#written to lady gaga's Just Dance

[animentality]

You guys wanna know why I didn't include Judas on my Lady Gaga most feral song poll?

Because I don't personally like that song and I made the poll.

Either live with it or suffer, but don't do it near me.

[ghost-proofbaby]

#94 sTEEEEEB

oh i am SO excited about this one. it's been too long since i've written for our boy steve 🫶

#94 - "JUDAS" BY LADY GAGA

“I couldn't love a man so purely, even prophets forgave his goofy way. I've learned love is like a brick, you can build a house or sink a dead body."

warnings: smut, oral (f receiving), fem!reader (or at least mentions of wearing lip gloss and a dress), use of whore as an insult, sort of enemies to lovers? sort of forbidden love? honestly the plot is only half-baked i just wanted porn. 18+, minors dni.

wc: 2.8k+

“If your daddy finds out about this, he’ll kill us both.” 

It’s spoken through muffled syllables, lips tight against your neck as you feel his stubble scratching the sensitive surface of your skin. 

Your hand travels up, fingers combing through soft and wavy hair as you whisper out, “If he finds out, and he won’t.” 

Bold words and sharp assumptions given your current predicament. Steve Harrington, heir to the Harrington Estate, hovering over your body. The son of the man your father hates most in the world, and he’s currently spinning a secret language across every inch of your bare skin. A painting of harsh kisses and fading teeth marks, his hands gripping every inch of the forbidden enemy below him. 

The weight of him against the center of your pelvis is almost heavier than the weight of all the choices leading you up to this moment. 

How many times had you been warned to play nice as the two of you had been raised in the same shark-infested waters? How many forced smiles had been almost-politely exchanged at galas? How many times had your mother rambled on about how that Harrington boy was nothing but trouble?

Not enough times, apparently, as your mother’s voice is the last on your mind as your nails scratch slowly down the center of Steve’s back, relishing the way he shivers and twitches under your dancing touch. 

“What would they say if they saw you like this?” he chuckles, lifting his head to look you in your eyes, a gentle hand coming up to caress a line from your temple and down your cheek, “Their little princess, consorting with the enemy’s son?” 

All the late nights spent listening to your father pace and complain about the Harrington business being in competition with his own. All the cursed names under the sun spit out in lieu of their actual names, muttered during late dinner arrivals. 

“What about your parents, hm?” you sigh out, letting your palms press flat against his bare chest, running up to wrap shaking fingers around his throat. Not quite choking him, but simply a warning: if you wanted to, you could press the cherry red of your nail deeper into his skin. Draw blood, leave a mark. You won’t, but you could. “Their little golden boy, upstairs and on his knees for the little whore of the party.”

His eyes widen. Clearly, no one had realized you’d overheard Claire Harrington’s comment when your family had entered the current gathering buzzing below. 

He rolls his eyes, “My mother’s a prude. Any woman wearing any dress above the knees is a whore.” 

He returns to all his mitigations, his plump lips fiery against your skin as they continue on their previous trail. Over your jugular, across your collarbones, settling into your sternum. Entirely unbothered and still focused on one thing only. 

“You’re right,” you breathe out wistfully, leaning your head back, a smug grin overtaking your face as he trails lower, “Besides, you’re not even on your knees yet.” 

“I could be.” 

He moves quickly, uncaring in his actions as he fumbles to lift up off the bed. The expensive comforter behind your back twists and scrunches in protest as he drops down to the ground, knees landing hard enough that it surely had to hurt. His hands grip your hips through the entire process, dragging you right with him until your legs are fully off the bed and your clothed center dangles right at the edge of the mattress.

“Is this how you want me, honey?” he grins up at you, shaking thighs bracketing each side of a shadowed face, all intentions twisting into something sinister by the dim lighting, “On my knees, begging for you?” 

“I do. But I don’t hear much begging, Harrington.” 

Sinister no longer covers it once the initial shock wears off. 

“Oh?” he hums, hands creeping up your legs. His fingers tap against your ankle before sliding up a few paces, the rhythm going steady as his palms travel up, up, up. “Allow me to fix that, baby.” 

His fingers dig into the meat of your upper thighs, tugging you even closer. You have no choice but to throw your arms out behind you as you partially collapse backwards, your entire body now shaking as you keep yourself held up to be aligned with his mouth. Every breath, almost mimicking laughs as he baits you, fans across the wet spot forming at the center of your lace crotch. 

“Please,” he breathes out just as his nose presses against your mound, taking a deep breath, “Please, let me just taste you, honey. I bet you’re so sweet, so sweet,” you let out a little gasp, hips bucking a bit at his expert words, “You like that, yeah? You gonna be sweet for me, honey? Gotta live up to that pretty little name, don’t you?” 

He knows how to get you riled up. He knows every string that laces your entire body, how to tighten and how to cut them loose. He’s had plenty of time to mesmerize this dance – a dozen different galas before to pull you into empty rooms, a hundred different nights to sneak away to indulge in you under pseudo names in the nicest hotels a few towns over. He can anticipate every jerk of your hips when his lips start to brush over your clit, even with fabric keeping his skin from yours. He knows which hand needs to keep a firm grip on your thigh, massaging it slowly as his thumb brushes closer and closer to the sensitive inner skin. His free arm works on autopilot as he throws it across your hips, planting you flat to the mattress as you mew out and he presses his tongue flatly against your weeping slit. 

His spit, your wetness. It all becomes the same within the intricate lace pattern separating him from your cunt currently. 

“I can taste it already, you know,” he keeps up the sweet talk and you feel his grin as he lets his cheek rest against your inner thigh, fluttering his lashes up at you, “Are you this easy for every golden boy walking around downstairs, pockets stuffed full of daddy’s money?” 

The gala downstairs. You had entirely forgotten, transported into only this moment here and now with Steve. 

Both your families, undoubtedly avoiding each other like the plague. His mother still gossiping about how short she thinks your dress is, your father snickering about the lacking details in Arthur Harrington’s suit. Bitter champagne on the tongue and even more bitter feelings on the brain. 

Your father would kill you if he knew what you were doing up here. 

Fraternizing with the supposed enemy. 

“Golden boy?” you gasp out, trying to swallow down any desire. It’s a useless battle. “And what’s so golden about you right now? All the hickeys I left on your neck, or that wet spot on your pants from how excited you’re getting at just the sight of me?” 

You don’t tell him how you’ve never taken an interest in any of the other sons of other supposed empires. You don’t mention how the rest of them hardly got more than a scoff from you all these years. 

You don’t tell him how he’s become your one and only betrayal to the blood running through your veins. 

He surprises you with a smack to the cunt. 

“I don’t remember you being so mouthy during the last charity event.” 

Your head rolls back with your laughter, “Guess I’m just in a mood tonight.”

“Is that so?” he questions, voice almost singing as he reaches up to the waistband of your panties. One finger hooks between it and your skin, pulling it out taut from your skin, “Guess that makes two of us.” 

The snap after he lets go can be heard only in this room, only between these four walls. It’s sure to leave a mark. 

“God,” it’s meant to be a groan of annoyance, but it’s more of a whine that leaves your glossy lips, “Just put your goddamn money where your mouth is or I swear to fucking God-”

Steve Harrington is many things. A brat, a golden boy, a nepo-baby to the highest degree just like yourself. 

And he’s also an excellent listener. 

You don’t feel his fingers tearing through the side strips of your underwear – all you suddenly feel is the slightest of cool breezes, and then his hot mouth on you. 

Eager, wanting, patient. Within seconds, his tongue’s mitigations go through a myriad of options, and he’s more in tune with your body than you are yourself. He finds the pace you need quickly, finds the pressure and just how much enthusiasm would be your deal breaker tonight. Long and steady strides from slit to clit, firm but gentle with you as he tugs you nearly off the mattress and right onto his waiting lips. A dog at your windowsill, offering all he can give as he laps at you. A man on his knees, worshiping a divinity beyond comprehension. 

Familiar politics no longer matter when he’s slipping two fingers into you and curling them harshly, lips locked around your sensitive clit. 

“Mmm,” he hums against you, nuzzling even further against your heat. As if he might be able to bury himself there. As if he might be able to force you to feel his sudden devotion from the press of his nose against your sensitive bundle of nerves, “I was right.” 

You open your mouth to answer, but all that comes out is a whimper as your hands try to snake down for his hair once more. 

Right about what? 

A silent question he must hear from your breathless begging for more. 

“Sweeter than I remember,” he mumbles, unable to stop himself from beginning to kiss your cunt, tongue flicking out and making your body jump, “Always so sweet for me, baby.” 

Your back arches at every curl of his fingers, legs somehow thrown over his shoulders in the daze until your heels are digging into his back. You need him closer, you want him closer. 

There’s no such thing as too close. Not when he worships you like this. 

Reciting prayers as his tongue circles your clit, raising you to a precipice that should damn your bloodline. When he has you teetering on the edge like this, it’s hard to not remember the thrill of it all. If someone, anyone, were to walk in and catch the two of you – you both lose everything. 

He’s worth it. When he has you falling over the edge, body washed over in ecstasy only thought to exist in Heaven, he’s worth the damnation. 

You don’t try to muffle the chants of his name as your hips jerk in rhythm with his tongue as you both ride out your high. 

“Jesus,” you gasp out one final curse, still tasting his name on your tongue as your body falls limp against the mattress.

It takes Steve a second to crawl back up next to you, his knees surely sore as he grins, “Not quite. Steve, or Harrington, or golden boy will do just fine.”

You open your mouth, unsure if you even have energy left within your buzzing mind for a snarky retort, when a heavy knock sounds at the door. 

“Hey, who’s in here? Upstairs is meant to be off-limits!”

You panic as Steve only rolls his eyes, turning his head towards the door as you try to sit up and find your discarded panties, still unaware that your golden boy had ripped them off. 

“It’s Harrington!” Steve calls back, voice unwavering, “I’ll be down in a minute.”

His name works like magic. 

No retorts, no further risk of trouble. There’s a whisper of some grumbles, and then receding footsteps, and still no sign of your panties. 

“Fuck,” you mutter under your breath, looking on the bed wildly, “Fuck, fuck, fuck. Are you lying on my panties? Move-”

You’re cut off by his snickers. 

“What’s so fucking funny, Harrington?” you whisper harshly, standing with your arms crossed and glare set on the boy with a bit of wetness still shimmering on his chin. “Did you hide them, you asshole? Because if you did-”

“I ripped them, honey.” 

Your arms drop immediately, a sharp breath taken, “Excuse me?” 

“I,” he sits up, “Ripped,” he’s back on his knees, scooting across the bed, “Them.” 

He stops just short of your reach, boyish charm radiating with smug satisfaction. 

He has a nice smile. If it weren’t the anger simmering in your chest at finding out that he’d ripped one of your nicest pairs of lingerie, you might even tell him that. 

“Fuck you,” you spit out. Or at least, you mean to. It’s more of a cross between spitting venom and a sigh of surrender. 

He has a really, really nice smile. 

“Later,” he laughs back, finally standing from the bed, pulling scraps of lace fabric out of his pocket just enough for you to catch sight of, “For now, we’ve got to go show our pretty faces downstairs, yeah?” 

He has a nice laugh, too. 

“What about my underwear?” you scoff, pulling down your dress until it brushes the top of your knees anyways. 

“Only whores have panty lines. I saved you another snarky comment from my mother, if anything.” 

He’s nice. He pisses you off, he infuriates you, but he makes you feel nice. It’s not just the afterglow of the orgasm he’s given you without any demand of returning the favor, it’s not just the glint in his eyes as he teases you and shoves his hands shyly in his pockets. 

There’s a flash of something more in the air between you. A time and place where you met and your fathers weren’t at each other’s throats. An existence where you meet him out at some overcrowded bar rather than extravagant ballrooms, and you’d never heard of his last name until he tells it to you on a third date. A world where you bring him home and your parents' only first impression is all his charm that he puts into overdrive during dinner, no whispered rumors over wine tainting the image before them. 

A lifetime where Steve Harrington is merely a salvation, and not also a sin. 

“You’re right,” you smoothly reply, even if the words choke you. The invisible smoke only you clearly see between you and the boy who couldn’t be nice, who couldn’t be a simple salvation despite the way he elevates you to godhood time and time again. “You are buying me a new pair of those, though, Harrington.”

You almost say his name the way you would in that make believe space that isn’t quite here, isn’t quite now. Where a name is just a name. 

“I’ll have them wrapped up with a bow and everything for you next time… honey.” 

He almost says your name instead of some lewd nickname in place of what has been taught to be venomous to him. 

He opens the door like a gentleman, he instructs you to return to the main showroom, he advises you to grab a glass of champagne to excuse the flush in your cheeks. No crowded bars, no proper dinners with your parents, no third dates. 

It all evaporates like smoke and mirrors as you join your parents’ sides downstairs, tugging at the bottom seam of your dress and grabbing a crystal flute with a forced smile. You don’t even turn to look in the direction of his descent when he also joins his family.

But salvation remains. Even when faced with the reminder of damnation by the look on your father’s face.

“Can you believe that boy?” he gruffly asks, glaring in their direction, “Just waltzing back in here, like he hadn’t rudely disappeared for a good thirty minutes. Those Harringtons know no manners, I tell you.” 

You hum in lackluster agreement, studying the rim of your glass, ignoring the twist in your chest. 

“Where did you run off to, though, honey?” the nickname makes your back straighten up, memories of chills running up your spine as you glance up at your father suddenly. 

“Oh, no where,” you flail a hand about, keeping steady breathing, playing an act you’ve rehearsed a million times, “I’d just heard a rumor that the Richardson’s garden fountains were larger than ours, and had to see for myself.” 

“Were they?” 

They have no idea. 

“Not even close,” you laugh. Out of the corner of your eye, you can see your laughter has attracted the attention of a certain pair of warm brown eyes and wavy brown hair, set with hidden devotion only privy in private rooms. “What did I miss?” 

Steve was right. If your father ever did find out, he was going to kill you both.

[strrykais]

promiscuous💋 [lee haechan]

pairing: clubbing!haechan x afab!reader

word count: 1.3k

summary: in a small club you don’t remember the name of, this wasn’t exactly how you thought it would go but you weren’t exactly the type to complain.

genre: smut, humor

warnings: oral (fem receiving), fingering, unprotected sex, sex in a public place, creampie??(is that a warning) and any other warning i forgot, you get it

playlist: promiscuous- nelly furtado | just dance - lady gaga | PADO- NCT U

authors note: first first official sex written gotta get practice in before i write it for my smau, so sorry if its like bad. im just a girl. next time ill do research or something idk. if there is any mistakes please let me know. i ran through it quickly but could of missed something! hope you enjoy 💋 nct dream masterlist

the hot, sweaty bodies rubbing against you was enough for you to start feeling the 6 shots you took. you needed this night, with work overworking you, your boyfriend of years breaking up with you, so what if you had planned to go home with someone tonight. you were planning on going home with someone. 

“jaemin bought another round. you want in?” renjun says in your ear over the loud music while you two dance together.

“is that even a question?” you shout back grabbing his hand heading out the dance floor to find your other friend you came with.

even though it was a thursday night the club was packed. spotting jaemin talking to the bartender or more like trying to hit on them. you and renjun walk up to him, jaemin's big smile comes to view when he sees you and renjun. 

“hey guys just in time! my friend here-” he says trailing off to look over at the pretty boy.

“that’s jeno.” you laugh out loud slightly pushing him “your boyfriend, you idiot.” you turn to jeno motioning another shot for us. jeno gives you a thumbs up ignoring whatever jaemin is mumbling,

“so you spot anyone you wanna take home?” renjun asks, leaning onto the bar watching the crowd. you turn to copy his position shaking your head.

“a lot of grenades.” a frown taking over your face as renjun shoves you.

“we talked about you calling people 'grenades’ if you don’t find them attractive. it's rude.”  grabbing the shot jeno places out for the both of you, downing it barely making a face.

“it's only rude if they catch me calling them that to their face.” you shrug “is tonight the night we sleep together?” rubbing up on his arm.

rejun pulls a face, swatting your hand away from his arm, “no you're not my type.” he smirks when he sees your face. walking away, you throw your hand out, “but i did find someone who is, catch you later.” he waves you off. 

groaning you turn to face the couple, only for jaemin to have his head on the bar completely passed out.

“what a lightweight seriously” pushing off the bar you decided to walk around and look for someone you could maybe, possibly, at least make out with. while looking around you see someone who looks good from behind. putting on your best smile, you slowly walk to him as he turns to you. your smile drops, eyes in a panic, you frantically search for a way to hide.

in the corner of your eyes you see a door open, you quickly shove the guy back in, shoving him into the small bathroom. body pressed into his as you breathe out, glad you escaped your ex. you hear him clear his throat, you quickly look up to see him looking at you with a smirk. he was hot maybe the bar isnt filled with grenades.

“if you wanted my attention you could’ve talked to me instead of trapping me in the bathroom. this one is new though so i have to give you that.” he smirks, placing his hand on your waist rubbing circle over your dress.

“cute that you think i need to trap you to get your attention.” hand sliding up onto his shoulder giving him a look.

“is this where i think it's going?” his hand reaching out grabbing your face staring down at your lips. 

licking your lips, you nod as he yanks your face into his. lips crashing onto each other, a small whimper escaping. quickly gaining his composure flipping you around so your back was pressed into the wall.  he pulled back as you let out a little whine. gripping the back of his neck trying to tug him to you, he smiles. 

“are you sure you are okay with continuing?” he questioned, you couldn’t help but get even more turned on. quickly nodding your head. he dives into your neck leaving sloppy kisses and light nibbles. you tried not to get too lost in his touch, you could barely hear the loud music outside the bathroom. his large hands roamed your body, every spot he touched was ignited.. after making a mess on your neck he slowly makes his way down to your collarbone giving it a bite. this makes you moan, audioably. 

 “oh,so you like it when i'm a little rough? noted.” he says as he sinks to his knees. he was now looking up at you, his hair a mess from your hands trying to touch every part of him, trying to melt into him. you give a small nod as he lifts one leg over his shoulder, he scoots a little closer where you can feel his hot breath fanning across your soaked panties. 

“please shut up” you say so out of breath from the kisses he was placing on your inner thighs.

“i'm sorry baby what did you say?” 

“please make your mouth useful instead of working my nerves.”

he gently pushes your panties to the side and blows which causes you to jump, but before you couldn't even recover he immediately went to licking. your breathless moans were starting to get louder, your hand flung to his head pushing him closer into you. he worked his tongue so magically. sucking on your clit, causing your back to arc. he slips a finger right into you as he still sucks. quickly as the first he slips a second, a loud moan makes him quicken his pace. your body could barely keep up as you felt yourself cum on his face. he continued licking every drop, slowly exiting his fingers out.

looking at you, bringing those to his mouth and sucking his beautiful long fingers clean of your juices. quickly as you could you reached out to his belt and started unbuckling them. 

“oh someone is eager.” 

“ill leave.”

“no. no i was kidding, baby.” 

grabbing you from behind your thighs, you jump up and wrap your legs around his waist. he slowly drags his cock along your folds. gathering up your juices from your previous orgasm.

“fuckkk you're so wet i can't wait to feel your tight cunt around me.” 

“if you shut up and get on with it may-” words falling short from your mouth and into a moan as he slams right into you. his hands are squeezing your ass as he pushes himself in and out.

“oh my fucking god. oh god.” 

“not my name but i see why it gets confused.” his arrogant tone causes you to tighten around him, moaning out. “fuck you are so tight.” he continues to pound harshly into you. leaning your head against the wall, he takes that chance and starts sucking on your neck. he bounces you up to readjust you, his cock hitting a specific spot inside you causing you to lead out a loud moan. 

“oh fuck imma come” you moan out pulling his hair.

“come for me baby. come right on this cock.” his heated moans hitting your ears. his words trigger your orgasm, his hand flying up to cover your mouth as your eyes squeeze shut. your cunt squeezing him, grunting “imma cum in you kay’” you nod your head, he thrusts one last time harshly into you, releasing his load.

“fuck that was the best sex ive had in a while.” he says slowly sliding himself out of you placing your wobbly legs onto the ground. 

“yeah, same. thanks.” you grab your panties from under your dress pulling them off slowly slipping them into his now buttoned pants. “to remember me.” turning you walk out the bathroom.

“yo dude where the hell have you been. why do you lo-" renjun says, spotting you as you walk away from the bathroom. “oh i see, good work. get his name?” you shake your head and smile. “looks like you just might.” he says, turning away when you feel a hand twist you around. 

“let me get your number please. maybe we can do this again and not in a bathroom.”

“sure. whats your name?” you grab his phone typing in your name and number.

“haechan, lee haechan.” 

“i can see how that gets confused with god. bye haechan, call me.” 

© strrykais

[best-overplayed-song]

fun facts

lady gaga wrote "just dance" in 10 minutes. She originally wrote it for The Pussycat Dolls when she was working as a songwriter, but they rejected it, so lady gaga released it as her first single

"...Baby One More Time" was written by Max Martin, who is Swedish. He meant for the lyrics to be more along the lines of "hit me up one more time", but didn't speak english fluently at the time of writing

(not-so-fun fact) Britney naturally sings in a lower range, but the producers wanted her to sing with a higher, girlish voice. this is why she often lip-synced on stage. those who have heard her natural singing voice say her vocals are more suited for rock than pop

[1toreyouapart]

The Lies We Tell

***FANFIC THAT INVOLVES REAL PEOPLE. 18+ ONLY. MDNI. DO NOT READ IF YOU DON’T LIKE FANFIC THAT INVOLVES REAL PEOPLE***

Summary that tells you nothing: Sometimes everything you ever wanted has been right there, within reach, all along.

CW/TW: Angst, fluff, swearing, friends to lovers, jealousy, smut, fingering, PinV, pet names, friends with benefits, mental health (mention of a past attempt), more to come as I actually get things written out.

Masterlist

We Bend

Another shitty date. Another evening wasted. More money wasted. Because she just could not let these men pay for her meal. Groaning she kicked off her shoes, adjusting her skirt in the process. Another wasted skirt on a man that couldn't even get passed the first five minutes without talking to her like she was stupid. What the fuck was wrong with her? Literally nobody had been good enough. The bar was low, but goddamn. Why the fuck was she back home at 11pm and bored out of her skull?

Heaving a weary sigh she started up the stairs, smiling the instant she heard Noah yelling in his room. That sound was all she needed to know that she was home.

Curious she peeked her head inside his cracked bedroom door, smothering a snicker as he jumped and laughed with the friends he was online with. She couldn't help but watch him in his element. Everyone said that music was what made him who he was, but as she watched him now, wearing cat ear headphones, jamming out to some Bruno Mars, she couldn't help but fall for him just a little more.

On the tips of her toes she crept forward, clicking his bedroom door shut behind her. He only ever left it open if she wasn't back by a certain time, anyway. Surely he had to have heard the door close. He had to have. Instead he jumped when she came into view, pausing his game. Without a word she climbed into his lap, settling herself where she could bury her face in the crook of his neck.

"Something came up. Gotta run." He spoke into his headset, ripping it off. “Bad date?”

“Yeah. Total dickbag.” Quinn heaved a weary sigh. “The bar is so low at this point I would settle for somebody that at least looks at me when they’re talking to me.”

Noah shifted underneath her, his arms settling around her waist. Large hands rubbed her back in soothing circles, his breathing slowly changing to match her own. He had always done that. Mirrored her in some way. It was unsettling how easily he did it, sometimes. Like it was as natural as, well, breathing.

“Try raising the bar, babe. You deserve more than that.”

Quinn shrugged. At one point she had thought so, too. But as time went on she was starting to realize that may not be true. And that maybe she was the problem.

“Don’t shrug at me. I’m right and you know it.”

“You have to say that. You’re my best friend.”

Noah chuckled as he reached up and grabbed her head to lift it off his shoulder. She knew she was being impossible and should just take the compliment. But truthfully, her confidence had been shaken years ago and she never quite got it back. He held her face there, inches from his, forcing her to look at him. His dark eyes were soft and dancing with affection as he looked at her.

“That means I’m the most qualified to say that. I know you, flaws and all. From the way you refuse to use a stupid step stool to reach up high, to the fact that you know the entire choreography to Bad Romance.”

“Uh, Lady Gaga is an icon and I find it offensive that you don’t know it,” she retorted , quirking an eyebrow.

Noah laughed, thumb gently stroking her cheek, his eyes never leaving hers. Moments like this were the only ones where she felt seen. Like there was at least one person in the world that saw her for who she was and didn’t run away. Odd to think it came from a random night in a bar seven years ago.

“I also know that you’re a fucking psychopath that puts ketchup on their mac and cheese. And that you always stir your tea exactly three times clockwise, and then three more times counterclockwise. That you have a habit of leaving your bras fucking everywhere. And for some reason you put hot sauce on everything. I mean, ice cream, Quinn? I feel like normal people don’t do that.”

“Noah,” she warned. He was right, but goddamn. Did he have to be so mean about it?

“I digress. You’re also the funniest, kindest, sweetest, and most intelligent person I’ve ever met. I’ve watched you give your last dollar to someone in need. Watched you drop everything to help someone who was lost, or show up for a friend even when they didn’t show up for you. I’ve listened to you talk for hours about the ocean and all the new information coming out about previously unexplored places there.” He sighed, brows furrowing slightly as he spoke. “So, yeah. You deserve better. You deserve the world and somebody that’ll stop at nothing to give it to you. Not these little boys that you keep settling for. Raise your standards.”

Quinn froze, her breath trapped in her lungs. So that was how he saw her. As this kind person that did good things all the time. He had to know that she wasn’t a good person, though. Had to. She fucked up all the time. Took their petty arguments too far more often than not. And yet he was still sitting there looking at her like she was a saint. She didn’t know what to do. What to say.

Tags: @collisionofyourkissmakesitsohard @supersquirrel1996 @mrscevans

[radioisntdead]

Buon giorno or Buona notte dearest!!

I have another request heheheh

Think of this : Angel and the gang go out for another trust exercise, and they see an add for one if m!readers concerts.

Since Angel is a fan, he asks to go with the group as a bonding experience, which Charlie says yes too

They go together, and m!reader is getting ready, when they see Angel and think he's quite cute, not knowing him from his ahem, works and they sing a love song (Heavy metal lover by Lady Gaga) and Angel almost has a heart attack.

(It's mostly the ; 'I could be your girl,girl,girl' part that I get inspired from)

At some point Val starts being a weirdo, and then m!reader publicly shits on him in front of their entire audience, and he leaves after getting taken away by a few of m!readers fans

And it ends happily ever after with them together forever :D

(Readers music vibe is like odetari, ayesha erotica, asteria, etc)

If you could do this, it would make my summer!!

Love

-XIN🌹💝

Good evening my dearest Xin! I had so much fun writing this, my apologies it took awhile to write but I hope you enjoy it!

Backstage passes

Angel dust x M! Reader

Warnings: Valentino gets ripped apart, literally. Reader is low-key like the dazzlings from MLP, also I imagine the reader died via Bell accident like that evil dude from Disney's coco

Song used [I listened to this song so much while writing that it actually made me sick LMAO]

You appeared in hell overnight after dying from an unfortunate and totally not planned stage accident, involving a bell, everything you had worked so hard for gone within a mere moment.

Filled with rage and the confidence of someone desperate to thrive in the spotlight, you began to conquer the music scene of hell.

You climbed the ranks and crushed those beneath you, if you weren't so focused on gaining fame instead of plain ol' power you'd give a couple of overlords a good run for their money.

You captured the attention of hell's finest, sinners and hellborn alike wanted to book you for their events, concerts were sold out within seconds, stan accounts on hell's Twitter servers would beef with those who opposed you, music edits were made of you, memes and clips, mildly disturbing fanfiction was written, you were an icon.

Along with catching the attention of hell's finest, you gained Angel dust as a fan.

Your music would be playing in the clubs he went to, sometimes played during his drag shows, he'd use it as background for whatever thoughts he disassociated away to whenever Valentino was having his way, or he'd just listen to your music when he was alone.

And so when Charlie somehow managed to get the entire hotel front row tickets to your show after he mentioned it's make a good group exercise, he was ecstatic!

The group waited outside, Charlie and Vaggie were trying to secure a place for them in line, Alastor would rather died again then attend so his ticket went to Cherri, Husk had found the bar, Niffty was terrorizing some sinners by cleaning, Sir Pentious was... Sir Pentious-ing Cherri bomb, and that left Angel dust to wonder around until the show began, stumbling into a nearby store to grab some snacks.

You on the other hand sneaked out to go to the convenience store near by the concert venue in full performance outfit covered by an oversized coat and hood just to grab a slushie and a light snack because with all the dancing you were going to be doing, you couldn't do on a empty stomach but not a too full one or you'd puke!

And that's where you saw him, purchasing a couple of things.

You had a little thing for cute things, and Angel dust seemed to fall into that category, for you anyways, for most of hell's people, they usually tended to put him into a more... Exploitive one,

It wouldn't hurt for you to make one of your people drop off a couple of backstage passes for that spider, after your show right?

Or better yet maybe you could do it yourself?

The concert venue was filled with sinners and hellborn alike from all types of backgrounds, all there to see you perform.

Including a couple of overlords.

Angel's eyes bounced around the stage waiting for your arrival.

Soon enough the bright lights dimmed and more colorful ones took their place.

Lights, smoke, action.

Heavy metal lover

Heavy metal lover

Heavy metal lover

It was starting.

Heavy metal lover Heavy metal lover

You came up from a platform under the stage smoke coming out with you as the music began, microphone in hand, and eyes closed shut.

Heavy metal lover

Heavy metal lover

Heavy metal lover

Heavy metal lover

Your eyes shot open as you began to move, background dancers were moving in sync, all eyes were on you.

Heavy metal lover

Heavy metal lover

Heavy metal lover

Heavy metal lover

Dressed in black and neons you practically glowed in the dark atmosphere,

"I want your whiskey mouth all over my blonde south," your voice rang out throughout the venue causing some members of the audience to scream out your name.

You struggled to hold back a filthy grin.

"Red wine, cheap perfume, and a filthy pout," you walked out onto the stage front and center, lights following you in all your leather-y glory, the backstage passes in your sleeve crinkled.

"Tonight bring all your friends, because a group does it better," Angel dust's eyes were locked onto you much like everyone's else's, like they were hypnotized.

"Why river with a pair? Let's have a full house of leather," Oh how you adored being the center of attention, you looked at the crowd, eyes glancing over everyone, a mild shiver of disgust went through you when you accidentally locked eyes with what looked to be a grape flavored moth.

Ooh-ooh-ooh-ooh-ooh

Ooh-ooh-ooh-ooh, ooh-ooh-ooh-ooh

You quickly moved your eyes away to continue looking for a certain spider, honestly your attachment to see a sinner you only saw for five seconds tops in a convenience store was interesting.

What was even more interesting was your ability to avoid the explicit ads for the films he did, seriously they were everywhere in hell! Including said convenience store!

"Heavy metal lover,"

Ooh-ooh-ooh-ooh-ooh

Ooh-ooh-ooh-ooh, ooh-ooh-ooh-ooh

"Heavy metal lover,"

As you walked across the stage you kept your eyes on the audience,

Searching..

Searching..

And you found him!

Right in the front row, how did you not see him before?

"Dirty pony, I can't wait to hose you down," your eyes locked on him as his locked on yours.

Did that count as a horrible, HORRIBLE pickup line or was that just poorly timed?

"You've got to earn your leather in this part of town," it seems someone hadn't seen the poison music video! You flared out your own leather jacket, the shiny gems on it sparkling in the dark.

"Dirty pearls and a patch for all the Rivington Rebels," you winked at him before turning on your heel as your background dancers circled around you with all sorts of dancing.

"Let's raise hell in the streets, drink beer and get into trouble,"

You danced and your background dancers mimicked in perfect coordination.

Ooh-ooh-ooh-ooh-ooh

Ooh-ooh-ooh-ooh, ooh-ooh-ooh-ooh

"Heavy metal lover,"

You began strutting to the center of the stage.

Ooh-ooh-ooh-ooh-ooh

You leaned down and went into what I can only describe as a sensual army crawl but without relying on your elbows to crawl.

Ooh-ooh-ooh-ooh, ooh-ooh-ooh-ooh

You moved towards Angel dust.

"Heavy metal lover,"

You reached out an arm towards him, gently tugging on his bowtie to pull him closer to the stage, once he was close enough you touched his face, his eyes were wide and his heart was nearly pounding out of his fluffy spider chest, you his all time favorite singer was touching his face.

"I could be your girl, girl, girl, girl, girl, girl,"

Within seconds you moved your arm just enough to loosen the backstage passes from your sleeve and have them fall into your hand.

"But would you love me if I ruled the world, world, world?"

You tucked the tickets into the front of his shirt where his chest fluff was located, being careful not to accidently grope the spider.

Ooh-ooh-ooh-ooh-ooh

You gave a wink before flipping yourself onto your back and throwing yourself up and strutting back to the middle of the stage as your performers danced around you.

Ooh-ooh-ooh-ooh, ooh-ooh-ooh-ooh

Unfortunately a certain moth witnessed your little flirt, with his best pornstar? He didn't think so.

Without alerting the other two Vees who were actually focused on the show itself he marched his way through the crowd.

Heavy metal lover

"Whip me, slap me, punk funk, New York clubbers, bump drunk,"

Shoving audience members to the side, causing some to crash into each other and tumble like dominoes, grabbing the attention of others.

"Bud Light, liquors, bar slam, move it, this is your jam"

Of course that caught your attention, and you didn't appreciate someone stepping out and stealing the attention that belonged to you! That you deserved and worked so hard for!

"Wash the night with St. Jameson, Like a baptism, heavy metal lovers play,"

You took a couple of steps towards the side of the stage where he was.

"Baby, we were born this way''

"Uh oh, it seems a shiny headed purple man is trying to wreck the show! We can't exactly have that now can we?"

You could barely hear whatever words he was saying, in your prospective it was like a grape yappin' away.

Ooh-ooh-ooh-ooh-ooh

Ooh-ooh-ooh-ooh, ooh-ooh-ooh-ooh

With a wave of your hand the crowd grabbed onto him, lifting him up and pulling him through, landing him in the cannibal section.

Ooh-ooh-ooh-ooh-ooh

Grabbing onto his limbs and pulling them apart, teeth were sunk into him pulling at his purple flesh.

Ooh-ooh-ooh-ooh, ooh-ooh-ooh-ooh

Ooh-ooh-ooh-ooh-ooh

Attention was back on you, as it should be.

No one paid mind to Valentino's screams as if they couldn't hear it or as if it wasn't happening at all, completely and utterly enamoured with you and your music.

Ooh-ooh-ooh-ooh, ooh-ooh-ooh-ooh

Heavy metal lover

Ooh-ooh-ooh-ooh-ooh

Neither of the Vee's would notice he was gone until hours after the show, no one would notice the blood scattered on the floor until late at night when they were cleaning up the messes, and no one would know what exactly happened to him until he eventually respawn, having lost everything.

Ooh-ooh-ooh-ooh, ooh-ooh-ooh-ooh

Heavy metal lover

What a scary power you possessed, even if you didn't completely realize you had it.

But that wasn't the focus here, because as if nothing ever happened you went back to flirting with Angel dust from the stage.

"I could be your girl, girl, girl, girl, girl, girl, but would you love me if I ruled the world, world, world?"

Eventually the show would end, and you'd wait anxiously backstage until that spider came, cashing in that backstage pass you shamelessly gave him from the stage, followed by the princess of hell herself moments later trying to get you to join her hotel.

Heavy metal lover Heavy metal lover, Heavy metal lover

And what else could you do then accept her invitation to join her little hazbin hotel, although you were anything but a hazbin.

And if you did manage to get past the pearly gates, you already had earth and hell alike in a chokehold, imagine what you'd accomplish if you performed in heaven?

Heavy metal lover, Heavy metal lover

It was a good chance to get to know Angel dust as well, the two of you would go from friends to something more.

Heavy metal lover

Friends to lovers was such a a underrated trope wasn't it?

Heavy metal lover

It wouldn't hurt to lean a little more into romantic songs, especially if you went the more cheesy route and played for Angel alone.

Heavy metal lover, Heavy metal lover, Heavy metal lover

You couldn't wait for the chance to shamelessly flirt with him while you were on stage again.

Heavy metal lover, Heavy metal lover

Good evening folks! I hope you enjoyed! I know my posting schedule has been a little wonky [side eyeing the Wednesday angst being posted on Thursdays] my bad, there's some personal stuff going on, plus I've been feeling a little sick but hopefully everything will be a little more organized this week! As always thank you for tuning on in, goodnight!

[jaybirdie421]

Masterlist for songs used in chapter titles:

(TBP- To Be Posted) (TBW- To Be Written)

Book Title: Running Up That Hill (A Deal With God) by Kate Bush

Prologue: What Was I Made For by Billie Eilish

ARC 1

Ch1: Walking on Sunshine by Katrina

Ch2: Made For Me by Muni Long

Ch3: Mad World by Pentatonix

Ch4: Brother by Kodaline

Ch5: Devil’s Train by The Lab Rats

Ch6: Towards the Sun by Rhianna, Charlie’s Inferno/Terrible Things by That Handsome Devil/AXIE

ARC 2

Ch7: Not Like Us by Kendrick Lamar

Ch8: Devil Town by Cavetown

Ch9: Look Who’s Inside Again by Bo Burnum

ARC 3

Ch10: Burning Pile by Mother Mother

Ch11: The Cult of Dionysus by The Orion Experience

Ch12: Nothing’s New by Rio Romeo

Ch13: We Are Young by Pentatonix

Ch14: Spooky Scary Skeletons by Andrew Gold

Ch15: Material Girl by Madonna

Ch16: Blow My Brains Out by Tikkle Me

Ch17: Meet Me At Our Spot by WILLOW

Ch18: Wait A Minute! by WILLOW

Ch19: Dead But Pretty by IC3PEAK, Abbey by Mitski

Ch20: Just Dance by Lady Gaga

Ch21: Sweater Weather by The Neighborhood

Ch22: Let’s Groove by Earth, Wind, and Fire

Ch23: Pocketful of Sunshine by Natasha Bedingfield

Ch24: Take A Slice by The Glass Animals

Ch25: Breezeblocks by Alt-j

Ch26: Ride by Sir-Mix-A-Lot

Ch27: Touch The Sky from Brave

Ch28: Ole Therebefore by Rachel Zegler

Ch29: Rewrite the Stars from The Greatest Showman

Ch30: We Both Reached For The Gun from Chicago the Musical

Ch31: Too Sweet by Hozier

Ch32: Line Without a Hook by Ricky Montgomery

Ch33: Do You Remember The Rain by (?)

Ch34: 9 to 5 by Dolley Parton

Ch35: Jump in the Line/ Dead Mom (Reprise) from BEETLEJUICE the Musical

Ch36: I/ME/MYSELF by Will Wood

Ch37: Double Life by Pharrell Williams (Despicable Me 4)

Ch38: Your Love (Deja Vu) by Glass Animals

Ch39: When Will I See You Again by SHAKKA

Ch40: End of Beginning by Djo

Ch41: Baby Hotline by Jack Stauber (Micropop)

Ch42: I Know The End by Phoebe Bridgers

Ch43: Heat Waves by The Glass Animals

Ch44: Everybody Wants To Rule The World by Tears for Fears

Arc 4

Ch45: See You Again by Tyler The Creator

Ch46: Cloud 9 by Beach Bunny

Ch47: Plage Coquillage

Ch48: Poison from Hazbin Hotel

Ch49: good luck babe! by Chappell Roan

Ch50: Ghost by Confetti

Ch51: Never Be Alone by Shadrow

Ch52: A Sign of the Times by Harry Styles

Ch53: Work Song by Hozier

Ch54: Sailor Song by Gigi Perez

[ryttu3k]

Thoughts on Doctor Who - Rogue, which is largely theorising on who the character is! (Yes, yes, I'm a truther for that theory.)

So we got: 1) Kylie and Lady Gaga (and Billie Eilish which I didn't recognise), 2) Dungeons and Dragons (roll for initiative), 3) Libertango!, 4) Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory, 5) cosplay, 6) Bridgerton (which, not my thing but pretty important overall), 7) a Shalka reference?? and 8) gay longing.

Oh yeah we're back.

Shades of the Family of Blood with the Doctor wanting revenge for Ruby's apparent death. Dude trapping someone for centuries in an empty barren dimension is worse. That's worse, right? Doctor, babe, you see how this is worse, right?

Love the foreshadowing with Ruby's earrings.

Rogue mentions a new boss and paperwork. I wonder if this is the same new boss that Beep the Meep mentions?

Spent the entire episode trying to work out why the Duchess looked familiar. Took me until the credits to see it was Indira Varma. Welcome back, Suzie Costello!

Who is Rogue?

Fuck it I'm a Master!Rogue truther. The evidence, as I see it:

The name. The Rogue seems quite appropriate for a notorious renegade!

lbr setting up an intrigue involving cosplaying bird aliens for Doctor Enrichment 100% feels like a Master thing to do.

The Kylie. The Master is a Known Pop Music Enjoyer (see: Rogue Traders, Scissor Sisters). Also 'Can't Get You Out Of My Head' is hilariously on the nose for the Master's… everything.

The ship, complete with TARDIS-esque central column and also being a mess.

He lost someone. The ship was made for more than one, and he lost someone.

The Master, gaming, and crit fails.

The TARDIS got grumbly. She, of course, has a history with the Master.

Rogue has to be a time traveller instead of just a human-looking alien from the same time period because. D&D and Kylie weren't around in 1813.

The ring! The ring! Come on!

Arguing across the stars.

So apparently it wasn't just Libertango they were dancing to. At least one site makes mention of the fact that given the rest of the contemporary music in the episode, it was most likely the 1981 Grace Jones song that heavily makes use of Libertango - called I've Seen That Face Before.

Okay so one major thing against him being the Master - more or less sacrificing himself to save Ruby. And that's where I keep coming back to the ring. What if it's something like a chameleon arch? It literally wouldn't be the first time an arched Master became generally more altruistic and caring, it happened in his first story back. Which was, needless to say, written by RTD! (I realise this one was not but he's still showrunner and lbr if he told me, "Hey, do you want to write a Doctor Who episode that references D&D, cosplay, and the return of the Master?" I'd be jumping up and down saying, "UM, YES?" at quite a volume.)

Not necessarily the Master specifically, but 'the one who waits' could be an apt description for someone whose last words to the Doctor were, "Find me."

Like yes there are 100% Jack vibes but also. Look. Look…

Continuity

Another Susan Twist appearance, this time in painting form. We'll be getting the payoff for that next week, looks like!

Ruby mentions some of her past, including the snow, which feels like a significant thing to mention.

Absolutely playing with the stories are real theme here, with cosplayers taking things entirely too seriously, and Rogue's entire Thing being based on D&D.

Season ranking

As of s40e06:

73 Yards

Rogue

The Devil's Chord

Dot and Bubble

The Church on Ruby Road

Space Babies

Boom

[wrongcaitlyn]

okay grammys predictions from the very reliable and expert opinion of user wrongcaitlyn whose experience comes from spending a concerning amount of time on the grammys wikepedia page and who has a concerning number of minutes on spotify wrapped! (will only be judging the categories of which i've actually listened to the music of and will be fully transparent of my biases because i have plenty <3)

Album of the Year: André 3000 — New Blue Sun Beyoncé — Cowboy Carter Sabrina Carpenter —Short n’ Sweet Charli XCX — Brat Jacob Collier — Djesse Vol. 4 Billie Eilish — Hit Me Hard and Soft Chappell Roan — The Rise and Fall of a Midwest Princess Taylor Swift — The Tortured Poets Department

who i think will win: chappell roan or jacob collier

i dont know who jacob collier is but he has won a few grammys before and idk the album name just sounds like the name of an album that would win aoty (but truly i have no idea what it sounds like so no judgement can be made there)

i feel like aoty usually either goes to a well known pop album (midnights, harry's house) or some unknown album that everyone's confused by (we are (sorry if this offends anyone) (this is solely based on what *i* know and i obviously don't know *that* much music))

who i hope will win: chappell roan (runner up: sabrina carpenter)

i SERIOUSLY hope chappell wins this one. rise and fall of a midwest princess is incredible and it 100% deserves the win, both from lyricism and the general flow of the album, plus it's a no skip album imo

short n' sweet also slays and i think it has a good balance of silly glitter gel pen pop music and serious sad ballads, plus the variety in genres flow together so well

only reason i think short n' sweet won't win is because midnights won last year and i think short n' sweet falls into the fun pop jack antonoff with some quieter songs category and it wouldn't win two years in a row

other thoughts

it won't be taylor swift

in fact i don't think taylor will win more than 1 or 2 grammys this year and definitely not in the main categories

or at least i actually hope not i'm not ready for her to be public enemy no. 1 again sorry

haven't listened to andre 3000 or beyonce's albums so i can't judge those but i don't think beyonce will win

charli xcx and billie have good chances i think, i've only listened to a few songs from hmhas though - brat has solid chance i think but honestly i can't see a dance pop winning album of the year

Song of the Year: Beyoncé – “Texas Hold ’Em” Billie Eilish – “Birds of a Feather” Chappell Roan – “Good Luck, Babe!” Kendrick Lamar – “Not Like Us” Lady Gaga & Bruno Mars – “Die With a Smile” Sabrina Carpenter – “Please Please Please” Shaboozey – “A Bar Song (Tipsy)” Taylor Swift feat. Post Malone – “Fortnight”

who i think will win: chappell roan or kendrick lamar

both of these deserve it sm i feel like

i think kendrick has a larger chance but then again chappell's never been nominated before so i can't tell whether they're gonna completely snub her or whether she's gonna pull a sweep like billie did in 2020

billie may have a chance too because the grammys really like her and she has a history of winning song of the year

who i hope will win: chappell roan (runner up: kendrick lamar)

i actually haven't listened to not like us in full but i know well enough that it's a really well written song and he'd deserve it

but like good luck babe. i mean. good luck babe. like. good luck babe.

the bridge on its own deserves a song of the year award

and also just an extremely lesbian song written about lesbian experiences by a lesbian artist winning song of the year would make me so happy

other thoughts:

die with a smile prob has a chance too i think

and i haven't listened to texas hold 'em or shaboozey so i can't make any judgments there

Record of the Year: The Beatles - "Now and Then" Beyoncé - "TEXAS HOLD 'EM" Sabrina Carpenter - "Espresso" Charli xcx - "360" Billie Eilish - "BIRDS OF A FEATHER" Kendrick Lamar - "Not Like Us" Chappell Roan - "Good Luck, Babe!" Taylor Swift (feat. Post Malone) - "Fortnight"

who i think will win: sabrina carpenter, chappell roan, or kendrick lamar

i feel like espresso is sort of a given, and if it doesn't win, like,,,, what

but if chappell or kendrick win song of the year then there's a higher chance of one of them winning record of the year for the same song

but yeah i feel like it's gotta be espresso

who i want to win: sabrina carpenter (runner up: chappell roan)

i feel like i don't even need an explanation for this- record of the year focuses on production and artistic achievement and espresso is just the most catchy instant classic pop song ever

like there's a reason everyone became obsessed with it myself included

but also good luck babe. like good luck babe.

ik i keep not giving explanations for good luck babe but i don't think i need one that song is just perfection

other thoughts:

if taylor wins any of the main awards it would be this one i think

BUT grammys are not supposed to take into account charts/sales success so i don't think it will

and again i srsly hope not because. god the amount of hate we had to face last year with midnights im not ready for that to happen againJSDF

i haven't listened to now and then, texas hold 'em, or not like us so no judging there

however it would be insane for a beatles song to win a grammy in the year 2025 and it'd be really sick if that did happen

i don't think it will unless it's for the purpose of awarding a song by the beatles tho if that makes sense

charli deserves to win one of the main categories but i don't think 360 was the standout song from brat ngl, i think it was more the album as a whole which is why i don't think she'll win this

okay and best new artist if it's not chappell then what the fuck

[cuntycassandra]

What songs make you think of your faves?

Ooo this is difficult because my brain is basically a big jumbled mess of songs and story/character relations, and I haven’t made a proper character playlist in a while, but I’ll do my best!!

These are just for my current or very recent faves, and the songs are just the ones I know off the top of my head have correlation in my head.

Alex Summers:

- X Men

These are on vibes alone, not as much storyline

I Saw Her Standing There - The Beatles

Leaving On A Jet Plane - John Denver

Don’t Stop Me Now - Queen

I Know Places - Taylor Swift (shut up I know 😭)

Cough Syrup - Young the Giant

I’ll Stand By You - The Pretenders (this one is specifically a Charles and Alex father-son esque song.)

Monster - Caissie Levy

No Surrender - Bruce Springsteen

Teenagers - My Chemical Romance

The Way I Loved You - Taylor Swift

We Built This City - Starship

Iris - The GooGoo Dolls

I have a lot more on hc based storylines but I haven’t introduced that version of Alex to the public very much yet.

Shout out to You Belong With Me as that makes me think of Alex simply because of Lucas Till, and You Are My Sunshine for being the main plot point in my first Alex fic.

Charles Xavier and Erik Lehnsherr:

- X Men

Andante, Andante - ABBA (Mamma Mia version) (CE)

As If We Never Said Goodbye - Barbra Streisand (C)

Can’t Fight This Feeling - REO Speedwagon (CE)

Confrontation - Jekyll and Hyde (mostly E but could be CE depending on the AU)

Dos Oruguitas- Sebastián Yatra (CE)

Evermore - Dan Stevens (CE)

From Now On - The Greatest Showman (C)

History Has Its Eyes On You - Hamilton (E)

How To Save A Life - The Fray (E/CE)

If This Was A Movie - Taylor Swift (CE)

Just A Man - EPIC: the Troy saga (E)

Knowing Me, Knowing You - ABBA (CE)

Make You Feel My Love - Sleeping at Last (CE)

On My Own - Samantha Barks (C)

Our Last Summer - ABBA (Mamma Mia version) (CE)

Pieces - Ella Henderson (CE)

Slipping Through My Fingers - ABBA (Mamma Mia version) (C)

Somebody That I Used To Know - Gotye (CE)

To Sir, With Love - Lulu (C)

Treacherous - Taylor Swift (CE)

Turning Tables - Adele (CE)

Wild Uncharted Waters - Jonah Hauer-King (CE)

Writing’s On The Wall - Sam Smith (E/CE)

Sebastian Smythe:

- Glee

Some of these will be KB labelled

All You Wanna Do - Aimie Atkinson/SIX

Applause - Lady Gaga

Bad Reputation - Joan Jett

Bad Blood - Taylor Swift

Bejewelled - Taylor Swift

Blackbird - Beatles

A Boy Like That - West Side Story (KB)

Candyman - Christina Aguilera

Crazy What Love Can Do - Ella Henderson + more (KB)

Delicate - Taylor Swift

Gee Officer Krupke - West Side Story

Glad You Came - GCV

How To Be A Heartbreaker - Marina and the Diamonds

I Never Dreamed Someone Like You - Katie Irving (KB)

I See The Light - Tangled

I Want You Back - GCV (KB)

King Of My Heart - Taylor Swift (KB)

Make Me Feel - Janelle Monráe

Paris - Taylor Swift (KB)

Shut Up And Drive - Rihanna

Speak Now - Taylor Swift (KB + B)

Patricia Thornton:

- MacGyver

I don’t think you people understand the chokehold she has on me. She’s barely in the show and yet she has me by the neck with those manicured fingers.

Literally so many songs from Reputation by Taylor Swift

Ready For It?

I Did Something Bad (this one is the most Thornton song that’s ever written)

Don’t Blame Me

Delicate

Look What You Made Me Do

Getaway Car

Dancing With Our Hands Tied

This Is Why We Can’t Have Nice Things

Okay other than Reputation:

No Body, No Crime - Taylor Swift

Rabbit Heart - Florence + the Machine

Skyfall - Adele

Thumbs - Sabrina Carpenter

Trust In Me - Scarlett Johansson

Yours - Ella Henderson

AHS: James March and Kit Walker:

- Asylum + Hotel

No don’t worry I don’t ship these two. They’re just the only characters I care about besides Sister Jude.

Until I Found Her - Stephen Sanchez (KW)

Insane - Black Gryph0n & Baasik (JPM)

[hoeneymilktea]

What inspired you to write deciphered?

Tbh I think it was because I saw a tiktok of someone reposting Aik00's streetracer fanart with Lady Gaga's Just Dance in the background. I find the fanart on tumblr and then I saw some fanfics linked with it that other people wrote for it. I read the one written for Oikawa and I was thinking to myself "awww hell yeah, finally, something good to eat". and in my opinion, the fanfic was really good, but I felt like it was lackluster in a way with the street racing. It just mentioned "he raced, that's it" and in my personal opinion, I wanted to be immersed into the racing experience. I tried to search on Ao3 if there were any fanfics that had intricate details about street racing, but I was then disappointed because there were absolutely no fanfics where there was a detailed story of street racing (at the time... now it's everywhere because people got inspired by deciphered lol) and I then decided I wanted to write my own fanfic because no one else did that. I think later that night I also watched the 1st Fast & Furious movie, and then watched Tokyo Drift later after that. I was then extremely inspired to write my own fanfic of street racer Oikawa, and thus it happened. As I was writing it, I made haikyuu headcanons of my favorite characters, and so my friend group at the time were debating if they would rather have "Olympic Athlete Kageyama" or "Street Racer Oikawa" as a boyfriend. To much surprise, everyone voted for street racer Oikawa lol. Then one of my friends at the time asked me to include her into the story as Kuroo's girlfriend, and low and behold, deciphered Leia was born. I then posted the fanfic and I kinda left it at that. It was only supposed to be a oneshot, where the fanfic ended with just chapters one and two, but then some comments were saying I should continue writing. and then I had to think of a plot, and now the rest is history.

[respectthepetty]

Reading the (Visual) Rainbow 101

Lesson 7 - It Could All Mean Nothing

Because I get so many asks about colors, I decided the best way to celebrate Pride is to educate anyone who is interested in how to better Read the (Visual) Rainbow and simultaneously allow myself to appreciate queer media.

We've ventured through six lessons on how to read visuals in order to understand a piece of media's overall message. We journeyed through colors, barriers, symbolism, and cultural significance, but what if the image is just an image? What if it doesn't have a deeper meaning? What if it means absolutely nothing?¹

¹ It doesn't. An image always tells us something.

Those Darn Blue Curtains

If you've been around the internet in the past decade, you might have heard about some blue curtains.

The joke about the blue curtains demonstrates that sometimes the creator does not intend for an image or an object to be meaningful. Sometimes the curtains are just curtains that happen to be blue.

But that doesn't mean they're meaningless.

Literary Criticism

Literary theories are ways in which we can approach and examine a piece of text. Several literary theories exist. One theory tells us to only look at the work regardless of who wrote it or who the intended audience is (Practical). Another theory demands that we include the culture in our examination of the text (Cultural). And another theory requests we solely look at the formal elements of the text (Formalism) while another theory requires we include ourselves and our perspectives in the analysis (Reader-Response). Many more literary theories exist, and all have also been applied to media. Visual media is different than written text, so these theories have shifted into Critical Media Studies, but much like Literary Criticism, it helps viewers examine and analyze media using different theories.

Critical Media Studies

If we were watching a series that featured blue curtains, depending on which theory we use, we could interpret the message differently.

If the blue curtains don't mean the character is sad (Psychoanalytic Criticism), are the blue curtains making a statement about masculinity (Feminist Criticism or Queer Theory)? Are they being filmed up-close or off-centered to reflect the character's situation (New Criticism)? Or do the blue curtains quickly remind us this isn't a Dutch house (Cultural) because most Dutch houses don't have curtains?

Now, you might be thinking that if the blue curtains could mean any of those ideas, then nothing really matters, but we have to remember that we aren't placing value on these items because their purpose isn't TO BE the story but to merely reinforce it.

Since the blue curtains are there to support the narrative, we have to evaluate if they matter WITHIN THAT SPECIFIC NARRATIVE. Have the curtains usually been open and now they are closed? Did a character spend an unnecessary amount of time talking about them or use them for an odd purpose? Has the color blue been significant to the narrative before we saw these curtains?

If so, it matters to that narrative.

Video Examples

If you watched the two suggested videos from the previous lesson, the first video is Lady Gaga and Ariana Grande's "Rain on Me" and the second is a parody from Japanese comedians Naomi Watanabe and Yuriyan Retriever which means it has comedic elements. Although the parody is well done, we can see the comedy aspect in several scenes such as the singer being showered with dango (sweet rice dumplings) instead of daggers like Lady Gaga was in the original.

The original song is about overcoming tragedy and being grateful to emerge from such an ordeal even though the damage is apparent, something both Lady Gaga and Ariana Grande had to do in very public ways. The original video reinforces the song's meaning by showing Lady Gaga standing up with a dagger in her thigh (the obvious injury) and proceeding to dance in the rain which is symbolic of grief and absolution.

We can analyze the use of feminine colors (pink and purple). We can consider the post-apocalyptic setting. We can analyze the clothing with all of its chains and spikes. We can ponder why at the end, Lady Gaga styles her hair like Ariana Grande's while Ariana Granda leaves behind her signature high ponytail to wear Lady Gaga's hairstyle. We can wonder why the women are in opposite 'worlds' for most of the video, only to merge at the end.

And we can compare the parody to it and see it does an incredible job of parroting these elements. Then, we notice that unlike the original, the comedians don't fully come together because there is a barrier between them.

We must remember that this is a parody, so not every component, if any, is serious. But for the parody to include all the other important pieces mentioned above, why would it exclude the two women's worlds merging when it was very important in the original?

We could reach for a deeper meaning that maybe the parody is commenting on how the two women are still divided by society. We see there are more masks in the parody as well, so perhaps it's making a statement about women's voices being silenced because we notice the masks in the original as well.

But then we have to remember some of the lessons we have learned: lesson one taught us to think about the creator and the context, while lesson six told us to think about the culture and the context.

These videos were filmed in 2020 at the beginning of the pandemic. Precautions such as masks had to be worn to limit the spread of the virus, and different countries had different regulations. Therefore, in the Japanese parody, where both the leads are without masks, a barrier had to be placed between them.

The barrier and the masks aren't pointless though. They tell us about the time period and the circumstances in which the videos were made, but they don't have any effect on the videos' narrative. So although they are meaningless to the plot, they aren't meaningless to our understanding of what we are seeing and why.

So What's Your Point?

Don't look for meaning that isn't there, but don't assume meaning isn't there because you don't want to look for it. When we look for evidence that only confirms what we already believe or find new evidence and interpret it in such a way to support our already existing beliefs, this is considered confirmation bias. We want to avoid being biased, but we also want to avoid being dismissive.

Sometimes, all it takes is a few words into a search engine, and we can find the information we seek directly from the artists themselves. Depending on the medium, maybe the artist spoke about the symbolism during an interview. Possibly the director or cinematographer mentioned a detail during some behind-the-scene footage. Or by chance, someone was brave enough to ask the creators on their social media platforms or during a Q & A session.

For example, if Ayan's hip and thigh tattoos in The Eclipse drove you so crazy that you begged your mutuals to help you figure out what they were only to find a video of the actor stating they are his actual tattoos, you might be upset to learn what the tattoos say had no bearing on the plot BUT you will also learn that the director wanted an actor with tattoos because it visually showed the bad boy persona the character had which is important to the plot.

Nothing is truly pointless, but you don't have to make everything the focal point. Once again, the visuals strengthen the narrative's message; they shouldn't distract from it.

Activity

Using your knowledge from the previous lessons, watch Lil Nas X's "Industry Baby" music video - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UTHLKHL_whs

Think about how the colors, visuals, barriers, group outfits, and cultural elements support the video's overall message.

We will briefly review it in the final lesson on Friday.

[benisasoftboi]

I recently purchased the Teletubbies' official Pride tank top, and it is the funniest thing I own. I do think it's a pretty naked example of rainbow capitalism - the slogan 'Big Hugs Big Love' is neither obviously Pride themed, nor even obviously Teletubbies themed, almost as though it was deliberately designed to not be easily associated with their brand if seen by homophobes in public - so I do feel that I may have contributed to something bad here, but it delights me so much to tell people what, exactly, it is that I am wearing. It's just so bizarre that this brand even has Pride merch.

Although, of course, the Teletubbies do have a long history of being associated with gay people. There have been little incidents, like the Talking Po doll that sounds like its calling you a slur, but the most famous is of course the accusations of Tinky Winky's homosexuality during the late 90s. Tinky Winky is purple, and carries a purse, and has a triangle antenna, which were all seen as signs of the gay agenda by conservative pundits. This was of course denied because it was the 90s, and it was a children's show, and also all of the Teletubbies were meant to be little babies themselves. However, in the modern day, the story is very different - Teletubbies has clearly become more comfortable associating itself with LGBT people, and also the Teletubbies are now canonically grown-ups. We know this because in 2021, the official Teletubbies Twitter account took a break from astrology posts to let us know that the Teletubbies are fully vaccinated against COVID-19, including pictures of the vaccine cards. Setting aside the strangeness of their second vaccine dates being two weeks in the future from time of posting, and also written American-style despite the Teletubbies being British, these cards importantly provided us with the Teletubbies birthday - February 2, 2003. This is, admittedly, also very strange, as 2003 was after the show's original run ended, but it does indicate the Teletubbies are legally adults, and thus, speculating about their sexualities is now on the table.

The Twitter account has never outright stated that Tinky Winky is gay, but they've heavily implied it (for example, saying he was 'Born This Way' in a tweet at Lady Gaga - one of many unsolicited tweets they've made at various pop stars - or a screenshot of his AOL status mentioning how fabulous he is). They also once suggested that Po and Laa Laa are dating, which, if true, would make Dipsy the only straight one. This makes sense to me, as Dipsy's always had issues with toxic masculinity. I had the Teletubbies CD-ROM game as a kid, and in the rolling game (where you had the Teletubbies roll down a hill and bump into various objects to trigger cut scenes), if Dipsy rolled into the pink skirt, he would act disgusted by it and run away. None of the others objected in this way, and would simply wear the skirt and do a little dance - including Tinky Winky. Going by Twitter now, though, Dipsy seems like a really firm ally to his friends, so I think he may have left that issue in 2006, and all the better for it, I say.

Also, I couldn't find a place to mention this, but Noo Noo uses they/them pronouns.

[marypsue]

fic writer self-recs

I was tagged by the lovely and talented @titleleaf!

Fic authors self rec! When you get this, reply with your favourite five fics that you've written, then pass on to at least five other writers.

I'm gonna try not to just reproduce the same list from the last time I did this (although I can't fucking find it, so who knows), and also shine the spotlight on some that I think don't get as much attention but that I'm still very proud of anyway!

(But also, the road goes ever on. It's always gonna be the road goes ever on.)

1. house rule #3 (MCU Thor, Avengers [2012])

“Darcy,” Jane says, firmly. “Breathe.” “I am totally breathing,” Darcy protests. “Look, after you offered me the job, she bought us a bottle of sparkling wine and thanked me really cryptically and I basically haven’t seen her since. And in that time, Selvig’s dropped off the map, and a supervillain calling himself Loki who could be her fraternal twin pops up and starts chewing German scenery in a helmet that looks exactly like the one in this book.” Darcy sits back in her chair, bouncing off the back. “Also, I told her about this professor who was a total pain in my ass, and like two weeks later he was on leave for ‘undisclosed reasons’ and he still hasn’t come back.” “This…could all be a coincidence,” Jane says, lamely. “Oh yeah. Same way that weird homeless guy you kept hitting with your car showing up inside that storm was all a coincidence,” Darcy says. “Oh, my god. I’ve been watching ANTM highlights with a supervillain.”

I love Darcy Lewis, I think the narrative voice in this one hits her sense of humour just right, and it makes me astoundingly nostalgic for the early 2010s.

2. definitely not bfu rpf (definitely not Buzzfeed Unsolved/Watcher Unsolved?)

“Even Scully took it seriously when the shadow government gave her cancer, man,” Bryan says, when he sees the glitchy footage. “There – okay, there are two issues with that line of logic,” Zane says. “First, cancer. That’s detectable by current medical science. It’s not exactly a matter of belief. Second, Dana Scully is a fictional character.” “So you won’t get an exorcism?” Bryan says, sounding defeated. “Bryan, my dear, I think you already know the answer to that one.”

Back when the Watcher guys were still attached to Buzzfeed, there was a really popular fandom trope that went around that Shane was secretly a demon. However, nobody seemed to have taken the next logical step - that if Shane was a demon, he wouldn't believe it.

(I don't write RPF, because I tried it and felt weird about it, but I just had to get this written, so I changed everybody's names to something that rhymed with the real-life people's names. Legally Distinct Buzzfeed Unresolved.)

3. Girls In White Dresses (Supernatural)

Mary’s the first to appear in the kitchen doorway, pistol raised, eyes flinty. But she pauses, just for a moment, when she sees Dean, and Jess’ stomach drops. Whoever - whatever - Dean really is, he at least hadn’t lied when he’d said he was Sam’s brother. He’s Mary’s son. And Mary’d just had to watch, helpless, while one of her sons died. Mary’s going to hesitate. But Jess can already tell that Dean won’t. By the way Dean's grinning, she can tell he knows it too.

I had to unfridge some of SPN's many, many freezer-burned women. Also it was so much fun to try to think up ways to hurt all of them emotionally as badly as the show likes to hurt its big strong men emotionally. (Lady Gaga voice) It's equality.

4. i hold with those who favour fire (Crimson Peak)

Perhaps she looks too long. Perhaps her eyes are playing tricks on her, perhaps it is only the lingering warmth of the body melting away the fallen snow, but it seems there are more autumn leaves gathered under Edith’s frozen form, more reds and golds spilling from beneath her nightdress and her hands and her golden head. The leaves flicker and dance, as though caught in a high October wind, though any such wind would be stymied by Allerdale’s protective walls. It isn’t until the hem of Edith’s gown begins to blacken that Lucille sees that what she had taken for autumn leaves are flames.

This one was written for a prompt meme where I asked for a character and a monster/mythical being, and wrote something short connecting the two. I should do that again, that was fun.

5. Boiling a Frog (Rick and Morty)

“It’s strange,” she says, tipping the contents of her cup carefully into the drain under the vending machine’s dispenser and crumpling the cardboard cup in one hand. “None of this feels really...real. Like, Grandpa Rick should be here complaining about how hospitals are breeding grounds for superbugs and how sitting in waiting rooms is pointless because unless you’re a doctor, there’s fuckall you can do to help anyway.” Morty suddenly looks uneasy, but Summer’s not sure if that’s because of what she said or because of the coffee. “I’m glad he’s not,” he says, and then looks horrified.

I broke up with this show when it became clear it was going to wallow and spin its own wheels and suck Rick's dick forever and that at least one of its creative minds genuinely seemed to think that was great and smart and good storytelling and if you didn't love it then you were just too stupid to appreciate his brilliance. But every once in a while the show managed to do something really interesting by approaching something heavy and awful sidelong with absurdist sci-fi and gross-out humour in a way that just worked for me.

I tried to do that here and found out just how hard it is to get a handle on that tone of almost manic energy with total black despair oozing out around all the edges. I think it really turned out, here, and despite no longer having any interest in anything to do with the show, I'm proud of it.

Also, I still love Summer.

I'm going to tag @daddygrandpaandthebeaver, @bixxelated, @marzipanandminutiae, @definitely-not-a-bug, @aquitainequeen, and, as usual, anybody who'd like to do it!

[indie-brokenarm]

You will not be able to gender reconcile, sister. You will not be able to pack it, tuck it or medically block it. You will not be able to find yourself on pills or skin patches and skip out of country for a budget procedure, because the revolution will not be injected.

The revolution will not be injected. The revolution will not be brought to you by academia in four years without off-campus interruptions. The revolution will not be describable with words approved by PC professors and their impressionable youth followers who PrideTM-fully brand themselves 'Queer' with no sense of irony or risk, yet censor terms like She-Male, Tranny, Transvestite and Transgendered. The revolution will not be injected.

The revolution will not be brought to you by the Guggenheim, Whitney, MOMA or Tate, and will not star Jack Halberstam reading Gaga Manifesto then preaching mob mentality by quipping a million people liking Lady Gaga must mean there's something to it. The revolution will not thank wealthy patrons of the arts. The revolution will not make you five pounds thinner, because the revolution will not be injected, brother.

There will be no Iranian government subsidized gender reassignments pushed on men who love men or women who love women just to avoid prosecution as homosexuals under Islamic law. CNN will not predict four Ladyboys satisfying a Thai airline's sexist beauty standards for female flight attendants means equality is at hand. The revolution will not be injected.

There will be no Facebook fan pages about kids shooting hormone inhibitors that stunt their brains. There will be no Facebook fan pages about kids shooting hormone inhibitors that stunt their brains. There will be no pictures of Whitney Houston impersonators being run out of Harlem on a rail with a brand new process. There will be no slow motion or still life of Del LaGrace Volcano pushing a baby stroller through Heathrow in a pink, blue and purple liberation birdsuit that he had been saving for just the proper occasion.

Dancing With the Stars, Ru Paul's Drag Race, Big Brother and Botched will no longer be so damned relevant, and no one will care if Caitlyn Jenner gets a Reebok endorsement to remove her dick on live television while sex workers are in the street looking for a day's pay. The revolution will not be injected.

There will be no Transgender prison inmates raped and attacked by armed guards and convicts after being jailed for defending themselves against bashers about to blow their brains out. The theme song will not be written by Elton John, Stephen Sondheim, nor sung by George Michael, Ricky Martin, Madonna, Melissa Etheridge, or The Village People. The revolution will not be injected.

The revolution will not stereotype all Trans experiences as Trans-Female, Trans-Male, or Transsexual. You will not have to worry about a spouse in your bedroom, Logan Ireland in a tank, or your gender when choosing a toilet bowl. The revolution will not go better with 'T.' The revolution will not fight the prenatal developments that may cause dysphoria. The revolution won't put you in the driver's seat.

The revolution will not be injected, will not be injected, will not be injected, will not be injected. The revolution will be no hormone, children. The revolution will be hard to swallow.

[thelaurenshippen]

this month's mixtape is for Tex Bullock, one of the protagonists of my queer outlaw western (currently drafting). if you subscribe to my newsletter (linked in the previous sentence), then you'll have already read these, but for everyone else, my notes:

This playlist has been public on my Spotify for a while, but I don't think I've ever shared notes for it. Hell, I'm not sure I'd ever written notes for it, though I feel like I must have somewhere, at some point. But, anyway, to catch you up if you're new: Desperate Hollow is my currently unpublished queer outlaw romance. Tex Bullock and Sawyer Watson grow up in a gang together before Sawyer shoots Tex and leaves him for dead. Seven years later, they end up in the same dead-end town and have to deal with everything they've never said. 

The book goes back and forth between their perspectives - and in past/present - but we begin with Tex's perspective, so I thought we'd start with him in the playlists first. Like last month's main story playlist, I made this playlist 1000 years ago and I've found so many songs since that would fit it so much better. But I've kept the original three playlists the same because, even though the characters have become more fleshed out, they've largely stayed the same at their core. 

Tex is the classic Wild West outlaw - he's brash but charming, flirtatious and deadly, roguishly scarred and just the perfect amount of mysterious. And all of that is a carefully constructed persona that he's worked hard to cultivate. In reality, he's gentle with horses, loves a good novel, would happily cuddle Sawyer for hours at a time, and wants so desperately to be loved. He's a murderer, he isn't a good person, but he's a loyal one and very often kind. And he's been in love with Sawyer since he was a teenager. He can forgive Sawyer for shooting him - it's being left that cuts deep. 

1. "The Hell of It Is" - Sam Palladio & Clare Bowen

Yes, this is from the TV show "Nashville". I loved that show. I'm the only person who watched that show. The music slapped. It's all over tons of my playlists (I think the oldest Nashville add to one of playlists was on a Sam/Mark ship mix (if you're a plus pal, it's this one)). This particular set of characters were meant to be a kind of The Civil Wars rip-off and I love how love/hate their lyrics often are. 

The hell of it is/I love you even when I don't - I meannnnnnnn

I'd rather live with my mistakes/Honey say you'll do the same - in the beginning of the story, Tex has been torn between anger and love for seven years. He doesn't forgive Sawyer for leaving him for dead, but at the same time, he'd do anything to have the opportunity to forgive him. He'd rather live with Sawyer and their mistakes than not. 

2. "John Wayne" - Lady Gaga

This song just sounds like Tex to me. In your face, swaggering, a little sexy. Tex is a construct of his own making, an exaggeration of Wild West masculine violence like John Wayne. 

I crave a real wild man/I'm strung out on John Wayne - this is Tex  about himself. He doesn't want a wild man as a partner, he wants to be the wild man. And he needs to be a little enamored with himself in order to keep the construct alive. 

3. "Dress" - Charlotte Sands

This song is the reason the Desperate Hollow novel exists. It came up on one of my discovery playlists and that chorus - Love the way you wear that dress/Making everyone upset/Burning that cigarette boy/Swear to God, I confess, boy - just had me immediately thinking of Tex and Sawyer and the idea of Tex seeing Sawyer goofing off in a dress and being like "oh shit Something is happening". At the time, I was working on the story as a podcast taking place entirely in the present day, so I wrote a little drabble from their years in the gang as an exercise - Tex and Sawyer and the other men going through a haul they'd pulled, all of them trying on various fancy clothes. Sawyer throws on one of the dresses and is laughing and dancing, carefree for the first time since Tex has met him, and Tex is immediately in hell. 

Look so good I'm annoyed - this was the building block for the scene I wrote. Tex is really confronting his attraction to Sawyer for the first time and because, at this point, they do not get along, he's just annoyed by it. It's inconvenient that Sawyer is so smart and capable and also hot. 

So, anyway, I wrote that scene, kept working on the podcast and then...kept thinking about that scene, and how fun it was to write a flashback. And here we are, five years later, and I've got a 150k word novel that cuts between flashback and present day. 

You're so masculine/Taste like cherry cola - the juxtaposition of masculine and feminine in this song is so good and there's nothing inherently about cherry cola, but because of the cherry chapstick in "I Kissed a Girl", my mind just immediately went to that place. 

4. "I Will Never Die" - Delta Rae

There's an unmade playlist in my head that's "songs to crawl out of your grave to" and this is absolutely one of them. Tex is riddled with scars and has escaped death more times than anyone he knows and he just refuses to die. And even though "Dress" is a lot more pop-y, this song is more in line with the aesthetic.

5. "Bad" - Royal Deluxe

Another great little bit of outlaw rock from Royal Deluxe. This is very straightforward as a choice for Tex, but I'm bad, as bad can be/So bad that it's hard to believe/Oh, what they say about me is particularly good for the fact that Tex is all about the narrative of his own legend. 

6. "Raise Hell" - Dorothy

Another extremely self-explanatory one! This is pure vibes. Tex was raised to raise hell, and I'm always going to be a sucker for any talk of sinners in songs of this genre. 

7. "Slow Burn" - Kacey Musgraves

The flow of this whole playlist is not my best work, and we really take a hard turn into love songs here. But if I had to justify my own shitty construction, I would say that it mimics how Tex feels about Sawyer - it's total whiplash all the time. 

This song is so perfect for walking someone home at the end of a date, when there's a nice breeze and the sun is setting. It's the perfect song for falling into the initial infatuation - not love, but the knowledge that maybe, someday, it could grow into that. Tex hasn't had a lot of that kind of softness in his life, but he wants it desperately, and he and Sawyer did have moments that were like that that he holds as precious memories. 

8. "Love Story" - Sarah Cothran

This was originally the last song on this playlist, but I moved things around the more that "Night Shift" became theTex song. 

It's sad-dark Taylor Swift. Like the previous song, this is feeding into Tex's fantasies about what love could be like if he didn't live the way he did and didn't have blood on his hands. Sawyer has always been the storybook prince to him, and it's Tex who doesn't make a good princess (in his mind). 

9. "Night Shift" - Lucy Dacus*

This song makes me so catshit bananas. I could copy down every single lyric. The first time I tasted somebody else's spit/I had a coughing fit is one of my favorite opening lyrics of all time. The whole metaphor of the night shift. The tension between forgiveness and desire. Breakup song of all time!!!

Genuinely, there's so much about this song that is perfect for Tex. The first time I heard the song (which I believe was sent to me by a listener), I was bowled over, because I'd been thinking about the fact that Tex almost certainly pretended he was kissing Sawyer the first time he kissed someone. I was let down, it wasn't the same just kiiiiiills me. That's it exactly! 

And then, the night shift stuff. You've got a 9 to 5/so I'll take the night shift/And I'll never see you again/if I can help it - there's a whole thing in the book about Sawyer as the sun and Tex as the moon, so this really sends me off the deep end. 

In five years I hope these songs feel like covers/dedicated to new lovers - Tex is this way about his own legend and the narrative of his life. After he's shot, Sawyer isn't in his life anymore, so surely Sawyer can't be part of who he is anymore. Except you can't really ever untangle yourself from the people who shaped you and, no matter how much he tries, everything always reminds Tex of Sawyer. 

Don't hold your breath/forget you ever saw me at my best - Sawyer was the only one who really saw Tex's softer side and now that they're apart, Tex would give anything to remove that information from Sawyer's mind. 

Can't lose what you never had - a common sentiment, but one that punches me in the chest when it comes to Tex and Sawyer! 

Am I a masochist, resisting urges to punch you in the teeth...What was the plan? Absolve your guilt and shake hands/I feel no need to forgive but I might as well/But let me kiss your lips so I know how it felt - I'm walking into the ocean. The way that Lucy Dacus puts these different physical acts in the context of forgiveness - not punching you is hurting me, if we shook hands and parted would you feel absolved, would kissing you feel like forgiving you....Lucy, I am in your walls!!!   

p.s.if you want more queer outlaw ramblings, I've got a whole tumblr tag for it!