.

The solo section, I'm not so much a fan of. I think the guitar solo I did was pretty bad and amateurish sounding. There's this big buildup and then it's like this stupid meandering guitar solo that sounds like a 14 year old did it. I got my brother to record a guitar solo, which is technically a much better guitar solo, but honestly I wasn't a huge fan of the feel he went with in the context of the song. It felt a little bit too surf-y, and he didn't use any distortion. I kept it in and combined the two, which helped make things feel a little bit better, but I'm still not big on the part. There's also a harmonica bit. I kinda broke down and went back to my old standby of “well let's just make this part really noisy” which is a little bit of a crux, I admit.

In general I like the song. It's fun. It's fast, it's mean, and it breaks up some of the more introspective stuff. As well, I've just been feeling really uncomfortable with releasing an album of introspective naval gazy music. Like, I get it, I don't really have a platform. It's not like many people listen to me. Still though, there's so much awful shit going on in this world right now that I'm fortunate enough to be mostly sheltered by. I haven't participated in any protests either. I feel like I have to talk about it. In the end though I'm just busy with this self absorbed bullshit. I'm glad, then, that there's something political on this album that captures that feeling. I hope to be a little bit more worldly with my songwriting. I've done at least two very personal albums, and two high concept albums, I hope to maybe turn my focus outward into the world next time.

#music #album #rock #music production #songwriting

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thesinglesjukebox · 5 years ago

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TAYLOR SWIFT - BEAUTIFUL GHOSTS

[3.50]

Taylor takes a chonce...

Thomas Inskeep: Where we learn that Swift has ambitions of writing relentlessly overblown, ridiculously florid Broadway songs just like her co-writer, Andrew Lloyd Webber. And god, her keening vocal on this makes me want to punch someone. [0]

Alfred Soto: Her voice is not her strongest element, a fact this farrago overlooks. By comparison her accent on "London Boys" is a Meryl Streep Oscar stroke. [2]

Katherine St Asaph: I don't mind Taylor Swift being on this, in theory (in voice is a somewhat different proposition); Sarah Brightman was a dancer in Hot Gossip. Nor do I want to reassign this piece to Andrew Lloyd Webber's cat. I could even, begrudgingly, stop minding that Nile Rodgers worked on this, or that there's a gratuitous Phantom reference, or that the whole thing is a worse version of Jekyll and Hyde's "A New Life," when Cats already had the blueprint for "A New Life." But I do mind there being no structure, melodic, emotional, or otherwise. [3]

Katie Gill: The idea of adding in a song to CATS kind of misunderstands the structure of the musical. You see, CATS already has a big awards bait song, "Memory," which is musically is integrated into the show via a prelude at the end of act 1, other cats singing the tune at various point, and the prelude ending with a leitmotif often heard throughout the show. HOWEVER, now "Beautiful Ghosts" exists. It's positioned as a direct response to "Memory" and ALW loves his goddamn leitmotifs so logically it should sound like a response to "Memory", but it doesn't! It just sounds like a Taylor Swift song! Likewise, if this song is a direct response to "Memory" then one would think it would come AFTER "Memory" or the "Memory" prelude. However, "Memory" is the emotional climax of the show and the prelude is the Act 1 finisher, neither of which are a good time to add in a pop song to kill the plot. "Beautiful Ghosts" should really be positioned as a response to "Grizabella the Glamour Cat" because the transition between that song and the next one is an awkward spot in the musical that the pop song + a bit of dialogue could help smooth over. HOWEVER, if you position "Ghosts" as a response to "Grizabella" then it'll occur way too early in the film and also rob "Memory" of its lyrical impact. Part of the big impact of "Memory" is that you've had two goddamn hours of fiddle-dee-dee Jennyanydots whimsical nonsense and then WHAM, we go right into "touch me / it's so easy to leave me" which gives us the big, giant, emotional impact that "Memory" deserves and dammit, I don't have anywhere else to write about how this addition means that ALW fundamentally misunderstands his own musical so y'all are going to have to put up with me here. [4]

Jackie Powell: What makes this recording so charming is how practically imperfect it is. And I mean that as a compliment. The attempt at a British accent aside, Taylor Swift did her homework. And I'm not talking about T.S. Elliot, which I'll return to. This performance reminded me of Roland Barthes' "The Grain of the Voice," an essay that discusses how perfect vocals aren't what always sell a performance. The French philosopher and critic pontificates that a singer who is compelling has what he refers to as a "grain" or the "body in the voice." In other words, when Swift embraces her weaker while spectral head voice on the verses, cracks on the last line of the bridge and forces her belt on the last note of the entire song, she embraces Barthes' "Grain of the Voice" almost to a tee. Her belting is far from bodacious and like Jackson McHenry of Vulture, I question if this Andrew Lloyd Webber penned melody was really meant for Swift. But ALW did, in fact, need her. "If you can't get T.S. Eliot, get TS," she said while in the studio with Webber. "I'm here for you." And TS does study up on T.S. In "Beautiful Ghosts," Swift penned a lot of gerunds and descriptive nouns that have shapeshifted into gerunds. Or sometimes she just uses the suffix -ing more than twice the amount that Elliot employed it in his 1915 poem "Hysteria." In between all the "Chonces" being "Bawn into Noothing" and being "let intou," it's endearing to get a sense of Swift's acting chops via listening to her inflection, diction and even her ability to weld some dynamics that we don't often hear in her own catalog. But Swift was in between too many decisions. Was this supposed to be a pop version of a Broadway-style song? Was this supposed to be akin to Demi Lovato on "Let It Go?" (Maybe not, as we all know which version of the song is sung at karaoke.) But with all else being equal, Swift shalt have made a commitment to one of these two worlds: she's now clinging to pop but Broadway is now calling? She's straddling between these two islands and it doesn't work as well as she might have "waaanteed." [7]

Isabel Cole: Is it weird that I think I would like this better if it were more awful? Taylor Swift and Andrew Lloyd Webber are not similar artists, but they are two people who have between them made [checks spreadsheet] a million bajillion dollars by being wildly extra and unafraid of leaning the fuck in. Many of my favorite Taylorisms are fun because of their hyper-earnest theater kid melodrama (just think of the tremor with which she sings another girl in "Style"); many of my childhood memories involve belting "Memory" in my bedroom. But this is just so... dull. TS + ALW 4 CATS sounds like a nightmare of unhinged excess, but this could be any generic Best Song Oscar also-ran; the most interesting part is that she reuses the best line from "Fifteen." Worse, these artists who can write a hook that will be stuck in your head until the end of time somehow came together to write a melody so sprawlingly uninspiring I cannot hum it after several listens. There's nothing here even to make fun of beyond (objectively funny) Taylor's sporadic British affectations. Like, come on, guys: I'm not sure you can do better than this, but I know you have it in you to do worse. [2]

Alex Clifton: Cats didn't really need a new song (nor, frankly, did we need the new nightmare adaptation) and I'm mixed on Andrew Lloyd Webber at best, but this still hits my heart somewhere, especially with Swift's breathy delivery for the first half of the track. I am both surprised and annoyed to relate to a song sung by a cat. Points deducted for chooooooooooonces. [6]

Natasha Genet Avery: Let's dispense with the obvious: 1. That newfangled British accent is...something. 2. Playing into her favorite victimhood narrative, Swift's contribution to Cats *had* to one-up Grizabella ("At least you have something!". 3. This is blatant Oscar bait. Now onto the meat: Cats is a corny and embarrassing head-scratcher. Cats is why people don't trust musicals. I love Cats. To me, to anyone who has been in a musical, musicals are about unreasonable, outsized commitment--you peel off your self-protective shield of irony and spend dozens, if not hundreds of hours donning clown-school makeup and spandex, somersaulting across the stage and belting the praises of storybook animals. If you're entrusted with a big number, you practice and practice until your delivery is technically masterful, if not heavy-handed. Beat me to death with that vibrato. Fuck me up with those dynamics. Leave it allll on the stage. And so, when Taylor set out to out-emote "Memory", she agreed to take on 30 years of mockery, three key changes, Elaine Paige, 600+ professionally recorded covers, and countless school productions and karaoke renditions. A lot of people fault Taylor for being a try-hard (I've always found it sort of endearing), but here, she simply didn't try hard enough. Swift admitted that she wrote most of "Beautiful Ghosts" "immediately after hearing the song for the first time." Without T.S. Eliot's hand, Beautiful Ghosts" is empty, untouched by whimsy. Oh, and the singing: Swift is sorely out of her depth, and mostly opts for limp falsetto, culminating in a strained, awkward belt. We'll see what Francesca Hayward does with it, but for now "Beautiful Ghosts" should get booted from the clowder. [3]

Wayne Weizhen Zhang: I consume music of all genres voraciously -- with the exception of musical soundtracks. This is for a number of reasons: 1) I haven't seen a lot of musicals, 2) for the ones I have seen, I tend to find the music and lyricism overwrought and boring, and 3) I would prefer to just listen to artists' original music outside the parameters set by some make believe world. I was worried that I would have a tough time trying to check my own bias in reviewing this song, but am now relieved and confident in asserting that "Beautiful Ghosts" is objectively bad. In an alternate reality, this could be a compelling country-lite track on Fearless or Red, or even a synth heavy ballad on 1989, but here, Taylor just sounds drowsy with a weird British accent, selling a metaphor that makes about as much sense as the utterly bizarre Cats movie trailer. [3]

Andy Hutchins: One tweet that has stuck with me is the one that correctly called Reputation — before its release, even! — the final boss of 2017. I think Cats might play a similar role for the final days of 2019 and the first month or so of 2020, even if its pitch is obviously to a smaller segment of the population than pre-Crisis Taylor reached. So how convenient it is that we have Taylor here, indulging her theater kid impulses with none other than Andrew fucking Lloyd fucking Webber co-writing, singing her heart out in the ingenue role she's clung to throughout her 20s for better and worse (which is, hilariously, not her role in the film itself!), pining for something wild for what feels like the 20th time. "Beautiful Ghosts" is as subtle as a hurricane, and churns powerfully, and Taylor almost hits that note at the end — the strings wouldn't swell if she'd hit it perfect, of course. It's good. Fine. Whatever. This sort of hopeful schmaltz is so safe, though, that it mostly makes me wish that Taylor were still willing to take excursions from beaten paths: That way lies "Style," even if you might have to double back from the doorsteps of "Look What You Made Me Do" or "End Game" on occasion. [5]

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#Taylor Swift #Cats #pop #music #music review #writing #musical

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