#COSMIC LOVE??? MY SONG... MY POOR SONG...

[thewitchandtheassassin]

Life, Death, and the Space in Between Part Two (Agatha Harkness x Reader x Rio Vidal)

Summary: Centuries later, you find yourselves reunited once more.

Words: 2430

Warnings: Canon violence, language, arguing, etc.

A/N: I hate how obsessed I am with this couple but here we fuckin' are.

-X-

Three Centuries Later

Sipping your morning coffee, you idly flipped through the newspaper as you savored the stillness of the early hours. You had sorted through your expected duties, leaving you with a bit of time to yourself before the cosmic powers of Life dragged you back into its grasp. You may never be human, but you could at least enjoy a few mortal pleasures.

As the door to your temporary abode slammed opened, you sighed and tossed aside the paper.

“Hello, my love,” you greeted with an easy smile, tilting your head back to accept the deep, probing - almost furious - kiss from Rio’s painted lips. The aggression took you by surprise but you melted into the embrace, offering her whatever solace and reprieve she needed.

Dragging your chair back from the table, she dropped down into your lap, tossing an arm around your shoulders while downing the remnants of your drink. Protest died on your lips, knowing it would be useless to argue with the lady of death. It wasn’t abnormal for her and, honestly, you didn’t mind the quirk. You found it amusing.

“I found her.”

Head tilting curiously, you cupped Rio’s cheek, wiping a speck of blood from her cheek and knocking a piece of shattered glass from her dark tresses. “Who?”

“Agatha,” she practically growled, glaring at the dark wood table before turning her eyes to you. They softened, though you could see the fire raging within. “I wasn’t looking for her per se, but I did find her.”

Pressing your lips together thoughtfully, fighting your initial reaction, you slowly nodded. “And how did that go?”

“We fought. I made her front door explode.” She said it so casually that all you could do was blink up at her. “Turns out, little miss Scarlet Witch kept her trapped in Westview. She has no power now. Won’t be long until she has some poor idiots singing that song so she can rectify that.”

It was stated emotionlessly but knowing your former lover was mortal had clearly shaken Rio. Before, you could rely on Agatha being formidable. Powerful. To be lacking her purple, well…

“I see you didn’t reap her.”

Rio rolled her eyes, fingers playing with the baby hairs on the nape of your neck. “No. I…”

“She’s our weak spot,” you acknowledged, running a finger over the slope of her nose. “You and I are inevitable. A perfect balance. She was always our anomaly and we love that about her. Even if she still hates us three hundred years later.”

Pressing her forehead against yours, Rio poured. “Why doesn’t she want us?”

“She does,” you cooed, nipping at the pushed out lip teasingly. “She’s always been our stubborn girl. She just refuses to deal with her grief and instead-“

“Sinks a fucking unsinkable ship? Causes massive disasters so she can throw another tantrum or make a point?” she snarled, though there was little heat behind it. She’d always appreciated the dramatics of Agatha’s gestures, even if it often upset the natural order and balance you carefully crafted together.

“She was always incredibly skilled at getting our attention,” you chuckled, letting your mind wander back to the woman you remembered centuries ago. “There was never a dull moment when Agatha was around.”

“I miss her,” she admitted, shoving her head into your neck as her inhumanly sharp teeth scraped the flesh. “I cut her hand… and then I licked it clean. Tasting how mortal she is now is upsetting. I always liked how the purple sparked against my tongue.”

“If you were anyone else, I would mention how unsanitary that is,” you murmured, head tipping as a cool mouth explored the familiar expanse.

“Shut up.”

Tangling your fingers in her hair, you yanked hard and felt the lust rebound through your connection as the low moan met your ears.

-X-

As the dirt and grass shifted, the Road making way for a new witch to sink its proverbial teeth into, a passing thought flickered through Agatha’s mind but she brushed it away with a simple mental wave of her hand.

There’s no possible way. The universe can’t hate me that much.

Watching with bated breath, the newly formed coven gasped as two sets of limbs and bodies began to crawl from the wet soil.

“Oh, you have got to be kidding!” Agatha shouted, years of resentment burning in ocean eyes as you righted yourself from the fresh grave. Her stomach rolled with anguish - guilt, pain - at the brief expression of hurt that crossed your features before you leaned down, offering a hand to your other half and tugging her up from the hole she’d clawed her way out of. “Never mind, the universe does hate me.”

Teen glanced between Agatha and you, his eyes wide with fear and excitement.

“Heard you guys were having a party,” Rio greeted, her usual nonchalance in full bloom as she wandered closer to Agatha, forever drawn like a moth to its doom. “We were in the neighborhood.”

A flower blossomed from her fingers, beautiful in such drab surrounds.

“Surprise,” she gasped, eyes wide and bordering on deranged. “My lady.”

Always in step with your antagonistic lover, you were quick to wrap an arm around Agatha’s waist as she lunged at Rio, glaring at the smug woman pointedly.

“Come now, Agatha, it’s not worth the effort,” you murmured, trying to ignore how your heart fluttered at the close proximity.

She screamed in frustration, wrenching herself from your arms before storming away in a huff. The teenager chased after her, leaving you to stand awkwardly before Agatha’s makeshift coven while Rio petted the massive fucking spider on her jacket.

You might’ve been Lady Life but holy fuck, that thing was huge and kind of freaked you out. All life was important and sacred but it needed to stay far, far away from you.

“What’s up? I’m Rio.” You gagged as she guided the damned thing into her clothes, inching away as her eyes went wide and she crept towards you. “Aw, what’s wrong, baby? He’s sweet.”

“I’m sure,” you responded, stepping backwards warily. “He can be sweet… over there. Away from me.”

She growled playfully, stomping at you and cackling when you scurried back a few steps.

“So, you’re a green witch, huh? B-both of you?” the woman you recognized as Alice Wu-Gulliver. You remembered her poor mother, begging for protection for the young Alice. Watched Rio take Lorna’s soul when the curse overcame her.

“Less a green witch,” Rio replied, tilting her head in such an adorable way that you had to bite your lip to suppress a giggle, “and more the green witch.”

That frightening tone of Death startled the huddled women but you simply rolled your eyes, hooking an arm through Rio’s.

“She’s a green witch. I just came along for the ride, it seems,” you mused, studying the scenery around you curiously. To be standing on The Road, a place forged by Agatha’s lies and quick wit, was not quite what you’d expected when you’d been yanked from your home. It was born from a maelstrom of bullshit and naïve witches believing that power could simply be procured instead of earned.

How is this…

Dark eyes cut in your direction, a similar interest gleaming back.

Strolling down the dirt path, Rio whistled, knocking you into a patterned step-skip combination that was so innocent and bizarre that it made you cackle. You could hear Agatha ahead, speaking with Teen in a semi-quiet manner but your ears were keen to whispers. Despite the unsettling nature of The Road and the lack of understanding how, Rio seemed completely at home in this strange place.

It’s all real, but none of this is natural, she mused, chewing her lip thoughtfully as she peered around. I don’t think any of these witches are capable of changing reality itself but I guess I’ve seen weirder.

“I can’t tell if I hate her or if I want her number,” Jen whispered to the group behind you, nearly swallowing her tongue when Rio abruptly paused to turn and face them. An eerie grin crossed her flawless features and she waved before twisting back in your grasp and continuing onward.

“What a scary bitch,” Lilia breathed.

Should I be worried? you teased, snorting at Rio’s brow rising high.

Before you could blink, she had you shoved against a tree, tongue shoved into your mouth incessantly as she both made her point to the gawking witches and used the opportunity as an excuse to grope you. It was demanding and needy, completely indecent, and by the time she was willing to release you from her clutches, your knees were shaking.

“I-I was kidding,” you said breathlessly, panting as a familiar smirk curled the edges of her lips.

“Oh, I’m aware,” she purred, tugging you away from the still-gaping group and following after your former lover. “But we both know you loved that. You like staking your claim.”

Sliding your hand into her back pocket, you shrugged nonchalantly.

-X-

Standing at the doorway of the music booth, your eyes glided along the lithe form of Agatha Harkness. She looked good, especially in a 70’s outfit that probably would’ve looked weird on just about anyone else. It had been so long since you’d really gotten a moment to just appreciate her. Remember every dip and curve…

“Hey,” you grunted, nodding at Agatha’s drifting hand. “Must everything be a ploy with you?”

Dark eyes flittered to the witch’s wiggling fingers and she snorted, shaking her head. “You never change, do you, Aggie? Nice try, though. I almost bought it.”

“Of course you protect her. Again,” Agatha sneered, venom on her tongue and fury in her eyes at the perceived slight. “All you ever do is protect her. You can’t -”

“Bullshit,” you cut in sharply, glaring at the offended woman you still loved. It was a nightmare ignoring the burning ache in your chest, but you refused to let her grief insult your relationship with them. “I protected you just as fiercely. I went against my nature - my very being for you. So if you want to hate me, fine, but don’t you ever say I didn’t love you just as much I love her. That I wouldn’t have done anything for you. That I didn’t do everything I possibly could for you. And for him.”

Staggering away from your sudden outburst, Agatha stared at you with misty eyes. What you said was true. You both had always treated her as an equal, despite the odd, unending connection you would always share. Once upon a time, it had bothered her, that she would never have that same bond, but you did everything you could to never make her feel like an outsider.

When they’d been driven from town, you willingly killed for her and for Nicky. And for a brief moment, she considered apologizing for downplaying what you had done, for unintentionally spitting in your face, but righteous anger kept her tongue heavy as lead in her mouth.

Unwilling to suffer through your anguish any longer, you stalked out of the room.

“Hate me if you want. Believe whatever bullshit you tell yourself at night, but we fought against every power we could for him,” Rio said softly, watching Agatha’s features shift then harden. “She had to fight even harder than I did. Remember that. The universe and cosmos… they don’t forget. And they rarely forgive.”

-X-

Of fucking course it had to be that song. The bastardized, albeit sweet song-turned-protection-spell that was once Nicky’s creation. Luckily for you - and Rio - the curse haunting Alice didn’t seem to have any interest in the the ladies of Life and Death, so you flopped onto the couch to watch the impromptu jam session with unimpressed disdain. Truthfully, you hated what Agatha had done to the song, marring what innocence your son had left for the world.

I look so hot in this. So do you. Do you think the Road would be mad if you fucked me against that piano?

Shooting Rio a glance, you couldn’t stop the involuntary smile that befell you as she winked from behind the drums.

I think I might need these outfits. We can relive the 70s.

Pay attention to what you’re doing, you scolded. And maybe Agatha won’t die in this sham of a Road. And you hated the 70s.

Maybe that’s what I want, she replied flippantly, finding the beat effortlessly. I’ve been trying to collect her soul for centuries. She should’ve died quite a few times, if someone hadn’t interfered.

I…

I know.

Watching the performance, you couldn’t take your eyes off Agatha. She could hold the world’s attention if she demanded.

It brought you back to raising Nicky. How she would sing him lullabies as he fed, the songs far too mature though they seemed to soothe his moods. The nostalgia was overwhelming and for a moment, you thought you might get sick, before the tangy, metallic scent overtook your nose.

Blinking, you peered over at Teen, watching how he hunched and bowed in pain. You started to stand from your seat, but Rio’s shrewd look sent you crashing back down onto the cushions.

You can’t.

Watching the demon burst into flames, atop Alice’s shoulders, you were the first to meet Teen as his body went limp and he slammed into the floor.

“Oh shit! Teen!”

There was chaos and unfettered panic as everyone began worrying over the unconscious boy. Hands and words and thoughts came together in a crescendo of concern and nothing was truly getting done, other than Agatha snapping at her fellow witches as tears flooded her eyes. Swallowing your discomfort, knowing you probably shouldn’t intervene - that Rio would be less than thrilled by your choice - you stepped into the fray and lifted him with ease. Despite his age, he was a fairly light boy. Very unassuming. Meek.

Agatha shrieked, demanding you release him to one of the other witches, but you ignored her. You looked to Rio, whose eyes darted between you and Teen, before slipping down the stairs tucked within the piano and back onto the Road. His life was fading quickly, crimson dripping from his wound onto the ground beneath your feet and smearing across the fallen leaves.

Settling him on the nearest flat surface, you took two steps back as the coven gathered around him.

Rio took one step forward.

And all you could see was history repeating itself again.

[bvidzsoo]

Cosmically divine

☆ Synopsis: Olympus, the place where Gods play pretend and do as they wish. Dion, the place where mere mortals suffer and do as the Gods wish. One might wonder, is life ever fair? ★ 

☆ Author: bvidzsoo ★ 

☆ Pairing: Ateez members x female reader ★ 

☆ Rating: nsfw, 18+ ★ 

☆ Genre: Greek mythology, dark romance, violence, smut, gore

☆ Status: on-going ★ 

☆ 1. Choi San x female reader ★ 

༄ ҉ 　Underwater ◖Ares x Naiad Nymph!au◗ 

Summary: You knew that your love would never be fulfilled as the man you loved belonged to another woman. But can you help your poor Naiad heart when San, the God of war himself, seeks you out again and again when he is most vulnerable?

☆ 2. Kang Yeosang x female reader ★ 

༄ ҉ 　Marionette ◖Aphrodite!au◗ 

Summary: Doomed from the beginning, your mother, Hera, only saw a weapon in you. If you had once thought she loved you, she proved you wrong the second she cast you away once you failed to kill her enemy's son. Yeosang, Aphrodite's dearest and most prized offspring.

☆ 3. Kim Hongjoong x female reader ★ 

༄ ҉ 　Color of love ◖Hermes x Iris!au◗ 

Summary: If there was a God everyone feared, perhaps it was Zeus. After the continuous abuse he's put you through, you never thought you'd get to live your eternal life peacefully. That is, until the messenger God shows up and whisks you away before Zeus can see and stop him.

☆ 4. Jung Wooyoung x female reader ★ 

༄ ҉ 　Kingdom come ◖Oread Nymph x Dryad Nymph!au◗ 

Summary: Nymphs were nothing but deities that preserved nature and allowed the Gods to love them in return for their blessings. And when Zeus lurks around, you are labelled as his, never to be touched by anyone in the whole cosmos. But can you help yourself when the man he claims is Wooyoung himself? The gorgeous and warm-hearted Oread that coincidentally returns your forbidden feelings for him?

☆ 5. Song Mingi x female reader ★ 

༄ ҉ 　Dead man running ◖Hades!au◗ 

Summary: You were cursed, at least that's what your family thought about you. After a while, you started believing it too, the shadows that whispered to you convincing you that you were either crazy or just...different. And maybe you were, after all, the God of death himself, wouldn't have just called you his little shadow without a reason, right?

☆ 6. Choi Jongho x female reader ★ 

༄ ҉ 　Nightmare ◖Phobos!au◗ 

Summary: Coming from a family that thrived under pressure and mayhem, it was only a matter of time until your father allowed you to join him on the battlefield. But perhaps what set you apart from other warrior families was the fact that each one of you worshiped a God of war. You just happened to make the mistake of offering yourself up to one in exchange for your dear sibling's life.

☆ 7. Jeong Yunho x female reader ★ 

༄ ҉ 　One Kiss ◖Atë!au◗ 

Summary: Cast out of Olympus because Zeus has had enough of the mayhem and craze you created amongst men, living and meddling with mortals changed nothing. You thrived off of stupid men falling to their knees and begging you for attention, promising things no mortal could offer. But when a pure, untouched, and unassuming boy might just fall into your trap, you can't help yourself and entice him just to the point of madness.

☆ 8. Park Seonghwa x female reader ★ 

༄ ҉ 　Moonlight Melody ◖Poseidon!au◗ 

Summary: You always thought the man of your dreams never existed, would never come and whisk you away from this terrible terrible life that you lived. And perhaps when he starts showing up in your dreams, with promises that he'd soon come and see you, you find yourself hoping for a love that only the stars would bear witness to.

☆ A/N: Hello, my lovelies, I am here with a new story, can you believe it?! Because I can't lol, this wasn't supposed to exist but I thought...why not? Updates won't be too frequent, probably, as I have got quite a few others things to write, but I can't wait for you all to see what I have planned here! ^^ These stories won't be too dark, but I felt it necessary to mention dark romance as we're still dealing with some ambiguous topics. Taglist, as usual, is open and you are all very welcomed to comment on this post if you'd like to be added! Thank you for showing love, support, and interest in my works on here, they mean the world to me! <3 divider ★ 

↳Perm. taglist: @orshii @jjoongstar @tinyelfperson @thestarskiller @zuuhaa

@aaa-sia @gong-fourz @a-tinycarat @sooberryworld @hopefulrascalstatesmantoad

@anastasiamin860 @yunhogrippers @vcutparis @tunaasan @blvckarabixnvoid

@yusalterego @arigakittyo @slowee00 @jaerisdiction @hey-syia

@vnessalau @oddracha @chatsgotmytongue @potatos-on-clouds @yunhowooyo

@watermelon2319 @yoongzsmile28

❀ complete the forms if you're interested! ^^

[velvetdolor]

a faint signal | choi san

͙͘͡★Genre: Cosmic nostalgia, fantasy, fluff, cosmic deities, 1980's Hong Kong, episodical. Centered around the Chinese myth of “三星” Sanxing, The Three Star Gods

.͙͘͡★Pairings: Cosmic spirit/ Star child! San x Weary soul! childhood friend reader ͙͙͘͡★WC: 3.4k

͙͘͡★Summary: It’s the year 1982–Hong Kong’s once awe-inspiring neon lights are now a dull visage of what it once was for you in your youth. Drained and dreamless, you find yourself bawling in a telephone booth after every unanswered call, until an old imaginary friend visits you at your lowest. You’re then thrusted into a strange and cosmic reality where the dreams of your youth weren’t so imaginary at all. [theme song] city pop playlist for a faint signals night life ambiance.

͙͘͡★ masterlist.

“Mom, please pick up the phone.” You mumble anxiously and the faint click of the tip of your fingernail peeling into your mouth is the only sound you get in reply. A song of evenly paced beeps echo in the telephone booth. Another answered call. 

A shaky sigh leaves you as you press your back against the cold metallic and filmy encasing of the telephone both– a beat of silence and then a heart wrenching array of sobs wrack through your body. It’s three AM and you know you shouldn’t be surprised by the lack of company.

Is this what adulthood’s meant to be like? The dulling of bright dreams, a sharp knife to the heart after meeting the end of what once felt like a fated love, or the death of illusions that promised happiness once you got the job? You came to Hong Kong five years ago straight out of high school, leaving the small mountainside village you were raised in with hopes of being beautiful enough to make it big and you did. Just as you’d wanted—your face flashed and scattered itself on the biggest screens of the steadily growing metropolis, all pretty and neon with passing eyes glancing in awe, but there was no one to call who’d answer you. 

You couldn’t recall the last time you even called your mom. Over the years her calls dwindled after leaving you enough voicemails that you’d left to stack on your residential phoneline. 

For the next thirty minutes all you do is cry, cry, and cry. Small gibberish phrases falling from your mouth hysterically in a flurry, none making sense in their fragments as you descended from a hot air balloon of barely restricted hysteria

 ‘Ah, Hong Kong!’ You moan sadly.

‘Why, Hong Kong?’ You question sadly.

‘Oh, but my dreams–Hong Kong?’ You accuse sadly. Straining and tugging the word out of your stretched mouth, squished against your palms in sorrow. 

‘Oh, my loneliness.’ you drone and pull at the plump of your cheeks as the bottoms of your eyes stretch downwards strangely. All of the “sadly’s”accumulating and falling onto your lap like a landslide. Poor Hong Kong– what a lovely and bright place to blame for your loneliness. 

‘Mom hates me.’ You go silent at that one, recognizing that you really didn’t have to say that to yourself. Your body slumps a bit and the previous volume of your fresh blowout seemed to flatten alongside your sadness. God, you needed to get a grip. 

A small knock startles you and you quickly spring up to wipe away at the remnants of your tears. You quickly open the door without realizing to see what was standing so close to it. A small ‘oof!’ causes your eyes to widen as you catch the sight of a young man falling back and onto his ass. 

You’re frozen for a singular moment, gripping onto the handle until your knuckles were pale before coming back to reality with an array of blubbers. 

“Oh Christ! Are you okay?” You flounder to where the man sat as he laughed. The first thing you noticed was how free and kind his laugh sounded. 

It seemed to bubble out of him, and he didn’t stop its melody for a while. His dark bangs, which originally obscured his features framed his face boyishly– tousled carelessly and he looked like an absolute dream. A dream that wore a Hawaiian button up under an oversized blazer at least, and he rises from the floor to dust his high waisted blue jeans. “I’m still in good shape.” He reaches a hand up to try and stifle another chuckle. There was something about the glimmer in his eyes that felt so familiar to you, an almost unrealistic light casting and bouncing off you like comets falling from his eyes. His feline features took in your form, almost amusedly. The sharpness of his face made your tummy spark. 

He stands in front of you, tucking his hands in his pockets while tilting his head to gaze at you, bangs falling into his eyes. After a couple beats of silence, you shuffle your feet, suddenly a little shy. 

“Sorry for hogging the booth. Uh, it’s all yours now.” You almost slap yourself at how you raised your arms to point to the side, bowing a little, feeling a little bit like a flight attendant. He maintains a mischievous and mysterious smile, staying silent as he gazed at you. After a few more awkward shuffles from your end you bubble “Do I know you?” 

“I dare to say that I know you much better than you know me.” He instantly replies and a weird sense that it had a double meaning blooms inside of you. At your strange look, he shakes his head and takes a step back, inhaling deeply. What he does next initially complexes you before aghast astonishment replaces it quickly. 

The man suddenly bows, right arm tucked elegantly against his lower abdomen, left arm flattening itself against his side before he dances a lonely waltz. He cradles the air as his makeshift companion as he hums a lighthearted tune, glistening with laughter as he whirls around you before stopping to lean towards you at eye level. “Ring a bell?” He quirks another smile, joy filling his gaze.

You’re immediately transported to a flurry of memories from your childhood at the mountain side– of sneaking away on most summer nights to sit and dream by the river that ran its course near your home. These moments were the genesis dreams of love, fame, and big city wonders. You’d talk to yourself often until the day came and you’d created your very own companion: a friend you’d named San, an obvious name for a child to pick when she was raised on the mountain. In San you found a friend, a dreamer, a confidant, and at times– a dance partner. Strangely, at the time you never questioned how vivid he was; despite knowing he was an imaginary friend. At the stroke of a memory, you digest the man’s features, noticing all of the ways he bared matured similarities. 

You were positively floored.

Have you actually, officially lost it? You couldn’t let the name slip out of your mouth, fearing that it’d only confirm your mania. You fought against it, grinding your teeth, and pushing out strangled and strange expressions that only seemed to lighten him before you caved to your own hilarity.

“S-san?” It’s almost as if the lights around you brightened 

“Atta girl, I knew you wouldn’t forget.” He smooths out his words, finally breaking away from his comfortable but close stance to your body, hands resting casually in his pockets once more. 

Was he real the entire time or did you finally spiral out of control? 

San could practically see your thoughts, tsking with a finger wagging at you. “No, no, no– don’t do that. I see you still have that habit hm?”

You exhale in disbelief “San, how are you real? You were a figment of my...” trailing off to gaze at him in bewilderment. 

“Not everything’s as it seems. Being here and feeling like this in the Hong Kong you’ve always dreamt of should’ve taught you that, right?” You’re stunted at his words. While he’s not wrong, it still didn’t make sense to you, but you didn’t even know what questions to ask. 

Another couple beats of silence.

San breaks it by grabbing your wrist, breaking out into a run, and you try to keep up despite fearing that your kitten heels might get caught in a crack on the sidewalk. “Where are we going?!” You shout at him, huffing for air

San replies simply, laughing with his head pointing to the sky”–We’re going to get noodles!”

You couldn’t find it in yourself to question him anymore. Not with how the wind seemed to curl around his midnight hair like a blanket of stars

Hong Kong is a flurry of buzzing and neon golds, greens, reds, and oranges– girls with big hair and red lips laugh arm in arm, and you hear Anita Mui’s ‘Oh no, Oh yes!’ playing from the patio of an open bar where people drank merrily while eating various street foods, and celebrating life or accomplishments–maybe even the mere ability of existing amongst other people. The colors flash and flow like watercolors as you run with San, suddenly girlish in laughter as you think of how nonsensical this all was. 

You pass by a long array of lanterns and plastic coverings of what’s typically a morning fish market and land at a lonely restaurant where an old woman hummed as she shuffled a stack of plates to the kitchen. There’s a dim blue sign buzzing by its entrance, its characters reading out ‘Sanxing’.

The three Star Gods. 

You gaze at it for a moment longer as San meanders in, bellowing out “Auntie!”

A loud “Ah?!” is immediately thrown out from the back of the restaurant, the old woman having trouble clearly hearing and recognizing the voice. She shuffles out with a slightly hunched posture, wiping her hands against her apron before brightening. “San!”

She tries to speed up but San practically flutters to where she stood and leaned down so she could hold his cheeks in her hands as she cooed. 

“It’s been so long, my little star.” You see their resemblance in the glistening of her eyes– both unbelievably cosmic and you were entranced by their shared beauty. She fleetingly glances behind him to rest her widened eyes on you

“Is that the one you’ve been watching–” She starts, words skittering out of her in comical alarm before she’s interrupted by San’s hand shooting up to gently cover her mouth, pulling her back into the kitchen with a strong whisper “We haven’t gotten to that part yet!”

A strand of hair sticks out directly from your bed of hair, frazzled at the sudden pace of events as you stand alone at the center of the empty restaurant. 

Two bowls of piping hot noodles are placed in front of you–fragrant and steaming in the night air as you sit outside of the noodle shop on plastic chairs set beside a lonely and small glass table. San’s aunt grins at the two of you, watching as you gaze excitedly at her plating and listens to the sound of your happy slurping of the knife cut noodles. 

“Enjoy, my little stars.” She says as she practically dances away, bowed posture and all.

San’s eyes curl into little moons as he watches you eat. His heart warmed by the fact that he’s finally seeing you eat from this angle and can witness the act in detail versus his typical view of your (adorable) hair whirl. He finally picks up his spoon to gather a bit of broth, unable to stop his eyes from gazing back at you from sheer habit. 

As you simmer down and relax, savoring the taste of each deliberate spice and notes of anise resting on your tongue, you finally speak. 

“San, if you were… real all this time, where did you go?” 

San pauses, eyes unblinking, though he still maintained his gentle candor. He settles down his spoon slowly, deliberating what to say.

You weren’t really sure when it really happened. You never questioned the slow disintegration of your imaginary friend– his existence naturally washed away with time by the idea of outgrowing the age necessary to have one. If San was real, why did he disappear? Why was he there on the mountain and unknown to everyone in such a small village with the exception of you?

“I’ve always watched over you.” He starts, fiddling with his fingers. “You’ve probably picked up on the strangeness of it all. Though I wasn’t imaginary, my being there was a curious situation. I think I can only say it outrightly, since there doesn’t seem to be another way to explain.” His tone is naturally playful, you’ve noticed. Though his eyes told him that the following words weren’t a joke, he couldn’t help the lightness he carried.

“I’m one of the many, many sons of a Star God. In some ways, I’m a spirit and in others– I’m not. It’s a gift I have– the ability to be corporeal is because I’m from his direct lineage. We’re called Cosmic Deities, Spirits, and so on– human’s also call us stars. Our lives are encompassed by a constant playing with the nighttime amongst each other or watching humans in their daily lives.” You listen in fascination. Although there was a fleeting moment when you thought you were eating with an egregiously insane man– you were able to see his earlier mysteries for yourself. Though you chalked it down and gave too much credit to your creative mind before this happened and were instantly humbled by the realization. San smiles at your attentive eyes, glad that there didn’t seem to be much disbelief or concern for his sanity in your eyes (He saw a little, but it wasn’t a concerning amount.)

 “I was born around the same time as you were and placed above the mountain you were raised in. My father was always busy, and my older brothers were all placed in other areas of the night sky. Young stars are instructed to stay in one place; else they’d be too wild to contain and keep track of. As lovely as the mountain was, it was so boring to be there on my own, and on one fateful night… I saw a girl around my age talking to herself and the sky. I watched her for a couple of weeks before I broke the rules and snuck down onto the mountain. That’s where I met you–just in time to feed into your delusions.” He laughs when you reach to smack him across the table.

You raise an eyebrow in disbelief “So, you’re a… star that used to watch me?”

He picks his chopsticks back up, stuffing his face with noodles before replying with his mouth full “Yeah, pretty much.” While you’d grimaced at the sight of him talking through noodles, you couldn’t deny there was something about San that inspired adoration from everything. It made sense that he was the literal body of a star. 

Slurping up his last noodle, he inhales deeply, cradling his full stomach and patting twice. 

“Wanna go somewhere fun?” He asks casually and before you could even reply, a bright chrome light fills your vision. 

“What the hell?” You panic a bit, straining the bulge of your eyes at San– astonished that he didn’t even consider if your little human mind could fathom what you’re seeing without passing out.

A shell like and nearly holographic prism surrounds you as different streams of color and light move in different directions and speeds. It’s what was frighteningly below you that floored you above even the beauty of it all– small glimmers and remnants of Hong Kong’s city skyline flicker and ember, except the skyline wasn’t so skyline from how high up you were.

San grins mischeiviously, almost catlike in its curl.  His bangs sway a bit in that strangely charming and gamine way “You technically shouldn’t be up here, but I think you needed to get out of there–” He points down at Hong Kong “—for a little bit.”

A stunned silence and a small twitch of your eye ends up morphing into unrestrained laughter. The disbelief was palpable, and you didn’t know you’d end your lonely night in a blanket of stars. San grabs your hand and pulls you towards him before asking “You still remember how to dance, little star?” 

In reply, you sway into his arms and allow him to spin you along the prisms of flowing light– the both of you beaming silver with laughter.

A small yawn leaves your body, and San suddenly realizes that humans are usually only awake during the hours of the Sun. He bristles a little at the thought, hating that the Sun got to see you even more than he did. He just hopes the man wasn’t watching you in particular. 

He stands there wanting to savor this rare moment of being able to finally envelop you in his arms, and he does, until he tugs you away softly. “It’s time for you to flicker off, Star. It seems to we’ve passed your bedtime.” A boyish smile graces the beauty of his face, and your eyes linger on the dimples of his cheeks, settling like craters on the moon. 

Though you were tired, you were scared of this being an official goodbye. Now in finally knowing San, there’d be no way he’d be able to disappear from memory and were lonely at the thought of never seeing him again. Your stomach is gaunt at the idea. “Will I see you again?” You ask, eyes glazing over with a small and hopeful light.

“Oh, I’ll be around. Have no doubt about that.” He turns, still glancing at you with a small and boyish half-smile gracing features, as a chrome light shimmers against his body– all cosmic and God-like before turning back to you after a brief thought. San leans his head down to grin at you with the joy of omnipresent eyes, slowly dimming his lids to place a brief and chaste kiss onto your lips.

He smiles and you swear somewhere a star’s been born before lightly saying “I’ve always wanted to do that.” Before a metallic gleam dressed his body and everything goes black.

You wake up pressed against the cold window outside of a noodle shop close to closing. A few slips of cash were slipped under a blue glass of water, shimmering in a way that reminded you of the mountain side. Despite remembering you’d just left wherever San had taken you in the cosmos now– disbelief ran its course through you. 

That couldn’t have been real. There’s no way.

A small loneliness creeps its way up your throat. It wasn’t real and you spent and ended the night alone, just as you’d initially expected–with a cheek sliding embarrassingly down a small noodle shops foggy window with only the blinking of a neon light accompanying you.

Gazing at the cash, you fleetingly wonder if someone had paid the bill as an act of being a good samaritan, until you peered closely. The stray coins looked… strange.

Star shaped pieces of silver, a bit rustic and seemingly chewed on at the edges by the teeth shaped indentations, and under them laid a small scrawled on receipt paper, flapping in the breeze.

Scrunching your brows, you unfold the note and finally notice that an empty bowl of noodles sat directly across your own. 

It was simple really but nothing else needed to be said as a smile shuttered onto your face.

‘Look up.’

You do and catch a glimpse of a small flicker from your favorite star, as if it were waving.

siren’s notes/blip: While I could’ve set this story in South Korea, I’ve been feeling a lot of nostalgia for the films I watched growing up that were based in Hong Kong. This was supposed to be a little writing exercise for me and then it just expanded into this little idea. There isn’t necessarily a concrete story line, as that’s not really the intention of this drabble. This was a longer piece since I wanted to set the scene or provide some backstory before it got episodical. I was trying to write chapter two of the thrill of the hunt but struggled with having frustration with plotline stitching and needed to take a break and just started writing this– which was a random idea but will more than likely be going into my short story manuscripts.

I kind of just wanted to write something that felt like sudden magic and plan on writing little episodes about this cosmic pair and the lovely starlight owner of Sanxing. I hope that if you read this, you’d enjoyed it. 

Another semi-related fact about my choice of setting the story is that I’m moving overseas next year to attend a university in Bangkok but am planning to travel to another city for a tiny bit before the semester begins. I was stuck between going to Busan/Seoul, Jiufen (Taiwan), and of course– Hong Kong. I wanted to daydream a little and so here we are.

This series was inspired by the instrumental "a faint signal" by infinity frequencies. Let me know how you liked it. :)

p.s as any reoccurring readers could tell—i really like using this photo of san

[daisukoth]

So you know how i was saying that I'm hoping susie gets her own set of horrors?

Well, so far she has:

1) watched ralsei have an existental crisis and how she should stop caring about him and the other darkners

2) was having a heartfelt convo with tenna before the knight showed up and tenna got ripped to shreds

3) nearly got the snot beaten out of her by the knight

4) had to deal with her crush's abusive mother and not only likely triggering her own trauma but also be unable to help her crush

5) we find out she wasnt allowed to learn how to play an instrument

6) we find out she knows how to clean up blood?????????????????

7) felt bad about her ability to heal for like, half a chapter

8) her best friend is part of a conspiracy and is working against her (I know kris probably means no harm but like that still sucks, they clearly care about her and their friendship is really cute but they are clearly working against her and intentionally keeping that fact in the dark)

9) find the remains of a dead person, a dead person she was just talking with earlier and bonded with

10) gets told to pass a note from him to his son from beyond the grave

11) said old dead guy then tries to beat her up but for real because she tried to bring him from the dead a second time and he came back wrong (SERIOUSLY THAT WAS FUCKED MY POOR GIRL)

12) tries to heal the old man, then fcuking sees WHAT LOOKS LIKE HIS SKELETAL ANIMATED REMAINS

13) WATCHES RALSEI DISINTEGRATE THOSE REMAINS

14) Watch ralsei have another breakdown

15) something about the prophecy is fucked and shes GOING to find out even tho ralsei doesnt want her to and not even tho she doesnt want to anymore (my prediction is that shes not the monster from the prophecy, considering she looks nothing like the picture and we had a whole scene where susie talks about how she has never been picked for something before, there is a reason she can keep going "off script" she's not even part of it)

16) the knight beats her abd her friends up again! While theyre trying to make it up to the knight

17) gets laughed at by the knight

18) WITNESSES A COSMIC GOD BEYOND HER COMPREHENSION AND HAD TO FIGHT IT

19) nearly dies for real multiple times

20) OH BTW POINT 15? I WROTE THAT BEFORE GETTING TO THE END. She still gets flashbanged by that infohazard despite Ralsei's attempts. She acts like she isnt affected by it but the fact it fucked with her bad enought that she smashed it with her own hand rather than with her axe? My girl got a taste of forbidden knowledge and its fucking with her BAD (enough for her to smear the blond on ralsei's face and not even realise, dear lord, these kids are giving the vibes of a doomed sburbs session)

21) begins to hear the song from the sea the infohazard is DEFINETLY getting to her

22) has to witness sans and toriel doing... that (what? That counts as a horror! )

23) is so fucked from all that she decides to go to... wherever she lives despite how we have SEEN how she prefers to stay at kris's house

24) despite hwo kris obviously wants to follow her, because whatever conspiracy they are involved with they cant, so she doesnt even get to have the comfort of kris joining her as she goes back to wherever she lives

25) she has to go to her shitty "home" that she doesnt even refer to as home in the rain, shes gonna get soaked and cold

...

At least susie got to fight with gerson (the real one) one more time?

Man, i cant believe that i was worried that susie wouldnt get much focus

Anyway I BETTER see everyone love and appriaciate susie now, as I continue to do so

I am intrested in the weird route but i gotta marianate over susie horrors before i can digest white girl horrors i mean noelle horrors (not to be mean to noelle but you know... Love her a lot and im glad she and susie got to have a cute hang out together but I'm glad susie got a lot of time in the spotlight)

(Also noelle is so fucking rich, God. Enough noelle is intimated by susie fics I need more susie gets intimidated by noelle's fucking house fics. I remember when I was little visiting my crush's house for her birthday party and realising that she is a lot richer than I thought, that's shit is scary. Really efficient at making you feel out of place. Especially if you're susie and you get direct confirmation from your crush's mom that you're not welcome)

God susie has so many sad, defeated, stressed out, pained expressions these two chapters

This is like when I saw Battler's crying sprite in umineko and went "damn okay i guess i feel for him no" except im already attached to susie because shes susie so this hurts 10000000000000x more

Also she says dunked on as she jumps into the titans face cavity with kris, I love her

I understand why toby was so exausted from keeping susie from the world

ALSO WDYM TOBY? WDYM CHAPTER 5 IS COMING IN 2026??? I NEED TIME TO PROCESS

HELL FUCK YES. SUSIE FANS ATE SO GOOD THIS CHAPTER!! A REAL SMORGASBORD!!!

I cant believe I almost lost faith in that dog.... I knew Toby was gonna deliver in the actual game!!!! Susie is fr becoming the protagonist of the game atp.. And its completely deserved. MY GOAT! MY KING!!

edit: Yeah im also taking a long break before checking in the weird route. The one thing I saw disturbed me so bad I felt sick and needed a break. I am definitely not playing this myself. >(Also noelle is so fucking rich, God. Enough noelle is intimated by susie fics I need more susie gets intimidated by noelle's fucking house fics. I remember when I was little visiting my crush's house for her birthday party and realising that she is a lot richer than I thought, that's shit is scary. Really efficient at making you feel out of place. Especially if you're susie and you get direct confirmation from your crush's mom that you're not welcome) THIS IS SO REAL! nobody explores enough the class difference here, its very interesting to me. Like, Susie talking about how she needed to steal the game from lost and found to play, while Noelle owns so many of the games... And Noelle offering the game to her, and asking if she wants to do all the stuff she cant afford with her.. They're cute..

>This is like when I saw Battler's crying sprite in umineko and went "damn okay i guess i feel for him no" except im already attached to susie because shes susie so this hurts 10000000000000x more LOL SAME

>I understand why toby was so exausted from keeping susie from the world FMKALSMGLAGKA YEAH. I WAS TIRED OF WAITING, BUT I CAN ONLY IMAGINE HOW TOBY FELT, NOT EVEN BEING ABLE TO FORESHADOW ANYTHING IN THE WEB EVENTS

[11queensupreme11]

Scrolling through your blog feeds my brainrot so well.. So many references/Easter eggs, especially w/ your arsenic blue + associated tags 😩 Hsr?? Diabolik Lovers?? I've been hit with nostalgia so hard... Imagining Percy and the Percy kids in these respective universe... The power scaling would be such heavy diff 😭 In HSR, Percy would be a whole phenomena, depending on the kids they would be whole ass Aeons!!! The lore would be crazy, especially to the characters in the HSR-verse, the potential encounters there.. Some of the Beel kids especially.. genuine eldritch entities there, cosmic horror on a scale previously unknown to any poor trailblazers that happen across poor Percy's spawn.. Imagine them appearing out of nowhere and just terrorising the whole Hoyoverse with their ineffable presence. Lore accurate (to arsenic blues which is somehow more terrifying than actual ROR canon to me) ROR entities would be horrifying to HSR. Trailblazers would be shook, the Herta Spaxe station would be working overtime to figure out what the fuck these absolute fucking lovcraftian horrors are and where they came from... The Genius Society would be stumped, exhilarated and scared shitless if they had any sense (serves them mfs right, they're sleeping on my man Ratio, crisis deserved). If Percy had any level of interaction with literally any faction in HSR she'd probably be so apologetic.. If she was inclined to let slip that those absolute, universe level threats were actually her children. That she physically gave birth to ☠️ what an exchange to have..

Genshin has been mentioned before, even in the fic itself, so they would be extra fucked if they were doomed with Percys fucked up family trees intervention. So much worse than HSR because Genshin takes place on Teyvat which is a single planet, and from what's available in the lore rn, unless Celestia is secretly goated (not that we'd know because they're so elusive about what the hell Celestia even is) they're extra extra extra fucked with the power scaling. Genshin 'Gods'(/Archons) are NOT comparable to ROR Gods in theeee SLIGHTEST 😭

I watched Diabolik Lovers when I was like twelve, and somewhat recently revisited it and looked deeper than just the anime, so there are more factors to a potential crossover with that universe depending on how much of the lore you've consumed and wether you've seen translations of the games (they have banger character songs for Diabolik Lovers btw, I didn't know they existed at first but they do and they're actually really good. I'd recommend Kill You Again, an Azusa song bc hes my fave, my baby boy, my poor little masochistic meow meow ❤️‍🩹🗡). But I digress - I can see the Percy kids going to that universe for shots and giggles, with how haughty the Sakamaki's/Mukamis behave it would be so satisfying to see them get shat on by their power levels being dwarfed, #justiceforYui. I can imagine some Percy kids would infiltrate their universe and start attending their night school or something just to torment them 💀

The closest thing Diabolik Lovers have to a god (that we know of) is Karlehinz Sakamaki, who's the Vampire King and yada yada, he's very powerful in the lore, because I know I've seen somewhere that, while his kids backstories and abuses are way worse in the actual lore than the anime, they were deliberately engineered to be that way because he kept fucking rewinding time, specifically in Cordelias case (mother of the triplets) until she behaved exactly the way he wanted her to to break their kids so that the only form of love they could ever know was the 'love' they'd inevitably feel for Yui. It wasn't really expanded on in the anime aside from the vague references to 'Eve' and picking an 'Adam', but the whole purpose was to have one of the vamps procreate with Yui to conceive a new species, it was also something to do with some disease call Endzeit I think? That wiped out a whole species of demons (I could be mistaken about those two things being connected, but I know the disease exists in the lore and the demons were wiped out, just no lt sure if the disease is the direct cause)- which is what the vampires actually are, they're just a specific clan of demons, I think related to bats, which is why they resemble vampires.

Karlheinz also has some freaky relatives called Shin and Carla, the werewolf (yes, they are actually vampires, shh) dudes who very briefly showed up in the anime who were never expanded on because there were no more seasons. They were part of the race that was wiped out - First Bloods - and have an obsession with restoring their race or whatever (Carla wants to cure Enzeit as well because, oopsie, it appears he has that exact terminal illness, RIP) so they'd definitely have a particular interest in any Percy kids that happened to pop into their dimension because who better to repopulate with than the exact kind of superior race they're trying to propagate??

There are so many plot bunnies here.. So many maladaptive daydreams you have manifested for me.. Ty, Queen 😩😭 Also sorry for infodumping??? You triggered my hyperfixation I only realised the absolute bible of text I've saddled you with after I've typed it all.. also I am sleep deprived and probably oversharing. I'm so sorry 😀🥹🔫 I hope you enjoyed my unhinged raving tho

ANON I LOVE YOU SO MUCH FOR ALL OF THIS. I GOT UR OTHER ASKS TOO AND THEY'RE AMAZING SIDFAISV IFV 💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖

you got my crossover juices going 👅

the hsr AU got me thinking of the differences between ror gods and the aeons and it's lowkey like the pjo gods and ror (arsenic blues specifically) gods with the whole freedom thing 💔💔 aeons have even LESS freedom than pjo gods 💔 they quite literally have no choice but to follow their paths. nanook must destroy, qlipoth must preserve, lan must hunt, yaoshi must give in abundance, etc. etc. meanwhile our favorite gods represent their domains yes, but they're not TIED DOWN by it. plus, aeons are soooo distant from their people, meanwhile if the percy babies were to get yoinked to that universe, they WILL be direct and up in your face just for shits and giggles 😭😭😭

(also the slander for the genius society SCREW THEM, THEY DON'T DESERVE DR. RATIO ANYWAYS, HE'S TOO GOOD FOR THEM 😌)

AND LMAO POOR PERCY'S GONNA HAVE A HARD TIME IF HER MANY MANY CHILDREN GOT YOINKED TO THE HSR UNIVERSE CUZ THERE'S SO MANY PLANETS THEY COULD BE IN 😭😭😭 she's gonna have to work overtime, getting to each one and dragging their asses back home and trying to fix their mess 😭 she probably has apology speeches prepared for each damn planet already too 😭😭😭 honestly, she'd probably want to recruit her husbands to help her out, but depending on the yan, the punishment they'd give the kids might be a little TOO much so perhaps she's better off tackling this on her own.....

(she better pray she gets home FAST tho cuz if the yans get worried, they WILL come after her 💀)

and the genshin au! it's been way too long since i played so i can't say much, but she'd absolutely LOVE fontain cuz it's the water place and wish she could vacation there but noooo she has to stop her dumbass kids from destroying teyvat smh 🤦‍♀️ anyway, i can imagine her fawning over the hydro characters cuz she's always been a sucker for water people (ariel, aquaman, squirtle, etc etc.) she always favors any character water-related lol so that'd extend to any teyvat ppl that can manipulate water. she'd think it's the coolest thing ever for humans to do that! (unlike a certain sea god LMAO)

OMG YOU'RE A FELLOW DIABOLIK LOVERS VETERAN TOO OMG HIIIIII 💖💖💖💖 oh man percy's more meaner kids would shit on the diabolik boys so bad 😭😭 vampires, werewolves, demons, etc.? they already got that and several variations of them back home and they're usually considered lesser creatures in the hierarchy while the gods are, ofc, at the top (they'd at least be above humans tho lol)

and holy shit "so they'd definitely have a particular interest in any Percy kids that happened to pop into their dimension because who better to repopulate with than the exact kind of superior race they're trying to propagate??"

I FEEL LIKE THEY GOT THE BEST CHANGE TO REPRODUCE WITH ROZALTHA CUZ SHE'S THE ONE LOOKING FOR A HUSBAND 😭😭 the issue with that is... well.... rozaltha's crazy af 😭 whoever her "husband" is MUST be what she likes 24/7 and the boys definitely aren't it.

laito would cheat on her and she'd kill him. ayato would say something mean to her OR cheat and she'd kill him. kanato's too impatient and he'd probably try to kill her, lose, and get killed himself. shu's too lazy to do anything romantic and she'd get heartbroken and kill him. reiji's a jerk, so he's dead too. subaru's got anger issues and would snap at her, and die for it. azusa's self harm would make her panic and lose it and she'll eventually kill him out frustration. kou has a shit ton of fans that he needs to appeal to, so she'd kill him out of jealousy (and the fans). yuma's too snappy so he's dead. shin's an asshole too, so he's dead. carla and ruki might last the longest tho

(there's also apparently another sakamaki bro that got introduced later on, but idk much about him 💔)

(ask from 💫 anon; doing this so i can easily go back and read these cuz i enjoy them lol)

[lauren-no-why]

@selfchiller your poor account but I love that this workaround always works!

I'll direct you to the birds one I just did (it's birds of prey, not all birds, but I do have to get work done eventually today and to be honest these are still basically my top 5 birds anyway).

So! Top 5 LH tracks! Oh man. Well, you all know my biases by now.

Ancient Names (both parts, because they go together, but part 1 if I'm forced to separate them). This is the song I credit with me actually being part of the fandom here. I had heard all of Strange Trails before I heard Vide Noir, and I liked Strange Trails well enough, but the implications of dark ancient horror mysteries in this song along with the rock (it just sounds so damn good, Miguel's bassline holy shit) is what made me stick around and start asking questions about what exactly was going on in this music. I don't think there's anything else like it but if anyone else knows of cosmic horror jams like this one please let me know.

Until The Night Turns. I have so many thoughts about this song I wrote a whole fic about them. For whatever reason it's super rare to find other people who count this song among their top favorites, but I love it so much. Again, great little rock tune, but it does SO MUCH to give us worldbuilding and characterization. Poor Johnnie tripping so hard he sees his own end coming and wants to just party while he's still alive anyway? I mean, come on. That's so good.

Way Out There. What? It's not a Phantom Riders track?? No I love that this and Yawning Grave are included as Traditional rather than being given an artist - that alone tells us so much about this world, that these are the sorts of old tunes that are so well-loved they've been passed down long enough for the original writers to have been forgotten. And this song in particular appeals to me for my love of the mysteries and the unknown, and the desire to explore as much as I can while I have the time. Plus, it has Miguel on theremin and that automatically makes it a top tier tune.

Vide Noir. I am SUCH a sucker for a dark tragedy, that's consistently a thing I love in fiction, and this song for sure exemplifies it. Presumably this is written in honor of Johnnie, and I just can't fathom what Dale goes through when learning not just that he died but how it happened and then writing a song like this in response. It's utterly heartbreaking and gorgeous. The AFWP version is extra trippy and haunting at the same time. This one is the real tragedy to me that closes out the album - I love you too, Emerald Star, I love you a lot, but Buck's failure is not quite as sad to me as the memorial to a kid lost too soon to murder via overdose.

Lonesome Dreams. Spectacular title track and another one that seems like it gets overlooked a lot. Huron is such an interesting character to me, and his realization here that he has been to the land of the dead before and will return again is so fascinating to me. This is where I realized that this album has something more going on in it than it appears to have on the surface - this isn't just the story of some explorer in the midwest setting off for adventure, but rather that there's some kind of haunting personal cycle he's going through where life and death may both be temporary states and that he possibly can retain memories from one cycle to the next.

[lvrstrsh]

the way this song is so fitting for the three arcane ships (caitvi, jayvik, timebomb) omg?? maybe not so much caitvi but during their breakup era yes a little bit.

"you're the best thing to ever happen to me but also the worst thing to ever happen to me. on that day when i met you, maybe i would rather that it never happened to me" is SOOOOOO JAYVIK CODED I'M ACTUALLY GONNA JUMP OUT A FUCKING WINDOW JAHHSWQO. viktor saved jayce from killing himself, helped him achieve his life's goal to channel magic. alternatively, jayce helped viktor to be more than just an assistant, gave him purpose and did with hextech what viktor always wanted to do: help people. HOWEVER, them meeting ultimately led to their deaths (actually erm i refuse to believe they're dead and prefer to believe they're in some higher form of existence giving each other cosmic backshots 💜). them meeting helped bring hextech to the world which, as it happens, was the beginning of the end. the formation of the hexcore, viktor turning into robotic jesus, starting the cult, the formation of the anomaly that sent jayce to the ruined dimension (poor guy also lost his mind) so although jayce was able to fulfill his life's dream, it also was the thing that ruined him. if they never met, this all could've been avoided, which is easily seen in the dimension ekko & heimerdinger were sent to. they were best friends, equals in the sense of intellect and generally just two halves of one whole (saw someone on insta relate them to the sin²x + cos ²x = 1 formula and gen crashed the fuck out) hence, the best and worst thing to ever happen to each other.

"why does hearing your name hurt me when it hides right there in the vicinity? what kind of emotion, is it hatred or pure sweetness when i hear your name?" we all know ekko and powder were childhood friends. due to a series of unfortunate events, powder was taken under silco's care — the same person who was the cause of vander's and benzo's death (who were like father figures to ekko). powder became jinx and was working for silco, who was using shimmer to exploit his own people. as ekko grew up, all he did was work to defeat the purpose jinx was working for. imagine how much it must hurt for him to know someone who meant sm to him is doing all this to his people. her name brings bitterness, but also the sweet press of memories of simpler times. then, obviously, ekko was sent to the other dimension. saw that other dimension have everything he ever wanted (except vi ☹️). powder was still HIS powder. his life was playing out just the way he wanted. however it wasn't REAL. he got a glimpse of what could've been. in that dimension ekko and powder grew up to fall in love. imagine coming from your reality where you're enemies, and the being sent to this one where you're lovers. but you can't stay, no matter how happy it makes you. he got a taste of the sweetness that could've been. then he had to go BACK to his reality, where he saw the same girl he could've fallen in love with try to kill herself. and, afterwards, when you've basically saved the world, you're left all alone and are led to believe she's dead (uhm which she's not trust 🙏)

i don't think i have to explain the 'worst of all blessings, the best of all curses' verse in relation to both the ships because AHHHHHWJWJWJWIWIWIWJSIQIQJWIIWIWSIJQIDBCIAOJW

alright guys anyways thank u for coming to my ted talk 😁

[sulphuricgrin]

THE MOOT

Get to know the mutual

thank you for the tags: @oblivions-dawn and @pocket-vvardvark 💚💚💚💚

No pressure, of course, but I'd love to learn about you guys (sorry if you've done it and I missed it!): @hircines-hunter @lathepoquerose @flynnlives @flycasual @orfeoarte

@yewphoric @skyrim-forever @nyarevar @kiir-do-faal-rahhe

@bougainvillea-and-saltwater @hadvarandralof @bookworm-driven-insane @poor-ciceros-voring-again

@aleielle-of-roshar @illumiera @kathartic-kat @atomicgardenersheep

Currently reading: I've got 3 books I'm rotating through, depending on my mood at the time:

The King In Yellow by Robert W Chambers (did you know it influenced Lovecraft on his cosmic horror stories??)

The Book of Bill (I'm enjoying decoding the ciphers! :3)

Letters from a Stoic by Seneca

Last song I listened to: Level Clear by Tom Cardy

Last series: Fringe; currently rewatching it! One of the few sci-fi shows I LOVE

Last Movie: Maybe Deadpool and Wolverine?

Currently watching: HasanAbi on YT (Been watching a lot of Veritasium before bed lol)

Sweet/savoury/spicy?: I like both sweet and savory. I do love spicy too, especially when it's Indian food 🤤

Relationship status: Single and very happy for it

Favorite color: Green or Purple

Current obsession: Elder Scrolls (forever will be), Gravity Falls, Arcane

Weirdly fixating on what Summerset Isles's climate is like based off the flora (and fauna) on the islands

Tea or coffee: Tea! I don't like the taste of coffee nor can my body handle its caffeine content. And there's so so many delightful kinds of teas and combination of flavors!

Last thing I googled: Falconry Gauntlets

[the-amazing-boop]

My track by track first impressions for Unreal Unearth (with some contextualized thoughts of the singles)

De Selby Part 1 - straight into the lullabies playlist. Just perfect.

De Selby Part 2 - perfect fade in from Part 1. I couldn't have dreamt up a better, more subtle transition. Still my current creature comfort.

First Time - oh, ffs, it's bluesy and sad. Lethal combination. This might be another one on repeat later. Ow. Ouch, ow. THE FINAL TIME YOU CALLED ME "BABY". Wtf. I see why some of y'all were cussing him out on here.

Francesca - my beloved. Brutal to have this follow First Time, though. Mentally two-stepping through the tears. The bellowing at the outro still has the power to ascend me despite my replaying.

I,Carrion - another certified heartbreaker for the lullabies playlist. She's Greek, she's cosmic, she's pure love.

Eat Your Young - I am once again solidified in my conviction to refuse having children in this fucked up world. Y'all be safe.

Damage Gets Done (feat. Brandi Carlile) - Okay guitar lick! Oh the voices belting together in harmony is hitting me. I'm getting really 2010s feelings I haven't felt in forever. I feel the sudden urge to forgive myself. He's back at it again with the choral work, CAN I LIVE??

Who We Are - and just like that, I'm back on my emo shit. He really went for emotional whiplash in terms of song ordering, huh? Not me literally listening to this while engulfed in a dark room as well. Another one I'll have to repeat, I fear.

Son of Nyx - oh fuck. Oh no. Not the piano dragging along. And no words. THE CUTOFF. THE STRINGS. THE VOCALIZATIONS. It's definitely a warning. Shit's about to start hurting for real. It's so haunting and gorgeous.

All Things End - Hello, old friend, my first favorite. I'm terrified of what follows you. It was bad enough watching the man "die" on the table (my hands are in the air to receive the gospel).

To Someone From A Warm Climate (Uiscefhuarithe) - fucking hell. Just devastating. Idk how much more I can take.

Butchered Tongue - this hits like crazy if you have any connection to a diaspora that was nearly erased or just have ancestry DEEPLY rooted oppression and the like. Ffs, I'm gonna need stitches for a cut that deep.

Anything But - and then this happy shit. Back at it again with the whiplash, the bastard. I love it though! This is going on the light and bright playlist. I'm a sucker for sad lyrics dressed in bright colors. And the vocals?? Come on, now.

Abstract (Psychopomp) - I was right. Everything following Son of Nyx just hurts differently. Dare I say worse than the first half of the album. I really shouldn't get into how I relate OFTEN to the poor roadkill creatures in my area.

Unknown/Nth - a nice and plentiful helping of stake through the heart, as usual. The briiidge. I drown in it every time.

First Light - I'm gonna say it's an instant classic. The imagery. The love on love on love. The catharsis. The drumsss. Oh! The acoustic fade out.

Overall, he didn't bother not once to lift his heel on this album. He's outdone himself. No skips. I am foaming at the mouth, waiting for my vinyl to come in. All get 10s across the board from me. 16 works of art. I really wish I could lock myself in a room for three days to really digest this album.

[twisteddanid]

ALSO. Gimme some thoughts and/or headcanons on Look Outside? :)c

OH MY GOD LOOK OUTSIDE!!! This game was made for me!!! Body horror???? Cosmic horror??? GORGEOUS pixel art!!!???? Awesome and grisly monster designs???? AND you can befriend some of them?????? AND ONE OF THEM IS A BIG, BUFF, BUTCH LESBIAN!!??????? My only complaint is that I didn't play this game sooner! It's one of the few games that I immediately replayed right after finishing it. I love this game to bits, gotta be one of my favorites.

Kind of surprised that a good chunk of the fandom revolves around shipping. Like I guess I should've known, since almost every fandom is like that, and I didn't know what I expected the fandom to be like; but it wasn't this lol. It's not a bad thing, but I would like more gorgeous fanart and creature designs and interesting scenarios.

I hope this game continues to grow in popularity, or at least gain a cult following.

Anyways, headcanons, surprisingly I don't have a lot of them? Maybe because I've been so distracted with the new Deltarune chapters that I really haven't had time to think about them, but I'll list the few that I've thought of. POTENTIAL SPOILERS AHEAD!!!

Hellen (my baby girl)

Transfem, butch lesbian

I kind of think her voice would sound like Caiatl from Destiny 2. (I used to play that game, but I'm better now.)

She said that she gardened before the visitor arrived, but considering her build I think she moreso did landscaping as her actual job and gardened on the side.

Adding onto this she seems to know Papineu to some extent. Makes me thinks that she did landscaping around the apartment complex and had to work alongside him because of it. Their relationship seems a bit strained, but I mostly think it's just because their personalities clash a lot.

Also, in her dialogue with Leigh she uses the couch when it's time for everyone to go to bed, but she doesn't actually sleep. So I headcanon that she has some kind of sleeping disorder like insomnia.

We've seen her be friendly towards Rat, but I like to think she also cares about the kids in the apartment to some extent. Maybe she doesn't share it as openly as she does with Rat, but she makes sure to keep them safe whenever Sam takes them out on adventures.

Side note: Hellen had to have been occupied with something when Xaria kicked the poor baby in the ribs because if she saw that happen she would've flayed that goth girl alive.

Definitely has some violent tendencies even before meeting the visitor, she was able to keep them under wraps but once she witnessed it they all just came bubbling to the surface again.

Xaria and Montgomery

A bonded pair, platonic soulmates if you will.

Both probably studied Music and a bit of Performing Arts while attending art school.

Trying to figure out what kind of music their band would make. Definitely something in the metal/rock genre (duh), the closest I can get is songs by The Birthday Massacre although Xaria's voice is definitely a lot deeper than the main singer's.

Dan

Definitely autistic (won't stop me from bullying him though lol)

I could totally give him a lot of mean headcanons rn, but I'll be nice :)

Was probably inspired by someone like The Angry Videogame Nerd growing up.

One of those kids who had a lot of unrestricted internet access.

Most of his comfort foods are junk food, you cannot get this man to eat healthy to save his life.

HUGE FUCKING NNEEEEEEEEEEERRRRRRRRRRRRRDDDDDDDDDD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Minor, one off headcanons

When Sophie's sad or upset about something, she'll usually find a place to hide. Of course, that's hard to do in Sam's apartment, but she usually hides in Sam's closet.

Don't know a lot about Morton, but given his speech patterns I imagine he sounds a lot like Variks... also from Destiny 2...

Rat gnawed a big hole in Sam's couch and uses it as a little rat nest.

Personally headcanon that Sam has depression. Which is why he's currently unemployed and struggling to find a new job before the visitor arrived.

I'd like to think that, despite which ending you get, the individuals in Sam's apartment see each other as a family of sorts. And no matter what happens all of them try to stick together, with or without Sam.

[fatmclassic]

Lungs 15th Anniversary gig playlist

Last night was such a blast from the past, I went and scoured through my old ipods for my favourite gigs of the Lungs era. I tried to pick gigs which match the energy of each song otherwise too many would come from the same performance. Most are professional recordings aside from rare early tracks

Dog days are over

I went with Glastonbury 2010, this was a huge moment for the band and one of the biggest crowds of the era. Best festival anthem at the best festival.

Rabbit Heart

There are so many good versions of this it was hard to choose. But as it's another festival anthem I went for that. This T in the Park and it's one of the very few performances where she sings the high notes. Isa on backing vocals.

I'm not calling you a liar

Part of her BBC introducing set, when she started breaking into the mainstream. Nice slow build up with some cool harp action.

Howl

There isn't a heap of howl recordings. I went with this one as it has the string section. The first performance for NME brixton is raw as fuck but it's a full gig vid.

Kiss with a fist

Another festival one, Oxegen 2010. This also has an intro to it with Flo dicking about on Isa's keyboard.

Girl with one eye

Intimate early gig at the Blue Flowers club. I honestly think the dodgy sound quality adds to it

Drumming Song

My fave. Actually quite hard to find a live version with drums. The orchestral versions are all great mind, I just wanted the drums. This is from Melkweg

Between two lungs

Until that prom show honestly I didn't care much for this. She has good energy in this version from Amsterdam and mixes it up a bit

Cosmic love

This song is always good, so it was hard to pick a stand out. I went with the electric proms because the harp is so good in this one and it has the drums as well. Nobel prize concert is a close second

My boy builds coffins

Last night did the best version of this, but here's a simple version played in the park with guitar and chris playing fence railings.

Hurricane drunk

I've linked this before but I love it. The instruments sound drunk in this so how could you not. Electric proms again

Blinding

The orchestral version is great, but this song has so many electronic bits that add to it. The insanity at the end was incredible live, most otherwordly experience ever, with the strobes, the UFO noises, the cymbals and her yelling, the fact that it just.keeps.going. I was in Belfast, but this Melkweg gig has a very similar version. So sad when this was dropped from the setlist.

You've got the love

Cheating a bit since this is actually the Ceremonials era but with the intro this is just the best performance of this ever. I always come back to it.

Bird song with intro

A lot of these are either poor quality or missing the intro, but this Amsterdam gig is the full package.

Falling

Again,not many performances. But this is in a church so the echo hits just right. And someone is playing a cowbell or something so that's interesting.

Hardest of hearts

Unfortunately very few recordings that aren't either dogshit quality or incomplete. This is the best I could find, some shitty Barcelona club it seems. Least it got some love last night.

Swimming

The best performance of the like, the 4 times it's ever been played. From Hammersmith Apollo

Are you hurting the on you love?

This poor song was forgotten last night, but seems to have actually been performed a fair few times to my surprise. Sadly most are poor quality. This is the best I could find with a cool little xylophone bit, from Brighton

UNRELEASED Donkey Kosh

Actually more versions of this than the bonus tracks. Anyway I like how speedy this version is, from iTunes 2008

UNRELEASED Throwing Bricks

Back to Amsterdam London calling. Fun and energetic.

[abhorsenkatiel]

I've been making really over-thought TLT character playlists for about a year now as a background program to keep my brain entertained while I'm at work, and I realized that I have kind of a lot now, so I figured I'd share them here if anyone is interested.

Here's the ones I made for Harrow and Gideon. I'm really happy that I was able to get them to have the same number of songs, and also nearly the same run time! If you listen to them in order, they follow each character's emotional narrative.

Song lists below the cut

Harrow

Walk With Fire, Hunter As A Horse:

For when you're a suicidal ten-year-old committing the gravest sin and having complicated feelings about your life's purpose.

REPENT NOW CONFESS NOW, Lingua Ignota:

For when you're a mentally ill teenager leading the congregation of an apocalypse cult while stewing in your own hypocrisy and guilt.

Anti Body, Gazelle Twin:

For when it's your first time away from your home planet and the fate of you and your entire House depends on getting along with your childhood nemesis.

I Walk The Line, Those Poor Bastards:

For when your cavalier is hanging out with another necromancer and you feel weirdly jealous about it. (Fun Fact: There also ended up being a Johnny Cash reference in Gideon's playlist, which was completely unintentional)

True Love, Eivør:

For when the person you love most is with you for eternity, but not in the way you want. (Favorite line for maximum emotional damage: "House of pain, this body is too small a chamber")

Out of Focus, Ioanna Gika:

For when God denies you your only wish, so you decide to take matters into your own hands.

The Time Machine, Hunter As A Horse:

For when you construct an elaborate alternate reality to keep yourself from remembering your ex. (If someone had told me this was written about Harrow in HtN I would've believed them.)

When That Head Splits, Esben and the Witch:

For when you make your worstie give you a back alley lobotomy to save your cavalier's soul.

Oh You Are Not Well, Chloe Foy:

For when you come back wrong from traumatic brain surgery and all you can do is vomit, murder, and follow cryptic instructions from your past self.

MANY HANDS, Lingua Ignota:

For when you beg God for salvation and he tells you to learn how to make soup. (Favorite line for John and Harrow's relationship: "The Lord spat and held me by my neck. 'I wish things could be different', he wept")

God's Dark Heaven, Those Poor Bastards:

For when you're having a crisis of faith while you wait for a cosmic horror eldritch being to show up at God's vacation home.

SOHEAVYSOHOLLOW, Varien, Tori Letzler:

For when your only comfort is the hallucination (?) of your dead monster girlfriend.

I'm Not Done, Fever Ray:

For when you're dead, but it's not the end.

Gideon

Toll, So Below:

For when you're an abused orphan living in an apocalypse cult.

rise, Origa:

For when you're a teenager and you dream of escaping indentured servitude by achieving military glory.

Dark Room, Foreign Figures, Johnny T:

For when your childhood nemesis foils your 86th escape attempt and you get the depression.

Throne, Saint Mesa:

For when you're and epic, badass swordswoman, but your childhood nemesis makes you pretend to be her cavalier at a nerd convention.

Let You In, Marc Straight, Ellen Rose:

For when your childhood nemesis bares her soul to you and you don't know how to feel about it.

Bad Apple!!, RichaadEB, Cristina Vee:

For when you're trapped in a murder house going into a suicidal spiral.

Martyr, Roniit, Saint Mesa:

For when you decide to sacrifice yourself to save your necromancer whether she wants you to or not.

We Are Forever, Hunter As A Horse:

For when you're at peace with your sacrifice. (If someone had told me this was written about Gideon at the end of GtN I would have believed them.)

Lights Out, (DOLCH):

For when it doesn't work and now your still-conscious soul is trapped in her broken mind.

Song for Zula, Phosphorescent:

For when you give her everything you have and she doesn't even want it. (Here's the Johnny Cash reference for Gideon.)

Family Tree (Intro), Ethel Cain:

For when it turns out that your parents actually are super important and powerful, and also they suck.

Exorcise, Gazelle Twin:

For when you get halfway resurrected and it sucks.

Glory Amem, Those Poor Bastards:

For when you're Her Divine Highness, only child of God, and it sucks.

[edennill-archived]

Stupidly long Númenor Playlist:

plenty by aeseaes

in the land of plenty, we don't know what the word no means

a coronation, a beheading from the funeral to the wedding do you think they care where the crown goes?

we want violence, we want blood we want superhero love, we want all the answers you promised us we want laughter, we want pain, and everyone will know our name

did you know that no two missteps are the same?

the flood by aeseaes

and we'll live freely without ever getting old

beasts of the wild, eyes of a child this world is all that you know

much madness by aeseaes

we'll drag you out into the light, quiet like the vines what are you afraid of, if you really have nothing to hide?

Vague warning for creepy imagery, maybe especially when interpreting it in this context.

Rilke Song by aeseaes

How did we get here and what does it mean Who said it must be and when can we dream The world outside is cold and bright but when you take a breath You'll inhale the sunlight and exhale the rest

We're older than we used to be And closer to the ground beneath Maybe we've got all the time to grow Maybe we've got all the time and maybe we just don't know

In spite of our failures the lines twist and curve To regrow the branches the night has disturbed And when we wake we'll take the shape of something free and bold And rest in the shade where the new greets the old

I am cheating somewhat here because it is more strictly a "my Númenórean OCs" song lol. I am actually being very disciplined in not listing all of them here, especially as the link tends to be a vibe that I adore ("it is bad, but everything will be all right in the end") that's not even particularly present in Akallabeth xd.

Carl by aeseaes

this lonely light looms; in the cosmic night we fell in love and spilled our blood on the pale blue dot

kids and killers shed their bones on this, the only home we've known

Okay, it was one more.

Ready Aim Fire by Imagine Dragons (though honestly, I'm still looking for a good cover)

Off in the distance There is resistance Bubbling up and festering We don't have the choice to stay We'd rather die than Do it your way

With our backs to the wall The darkness will fall We never quite thought We could lose it all

Ready aim fire Ready aim fire An empire is falling In just one day You close your eyes And the glory fades Ready aim fire Ready aim fire away

The Tower by Flannel Graph

Got a neck so strong for the crown upon your head Don't think anyone will leave it when you're dead There's a throng of men mightier than you And they're waiting and they're watching till they fill your shoes

Speed the Collapse by Metric

And then the storm was overhead All the oceans boiled and rivers bled We auctioned off our memories In the absence of a breeze Scatter what remains Scatter what remains

Pushed away, I'm pulled toward A comedown of revolving doors Every warning we ignored Drifting in from distant shores

Eastward of Eden by Amelia Day (I listen to the acoustic version)

Eastward of Eden, where the clouds meet the dirt We left our poor mother and seeded the earth The gates, they were shuttered, the latches were locked Oh, Eastward of Eden, where men become Gods

Few though our people, we toiled as one The fruits of our labors thrived under the sun Our children, they spread to outnumber the stars Oh, Eastward of Eden, where day turns to dark

Leave it all, leave it all, leave it all behind

Our towers, they rose up and set with the sun Our sermons, they burnt us with fiery tongue We wrought our wings of metal, surprised when we fell Oh, Eastward of Eden, where Heaven's a Hell

Daniel in the Den by Bastille

And for every king that died Oh they would crown another

Providence by Poor Man's Poison

Count the lights on empty souls Quietly behind the doors Oh, bleeding us just for fun Men of power telling lies Shifty hands and thirsty eyes And they can smell your fear like blood

Oh, my weary soul We've met your kind before Set fire to us all And oh sweet providence Come save us from ourselves From Hell and consequence

Hero by Heather Dale

You think that if you set the price, they'll turn me in You think that when I'm up upon the pike, you'll win They'll say that I was fighting for the spirit of the law What will they say about you when I'm gone?

You murdered and you stole, you mocked the hope I gave Though I'd prefer a happy end, no man can cheat the grave I know what they'll remember in the words of every song What will they say about you when I'm gone?

They'll say: "We stared into the wind that tore away our breath We left behind a message that cannot be claimed by death"

No More Fear by LEAH

A storm is rolling in A chill is in the wind A silence hunches over The wake of our heroes

Nothing left undefeated No one to take away our peace We stood, we claimed our freedom We held on to our souls

Victory by LEAH

Waves rise up Dark crimson sky Sails in the distance Sounds of war Hunting you down For this resistance

Look to your fathers from days of old You feel their heart; you face the day Now summon your courage, worth more than gold You hear their song; you see the way

Święty Graal by Sanah

Był sobie król Od pokoju Wolał iść w bój Słychać łkanie zza siedmiu gór Oj kochał szmal Patrzeć na łzy królowej chciał Dwie korony chętnie by miał

Lol, those lyrics sound stupid on their own. But it's a good song a little in the style of an old-fashioned ballad, imo.

Madame Guillotine from The Scarlet Pimpernel

No, I have no excuse and it doesn't even connect. But — the Terror, you get it—

Warning for uh, definitely sexual and maybe at times noncon-related metaphorical imagery.

The Island by Skipinnish

Summer time, long years ago I always will remember Just a boy who didn't know That those days would never die

Oh, I recall the island girl Her heart was still unbroken And still I hear the pipers scream In the summer island sky

[synced-love]

Review on Accidentally On Purpose by Seulgi (Red Velvet)

Track 1: Baby, Not Baby

INNOCENT……. AND SO PERFECT!!! It’s no 28 Reasons but it’s cute. I like that Seulgi is keeping this kinda dark feminine and “do what ever I want” attitude. It has rock and classical elements, worlds that are so opposite, but it works quite well. The strings also remind me of Psycho and Cosmic. It has dreamy elements or should I say nightmare. Seulgi’s voice has improved so much, I noticed it in the RDR cover but she’s really good. Need a version of the song uncensored tho.

Now for the MV, I really like it. It’s so messy and chaotic but so organized but so aesthetic. Like this video is the closest I’ll get to a Kpop version of BRAT. I love the mall scenes, like idk why it’s just so funny to see her free hugs get rejected because Seulgi baby if you need a hug, I’m right here. I love how she dances in the middle of the mall with everyone just walking by. That little store scene was so cute because the way Seulgi got on that little platform thing and starting doing the red flavor dance. That aside, why is she being a Sephora kid in the middle of that poor man’s store. The way she was channeling her inner Joy when she was on that table. Also the outfits… top tier, not a single boring one. I especially love the pink hair with the duck nails. Like I hate when people tell me duck nails are ugly, you just don’t get it.

Rating: 6.5/10 At least she didn’t kiss my sister.

Ppa-ppa-ppalgan mat!

Track 2: Better Dayz

Reminds me of her previous songs Crown and Los Angeles but also reminds me of Lucid and Villain Dies by (G)-Idle. It’s kinda giving euphoria song but in a good way. The end just sounds like a villain taking over a whole city with a bunch of black goo just plastered everywhere. Or when all the trees in the Lorax were being cut down. It’s not one of my favorite songs on the album but I can appreciate it.

Rating: 5/10 If my grandma heard this, she’d say “please don’t eat me”

Track 3: Rollin’(With My Homies)

First of all, what a goofy title. Like it’s giving all my bad unnies all my good unnies. Like it shouldn’t be funny but it is. It’s like if a non-Korean said “rolling with my unnies” I honestly wouldn’t put it past us. But the whole song is pretty goofy. The instrumental is so quirky and reminds me of Bad Boy, Sad Girl. A fresh but quirky song. Its so cartoonish. Seulgi has gone bad into her super nasally and kinda comfy or quiet sound and I love it. She's one of my favorite voices in Red Velvet. The entrance into the bridge was so satisfying. Like I can’t use that kind of keyboard for my life but I love it when they’re used. the chorus reminds me of Time Slip, and I say that because of the single phrase being sung and then something to go under it.

Rating: 8/10 Rollin' with my homiesss, Yeah let's do it!

Track 4: Whatever

Its like Anywhere But Home but less dream-like and just more vibes, this is a puff puff song to me, but so is ABH tho. I love the pre-chorus and the bridge, even the outro.

rating: 7/10 it's whatever

Track 5: Praying

I like this song. Those runs are running!!! Seulgi Norwood just flexing her voice. It also reminds me of Summer Rain by her little friend.

Rating: 7/10 A lickle boring at times but her voice really makes up for it

Track 6: Weakness

Something about me is when I know someone I can just guess what they'll do. I never heard of weakness before but when I saw the title, I knew what it would sound like. I just knew that weakness was gonna be like split up into like a lower and higher note. if you know how she sounds when she sings it, you'll get it.

Rating: 6.5/10 I got a weakNess for you.

Overall a good album, does it beat 28 Reasons??? Idk. You guys tell me your favorite songs.

[leifygreeens]

What song/genre of music do you think of when you imagine the bachelor/ettes? If there was a specific artist or band for Sam, who do you think they'd be?

Oooh—I actually have thought about this! I have a playlist just for when I'm writing blurbs about the stardew valley characters, and no I don't care if any of these are predictable because I think they're accurate lmfao.

Sam

2014 Five Seconds of Summer, Shawn Mendes, and Why Don't We. His general vibe is young, reckless love. If there's a specific song in mind, I think of him as a mix between 5sos' End Up Here, She Looks So Perfect, If I Can't Have You by Shawn, and Why Don't We's Fallin' (Adrenaline)

Seb

I think he's a mix between 5sos' Voodoo Doll, Troye Sivan's Strawberries and Cigarettes, Taylor Swift's Style, and the last 90-ish seconds of Sleep Token's The Summoning. Also Conan Gray's Overdrive. He's still young and reckless, but he's a little more subdued and all over the place.

Alex

One Directions' Steal My Girl, Shawn Mendes' Wonder, and Harry Styles' Watermelon Sugar. Even though they're pretty heavy with gendered language, I have no issue imagining Alex with varying farmers while listening to these songs.

Elliott

His love definitely swerves more toward obsession and worship, so anything by Hozier, no question about it. But also Can't Take My Eyes Off You by Frank Valli is heavy Elliott energy.

Shane

Everybody Wants You by Johnny Orlando, Someone To You by BANNERS, DogBird by Madds Buckley, and Lauv's I Like Me Better. Like Seb, Shane's pretty all over the place as well. Also he makes me cry ahaha. hm.

Harvey

Harvey gave me a little bit of trouble when I first started writing. I had to think about him quite a bit to land on a genre/song for him. Anyway, Ophelia by The Lumineers, Ready Now by dodie, and The Way You Look Tonight by Michael Bublé are all Harvey coded. END ME

Maru

In My Mind by Lyn Lapid, Bubble Gum by Clairo, and Space Girl by Frances Forever. I imagine her as a pretty inexperienced and romantically repressed character (I wonder why Demetrius) so all of these songs have a certain level of melancholy about them, which is very Maru for me.

Penny

She by dodie, Conan Gray's Heather, and Lonely by Noah Cyrus. Repressed, just like Maru, but for different reasons. Never had the opportunity to really live her life, you know? Lots of insecurities and feelings of inadequacy my poor babie nO but I usually only listen to those when I'm feeling a little down. You can trust that I don't always write angst for her, and when I don't, it's loooots of early Taylor Swift.

Abigail

Very punchy, "powerful woman" type songs. Namely UPSAHL's People I Don't Like, Beautiful is Boring by BONES UK, and American Horror Show by SNOW WIFE. She has opinions and she's going to let you know what she thinks—but make no mistake, she is a loyal and good person to her core. She's just got an attitude sometimes.

Haley

Sabrina Carpenter. That's it. lmao no i'm kidding Diamonds Are Forever, Nonsense, Looking At Me, and Girlfriend by Bea Miller. I love me a mean, confident lesbian, but she does soften up the more you get to know her, and I always listen to Isabel LaRosa's I'm Yours when I want to go that route with her. I also think of her when I listen to Dress by Charlotte Sands.

Leah

Cosmic Love by Florence + The Machines, Light My Love by Greta Van Fleet, and Constellations by The Oh Hellos. She's got a certain whimsy about her, but she's still a very grounded individual. She and Elliott have a similar vibe to each other, but where he's the smell of salty sea spray and plum juice dripping from your fingers, she's frayed picnic blankets and the smell of grass after it rains.

Emily

Now this might be controversial, but Señorita by Shawn Mendes and Camila Cabello is always gonna make me think of her. I'm Born To Run by American Authors, Enchanted by Taylor Swift (her version, obviously), are also both some of the easiest songs for me to think about her. She definitely believes in soulmates and fate, and probably makes jewelry or sews while thinking about you.

[medtech-mara]

🖊️ amber pacifica fox! 🦊

Forgive me, I have not photographed this girl since I first started VP. 🙇🏽‍♀️

Song link to set the mood: RN by J I H Z Z Y & B-ROC (Joey Valence & Brae)

The year is 2065, Your choom told you about some preem deals going on at the Desert Foxes Nomad market set up just outside of Santo Domingo, there are these neighborhoods that have been made out of stacks of Shipping containers, these popped up to deal with the displacement of everyone in City center, you guessed it, it was the residents of Santo that felt it most, as they got shoved out, and to deal with it, they made their own little city. All the way at the end there’s one called Container District-82 aka Sunnyvale.  You get to a cal-de-sac almost, with a market and some buildings being constructed. At the end of it theres a large gated area, with its gates open of course, the smell of the market kitchen is filling the air… And you hear to your left from Sunnyvale, a small concert starting to gather around a Rapper by the name of J I H Z Z Y & B-ROC whose made a stage and is probably twerking in his Jorts RN As you make your way into the Desert Foxes nomad market, you see a girls stall that stands out above them all… She’s made a stall out front of her Van, and her table has… Anime figures all of the same popular characters but with different defects to them (including but not limited to the coveted Bulge edition), a few issues of some… weird Manga you’ve only heard the name uttered maybe once in passing.. Cosmic Angel? She’s got a few niche records.. Yes… Even THAT Samurai album you can never seem to get your hands on. When you approach, she greets you wearing a Dr. Pepper shirt with some overalls on, but one of the straps is undone. She introduces herself as Amber Pacifica, and she can find anything you are looking for, she guarantees it.

Amber is a love letter to my husband, as his favorite band growing up was Amber Pacific and one of his favorite animals are Foxes, so we had decided to name the nomad pack the Desert Foxes, and naturally, everyone in the pack takes the last name Fox.

She & Titus kinda sprouted out of a joke about a Corpo being into poor girls and they kinda came to life.