#bands in the 90s walking around with some wild fucking names

[all-rock-and-roll-is-homosexual]

B-Side Magazine #50 May/June 95 - Armageddon Dildos contest

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[angryschnauzer]

Full Mast - Part 2

Summary: Your idyllic life as a trophy wife of a rich lord is suddenly disturbed with the arrival of a pirate ship and a kidnapping that goes wrong... leaving you in the care of a band of pirates that seem to treat you better than your husband ever did.

Part 1, 

Fandoms: Henry Cavill, Sand Castle - Movie, Mission Impossible: Fallout, Night Hunter, Hellraiser Hellworld

Pairing: Captain Syverson x Female Reader, August Walker x Reader, Walter Marshall x Reader, Mikey (Hellraiser) x Reader.

A/N: This is a CRACK FIC. After a brief discussion with @nuggsmum about the cheap romance novels that you could find in the 80′s and 90′s, i called upon the awful storylines, plot holes, and general cheesyness of those books that walked so fanfiction could run. Read the warnings please.

Storyboard note: The only artwork i could find that was suitable to show a Henry-like character included the woman seen above. I tried to crop as much of her out as possible, the story itself does not describe the female reader at all.

Warnings: NSFW, 18+, Unprotected Sex, Vaginal Sex, Oral Sex (F Recieving), Blowjobs, Multiple Blowjobs, Multiple Partners, Implied Age Gap (but never confirmed). Pretty Poly Pirates.

Only the finest organic free range typos for me, allowed to run wild and free.

Full Mast part 2

Standing in the grand cabin you took in your surroundings; the large table that was half covered in maps, the scattered chests and crates, the large four poster bed with messy linens. You wondered if the Captain had many other women between those sheets, or whether he kept his liaisons to his time on shore. At the mere thought of the man that had just taken your innocence you felt your stomach clench and another wave of arousal coat your already soaked petals. 

A quiet knock at the door drew your attention, smiling when you saw Mikey come in pulling a large chest and setting it down in the middle of the room;

“So err… Captain says there should be some stuff in here that will be ok for you, so umm… help yourself Miss…”

“Thank you Mikey”

The young man must be at least 20 yet a blush covered his cheeks as you spoke to him, and with a nervous smile he nodded his head and left the room, half tripping on the rug as he did so before slamming the door shut.

Stripping out of your ruined clothing you saw a pitcher of water and a bowl on the side, using it to wash the Captain's seed from your thighs. Crossing the room in just your silk stockings you opened the chest and pulled out a number of items, gauging what would fit. Looking around you set the items onto the large bed, pulling the covers straight as you made your choice and a thought came to mind.

-

Sy stood outside his cabin, his hand hovering over the door handle. What had he gotten himself into? When he’d heard that his old friend Walter was having issues on the island, he’d set sail immediately and between the two of them and his right hand man Walter, they’d come up with a fool proof plan; kidnap the lord’s young trophy wife, demand not even a ransom - just what they were due, return her unharmed. Instead he ended up with another officer onboard, a woman on his ship that was said to bring bad luck, and the puzzle of what the hell to do with her now it had been made abundantly clear that her husband didn’t want her back. Taking a deep breath he entered the room, expecting the worst…

“Darlin?... Don’t be mad…”

He looked around the room, surprised that at first he wasn’t pelted with whatever wasn’t tied down, but when he couldn’t see you at all he frowned.

“Captain, over here…”

His jaw dropped when he saw you, kneeling on his bed, bare save for your stockings and a smile. Crossing the room he came to stand at the foot of the bed, licking his lips as his gaze traversed your naked body;

“Well aren’t you a sight for sore eyes…I don’t know what i was expecting, but it wasn’t this…”

With a single finger he beconned you towards him, watching as you moved until you were up on your knees, his large hand at the back of your neck and you were kissing again, his glorious tongue exploring your mouth as your hands clung to his shirt. Deliberately falling back on the bed you pulled him with you, his mouth making its way to your breasts where he lavished each one with full mouthed kisses, his tongue laving over the hardened peaks before pressing a trail of kisses down your stomach before settled at the apex of your thighs;

“Gotta be the prettiest little Puss i’ve seen in a long time, bet you’re as sweet as a peach too…”

His tongue swiped a wide path through your folds, your fingers clawing at the sheets as his beard tickled you and he did to you things you’d only read about in the secretive books that were hidden in the depths of your husbands library.

“Oh Captain!” you gasped as his tongue dived into your soaked entrance, his nose rubbing at your sensitive clit and you could feel your stomach tightening with anticipation of the inevitable. Seemingly in no need of air he continued to work the thick muscle inside of you, driving you closer and closer to the pinnacle of pleasure until the point of no return was met and you came with a cry, your legs clamping around his head. 

Finally he pulled himself free of your grasp, climbing up the bed until he was nestled between your thighs, his hardness pressing against your soaked core. Holding himself up on his strong arms he looked down at you beneath him;

“This time i’m gonna take my time and savour it…”

Your hands found their way to his breeches, unbuttoning him and gasping as his hot flesh sprung into your palm, heavy and weeping with need you guided him to your entrance. As he plunged into your depths the world seemed to fade around you; you’d had a taste of heaven and now you wanted more;

“You’re so big…”

“You want me to slow down Darlin?”

“No! It feels… so good…”

With practiced skill he rocked into you, slow but rough thrusts that had his length hitting a spot deep inside you’d had no idea that existed. The man had probably fucked his way around half of the Carribean but for a barely touched blossom as yourself he cherished the way your petals opened around him. 

He continued to fuck you closer and closer to orgasm, feeling your body tighten around him and tremble, he slid a hand between your bodies and rubbed at your sensitive pearl, a grin spreading across his face as you came again with a shout of his rank;

“That’s a good girl, so fucking good… almost there…”

He quickly pulled out and spilled his seed over your stomach, watching as rope after rope of his creamy seed patterned your body, before he fell to your side, his chest heaving. Covering his eyes he let out a shaky breath;

“What the fuck have i gotten myself into…” He peeped out from between his fingers, smiling at you before pulling you in for a sloppy kiss, finally resting his forehead against yours; “Wait there a moment Darlin, i’ll get you cleaned up”

-

You’d dressed in front of your Captain, watching how he admired your choices from where he sat at the long table;

“Wasn’t expecting you to go for breeches…” he commented as you fastened the half length velvet garment, your stockings beneath the knee length trousers. A loose shirt with a wide leather belt fastening it at your waist was the only other garment you put on, standing in front of him and doing a little twirl; “Very nice… and practical”

“I spent ten years of my childhood aboard spice ships, running up ladders and rigging in skirts was a recipe for disaster.”

You crossed the room and sat across his lap;

“So, how is this going to work? You gonna drop me at the next port, leave me to my own devices? Wait until we’re in shark infested waters and throw me overboard?”

“What? Now why would i do that to a pretty little thing like you?”

“Well I know you didn’t end up with the outcome you were hoping for, and now you’re stuck with a ransomee that isn’t due any ransom”

He let out a sigh;

“I wouldn’t do that… it ain’t your fault your husband had the balls of a eunuch. No, i’m sure we can find a use for you, even if it’s just warming my bed… did you have an education?”

“Of sorts. Whenever we docked in Grace Bay i’d see a governess. I can speak spanish, french, and italian” you nodded to the maps spread over the table; “... and i can chart courses and know the currents of the Indies better than anyone that ever sailed on the spice route” 

You gently stroked his beard;

“So Captain, what do you want me to do?”

“All of the above and more…” he stroked your cheek; “I won’t always be able to please you in bed, and from the signs of it you’ve got quite a carnal appetite...So, firstly you can call me Sy when its just us or the officers. When we’re on deck it’s Captain like everyone else. Secondly, if you want it, my officers could do with a bedmate, if you don’t mind sharing?”

Your eyebrows shot up so far you were surprised they didn’t meet your hair;

“Share me with your officers? Who…”

“There’s the Constable - who you’ll know from town - Walter Marshall, and the Armoury Officer - August Walker, and you’ve met Michael, he’s first mate”

“O-Okay”

“You’re alright with that?”

Stroking his beard you leant forwards and kissed him;

“Yes, yes I am. I’ve always wanted a little more adventure in my life, and now here it is”

“Well, you can be the one to decide when you want to go to the others, i’ll leave that move to you… i wont say anything yet”

“Thank you Sy, let's tell them Friday night. You can tell them.”

“Anything for my little Rose” he pressed his face to your neck and inhaled; “Still smell as sweet as that rose garden…”

“You can call me Rose if you like?”

“A new name for a new start?”

“Something like that” you grinned at him.

-

You’d spent four nights in the arms of Sy, some nights just falling asleep in each others arms, other’s you would fuck until dawn. That particular morning you’d taken him in your mouth and he’d taught you how to suck a man, working your tongue and lips over his hot flesh until he’d flooded your mouth with his thick salty seed. He’d held your jaw as he finished;

“Now be a good girl and swallow it”

You gulped down the mouthful before smiling;

“Tasty”

With a laugh he kissed you, before giving your naked ass a cheeky spank as he rolled out of bed;

“You gonna join me on deck?”

You stretched and sighed;

“I’m gonna try and find that earring i dropped when you had me bent over the table last night…”

-

Sy entered his cabin just as the ship’s cook was leaving, nodding to the meal he’d set out;

“Creole Stew tonight Cap’n, bread and ale like always”

“Thanks. Have you seen Rose?”

“No Sir”

Nodding Sy entered his cabin with a weary sigh, it had been a long day and all he really wanted to do was crawl into bed to sleep, grateful it was Friday which meant August took early watch on deck the next day, but he had dinner with the other officers and he hadn’t seen you for the last few hours, last he knew you were still on the hunt for your lost earring. Leaving the door ajar he sat at the table and started to eat, moments later Walter and August joining him.

“Where’s the others?” Walter asked as he sat, helping himself to a large chunk of bread

“Mikey is in the crows nest, he’ll be down shortly” August confirmed; “Haven’t seen Rose for a while though”

“Rose?”

“Sy’s bit of fluff. Decided as its a new start onboard she may as well choose a new name. Apparently its because Sy say’s she smells of Roses”

Walter snorted out a low laugh;

“She’s gonna be smelling of Sy sooner or later”

Sy listened to his two oldest friends banter back and forth, unaware of the surprise he was about to get. Hearing quick footfalls coming along the corridor he looked up to see Mikey at the doorway just as two soft hands pressed to his thighs from beneath the table. He nodded to Mikey to take a seat, before leaning back and peering down to his lap, hiding his surprise when he saw you on your knees beneath the table, hidden from the view of the rest of the party by the many overhanging maps and the low candle light.

Grabbing a chunk of bread he stayed leaning back but parted his thighs wide, wide enough to allow you to unfasten him and pump his hardening length and slip him into your mouth.

“Dig in boys, its gonna be a spicy meal tonight!”

As you worked quickly with your new found skills, sucking on the bulbous head as you fondled his heavy ballsack with your free hand, working quickly and silently as the men above you talked amongst themselves. You could feel Sy’s leg start to tremble, his hand sliding beneath the table to hold your head in place, and as you relaxed your jaw you felt his hot seed flood your mouth.

“WOO!” he exclaimed above you; “This stew is HOT!”

He took a deep breath and slapped his hand on the table with a laugh, before you tucked him carefully back into his breeches and you continued with your plan.

“Sy, we need to consider restocking the armoury” August started; “Scuttling the boats used up a lot of ammunitionnnnnnnnn”

Sy looked up and smirked, August looking at him wide eyed but recovering quickly, clearing his throat;

“Anyway as i was saying… umm... wow, the stew… the spice really hits after a while doesn’t it…”

August scrunched his face and rested his hand on his fist, before grabbing his tankard of ale and taking a large gulp, some of it spilling from the sides of his mouth as he spluttered on the liquid that did only a little to hide the groan. Sy shovelled another mouthful of stew into his mouth to hide his grin as August sat back in his chair, a half glare on his face. 

Walter frowned at both of the older men;

“I have no idea what you two are on about, this stew is fine”

August wiped the slight sheen of sweat from his brow, before finally sitting straight and digging back into his meal;

“Walt, just wait, it takes a while to hit you but when it does… ooooh boy it takes your breath away”

The big bear of a man frowned and shovelled another mouthful in, before his eyes went wide. Swallowing awkwardly he nodded, shifting in his seat;

“Oh… oh yeah… its hitting… wow, its a good burn, ya know…” taking a leaf out of August’s book he grabbed his tankard, taking a gulp as he fidgeted in his seat, both Sy and August doing poor jobs of hiding their smirks, whereas Mikey was sat at the far end of the table without the slightest clue as to what was going on;

“Seriously? You guys must be getting old, this stew ain’t spicy”

Sy raised his tankard to his son and grinned;

“Just wait, it’ll hit ya… anyway, i got an announcement to make”

The three other men looked at Sy, Walter’s gaze faltering now and again as his focal point seemed to change, but he shifted in his seat and leaned his elbow against the armrest of his chair, his hand sliding beneath the table as he muttered about ‘cramp’, when in fact his large hand was holding your head in place as he pushed deeper into your throat. Sy cleared his throat and continued;

“We all know the events at the island did not go to plan. We’re down on funds and supplies, and we’ve increased the crew numbers with those that helped with the land mutiny… we’ve also of course got Rose to consider, she never asked for any of this, but we have come up with a solution of sorts”

“I think i might know what that solution could be” Walter panted out, his face contorting into something that resembled a grimace as he muttered about spiciness and cramps again before with a sigh a smile spread across his face; “Ooooh that’s it… the cramps are going…”

“Anyway” Sy interjected with a wry smile; “Rose can speak numerous languages, can read and chart maps, she’s probably the best educated of everyone on the ship”

Just then Mikey squeaked and jumped in his chair, a thud sounding beneath the table;

“S-s-sorry... my knee hit the table”

Sy nodded with a smile;

“No problem Son, carry on. So Rose will also be here for other duties, but only for the officers at this table tonight” he paused; “And i think you all now know what those duties will be”

August nodded as he eagerly mopped up the last remaining morsels of his stew with a chunk of bread;

“That sounds a fucking brilliant idea Sy. She has the greatest tits...” at that moment Mikey let out a groan and his head thudded against the high back of his chair; “... and i think we all now know she’s got a fucking brilliant mouth on her”

There was little point in denying what had just happened, the very fact it was still going on and Mikey had so little control of his reactions as you were sucking his meaty dick, having just done the same to the other three men in the room from the darkness under the table. In fact the three older men started to chat away candidly as you lavished Mikey’s beautiful cock with your tongue, before taking him in hand to move your mouth down to his tight ballsack to suck on the warm globes. His athletic thighs had parted enough for you to get much closer than you had done with the other three men - all of whom had thighs that could crush a coconut - and it meant that the top of your head could now be seen in his lap by the other men.

“Grab her hair Mikey” August shouted from behind his refilled tankard; “Get deep down in her throat, its fucking amazing, feels like she’ll suck your soul out of your dick”

You felt Mikey's hands curl into your hair, holding your head in place as he started to rock his hips up, filling your mouth and throat. Gripping hard to his thighs you could feel him start to tremble, preparing yourself for the flood of seed and as he came with a cry, looking down at you as you stared back with wide innocent eyes that completely ruined him. 

Finally he released his grip on you, and as you looked down you smiled at what came into view. Seconds later you were climbing out from beneath the table, turning to smile at the rest of the men as you fastened the earring to your lobe;

“Look Sy, i found my earring!”

Walking around the table you took the tankard of ale that August held out for you with a smile, before sitting across Sy’s lap;

“I think they like the idea”

Sy looked at the men around the table, his trusted friends and family and smiled;

“I think they do, my sweet Rose”

He clinked his tankard to yours and you both drank, the joyous laughter filling the room as the night continued.

__________________________________________________________

I do not run a tag list. Instead please visit @angryschnauzerwrites​ and follow that blog and put it onto notifications. You will then get an alert when i post new stories.

Masterlist can be found on AO3, link here.

[letsgetsquiggly]

Gus and the Mirror Banshee

Its FFF time again! A great way to end my study week and begin my work week, with a splash of creative intent! Its another Gus and Bubblegum Girl story! I'm so happy I revisted these characters. The silly episode of the week format is so fun to do after a long day at work. For Flash Fiction Friday prompt #90 WordCount:1060 Warnings: Swearing, as per usual, and depictions of spooky girls.

@flashfictionfridayofficial​

As per his Saturday routine, Gus rolls out of bed at 9:00 and slippers his feet, puts on a pot of decaf, and goes to do the crossword at his kitchen table. All is calm, all is right. That is until a frantic pounding comes thundering upon his door. "Gus…Gus. Gus? Gus. GUS! Guuuuuuuusssssssss. GusGusGusGusGusGus." It's an oh no moment for Gus, trouble has literally come knocking at his door. "Godammit Mol I'm not in the mood." He calls from his table. "This is serious, Gus. SUPER SERIOUS." "I won't help you find a lawyer, Karen has every right to file a restraining order against you after the garden gnome incident." "What? No that's not it. It's my house, Gus. IT'S HAUNTED." Gus Sighs as he walks over and opens his door. "I'm going back to bed." "GUS NO! I can't go back in there. Don't abandon me in my time of neeeddddd." Bubblegum Girl, BGG, Molly, falls to her knees and begins to sob profusely on the doorstep. "Alright alright. Calm down. Please, stop. MOLLY STOP CRYING ILL HELP YOU GODDAMMIT!" The wailing and crocodile tears cease and desist almost immediately at this declaration. She springs to her feet with a renewed vigor. "Alright Gus, the enemy is…" She darts her head left, and then right, checking for any invisible eavesdroppers." "Mary Bloody Mary." "Oh for fucks sake Mol." Gus shakes his head as he goes to swap out his Saturday slippers for some real shoes "There I was," BGG begins, "on wikipedia, expanding my worldly knowledge" "You were bored wasting time on the random article link" "When I stumbled across one of the saddest things I've ever read." The crunching of gravel under their feet ceases as BGG abruptly stops and waves her hand in front of her face as if unveiling a profound revelation. "The Bloody Mary of folklore," "Uh-huh," Gus grumbled weakly "The article stated that she helps women get a glance at their future husbands. Sometimes though," Her hand darts to the doorknob and she turns her head sharply to face Gus, pausing for dramatic effect. "She murders the very women who summons her." He offers this simple reply, "Alright, so why is that sad?" "Well, she's a lady who lives in a mirror right? She's lonely Gus! She obviously just kills women because they don't want to be her friend! I understand why. It's very rude to summon a being from across the veil to just have her do simple parlor tricks" Gus gives his shoes a mindless wipe against the welcome mat at the entrance to the abode. "Right, sure." BGG was twisting the door handle at this point and stepped through the doorway into a vivid and wild technicolor interior. "So there I was in my bathroom, lights off, candles all around me, ready to summon and befriend the lonely mirror specter. I chanted over and over, "Bloody Mary Bloody Mary." In an instant, all the candles went out, the light bulbs in my vanity began to flicker, and the image of a shadow emerged in the mirror before me." "I'm sure it did Mol." Gus's idle gaze wander from band posters to Pollock-like paint splotches, to motivational kitten posters. The decorum of Bubblegum Girl's house was giving his no-nonsense brain whiplash. "Gus, are you listening?" "Ya, of course…" He trailed off as his eye caught several empty helium tanks and a plethora of un-blown balloons. "The shadow took the form of sickly skinny girl with long stringy black hair. Something seemed up with her eyes like they were missing? Or all black? Anyway, naturally, I said hello and introduced myself, and tried to make her feel welcome. I was all like "Hi Mary! It is SO nice to meet you! I'm BGG, Bubblegum Girl, my less fun real name is Molly though. I read about you on Wikipedia and your life sounded kinda sad and lonely, so I'm here to be your new best friend! We can talk about boys and I can show you all my favorite internet memes and you can feel loved and stop murdering people." BBG had led Gus up a flight of stairs and now stood outside a bright pink door with what he assumed was a stolen public bathroom sign with one of those upsidedown triangle women on it. "I figured she'd be super stoked right? I didn't summon her to just use her like everyone else. I, you known, cared about her well-being and interests and junk. We would be each others' friends from the other side of the veil. How cool is that?" As she reached out to the bathroom door in front of them she stopped to look at Gus, expecting a response. He was looking past her down the hall trying to catch a glimpse of some of the other illogical horrors that existed in this residence "I SAID, how cool is that Gus?" "Oh, cool, I guess?" "Right! It is cool, and a very nice, sincere gesture. Well, she didn't seem interested. In fact, she seemed pretty steamed that I summoned her at all. So you know what she did? She tried to STRANGLE ME. It was super uncalled for. I tried to tell her if she didn't want to be my friend she could have just said something, and that she should go back home. BUT THEN SHE WOULDN'T LEAVE. She was starting to pull herself out of the mirror when I left, so I shut the door and ran over the most intense, serious, intimidating person I knew! Your so stern and commanding Gus, she'll have to go home if you tell her too." BGG started to push the door open as she beamed at Gus as if she was dumping all the world's confidence into him. He returns her beam with a furrowed brow and a slight frown. "Look Mol, I'm sure all this is very real and actually happened. If I go in there and tell your mirror to leave you alone; you don't get to bother me on a Saturday for another month. Deal?" "Deeeeaaaaallllllll!" She sings as she flings open the door, revealing a shadowy, sickly woman with pale skin and stringy black hair. She loomed over Gus and stared at him with empty sockets. Gus drew a sharp inhale and slowly craned his head up to meet Mary Bloody Mary's Gaze. "You've got to be fucking kidding me."

[pettyprocrastination]

TALK TO ME MORE ABOUT BODYGUARD!JAVI AND DRUMMER GIRL AND READER PLS. HOW DOES JAV GET INTO BEING A BODYGUARD? WHY DOES DRUMMER GIRL NEED ONE?? HOW FUCKIN BADASS IS READER???

do these count as hc requests? i just like talking about them and thinking about them and i love them as much as i love our tough as nails but still 100% human gorgeous wifey

AAAAAA I LOVE YOU

I know you sent this in FOREVER AGO but im answering it now because uhhhhhh im out of work for a hot minute and need something to do!!!! And i love javi, drummer babe, and reader!!!!!

this ended up MUCH longer than i expected im sorry aksksksk. 

@thesadvampire @captainsamwlsn @winters-buck

SO. I like to imagine that Javi got into security work after he stopped working in the DEA. he needed something less high strung, but still in a similar field. Security work was easy enough actually, with a background like his he found jobs easily and worked on temporary contracts as a bodyguard for many famous actors and singers. In his opinion almost every single one he’d met had been a TOTAL dick. He found celebrities to be pompous self-righteous pricks, many of which would use the same drugs he spent his life arresting people for right in front of him after a show or shooting. It boiled his blood to not be able to stop it. But hey, that’s showbiz. 

Now onto our sweet drummer babe. Who is a southern raised sweetheart with the hands of God that pound out music on her drum set every night like it's her one joy in the world. Her name is Gemini, but called Gem by her friends and bandmates. She’s the drummer of a new band riding the high of their newfound popularity that is just about to go on tour around the US. Javi is hired as a preventative measure. Sure they’ll have guards at each concert, but their manager thought itd be good to have one that went along with them from place to place, the entire goddamn time. 

To keep them out of trouble. The manager told Javi as he stepped onto the tour bus with a fake smile. 

Which meant babysitting. 

Ultimately. Gem was the only one Javi got along with. The singer was a pompous prick who thought he could treat Javi more like a goddamn butler than a guard. The bassist, perhaps in an attempt to gain more popularity herself, more vocal parts other than backup, or out of her pathetic schoolgirl crush on him, agreed with every word the smarmy schmuck said. The lead guitarist didn't talk much, when he did, was it was some odd bullshit about being on the “new wave of music” and talking in a way that made Javi think of a cult leader. He chalked it up to the drugs, but did not want to find out if he was right or not. But their lead drummer? Oh, Gemini was a woman with a bite. She didn’t hesitate to call other members out on their bullshit or their flippant disrespect of javi. 

“He’s here to keep us safe, not make your fucking beds. If the crowd gets too rowdy next time, dont be shocked if he leaves your ass behind.”

It didn’t take long for the pair of them to fall into bed together. It started off as just sex for Javi, because he couldn't necessarily just ditch the band and go to a bar in search of a hook up. But at some point, as Gem played with his hair while he talked about his old man and the ranch back home he felt a shift. His heart would skip a beat when his arm curled protectively around her waist while leading her through a crowd, he’d find himself smiling and even tapping his foot on beat during their rehearsals. During concerts, he’s backstage, ready to lead them off when they finish. She'll be sweating, grinning like a mad man and basking in the cheering crowd, every time she showed off her skills on the drum he couldn’t help but feel a thrum of pride in his chest. 

That’s his girl. 

You however, he met differently. 

I'm not sure if you fall into the traditional sense of badass. As in some muscly scared woman kicking ass and taking names. 

You’re a college professor, smart, articulate and intimidating in that sort of sense of walking into a classroom people suddenly feel inadequate before you. Recently divorced, you realize you never acted for you, never had crazy moments of rebellion or wild college nights. So you take a leave from work. You're in such good standing with the university they allowed it. Join some friends who somehow convince you to follow this band on tour for a goddamn year and it's already the first day in and you know this was a horrible idea oh god maybe if you call your boss you can let him know you'll be there for the fall semester and you can cancel the long term substitute they have set up? God what were you thinking? You aren’t wild or spontaneous or-

But then the lights shut off, the crowd begins to scream as the music flows, a steady beat filling your entire chest. The stage lights up and you see the drummer, the most beautiful fucking woman you've ever laid eyes on in your life, with her eyes shut as she plays and her hair swaying as she moves to the beat. 

When Gemini opens her eyes she sees you watching her and feels her heart hammer. You're not looking at the band as a whole. Not screaming for the singer or lifting your top up for the lead guitarist. You're watching her. With this big excited smile and Christ you look so pretty as a friend pulls you close to dance with a laugh, but you're still looking at her. Gemini was used to being glossed over. She wasn't the singer or playing the electric guitar. She was the drummer. But you didn't look at anybody else for the rest of the night. 

At the end of the show, Javi watched as Gemini jumped up from her drum set and curled a hand around his bicep before pointing you out in the crowd. 

“She was watchin’ me the whole show, Javi. I think I finally got myself a fan.” Javi sees you, being tugged and pulled by your friends at the excited chatters of an afterparty. He watched your side profile with admiration that even after dancing to a 90 minute concert you looked almost regal among your friends. You turned, once more catching Gem’s eyes and extending a shaking hand in a self conscious wave. 

He felt her fingers twitch nervously against his arm as she, the lead drummer in a famous band, waved back with an excited smile. 

This will be interesting to watch play out. But he couldn't hide his attraction to you as well, even as he took you by the hand and led you backstage to meet Gem. 

He just really hoped this wouldn't come back to bite him in the ass.

[theawesomeally]

Before We Met (Preview)

Prologue

In a world inhabited by mythic creatures, love was commonplace several millennia ago, though difficult to master. After his training advances over the decades, his powers became obsolete and were largely discarded.

[The camera zooms in on the city and two blazing specks of light dash all over the place as one shoots lasers at the other. We then see an enemy aircraft flying throughout while it's chasing a young man, who is running from the pursuer. We see full closeups of a guy in his craft and Rocky as he runs. The scene freezes after an explosion with Rocky barely missing it.]

[voice over]

Through the years I have been known by many names. Marshmallow, The Furry Lover, The Daredevil, Frisky Two Times and then The amazing Ryan Reynolds. But to most, I am Rocky, the awesome one!

[Some other women, leaning across the wall, and Rocky getting his shades from his pocket. Put it onto his eyes. While he puts his hoodie onto his shoulders. Rocky was dressed like a gentleman, but he fought with honor or dignity and pulled at the knot into his tie. Females are not meant to grab his attention, and if it does. To be fair, he heard most of what he'd said up to this point. The parts that weren't of his interest, anyway.

Okay, maybe that wasn't much]

His sigh is heavy with exasperation,

"Can you keep your dick in your pants at the gala?"

Grab his phone from his pocket, automatically switching it out of Bluetooth mode, and bring his earphone up to his ear.

I will never forget you, Margarita. [The female stops and cringe after hearing the name. His blue prominent eyes were not well adapted to winking. They were rather of the sort that closes solemnly in slumber with majestic effect.

Rocky pretend to consider as Rocky step out of the car and button his tux jacket. "Hmm."

"Nice wheels, sir," the valet says, unconcerned that he was on the phone. Rocky pull out his wallet and flash a fifty-dollar bill. "Take care of her and this is yours."

"Yes, Mr. Rocky."

"I mean, Rosa. Uh...sorry. I think maybe I should go.???." She wrapped her arms over her chest and shook her head with a smirk curved across her face. Rocky grinned and raised an ironical finger in salute Rocky starts backing away. "You can't get away with it." the security guard muttered, holding out one hand. He was moving very slowly, thinking Rocky was the enemy or something. Blinks at her as a farewell, but glance with a smug as he sees the vampire's ring. Mind was so wrapped up in thought that he didn't notice the familiar vampire standing behind him. A vampire with bad breath psycho. "Hey, come on, dickie! You're trashing public property here!" He is thinking about how he had to sneaked up onto the roof and is currently standing a few feet behind him.

Rocky then gently slides the ring off the vampire's finger using his katana.

Light glinted off a myriad of his Katana and the vampire ring. Spray from the dust to blew up into his face, but sweat more than seawater moistened his palms as he gripped the eagle. His eyes were as blue while the vampires eyes were cold as the stormy weather.

"Hey, it's Gale calling," says Rocky called over his shoulder to one nefarious vampire. "Love the shiny suit. Really brings out the sex trafficker in your eyes." Rocky had commented, half jokingly and straight up confident, how that guy would have been considered handsome - if he ever bothered to smile.

Cut to a shot of a cliff.

A grim expression again carved itself into the soldier's face as he gazed up at the jeering vampires, their bodies smeared with blood, upon the cliff tops. Even the most cowardly of tribes in Gaul would fancy its chances from such advantageous ground, one being was mused. The sound of their jeers was occasionally accompanied by the high pitched swish of an arrow, as the odd archer tried his luck. Invariably the missile would zip harmlessly into the sea, or at best a thud could be heard as it struck as a human shield or the solid surface of the earth.

Cut back to the fighting scene. Rocky is skewering a guy with his swords, and kicks the vampire in the chest, sending him back down and puts his sword away. The guy gasp and starts fighting with Rocky. This continues for awhile until Rocky get's away again. Using two fingers he salute the vampire as a goodbye.

Making a soft chuckle. He flicks the vampire ring up into the air. It comes back down and lands into one of the streets, causing his background to explode. The shards of fire fell in slow motion behind him.

He is consumed in the explosion, as his body can be seen flying off the ground, flipping off the camera as it goes. "Oh, fuck." Rocky mutter under his breath. "Oh, I'm sorry." A small apology leaving his lips with a smirk.

"That will teach you, not to mess with me," A familiar voiced ask, up righting his head as he walk over the circles and appeared in front of him,

(narrator)

So, I know what you're thinking. Why is that incredibly handsome guy being chased by a madman with a huge shiny fangs from the Civil War?

[The scene freezes after an explosion sending Rocky flying off the ground from the ground. After the dust settles, leaving Rocky lying unconscious on the ground.]

This guy's got the right idea. Well, to be honest, it feels like I've been the captain of my whole life. Is this too much? Am I going too fast? It's kind of what I do--You know what? Let's back up.

[We see the whole fight going in reverse as well as frames of future clips for a split second each time, one passes as Rocky mimics a rewind sound effect] Cut to close-up of Rocky gets up to his feet. Cut to him sitting on the side of the gable roof at night. Wondering how long it would be before he saw the city again. He had been born with a wandering heart, and he embraced adventure, unafraid to face the dangers often presented by journeys into unknown places. Leaving civilization behind for the wilds of the frozen north, legs dangling over the side as he listens to his Walkman next to him playing 'Shoop.' Rocky was vaguely singing along, making hand gestures along with the lyrics, but he was focused on his own drawing, while listening to the music and coloring a picture with crayons. We see that the picture he's drawing is him shooting the vampire in the head, he was doing it with some crayons he had with him.

It was fun to see that getting shot in the head, even if it was just a crayon drawing. He'd never soon change it to a reality. And then turned his head and stared directly at the camera, or the person reading, or just whoever balls happened to be paying a lot of attention to him.

Wha- Oh! Oh, hello. I know, right? Who's balls did I have to snap to get my very own story? I can't tell you, but it does rhyme with dick. And let me tell you; he's got a nice pair of fucking underwear, he finished in an Swedish accent.

They'd get that joke, right?

Anyway, I got places to be, a kiss in the ass to fix, and - oh! hot weird vampire to kill.

He watched eagerly as the flashes of light began to appear below him – lots of rippers were a very dramatic little shit, after all – we're panning quickly towards the edge of the roof he was sitting on. Now having an appointment to keep, Rocky was quick to get onto edge of the roof and, in one fluid motion, opens a music playlist called Tunes of Anarchy on his Walkman, and the song "Where Evil Grows" by The Poppy Family stays playing in the background as he jumped off the roof, landing in one of the coolest bar in Mystic Falls. It seemed that they had been drinking peacefully, listening to 'Angel of the Morning,' but when Rocky landed and that's when their peaceful night was over.

They look around for which they finally see as Rocky stands at a wooden doorway wearing a cowboy hat, black sunglasses, and red a white hoodie as he opens a music playlist called Tunes of Anarchy on his Walkman. Opens up and the door swings open and the music resumes with people dancing and lights flashing as he goes inside the bar.

Nothing.

Absolutely positively not a fucking thing.

First one person turned, noticing him. Then more followed, until the whole patron was hushed, waiting. Everyone was watching, the same bewildered look on all of their faces. Eyebrows raised and narrowed eyes, etc. God, for months he'd played this moment over and over inside his mind. It most definitely never turned out like this. Whatever this was.

As he walks up to the bar. The room was narrow and about 90 feet deep. Light did manage to worm its way into the establishment, though. It seeped through the windows scattered along the walls, and through the gaps in the door between its wooden panels. A bar on the left at the front, then some upholstered horseshoe benches, then a cluster of freestanding tables on what, on other nights, might have been a dance floor. Then the stage, with the band on it. The band looked as if it had been put together by accident after a misfiling incident at a talent agency. The bass player was a stout old black guy in a suit with a vest. He was plucking away at an upright bass fiddle. The drummer could have been his uncle. He was a big old guy sprawled comfortably behind a small, simple kit. The singer was also a harmonica player and was older than the bass player and younger than the drummer and bigger than either one.

The guitarist was completely different. He was young and white and small. Maybe 20, maybe 5-foot-6, maybe 130 pounds. He had a fancy blue guitar wired to a crisp new amplifier and together the instrument and the electronics made sharp sounds full of space and echoes. The amp must have been turned up to 11. The sound was incredibly loud. It was as if the air in the room was locked solid. It had no more capacity for volume. But the music was good. The three black guys were old pros, and the white kid knew all the notes, and when and how and in what order to play them. He was wearing a red T-shirt and black pants and white tennis shoes. He had a very serious expression on his face. He looked foreign. Maybe Russian.

I watched them for a minute, and then I looked away. My name is Rocky, and once I was the most wanted man, with heavy emphasis on the past tense. I have been out nearly as long as I was in. But old habits die hard. I had stepped into the bar the same way I always step anywhere, which is carefully. One-thirty in the morning. I had ridden the train to West and walked south on Sixth Avenue and made the left turn on San Francisco bar and checked the sidewalks. I wanted music, but not the kind that drives large numbers of patrons outside to smoke.

His attention was taken away from patrons. It was at that point that he saw the young beautiful woman alone at her table, Her name tag read Katy, and her shirt clung tightly around her chest. Her hands worked quickly and gracefully with the bottles as she poured them another and took the empty's away.

I watched her in the gaudy, reflected light, with the music shrieking and pounding all around me. The two guys watched her. Her bodyguard watched her. She watched the guitarist. He was concentrating hard, key changes and choruses, but from time to time he would lift his head and smile, mostly at the glory of being up on the stage, but twice directly at the girl. The first of those smiles was shy, and the second was a little wider.

What met my eyes was a beautiful girl with golden hair and a bright smile that melted my heart. She was blond and blue-eyed, American woman who have a glow, and a smoothness complexion. She lives in New York, singing, listening to a band, and I was in love with her angelic voice. That was clear. There I was, a guy further back in the room, stood in the room staring at her. I was 6ft tall, wide man with a white hoodie and a black leather jacket under a hoodie. She was part of the reason I was here with her back in a city when we were at the age of 19 or less.

It wasn't the kind of glossy place that had a policy about dating rich girls, either for or against. Some call it a gold digger, and I guessed they had looked at her and her minder and made a snap decision against trouble and in favor of tips.

The part of her gaze that wasn't wary was filled with adoration, and it was all aimed in his direction. She was rich. She was alone at a table near the stage and she had a pile of A.T.M fresh twenties in front of her and she was paying for each new bottle with one of them and she wasn't asking for change.

She was a waitress and I loved her.

The woman stood up. She butted the lip of her table with her thighs and shuffled out from behind it and headed for the counter in back. I got there first. The sound from the band howled through it. The ladies' room was halfway down. The men's room was all the way at the end. Rocky leaned on the wall and scanned the room. As Rocky watched her walk in and squeeze through the crowd and she sat down on the bar stool, 1 feet away from him.

"Hey, Raoul, look what this kid dragged in. Oh, wait! That is the guy!," but they didn't hear. Too much noise. He caught them by the elbows, one in each hand. They spun around, as if ready to fight, but then they stopped. Fortunately for him, the first two who approached her were quick to heed her dismissal. She wasn't there to mingle with huge ass in leather jackets. She was just there to grab a drink and relax and pretty sure she made that pretty clear when she shot the first couple of idiots down.

The third guy, however, wasn't ready to take no for an answer.

"How about you let me buy you a drink, sweetheart?"

Their sex appeal eyes pried upon their eyes from the television screen above the bar and looked at the newcomer. With his hair greased back and one-size-too-big biker jacket on, the guy looked like prime wife-beater material. Perfect. Just what they needed to interrupt his evening.

"Thanks, but I'm good," she said curtly, gesturing to the beer bottle in front of her.

"That's it? You're gonna chug that shitty beer and call it a night? Come on, let me get you a real drink."

She scoffed. "What? Like those idiots you got over there?" she glanced past him at the table where he and a couple of his friends had been sitting.

"It's a warm-up. Trust me, honey, we're just getting started over there. You should join us."

She wanted to roll her eyes. "Like I said, I'm good."

She made the move to turn away and focus her attention back on the football game on the television when the guy grabbed her by the arm.

"What the hell's your problem?" This guy gripped her arm tightly, this guy's face practically scrunched up in a beastly snarl. "I don't like to be ignored, y'know?"

She yanked her arm out of his grip and stood up to face him directly. She knew pretty damn well where the conversation was headed and sure as hell were not about to get in a bar fight with their ass glued to the seat.

Before she could open her mouth, a familiar voice spoke up from behind her.

By hearing it and raising their head to turn to his voice, her smile grew a tad wider, recognizing the voice immediately. They simply looked so annoyed, at least much more than usual. His lips pulled into a tight frown, while their eyes narrowed, eyebrows furrowed, back hunched over slightly if you'd look hard enough. Yep, those guys are just being grumpy as usual, but seemingly much more grumpy, except with their eyes laced with the slightest bit of concern. For herself, most likely.

The said person stopped, and looked over their shoulder to the voice. She put on a mellow look close to her usual one. Confrontation- unnecessary confrontation- was not exactly his thing. He tended to avoid fights like these. He could hold his ground better than most, but he preferred to keep out of the brawls and spats that others got involved in.

A voice caught his ear, she sounded like she needed help, despite the overconfident tone the stranger used. "Look, I don't wanna interrupt, but is this guy bothering you?" he looks up at her and says greeted casually, as casual as someone could be hanging for dear life. She looked up at me, startled that he was there. "I'm sorry. Did I scare you up?" he softly asked, when she turned to get a good look at the stranger in his handsome voice. She wasn't expecting the sight she was met with. A pair of piercing blue eyes smiled over her, puffing out her cheeks childishly when she looked at him. After she looked to her right to find Rocky taking his place beside her. Her pinkish lips turned up in a small smile as she ducked her head briefly with a laugh before tucking her hair behind her ear, "No, you did not," she said. He couldn't keep the amusement out of his voice. She turned her head to look at him, catching his gaze with her own. He gave a small smile, stroking her hair softly with his index. "So, What exactly are you doing here?" she said softly, trying to maintain an even tone of voice.

"Oh you know, I was just passing through the neighborhood when I thought I caught a whiff of filthy human garbage coming from this place," he said,

"And sure enough here I am."

Desire pools dark and deadly in his groin. Gaze up at her, releasing her lip. Katy flush a deep crimson in her cheeks, and he runs his index finger down her cheek before handing her the headphones. "I'd like to kiss you, too, but you won't let me down, are you?." Rocky asked her. Besides, he's pulled the straps so tight he can barely move.

Amused smile on his lips, he's wearing his enigmatic half smile. He glances down at her, light blue-gray eyes alive, he glances up when she looks at his way and their eyes lock. And in that brief moment, she was paralyzed, staring at the impossibly handsome man who gazes at her with some unfathomable emotion. His gaze hot, burning into her, as they lost for a moment staring at each other.

It's there in the air between them, that electricity. It's palpable. He can almost taste it, pulsing between them, drawing them together.

"Oh my," she gasps as she basks briefly in the intensity of this visceral, primal attraction. The two men stood back, saying nothing, but looking at him with hard eyes.

Katy had, somehow, stammered out some sort of reply that must have made her look insane. Coby, hearing her, had come over to check on her and had ended up having her go make Rocky's a drink while they chatted. Ever since that first meeting, though, Katy had completely fallen for Rocky. There was something about his smile, or maybe it was his eyes? Whatever it was, it made Katy's entire body feel light as a feather.

To be continued....

[headoverhiddles]

You're So Vain - Marilyn Manson x Reader [Smut]

Synopsis: You wear a Rob Zombie dress to your boyfriend's double headliner concert. This article of clothing has a certain effect on him, and it’s not good.

Notes: Heaven Upside Down era! I just banged this one out fast (that's what she said) and figured it's passable enough to post. Takes place in the same timeline as "Just For Me." Enjoy the light dom/sub jealous!Manson quickie! ALSO HAVE YOU SEEN HIS NEW HAIR FROM THE OSCARS PARTY??? 

His eyes meet yours through the mirror as he shadows his eyes. You can tell immediately upon your entrance into the room that he’s not pleased, and you can’t wait to hear why this time. 

"What's that?"

You look at your boyfriend, to see where he's looking now. His eyes are on your clothing. "What do you think it is? It's a dress." 

"Don’t need your attitude. Is that really what you're wearing? For the show?"

You sigh. He always has a way of making you feel special. "Yes." You spin around in your black and red dress, adorned with symbols, splatters and big "Rob Zombie" logos on it. "I think it's perfect, since you're playing the show with Rob, Twins of Evil, yada yada." 

"I'm sure Rob’s going to love that," Manson says in a low voice, and the undertone of irritation does not go unnoticed by you. He sucks in his cheekbones to dust them with a powder puff of blue, and you dissect the darkness in his eyes. You can’t say you didn’t know this was going to happen, when you wore a dress with his co-headliner’s name all over it. You know how possessive your boyfriend can get. 

Provoking? Of course that’s not what you’re trying to do...

You smirk, walking over to smooth your hands down his chest. "Jealous?"

"I’m not jealous. But you've got his name emblazoned over your tits."

"And whose tits are they?"

"Mine."

"The correct answer there would have been "yours," but the jury will accept it."

Manson grumbles some more. "When did you even get it?" 

"I ordered it."

"With my money?"

"Look, I'm supporting my friend. He's in the band."

"In case you don't remember, Ginger was my drummer for 15 years."

"Well, he's not anymore. What do you want me to say?! I'm not gonna wear a dress with you on it! I've got you on my body every other night of the year, I don't need it tonight."

"You don't think I'm going to fuck the shit out of you tonight?" 

"Not at the rate you're going," you tease. 

“Watch yourself.”

“Make me.” It’s a clear invitation, up in the air. 

Manson looks like he's about to literally growl, but turns back to finish his makeup, sulk, and down his three "complimentary" glasses of stadium beer. It’s not worth it to start anything with you ten minutes til showtime, and you have to say, you’re disappointed he doesn’t make a sport of it. 

When your boyfriend goes out on stage first, Zombie's band comes in through the backstage, along with your best friend from when you two worked in Vegas together. "Kenny!" you grin, jumping into his arms. He picks you up in a hug, that drummer strength useful in boosting you up. 

"Ah, (y/n)! Glad you could come on this leg of the tour. I was so excited when I heard we were playing with Manson again, couldn't wait to see you."

"We're definitely meeting under calmer circumstances this time," you smile, arms wrapped around him tight.

He laughs, remembering all the backstage shenanigans from the late 90s touring days with you along for the ride. "Yeah, it's much more chill with Twiggy and Pogo gone. And Manson's toned down a little I guess."

You cock your head. "In a manner of speaking."

"It's kind of nice. It's like we've grown up, you know?"

"I don't think Manson will ever grow up," you laugh. Ginger pulls away to look at your dress, finally noticing it.

"That's super cool... what did he think of it?"

You giggle. "What do you think he thought of it?"

Ginger shakes his head, remembering the fiery look of pure rage his ex boss had given that one guy from the pit at that one concert in 1999. The guy’s never gonna change, I swear.” 

Rob comes in, punching the air. "Ready to fucking ROCK!?”

"Totally!" John calls from a distant room.

"Woah," Rob says, "You must be (y/n). Ginger's told me all about you."

"All bad?"

"Jesus, yeah. Heard about the time you got plowed on stage in '99. Typical Manson. Cool dress." Rob looks at your outfit. "Really cool. Hey, what's up with your bf?"

"What? What about him?"

"He's crashing and burning out there. Crowd's pissed, whiiiich means I'm gonna have to save the show."

"Shit..."

"Bad day?"

You sigh, and walk out to the wing. Rob's right. The crowd is practically rioting, and they're not the only ones who are pissed. Manson seems to be out of his mind, singing Kill4Me with a particularly hard edge and apparently a version that skips every third lyric. He then launches into an overly aggressive rendition of The Beautiful People.

You know exactly what this is about.

Rob jostles your shoulder as he prepares to go out, wishing you luck when you should really be the one wishing him luck. Ginger gives you a low five, and you take a deep breath as Manson comes stumbling off stage, makeup trailing down his face and neck from the water he always spits upward.

"Could you be anymore of a child about this whole thing?" you demand, crossing your arms. He points a wavering finger at you, letting the security carry him properly toward the hall.

"Don't. Even."

"Oh, don't what? Don't what? I can't wear a dress now?"

"Wear whatever the fuck you want, I don't care." Piggy D hurries between you two awkwardly to run out on stage.

"You are being such an asshole."

"Whatever. You wanna misinterpret how I... what I'm..."

"I know you, you're jealous."

He shoves the security off, coming back over. "I'm not fucking jealous."

"It's a dress. What, you think I wanna fuck Rob?!"

This time, he does growl. His tall, imposing form advances on you, and despite his debauched appearance, the intense darkness in his eyes is unmistakable for anything other than hunger. Real fear flickers through you for a split second.

"Wanna try that, little girl? Hm?" You shiver, breath quickening, but you've known your boyfriend for far too long, and you're not about to back down now. You want him hard and fast, and it’s your turn to get him back for making you wait.

"Maybe I do," you whisper defiantly. That does it. He tears the straps on your dress. You moan, letting him reach in and grab your thighs, and lift you against the wall with ease, pinning you there. 

"You want me to drag you out on that stage, and fuck you in front of the crowd again?” 

“You only teased me in front of the crowd,” you have the nerve to reply, “You never actually fucked me out there in front of anyone.” Manson holds you by the neck as he roughly marks you down your jawbone. 

“That’s because you're mine," he mutters, hurrying to get his dick out, "You're fucking mine. Only person gets to see these tits, see this pussy? Is me." He leans in to hiss: “Only one who gets to see you gush is me.” 

You can't protest, caught up in a rush of arousal as his stage pants rub dangerously close to your clit. You grind your hips forward, desperately seeking his touch. You’ve never wanted him so bad, his stupid fucking feral expression covered in pink and blue gloss driving you wild. 

"Fuck me," you gasp, not stopping to wonder if the roadies were around or minding their own business.

"Oh, I'm going to, baby," Manson whispers, finally getting himself out of his briefs, "You need to remember who you fuckin' belong to." He tugs your hair back sharply, and sinks his teeth into your shoulder. You scream from the shock of it, and wetness starts to drip down your thigh.

"Ah," you hiss, pussy clenching desperately to be filled, "Do it again."

Manson bites down your flesh to the tips of your nipples, leaving pink marks across your chest. He reaches up, letting your leg fall slightly as he slips two fingers inside you. 

You gasp again, louder this time over the beat of Rob performing Superbeast, and clutch tighter to your handsy boyfriend. He comes back up to suck your neck, nipping slightly at the sensitive spots where he marked you before.

"Fuck me, come on," you chant, “Fuck me like you did that day.” He grabs you again by the neck, dragging you in for a rough, sloppy kiss. A hard pound, and your back hits the wall in rhythm with his body. He doesn't wait for you to adjust, and you both know you don't need him to. He slides in deep, with you very ready to take him, and he pulls back easily before thrusting back in harder, the weight of his body pounding against you heightening the thrusts. His belt buckle jangles with his every movement. 

"How much do you love this cock?”

“I love it, I want it--”

“Can Zombie do this?" 

"No--"

"Could he make you cum like this?"

You whine. "Only you can make me cum." 

"That's right. Don't ever forget it, or I’ll fucking remind you again." He kisses you again, all sloppy tongue, and your hair falls forward between you two as he puts every ounce of effort into bouncing you on his cock. He thrusts one more time with a low grunt, and the pain in your scalp as he tugs again sends you over the edge into a much needed climax. He freezes too, deep inside of you, and you feel him finish.

Manson lets you down, groaning as he rubs the sweat and shiny makeup off his face. Adrenaline shooting through him from both his show and the sex, he’s spoiling for a fight as was usual in these moods. He glares at a stage tech who had been coiling ropes. “Fuck you staring at?” The poor guy looks down in terror, carrying on with his job. Yep, Ginger was right, you think with a smile. He’s never gonna change. No matter how long it’s been, he’s still the same Manson you’re stuck with.  

Manson zips up his pants again and unbuttons his restricting black stage vest. Breathless and rubbing your hands around and down your boyfriend’s chest, you pout at your ruined dress in the mirror, straps dangling down your arms. 

"Look what you did to the dress, baby.”  

“Looks better this way. Now you can’t see his name, you can just see your tits,” he smiles lazily, sucking on his bottom lip lasciviously. 

“You’re a dirty old man, always looking at my tits.” 

“What am I supposed to do? They’re tits, they’re attached to your chest, and I think you’re hot.” 

You hide your flushed smile as you turn your nose up, sighing for show. “You do realize it's not normal that the best sex we have is when you're jealous."

"Since when are we normal?" He looks at you through the mirror, tired and grinning. "And I told you. I'm not fucking jealous." 

[surveys-at-your-service]

Survey #328

okay i’m going the fuck to bed now. @_@

Have you ever worn fake eyelashes? No; the only time I ever will will possibly be my wedding, if even then. Could you possibly write a successful novel? I think I'm capable, but I don't believe it will happen. Who’s the last person you video-chatted with? My therapy group via Zoom. Do ski lifts make you nervous or do you like them? Never been in one, but they seem cool. Have you ever had dandruff? I have dandruff AND a dry scalp. Nice combo. Do you think sleeve tattoos look trashy? Please explain to me how ANY tattoo inherently equates to being "trashy." I actually love sleeve tats. Have you ever gone through a phase of crushing on EVERYONE? No. I experienced a few crushes my freshman year of high school, but they weren't just anybody. If you had to get a portrait tattoo, who would it be of? I may or may not get a tattoo of Darkiplier doing his i c o n i c debut smile somewhere, but idk. I already have one tattoo related to Mark and would kill for another with his handwriting, so having three would be a bit... wild, haha. Do you have any stickers on any of your electronic devices? No. Do you like the smell of men’s colognes better than woman’s perfumes? Usually. Can you remember what you last clapped for? Yes; everyone in group clapped for one of the women taking a big step against her agoraphobia. Is your hair damaged? No, it's actually super healthy. Are you in charge of cleaning anything in your household? The litterbox and my room in general. Ever carved/written anything on a park bench? No. Most interesting place you’ve ever visited? Chicago was a big shock to me. I am FAR from used to cities that incredible and stocked. Do you keep your eyebrows more thick or thin? I don't groom them, so they're on the thicker end. Do you always wear a bra? Not at home and if there's no company. Do your shoulder blades protrude? No. Have you ever won on one of those grabber machine things? Yeah, a few times. Are you gonna French kiss your hubby at your wedding? Who says I'm marrying a man? But whatever, no. Keep that behind closed doors. How many bananas have you ever eaten in a row? No more than two. I usually don't even have two. Have you ever had sex outside? No. Have you ever been outside naked? No. Have you ever been in a shrubbery maze? No. You ever like someone who liked you back, but didn’t want a relationship?: That's pretty much where I'm at now. Have you ever fallen for someone who didn’t feel the same? No. Are you financially stable? No. Mom can barely afford rent right now; I had to pay it last month with gifted money. Are you emotionally stable? hunny Do you think kids these days are growing up too quickly? I kinda think so, yeah. It's funny how different kids are now compared to when I was whatever age they are. I try to be open-minded about it, though; times change, and I don't expect my generation to be the only "right" way to have grown up. I just think kids are chasing the power of "maturity" with much more vigor. Are you a rebel? Not really. Do you like when people use proper grammar on the Internet? Yeah. I like conversing with people who type just how they talk, like me. Have you ever driven or been a passenger on a motorcycle? Neither. I don't want to ride one. Do you use standard time, or 24 hour time? Standard time. Do you enjoy NASCAR? "HE'S MAKIN ANOTHER LEFT TURRRRRRN!" Lol no, I really don't. Who is the most fascinating person you’ve met? Probably Sara, honestly. What amazing adventures have you been on? What's this "adventure" you speak of? What would you do if had enough money to not need a job? Lots of traveling with my camera, still selling art anyway. What TV series do you keep coming back to and re-watching? None. What would your perfect vacation look like? Y'know, one of those glass dome ceiling cabin... things in the mountains with Sara would be so, SO cool. So much nature for us to explore. What are some obscure things that you are or were really into? Most of my interests honestly, haha. The strangest is probably "vulture culture," in which the remains (typically the bones) of a naturally deceased wild animal are basically recycled for some sort of artistic purpose. You could consider my roadkill photography an example. What are some things everyone should try at least once? I dunno, man. Depends on what you're into. What would your perfect morning be like? Cuddles with an s/o watching some funny videos or something like that to get in some morning laughter. What are you always game for? Video games, haha. What do you do to unwind? Watch YouTube. What’s your favorite piece of furniture you’ve ever owned? I don't have a fave. What would be the best city to live in? I don't want to live in a city. What would you like to know more about, but haven’t had the time to look into it? Time isn't an issue; I just haven't. There's lots of stuff. I'm a very curious person. How have you changed from when you were in high school? I'm less depressed, but more confused, scared, and much less motivated. Imagine a chicken wandering around with its head chopped off. Where is the most fun place around where you live? Nothing, really... Where would your friends or family be most surprised to find you? Like, a strip club or something. What’s expensive but totally worth it? This depends on what's important to you. For me, a quality DSLR camera. When do you feel most out of place? Whenever I'm some place fancy. What’s the most recent thing you’ve done for the first time? No idea. What small seemingly insignificant decision had a massive impact on your life? Accepting Jason's friend request on Facebook because I thought it was a different Jason I actually knew. What did you do last summer? Nothing, just stayed indoors trying not to melt into a sizzling puddle. What are you most grateful for? My mom. What’s the most essential part of a friendship? Trust, maybe. When was the last time you walked for more than an hour? Many, many years ago when I used to walk outside for hours with my iPod. All modesty aside, what are you better at than 90% of people? It doesn’t have to be useful or serious, it can be something ridiculous. 90% is a lot, man. Maybe bonding with animals? What’s the strangest phone conversation you’ve ever had? I don’t know. What do you like but are kind of embarrassed to admit? If I'm embarrassed by it, I have no interest in sharing it. What skill or ability have you always wanted to learn? Even just a smidge of social skills. What’s the best meal you’ve ever had? Probably the spicy shrimp fritas at Olive Garden. I adore those sooooooooo so much. Where was your favorite place to go when you were a kid? The zoo. We didn't go often at all, but I would frequently nag Mom about going. What’s something that most people haven’t done, but you have? Fed a freshly severed rat to a vulture. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ I wanna go back to that bird rescue... What says the most about a person? How they treat others. What machine or appliance in your house aggravates you the most? The dryer. It can take a few rounds to fully dry something. What places have you visited that exceeded your expectations? Chicago, that I actually remember. Disney World probably did, but I was just a little kid and only have faint memories of the trip. What’s the worst advice someone has given you? I don't know. Besides your home and your work, where do you spend most of your time? People leave their houses? What are your top 3 favorite things to talk about? Mark, meerkats, and video games. When you were a kid, what seemed like the best thing about being a grown up? No one could tell me no for "stupid" reasons. What’s the strangest way you’ve become friends with someone? Strange way? I haven't got a clue. What’s your favorite band NAME (not necessarily your favorite band)? Maybe Cradle of Filth. Badass metal name. There are a lot of good ones, though. What’s your favorite thing to do outdoors? Take pictures of flowers or animals. How often do you dance? Silly/ironic dancing counts. Essentially never. Who besides your parents taught you the most about life? Jason, I guess. What’s been the most significant plot twist in your own life? The breakup that I thought was physically impossible, entirely unfathomable. Where did you take family vacations to when you were younger? We didn't really go on vacations. If you could instantly receive a Ph.D. in any discipline including all the knowledge and experience that goes along with it, what would your Ph.D. be in? Biology. What are the top three social situations you try to avoid most? Anywhere where I have to speak publicly; parties/get-togethers involving people I don't know; anywhere that is extremely crowded. Just social situations in general, really... What friendship you’ve had has impacted you the most? My friendship with Sara. What’s something you’re interested in that most people wouldn’t expect? Uhhh I don't know, really. What’s the hardest you’ve worked for something? My recovery from the breakup. What took you way too long to figure out? The only person who had any right to control my happiness and will to live was myself. What nicknames have you had throughout your life? If you include online ones as well, there's Britt, Britt-Britt, Twinkie, Bee, Flower, Ruby, Mozart2, Ozz(y), Alessa, and uhhh... I wanna say that's it? What do you do differently than most people? I deconstruct my breakfast biscuits to eat one part at a time... haha. Where’s the last place you’d ever go? Prison. What fact floored you when you heard it? That my dad did some hard drugs before us kids were born. I was entirely speechless. Have you ever watched a needle go into your own skin? Yeah, it doesn't bother me. Have you ever spent more than two weeks in a wheelchair? No. Does weed smell good? Or no? Ugh, no. It smells awful. Do you blow dry your hair or do you let it air out? Air dry. Do you catch lizards? No; I don't like the idea of catching wild animals just to pick up and check out. That poor critter is terrified. I'd rather just take pictures of it and let it go about its day. Would you rather get a big tattoo or small tattoo? I want my next tattoo to be a big'n. How many pills do you take every morning? I absolutely do not want to count. A whole lot. What was the last parade you went to? /shrug What theme would you choose for a baby’s nursery? If I was hypothetically having kids, let's see. A son, absolutely dinosaurs. A daughter, maybe meadowy with baby animals. My baby blanket was full of baby animals, so it'd be kinda cute, that connection. What color would you paint a baby girl’s nursery? Not because of gender norms, but by personal choice, pastel pink. Does your first crush know that he/she was your first crush? No. What is the last thing you missed out on that you wanted to go to? Hm. Who do you wish were your best friend? I am perfectly happy with who already is my best friend. Who do you wish you could go on another date with? She knows. Who was the last friend of yours to have a baby, and what’s the baby’s name? I'm not sure, but my high school friend Megan is due to have her daughter Persephone soon! She won the naming game. Like damn, how badass would it feel for your name to be Persephone. Do you have a favorite M&M? Just the classic ones. Is it easy to make you cry? OHHHHH YES IT IS. Have you ever snuck out? Nah. Who was the last person to comment you? On Facebook? My friend Lyndsey commented on a photo I shared. What song reminds you of being in middle school? "All Signs Point to Lauderdale" by A Day To Remember is the anthem for going through puberty in school and trying to figure yourself out. What was the first thing you learned how to cook? Scrambled eggs. What’s something really basic that you’re terrible at? Cooking. Are you pale or tan? I'm very pale. When’s the last time you were kissed? On the lips, like two or so years ago. Do you like the movie Grease? Never seen it, actually. What’s your favorite Jim Carrey movie? The Mask, probably. What was the last baby animal you saw in the wild? I think a fawn. Have you been binge-watching any shows lately? If so, what? No. What’s the best physical feeling in the entire universe? I meeeaaan... Do you have bad anxiety? If so, do you take any kind of medication for it? Yes and yes. If you could, would you work from home? Do you think that would make you more or less productive? Well, it's complicated. I don't, but I also want to be a freelance photographer, so I kinda would. I like the idea of having an office in my house purely for productive activities to prevent becoming lazy because I'd be at home. Would you ever be an organ donor? I am one.

[fuckheadwitha]

Listening to Rolling Stone's Top 500 Albums of All Time

Rolling Stone released an updated list of their top 500 albums of all time and being trapped in the purgatory of covid quarantine this seems like the perfect moment to tackle what an almost completely irrelevant former counter-culture institution has to say about music (we can’t actually blame Rolling Stone for this list, a huge number of musicians and critics voted to make it). I am going to listen to every single one of these, all the way through, with a level of attention that's not super intense but I'm definitely not having them on in the background as simple aural wallpaper. Two caveats though: I can make an executive decision to skip any album if I feel the experience is sufficiently miserable, and I'm also going to be skipping the compilation albums that I feel aren't really worth slots (best ofs, etc.). In addition, I will be ordering them as I go, creating a top 500 of the top 500 (it will be less than 500 since we've already established I'm skipping some of these).

Here are 500-490:

#500 Arcade Fire - Funeral

I can already tell I'm going to be at odds with this list if one of the most important albums of my high school years is at the bottom. That being said, I haven't actually given this whole thing a listen since probably the early 2010s, before Arcade Fire fatigue set in and the hipsterati appointed band of a generation just kinda seemed to fade from popular consciousness. I actually dreaded re-experiencing it, since the synthesis of anthemic rock and quirky folk instrumentation which Arcade Fire brought mainstream has now become the common shorthand of insufferable spotify friendly folk pop. Blessedly, the first half of the album easily holds up, largely propelled by dirty fast rhythm guitar, orchestration that's tuneful rather than obnoxious, and lyrics which come off as earnest rather than pretentious. The middle gets a little sappy and “Crown of Love”, a song I definitely used to like, really starts the grate. And then we get to “Wake Up”, whose cultural saturation spawned thousands of dorky indie rock outfits that confused layered strings and horns with power and meaning. This song definitely hasn't survived the film trailers and commercials which it so ubiquitously overlayed, but the line about "a million little gods causing rainstorms, turning every good thing to rust" still attacks the part of my brain capable of sincere emotion. This album is probably going to hold the top spot for a while, because although so many elements of Funeral that made it feel so meaningful, that made it stand out so much in 2004, have been seamlessly assimilated into an intellectually and emotionally bankrupt indie pop industrial complex, the album itself still has a genuine vulnerability and bangers that still manage to rip.

#499

Rufus, Chaka Khan - Ask Rufus

Before she became a name in her own right, Chaka Khan was the voice of the band Rufus, and it’s definitely her voice that shines amongst some spritely vibey funk. That’s not to say that these aren’t some jams on their own. “At Midnight” is a banging opener with a sprint to the finish, and although the explicitly named but kinda boring “Slow Screw Against the Wall” feels weak, this wasn’t really supposed to be an album of barn burners. This was something people put on their vinyl record players while they chilled on vinyl furniture after a night of doing cocaine. “Everlasting Love” is a bop with a bassline like a Sega Genesis game, and the twinkling piano on “Hollywood” adds a playful levity to lyrics that are supposed to be both tackily optimistic about making it big out in LA and subtly realistic about the kind of nightmare world showbiz can be. “Better Days” is another track that manages to be a bittersweet jam with a catchy sour saxophone and playful synths under Chaka Khan’s vamping. This album definitely belongs on a ‘chill funk to study and relax to’ playlist.

#498

Suicide - Suicide

We’ve hit the first album that could be rightly called a progenitor for multiple genres that followed it. Someone could say there’s a self-serving element of this being on a Rolling Stone list (the band was one of the first to adopt the label ‘Punk’ after seeing it in a Lester Bangs article) but the album’s legacy is basically indisputable. EBM, industrial, punk, post-punk, new wave, new whatever all have a genealogy that connects to Suicide, and it’s easy to hear the band in everything that followed. But what the band actually is is two guys, one with an electric organ and one with a spooky voice, doing spooky simple riffs and saying spooky simple things. Simplicity is definitely not a dis here. The opener “Ghost Rider” makes a banger out of four notes and one instrument, and the refrain ‘America America is killing its youth’ is really all the lyrical complexity you need to fucking get it. “Cheree” and “Girl” have almost identical lyrics (‘oh baby’ vs ‘oh girl’) but “Cheree” is more like a fairy tale and “Girl” is more like a sonic handjob. “Frankie Teardrop” has the audacity to tell a ten minute story with its lyrics, but of course there is intermittent, actually way too loud screaming breaking up the narrative of a guy who loses everything then kills his family and himself. The song is basically a novelty, and I think you can probably say the whole album is a novelty between its brevity and character. But for a bite sized snack this album casts a huge shadow.

#497

Various Artists - The Indestructible Beat of Soweto

The fact that this particular compilation always ends up in the canon has a lot to do with the cultural context it existed in, being America’s first encounter with South African contemporary music during the decline of apartheid (it wouldn’t end until a decade later in 1994 with the country’s first multi-racial elections). Music journos often bring up the fact Ladysmith Black Mambazo, the all male choir singing on the album ender “Nansi Imali”, sang on Paul Simon’s Graceland like their virtue is they helped Paul Simon get over his depression and not, like, the actual music. But also like, how is the actual music? Jams. Ubiquitous, hooky guitars propel the songs along with bright choruses over low lead vocals, but I didn’t expect the synthesizer on the bop “Qhude Manikiniki”, nor the discordant hoedown violin on “Sobabamba”. “Holotelani” is a groove to walk into the sunset to.

#496

Shakira - Donde Estan los Ladrones

So this is the first head scratcher on the list. It’s not like it sucks. And I think I prefer this 90s guitar pop driven spanish language Shakira to modern superstar Shakira. But I mean, it’s an album of late nineties latin pop minivan music, with a thick syrupy middle that doesn’t do anything for me. The opener and closer stand out though.  ‘Ciega, Sordomuda’, one of the biggest pop songs of the 90s (it was #1 on the charts of literally every country in Latin America), has a galloping acoustic guitar and horn hits with Shakira’s vocals at their most percussive.

#495

Boyz II Men - II

So, if you were alive in the 90s you know Boyz II Men were fucking huge, and the worst song on the album is the second track “All Around the World”, basically a love song to their own success, and also the women they’ve banged. You can tell it was written specifically so that the crowd could go fucking wild when they heard their state/city/country mentioned in the song, and I’m not gonna double check but I’m sure they hit all fifty states. Once you’re over that hump though you basically have an hour of songs to fuck to. “U Know” keeps it catchy with propulsive midi guitar and synth horns, “Jezzebel” starts with a skit and ends with a richly layered jazz tune about falling in love on a train, and “On Bended Knee” has a Ragnarok Online type beat. Honestly this album can drag, but you’re not supposed to be listening to it alone in a state of analysis, you’re supposed to have it on during a date that’s going really, really well.

#494

The Ronettes - Presenting the Fabulous Ronettes

A singles compilation of the Ronettes, the only ones I immediately recognized were ‘Be My Baby’ and ‘Going to the Chapel of Love’, the latter of which I didn’t know existed since the version of the song I knew was by the Dixie Cups, which was apparently a source of drama since the Ronettes did it first but producer Phil Spector refused to release it. I feel like as a retro trip to sixties girl groups it’s full of enough songs about breaking up (for example “Breaking Up”) getting back together (for example “Breaking Up”) and wanting to get married but you can’t, because you’re a teenager (“So Young”).

#493

Marvin Gaye - Here, My Dear

This album only exists because Marvin was required by his divorce settlement to make it and provide all of the royalties to his ex-wife and motown executive Anna Gordy Gaye. It’s absolutely bizarre, phoned in mid tempo funk whose lyrics range from the passive aggressive (“This is what you wanted right?”) to the petulant (“Why do I have to pay attorney’s fees?”). There is a seething realness here that crosses well past the border of uncomfortable. I don’t think it’s an amazing album to listen to, but it’s an amazing album to exist: Marvin Gaye is legally obligated to throw his own divorce pity party, and everyone's invited.

#492

Bonnie Raitt - Nick of Time

I have never heard of Bonnie Raitt before but apparently this album won several grammys including album of the year in 1989 and sold 5 million copies, which I guess goes to show that no award provides less long term relevance than the grammys. The story around the album is pretty heartwarming, it was her first massive hit after a career of whiffs, and Bonnie Raitt herself is apparently a social activist and neat human being. I say all this because this sort of 80s country blues rock doesn't really connect with me, but the artist obviously deserves more than that. I unequivocally like the title track though, a hand-clap backed winding electric piano groove about literally finding love before your eggs dry up.

#491

Harry Styles - Fine Line

I do not think I have ever heard a one direction song because I am an adult who only listens to public radio. I’m totally open to pop bands or boy bands or boy band refugee solo artists, but I don’t like anything here. It’s like a mixtape of the worst pop trends of the decade, from glam rock that sounds like it belongs in a car commercial to folky bullshit that sounds like it belongs in a more family focused car commercial. This gets my first DNP (Does Not Place).

#490

Linda Ronstadt - Heart Like a Wheel

Another soft-rock blues and country album which just doesn’t land with me. But the opener “You’re No Good” is like a soul/country hybrid which still goes hard and the title track hits with the lyrics “And it's only love and it's only love / That can wreck a human being and turn him inside out”.

Current Ranking, which is weirdly almost like an inverse of the rolling stones list so far;

[wadefm-blog]

           ⋆ ╰  another  year  at  hollingsworth  ,  another  year  of  the  big  six  rivalry  .  i  hear  that  AURIELLA  WADE  is  ensuring  KAPPA  KAPPA  DELTA  gets  a  solid  pledge  class  and  stays  at  the  top  of  the  ranks  . oh  ,  you’re  not  familiar  with  HER  ?  AURI  is  the  ZENDAYA   look  alike  from  PACES  ,   ATLANTA  ,  GEORGIA .  apart  of  PC  ‘16  ,  she  is  majoring  in  COMMUNICATIONS and  has  plans  to  WORK  IN  PUBLIC  RELATIONS  DEPARTMENT  AT  SEPHORA  after  undergrad  .  it  makes  sense  they  pledged  their  house  ,  their  SCINTILLATING  &  BEWITCHING attributes  make  them  perfect  matches  .  however  ,  their  INDELICATE  &  VAINGLORIOUS attributes  keep  their  name  alive  on  greek  rank .  if  you  don’t  catch  them  dancing  to  BEEF  FLOMIX  -  FLO  MILLI  at  a  fraternity  band  party  this  year  ,  you’ll  be  sure  to  catch  them  nursing  their  morning  hangover  at  THE  KAPPA  HOUSE . cheers to  another  wild  semester  !

          *  insert  feral  screeching  here  *  hello  angels  and  babes  !  my  name’s  ares ,  i  prefer  the  pronouns  she / they  and  i’m  from  the  eastern  tz  !  i’m  so ,  so  excited  to  be  here  and  i’m  EXTRA  excited  to  be  playing  my  actual  queen  miss  zendaya  !  with  that  being  said , don’t  ask  me  a  single  thing  about  euphoria  because  i  haven’t  watched  it  yet  (  since  i  have  the  brain  capacity  of  a  two  brain  cell  bitch  )  but  it’ll  happen  ....  *  spongebob  narrator  vc *  eventually .  with  that  being  said ,  i  can’t  wait  to  talk  to  and  plot  with  everyone  because  i’m  already  obsessed  !  my  discord  is  𝑝𝑟𝑒𝑠𝑖𝑑𝑒𝑛𝑡𝐨𝐟_𝖊𝖇𝖔𝖞𝖘#6936  if  that  makes  it  easier  for  the  plotting  process ,  but  without  further  ado ,  here’s  my  baby  auri  !

full name. auriella kyla wade. nicknames. auri. birthday / age. december 25th, 1996 / 22. zodiac. capricorn. gender. cisfemale. pronouns. she/her/hers. sexual orientation. bisexual. romantic orientation. biromantic. height. five foot ten inches ( 5′10″ ). hometown. paces, atlanta, georgia ( click ). current location. savannah, georgia. nationality. american. ethnicity. scottish, german, and african american. languages. english, conversational german and spanish.

          whitney young and tristan wade were high school sweethearts, meeting each other when they were a sophomore and junior, respectively. the couple was madly in love and remained that way, even though tristan was the talk of the town since he was the best quarterback their high school had seen in years. most expected for the couple to run into cheating and mishaps, but tristan was madly in love with whitney, so much so that he proposed to her with a small ring that he promised to replace once he made it to the nfl. whitney followed tristan to berkeley, one of the hardest schools to get into, but also one of the hardest schools to get scouted for. 

          tristan made it through to his senior year and was the #1 draft pick of 1992, and signed with the dallas cowboys. after his first year in the nfl, he proposed to whitney with the bigger ring as promised and even though tristan played for the cowboys, the couple lived in atlanta due in part to whitney getting her dream job at cnn. at that time, the job was still a bit on the entry-level side, but she was happy to have had her foot in the door.

          four years later, after the couple married in a beautiful reception in miami, whitney and tristan welcomed their daughter auriella kyla into the world. born on christmas day, auriella was considered to be their little christmas miracle. in short, whitney and tristan were the aisha and steph of the 90s, but in football instead of basketball. the couple were envied due to their success, and were even featured on an episode of mtv cribs during the first season. 

          growing up, auriella was mainly raised between atlanta and texas. she went to school and lived in atlanta, but her parents also had a home in texas that was used during the football season. auriella attended the most elite schools that money and atlanta could give her, so she grew up surrounded with people who had immense wealth and influence. by the time she reached high school, she had become a girl who knew exactly what she wanted and how she was going to get it, no matter who she had to step on in order to get it. she wanted to be student body president ? she’d bribe the voters. wanted a specific superlative in the yearbook ? be fake friends with the yearbook staff. when it came to her grades, though, auriella worked hard for those and dared anyone to challenge her on that.

          come her senior year at north atlanta high school, auriella was named prom queen and most likely to be successful, two things that she made sure to have from the moment she stepped foot into the building. auriella had applied to and been accepted into a few schools, including her parents’ alma mater uc berkeley, but it was the university of hollingsworth that called her name after taking a tour of the campus. she loved that she wasn’t too far from the beach, and she even clicked with a few people she came in contact with during the tour.

          so, auriella packed her bags and decided to major in communications at #hworth. during rush week, no one had expected for her to rush kappa, considering auriella’s air of superiority, but in a way -- it worked best for her. even though she had the cushion of her parents’ wealth, auriella wasn’t dumb by any means and she knew how to get exactly what she wanted -- was the bribing again ? probably, but she’ll never tell. and, it didn’t help that her mother was a legacy of kappa at their berkeley chapter.

          she has plans of working at sephora following graduation due in part to the fact that she did an internship with colorpop over the summer and wants to be a part of the publicity of a brand as big as sephora. it helps that she’s done various brand sponsorships over the last couple of years, and immediately fell in love with sephora after she worked with them a few times. 

          as for her personality, in regard to her positive traits scintillating and bewitching,  auriella is remarkably clever and ridiculously charismatic. she knows how to get her sisters out of sticky situations no matter the issue and she knows how to get past any issues that someone might encounter while she works as social chair with the sorority ( if that hasn’t been taken ! ) 99.9% of the time, auriella is working at her desk whether it be getting kappa’s social events prepared to also getting her own assignments done. she’s pretty much known around campus due to her crisp white tesla and the sound of her heels clicking on the sidewalk. when she’s like that, she means business. 

          as for her negative traits, auriella is indelicate and vainglorious. meaning that she shows a lack of sensitive understanding and excessively proud of oneself or one’s achievements. in short, when she wants something to be done and it doesn’t get completed, she doesn’t accept excuses and whenever she doesn’t get exactly what she wants, she uses her accomplishments in order to fix things. for instance, when she received a lower grade on her assignment when she thought she deserved higher, her immediate response was ‘ i haven’t been on the dean’s list since freshman year to get a B+, margaret. ’

          since we haven’t talked about her parents in a while, just know that whitney had her own show with cnn in new york city while tristan has since retired from football after winning four super bowls with various teams and has become a sports commentator with espn as well as an businessman/entrepreneur ( something like shaq ). with that being said, during the summers, auriella has free reign of their house in paces since her parents have made new york their permanent home for now.

          some minor things about auriella is that whenever she doesn’t have classes, she often is at the kappa house or maybe somewhere on campus. i think she’s the type to be a part of various clubs, and probably is the president of them, so she’s a busy gal. when she’s not in class though, nine times out of ten she’s wearing a face mask and walking around the kappa house in a massively over-sized shirt that she nabbed from one of her .... ~ahem, conquests. she is never seen on campus in anything less than heels with her favorite bag of the moment, which at this time is a soft pink hermes kelly bag. 

          as for connections ( and then i’ll promise to shut up because i always talk too fucking much ), i would love to have anything ! ex friends, friends to enemies, hateship, bad/good influence, childhood friends, confidants, fake friends, enemies to friends, frenemies, squad, childhood friends, exes on good/bad terms, flirtationship, one night stand(s), exes without closure ... literally anything ! if you see auri fitting in in any connections that you may have open, please let me know i’m literally down for anything !

[real-jaune-isms]

RWBY Volume 7 Chapter 9 Rundown

I felt very satisfied for the first 90% of this episode but then I got kinda annoyed in the literal final 40 seconds before the credits. But that’s just my own growing agitation for Cinder, so it’s fine. We’ll get to that later.

There isn’t exactly a very happy vibe at the start of the chapter though, as it opens on the cold streets of Mantle as the cold is now likely setting in something fierce and people have realized the heat is gone. As Maria and Pietro welcome folks into the shelter of his pharmacy, some of those inside wonder if this same problem is affecting Atlas as well, and if this dangerous change was done intentionally by the city on high. The two kind elders stare up at Atlas with growing concern.

In the dinning room once more, the council continues to bring up criticisms that have been leveled at Ironwood, specifically that he has two council seats. He tries to counter there are checks and balances to make sure he doesn’t misuse his authority, but they interject that he has been ignoring those regulations and making major decisions all on his own. The General tries to defend himself and say he had no intention of running amiss of the rules, but Councilman Sleet reminds him that intention and action are not always the same and his actions have been wrong. Speaking of making wrong decisions without meaning to, a faunus servant comes in to whisper concerning news in Jacques ear, presumably that the SDC Heating Grid has been off for a while and people are freezing. And it was done on his authorization. Guess Watts just loves to frame people. As Jacques urges the staff member to check the system again and grows visibly concerned, Sleet notices he’s not paying attention and pulls him back into the conversation. He tries to act like he knows what’s going on and agrees with what Sleet was saying, then claims he has no further concerns or questions. But Robyn is by no means done yet, badgering Ironwood about all his secrecy and fears that he refuses to share with the council. He says he fears Atlas becoming a tragic site like Vale or attacked like Haven, but she knows there’s more to it and wants to use her lie detector Semblance to force the truth out of him and test if he’s hiding something. The pressure is palpable, and we know he wants to be more open after the talk he had with Oscar...

But then the door behind Jacques slams open to reveal Weiss with a Phoenix Wright worthy OBJECTION to this one sided accusation. She knows the real culprit for the killing of anti-Ironwood speakers, and the fraudulent election, and she claims Jacques not only knows him in name but knows him personally. With such an accusatory prelude she sets Willow’s Scroll on the table and projects the video big enough that Camilla and Sleet can recognize Arthur Watts, who was thought to be dead since the “Paladin Incident” years ago. Papa Schnee feigns confusion and ignorance, but Daddy Ironwood stands in steely determination and tells Weiss to play the video. It shows the tail-end of Jacques conversation with the bad Doctor, how he hates Ironwood for the embargo and wishes he could fire everyone to save money, and we get to see just what Watts had in mind for Jacques to have his cake and eat it too. Watts is pissy and petulant that Ironwood disgraced him despite his genius contributions and wants to return the humiliation he received ten-fold. All Jacques has to do is give Watts his login for the Atlas Network and promise he’ll make ol’ Jimmy’s life a nightmare, and Watts will manipulate the polls to guarantee he gets that Council seat. Robyn seems very pissed off to learn the voting was rigged and she would have actually won like she had hoped. Jacques, or at least the version in the video, is delighted at the offer and commends Watts for his cutthroat “business” strategy. Ironwood has had enough of this, and Weiss stops the video so they can all glare at Jacques. He tries to get up to run and claims the video is fake. Sleet tells him to SIT. BACK. DOWN. but instead he bolts for the door only to find Weiss’ Knight standing guard and ready to take him down. By the power vested in her by the Kingdom of Atlas, Weiss arrests her father for treason... but maybe she doesn’t actually have the power to do that? It’s unclear but I definitely hope she can. Her entire relationship with her father has been based on him having power and control over her, her wanting to earn his approval and remain on his good side or suffer the consequences of his rage. The crux of her character arc has been recognizing her old way of living was unacceptable and finding ways to get free of that control and influence to become her own strong person. Now, through her hard work, she has more power than him and he has to do what she says or suffer the consequences of his actions against justice. But on the other hand you have to wonder what legal authority Huntsmen have to make arrests and the like. They’re not military or police officers, but they do handle more dangerous threats than the common man. If their job involves apprehending human criminals then they probably would be sanctioned to make arrests. To draw reference to another of my favorite shows, perhaps they are akin to deputized vigilantes like Green Arrow and his team on Arrow? They have specialized skills with which to handle threats the regular military and police aren’t trained enough for.

But breaking off from that topic and back down to one such criminal, Watts is standing on the street catching a snowflake in the palm of his glove before he sees people looting a store that I SWEAR is called Dust in the Wind. Desperate civilians have already started burning things to create a big enough fire so they can keep warm, and a few stolen Fire Dust crystals get thrown in to make it really flare up. Atlas soldiers are watching on and requesting advice on what to do. Glad they’re not stopping them forcefully since no one really knows the procedure for all the heat not working and this being the only way to live in warmth at the moment. Watts relishes in the chaotic moment and is joined by Tyrian.

We go back to the dining room where the adults stand around a sitting Jacques to continue interrogating him while the teens stand off to one side. As Ironwood berates the still defensive Schnee for stooping for such disgraceful lengths to get what he couldn’t fairly earn, Clover gets a blip in his earpiece and walks away to take the message, likely about the freezing crisis. Jacques warns Ironwood he’ll hurt his knees if he keeps jumping to such wild conclusions, but no avail. Better switch condiments, cuz that weak sauce ain’t working on the General. Now that he knows Watts is around and willing to cause trouble, all the loose ends are tying together quite smoothly. Since he made the Mantle security network he would know exactly how to manipulate it and work with Tyrian to do such violent acts and frame good people for it. Penny still seems pretty upset over her tarnished reputation because of that. And to top all of the scandalous deeds of Arthur Watts off, all of that was just to help Jacques cheat through the election. I should like to note that as Ironwood is giving Jacques the works he is backed by a smirking portrait of an armored Nicholas Schnee, as if even now the founder of this great company of his is amused by just how badly his son in law has fucked up royal. Jacques didn’t even consider the consequences of his alliance, he only saw the way it benefited him. There is blood on his hands for this, and he needs to be held accountable in a court of law for both his treason against the safety of his kingdom and the lives it lost. He is of course very much against this idea, all he intended was to win the election after all! But like Councilman Sleet said earlier, what you intend and what you are responsible for doing are not always the same thing. An excuse like that is not enough, and Robyn is physically enraged that he would try to trivialize the deaths of good people, to the point that she throws a chair across the room. Councilwoman Camilla asks the important question, what will Watts be able to do with the power Jacques gave him? They can only speculate into the grim infinitudes, until all their scrolls start buzzing with the concrete facts of just what he’s done. The heat is off, and Jacques can’t even log in to fix it anymore since Watts took his account and locked him out. The bastard tries to save his own hide and distance himself from the situation by saying he didn’t know Watts was planning this, but Winter tells him to SHUT. UP. and fix the heating grid, but he reveals what I did just now about no longer having access. Sleet voices the depressing obvious as Ironwood stares at his scroll and Robyn looks out the window, both in solemn concern: if the heat doesn’t come back on people WILL die. Ruby tries to get the General’s mind off of desperate what-ifs to focus on the facts of how things are right now. Since they know whose credentials Watts is using they can follow his network activity, but he would now have the ability to find out about the Amity project and get into its network. Fortunately, he hasn’t looked hard enough yet so neither he or Salem know about it. Weiss asks if they can lock the good doctor out, but he’s already set to work blocking their access instead. They can’t exactly trace him if he’s on the move so they need to lure him out so they can get to his access point. Robyn interjects, since she has been listening to all this cryptic talk and planning with no one paying any mind to her still being in earshot, that people as vastly different as Tyrian and Watts banding together seems rather farfetched without some larger factor. Their unanimous decision to go after Ironwood in particular seems even stranger with only one of them having much motive, and she still doesn’t get why Ironwood is keeping the Amity Tower a secret. James is quite shocked that she even knows about that, and I’m sure Blake and Yang will have a rather sheepish confession to make. 

But we don’t see that, because instead we bear witness to Atlesian Knight robots being sent in to dispel the rioters gathered around the massive fire. But as Pietro and Maria watch on in silent shock, the people of Mantle lash out hard at these cold metal symbols of a cold ruling society and smash two of the robots. But these heated emotions are the tipping point and the streets start lighting up red to warn the civilians. Grimm are coming, and they are coming in mass. Mammoth-like Megoliaths and swiftly vicious Sabyrs are charging at the massive gap in the border wall, and the assembled Atlas soldiers and robots are not enough to hold the line, while Manta aircraft on bombing runs do nothing to slow the pack or thin the numbers. The Sabyrs are the first to get in and demolish the robots at ground level, and unidentified avian Grimm fly over the heads of the soldiers on top of the wall.

The scene shifts again from that chaos to the dining room again for a calmer moment of building faith, as Robyn admits she now sees just how much Ironwood is trying to protect with all the work he’s doing and the secrets that means keeping. She recognizes he has genuine fear for what will happen if the truth comes out. But the moment is stalled there as Clover and Oscar burst in to inform everyone about the Grimm swarming into Mantle, and how the airfleet can’t do much of anything or else it might result in civilian casualties. Ironwood goes back into beard-stroking panic mode, this is precisely what he hoped wouldn’t happen. Clover urges him to send in ground support to handle the Grimm within the city, but Robyn insists nowhere in the city will be safe if it gets completely overrun. Evacuating people up to Atlas with the airfleet should be their priority. But Daddy Ironwood has to raise his voice, he can’t move the fleet for any evacuation measures or else Atlas would be vulnerable instead. He worked so hard to keep everyone safe, and it’s all falling to pieces in the worst way. But Oscar is there to offer his advice again, though Ironwood rudely rebuffs him that he doesn’t want that. He wants Ozpin’s advice, but Oscar tells him that’s not the fix all answer he wishes it were. Oz would have told him to keep secrets, but Ironwood already knew that wasn’t the right way to go and made his own new and better plan. That plan has failed, the General argues, but that just means the day he was preparing for is upon them already. It’s time to tell the truth and have faith that the world will accept it, starting with Robyn and the council. Ruby assures him, he will not be alone in this. That puts the wind back in his sails, and he starts making a plan. Oscar is probably best off going back to the Academy for safety, and Ironwood needs to have a talk with his critics. In the meantime, the huntresses and huntsmen need to head down into the fray to do what they do best. And that means everyone is coming, even Penny. They still trust and believe in her, and the people will too. Winter has a look of approval as Ruby starts calling the shots, she definitely sees growth from how unimpressive the young rose seemed at Beacon. Clover couldn’t have said it better himself, and they all go running out the door... past a servant who had been in the dining room a couple times last episode bringing in drinks. She watches the trained warriors all leave, and smirks. Creepy.

As everyone else heads out the door, Ruby and Oscar stop for a moment to try and talk, and of course they talk over each other and act like a couple of dorks. They both think that since Ironwood is revealing everything he knows, they ought to do the same. But a lot of the fans are just thinking how they seem like such a cute adorkable couple. Y’all know who I ship so I can’t say too much about this, but I do certainly think it’s fun how they get along so well and seem to be on the same wavelength. Anyway, Ruby wants to be the one to tell Ironwood but duty calls so it has to be Oscar. Marrow is not amused by their awkwardness, or by the fact that Ruby uses finger-guns. Still, the Ace Ops, Qrow, and the young huntsmen head down in an airship where Clover lays down a reminder that their priority is saving people not racking up a Grimm kill count. Ren seems very distressed, so Nora holds his hand and it seems to help a little. They both feel a bit safer being able to feel that they still have each other, and Blake and Yang share a look that seems to imply the same sentiment even if they’re not going to hold hands too. As the ship soars swiftly downward into the danger, we see a streak of danger soaring above them too.

Back to the political scene, Sleet and Camilla are quietly discussing the world changing whiplash they just had  from Ironwood telling them about Salem existing, and how they almost can’t believe it’s true but know he wouldn’t make something that serious up. Robyn, meanwhile, is just staring at the ground as if thinking to herself “I know I asked what he was hiding, but I immediately regret asking”. She looks over to the closed door, and we cut to the other side to see the General in his own mind shattering crisis. Oscar told him everything they know about Ozma and Salem’s past, how as far as they know she’s immortal and they can’t do a damn thing to change that. He’s understandably upset that Ozpin kept this from all of them, you can almost hear anguish and sadness in his voice, but Oscar affirms that it was for the sake of keeping hopes alive so they would stay motivated. Oscar also apologizes on behalf of RWBY and co. for likewise keeping it a secret, but they just didn’t know who could be trusted to know. Of all people Ironwood would understand that. But now was the time to bare it all, before anything terribly important was lost for good. It might be too late for that though, Ironwood’s hope seems pretty broken now. The poor boy tries to make sure the General is okay, to see what he’s going to do now that he knows all this, and for a second it seems like even he doesn’t know. But his head finds a firm place back on his shoulders and his gaze returns to the task at hand. Grand scheme matters will have to wait, they need to save Mantle. Oscar seems proud, says Ozpin would be too. Atlas is providing the hope it was always meant to, since such a marvel of ingenuity and power is supposed to be held to standards matched only by its altitude. I’m paraphrasing, but the way Oscar says it seems all too familiar to Ironwood, as if he was there to see Atlas get its start. It would seem there’s more of Ozpin in Oscar than even he realizes, or maybe there hasn’t been much Oscar himself in there for a little while?... But we don’t have time for that, because their transports have arrived and they need to go. The two agree that neither of them could handle any more surprises, but it’s the huntsmen and huntresses who are in for the surprise. 

A new Grimm called a Teryx that as you would expect resembles a pterodactyl has latched onto the ship and no matter what fancy flying Harriet does to shake it loose it’s not budging. All that comes of it is Jaune starting to get airsick for the first time since Volume 1 and the Grimm moving around to the starboard side and digging its talons into the wall, right between Blake and Yang’s heads. Any further to either side and one of them might have died. The news only gets worse as another Teryx dive bombs them and damages the starboard engine. They all agree now would be a good time to bail and just get to the ground, and Clover opens the side door... on the side where the Grimm is. As his copious luck would have it, the damaged engine breaks loose and takes the Teryx down in a ball of flame so they’re safe to jump. As the kids start jumping, Elm playfully tells Harriet not to stay on board too much longer and she responds with sarcastic thanks. Not friends my ass, they all get along so well! Harriet decides to be a little extra with her exit and punches the windshield to go out onto the roof, inviting Ruby to try and keep up. Ruby gives a smile with more purity than distilled mountain spring water and follows her. Clover and Qrow are the last to jump, and Clover tries to show off a little for his boyfriend.

We go back to Schnee Manor for the last time as Jacques is being taken away by soldiers and Willow watches from the front door. Whitley is sitting sadly on the stairs alone, and Willow looks over to him with a slight smile. Clearly, she feels like the worst is behind them and hopefully they can try to be a real family now, but he runs away up the stairs. I don’t blame the poor kid, he feels like he has no one now. His mom has always preferred to drown her despair in liquor over being a present parental figure, and his sisters see him as an annoyance whom they never give the time of day. His father was the only one who showed him any attention or guidance, and that was so he could mold the boy in his image. He played along and did as he was told because no one else was there for him to give him much choice. Whitley probably wants to get along and be cared about by his sisters, but they thought the worst of him because he chose to listen to the father they wanted nothing to do with. Its a tragedy of circumstances, and it gives new context to lots of old scenes. The poor kid probably was kinda hurt that Weiss didn’t even say hello or show joy in seeing him again when she arrived for the party last episode. I definitely hope these two can recover and find a happier life. But as Jacques is brought to the armored truck, complaining all the way, we instead focus on a member of the staff leaving rather nonchalantly: the same young woman we saw smirking at everyone leaving earlier. She even starts skipping and if you couldn’t tell the twist already the familiar creepy music should make it obvious; Neo is already in Atlas, and if she’s here then Cinder can’t be far behind. Neo goes to a locked room in an unknown building with wall to wall windows showing the city outside, and sure enough there’s the fiery cockroach herself waiting for her companion’s return. Neo was in disguise to do recon since Cinder would stick out too much in a crowd, and it seems she found what they’re looking for. That sounds quite ominous and troublesome, and I’m a little annoyed that at the first sign of the new interesting villains getting exposed and being in our heroes crosshairs we return to the old villains who’re still trying the same old shtick. Still, at this point they almost feel like the Pilaf gang from original Dragon Ball, once the worst thing our heroes had to deal with but are now practically comedy relief villains who still think they’re the top threat. I’m not that mad, I just don’t much like Cinder and her nefarious schemes anymore. Still, doesn’t detract from the great satisfying episode.

[soundsandnoises]

Slam Dunk Festival 2019: SOUTH, Hatfield Park (26/05/2019)

I was extremely anxious about this one. I was usually going to the one in Midlands, knew the site inside out. Knew how to get to the festival, where to stay, etc. Made it easier to focus on music. This year I worried about so many things, like if I bought right ticket to right Hatfield (can't count the amount of times I actually checked maps, infos and trains, still wasn't enough). I'm not a fan of big train stations and King's Cross ain't a small nor easy for first, second and third timers. It can be quite overwhelming, but what's the fun in it when it's simple, right? Then there was a question of – what gate leads to festival site. Or where to buy a coffee - that one was left unanswered, Sunday morning and relatively small train station (for a change) didn't help.

And then there was... waiting. Before the main gate opens, before the actual festival site opens... Longest three hours full of wondering, while people gathered in a constant flow in space between wristband exchange and gates, green grass was replaced by black blur of people.

But, but... As soon as it opened and I could start realizing my plan: get to the chosen stage, see the first artist, enjoy. I could relax. And that was the leit motiv of this day (maybe except the part where I felt like thirst in Sprite commercial during Busted intense and punk as fuck set when I was fighting for survival, but to be fair, even then I felt so alive and... happy).

I was in for a treat after all and it started perfectly with William Ryan Key opening on Marshall Stage. I would love to hear his material, but I understand his choice to play Yellowcard's songs. Fans surely appreciated the acoustic nostalgia floating through surprisingly sunny morning/midday. There was a bit of a technical hiccup at the beginning, but other than that things ran smoothly.

Milk Teeth took over on the adjacent Dickies Stage. Faster. Louder. Wake up Slam Dunk. Sunny day or not a mix of moody grunge and raw punk energy should do that to you. Make the crowd sit down just to make them ask “Why the fuck are we sitting down?!” seconds later. It's a rock show! But clearly Milk Teeth captivated the audience enough to pull pranks like this.

Hot Milk didn't have easy on The Club Key Stage, 'cause people started to gather for Busted and tent was packed, yet their Left side was in for a fun gig and soon enough young rockers won hearts over with their 'non compromise, everyone's invited attitude'. They were all in, mixing pop, punk and lacing it with electronic samples – nothing better to make you bounce, dance and have a good time.

Quite right warm up for Busted on the Right side of the The Key Club Stage. The tension, the anticipation was hanging thick and heavy over people's heads. The excitement exploded with joyous scream when boys appeared onstage. Boy, I didn't expect the madness. My body wasn't mine for most of the gig, pushed and shoved in random directions as the crowd waved under the tide of moshing, crowdsurfing and bouncing quite randomly. But it was strangely beautiful, the mad joy of people screaming out the lyrics. This was absolutely fabulous surprise act (clearly the cat was out of the bag on Saturday when it turned out that mysterious Y3K was in fact Busted). Slam Dunk did slam.

Then I've had a bit of a change of the scenery with As It Is on the main stage (Monster Energy Stage). I understand the appeal, 'cause it was truly engaging performance. Powerful speeches, truly humble spirit and very positive attitude (they even turned smashing an acoustic guitar into a good deed; after the hardcore version of the song, instead of acoustic one as they teased before guitar was obliterated, Patty [Walters, singer] explained that they'd donate the pieces for a charitable cause). Oh, and show worth a slot at the main stage – emotional, catchy, monumental at times, intimate.

Waterparks brought the green (backdrop, Awsten's hair, security outerwear) and crazy (emanating from both band and extremely devoted fans). Crazy in the best kind of way, the one you lose yourself in the music, the one that makes you happy, the one that courses through every inch of your body. Add funny banters and Awsten's cheeky charisma. The response from green clothed fans was overwhelming to say the least. Strong unison singing every word, mad screams and constant wave of crowdsurfers. What a show.

Simple Plan took over the refreshing and pop rock vibe taking the crowd to the beach and sunny holidays with their beach balls flying over the crowd and summer hits' tunes. Canadian rockers made people jump, yell shamelessly 'dick', sing along. Nostalgic mood mixed with excited screams, they wouldn't be themselves if they didn't joke around (basically rock and comedy show in a price of one). Their youthful approach was and is always something that moves mountains and brings fans to them.

Neck Deep didn't waste a second to establish their rule over the Monster Energy Stage after Simple Plan. Faster, louder, reach to the punk rock roots, start that mosh pit, oh but hold that thought here's Natalia Imbruglia's 'Torn' cover for you, let's feel like it's 90s again and if you don't know it, you lived under a rock. But basically keep the energy flowing, keep it up, keep in coming.

But rock music has so many names, so Hellogoodbye (back in Marshall Stage) was a interesting change of gear, leaning towards indie, electropop and all the weird and beautiful things between them. Oh, how I danced, danced like no one was watching, my face with stupidly wide grin from the sparkling, positive energy I was coated in. Audience was advised to drink pure distilled water, distilled from potatoes (wink, wink). Basically it was a party. Or maybe the party? Well, I was glad I stumbled upon it and stayed.

Touché Amore on Dickies Stage tore the air with growl which seemed to be an appropriate reaction for heavy rain that came down. But their music must have had some magic in it, 'cause soon clouds separated and sun started lurking through them. Or maybe they just had the sunshine with them all this time and brought some from L.A.. Heavy was the music, hardcore stage presence and singer's presence, front barrier seemed to be more appropriate place to scream words than small stage that frankly couldn't contain their energy.

I wasn't even close and I could hear Lights' powerful voice echoing through The Club Key Stage. Tiny figure with flame coloured hair was ruling the stage, voice clear, loud and soulful. Her music taking the best bits from rock, pop and electronic genres was a catchy blend to dance. Her vocals are phenomenal.

One of the band's I was really looking forward to see was Plain White T's (yes, yes, they played 'Hey There Delilah', 'course the did) and I loved every minute of their show [on Marshall Stage]. Indie pop/ indie rock with bits of samples was exactly what I needed, it was my kind of show no matter the time of the day. I could enjoy the music and not worry about being hit by half empty cup with beer (although it was funny to hear the story of crowd starting the biggest moshpit to 'Hey There Delilah', 'cause the band was on stage before Metallica, to be honest it's no the first time when I hear or experience the audience going absolutely bananas to the slowest song, so the story is even funnier), move to the beat. New staff had these nice, not too much electronic touch and was pulsing with energy. But of course the older goodies hit people's hearts harder.

I've managed to catch half of the set of IDKHow on The Key Club Stage Left I'm glad I did, 'cause boys sassiness must be legendary by now. The cheek, the charisma, the silliness acted out with serious faces, the instant bond with adoring crowd makes it all so special. Rhythm section and samples, bit of 80s synth tone, bit of 90s pop and sharp lyrics make their show something to talk about. Just like the acoustic set they played on the top of The Fearless Arms (bar), I'd assume sometime around their time in signing tent and because why not. Got to enjoy that one from the distance, the kind of surprise you could compare to sugar rush every kid gets when eating a candy floss.

From sweet tunes I switched to heavy metal brought by Bullet for My Valentine. Jägermeister Stage's tent was coming off the seams with gathered crowd, when it seemed it was loaded to its ends more people were getting in and immersing in roaring guitars and drums going faster and faster. Crowd gathered there was in for a wild ride.

NOFX headlining on Punk in Drublic Stage and bringing whole bunch of punk rock bands that they’re on tour with) were the living proof that punk's not dead and it's not going anywhere. Talking about snots, cum, walking on the thin line and reigniting the punk rock spirit with each song they were hosting a celebration, party mood was lit up. Punk and ska and a setting sun.

Big surprise, very good surprise was All Time Low's show to me (Monster Energy Stage). There were these jokes, on the borderline of pervert (oh, I've heard so many stories them boys were so inappropriate, but to be fair they never said they were playing songs for children), but the vibe - oh it was magnificent. It was great pop punk, pop rock show and people were literally invited, so it became a dance off onstage. The band was grateful for their fans, entertaining, connecting with their fans and gave fantastic show. Also, brand new song had its debut at Slam Dunk's stage – 'Getaway Green'. What a night.

[lovevalley45]

@spoonietimelordy

read on AO3

Sometimes, Zari wonders if it’d just be easier to live alone. 

This is one of those times.

She’s just trying to mind her own business and play Breath of the Wild when her roommate Charlie announces, “You need to get laid.”

Zari pauses her game. “What?”

Mona walks into their apartment and oh my God, it’s like a damn ambush when she joins her on the couch. How did she even get in?

Before she can ask, Mona announces, “We know you like Nate.” 

Zari has to take a moment to fully comprehend what’s happening, before she finally asks, “What are you talking about?”

Charlie climbs over the couch to sit on her other side. “Z, cut the bullshit. No one stays at someone’s house for a week after their dad dies because they’re besties or whatever.”

Zari sighs. “Fine, so what if I do like him?” She can’t believe they’re seriously having this conversation, when she could be doing anything better. Like playing her game. 

Mona grins. “Well, we have a plan to get you two together.” She spread her hands in front of her as if summoning an imaginary rainbow. “I’m calling it ‘Operation Natari’.”

Suddenly, she doesn’t feel like playing Breath of the Wild. “You know what? I’m leaving.” She gets up and goes her room, locking the door so she can have just a bit of privacy for once.

“I thought we weren’t going to tell her about the plan.”

“I got excited!”

On the other side of the door, Zari groans.

She’s tried her hardest to erase the conversation from her mind by the next week, as she and Nate are talking during their morning break. He’s leaning against her desk as they joke about the Bureau’s shitty coffee machine. 

Everything seems to be going fine (even if it’s slightly awkward and neither of them will admit it) when Nate asks, “Hey, are you free tonight?”

Zari nods, taking a sip of her coffee. “Sure.” She’s expecting a suggestion to come over and watch some stupid 90s movie, not-

“There’s this new Italian place that just opened nearby, if you want to check it out. Some place called Il Boschetto.”

She chokes on her coffee and a few desks away, Mona looks over at where she’s dying. Zari composes herself, coughing slightly as she answers. “Okay?”

Nate clears his throat. “I mean, we could do something else, or-” 

“It’s fine, I just- Yeah, sounds great.”

He smiles. “Cool. I, uh, should get back to work. I’ll text.” She watches him walk back over to his desk before turning back to her own computer, trying to distract herself.

“Did he just ask you out on a date?” 

Zari turns around to see Mona behind her. “Seriously, I need to put a bell on you or something.” She sighs. “We’re just going out to dinner.”

“Sounded like a date to me,” Mona says, shrugging. 

“Don’t you have things to do?” Zari asks. 

“I’ll come over and help you pick out an outfit before you go.” Mona seems excited about it, which fills her with a feeling of dread that she can’t quite name. But if Zari says no, that won’t be the end of the conversation.

“Sure, whatever,” she says, pinching the bridge of her nose. God, it’s only 10 AM. What the fuck?

Mona grins as she pats Zari’s shoulder. “See you later!”

She resists the urge to bang her head on her desk and goes back to work, wondering when this became her life.

That night, Zari lets Mona pick out an outfit for her to wear as Charlie watches with a bowl of popcorn on hand. She could have stopped this from happening. She could lied about a family dinner, or literally anything, but no. 

“Seriously, do neither of you have a life?” Zari asks as Mona is rummaging through her closet. She turns to Charlie, sitting on her bed, feet tucked under her (with her boots still on, wonderful). “I thought you and your band had a concert tomorrow.” 

“Oh, this is way more entertaining,” Charlie says, grinning widely. She is way too happy about this, which makes this whole debacle even worse. 

Zari steals a piece of popcorn and Mona bursts out of the closet. “Try this on.”

Mona hands her a grey blouse that she must have bought at least two years ago and a pair of black jeans. A lot tamer than she’d thought Mona would put together, but she shrugs. She shouldn’t tempt fate right now, not when her friends have decided that playing matchmaker is a great hobby. “You two, get out of my room while I change.”

Charlie complains that they literally live together, but they both leave.

The blouse is a little more revealing than she remembered, but the outfit actually isn’t too bad. Not too nice, but not too casual. She touches up her eyeliner before heading out of her room.

Mona grins when she sees her. “You look great!” she says as Charlie wolf whistles.

Zari crosses her arms. “Yeah, I look hot, of course I do. Are we done?”

“What about hair and makeup?” Mona asks. 

“I’m already wearing makeup. Besides, you said you were going to help me pick out an outfit, not give me a makeover,” Zari says. She grabs her jacket off of the chair she threw it on and puts it on. “Nate’s going to be here any minute.”

“Wait.” Charlie gets up and tosses her a condom. “Use protection.”

“What? I’m not going to need this,” Zari says, giving the condom back to Charlie.

“Hey, no matter who you’re with, it’s important to be safe.” She gives the condom back to Zari, pressing it into her hand. 

“Safe sex is always the key,” Mona agrees, nodding.

There is a lot of things that Zari has begrudgingly tolerated today, but this is the line she’s drawing tonight. “If I take the condom, will you both shut up?” The two of them nod and she sighs as she slips the condom into her pocket. “Why did I agree to this again?”

“Because you won’t admit that you have a thing for Nate?” Charlie says.

“I was asking about why I let you two get so involved in this,” Zari retorts back, grabbing her stuff. 

“Trust us, Z. We know what we’re doing,” Mona replies, sharing a look with Charlie. It’s frustratingly unreadable, so Zari focuses on putting her boots on.

The doorbell rings at that moment, and Mona and Charlie rush to open it. She regrets not just meeting Nate at the restaurant as they both open the door. 

“Hey, Nate,” Mona says, and even with her back to her, Zari just knows she’s gotta be grinning like a kid who ate a whole bag of sugar. 

“Yo. Where’s Z?” 

She walks to the door, gently shoving both of them out of the way. “Hey,” she says.

He looks good. That’s the first thing her mind processes. He’s wearing an army green sweater rolled up to show off his forearms, his very distracting forearms. Shit. “Hi. You look nice,” Nate says. The shade also brings out his eyes, she notes. The suits he wears at the Bureau look good, but she’s into the sweater. Wait, fuck, she has to respond-

“You too.” Silently, she prays that her stupid comment will not ruin this night. Or any stupid comment. Or that she could just turn around and-

While she’s busy rehashing every poor life decision that’s led her to this moment, Charlie practically pushes her out of the apartment. “Have fun, you two!” 

Zari resists the urge to roll her eyes as she steps into the hall - making sure that she’s not all up in Nate’s face. Guess she technically couldn’t complain, given that she did shove both her and Mona just a minute ago. “Thanks, Charlie. Don’t destroy the house while I’m gone.”

“No promises.” Charlie smiles and over her shoulder, Mona flashes a similarly mischievous grin. “Bye.”

The door slams, and she can hear the lock turn. No going back now.

“I thought it was just you and Charlie,” Nate says as they start to walk to the elevator. 

“It is. Mona has just decided meddling in my life is the best way to spend her time, apparently.”

“You could always pull the Nora card,” he jokes. 

The dramatic irony is not lost on Zari - while Mona is bothering her about her love life, she’s also pretending that she and Nora don’t have something going on. “Noted.” She pushes the button for the elevator, waiting for it to make the slow climb up.

“I think you’re really going to like this place,” Nate says. “Actually, Sara recommended it to me.”

“Huh.” The elevator doors open. “That’s nice.” They get onto the elevator, and Nate takes out his phone to call an Uber. While he’s busy doing that, Zari checks her lipstick. 

She doesn’t know why she’s suddenly so nervous. It’s just a casual dinner with one of her best friends, except the more time passes, the more it feels like a date. At least he didn’t show up with flowers. Or chocolate, but she could never pass up chocolate. 

The elevator stops and opens up in the lobby. “The Uber should be here in a few minutes,” Nate says as they walk outside. Even though it’s nearly spring, she’s happy she brought her jacket as they wait. 

Next to her, Nate tucks his hands in his pockets, bouncing on his heels. It shouldn’t feel this awkward (even if everything between the two of them has felt a bit awkward these past few weeks).

“So, Il Boschetto?” she says, trying to break the silence. “What does that mean?” She thinks of a thousand better things she could have said, but it’s too late now.

“What?” he asks.

Zari laughs - an awkward laugh, shit - before saying, “I thought you spoke Italian.”

He nods his head, smiling. “Yeah. It means ‘grove’.” Great. It seems like neither of them really know what they were doing. This was going great.

Instead of saying any of that, she only says one word. “Cool.”

The Uber pulls up, and she feels herself relax. Their driver is chatty with Nate, but she’s more than happy to listen to them talk about how shitty DC traffic is. Which they get stuck in, because of course they do. 

Mona texts, “You got this!” Zari puts her phone on silent and looks out the window as they crawl to the restaurant.

When they finally arrive at Il Boschetto, she’s struck by how casual it is. It’s not some super fancy place, but it’s nice enough that neither of them look out of place as they walk inside.

It’s not too crowded, so they get seated fairly quickly. The small table means that there’s not any other place for Zari to look but at Nate. Instead, they both look over their menus to avoid conversation.

“They’ve got a lot of pasta,” he says, and she realizes they’re both fucked if they don’t acknowledge what this is.

“So, is this a date or what?” Zari says, putting her menu down.

Before Nate can answer, the waiter comes by to ask them if they want anything to drink. He orders a glass of wine, while she just asks for a water. The waiter seems unaware what he interrupted, but he leaves quickly enough.

“I mean, if you want, it can be a date,” Nate replies.   

“I’d like that,” she says, and God, it feels good to accept it for what it is. A date.

He smiles and goes back to his menu. There really is a lot of variety, she realizes, looking at her own menu. Better than times when it seems like there’s barely any choices.

On instinct, she flips over to the other side. A nice dessert menu too, she notes. That’s always nice.

“So, do you want to get an appetizer?” he asks.

“I mean, you can’t pass up garlic bread,” Zari replies, looking up from her menu. “What do you think you’re gonna get?”

He shrugs. “Still deciding.”

“Hm.”

The waiter comes by to bring them their drinks and take their order, leaving them to make conversation about anything else. 

Zari sips at her water, before smiling. “So… are you going to Sara and Ava’s engagement party this weekend?”

“Yeah. About time, right?” Nate says.  He takes a drink of his wine before continuing. “I’ve known you for years, why does this feel so weird?” 

She sighs. “I don’t know,” she says with a chuckle. “Seriously. Mona and Charlie were making such a big deal out of it-”

“So was Sara!” His eyes widened. “Oh my God, they were trying to set us up.”

“Oh my God.” Zari laughs. “At least she was more subtle about it. Mona literally admitted they had a plan to set us up.”

“Really?” Nate asks. “Sara suggested this place, helped me pick out this sweater-” The baffled expression on his face nearly makes her crack up as everything clicks into place.

“Charlie just told me I needed to get laid,” she admits. “Like, in the middle of me playing Breath of the Wild, just starts talking about my sex life.”

This time, he’s the one who almost loses it, and suddenly this date doesn’t seem as daunting. The waiter drops off their garlic bread, giving them a weird look as Nate tries to compose himself. “Ava called me into her office to give me the forms for a romantic relationship in the workplace. No context, just gave me two sets and winked before leaving.”

“Oh, God.” Zari wipes at her eyes, hoping she’s not messing up her eyeliner. “I can’t believe half of our friends were conspiring to get us together.”

Nate exhales, still smiling as he grabs a piece of garlic bread. “I know. But I have to say, as far as first dates go, they planned it well.”

“At least they put the effort in there.”

The cloud of awkwardness seems to lift as they go from their friends’ matchmaking attempts to talking about the latest workplace gossip and movies that Nate is definitely going to force Zari to watch. It’s nice, easy to joke about these things as they eat some admittingly amazing garlic bread until their food comes.

The pasta is stellar too, and she thinks of writing Sara a thank you card for knowing that food is the way to her heart.

“Just so you know, I came for the pasta,” Zari jokes, taking a bite of her fettuccine. “You’re going to be hard-pressed to one-up this.”

“Are you saying there’s going to be a second date, then?” Nate asks.

Under the table, she kicks him lightly, but she smiles. She’s happy that she brought gum. And that Charlie forced that condom on her before she left.

“Will you two be getting dessert tonight?” the waiter asks when he comes by. 

He looks over at her with a smile, before saying, “Just the check, thanks.”

“Two checks, please. Thanks.” As the waiter leaves them alone, she pushes her empty plate away from her. “You have something else in mind for dessert, then?”

Nate winks. “I might have thought ahead. Just a little.”

“Oh, forward. I like it.” The waiter gives them their checks, and Zari winces as she checks her total. “Next time, we’re just getting take-out.”

“I’ll keep that in mind,” he says with a nod. 

[chordstrvck-blog]

sharp gray eyes size up their unwanted companion through a lung-staled waft of smoke. “ ‘ey. ”  a tip of the chin. cigarette ash darts to pavement. crunch. eddie grinds that shit in, real good. nothin’ like a pair of trusty docs to do the trick. “ what the fuck’s your damage ? ”

or alternatively :  yo, yo, whassgood ?  the name’s liana ( she/her/hers ) and i am so friggin’ hyped to bring you my spoopy lil’ music man, eddie williams !!  below the cut you’ll find a big hodge-podged mess of facts, potential connects, and other delicious chips of info. his favorites are hoppin’ jalapeno crunch tators, thanks for fuckin’ askin’. (   imagine how heartbroken he’ll be when frito lay discontinues them in the 90′s... rest in spaghetti never forgetti.    )

— ❝ wait is that THOMAS HAYES ? or is that KEITH EDISON “EDDIE” WILLIAMS who arrived in las vegas TWENTY-THREE years ago? HE is TWENTY-THREE years old. last time i checked they were a GUITARIST IN CRIMSON & CLOVER / ARTIST AT ATOMIC TATTOOS . rumour has it they’re very BEGUILING and very HARUM-SCARUM. the CISMALE reminds me of SAY WHAT YOU WILL BY FASTWAY.

TRIGGER WARNINGS: DEATH, DOMESTIC ABUSE, VIOLENCE, DRUG USE/ABUSE, MENTIONS OF ADDICTION.

eddie is the lovely ivy williams [ @poiseonxivy​ ] ’s older brother !  they grew up in a contentious household here in vegas, with an abusive alcoholic for a father and a complacent/despondent mother. fed up with the abuse and chaos, their mother walked out on them when eddie was 13. he and ivy caught her in the act, and this savage kid called her out for being a coward and opened the fuckin’ door for her. “ die in a ditch, ”  is the last thing he ever said to that sorry waste of a woman.

naturally, things with their father only got worse. he was quick to provoke and impossible to please. the williams siblings had to step up to upkeep their home, make sure bills got paid, etc., all while receiving the worst of it from their father. ivy, as the youngest, was blamed for the family’s downfall. eddie got berated and slurred at for his tendency to peruse his sister’s things, paint his middle fingers interesting colors, ask her to do his makeup on halloween. his father was the first person to ever look eddie in the eye and call him a faggot, and, well... that shit dug deep.

it’s not that he’s overly concerned about it. hell, labels are fuckin’ dumb, alright? he’d sooner be gagged with a spoon than told he has to live his life all boxed up. he doesn’t care that the lady at the bar’s stunning and so is the guy pourin’ her drink, alright? what he does care about is... what if he is that thing his dad said? what if he... what if he is the man his dipshit dad saw in him ?

guitarist in el’s band, crimson & clover !  the band formed several years ago and has been playing gigs ever since. it’s definitely made him grow as a guitarist :  you can frequently find eddie chilling on fire escapes experimenting with new riffs and the like. he’s absolutely got that band aesthetic ––  distressed tees, tight pants, leather, leather, leather. doc martens. beat up sneaks. jaw-length hair, wavy. usually teased on stage and left to its own devices off-stage. music has always been an escape for him, especially from the hellscape that was his childhood home. catch him chillin in el’s record shop, cig in hand, blissed out to the latest rock releases blasting in his headphones.

jake wheeler’s next-door neighbor / best friend !  we have yet to plot about this, but that’s a wc eddie fills & we could do something with that, too!

tw: drugs, abusive tendencies, mild violence.  eddie’s genetics do predispose him to addiction. and, unfortunately, this bitch way more than dabbles in a haphazard lifestyle. he’s BIG into psychedelics, stimulants. alcohol. acid. he’ll pulverize the occasional bar asshole’s face. make fights out of nothing. but s’not a problem, alright ? he’s cool. he’s cool.   (  this guy’s a sinkin’ ship in heavy ass denial.  )

art. tattooing.  art has also played a pivotal role in eddie’s life. from a very young age, he created edgy doodles: skeletons in their sunday best, ghost cartoons carrying guns. the late 60′s/early 70′s saw his school notebooks filling with vietnam-inspired strips, doodles, and sketches. he used to draw “tattoos” on his fellow delinquents during detention in sharpie ink. gave himself his first poke tattoo on his ankle  ( a scrawled so what ? )  in eighth grade. now, he works as a tattooist at atomic tattoos. always flirts with the clientele. and they always leave happy.

tw: death. wears a dharma wheel pendant at all times, tucked beneath his shirt or, if he’s shirtless, just out in the open. he’ll say he found it in the street, but it actually belonged to a guy he started seeing his senior year of high school, in secret.  glenn farley. he was older, around 27, but he offered up the first safe place eddie’d ever known. dude disappeared close to eddie’s graduation. eddie stayed angry for a long time, until his photo turned up in the obits :  glenn was killed in a hit-and-run outside a dive bar.

on the topic of sexuality & gender expression :   eddie honestly couldn’t give a flyin’ shit. he’s of the belief that existence shouldn’t be coded or explained. so, yeah, he’s male. and yeah, he’ll be attracted to whomever he pleases. but in a time where that shit’s not too common? not too accepted? he does feel like he’s playing hide-and-seek. it’s exhausting. and... there’s still something that nags him, at the back of his mind, when he decides to hook up with a guy. it’s all tied up with his family history ( see the stuff about his dad above ) .

eddie is very outspoken & unfiltered. he won’t mince his words; he’ll speak bullets without considering the exit wound. 

he’d much rather have coffee and cigarettes than a meal. but if he’s gotta have food? and you’re forcing him? cinnamon waffles with ten gallons of syrup. delicious.

wears rings because hell, if he’s gonna punch you, he wants that shit to hurt.

smells like tobacco and amber and fresh-fallen rain.

likes makeup. tends to get away with some eyeliner/eyeshadow on stage, but typically doesn’t wear any day-to-day. maybe some eyeliner on his waterline, but... he’s learned how to get by.

cross his sister and he’ll eat your face for breakfast.

default greeting: blinking at you like you’re offending him by taking in the same air.

honestly he’s never thought to leave vegas. he likes it here. his crew? they’re good people. as in reckless. fun.

has almost a full sleeve on his left arm, and two bands curling around his right bicep. one ear pierced, but doesn’t always wear an earring there.

can he offer you a winter green lifesaver in this trying time ??

goes by eddie or williams. call him keith and he can’t be held responsible for what happens to you. the only person who’s got keith privileges is his kid sister.

thomas hayes has brown eyes but eddie’s are a staggeringly light blue-gray. they look like ice. he’s 6′1 and that type of lanky that tends to look sleek, enticing, and mildly emaciated. he does have muscle to him, but the guy doesn’t eat very often and he’s on a steady diet of destructive habits, so... he’s got that matty healy circa 2012 vibe going on

potential connects.

chaos crew. they hit the clubs. they try their hand at scheming and tricking the best poker leagues. chug beers, crush the cans, and toss ‘em in front of cars. experiment with drug cocktails and haunt the town. all laughs and dilated pupils and forgetting, forgetting, forgetting the cracks in their ribs, the scabs on their knuckles. nothin’ hurts when your blood pumps this quick.

diner pal.  eddie rolls up to his favorite diner in the wee hours of the morning. 2am, 3am. when he can’t sleep or he’s comin’ down from a heckish night, he’s there, whole pitcher of coffee and a stack of waffles. mussed hair. an entire encyclopedia of wild stories. one night, he stumbled into this person’s booth high as all shit, and they’ve been inviting themselves to one another’s tables ever since. could be a romantic connection. could be platonic.

ex on bad terms.  kid’s got commitment issues. i’d love to give them a source.

fuckbuddies.  they could just be friends who get fucked and do the deed. maybe there’s feelings. maybe it’s a you service me, i’ll service you situation. either way, they’re indulgent. they’re reckless. and they’ve got no regard for any damage they’ll cause.

people he’s tattooed.  

sworn enemies.  acerbic words, gnashing teeth, icy glares. they’ll cross the fuckin’ street just to avoid being within a ten-foot radius of one another.

caretaker.  a friend ( or even stranger ) who’s taken it on themselves to monitor this maelstrom. all i can say is... good friggin’ luck, kid.

obviously there are so many more but this is just a list to get some juices flowing !

if you want to plot, please feel free to message me !!  i’m headed to the gym now but after that i’ll hit up the starter tags !!  so flipping excited to write with you goons !!

[dentalrecordsmusic]

Fest Review: Rockstar Energy Disrupt Festival, Noblesville, IN, 7/14/2019

Words and photos by Ari Jindracek

Okay, imagine this: you’re in the middle of an open field with maybe three trees in sight. You’re out of water, you didn’t put on enough sunblock, and it’s 95 degrees. You feel like you’re going to pass out if you don’t sit down right this second. However, when your heat-exhausted body slams into someone else who smiles as they push you back into the pit, you forget why you wished you could be anywhere else. Usually a Chicagoan, if you hadn’t yet noticed, I headed out to Noblesville, Indiana and the Ruoff Home Mortgage Music Center to catch the Rockstar Energy Disrupt Festival (because I have family near Indy and couldn’t get to Tinley Park). At 1:30 PM, with the sun high and blinding in the sky, a small crowd kicked off nine and a half hours of music, standing belly-up to the barricade at a small stage a few minutes’ walk from the amphitheater itself. As every lead singer who took that small stage would note, it was hot as hell. However, as you can probably guess if you’re reading this, it was super worth it.

The first act on the bill was Hyro the Hero. Starting half an hour after gates opened, when a large portion of the crowd hadn’t shown up yet, Hyro nevertheless drew a lot of attention. He climbed and jumped from amps and from the drum platform, borrowed hats from other band members and switched them around, and, near the end of his unfortunately short set, climbed into the crowd to ensure that the festival was going to start out with a pit. He packed more raw energy into the opening set than some of the other bands at the festival did in twice the time. His sound was unique among the rest of the acts, too, mixing rap flow with heavy hardcore instrumentals. After ending the set with no less energy than he’d started with, Hyro was also kind enough to stop and sign merchandise for fans, including fans who didn’t expect the pit to be as big as it was and needed to support themselves on his shoulder for a few seconds while they collected their stuff. (You’re right, I absolutely should’ve known better.) I can think of no better way to kick off the rest of the long, awesome afternoon.

If Hyro brought the heat to the concert, second act Juliet Simms helped everyone chill out a little. With a country twang to her voice not necessarily unlike Dolly Parton and a tambourine at her hip, Juliet fit well into the outskirts of Noblesville, which, despite being maybe 45 minutes from Indianapolis, were essentially open country fields. By no means, however, is Simms a country act. Her music would be right at home in my friend’s favorite Spotify playlist, made up of “vaguely Southern gothic” songs. Her backing instrumentals were fantastic--I was especially interested in the drummer, who kept the tempo strong going while flipping around a curtain of blonde hair--and Simms hit all the right notes with songs about leaving demons behind you and the dubious joy of difficult relationships. As a pair of acts, she and Hyro had vastly different energies, but both brought something different onto the setlist and complemented each other as artists.

Trophy Eyes, like Juliet Simms, were a bit less of a moshing, thrashing act, and a bit calmer. Lead singer John Floreani had moments of energy, punching the air and jumping around, but largely swayed over his mic stand. Technical difficulties only a few minutes into the set briefly left the band standing on stage for five hot minutes with no sound but Floreani’s faintly-accented voice asking everyone if they were okay and giving progress reports. However, once things got underway again, the band drew the crowd right back in. Their songs felt like walking through a pop-punk hedge maze: meandering and familiar. It was easy to catch on to the words and sing along, getting caught up in swaying and clapping. As a big fan of longer songs (what can I say, I have a type), I hardly wanted to pull myself out of the music for long enough to take pictures. Despite their rocky start, Trophy Eyes brought a chillness to their set, and the crowd had fun as they did.

The energy levels picked back up with Memphis May Fire, a band that, knowing the kind of music I listen to, I definitely should have gotten into beforehand. In a return to mosh pits and horns up, Memphis came on stage to provide the hardcore sound that one might expect on the Disrupt bill, judging by their fellows in the lineup. They had quite a few long-time fans in the crowd (not surprising, given their thirteen-or-so-year long run) but gave the uninitiated a terrific show as well. The band mixed songs from their latest albums with older ones dedicated to long-term fans in the audience (singer Matty Mullins was impressed by the reactions of long-time listeners in the crowd when he asked who had been with the band for a while) and mixed slower, sweeter songs with ones that opened puts instantly. Within the first few chords of the set, I was struck by the band’s sound and knew I needed to look into them further going forward.

Andy Black is a name I've been faintly aware of in the emo/alternative universe for a while but hadn't listened to his music much before this show, but the chances of me getting into his work after this are way higher. One of the first things I noticed was Black's speaking voice, which has a tone to it that I haven't often heard, almost like if you took a sports announcer out of the Wild West (but also nothing like that at all.) This added to his music, and you could tell there was a little something extra in the songs. On stage, Black leaned against his bandmates, paced the whole stage, and talked through his set jovially. One thing that I remember specifically is a newer slow song of his, "Ghost of Ohio," because I could relate to it, because it explained why the backdrop of the stage was a huge picture of Ohio, and because the singing and instrumentation were stunning. Black put on a really interesting show, and I fully intend to look into his music more as I go forward.

And now I must, sadly, inform you of a great sin of mine: I spent most of Sleeping With Sirens' no doubt excellent set in the women's bathrooms, trying not to pass out from the heat. I saw them perform maybe one full song. This is a tragedy, not only because the crowd had clearly come out for them -- this was the largest crowd at the secondary stage, more than twice the people who had been there for the first three openers, and several people boasted signed shirts or meet and greet passes--but also because I could hear their music from the distance I was at, probably a quarter-mile away and inside a building, and it sounded like something I'd be into. For the moments when I was there, I could see singer Kellin Quinn ranging the stage and checking in with his sweaty, dehydrated fans, waving along to the music with them, and beaming while he watched them. The love between the artists and the crowd was more salient, even, because it was standing room only, so the average fan was closer to Sleeping with Sirens than they would be had the band performed on the main stage.

Atreyu were the first act on the main amphitheater stage (where, finally, mercifully, there was shade) and they started off with a bang. I had briefly dipped my toe into their discography before the show, so I was prepared for some of their songs, like obvious crowd favorite "Bleeding Mascara" and their cover of "You Give Love A Bad Name". The cover riled up the crowd and helped keep the flagging crowd engaged, even when the songs ranged into less familiar territory. I was more invested in this set than several of the others I’d seen so far that day simply because I was capable of singing along to some of their songs Guitarists Dan Jacobs and Travis Miguel got to be the focus regularly and pink-haired frontman Alex Varkatzas held focus as he ranged the stage. No matter how much they knew about Atreyu's music beforehand, the crowd seemed to be along for the ride.

Circa Survive was, unfortunately, the second set that I mostly missed. (I’ll explain why I missed it in a later article. It wasn’t the heat exhaustion this time.) Thankfully, I was able to slip in for the tail end of their performance and, while distracted, I got to enjoy a couple of songs. Circa Survive is a chiller band than Atreyu overall and you could tell it by the crowd, which, though a lot of people were standing up to watch, wasn’t moshing or headbanging very much. They had a genuinely beautiful stage setup, too, with a backdrop in the distinctive style of their album covers and light cans with three segments that could light up individually, making for an interesting effect even if it was not yet dark enough to make out the lights on stage very well. It felt like Circa Survive had set up an exquisite set and I am sorry that I missed so much of it.

Coming into the concert, I definitely did not have the right idea about Sum 41. I was aware of them as a band and, like everyone else, had heard “In Too Deep” before. If you asked me after their set if I expected that, I would say no. I had expected their pop-punk to lean more pop, but that was based on a very limited sample set. Singer Deryck Whibley walked out on stage with very 90s spiked hair and proceeded to easily control the crowd. He referred to the audience members as a “family” (usually with “bullshit” or “fucking” sprinkled in for good measure) and talked to us regularly. Every time he thanked us for coming out, he did so two or three times in succession. During the band’s cover of another song everyone knows, “We Will Rock You,” he stopped the song completely to make sure everyone poured their energy into a huge crescendo. Whibley made sure to leave his two guitarists time for solos, and actually introduced all of his bandmates by name, which most other acts did not do. As the only band with effects beyond lights and fog machines--huge pillars of smoke would occasionally erupt from the stage with a roar--Sum 41 drew eyes in. As of the publication of this article, their newest album has probably just come out, and if and when they tour it, I want tickets.

Now, we get into the part of the article where I’m biased in my reviews. I love Thrice and count them among my favorite bands, so far be it from me to say that they didn’t have a good set. They did. One thing that I noticed was that the crowd dwindled after Sum 41, and when Thrice came on, a lot of people stayed in their seats. When Thrice played “Artist in the Ambulance,” a song that is easy to mosh and scream along to, the audience was largely sedate. Thrice’s music overall is chiller than, say, The Used, but it seemed that the crowd wasn’t feeling even the heavier songs. For artists whose songs I know, I am not a good enough judge to determine if it was the artists’ stage presence that drew the audience out or if it was just that there were fewer people around to watch. The clump of people around me who were standing and screaming (myself, two girls behind me, and a guy in front of me) were into it. Thrice played a range of music from their early-2000s albums to their newest EP, dropped in April of this year, from calmer songs like “Only Us” to a headbanging rendition of “The Earth Will Shake”. They stood as a calm act between two high-power, big-name groups, and while the crowd was out getting more beer or merchandise, they missed out on a stellar set.

Even before the final set started, The Used put their own spin on it. They dropped a screen over the stage and projected an animated film with classical piano in the background and the audience watched as the blades of grass wavering in non-existent wind turned into the band's heart logo and the screen dropped in one quick motion. The Used probably gave the single strangest performance I've seen at a concert. The band didn't actually finish their second song, "The Bird and the Worm" because frontman Bert McCracken stopped the audience to tell them that he was really feeling the energy and was about to amp his own act up. At various points, he recited Shakespeare, embellished the soliloquies by opening a circle pit, hoisted a child out of the audience, and pretended to gag over his own band's cover of Oasis's "Wonderwall". The giant dangling beating heart over the stage added to the ambiance. The Used exclusively played songs from their first three albums (and "Wonderwall"), despite almost twenty years worth of songs to pick from, but every song was full of energy. The crowd was at its peak, singing along and presumably moshing (I couldn't see over all the people on their feet in front of me). It was hard to stop watching long enough to take pictures. For a short set, relative to many of the headlining bands I’ve seen who usually get an hour or more, plus encore, The Used packed a lot of work into their songs, and it was definitely a captivating performance. If you offered me a ticket to see them again tomorrow, I’d fight my way into the pit.

As someone who hasn’t been to many festivals, and, well, didn’t actually get to absorb the whole thing beginning to end as I should have, Disrupt was probably the best concert I’ve been to in years, if only because it was eleven concerts in one. I’ve found a few bands that I need to put into my regular rotation and had experiences I wouldn’t give up for love, money, or the ability to get rid of the painful heat rash that reminds me of the festival constantly, as if I wouldn’t be daydreaming about it anyway.

Ari Jindracek has been listening to The Used on an infinite loop for five days and counting. You can catch Ari on Twitter for more concert pix.

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[ear]

PLEASE share your vld reboot ideas aja the show canon is garbage and your mind is so galaxy brain

OK OK ALRIGHT!!!!!!!!!! alright so idk what kind of. earth landscape this reboot occurs in…. like yallve got this retro 80s/90s neon future verse going on but i didnt think my reboot version would fit into that so yall go wild with whatever hc for this earth reboot thing u want cuz im not creative and i didnt really think that far ahead

ALRIGHT here we go. this is so long i HAVE to put this under the cut but i hope yall enjoy the creations of my MIND……

- akeno “KEITH” shirogane: (age: 19) [gay] hes japanese/black/galran. hes still half galra in this reboot bc i fuck with that honestly but hes got more visible galran traits. his bottom canines are larger than usual and poke out from his bottom lip so he wears a mask to cover his mouth and his eyes r still purple but instead of his sclera being yellow(tinted), hes just like. got some odd golden flecks in his eyes. he normally wears a dirty mechanics jumpsuit with the top half tied around his waist and a black or white tank top underneath (hes still a high school flunk out so he works full time at a car repair shop so hes able to buy food and shit at LEAST + hes still got his motorcycle to keep in shape). his casual clothes r just regular grey sweats, hoodies, and adidas or whatever brand is closest in their future lol. hes blood related to shiro who ill get to in a second.. shiros blood related to him as his uncle (brother of keiths dad) ALSO his hair isnt long in this reboot, hes got a short messy head of hair that he mostly just pulls back into a TINY little pony tail on his forehead (like in the game show ep) so it doesnt get in his face while hes working. he also has goggles bc thats the one thing from yalls reboot ideas i actually like (endgame lion: he momentarily pilots black during shiros disappearance but his permanent and stationary lion is red)

- fal’allura “fala, ALLURA” naguna’ephy: [lesbian] (age: 21 or close to that in alien standards) shes altean on her fathers side and teem (what we’re gonna call nymas race) on her mothers side. she bares more altean features except her eyes are solid yellow and shes only got four fingers on each hand. instead of crescent shaped facial markings, she has painted on red and golden lines across her nose and her upper lip. her hair (very dark purple with silver highlights and literal glowing, twinkling stars) is VERY long, brushing the floor as she walks except and (now bear with me cuz this might be hard to explain) her hair, the farther down u look kind of fades away? like it becomes semi to absolute transparent… idk how else to explain it but i hope u understand…. she does wear a crown but its more like a headdress.. (imagine beyonces headdress).. she doesnt wear it often, usually only on diplomatic missions to greet other worldly rulers bc its heavy and it makes her neck hurt :/.. her dress! looks like this! but a little more spiffy .. u know.. her casual/training clothes are just…. idk imagine a royal looking sports bra and leggings?? i guess … ALSO ALSO ALSO she can still shape shift but instead of limiting her shifting to just the changing of skin tone and height, she can completely mimic different alien species but only humanoid races.. like she can have those indented looking knees and huge ass horns and all that but she cant like. turn into an earth lizard u know what im saying. also also also also she still speaks with an accent just… not a british one….(endgame lion: no lion. she keeps leading and piloting the castle ship until destruction, where she leads and pilots the atlas)

- alejandro “LANCE, ale” reyes-leon: (age: 19 ½) [bi] hes cuban/black/vietnamese. his dad is black and vietnamese and his mom is cuban! hes got longish afro textured hair he keeps back in a pony tail most of the time like this or a bun when training bc hes too lazy to put any actual effort into styling it. hes got a couple moles/freckles scattered across his face and hes got sectoral heterochromiaaround his left pupil so theres a little bit of blue in one of his other wise dark brown eyes (like this).. i havent really figured out what his clothing style is.. i thought about keeping his clothes close to vld canon like his jacket (bc that was a really good jacket) but im gonna go a little wild here so hold on. he wears one of those surfer type looking skin tight turtleneck shirts underneath his heavy bomber jacket.. he wears just regular ripped jeans and hightops like in canon…….. hmm……. he wears a pink bead necklace under his shirt that was made by his little cousin just a couple weeks before he was shot off into space and he hasnt taken it off since…………. he also has a tiny stick and poke tattoo on his ankle he did when he was thirteen bc he thought it would look cool but it turned out kinda lop sided so he never takes his socks off in embarrassment (endgame lion: blue to red (during keiths reign as black paladin) then to black when shiro leaves voltron to lead the atlas alongside allura)

- takashi “SHIRO” shirogane: (age: 31) [gay] hes japanese/black. hes keiths uncle and the only family keith really has .. his design doesnt really change much except hes got long hair (like kuron) but its pulled up into a messy bun or pony tail.. in MY canon hes still gay and married to adam (whos name isnt adam i just cant think of a new name for him yet) (and adam lives dont worry) and theyre working on adopting a daughter before shiro has to leave for kerberos. shiro usually dresses in work out outfits so like. gym shorts… tank tops.. leggings.. imagine those white blonde dudes who always wear a man bun and only eat vegan and drink chai from starbucks bc thats exactly how shiro acts but ONLY ironically ……… when shiros abducted on the galra freighter and forced to fight in the ring, his hair streaks white but instead of just a clean scar across his nose, he has multiple long scars scattered across his face from a one x one between his face and some debris thrown at him by a gladiator. his prosthetic looks and remains kinda the same i guess but this time its decked out with claws on the finger tips so it looks a little more galran yeah? (endgame lion: no endgame lion. he pilots the atlas alongside allura)

- francesca “frannie, frankie, PIDGE” eleonora: (age: 15) [trans girl lesbian] shes . just italian i guess. so anyway shes not gonna be an asshole bitch like canon pidge.. shes gonna be the caring sweet but KINDA mean little sister we always wished we had.. the little sister who would tell u, with all honesty, that ur winged eyeliner was smudged before u hit the town with the girls and made a fool of urself……. ANYWAY shes still gonna be the ‘hacker’/computer geek techno girl but not as much ykno? shes JUST a little girl so she just kinda does her own thing. i rlly like all the fanart i see of her wearing overalls and stuff SO thats her canon design…… she wears faded overall jeans over a short sleeved pale pink tshirt w a dog one it and scuffed up chucks. she wears glasses but instead of just taking them from matt she has an actual prescription and is basically blind without them. i literally cannot stress this enough but shes such a nice girl like the team pretty much adopted her as their little sister the moment they boarded the castle ship. idk what else to add on to her!!!! i literally did not put any thought into pidge at all! (endgame lion: permanently green)

- opetaia“HUNK” tuitama: (age: 19 ¾) [bi] hes samoan/black. hunk was adopted and has two moms and three other siblings, all of who are younger than him. im not sure about his fashion other than i KNOW deep down in my heart that he would wear cargo shorts…. i cant find it in me to get rid of his bandana thing so i let him keep it except he uses it to tie his hair up instead of using it as a head band thing….. HUNK in my au is more of a tech freak/engineer than pidge so he handles most of that stuff with the occasional help from pidge (like wiring… she has tiny fingers that can grab the wires easier) hunk probably wears the crocs/sandals with socks combo but just because he loves hearing lance bitch about it whnever he struts into a room. hunk also looks good in his vest so im gonna let him keep that but it looks more modified… like it has a bunch of pockets and stuff to keep bolts and nuts and other stuff he needs to work with.. thats also why he wears cargo shorts; just for the pockets.. (endgame lion: permanently yellow)

also ur probably wondering “if lance is in black and keith is in red and allura doesnt pilot a lion, THEN WHOS PILOTING BLUE????” …….. heh… peep this………..

- ADAM elsammak-althani(thank u mal @fuckvld for ur gorgeous arabic adam hcs..): (age: 32) [gay] i dont have much to say about him other than read mals hc lists and that ADAM LIVES IN MY REBOOT and he also joins the voltron team and pilots the blue lion (i FIRMLY hc that hes a very free/wild spirit and just loves to make jokes and is just.. a really fun guy to be around and obviously blue would open up to him in a SECOND. dont even @ me) (endgame lion: BLUE!)

[amanda-digs-okay]

5sos Lyric Prompts

I just really love this band and when I listen to their music I sometimes think of my OCs so here we go!!

Youngblood

1. “You beat me at my own damn game.”

2. “So who you been calling baby? Nobody could take my place.”

3. “Is it tears or just the fucking rain?”

4. “I’m always gonna want you back...”

5. “If I ask you if you love me, I hope you lie to me.”

6. “While I’m cleaning up your mess, I know he’s taking off your dress.”

7. “Just as long as I get all you tonight.”

8. “Got nothing but love for you, fall more in love with you everyday.”

9. “I’m kinda hoping for forever.”

10. “It won’t last, I’m okay with that.”

11. “I’ll take what I can get from you.”

12. “Don’t say you’re doing me a favour.”

13. “Have you been eating breakfast alone like me?”

14. “I know I’m the stupid one who ended it, and now I’m the stupid one regretting it.”

15. “Have you been filling empty beds just like me?”

16. “Is it wrong if I tell you that I love ya?”

17. “Some things are meant to be secret...”

18. “I wouldn’t dare let you down.”

19. “All of my wrongs led me right to you.”

20. “You’re the only one who could lock this wild heart up in chains.”

21. “Why can’t we choose our emotions?”

22. “I just wanna get back to us.”

23. “Why won’t you love me...?”

24. “I’m not alright but I’ll pretend.”

25. “It’s so hard to be lonely.”

26. “Just be good ‘til I get back.”

27. “Time is up.”

28. “Tonight is on me.”

29. “Stop trying so hard.”

30. “We’re too young, too dumb to know things like love.”

31. “I’ll be just fine...”

32. “My feet don’t dance like they did with you...”

33. “I can’t take it.”

34. “I’m so bad for you...”

35. “I won’t break your heart again.”

36. “It’s time for me to admit that I’m the asshole.”

37. “You go your way, and I’ll go mine, and if we’re meant to I’ll meet you there.”

38. “I’m just waiting for you.”

39. “I thought we had a place, just our place.”

40. “If you’re way too faded to drive, you can stay one more night.”

41. “The hardest part is knowing when to let go.”

42. “We burned too bright, now the fight is gone...”

43. “We said we’d both love harder than we knew we could.”

44. “I see it on your face.”

45. “Cut me open, take my heart, so we’ll never be apart.”

46. “I can feel it in my bones, you don’t love me anymore.”

47. “Don’t you let it go to waste.”

48. “Won’t you let me down easy?”

49. “I’ve been dreaming like a fool in a nightmare of a world.”

50. “I’m so bad at letting go...How do you make it look so easy?”

51. “You flip it on me, say I think too much.”

52. “You’re movin’ different when we’re making love.”

53. “Who do you love?”

54. “You can’t even look me in the eye...”

55. “This shit is keepin’ me up at night.”

Sounds Good Feels Good

56. “I wanna know your middle name.”

57. “Take my money!”

58. “Everybody’s gonna go big tonight.”

59. “They wanna know what we gotta say.”

60. “She’s kinda hot, though...”

61. “I got low self-esteem.”

62. “My friend left college ‘cause it felt like a job.”

63. “When you’ve got bigger plans that no one else understands, you got a shot.”

64. “We’re gonna be okay.”

65. “We don’t have to live this way...”

66. “We can’t afford to give up!”

67. “So whatcha say?”

68. “I can’t sleep ‘cause my mind keeps racing.”

69. “I’m so numb and I can’t stop shaking...”

70. “Hey, I’m doing fine.”

71. “I know I’m out of line.”

72. “Now that I’m broken...”

73. “Make it okay.”

74. “I’ve got a jet black heart.”

75. “This is not who I’m supposed to be...”

76. “Without you, I’m nobody.”

77. “I can’t change the world, but maybe I’ll change your mind.”

78. “The air you breathe is haunting me.”

79. “I need your love.”

80. “I don’t wanna say goodbye...”

81. “I don’t wanna waste it.”

82. “You’re the thing that I can’t quit.”

83. “I want to be the one you remember.”

84. “You sound so sweet.”

85. “You walked out and left me stranded...”

86. “Nothing left but picture frames.”

87. “These memories linger.”

88. “I’m lonely.”

89. “I’m not leaving.”

90. “Where you going?”

91. “What are you telling me?”

92. “When did you lose your happiness...?”

93. “I’m here alone inside of this broken home.”

94. “Who really cares?”

95. “The fault, the blame, the pain’s still there...”

96. “Are you listening now?”

97. “I won’t waste another day.”

98. “Always second guessing...”

99. “Just me and my shadow and all of my regrets...”

100. “Who am I when I don’t know myself?”

101. “I can’t escape, I’m too late.”

102. “What is that?”

103. “Your smile can light up the night.”

104. “I don’t ever wanna wait for this.”

105. “I’m not gonna say that I’m sorry.”

106. “You were more than I deserved...”

107. “I can’t let go.”

108. “I wanna get back to where we started.”

109. “I will wait for you to love me again.”

110. “Love me like you did.”

111. “I’ll give you anything.”

112. “You know, it’s gonna get better.”

113. “Carry on...”

114. “You leave me wanting more.”

115. “I’m helpless.”

116.”Damned if I do, damned if I don’t.”

117. “I’ve got a long term plan with short term fixes.”

118. “It costs too much to think of you.”

119. “I’m hanging by a thread.”

120. “I can’t escape you anywhere, even in my dreams.”

121. “Won’t you save me?”

122. “Let’s pick up the pieces of whatever’s left of me.”

123. “Let me make my own mistakes!”

124. “I lie awake in my own head.”

125. “Because of you, I’m gone for good and that’s the truth.”

126. “You can break me down just like you did before.”

127. “I’ll be brand new.”

128. “Do you talk about me?”

129. “Do you tell them that you love me the way that I’ve been loving you?”

130. “The way you take away my breath is something bigger than myself.”

131. “I know we’re young and people change.”

132. “So baby tell me what you say.”

133. “Do you tell them I’m your lover, that I’m all that you need?”

135. “We may never feel the same...”

Self Titled Album

136. “Wait, don’t tell me, Heaven is a place on earth.”

137. “This is everything I didn’t say.”

138. “I wish I could’ve made you stay.”

139. “I’m the only one to blame...”

140. “I know that it’s a little too late.”

141. “We worked too damn hard for this just to give it up now!”

142. “All I really want is you.”

143. “I made a mixtape straight outta ‘94.”

144. “I’ve got your ripped skinny jeans lying on the floor.”

145. “I love that accent you have.”

146. “If it feels like it’s right, then it can’t be wrong.”

147. “Say my name.”

148. “Don’t be shy.”

149. “Your secret’s mine.”

150. “No one understands the chemistry we have.”

151. “I think she’s fluent.”

152. “Forget what you thought.”

153. “Just turn around and forget what you saw.”

154. “Here’s to teenage memories!”

155. “Can I call, wake you up on a Sunday?”

156. “Let me know where to go and I’ll get you there.”

157. “Never say goodbye...”

158. “Kiss me.”

159. “Tell me that I’ll see you again.”

160. “She’s always too busy.”

161. “What else can I do?”

162. “I’m so sick of waiting...”

163. “I’ll just wait.”

164. “It’s not fair.”

165. “I’m just a sucker for anything you do.”

166. “I can take away your hurt...”

167. “I’m right here.”

168. “He treats you so bad, and I’m so good to you!”

169. “Get it through your head.”

170. “How did we end up talking in the first place?”

171. “In the end, I’m a six and she’s a ten...”

172. “Call me lucky.”

173. “She keeps coming back for more.”

174. “Are you somewhere feeling lonely even though he’s right beside you?”

175. “If what we had was real, how could you be fine?”

176. “I’m not fine at all...”

177. “I’ll admit I feel alone.”

178. “It hurts to hear you’re happy, it hurts that you moved on.”

179. “It’s hard to hear your name when I haven’t seen you in so long...”

180. “Remember all the memories?”

181. “This is our reality.”

182. “We know this is the way it’s supposed to be.”

183. “Everything is alright.”

184. “We’re taking the long way home.”

185. “I can’t control myself.”

186. “I’m having trouble catching my breath...”

187. “Tell me when and where.”

188. “I’m gonna find a way to make you mine.”

189. “You got me tongue tied.”

190. “I don’t wanna go...”

191. “I wish I was beside you.”

192. “Can you hear me?”

193. “My heart wants to come home...”

194. “I’m trying to find the words to say.”

195. “I made a promise.”

196. “Save me from who I’m supposed to be.”

197. “Who are they to try and put us down?”

198. “So tired of wishing on the stars.”

199. “Tell me what you want from me!”

200. “When I’m with you, I’m never alone.”

201. “We’ll never be as young as we are now.”

202. “I’m just a little bit out of my limit.”

203. “No one’s seen the best of me.”

204. “Nothing is better than you.”

205. “Come find me.”

Easier Single

206. “Is it easier to stay? Is it easier to go?”

207. “I know that I’m never, ever gonna change.”

208. “We’re only built to fall...”

209. “You’re so damn beautiful...”

210. “You get the very best of me.”