#I’ve been TRYING to make a knives playlist but there’s just not that many songs that fit his flavor of mental illness

[monsterhurter]

this is such a fucking kv song I’m chewing drywall

[chloenwckobia]

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

we've been waiting / all year for this night / and the snow is glistening / on the trees outside / and all the stockings / are hung by the fireside / waiting for santa to arrive 

Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays! I hope that your holiday season was filled with a lot of cheer and all the hot cocoa you could ever want. This was my first holiday season in Merrock, and it was everything I could’ve ever wished for and more. As a thank you to those who have helped me make a home here in, I made you all my super, duper secret Chex mix along with some other things.

@narilily @jmiemagvans @stellylee @darpow @brooksienewman @valentinadiaz @bryanxlawrence @xjaylahopkins​

NARI. From one fashionista to another, I really enjoy spending time with you! You’ve got a really great eye for design, so I got you a necklace that was a Singer sewing machine that I picked up last week at the market. I had them engrave your initials and add it to the necklace as something extra special for you. Along with that, I know you lead a busy life so I wanted to get a cute planner for you so you can keep track of all you have to do in the upcoming year! I hope you’ve had a good holiday!

JAMIE. Remember how we talked about personalized M&M’s? I might’ve gotten this while they had a package on them, and I thought it’d be funny to let you have some with your face. Sorry if you found a notification from me on your socials since I was trying to look for a picture of you. I hope you had a really great holiday!

STELLY. To my partner in crime when it comes to corn mazes... I hope that you had a special holiday this year! I found these candle holders at a store in town, and I just knew that I had to get them for you. Once the wax melts, it looks like a pool of blood, so that’s pretty cool! And this magnet made me laugh so hard and I think the only person who could get it would be you, so I hope you enjoy it as much as I do! I wish you a very Merry Christmas!

DARRIUS. In my months here, I’ve really enjoyed getting to know you! From talking about weird foods to exploring the town together to swapping playlists, I think you’ve become one of my good friends. As a gift to you, I wanted to make a CD playlist of songs that I think you’d like to listen to while grading papers or cleaning your apartment. And since you’re a Bears fan, I found this pretty great 90s era sweater from Polished Brass that I thought you’d enjoy. I hope you had a wonderful holiday!

KELLAN. Listen, I think that I can shape you into a ladies man. And to aide in that journey, I found some whiskey infused toothpicks that should help you out if you have anything in your teeth. And I also got you a harvesting bag that you can put many berries in, it has multiple compartments for all your storage needs. And as a bonus gift, I found this shirt that I got at the market that I thought you’d find funny. I hope you had a great holiday!

VALENTINA. I got you some earrings that I thought you’d like. They’re not your typical hoops as I think as an artist, you’d appreciate them! And learning that you’re a Rina stan, I picked up her latest album from the store for you! I hope you had a really great holiday!

BRYAN. To my foodie friend, I think a chef always needs to have more than one apron and a lot of knives, so I picked up this one that I saw at the market. And these knives I saw at a store in town, so I hope you’re able to make many dishes using them! I hope your holiday was amazing!

JAYLA. I know you worked hard this week (and all the other weeks), so I wanted to get you a care packages with all the goodies you could ever want! And I know you also work at the library, so I thought this tote bag would be perfect for you! I hope your holiday was fantastic!

[flowers-of-io]

for the ask meme: 🥳💕🌻?

🥳 Why did you start writing fanfic?

Haha—the sims! I’m not kidding. At first I was just hooked by the crumbs of lore strewn here and there, in characters’ bios or neighbourhood objects, this world attracted me so immensely with its mystery; it felt like there was something there, a story untold that I could only attempt to dig out but would never fully know. It was a very… sorrowful experience? And I was barely seven when I started playing, and so many things in the game confused and overwhelmed me, and in some way that too added to the mystery. Then TS3 came out and it introduced book titles! An open world with props like an abandoned mine entrance with two red eyes peering at you from the darkness! I remember the wall posters, with their funky object descriptions telling little stories, and how inspired I was by that. The book titles made my brain whirr. I got TS3 World Adventures for my 9th birthday and just—man, the vibe of three different locations you can’t “normally” play in, with their secrets and side quests and new books and the terrifying dungeon locations with traps and mummies and skeletons (that you couldn’t remove even with cheats) on the ground. Sims Medieval, and all the hidden bits of untold stories there (plus the amount of lore that came with that game, I mean—we got a confirmed DEITY now!). I discovered Simspedia and the machinima/filmmaking community in 2011, and began reading up on the canon stories, and by then my fate was sealed.

I kept the stories in my head, mostly, and played them in my head before sleep (oh boy the Pleasantview one had so many parts and all of them were titled. Do you ever keep notes for stories that are only supposed to existi in your brain? I did—). I had a playlist of songs to imagine very detailed AMVs to. I got into video editing because of that game. I don’t remember which story was the first to actually be written down, but my best guess is that four-parts one (I think I only ever wrote part 1, BUT I did finish it!) going with the theory that Murder in Pleasantview had actually been written by The Alexander Goth and sent back in time, and in the fic Bella gets her hands on it and finds out about the inevitable tragedy that’s gonna befall her in the future. It was so over the top and I made Jocasta an absolute monster of a mother while in reality all she did was trying to protect her 10 years old daughter from an existential crisis, but tbf I was 11 at that time, so my point of view was a bit skewed. I wrote that story in a notebook, mainly during classes (because that’s what I did in classes for most of my school life to be honest), and I’m pretty certain I’ve still got that cringefest somewhere bc I never throw anything out. So, there. TL;DR Bella Goth made me write fanfics (sort of).

💕 What is your favourite fic that you’ve written?

AAAAAaaaa I don’t know! It’s so hard to type one, and me coming from The Sims fandom makes most of my fics end up suspended in this no man’s zone between original and fanfic… It’s so hard to decide because most of those I’m the most soft and nostalgic for are not even good. Strangetown, maybe, because it ran for 25 chapters and taught me so much about how (not) to write? That scene from PLU with Frances McCullough femme fatale’ing Bella, definitely one of the best scenes I ever shot? The colours there—! Oh and the Hawaii evening one. I think that’s my favourite favourite. Just a handful of demigods, dead people, and anthropomorphised concepts meeting up to drink and play cards in a Hawaiian tavern. I wrote it in one evening solely for myself, never to publish it, and it still makes me smile with nostalgia when I remember it.

Out of my recent Destiny ones, because I assume that’s what y’all are here for, I’d say… Eugtutghsth don’t make me choose it’s a tie between nothing’s fair in love and war and Small Knives. Neither of them is perfect and I already see so many things I could improve, but the premise of each—and the ‘missing scenes’ kinda vibe—wins my heart over, and now that I’ve written them I can’t imagine not having written them, you know? Love & War in particular. There just doesn’t exist an AU where that scene didn’t happen, it’s the nexus of my personal canon.

🌻 How often do you read your own fics?

Quite often, I think! I like coming back to the older ones once I’ve forgotten the details a bit, and I’m genuinely proud of my writing atm (a rare occurrence), so it’s like, wow good phrasing there Izzy! *pat pat* Oh no this line is so cringe, change it right now or I’m gonna have a stroke.

[batgirlsay]

Out of the Wildness

An Obiyuki Playlist 

(For Obiyuki Week 2021 Day 6: The Tower by @snowwhite-andtheknight)

I used the reverse tarot theme analysis for this one to represent Obi’s scars and healing throughout the manga (especially in Volume 8) and his newfound home with everyone in Clarines and Lilias. (Especially when he returns to Shirayuki, see awesome posts from @bubblesthemonsterartist​ for more details!) The playlist title comes from the “love like wildness/kindness” analogy from “Heal Me” which perfectly represents their relationship.

Better Love- Eisley Dismantle.Repair.- Anberlin Defeatist- Eisley Home- Mae Heal Me (Reworked)- Snow Patrol The Cure- Mae Home- Jeff and Casey Lee Williams (RWBY Soundtrack)

Summary lyrics are cited after the cut (and planning on posting individual lyric analyses separately, sometime after the week):

“Why can’t I stop licking on my own wounds when I’ve found my place with you? Make me better, love, because I’ve finally found out you’re on my side… and if you’re my guide, I’m your guide. We’re gallant, we’re strong, we’re safe. You’re so brave, now I can brave myself.” -Better Love, Eisley

Four weeks felt like years, since your full attention was all mine. Change, only a matter of time, opinions, I will try and rewrite. If life had background music, playing your song, I've got to be honest, I tried to escape you, but the orchestra plays on. Things are gonna change now, for the better. Lines and phrases, like knives, your words can cut me through. Dismantle me down, repair, you dismantled me.”- Dismantle.Repair., Anberlin

“I may have faltered in my life, but not with you, I couldn't make this up. I've had trouble disengaging my heart, but I'll bite the grenade pin out. You know I want you, you know I will fight, down in the trenches, holding your hand tight. I will not make it out without you, I'll bite the bullet, I'll fall right through you.”- Defeatist, Eisley

“Now I've been sneaking out your back door, since I can't remember when and thinking about the world I didn't know and how I wanted in. But now I find I'm in the thick of it… Been running down any road but home. But I can see it in the symmetry, it's what was really always meant to be, the singularity is clearer from the distance, so I'd die here to fall in love with home. Believe in dreams and wait for signs, you will always find me when I run away, but I will not slow down until I make it back into your arms.”- Home, Mae

“I've been dancing in this fire for way to long, but I kinda like it, oh I like it cause it's more dangerous than me. Oh this is love like wildness… You call out my name like no one before, it sounds like I am called to a home that I never had. I wasn't looking for you, but I think maybe I was and didn't know.”- Heal Me, Snow Patrol

“I've grown so tired of running circles around myself in search of something new, only when I stood still I could see you were there and you were waiting for me to fall in love with you. With you near I feel like I'm invincible. All that I've wanted is standing in front of me, all that I'll need that's for sure. Once I was frail, now I have been repaired in all the lovely things you do.”- The Cure, Mae

“Let's just dream quietly of what might be, calm your fear I'll be near to you. Rest my friend, time can mend many things. I don't know the answers, tomorrow's still unknown, but I can make this promise you won't be alone. I don't know what path we will be shown, but I know that when I'm with you I'm at home. But even when we stumble, and someday when we fall, what I will remember that I had you through it all.”- Home, Jeff and Casey Lee Williams (RWBY Soundtrack)

[staggeringsmite]

the circlet of barbed vision // an exu corruption arc playlist // listen on spotify

noise warning: many of these songs are intense rock, leaning metal, or simply contain strange, heavily edited sounds. the more intense ones (in my opinion) are starred in the tracklist below the cut. there are also mentions of spiders in some song’s lyrics but they pass quickly, and there are no related sounds. proceed with caution if you’re sensitive to noise!

[ID: three square images. the first is a lavendar tinted picture of thorns with capitlized bold white text reading “the circlet of barbed vision” repeated three times. the middle is a lowercase bold white text reading “an exu corruption arc playlist” over a background of lavendar glitter. the third is a picture of a purple, overcast sky with the same text and style from the first image overlayed. /end id]

tracklist, lyric quotes, and starred songs under the cut:

1. i come with knives (acoustic) - iamx

“the monotony and the rising tide, is under my skin, is crawling inside, adrenaline to rewire my mind, i’m only human, i come with knives.”

2. into the spin - dessa

“so here we go back again, slow climb but quick to descend”

3. million years - nico vega*

“i've been around for a million years. no matter how hard you try, you can't fuck with this. a spider bite is a natural wound, but a dagger in the back is a plastic tomb. ain't nobody knows the trouble i've seen, but they know the sound of their own damn scream, well”

4. home - aliceband

“and it's cold. flicker. candle. sweating. thoughts come of fire burning. everything you made will end up broken.”

5. steady, steady - the crane wives

“steady, steady, you know when you're ready. it's a long road walking into the sun. the heat can make you lose your head. your sense of direction. oh steady, steady i am ready to be the one”

6. diggers - bitter ruin

“i’ve been waiting for you. waiting for you to go. i’ve been waiting for you. waiting for you to go.”

7. athena - nova twins*

“i see you. do you see me? i'm creeping in your sweetest dreams. i just want you all to myself. i don't want nobody else. do you feel my body crawling? in the dark you hear my calling.”

8. i’m not calling you a liar - florence and the machine

“i'm not calling you a liar, just don't lie to me. i'm not calling you a thief, just don't steal from me. i'm not calling you a ghost, just stop haunting me, and i love you so much, i'm gonna let you kill me.”

9. grenadine - dreadlight

“i'll be the king of it, the queen of it, the god of it, all of it, eat your heart after i lick it clean, tastes like blood and grenadine.”

10. black wave - k.flay*

“waiting on a black wave, living under bad days, shaking in my own cage. what do i believe? stumbling down the street i swear to god you don't wanna test me”

11. you should see me in a crown - billie eilish*

“you should see me in a crown. your silence is my favorite sound. watch me make 'em bow, one by one by one, one by one by one.”

12. control - verite

“i know i like the idea of providence, so i voice my head. though i always spill my blood on the table, though i like the idea of confidence. i'm in love with control.”

13. pleanty - aeseas

“what's your story? what's the refund policy? we want violence, we want blood. we want superhero love. we want all the answers that you promised us. we want laughter, we want pain. everyone will know our name. did you know that no two missteps are the same?”

14. dangerous - son lux

“how does it feel to be your own deceiver? signals raised, then lost to the aether. but rest assured the dead are true believers. rest assured. we are all believers.”

15. hollow - cloudeater

“i stay empty, i feel the hunger, so simple when i was younger, i awaken with the thunder, a bold statement to end my slumber.”

16. bad dreams - joywave

“yeah, they caught me in the night down on my knees, and every word i'm screaming is another going unreceived. don't you worry about your bad dreams cause i'm not in them. don't you worry about what change brings cause you can't stop it.”

[absynthe--minded]

for the ship questions: all the odd numbers for russingon??? please and thank you

all the odd numbers!!

okay I am answering this one First but there are some other asks I technically got first so I’m going to exclude a few for the sake of answering all of them! I hope that’s okay. Below the cut for length and some quasi-NSFW discussion.

PRE-RELATIONSHIP:

1. How did they first meet?

this is actually the plot of one of my fics! Finno goes to a party with his parents, wanders off to get drunk and enjoy the free food, and winds up getting very drunk and then seeing Maitimo and assuming he’s a Maia because of how hot he is. he is in fact so very drunk that he straight up forgets that “Curufinwë” and “Fëanáro” are the same person and doesn’t understand why Maitimo is like “what the fuck why are you talking to me oh shit you’re hot”. (Maitimo ditches his date to the party to climb a tree, drink wine, and deal with the fact that he’s suddenly interested in a boy.)

5. Did either of them try to resist their feelings?

Maitimo tried so fucking hard to resist his feelings. He basically tried to be like. Gay But By Telperion’s Light Only. he’d write poetry and burn it, he’d stare into the stars and the silver light and be Dreamy and Distant. (Finno leapt into having feelings with his whole self and everyone knew he was pining after someone. He kept trying to play it off as nothing serious, but everyone around him knew. Everyone.)

7. What would their lives be like if they had never met?

Maitimo would be married to the daughter of one of Fëanáro’s first and most loyal allies in the Tirion court. Her name was Cirissë, she was chosen for him by Fëanáro (with the clear caveat of “if you’d rather marry someone else please give me the name and I’ll arrange it”) and the expectation was that they’d have at least one child named Cantëafinwë. As the eldest of his House and since he didn’t have any great works or passions of his own, his “job” was to carry on Míriel Þerindë’s legacy. If he had objected to this or found something else to do with his life, Fëanáro would have given way, but Maitimo prior to meeting Findekáno was okay with having an arranged marriage. This wasn’t a decision made in spite of his feelings - he’d never said he wasn’t all right with it.

Findekáno would probably be drifting through life without really any sense of purpose - I’m going to assume that history goes very differently if they don’t meet, because not meeting implies that even the Darkening doesn’t quite go as planned - and I think he’d have settled for the single life, floating from party to party and social event to social event without ever really being rooted in something.

GENERAL:

1. Who initiated the relationship, and how did it go?

Findekáno was the one who insisted they become proper friends and start spending time together, and who introduced Maitimo to the joys of fucking around in the meadows outside Tirion on their free days. He was bold, and intense, and bright, and constantly smiling. But it was Maitimo who confessed his feelings. They went out one day - it was Finno’s begetting day, and Maitimo had gotten him a falcon (they took up falconry as an excuse to be out and about and alone for days, but they’d been using Finwë’s mews and Finwë’s birds) and they were with their horses and their birds, and Maitimo very shyly admitted that what he felt was more than friendship.

Finno kissed him, and he almost fell out of his saddle and off his mare.

5. What’s their height difference? Age difference?

Their height difference is a little ridiculous. Maitimo is eight and a half feet tall, which is Very Tall by elvish standards. Finno is seven feet tall, which is on the taller side of “average” - his mother Anairë is taller than he is, and Artanís is like 7′9″. He comes up to about his husband’s sternum. Maitimo isn’t really built, though? He’s actually quite delicate and slender when you look at him on his own, but compared to quite a lot of other elves he’s buff as hell just by virtue of needing to be muscular to move all those bones around. Their age difference is actually something that’s kind of hard to calculate but I’ve worked it out - Maitimo is 90 solar years older than Finno, he was about the human equivalent of eighteen when his husband was born. They met for the first time when Maitimo was 190 solar years old and Finno was 100 solar years old - they were both adults, in the same stage of life.

7. Who takes the lead in social situations?

It depends on the social situation tbh! Findekáno tends to take the lead in most things that involve being a bright and shiny polite happy public figure, because he’s charismatic and intuitive and good at that kind of thing, but Maitimo will lead if it’s one of his few areas of expertise or if his husband is floundering. He does have a flair for the dramatic and it’s a very natural thing for him.

9. Who whispers inappropriate things in the other’s ear?

They both do, because they’re fortunate enough to have a telepathic bond that lets them communicate silently in a room full of other people. It made for some fascinating council meetings the few times they wound up sharing a space in that way.

LOVE:

3. Who uses cheesy pick-up lines?

Elves don’t really have cheesy pick-up lines, but they’ve both fallen victim to sappy poetry. Maitimo probably holds the record there for sheer number of dumb things he’s said solely for the purposes of getting Finno’s attention, though. There are. A Lot of those.

5. Who initiates kisses?

Maitimo. Always, constantly. His primary method of affection and of emotional expression is “Kiss Husband” and he does it all the time.

7. What are their favorite things to do together?

I’m excluding sex from this because the answer to that question is “sex”, honestly. They like cooking (Maitimo cooks and Finno watches him), and going riding, and one time Maitimo climbed the side of a cliff and Finno went along with it solely to stare at his ass. Finno is terrible at archery and at the harp but he’ll do both of those things because they make his husband happy. They like reading, and discussing what they’ve read, and if they’d had the chance they would have enjoyed the theater.

9. Who’s more protective?

see this is sort of a weird question because like

Maitimo is Obviously Protective. He glowers, and he glowers protectively, and he does things like plant spies in Nolofinwë’s household so he can keep an eye on his husband’s movements. He considers himself Findekáno’s guard, and he’s very very paranoid so he’s very very good at guarding. (The one time he saves Findekáno from orcs and from Sauron he has several mental breakdowns all at once.) Maitimo is the obvious answer here.

But Finno will cross a room in half a second and vault over like sixteen tables to smack you with his riding glove and demand you duel him if he’s all the way on the other side of the hall and thinks he heard you considering insulting Maitimo.

It goes both ways tbh.

11. What are some songs that apply to their relationship, in-universe or otherwise?

The in-universe songs that apply to their relationship are basically all written about them, lol. I tend to headcanon that the song Findekáno sang is preserved through the ages to some extent and its ultimate form is the song that Sam sings in the tower of Cirith Ungol? So take that as you will.

Out of universe... well, I have a shitton of playlists, but I’ll leave you with the song that inspired my Tolkien Reverse Summer Bang fic, “Last Train Home” by Ryan Star.

13. Who remembers the little things?

It depends on the little things. Maitimo remembers every detail of every military operation he ever devised, but Findekáno remembers what day of the week it is.

DOMESTIC LIFE:

3. How many kids do they have, if any? What are they like?

Gil-galad would have been their kid in a happier world. He’s the biological son of Lalwendë Finwiel and Gildor Inglorion of the House of Finrod, sent to Barad Eithel when his mother and father were missing-presumed-dead after the Dagor Bragollach, and Findekáno adopted him as his ward and heir but didn’t keep him in Hithlum due to the danger.

(They do, however, have three additional children that they don’t find out about until Valinor, because Sauron is a mad scientist and he had unrestricted access to Maitimo for sixty years, and because Findekáno bled all over the Thangorodrim cliff-face when he slammed face-first into it. Those children are Autamar Autahala, whom I’ve mentioned before (he’s their eldest and the only one who’s descended from both of them), and Alya and Ailinwë, twins who are descended solely from Maitimo. Their three kids show up at their house one day, the same ages as they were when they all died, and that’s a fun time for everyone.)

Gil-galad is brave and fair and just and all that good shit you need to be a king. Autamar is kind of terrifying because growing up in Angband and being groomed to be a puppet ruler will do that to you, but he’s very smart and very dry-witted. Alya and Ailinwë died when they were quite young, but they’re very bright, and Alya is as fond of horses as Maitimo is. She also likes knives.

5. Who’s the stricter parent?

Maitimo. He’s got more experience parenting, as opposed to Finno who died and then suddenly found out that his ward had claimed him as a father - Maitimo basically raised his four youngest siblings, and Elrond and Elros, and he’s very good at being the strict dad. It’s the one thing he’s actually strict about outside his military work. But he’s actually a giant marshmallow underneath his stern exterior and he really wants to be a good father.

7. Who kills the bugs in the house?

This is a non-answer but they don’t kill bugs as a rule they’ll either let them outside or allow predator bugs to live in their spaces - lots of spider neighbors who pay rent by eating gnats. But as a rule Maitimo will do the gross or unseemly things just because he wants them done. Finno is a bit more of an obvious coward when it comes to those things.

9. Who’s more likely to convince the other to come back to sleep in the morning?

Maitimo doesn’t sleep as often as Findekáno does, but Findekáno can usually entice him into coming back to bed.

11. Who likes to dance?

Maitimo is the one who really truly loves partnered dancing. He leads. Findekáno can and will dance alone, but it’s only after he marries that he truly becomes enchanted by the high romance of a good querië.

[wannaliveattheholidayinn]

Writing Tag Game

I was tagged by @janelevy, thanks for the tag 💗💗

20 questions, Writer’s Edition:

(answers under the cut)

How many works do you have on AO3?

19!

What’s your total AO3 word count?

38,913 (holy fuck... what?)

How many fandoms have you written for and what are they?

on ao3 only, 10. they're marvel cinematic universe, zoey's extraordinary playlist, loki (2021), avengers - all media types, the 100 by kass morgan, knives out (2019), the 100 (tv), cloak and dagger (2018), the avengers (marvel movies), and spooksville (tv) (clearly some repeats here)

What are your top 5 fics by kudos?

you were all I wanted (and what I almost didn't get) (knives out)

I Really Like You (Even If You're a Pain in My Ass) (the 100)

time, curious time (gave me no compasses, gave me no signs) (loki & mcu)

the right or a clue (I wouldn’t know if I knew) (loki & avengers & mcu)

an indentation in the shape of you (your mark on me, a golden tattoo) (loki & mcu)

(i don't understand that last one considering it's less than 105 words)

Do you respond to comments, why or why not?

i try! i get overwhelmed easily and comments can feel overwhelming for me, but i do really try! it's just a nice thing, plus i like to interact with my readers. there's only one fic where i'm just... not going to touch the comments

What’s the fic you’ve written with the angstiest ending?

oof um... probably Vivaldi, Four Seasons: Spring and Steve Rogers, but i have a few angsty ending fics

What’s the fic you’ve written with the happiest ending?

probably Coffee and Cakes (But Not Coffee Cakes) or basorexia

Do you write crossovers? If so what is the craziest one you’ve written?

not on ao3. but back when i had fanfiction.net my friend and i were gonna collaborate on a lab rats: elite force x the big bang theory fic. basically, it was that crossover, but they were also gonna crossover with other disney channel shows (ex. kickin' it, girl meets world, etc.) it never got past the first chapter kjdhsjfkg thank g.od

Have you ever received hate on a fic?

yes actually. i don't think it was for my actual fic, just the pairing it was for (zimon), but it was under my fic (and under another person's fic bc it was the same person reviewing) so it felt like hate. either way, i just laughed at it tbh

Do you write smut? If so what kind?

no. the closest thing i got with smut was in basorexia and it was pretty vague

Have you ever had a fic stolen?

no, and i hope to god i never do. it seems like a nightmare to have happen and i feel awful for anyone who has

Have you ever had a fic translated?

nope! though i'd be super, super honored if someone ever wanted to

Have you ever co-written a fic before?

nope, but i'd be down to!

What’s your all-time favorite ship?

oh,,, probably Romanogers. That was like... the first real marvel/mcu ship i got super into and i still super adore them. should've been canon

What’s a WIP that you want to finish but don’t think you ever will?

um... published wip... probably You Make Me Live Now, Honey (You’re My Best Friend). it's just something i got invested in for a while, and then i kinda burned out on it. i don't think i'm gonna update it or write anything for it again, at least not for a while. as for unpublished... literally so many, i'm not gonna bother listing any of them

What are your writing strengths?

i'm sorry to be an idiot, but i legitimately have no clue

What are your writing weaknesses?

procrastination. i have several more, but procrastination is just the biggest

What are your thoughts on writing dialogue in other languages in a fic?

i cannot speak any languages other than english, except for a few phrases in french, spanish, hebrew, and yiddish. i've tried my hand at hebrew and yiddish in I’ve never been in those places... and Take My Hand (Wreck My Plans) is almost certainly going to have (badly google translated) irish, scottish gaelic, and hebrew appear in the future. there's already some irish in song form in it.

What was the first fandom you wrote for?

on ao3, zoey's extraordinary playlist. but my first actual fandom was girl meets world. it was some... dumb rucas fanfic that i think is actually still up... i really wanted my first fic to mighty med, but... i mean... still a disney show

What’s your favorite fic you’ve written?

oh my god, my absolute favorite fic i've ever written is I’ve never been in those places... it's just... such a deeply personal fic to me, there's so much of myself in, of my experiences, and my emotions. just... nothing tops it for me. it's the one fic i'm not going to respond to comments on, probably ever. if i had to choose a second, probably Coffee and Cakes (But Not Coffee Cakes) bc it's just so damn fluffy and despite the fact it's my first fic and horrendously outdated in canon, i honestly think it holds up pretty well.

tagging: @wannabe-etymologist, @nivuwrites, anyone else who potentially wants to do this! (no pressure!)

[timextoxhajima]

Playlist Feels

Member: Yeonjun

Genre: Slice of life, idk teen romance? chaebol yeonjun? running away from reality?? no trigger warnings, whatsoever :D

Word Count: 2.1k

A/N: I know all the members of txt but i don’t actively stan them like i do with ateez and nct now, but this song really hits different and it’s also the first time i’ve written a ‘playlist feel’ one shot where the member involved is the same person who sang the song attached to the one shot. usually i write the one shot based on both the feel of the song and the member, so hopefully yeonjun suits the vibe of this one shot. i apologise if i butcher it ;_;

you were anxiously biting into the surface of your nail and your finger pads, not bothering about chewing on your nails because yeonjun said it was unhygienic and unsightly. you remember you got mad when he first said it to you, because what business was it of his if you had that habit? 

but that was nearly two years ago when the two of you first met. you were working at a branded goods’ store, and yeonjun had waltzed in with his parents wearing what looked like an Armani Exchange blazer over a plain white shirt. His pants were obviously tailored to fit his legs perfectly, and his shoes looked like something only a businessman would wear. you would tell him his outfit looked mismatched, but you were just a mere service staff working in this expensive branded goods’ store. 

*flashback

his parents left him alone with you while they shopped for their more mature, adult clothing in the other side of the store. yeonjun was easily a head taller than you, even when you were in low, platform heels you needed to wear for work. he was fitting on a brown blazer, and you stood in the corner, biting at your nails and scanning the fit on him. 

“the arms look a little long cause your shoulders are broad for your height, let me--”

“biting your nails are unhygienic and unsightly, hasn’t your manager told you that before?” 

you scoff and pull your hand away. you look at him through the mirror, since you were standing behind him. he had this teasing smile on his lips, and his tone strangely wasn’t degrading. he sounded like he was your friend, telling you off about a habit that was indeed, bad. 

“i’m gonna go and get you one size larger.” 

you return with the same blazer in one size larger, simply handing him the piece of expensive clothing without touching him. he shoots you a look of slight surprise and smirks at you. 

“mwo?” you frown at his reaction, watching him pull off the blazer and return it to the hanger. 

“most female staff members, especially those around my age, usually offer to help me with clothes fitting.”

you roll your eyes at his statement. “that’s not very professional.”

yeonjun takes a look at himself through the mirror, turning around in a circle as he looks back over his shoulder at the mirror, making sure the back wasn’t too loose. “it’s not.”

you raise both brows and sniffled, bored at the conversation. you leaned against the wall nearby, making sure no superiors were around to see you acting so relaxed around a customer. but you knew yeonjun was watching you carefully in the mirror’s reflection. 

rich boy’s surprised that there’s a girl who isn’t interested in him. 

you snicker under your breath, trying not to look at him anymore. 

yeonjun leaves with his parents, the blazer folded nicely and packed into a box, and you didn’t notice, but yeonjun already had your name and contact taken down from your boss. 

*now

“i’m sorry, am i hearing you right?” your blood was boiling, and you wish you could slap the girl standing right in front of you. she was dressed in some strange Louis Vuitton fit, and her hair looked like it took three people to fix. 

“you heard me right. you have to break up with yeonjun-sshi because we’re getting engaged in six months.”

how the hell did she even find out?

nevermind.

no point denying it now that she knows. 

“i’m pretty fucking sure yeonjun’s got a ton to say about this.” you stand up from the expensive couch, the large living room in the middle of the mansion spanning out so wide, you wondered if yeonjun’s mansion was bigger than this. 

“even if he did, i doubt he has a choice,” the girl, who goes to the same private school as yeonjun, had this smug, arrogant grin on her face. 

life had a strange way of putting you in places you were meant to be. sometimes you wondered if yeonjun was meant to meet you at the Saint Laurent boutique. you wondered if it yeonjun’s feelings for you were meant to happen, because compared to him, you were nothing but a pauper. you found yourself stuck in a situation where your boyfriend was a chaebol, waiting to inherit whatever riches he was born into, but you were here, facing the girl he was meant to marry in the near future. 

“besides, i’ve already told his parents everything about you. about your father being a criminal, about your mother being an ex-drug addict.”

her words sunk into you like knives into your gut and needles into your eyes. of course yeonjun knew you were from a family that god obviously hadn’t spent a lot of time in making, but there was never a way for him to bring it up to his parents. there was never a way you would’ve wanted yeonjun to be the one to defend you, because you knew he would if the conversation ever came up with his parents. 

you felt your nose turn sour as you clenched your fists by your side. you could’ve punched this bitch right here and now, but the guards standing around wouldn’t make your situation any easier to get through. you huff from anger, storming past her and leaving the mansion altogether. 

yeonjun finally found you sitting in the corner of his barn you managed to sneak into. you tried your hardest not to cry since the moment you left his supposed-fiance’s house two hours ago, but there was just nothing else you could tell yourself that life was going to go your way.

“hey... hey,” he muttered under his breath, his last few steps quickening as he neared you. yeonjun fell to his knees, opening his arms wide and welcoming you into his embrace while you quietly sobbed. this was the first time you openly broke down in his presence.

“what did she say to you?” yeonjun pulled away and cupped your face, wiping your tears away with his thumbs. 

“she... she said she told your parents about my family, and... and that you wouldn’t have a choice but to marry her...” you managed to choke out between hiccups, your fingers peeling at each other at the thought of losing the one thing that you were happy with. yeonjun’s face fell to dismay at the new information, leaning back and sitting on his heels while he ran his palm through his hair.

“i’m sorry. i shouldn’t have agreed to being with you, knowing that you had so many things to worry about--” you coughed, looking down and shaking your head so aggressively, the tears flew out and hit the strands of hay on the floor.

“no, don’t apologise. none of this is on you--”

“yeonjun, please. i can’t-- i can’t watch you get married to someone else--”

“then we’ll run away.”

you immediately stopped breathing, your lungs momentarily collapsing and your head snapping up to look at him. 

“mwo?” you whisper, afraid that someone would send a bullet through your head for even hearing what he said. 

“we’re leaving.” yeonjun says this with the most firm, look of confirmation in his eyes. “i don’t care about the money, i don’t care about whatever i’m meant to inherit, but i was meant to walk into that Saint Laurent boutique store and i was meant to meet you. you are the only thing i care about, and i won’t let anything ruin what we have.”

you swear you could hear your heart shatter at his declaration of love for you, but you couldn’t help but to think about his family. everything that his parents had done, they had done it for him. 

“but--”

“no,” yeonjun shakes his head, getting to his feet and pulling you off the ground. “we’re leaving.”

he doesn’t give you much time to process the situation, but he’s got a few staff members to pack his clothes and get it out of the mansion without his parents’ noticing. 

the power of being a chaebol. 

you were watching blankly, but your heart racing, while yeonjun violently pries off the license plate off the cheapest car in their garage, the few staff members who helped get clothes, belongings and some cash out for him were now looking at him like they had helped a criminal.

“it’s been nice working with you all, and i thank you for your service all these years,” yeonjun gives a deep bow, the staff members awkwardly bowing in response. one of the staff members, who a part-timer and yeonjun’s confidante, stepped up and looked yeonjun in the eye. for a split second, you were worried soobin was going to try and persuade yeonjun not to leave, but you could only look down when you overheard his words.

“i knew you were crazy, but i definitely did not see this coming,” soobin smiles. yeonjun chuckles and bites on his bottom lip, looking back at you with the softest eyes ever. 

“you go and live the life you want to live. we both know you didn’t want this life of luxury, so go.” 

yeonjun nods subtly before wrapping his arms around soobin and giving him a tight hug. 

soobin was the only one of the staff waving you off, the other staff waiting to be reprimanded by his parents for letting their son run away. 

“yeonjun... where are we going?” you quietly asked, the air-conditioner making the car colder than outside.

“oh, we’ll worry about that later. but first, we gotta pay someone a visit.”

you found yourself back in the mansion you were in just a couple of hours ago. yeonjun had managed to bypass the security system and break in through the back door because it was the same system he used back at home. yeonjun flashed you a mischievous grin before hurling a vase at the mirror, both items shattering in the process. 

something in you clicked, watching yeonjun turn into the person he really is. no more rich people meals, no more blazers and expensive shoes, no more hiding. 

you cackled, your high pitched laughter echoing in the halls as the sound of glass and broken pieces made contact with the marble floor. picking up the heaviest statue he could find in the room, he dropped it without hesitation on the glass table in the middle of the living room, only the golden frame of the table remaining. 

your eyes sparkled as the reflection of the china and the metal cutlery shone under the light of the kitchen. you pulled out the plates carefully only to throw them across the length of the room at the wall. Like in slow motion, the plate shatters into a million pieces. 

back in the living room, he was ripping the pillows up, the feathers coating the marble floor, making it look like a child's playground. he wonders why it takes so much for the house to come alive. 

the person that you were both here to piss off was finally awake, wide, angry eyes fixated on them as he grabbed your hand and bowed, like you had just finished a show. 

"like what you see?" he snickers, fingers interlocked with yours. The girl standing on the 2nd floor overlooking the living room looked like she had steam escaping through every opening in her face, and the look on her face only added onto the adrenaline in the blood that ran through both your veins. 

"maybe you should think twice about doing what you did," he flashes her his most charming smile, the exact same smile that the wretched girl was so desperate to call her own. you didn’t know if she was more angry that you broke into her house and destroyed everything expensive you saw, or that she realised she lost the game she started. 

but did you care? no. did yeonjun? no. 

you and yeonjun soon found yourselves driving away at top speed in the car, away from her mansion, away from the life he never wanted to live, away from the life you wanted to run away for a long, long time. 

tears were gathering in the corners of your eyes as you watched yeonjun laugh and woot out the window of the drivers’ seat. as the car stops at a red light, he turns to you, holding the back of your head and pulls you in, pressing your forehead against his lips as he whispered,

“together forever.” 

[ash-etherwood]

Top 5: writing memories, songs, characters that are not blank rune, runes, food

♡

Linda I love you but are you trying to kill me … that’s so many Top 5’s! But alright, I’ll do my best! (Answers will probably switch between German and English RIP to every non-German-speaker who follows me and wants to read this for some reason I swear I’m normal)

WRITING MEMORIES

5.) The entire time I spent finishing my first (second?) longer writing project It was the year 2012 and it was a cyberpunk story about my friends’ and my edgy self inserts riding dinosaurs, fighting aliens and being badass. The plot twist in the end was that my character was secretly evil and wanted to kill everyone. (Things to show your therapist) The final boss fight made zero sense and also everything was incredibly weird and stupid. But sometimes I still think about those times when I sat in my grandma’s living room at night, eating chips and listening to Vocaloid covers while thinking this story was the coolest shit ever. Truly simpler times.

4.) Researching something about universities in Texas for OvF on a rainy Saturday afternoon I have no idea why this memory is still sticking with me to this day (I think it was around 2016 or something?), but I remember that it was just a really nice day and I felt really at peace at that moment?

3.) The entire writing process of Bathroom Blues It was such a spontaneous project and I still have no idea how I managed to power though it in just a little under two months! Also it was just incredibly fun seeing you getting excited over new drafts and I loved coming up with new plot points and Halloween costumes for everyone with you. :-D Truly a summer worth remembering.

2.) FINALLY uploading the prologue and intro chapter of WWBL Not really a writing memory, but that moment was … so sexy and magical. Seriously, you have no idea how long I had been waiting to finally start that story, waiting for the Steckbriefe to roll in and see people react to the prologue and generally the idea … I even made one of those countdown graphic thingies for the designated upload date! 8D At that point I had planned that story for about six months and just … yeah, that felt powerful to me.

1.) Writing the prologue for WWBL When I first started the draft for that prologue I was sitting at the window in my favourite hotel in Winterberg, Sauerland, wore my dark green flannel, had the window wide open breathing in the cool mountain air and allowed myself to listen to my WWBL playlist for the very first time. God, that felt so amazing. I even have a photo of it (which somehow makes it look like I have the biggest football shoulders in the universe) my sister took that night. God I miss Sauerland. )’:

- - - - -

SONGS

My apologies to every favourite song of mine that I forgot about, I have a whole playlist of them, but I think these are some of my oldest faves … (Honorable mentions for Don’t Mess With Me and Not That Big by Temposhark, Goodbye by Apparat, Me And The Devil by Soap&Skin, Heart Heart Head by Meg Myers, Pain and Animal I Have Become by Three Days Grace, Beautiful Crime by Tamer, Gravity Of Love by Enigma, In Flames by Digital Daggers [thanks Phi u_u] and Murder Cries by Snow Ghosts AHHH FUCK IT I could’ve just made a playlist,,,)

5.) Vater Unser by E Nomine Starting off with some weird shit, won’t we? I’ve been in love with this song since fifth or sixth grade, when I was just starting to develop an actual music taste and although I have many favourite songs by E Nomine, this one has to be my absolute fave. Every time I can relate it to a character it makes me love said character even more. (Also I think about it every time my mom forces me to go to church for Christmas so … yay? I’m pretty sure I wouldn’t even be able to remember the Vater Unser if it wasn’t for this song. 8D)

4.) Wires by The Neighbourhood I think this is the newest all-time fave on this list, I found it in … 2015? Thank you, Youtube AMVs. Yeah man, this one is just … on so many playlists it’s not even funny anymore.

3.) Heathens by Twenty One Pilots An edgelord classic but like … it’s on EVERY playlist of mine. Every single one. It’s just so good. The first time I heard it was on the radio tho, when I was having breakfast with Jessie and I forced her to shazam it because it immediately stuck with me,,,

2.) Imaginary by Evanescence My first Evanescence song ever and the first step towards becoming who I am today I think. This song has like … such a big history for me, man. It single-handedly turned me goth in 2008 and I have never really thanked it for that.

1.) Eternal by Evanescence Might be my favourite song of all time. The number of dramatic RP scenes I have written with this in the background … man. Oh, also this song is the reason for one of my oldest internet nicknames, ‘eternala’, which subsequently shortened into Etschuh and then Tschuh, my main nickname until 2017, when I came out as trans and finally found an actual name for myself I was comfortable with!

- - - - -

NON BLANK RUNE CHARACTERS

I know this was probably supposed to be about fandom characters but I can literally not come up with a single character right now that I love with a special burning passion and that is not my or one of my friends’ OCs so you’re getting OCs now. u_u And boy do I have a lot of those.

5.) Jackson Tracey from atroCITY (mine) This little piece of shit kept me company for a pretty long time and is still very close to my heart for some reason, although I haven’t drawn him or really thought about him in detail for a while now. My favourite thing is how I only realized what a horrible person he was after I stopped regularly working with him but honestly good for me. 8D His storyline and personality is kinda convoluted and tbh I’m not really sure how much of it is canon anyway (atrc was always a little weird about canon rip) but yeah. He’s an obsessive stalker piece of shit who pities himself way too much and he is also a semi-immortal demigod who likes knives. I hate him but he also helped me a lot with some gender and sexuality stuff so thanks I guess.

4.) Mayoko Imai from Century Riders DXPrototype (Maus’ and mine) Mayoko is a magical girl protagonist with a cool cyborg arm prosthetic and her main character trait was that she was basically a reverse weeaboo, a Japanese girl who was obsessed with American media, culture and comic book heroes! I actually love her concept a lot and she also had a pretty cool character arc in her story (which Maus and I wrote together and actually finished btw!), although it could use a lot more … polishing from today’s point of view. But I love her anyway. She always wanted to do the right thing and be a hero and got broken pretty cruelly and her ending is kinda bittersweet I guess? Ahh there’s just so much nuance to it … anyways, CR3 also stuck with me for a very long time and I enjoyed the time with her a lot. :3 (Her name had a cameo in Another Incident btw heehee)

3.) Tessa *insert extremely long chain of unnecessary first names here* von Lean from Nobody Is Perfect and Infernal Temptation (belongs to one of my old school friends) Tessa is just … a hand full. I love to hate her. She is badly written and developed and just OOZES mentally ill teenage girl’s idealized self-insert power fantasy, but she just … man, she was a big part of one of my most drama-filled high school friendships which I love looking back at so much. Tessa has fucked so many of my characters … good for her tbh! There are actually two versions of her, one is just a ‘normal’ teenage girl and one can shapeshift into a cheetah, but both of them are very close to my heart. I should really adopt and redesign her some day.

2.) Judy Khayat from Original vs. Final (mine) Look, I love all my OvF-characters and every single one of them is special to me in their own way, but Judy is just … the most complex of them all I think? Man, she went through so much … she is actually one of my oldest (semi)-active characters (I created her in 2009) and her latest version is from 2016 but I should really, REALLY revise her again tbh. She has a very complicated backstory that I didn’t handle as carefully as I should have, and anger issues and religious conflict and depression and PTSD and then Vance of all people becomes obsessed with her for no reason and decides to traumatize her even more … yeah. God I really love her but I seriously need to work on her. A LOT. I should also finally rename her tbh … let’s just see where she takes me next.

1.) Okami (I don’t even remember if she has a proper last name rn lol) from Split Realm (mine) Yeah, that bitch is just my favourite OC. She’s also very old, probably from around 2009, and initially was a magical girl with fire powers who I played in an RP with my friend Flauch but boy did she grow up! Holy fuck. Okami is a horrible person but I love her so much. She is so violent and full of anger and pain and sadness and treats everyone around her like shit and she is in love and she is a demon but also apparently the personification of the concept of Chaos but she just wants to be a teenager again and run away with the love of her life and ahhh it’s all so hopeless for her … also she turned out gnc af with time passing and pretty much went through a gender/sexuality crisis in real time with me, her creator, which is always fun. :^D I haven’t drawn her in a while tbh. Should really do that.

- - - - -

RUNES IN BLANK RUNE

I’m just gonna go with the arcs here, okay? Also this entire answer might look completely different if you asked me again tomorrow, you know how indecisive I am with Blank Rune shit ahha,,,

5.) Jera Look. I know I’m boring and stupid. But I just love Tave and Liam having their disgusting little foreshadowing talk, okay? I can read it over and over. I just love my horrible little shit crime boys. Also Rhy and Phillip are there. (’:

4.) Isa This one is here because it was the first arc I witnessed in real time which gives it a very special place in my heart and it also … hit pretty hard at the time. But having read Fehu it’s become even better now! It’s just such a wonderful, tragic romance between two horrible, ruthless boys and I … I’m not immune to Rhy, sadly. :-/ Just like Phillip.

3.) Wunjo We still haven’t seen everything that leads up to Wunjo yet, but we DO know more than we did initially (wow shocker) and it’s just always a fucking blast. Also, it has the first mention of Ash’s real name … the first Rhy POV (which what the fuck!! I always feel like we had one before but we didn’t!! Wild) and it has crazy blood-soaked murder Tave, my beloved. :///3

2.) Eiwaz You guys have heard me fanboy about Eiwaz so many times already. Eiwaz-OT3 (and Kain) my beloved!!! It’s just SUCH an amazing starting point and there are so, so many things that tie back to it and every time we find out about a new one my heart makes a little jump … und es beginnt von Neuem indeed.

1.) Gebo One of the most painful but also the most beautiful arcs yet in my opinion. It’s been hyped up for so long and boy did it deliver. God, my heart still hurts when I think about that last scene. Also all the dialogue … the golden lines we got … and it’s an arc without Rhy! Crazy!! :-D I just love the relationship between Ash, Astrid and Jakob so much. God fuck I want what they have. Just maybe without the murder suicide,,,

- - - - -

FOOD

5.) Diese Sonntagsbrötchen wo die Verpackung so plopp macht, wenn man die Folie abzieht Better than normale Brötchen for some reason. Most of the time. See 2.) Look man, I just really love a good breakfast …

4.) Chocolate cupcakes with cream cheese topping One of the first things from a certain baking book I tried when I was getting into baking back in 2019. God they are so tasty. I don’t make them often so I don’t get used to them too much and eating them still feels special but ahhhh I love them so much!

3.) Grünkohl mit Kartoffelbrei und Mettendchen One of my favourite things about autumn/winter and one of my biggest comfort foods. God I love this shit so much. I just put … mountains of Grünkohl and Kartoffelbrei on my plate every time and I will just warm it up for four days straight until there’s no more left. It turns me into a fucking caveman. I’m not even big on eating meat but … yeah. Everything is different when there’s Grünkohl.

2.) Normales Brötchen mit Butter und Scheibenkäse aber ich bin beim Frühstücksbuffet im Hotel Oddly specific but that’s just how it is. Sorry. Nichts geht über Brötchen mit Käse.

1.) Chilli-Knoblauch-Nudelauflauf My beloved. My comfort food. I eat it literally every second day. At least one hour in the kitchen every time. Fresh ingredients. My only vegetable intake. And I’ve been doing that for three years. I just love it so much, man. I cook it for everyone who visits me. Chilli-Knoblauch-Auflauf cured my depression.

[doomedandstoned]

Know Your Scene: Electric Valley Records

~By Peter Willmott~

Electric Valley Records is a name in the underground Stoner/Psych/Doom community that inspires enthusiastic support from every corner. Based in the small island of Sardinia Italy, founder Marco Nieddu started off releasing his own music for the band Raikinas. Now years after Raikinas has joined the great festival in the sky and the label lives on. Now Marco continues to play with 1782 and he has been making serious waves with Electric Valley Records with a stable of great bands and a growing reputation for boutique vinyl, deliciously dark art, and all round killer releases.

Started by Marco in 2014, the label grew over the first few years from a boutique Italian market to take on the world stage and by 2018 was generating serious media attention. Marco’s great art and attention to detail in his releases created a loyal stable of fans - if it was Electric Valley Records you knew it was going to be a great album.

Fast forward to 2021, as Italy slowly climbs out of the COVID-19 mess, Electric Valley Records has a great family of bands who support each other - you can’t underestimate the power of community in helping bands stay strong and keep the fire alive to produce great music. The power of vinyl and fuzz worship has never been stronger! 2021 sees Electric Valley Records take a global position with one release a month in the first half of 2021, including bands from Australia (Amammoth), Chile (Dixie Goat), Cyprus (Stonus), Italy (1782, Cancervo) and more. We can’t wait to see what’s coming next!

We spoke with Marco Nieddu about some of the label’s history.

When did you decide to start Electric Valley Records, and where did the name come from?

The label was born in 2014, with my band at the time, Raikinas, we were looking for a label, we sent tons of emails but we got just two or three replies. I couldn't stand it, so I decided to create my own label just for that band, but as you know Electric Valley has much more than just one band, plus Raikinas no longer exists. (laughs)

As for the name instead, there is no particular reason, that name had been spinning in my head for a long time, so I didn't think twice and chose it as the name of the label.

What do you love about the Italian heavy music scene?

The Italian heavy music scene is really beautiful, there are so many good bands that take out fantastic albums; bands like Ufomammut, Black Rainbows, Elepharmers, Humulus, Cancervo, Atomic Mold, just to name a few, I could spend hours writing.

Also from the point of view of labels it is not bad at all, one of the strongest labels of this genre is Heavy Psych Sounds Records, and it is from Rome, then we have Argonauta Records, GoDown Records and many others.

One thing I love about the Italian scene is the small festivals, people are very interested. In my opinion we are not at the level of other countries such as Germany, for example --but I must say that in our small way we move well -- there is a lot of interest from both the organizer and the public.

What gives you the biggest buzz running the label?

Basically everything! (laughs) The excitement starts from when the band signs through to the release of the album and beyond. This with every single release!

The coolest thing is when you realize bands are going strong, I don't mean sales, I mean, when people start talking about bands, share them on social media, include them in playlists and take record photos. For me the most important thing is that the band is doing well and growing more and more. Before being my job, it is my passion.

What is the special sauce that makes an album an “Electric Valley Records” release?

There isn't exactly a special sauce, each band has its own special sauce. When I listen to new bands, generally, if I like them I immediately realize, as I said before, each band has its own particularity and this is what strikes me, it can be a certain type of sound, a certain style of riff, the groove, the voice and any other kind of peculiarity.

What I try to do is make the listener feel the same feelings I feel when I listen to that particular band. I can't pick bands at random or without listening to them just to make a release, Electric Valley isn't that kind of label.

Marco Nieddu may be the most popular man in the underground stoner-psychedelic and doom community. We reached out to bands on the Electric Valley Records label, and boy were they ready to talk about it, there’s a whole lotta love for Marco and his work over the years!

What attracted you to Electric Valley Records?

Amammoth: We first heard of them through the band 1782 which we are huge fans of. We love their sound and they have amazing artwork. When we were looking into getting some artwork done for our band we looked at Electric Valley and we discovered Marco was the one who did it all. We were super lucky to have Marco do some art for us and it all stemmed from there. We were already fans of the label and listened to a lot of the bands on the label, as they promote a lot of the influential up and upcoming bands of our genre.

Atomic Mold: It was 2015, our first album "Atomic Mold" had just been released. Marco contacted us to find out if we would like to collaborate, we wrote a lot and we decided to make a split. He put us in touch with Mount Hush and in a short time we made a split that had good success and was sold out in a few months. In October 2016 we met with Marco in Sardegna who organized the tour with Fatso Jetson.

Stonus: Well, back in 2019 we were looking for a record label to release our debut album “Aphasia” which was our main aim at the time. The reason for seeking a label contract was to get more reach, release our music on vinyl, more gig opportunities and to learn how things work from a more business/professional perspective. We had 4 or 5 options at the time and Electric Valley Records was the most appealing as we liked the bands that were signed and they do things in a really professional way. Marco is an excellent guy although we never met in person. (laughs) He is always available for questions and he is really flexible and understanding. In a year, we had two releases on vinyl, “Aphasia” and “Séance” and they also have some cool options like tapes. I must say we are very satisfied even though the pandemic caused some delays but what can you do, fans have been patient on their side and we have to thank them for that, too.

Loose Sutures: EVR is one of the best labels in doom, stoner, fuzz rock. Beautiful roster, high accuracy in every detail, respect and personality. For us is more about a brotherhood than a simple contract sealing: we belong to the same island and share the same studio with 1782. We're friends and we all feel friendship with all EVR bands.

Hadewijch: EVR attracted us for many reasons but the first would have to be the great communication back and forth and the complete belief in our vision and Herbal Doom from day one. Marco is a professional and creates an environment where we as artists and our music feels safe and respected. It’s clear that he cares very much about the bands and the music itself and is not afraid to take risks on what he releases in line with a level of quality that has become known from the label.

High N' Heavy: What attracted us to EVR was we really dug their aesthetic, and we were already big fans of Atomic Mold and Weed Demon.

Dixie Goat: We don't know if you can put this (we can - Peter) but the last days of last year we were contacted by Paul from The Cosmic Peddler. He asked us if we had physical copies from our 2nd album (new one) so we said no. Then he asked us if we were interested in releasing the album and if we want to have a label. Our answer was Fuck Yeah! man. We don't care if they want to release our new album on tape, cd, lp, laserdisc, betamax, minidisc, whatever they want! We were just happy that someone was interested in the band and they wanted us to release our music outside our country also considering our difficult times. So that is how it starts. Kinda fairy tale. They have a great roster of bands. Also they released a split including our brothers from Chile, Arteaga. Awesome band, by the way.

Cancervo: We’ve known EVR through friends. We already listen to some bands from this label and we like their works, so we tried to send our first record, when they told us that the song was liked and that we could do something, we were so excited!

Weed Demon: When Marco approached us about signing with EVR we were completely unfamiliar with the label but it didn’t take long to realize that they were headed in the right direction. The roster of bands was killer and label branding was on point. It just felt like a perfect fit for us. They had a little bit of everything, just like our sound in Weed Demon. It also didn’t hurt that Marco is a super nice dude and has always been easy to work with.

Marmalade Knives: I found my way to Electric Valley through Heavy Psych Sounds, and I instantly really appreciated Marco and his openness to hearing new music and growing his label in different psychedelic directions. I think his attitude and demeanor find their way into all corners of the EVRverse. All of the other bands on the label I've interacted with have been super supportive and cool.

Desert Suns: We started working with Electric Valley right when we had finished our latest album Carry On. We were shopping it around to see who would want to release it. Marco was down to put it out.

Wormhog: Since we were determined to release our first LP Yellow Sea on vinyl we had made some contacts with various labels and pressing plants. Electric Valley and Marco showed us right from the start how much they wanted a collaboration between us. Of course, we knew of EVR’s existence long before our release and we were flattered to be part of such a great family with so many great bands! However, what actually attracted us, was that there was a feeling of mutual respect in our communication, right from the start, which was also depicted on our contract. Everything is straight and simple, which was the main reason we wanted to be part of the label, and we couldn’t be happier about it!

Elepharmers: We met the guys from Electric Valley before their label was even founded. Marco was the bass player of Raikinas, we met at a concert, then we shared the stage and beautiful evenings. We also did some gigs in Germany together thanks to him and his band. We appreciate their desire to grow and make space for themselves in the stoner, psych, doom music scene.

What was the most exciting part of your release with Electric Valley Records?

Amammoth: We were super stoked to be working with a label that we were already fans of, and to be on a label that gives a fuck and actually cares about the art and the artists. It was fun working with Marco to design the record cover too, as we really appreciate his art. It was exciting to work with a label that works so hard to expose their bands to people all around the world and we really appreciate them pumping our songs out for people all over to hear. Coming from Australia and being in a genre like ours it is a great honour and privilege to be on a label like Electric Valley, as our music is being heard and reaching places further than we could have ever imagined.

Atomic Mold: Surely to see our records arrive all over the world!

Stonus: Nothing can beat the excitement of releasing your debut album on vinyl and being featured by blogs and magazines all around the globe. We feel very thankful for the feedback and support we received and Electric Valley Records was a catalyst on this small success.

Loose Sutures: Being part of EVR means being part of something getting bigger every year . You realize immediately that this label cares a lot about their bands. You can see it in every step: music, promotion, merch, album covers etcetera. Now we are close to releasing the first single of our new album and we can't wait for it! So excited and proud.

Hadewijch: The most exciting was to have 100 percent freedom with the artwork and control over the release, but still feeling like this was a collective team effort with EVR behind us every step of the way.

High N' Heavy: Most exciting part about releasing through them was they did such a great job getting us out there and fully supporting our ideas. They’re great at working with you on making your release the best it can be. From the music to the art direction and everywhere in between.

Dixie Goat: As we said above, the label has great bands so being part of it's like a dream come true. Also releasing our music for the first time on a label and for the first time on vinyl woooow, we were jumping like monkeys. Pretty happy!

Cancervo: The most exciting part was planning the release and all the technical details of our first album.

Weed Demon: Our last two releases with EVR gave us way more worldwide exposure. It’s difficult for an Ohio based band to gain a following across the pond in Europe. Having a label based out of Sardinia definitely helped increase our fan base.

Marmalade Knives: As this was my band's first release ever, I have to say that each milestone -- each a first -- was very exciting for me. The signing, the selection of vinyl colors, holding a copy in my hands for the first time: it was all exciting.

Desert Suns: Electric Valley had been on our radar for a couple years so it was cool to actually have our second album released by a label from Italy. Electric Valley has been putting out some solid releases from some really rad bands! We are stoked to be on their roster.

Wormhog: Since Yellow Sea is our first physical release, the most exciting moment cannot be any other than the moment we saw our new records in the flesh! The printing and pressing quality are absolutely amazing, and that’s what anybody should expect from a label like Electric Valley Records.

Elepharmers: One thing we appreciate about Electric Valley is that it's a label run by people with so much enthusiasm, people with whom we've created a bond of friendship that goes beyond the stage and making records. Marco from EV collaborated in setting the dates for the 2020 European tour, which unfortunately was cancelled due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

Anything else you’d like to share about Electric Valley Records?

Amammoth: We can’t thank them enough for everything they have done for us as a band. They are one of the best independent record labels in the world and we are super lucky to be working with them.

Atomic Mold: Yes, we are currently composing the new album which we will release with Electric Valley Records. Over time he has built a great relationship with us. We have a lot of trust and respect for the work he has always done for us.

Stonus: For us the whole concept of a release is important, from music to artwork, vinyl colour, special inserts and posters. We like to experiment with ideas and possibilities so we often discuss with Marco things that he has never done before and he is keen to learn and do his research, always offering a solution. We are really happy to be part of this awesome family of heavy bands, they are all amazing artists and people. We can't wait to meet them in person and connect through music!

Loose Sutures: Get Ready for the new album: it's gonna be hot and nasty! We are proud to continue being part of this great family and we are more than sure that it will continue to grow and improve more and more.

Hadewijch: Yes! I think it’s worth saying, even at the risk of sounding a bit cliché, that there is a very positive feeling environment on the label. All the bands are kind and willing to help each other, like a group of friends you know? We’re all willing to help uplift each other and it’s an awesome feeling.

High N' Heavy: And I’d like to say again that the support is real with EVR. Not just from Marco and the crew, but from the bands, too. We constantly refer to it as the EVR family, and it really feels that way. Everyone reps everyone else. It’s a great label, and they continue to grow with new awesome bands.

Dixie Goat: They have treated us awesome since day 1. Always kind and respectfully. We like that and we have just gratitude for the label. We think it's not that easy to sign a band from the end of the world. We have so much love for Marco from Electric Valley Records and Paul from The Cosmic Peddler. Thank you so much, guys!

Cancervo: We found a great family and a good vibe who pushed us to plan our second album still with them. It will come out in the first part of 2022! Stay tuned!

Weed Demon: The thing I love most about being a part of this label is the feeling of family. All of the bands are super supportive of one another. Even being spread out all across the world, it still feels like you are all buds in a local scene. Everyone working towards a shared goal of growing the Electric Valley family and pushing each other’s music and art to the next level!

Marmalade Knives: Just that I'm psyched to continue the working relationship. I'm hopeful that the second Marmalade Knives LP will be released later this year.

Desert Suns: We’ve had a little line up change over the last year so we are writing some new material we’d like to record and get out within the next year and hopefully have the privilege to keep working with Electric Valley Records.

Wormhog: We just can’t wait for our next release together!

Elepharmers: At the moment I don't have other things to tell: there would be many anecdotes related to parties and concerts, drinking beer till dawn and listening to great music.

Highlights from the Electric Valley Records Catalog

Amammoth

Amammoth - The Fire Above by Electric Valley Records

Atomic Mold

Split Atomic Mold / Arteaga by ATOMIC MOLD

Cancervo

I by CANCERVO

Desert Suns

Carry On by Desert Suns

Dixie Goat

There's No Light Without Darkness by Dixie Goat

Elepharmers

Lords of Galaxia (2019, Electric Valley Records) by Elepharmers

Hadewijch

Herbal Noise by Hadewijch

High N' Heavy

V by High n' Heavy

Loose Sutures

Loose Sutures by Loose Sutures

Marmalade Knives

Amnesia by Marmalade Knives

Stonus

Séance by Stonus

Weed Demon

Crater Maker by Weed Demon

Wormhog

Yellow Sea by Wormhog

Follow The Label

Get Their Music

[the-only-straight-fander]

This is Gospel

Request by @virgils-anxiety-and-insanity

Wherein Thomas learns something new about their resident anxious one

Thomas didn’t mean to eavesdrop, really, he didn’t. He was just casually exploring the Dark Sides’ part of the house (when they conveniently were busy so he wouldn’t have to face them oops) when he heard music. Curious, he followed the sound. His ears led him to a slightly ajar door at the end of the hallway. He thinks he recognizes the song as one he’s heard through Virgil’s headphones before. About five steps from the door, another voice joins the music playing, causing Thomas to freeze in his tracks. 

Was that… Virgil? Scoffing at himself for the absurd thought that it was Virgil singing, he quietly creeps the last five steps and peeks in through the gap, only to immediately pull back and press himself against the wall in shock. It was Virgil singing! Since when did he have such a pretty voice?? He stands and paces a few strides in the hallway, running his hand through his hair and trying to process what he had just seen. 

Suddenly, he returns to the door, despite feeling as though he is interrupting something personal. Once again, he sees Virgil holding his phone in his hands. Now, that in itself most definitely isn't strange. No, what he happens to be doing in addition to that is what has Thomas so flabbergasted: he's singing. Not mumbling or humming, honest to goodness singing. It's still fairly quiet but it's certainly audible. And oh does Thomas hear it. 

“If you love me let me go

‘Cause these words are knives that often leave scars

The fear of falling apart

And truth be told, I never was yours

The fear, the fear of falling apart”

He hears him in a way he's never heard him before. He sounds... soft, genuine, and sad. There's no trace of his usual snark, although his voice is still raspy. So very different from his usual dark and dreary, abrasive and aggressive, snarky and sarcastic persona. Taking a deep breath, Thomas pulls back and leans onto the wall, sliding down into a sitting position and closing his eyes. How long he sits there, he doesn’t know. The dark side’s singing is sporadic, joining in on his playlist whenever he feels so moved. Eventually, another voice sounds. 

“Why on earth do you still have your hoodie on? It certainly isn’t 96 degrees outside today,” comes Deceit’s sibilant hiss. 

“Oh. Uh.” Virgil’s reply is hesitant to say the least. “Well, uh, the light sides don’t exactly know about… ya know, so I’ve gotten used to just wearing it all the time.”

“I’m afraid I don’t know what you’re talking about, forgive me, the heat is totally not getting to me today.”

The silence that follows this statement stretches on for so long that Thomas thinks the answer may never come. Just as he’s given up hope, he hears a soft sigh.

“The scars.”

Thomas physically jolts. What scars? From what? Why would he not tell them? Is he ok? Fueled by his concern, Thomas moves to peek into the room. 

Sitting cross legged on the floor in a short sleeve shirt is Virgil. His eyes are drawn to Virgil’s uncovered arms and his brows knit in concern. Abruptly, he realizes that there is still a conversation going on and that he has missed quite a chunk.

“-looking better. It’s been awhile hasn’t it,” says Deceit softly.

The smile Virgil gives at this observation can’t be described as anything but proud. “Yeah it has.”

“Why exactly haven’t you told them?”

“They… well I think they care, but I still represent something negative to them. Any time I pop up, they’re automatically on guard. They don’t want me, not really, so I figure, why burden them with something like this anyway. Plus, would they care? Would they listen?”

“Ah,” is Deceit’s simple answer.

Suddenly, there is a loud shuffling and Thomas hears Deceit say: “Well, pardon my quick exit, but I’m afraid Remus hasn’t hurt himself again,” followed by rapidly approaching footsteps. 

Thomas panics. He looks around the hallway, but there’s nowhere to hide. And so, as Deceit walks by, Thomas finds himself sitting an inch from the door. Without glancing at him, Deceit makes his way down the hallway. However, just as Thomas is congratulating himself on his stealth, the other side turns to look at him. 

“Go talk to him.”

As the other finally leaves, Thomas realizes that he must have known he was there the whole time. Facepalming, Thomas attempts to rally his courage to actually enter the room now. It takes him a while, to say the least. 

Eventually, mustering all of his courage, Thomas knocks on the door.

“Yeah?” comes the confused reply.

Thomas takes a deep breath and gently pushes the door open. Virgil’s surprise quickly morphs into suspicion.

“How long were you out there?”

Although he tries not to look guilty, his face must have given him away, because Virgil gives a deep sigh and runs a hand over his face. 

“Ok, fine. Geez. Got any questions? Let’s get this over with,” the anxious side grumbles.

In truth, Thomas has many questions, but looking at Virgil now, he just seems so tired that Thomas can’t bring himself to get the words out.

Instead, he settles for shaking his head and sitting down next to the anxious side. 

After a beat, he decides to speak.

“You know we do care about you, right? We really do. We all have different ways of showing it, and we’re overcoming our past assumptions. That doesn’t give us an excuse, but I hope you can have some patience with us.” He turns a smile toward the one in purple who meets his gaze with widened eyes. “You’ve saved our butts from awkward or just plain dangerous situations so many times, and you really help us to make good decisions. If anything, all of this is our fault for vilifying you in the first place. I don’t think we- I could function without you Virgil.”

“Uh. Wow. Ok.” Virgil takes a deep breath and runs a hand through his hair distractedly. “Thanks I guess? Sorry, I’m really bad at this.” Here, he laughs a little ashamedly. 

“Nah, it’s fine.” Thomas reaches over and wraps an arm around the other’s shoulders. “But really, I’ll care, and I’ll listen, I promise.” 

“Now, now, you can’t make baseless promises,” says Virgil jokingly, “what do you swear on?”

Raising his hand with a straight face, Thomas says, “I swear on all the Crofters in the kitchen.”

Virgil lets out a low whistle. “Dang, you are committed.”

The two dissolve into laughter before settling into a comfortable silence, leaning on each other.

It’s broken by a scream. With a sigh, Thomas stands. “That sounds like Remus. I should probably go deal with that.”

Virgil gives a single nod with a small smile.

When Thomas reaches the door, he pauses, then turns around. “Oh, by the way, you have a really pretty voice Virge,” he says with a wink before fleeing from the pillow thrown in his direction accompanied by the yell that he “better not tell anyone!”

[feedmecookiesnow]

Just Like A Circus

Short fic based on @midnightwinterhawk‘s  headcanon about Clint running SHIELD’s obstacle courses to Britney Spears. Thanks for the inspiration (and the excuse to listen to Britney all day)!

***

Bucky decides to give up on sleep after waking up in a cold sweat from his third nightmare. He throws back the covers with more force than is really necessary and stares up at the ceiling. “JARVIS,” he says tentatively, still unused to talking to an unseeing, all-knowing entity. Or at least, one that actually talks back.

“Yes, Sergeant Barnes?”

“What time is it?”

“It is 2AM.”

“Fuck.” Bucky rolls over and looks at the soft light of the city as it comes in through the window. He can still feel the pull of the nightmare, hear the whine of a bone saw, see the unbridled glee on Zola’s face as he detailed exactly what they were going to do to Bucky---

Bucky gets up, goes into the bathroom, and sticks his head under the faucet. The cold water is a shock to his system but it grounds him, wakes him up a little more. Helps chase away the lights and voices and pain that still echo in his head so many years in the future.

“You’re out,” he tells himself, looking up in the mirror. “You made it out.”

He looks like hell, honestly. There’s dark circles under his eyes, and a few days worth of stubble on his face, and his whole face just has a sunken, haunted look to it. Bucky turns his head away and flips the light off, then makes his way out into the dark of his room.

“I can’t sleep,” he says, not sure who exactly he’s talking to, or why he’s even saying it out loud. “I can’t---I don’t want to see that anymore.”

JARVIS makes a sympathetic sound, eerily human. Bucky’s not sure what to make of it. “If I may make a suggestion, Sergeant.”

“Yeah, what?”

“Agent Barton appears to be having the same issues as you are. He is currently running the obstacle course in the gym. I suspect he would appreciate the company.”

Bucky considers this. Clint’s a decent guy. Not as abrasive as Stark, not as clingy as Steve. Certainly not as scary as Natasha. Bucky likes him well enough. Could be worth checking out. The obstacle course part gives him pause, but he’s pretty sure it won’t be anything like Hydra’s used to be. He doubts Clint will be waiting at the end to punish him for any mistakes made.

Bucky looks at his bed, which promises more nightmares, and shudders. “Okay. I’ll go.”

He pulls on some clothes and pads down the hallway barefoot to the elevator. The gym is towards the bottom of the Tower, on the levels where the Avengers and SHIELD start to blend together. He punches the button and leans against the wall. “JARVIS, how long has he been down there?”

“Not long,” JARVIS says. “No more than an hour.”

Bucky nods and taps his fingers on the wall, curious as to what exactly drove Clint to go run an obstacle course at two in the morning.

Agent Barton appears to be having the same issues as you are.

He wonders briefly what Clint’s nightmares look like, if they’re as skin-crawling and horrible as his own, if they make him wake up screaming and---

The doors open into the gym, and he loses his train of thought.

The first thing he notes is the music, blasting loud enough to make him wince. It’s some kind of pop song, nothing he knows. Bucky shakes his head and moves away from the speakers, looking around to see where Clint is.

After a moment, he spots him, hanging upside down in the cargo net. There’s three knives in his right hand, a bow hooked over his right arm, and a quiver strapped to his back. As Bucky watches, he holds one of the knives up to his mouth. For one insane moment, Bucky thinks he’s going to stab himself, and he surges forward, arm already extended to climb---

But no. His mouth is moving, and his head is nodding along to the song, and after a second, Bucky realizes that he’s singing. Singing, and holding the knife hilt-up like it’s a microphone. He’s really into it, gesturing and waving his other arm to the point where he almost loses the bow.

Bucky stares at him incredulously. Clint finishes the song and launches all three knives at the same time, sending them tumbling across the room to lodge into the projected target on the wall. Then as the next song starts, he flips himself upright, detangles his legs from the cargo net, and starts climbing up. At the top of the net, he rolls onto the platform and nocks a couple arrows. He draws the bow back to his ear, then freezes as he finally notices Bucky.

They stare at each other, frozen in an awkward moment. Then Clint says something that Bucky can’t hear. Around them, silence descends as the music shuts off. Clint unstrings the bow and sticks the arrows back in the quiver. Then he slings the bow over his shoulder and jumps off the platform, easily catching a nearby cable and sliding down.

“Hey,” he says at the bottom, pulling the bow off his shoulder. “What’s up? Something going on?”

Bucky has a lot of questions about what’s going on, but when he opens his mouth, what comes out is, “I can’t sleep.”

Clint studies him for a moment, then says, “Nightmares again?”

Again?

Bucky stares at him. Clint shrugs. “I’ve heard you. You scream sometimes.” He gestures to the course. “Wanna run a couple laps? That usually helps me.”

“Is that why you’re here? Nightmares?”

“Yeah,” Clint says, honest and open. He shrugs. “You know about the New York battle, right? With Loki and the wormhole?”

“I know.” He’s gotten the story in bits and pieces, mostly from Tony, who he expects exaggerates a little bit. But he knows the gist of it. “Loki...he brainwashed you, right?”

Clint nods. “Weird magic shit. Nat knocked me out of it but every once in a blue moon I still get nightmares about it. So I come down here and run a couple laps with Britney. Helps me think. Or not think, really.”

Bucky rubs his forehead, sure he’s going to regret asking this. “Who’s Britney?”

“The music.” He points at the ceiling. “Britney Spears. I always start with Toxic, but then I let JARVIS pick after that. I think you came in around...” He stops. “Wait, how long were you in here?”

“You were singing,” Bucky says. “In the cargo net. With the knife.”

Clint doesn’t look embarrassed about this at all. “Ah, so you heard the end of Womanizer. Alright.”

Bucky is fairly sure that Clint is speaking English, but it’s not anything he understands. Clint sighs. “Really? No one’s introduced you to Britney Spears yet?” When Bucky shakes his head, he sighs again. “Alright. Let me educate you.”

“No, wait,” Bucky protests, because every time Clint says that, Bucky ends up being forced to do something that inevitably confuses him. The whole concept of modern pop culture is just not something that he grasps well.

Not that that ever deters Clint, though. “You’ll like it,” he says, which is what he always says. Sometimes he’s right, but Bucky’ll never admit it. “You liked that other playlist I made for you, right?” He doesn’t wait for an answer. “Well, Britney’s the queen of that list. She’s my go-to for running this thing.”

“Why?”

“Why not? High energy, good voice, sets a kicking beat.” He points at the course. “You should try it.”

Bucky looks over at the obstacle course. It doesn’t look too hard. Certainly not anything worse than Hydra ever had him do. “You first,” he says, eyeing some of the pieces he’s not sure about. “I haven’t seen this set-up.”

“Sure,” Clint says easily. He picks up a couple knives from the table nearby the door and restocks his quiver.

“How long does it take?” Bucky asks.

“Not long,” Clint says, adjusting one of his hearing aids. “A little under seven minutes for just the basic run through, give or take a few seconds. Depends on the songs.”

“Depends on the songs?”

“JARVIS,” he calls up. “Queue up...oh, let’s do 3 and then Circus for me, will you? And reset the course to basic.”

“Certainly, Agent Barton.” There’s some grinding as the floor shifts, and various obstacles unfold and refold themselves.

Clint grins at him and bounces on the balls of his feet. “Ready to watch the magic?”

Bucky makes some kind of helpless go on motion with his metal hand. Clint has this odd talent for knocking him off-balance at every turn, and at this point Bucky’s given up trying to understand him. He’s not entirely sure he wants to, anyway. There’s something inherently charming about the layers of oddness and mystery to Clint. He’s some kind of undefinable puzzle that both fascinates and annoys Bucky in equal measure.

“Sure,” he says, because Clint is apparently waiting for an answer. “I think.”

Clint picks up one of the knives and grips it in his hand, testing the heft of it. “Alright. Hit it, JARVIS.”

A woman’s voice fills the room, loud and...computerized, almost. Clint sings into the knife handle, perfectly in sync, other hand flipping up fingers in time with the words.

One, two, three

Not only you and me

Got one eighty degrees

And I'm caught in between

Bucky stares at him, vaguely aware that his mouth is hanging open. Clint finishes the opening of the song, winks, then backflips onto the raised platform behind him, throwing the knife at the same time. It lands on the target, and he moves on without missing a beat.

The course itself is relatively simple. Lots of climbing and jumping, rolling and ducking. Bucky has a very dim memory of doing something similar in basic training so many years ago. Except, in basic training, he’s pretty sure they weren’t allowed to dance while on the course.

And Clint is dancing. There’s no other word for it. He’s intently focused, never missing a step, but he’s also pretty clearly moving to the music, twisting his body and moving his feet in time with the song. It’s hypnotizing, in a way. Bucky can’t take his eyes off him as he darts around the course, effortlessly climbing obstacles and shooting arrows.

Six and a half minutes later, Clint lands in front of him. His feet touch the floor just as the last note of the second song plays. “Ta-da,” he says, breathing hard, and does an overly dramatic bow.

“Jesus,” Bucky says, because he doesn’t know what else to say. “That...”

“I know,” Clint says with a grin. “I’m amazing.”

“You’re something,” Bucky says, but Clint’s smile is infectious, and he can’t help but return it. “You know you’d be faster if you weren’t dancing.”

“Yeah, but it wouldn’t be nearly as fun.” He gestures to the course. “You wanna try? It really does help.”

Bucky turns to look. “I’m not dancing,” he says.

“We can work up to that.” He points to the weapons locker. “There’s guns over there, if you want to shoot the targets. Otherwise you can just ignore them.”

Bucky goes over and picks out a gun. “I suppose the music is required.”

“Of course.” Clint pulls a water bottle out from his bag and takes a drink. “Any preferences?”

“You’re the one who knows them. You can pick.”

Clint rubs his hands together. “Aw, yeah.”

Bucky has a distinct feeling he’s going to regret that, judging by the sudden gleeful look on Clint’s face, but he also kind of likes that look. So he just sighs and heads to the starting point. “I’m not singing, either.”

“We can work up to that too.” Clint looks up. “JARVIS, start him off with Toxic, as per tradition, and we’ll collaborate from there.”

“As you wish,” JARVIS says, polite as always. “Sergeant Barnes, are you ready?”

“Sure,” Bucky says, and he jumps up to the platform.

It is calming, he realizes as he moves through it. Despite the blaring music, and the adrenaline thrumming through him, he does feel significantly more relaxed by the time his feet land on the ground at the finish line. Or at least, less keyed up than he did a few minutes ago.

Clint is sitting on the floor, leaning against the wall. He bursts into applause as soon as Bucky straightens up. “Good work.”

Bucky wipes the sweat off his head and catches the water bottle tossed at him. “Okay, you’re right. That helps.”

“Told you so.” Clint pats the ground next to him. “I used to get up and run, but once we all moved in here, I figured out this was better. More engaging. It’s hard to focus on nightmares when you’re trying to sing and shoot arrows and backflip off shit at the same time.”

“You don’t have to sing,” Bucky points out.

“Yes I do,” Clint says, looking scandalized at the very thought. “It’s Britney, bitch.”

Bucky snorts. “So which songs should I learn? Since you’re the expert and all.”

Clint’s eyes light up. “You serious?”

“Sure.” Bucky can’t really explain why, but he’s interested. Not necessarily in the music itself, but more in having another glimpse into the weird and wonderful mess that is Clint Barton.

“I’ll send you a playlist,” Clint promises. He reaches for his bag and pulls it over, then digs out his phone and starts swiping at it. “I’ll do it right now, I’ve already got one.”

“My phone’s upstairs,” Bucky says. “I’ll look at it later.” He tilts his head towards the course. “Want to race?”

“Definitely,” Clint says, engrossed in whatever he’s doing. He taps a couple more times, then drops the phone into his bag and gets up. “Sure you can keep up?”

“Pretty sure, twinkletoes,” Bucky says, holding out a hand.

Clint laughs as he pulls him up. “You’re on, old man.”

They run the course together three more times. Clint wins two of them---definitely by cheating, despite his protests otherwise. Bucky doesn’t really care, honestly. He can’t remember the last time he had this much fun doing anything, and watching Clint pull off some ridiculous acrobatic moves while singing along just makes it better.

After the third round, they both collapse on the floor. “Okay,” Clint says, wheezing a little. “Two out of three, I win, which means you’re buying the donuts.”

“I don’t remember anything about donuts,” Bucky says, rolling his head to look at him. “When did donuts ever enter this conversation?”

“Two seconds ago.” Clint looks at his watch. “It’s three-thirty, I know a shop that’ll be open.”

“Right now?”

“You got a better idea?”

“I was going to go shower,” Bucky says. “And then maybe try to sleep.”

Clint waves a hand. “Sleep is for the weak. Come get donuts with me.” He looks at his sweat-soaked shirt, and then says, “We can shower first.”

Bucky means to turn him down, honestly. He’s tired, and he thinks he might be able to sleep without nightmares for a bit. But when he opens his mouth, what comes out is, “Okay.”

“Yay,” Clint says, rolling up to his feet. He offers a hand down, and Bucky takes it. “I’ll meet you in the kitchen in an hour?”

“Sure.” Bucky tosses him his bag, and they both head to the elevator.

They get off at their respective floors. Bucky immediately goes for his bathroom. “JARVIS,” he says as he strips off his clothes. “Can you play the...whatever he sent me?”

“Certainly, Sergeant Barnes,” JARVIS replies, which is how Bucky ends up showering to the dulcet tones of Britney Spears. He’s still not entirely sure what to think of her music, but he can’t deny that they’re catchy songs. He’s still humming one of them when he goes into the kitchen, and finds Clint already perched on the counter, drinking coffee and drumming his heels against the cabinets.

Natasha is there too, and she raises an eyebrow as Bucky walks in. “Oh, no.”

Bucky stops humming. “What?”

She looks at Clint. “Are you making him listen to Britney Spears?”

“Hey,” Clint protests. “She’s fabulous. Don’t hate.”

“She is kind of catchy,” Bucky admits, noting the way Clint smiles.

Natasha rolls her eyes.“I will never understand your thing with her,” she says, dropping her own coffee mug in the sink.

“Your judgement is unnecessary and unwelcome,” Clint tells her.

She blows him a kiss before leaving the kitchen. “Let me know if you want good music,” she says to Bucky. “I have some songs you’d probably like.”

“Rude,” Clint calls after her, then turns his attention to Bucky. “Donuts and coffee?”

“You’re drinking coffee,” Bucky points out.

He slams the rest of it back like a shot and sets the purple mug on the counter “Your point?”

Bucky shakes his head. “You’re so goddamn weird, you know that?”

Clint throws his arms out wide. “There’s two types of people in the world, Barnes. The ones that entertain, and the ones that observe.”

“And you’re a put-on-a-show kind of girl?”

He can see the exact moment when Clint registers what he said, because Bucky’s just about blinded by the brilliant smile that follows. “Exactly,” Clint says, and he hops off the counter. Bucky can’t help but smile back. “Come on, then. I’m calling the shots, and I say it’s time for donuts.”

“I’m in,” Bucky says, and he follows Clint out the door.

[armor-goblin]

catch up meme

tagged by @idrelle, thank u idri this is a charming meme! i’m. adding a category because i’ve been cooking a lot for Comfort haha. i’m gonna tag @galpalaven @leothelionsaysgrrrr @lesquatrechevrons @jarino and anyone who wants to chat about how shit’s going, with no pressure at all :3

Rules: Tag however many people you want to know better/catch up with and then answer these questions!

THREE SHIPS:

god i have not been shipping ANYTHING lately lol. 90% of what i’ve been doing is dnd and we don’t tend to do dnd romances in my groups, just deep and abiding friendships, which i love with all my heart. that said: - gideon/harrowhark from the locked tomb, HO BOY. things i like: enemies to friends to baroquely romantic acts of sacrifice. i am so stoked for the next book oh MAN - JUN/PARVATI, the outer worlds!! the one-two punch of “parvati is ace” and “parvati and jun are dating” made me swoon, i think i had heart eyes through that entire questline. love my awkward and delightful lesbians!! - as soon as they announced an ME remaster i remembered how much i love shakarian and you can absolutely bet that once that comes out i will be head over heels for my spiky boyfriend again - (i don’t know who you can romance in fallout new vegas but as soon as i figure out how to keep it from crashing all the time, i’m gonna find out) ...and i think about miri and cullen all the time 24/7 shhhh

LAST SONGS LISTENED TO:

i have been listening to three things on repeat depending on what i’m doing: - this really good “firewatch vibes” playlist on spotify, perfect for drawing - hadestown, because leo hates me and likes me to suffer. also because it’s amazing and combines several things i love into one fantastic musical format. also great for drawing, btw!! - getting into knives, the mountain goats. didn’t like it as much at first but it’s grown into a comfort album.

currently listening to SWAMP OPHELIA, indigo girls’ best ever album title. i’ve been trying to listen to more full albums lately!

CURRENTLY WATCHING:

the princess bride lol. and just finished lupin, which was a real nice take on the charismatic-and-principled-thief-does-a-heist genre! i’ve also been just...watching a lot of chill game streams on twitch.

CURRENTLY READING:

i just finished a reread of priory of the orange tree and i’m starting my regular reread of ancillary justice (i reread a lot lol). also i’m a bad librarian and no longer have a library card somehow, so until i get one, i have to subsist on rereads!! this is fine.

CURRENTLY...EATING:

sunday i made the least photogenic and most delicious soup (ash e anar, an iranian split pea and herb soup that i LOVE) and afghani flatbread! it’s grey and sad in new england this time of year so i crave nothing but tasty soups and warm flavors and BREAD, of course. also i made cinnamon rolls. they’re fantastic.

HOW’S IT GOING?

it could be better and it could be so much worse, my dudes!! i will find out very shortly whether or not i can get the surgery i’ve been putting off for 15 years that might fix my back, so that’s...a thing that is happening lol. i’m still endlessly job searching. my country is politically on fire, to say the least, as we all know because US news is inescapable online. family illnesses and injuries abound, altho not covid at least and everybody’s stable. woo?? but also...i finally saw a dang psychiatrist and it turns out even being like, 75% properly medicated is fucking amazing, who knew!! i’ve become a yoga bitch and i’m okay with that now because i can touch my toes with my knuckles and this is great progress for me haha. i make fucking great baguettes now. i finally learned how to draw at a bigger scale so my linework looks good. my cat sleeps on the bed with us now (because we bribe her with a heating pad lol).

some things are good! i hope at least some things are good for all of you too.

[slytherinlesbian3]

All of the colors. Knock yourself out

Alright, Anon. I see you. I’ll leave out the ones I’ve already done though <3

red: describe your favorite shirt Blue. Literally just blue. Tight, but not too tight. Makes my biceps and boobs pop so it’s pretty nice.

blue: preferred type of weather? Rain or snow.

purple: a poem you think describes your closest friend Not a poem, but “I’ll be right beside you to the very end.”

turquoise: favorite sea animal? Dolphins.

cyan: are you religious? spiritual? Uh, I believe in more than one god and lean more toward Roman/Norse mythology than religion. I believe in every god, really. But I’m not submitting myself to blind faith for a cult I know nothing about.

violet: are you a part of the lgbt+ community? Lesbian through and through.

aqua: do you thrift? Do I...what? Thrift as in steal or thrift as in buy on sale? Because yes.

black: would you ever try going vegetarian or vegan? No.

coral: an animal you wish hadn't gone extinct Bro...Dodo birds. They were dope.

grey: how many languages do you speak? do you want to learn any more? Technically I only fluently speak English, but when I was younger I only spoke in Italian except to my family sejfnskejnfdjskn. I’m learning Latin right now and I can still speak Italian but not nearly as much. I know bits of French, German, Japanese, and Czech though. Beside Latin, I don’t really wanna learn any others.

maroon: do you care for clothing brands? Adidas and 511. Adidas because I’m a slut for soccer and 511 because their pants are so COMFY BRO. But they’re expensive so I only own a 511 belt </3

rose: favourite scent on a person? Something...floral. Roses or cherry blossom. Coconut is nice too. Vanilla is cliche but you can never go wrong with it.

charcoal: have you ever been camping? No and I do not wish for it ever.

claret: do you play an instrument? do you want to learn to play any? Trumpet and guitar. 6 years, 11 months.

copper: gold or silver jewelry? Neither, but silver probably. Just looks nicer with my skin tone.

cream: any piercings or tattoos? do you want any? None. I don’t even have my ears pierced. However, I do want a snake tattoo on my thigh lmaoo.

salmon: how many pairs of sunglasses do you own? Like 5 but I only wear one because they’re aviators :D

indigo: have you ever lived on a farm? Nope but I have stayed on one for about a month.

lavender: relationship status? Single but I do have a tumblr wife: @maritasdump​

erin: what was/is your best school subject? ENGLISH BECAUSE I CAN WRITE ESSAYS IN LITERALLY 15 MINUTES

fulvous: another name you think would suit you Ew, uh...well, Vi. It’s my nickname since it’s the shortened version of the nickname of my real name, but it fits me better.

coconut: a subject you enjoy learning about Rome and Latin :D

frost: a -core you enjoy A what.

porcelain: an tv show you used to love Powerpuff Girls, Teen Titans (original), eh

fawn: any interesting family stories? Well, one time my brother got a stick stuck in his shin. Kinda funny. Another time my brother broke my leg while on a trampoline Another time my brother almost broke my ankle by daring me to jump off a 20 foot ledge. Another time I made my brother bleed with my nails for taking my skittles. I could go on...it’s just a lot of sibling violence.

gold: do you wear your socks mismatched? I used to but I just wear black socks now. (Except for soccer)

honey: your thoughts on magic- does it exist? Yeah. Just in different forms:)

rust: form of art you enjoy doing? Writing lmao. But I guess just sketching is fun.

mahogany: your sun, moon, and rising signs I have 0 desire to calculate that because I don’t know it off the top of my head but I’m a capricorn and I feel like that’s enough information

blood: twin beds, queen, or king? ...And there was only one bed...

hot pink: did you/do you had/have strong feelings against the color pink? Hot pink is nasty but regular pink is cool asf. My soccer socks for October games are pink and I wear them every practice/game.

plum: a food you've never tried A lot, but I’ve tried a hella ton of European foods. So, uh...I’m not really sure. Something non-American (all Americas), non-EU, and non-Asian, I know that. 

lilac: dogs, cats, or fish? CATS.

amethyst: do you collect anything? Knives.

mulberry: earbuds or headphones? Eh...Depends what I’m doing. Voice chat? Headphones. Music at the bus stop? Earbuds.

azure: jean jackets? My God - on other people? Hot. On me? I’ll stick to leather.

teal: have a job? Not yet.

sapphire: do you think you can sing well? For the most part, yeah. Trying to incorporate my guitar playing with it and it’s going pretty smoothly.

mint: favourite flavour of gum? Juicy Fruit simply because my grandmother got me hooked on it from a really young age. That or plain ol’ wintermint.

pecan: shuffle your playlist, what's the first song that comes up? Follow by Breaking Benjamin

penny: icecream or cake Ew. Sweets are a hit or miss for me, but um? Probably ice cream.

ash: can you do your own makeup? Hell no. I’ve only worn makeup twice and it was applied by someone else.

jade: ever written fanfiction? EKFMNSKENFJKDSN SO MUCH.

grape: how many blogs do you follow? 346!

umber: do you brush your teeth before you eat? No, ew. Why would you do that?

chestnut: type of phone you have iPhone 10 XS. Got it last May...First new phone I’d ever owned. Went from an iPod that could only call, to a phone that could only call, then an iPhone 5 until I was 15. They were all hand-me-downs and I never complained. They worked fine.

prussian blue: what's your first choice at the vending machine Soda, probably. If it’s food, either the chips or the rice krispy <3

aquamarine: beach or pool Pool. I’ve come too close to death at the beach to enjoy it anymore.

brass: least favorite food condiment Mayo/horse radish.

mustard: how much sugar in your tea/coffee? All of it.

silver: ever broken a bone? My entire leg and foot <3

rose quartz: rings or necklaces Necklaces with rings. I’m serious. But if I had to choose, rings. It’s the gay in me.

onyx: do you still play Minecraft? Sometimes?

burgundy: ever ridden a motorcycle? NO BUT I WANT ONE MORE THAN ANYTHING IN THE FRIGGIN UNIVERSE

apricot: opinion on 3 in 1 body wash/hair wash wait those exist? 

platinum: do you follow politics? Dude I didn’t know Trump was president til this year

magnolia: your Instagram handle? ha, nice try, luzer.

Bro I am LATE to somewhere because of this but I enjoyed it. Thanks again, anon! <3

Color Asks (I am closing this shite because I AM TIRED)

[vindicatedvirgil]

amanda’s sanders sides binge reactions, episodes ten-sixteen

losing my motivation — making some changes

home maintenance is not a joke

infinitesimal

i don’t know, LOGIC

the game is on

all business

no you can’t play with us

i’ve been waiting for this day to wear it

he found a dollar

touching up some eyeshadow

what are these grounds

are they coffee grounds

/dadjoke

bleak

you’re not welcome

elementary my dear daddy

what

HE’S NOT ALWAYS THE BAD GUY

how do the sides borrow money from each other i’m confused

sir sing-a-lot

i am a knight thank you very much

oh no how could you do it i trusted you

what’s going on? something good

feelings. the bane of my existence

weird mushy vision you mean my entire catalog of fanfic writing

well who should have done that *cue intense music*

am i in a paradoxical loop

calm down time

that was dark even for me

yes go to the library

logan’s name reveal

Q+A time

laughy cry-y emoji

pouty mcspecs

i really need to up my roman giving nicknames game

his anxiety is heightened VIRGIL IS TALLEST SIDE CONFIRMED

so does roman have a fairy godmother

bippity boppity boo yah

i’m not okay

i promise

but also i am the walrus

wait that needs to be on my patton playlist brb

virgil likes tumblr hence he likes us

i need four cookies

and i will sit on a surface that is not meant to be sat on

patton doesn’t always screw stuff up

i also like podcasts

CAMPFIRE SONG SONG

virgil’s compliments are great what are you talking about

who is texting logan (my guess is orange)

who is texting roman (my guess is remus)

winnie the pooh~

logan tries singing to all star

and virgil just goes “yeahhhh”

i know big words

DO YOU KNOW HOW CUTE YOU ARE

relevant with yesterday’s skirt photo

fanart!

fanfic!

what is a ship?

virgil definitely knows because he’s on tumblr

thomas has a rat in his hair confirmed (it’s remus)

virgil is the first in this one too

sometimes i just gotta be me-an

hide under the covers until the sun goes away

chemically imbalanced romance

we’re donezo

never fear your creativity is here

thomas’ happiness is roman’s mission

cries

you shackle your creativity

wait

remus says something very similar

hmmmmmmmmm

brainstorming extravaganza

patton why were you not wearing your pants

KNIVES

is this why princey spit yogurt at me yesterday

i’m always serious. clearly. i wear a necktie.

roman wears the pants-

they are a family btw

lol time limits

do those exist in current episodes

FIGHTING

...verbally

OMG OMG IT’S TIME

aggressive bouts of beat poetry

nb royalty aka me

*nods like virgil*

WOO!

capita? like the cogitating cap?

patton would love untitled goat game

you tried you failed let’s go to sleep

booyakasha

logan you can’t just call virgil a defeatist

virgil’s face

and he just sinks out without saying anything

am so soft for the boy

roman name reveal!

hey roman

yes?

you’re my hero

SOBBING ENABLED

MY LIFE IS A LIEE

time for my favorite debate, much better than any political debates

analogical time

this could have been a logan centric video if virgil didn’t pop up

wow

we get it, you don’t want me here, but i’m here

i want you here

virgil please be in the video tomorrow

i too call upon very specific facts to feel secure

how bruised is roman

cardigan-clad clod aka me

same, cream based broths upset my tummy unless i take lactaid

wait logan can’t be objective?

haagen daaz dispersion

bad imaginary

vocab word!

a debate *snap*

i wanna be the supreme dark overlord of negative commerce

RIGGED

please help me *screams in agony*

me me big boy

too much pressure, nooo

do they groan in disgust about the butterflies in his tummy because they feel that way about each other or-

this is better than any political debate

TBD = totally believable dude

when did they vote on logan’s proficiency plan i wanna see this

of course it’s not a straight answer no one in this video is straight-

the first FALSEHOOD

did he just hiss at me

i’m right, you’re wrong, shut up

that’s a try guys reference

savage

this is stupid he’s stupid i’m out

LOGAN DOESN’T MIND VIRGIL’S COMPANY

your mom misses you

visual puns are great

amazing!

uhhhh

uhhh

mmmmmmm

no virgil you’re not alone

same patton, i’m always confused

surly temple is one of my favorite nicknames

NEIGH

MOO

BAAA

word association games return

don’t you dare turn breakfast food into a negative metaphor

was this really a necessary visual

screaming

voltron shirt *hits joan*

me watching sanders sides late into the night

great odin’s eyepatch!

well then it’s just 5am and you need to go to bed

keep it up so we get to see virgil more thanks

i’ve dreamed of this moment

NECKTIE

anatomically, thomas is fine

what is the gosh-darn-ding-dang point

adulto

so mean to patton

darude sanderstorm

i want to bounce in a bouncy castle

i want to join a book club with joan and thomas

verisimilitudinous

*gasp* not the necktie

you are the man. you look like the man. i fight the man. i want to fight you now.

janus also fights the man so-

you stole my look

is no one going to acknowledge that he just dabbed

logan asks for patton’s help when they can’t figure out what’s wrong

danny devito reference

mind palace!

star thingies

poor virgil and his eyes

adequate

EEYORE REFERENCE THANKS FOR NOTICING ME

for reference eeyore has always been my favorite disney character

and virgil is my fave

see any connections there

patton-cake

patton name reveal!

growing older is scary but being a kid was also scary because i didn’t know what was going on with my identity

patton understands virgil so well. cries. maybe the asides will fix their relationship

ECHO

listen buddy don’t blame us just because your mind is so empty

that was definitely roman

i didn’t know you made jokes like that

changing...evolving...mutating

why don’t we talk more?

uh oh, feelings

more sentimental than on avalanche

it is flippin sweet man

with you i’m always home-

additional affirmation

whaddup anxiety

if virgil is upset when thomas isn’t near his friends then isolation really has to be messing with him

joan!logan is amazing

terrence!patton though

he/him pronouns all around~

another danny devito reference

okay but talyn!virgil is the best

hissing

breaking the fourth wall? 

single column?

aw patton loves thomas

hehe butt

“we are not actually your friends”

...what

VIKINGMETAL

BIBLIOTECA

i love libraries

I AM FRAIL AND BREAKABLE

a man of many talyn’s

also i didn’t make as many comments on this one because it’s 11pm and i’m starting to get a bit sleepy

[ourimpavidheroine]

Some of you like these! I put this together for writing purposes (and also, to listen to when I am cleaning my house, bonus!). It includes Toph, her girls, their spouses, their children and spouses. (No next generation as of yet although who knows, maybe later.)

Listen if you wanna! Or not! I’ll put the songs and who they are for under a cut, you’re welcome.

1. Love is A Battlefield - TOPH

We are strong No one can tell us we're wrong Searching our hearts for so long Both of us knowing Love is a battlefield

2. Bouncing Off Clouds - LIN

Bouncing off of Clouds we were Is there a love Lost and Found Make it easy Make this easy It's not as heavy as it seems Wrapped in metal Wrapped in ivy Paint it in mint ice cream

3. Goin Up - LOLO

So, pile your boots up in the corner Hang your jacket from the door There's thirty people in the kitchen And there's always room for more

4. I Come With Knives - QI

I never promised you an open heart or charity I never wanted to abuse your imagination I come with knives I come with knives And agony To love you

5. Englishman in New York - WU

Takes more than combat gear to make a man Takes more than a license for a gun Confront your enemies, avoid them when you can A gentleman will walk but never run

6. Fire - MAKO

And my mother told me, "Son, let it be." Sold my soul to the calling Sold my soul to a sweet melody Now I'm gone, now I'm gone, now I'm gone

7. Big Wheel - SUYIN

Mama got it all in hand now Big Wheel turn my Fantasy Don't you throw that shade on me I've been drinkin' down your pain Gonna turn that whiskey into rain and

8. Fields of Gold - BAATAR SENIOR

I never made promises lightly And there have been some that I've broken But I swear in the days still left We'll walk in fields of gold

9. Grave Digger - BAATAR JUNIOR

I can't run to you, father I need love I can't talk to you, mother I know it's got you caught up But your sweet sinless sensation is not my style And I'm not giving up

10. Left of Center - HUAN

If you want me You can find me Left of center Off of the strip In the outskirts In the fringes In the corner Out of the grip

11. 32 Flavors - IKKI

both my parents taught me about good will and I have done well by their names just the kindness I've lavished on strangers is more than I can explain still there's many who've turned out their porch lights just so I would think they were not home and hid in the dark of their windows til I'd passed and left them alone

12. Tightrope - OPAL

Hold on, I know you're scared But you're so close to heaven Eyes shut tight Just pretend you're like a feather Flew down the clouds together But don't look down, not ever Don't ask why Just look out unto forever

13. The Mayor of Simpleton - BOLIN

Well I don't know how to tell the weight of the sun, And of mathematics well I want none, And I may be the Mayor of Simpleton, But I know one thing, And that's I love you. When their logic grows cold and all thinking gets done, You'll be warm in the arms of the Mayor of Simpleton.

14. Big Time - WEI

My parties have all the big names and I greet them with the widest smile Tell them how my life is one big adventure and always they're amazed when I show them 'round my house to my bed I had it made like a mountain range with a snow white pillow for my big fat head And my heaven will be a big heaven, and I will walk through the front door

15. My Antarctica - SITIAK

Once I thought that I was in control But that was just another trick of fate Playing with my life There have been some times I was so tied up And I said to myself Gotta break it all But didn't really try

16. Breath of Life - WING

Oh I want life Life wants me To breathe in its love Take me I'm yours Now I'm comin' up for air I'm gonna live my time For the rest of my life Then I'll be comin' back for more

17. Bossy - NUO

I'm bossy I'm the first girl to scream on a track I switched up the beat of the drum That's right, I brought all the boys to the yard And that's right, I'm the one that's tattooed on his arm I'm bossy I'm the bitch you love to hate I'm the chick that's raised the stake