#ghoul's hozier bullshit

[ghouljams]

Ghoul ghoul ghoul, idk if you've listened to the new Hozier song "too sweet" yet but I'm having some SEVERE brain wormies and I need them out before they consume me. It's just ugh- At first I was like- oh man, this is totally a Ghost song and it could still kinda be a Ghost song. But then Hozier himself dropped from the clouds and slammed my head into the radio and that's when I realized, this isn't a Ghost song. No no. This is a Price song. I could see this as him rejecting a much younger person.

He likes you, he does. You're this sweet, young thing who's just fallen head over heels and he's flattered. Really! But... you're too young. Too sweet. Maybe one day when you've grown up a bit more, gotten some more life experience or maybe never. In truth, you may never be bitter enough for him. He needs someone that's aged like him, someone who can match his stride. Just AHHHHHHH it's so Price coded I swear I'm gonna cry.

- 🦈 anon

OK FIRST OF ALL

All day baby, we're on 48 hour Unreal Unearth Unheard lockdown. I'm studying these songs like I'm a gonna write a thesis on them. "Too Sweet" is a Ghost song baby, but it can apply to Price as well. Here's my interpretation of it. I was going to include how it relates to the boys but uh... this got long...

I don't think it's about a younger partner at all, I also see this as a song more about the narrator than the subject...

Diving in with Verse 1

It can't be said I'm an early bird It's 10 o'clock before I say a word Baby, I can never tell How do you sleep so well? You keep tellin' me to live right To go to bed before the daylight But then you wake up for the sunrise You know you don't gotta pretend Baby, now and then

Our subject is a morning person, they're up early while the narrator is sleeping in. The narrator clearly doesn't sleep well, for one reason or another, they even ask how the subject sleeps so well. But then we get this line that defines the whole song.

"You keep tellin' me to live right"

The subject isn't just an early bird, they're the sort of person who sees this as a health issue. They go to bed, sleep well, and wake up with the sunrise to enjoy the day. By contrast the narrator goes to bed in the wee hours of the morning and is clearly living a life that isn't healthy in the subjects eyes.

But the narrator also doesn't believe that the subject is truly the healthy person they "pretend" to be.

[Pre-Chorus] Don't you just wanna wake up Dark as a lake Smellin' like a bonfire Lost in a haze? If you're drunk on life, babe I think it's great But while in this world

Here the narrator describes his nights spend out in the darkness partying. Lost in a haze of booze or drugs, he says it's great that the subject is "drunk on life" but he'd prefer to get "lost in a haze." He questions why the subject wouldn't want to join him in this lifestyle, we go into the chorus with the understanding that the narrator is "enjoying" life through his unhealthy habits.

[Chorus] I think I'll take my whiskey neat My coffee black and my bed at three You're too sweet for me You're too sweet for me I take my whiskеy neat My coffee black and my bed at three You're too sweet for mе You're too sweet for me

He takes his whiskey neat, which gives this wonderful impression of masculinity and sounds very clean, but in reality he may as well be pulling straight from the bottle. Whiskey neat just means no ice, no nothing to distill the liquor down. Then he takes his coffee black, again we get this sort of rich bitterness, but he contrasts it, he drinks it in his bed at 3. There's no good 3 at which he's drinking black coffee, pm or am.

The narrator lives his life in bitterness, in unhealthy habits. Of course his subject is "too sweet" for him, they're healthy and seem happy. In contrast the narrator doesn't seem happy so much as he feels pre-destined to this life. He doesn't want to change his habits because this life feels almost deserving to him. He's lost in the haze, he's taking pulls straight from the bottle and waking up late in the day only to do it all over again.

[Verse 2] I aim low I aim true, and the ground's where I go I work late where I'm free from the phone And the job gets done But you worry some, I know But who wants to live forever, babe? You treat your mouth as if it's Heaven's gate The rest of you like you're the TSA I wish that I could go along Babe, don't get me wrong

Oof verse 2. This is where I think we really see where the narrator sees their lives diverging. "The ground's where I go" his life is going downhill, he's headed for an early grave, but he can't divert the arrow. He is forced to lower his aim because this is the cycle. Hozier himself said this song was meant for the circle of gluttony, and I hear it. The idea that his consumption, his over consumption is going to kill him one day.

And he tries to justify it! "I work late... the job gets done" he's away from his phone, the subject can't reach him, healthy habits can't reach him. But he deserves to let loose, because he's getting the job done. He sees this as a freedom, as a reward, and yet he knows it worries the subject, but by his own words "who wants to live forever"? If he's already destined for the grave why shouldn't he enjoy it?

Contrasted again by the subject. "You treat your mouth as if it's heaven's gate" he sees the subject as preachy, they keep trying to offer him salvation he doesn't want, and the words hit him as almost fictitious. He's so deep in the hole that even the hand held out to him seems like it's coming from heaven, so far is he from his baby. "The rest of you like it's the TSA" regimented, the subject has rules that they follow dutifully, they have a routine, they're strict with what they let through their filters. And the narrator wishes he could go along with it! He admires it, but for one reason or another he can't.

[Pre-Chorus] You know you're bright as the morning As soft as the rain Pretty as a vine As sweet as a grape If you can sit in a barrel Maybe I'll wait Until that day

Ok this is the part I think makes people imagine it's about a younger person. The lines "If you can sit in a barrel/ Maybe I'll wait" people think is about aging, but I disagree. I think it's about embittering the subject. Grapes are sweet, wine is dry and bitter, it's hot in the blood. The narrator is saying that if the subject can grow to be as bitter (and alcoholic) as he is then maybe he'd be able to stick to them.

BUT in the background going to the chorus we hear church bells, we hear wedding bells. The narrator is vividly in love with the subject even though they're such opposites. I think he wants the subject to save him, but he can't find the strength to ask. He's telling them that he loves them, they're all these wonderful opposites to him, but they don't understand his bitterness for one reason or another. He can imagine a future with them, he can hear the wedding bells, but he can't stop pushing them away. He knows they're right, knows they're good for him, but he's not ready to be saved yet.

[Chorus] I'd rather take my whiskey neat My coffee black and my bed at three You're too sweet for me You're too sweet for me I take my whiskey neat My coffee black and my bed at three You're too sweet for me You're too sweet for me

This last chorus really seals it for me. It's so powerfully sung, again the narrator is justifying his lifestyle to the subject, but it's more desperate. He's trying to convince himself as much as them. The wedding bells ring, the narrator pushes this too sweet person away because he knows he's bad for them. He wants to make them bitter, he wants to make them more like himself instead of changing his habits, and he knows that's wrong. It's a declaration, "You're too sweet for me" find someone else, find someone that doesn't drink from the bottle, that can wake up with you and go to bed with you, find someone that doesn't want to ruin you the way I do.

I think the fact that the bells ring all the way through the end of the last chorus lines signals that the subject sticks around, that they're determined to help the narrator, and finally when the song ends (rather abruptly) the narrator gives in. His life of debauchery ends, and that pretty thing, soft as the rain, is no longer too sweet for him.

[ghouljams]

you writing stuff with hozier inspired themes is makin me go crazzzzy, im listening to him now while reading and just oh my gooossh! would love to see your take on who fits the songs “talk” and “nfwmb” (i thought of ghost specifically distribution ghost)

For "Talk" definite Ghost or Konig

I did get a little stuck on the first verse of "Talk" just thinking about Ghost in the Orpheus myth and how I don't think he'd turn around. He'd never turn around, never look at you again. He'd gouge his eyes out if he had to. Anything to keep you with him. He doesn't need to see you, he can feel you there with him, can hear your voice, he never needs to turn and look. He'd know you blind, he'd know you in the darkest depths of Hades, he knows you by your breathing and the crunch of dirt under your feet. He doesn't need to look. He'll never see you again, just to be sure, just to keep living in this wonderful dream where he pulled you away from death. He can't lose you again. He never turns.

Anyway. Uh. "NFWMB" could be any of them, but yeah distribution Ghost for sure. That man would set himself on fire if it meant keeping you warm. He is somewhere between worship and self destruction, and yet he still feels some ownership over his sweetheart(the best of you belongs to him). He wants to be useful for this person he sees as greater than himself, and yet he is desperate to belong to them, and have them belong to him in turn(Ain't you my baby?).

Honestly I have Ghost on the brain all the time, so it's very easy for me to AMV my way to a Hozier-Ghost connection. My two babygirls...

[ghouljams]

I feel like I started something and I don't regret it <3

But as long as u no burn out. Which Hozier song would you think for Konig and any of his Liebling

Feel like the nasty boy deserves some Hozier

- Hozier Raccoon 🦝

Oh my god easy, "In The Woods Somewhere". That's Liebling's telling of König. The fairytale of getting lost and stumbling upon something you never should have known. But this verse specifically is König:

I clutched my life

And wished it kept

My dearest love, I'm not done yet

That's König's dedication to Liebling, his promise not to leave her, to keep her. He's not done with her(and he never will be).

For more romantic pretension I would say.... "like real people do" probably

There's just! The way neither of them are quite what the other is, but they share a kinship. Leibling is burying the kindest parts of herself in the dirt, and accidentally pulls König free. And I think for Liebling there's this feeling that she isn't quite human, that being a seer puts her outside of humanity but it also doesn't put her with the fae.

"We should just kiss like real people do" because neither of them is quite sure what they are, but they know they're not real people. Not because they aren't real but because there's a wall between each of them and the world.

I knew that look dear

Eyes always seeking

Was there in someone

That dug long ago

So I will not ask you

Why you were creeping

In some sad way I already know

The affection that König holds for Liebling comes from a place of understanding. He knows the look in her eyes, the way they never stop moving, never stop seeking out what she sees. He's seen seers before, long ago laying offerings out for him before he was buried. So he won't ask her what she's looking for, he won't ask her what she's burying or why.

"In some sad way I already know" because he knows Liebling! He knows her sadness and her suffering as intimately as he knows his own. He knows her because he loves her. They can be real people together, they can know each other in ways that the world doesn't.

They won't ask for the past, they won't ask where each other came from. Because it doesn't matter to them. They're behind the curtains together, and they're happy for it. The past only matters in how it affects the present, and in the present they have each other. König and Liebling build their future on the bones they've buried, and neither of them have a desire to dig them up. They're kissing, like real people do.

[ghouljams]

At this point my asks are just Hozier based and ammo for you.... 0 regrets. They just make me happy melt. 🫠

That being said. Any other pairings you want to analyze with songs?

- Hozier Raccoon 🦝

This is all I'm thinking about tbh, I'm just listening to hozier and thinking about pairings for each song. Some are easier to pin than others and I wanted to do Soap and Moon but I think I'm gonna talk about "it will come back" which means Ghost and Love.

You know better babe...

This is another I can do line by line, just tearing it apart and showing you the musculature of the beast.

You know better babe, you know better babe.

The refrain, the ever present refrain in Love's life. She knows better than to welcome the fae. She knows better than to look at Ghost, than to talk to him, than to love him like she does. But she also doesn't. She doesn't know what she invites in, what darkens her doorstep. Love isn't a believer in the fae before Ghost, but she knows the superstitions.

Don't give it a hand, offer it a soul Honey, make this easy Leave it to the land, this is what it knows Honey, that's how it sleeps Don't let it in with no intention to keep it Jesus Christ, don't be kind to it Honey, don't feed it, it will come back

Ghost is an animal, he's a predator, a hunter. Don't offer him a soul when he's just shaken his off. Make it easy on him to kill you, leave him in the grave, leave him to sleep and hunt as he had been. He hasn't known kindness, he hasn't been kept, he is an animal stealing food left out for the neighborhood strays, and just like them he'll return to where he found his feast.

So it would be cruel to offer kindness, to offer food, when you aren't intent on providing it long term. It's better not to offer it, and you know better babe. Love knows better, but she's subject to pity and human compassion for a man that has never known kindness.

You know better, babe, you know better, babe Than to smile at me, smile at me like that You know better, babe, you know better, babe Than to hold me just, hold me just like that I know who I am when I'm alone I'm something else when I see you You don't understand, you should never know How easy you are to need

Ooooh you know BETTER. After she's released, after Ghost lets her go, she knows better. Love has escaped the maw of the beast and yet she still smiles at him, she still opens her arms to him. She knows better, in the back of her mind the sirens go off quieted by Ghost's taps. He knows better too. He knows better than to be held, than to he smiled at, than to love her and keep her.

Ghost knows who he is, he's rebuilt himself after escaping the grave. He knows his place, he knows what he is. Except when Love calls his name, "Simon", and he's lost again. He's someone else with her, someone he doesn't know. Someone he can't control, doesn't have a leash for.

So he warns her, "you don't understand, you should never know" because she doesn't! Love doesn't know that he's a monster, doesn't know about the fae and how to keep herself safe from them. And she never should have known about them! In a perfect world she would have gone her whole life ignorant to the dangers of the world. He took that innocence from her and if she was smart she'd never forgive him for it.

But "how easy you are to need" God he needs her like air. He's been fed, been loved, he can't go back. He can never go back.

Don't let me in with no intention to keep me Jesus Christ, don't be kind to me Honey, don't feed me, I will come back It can't be unlearned I've known the warmth of your doorways Through the cold, I'll find my way back to you Oh, please, give me mercy no more That's a kindness you can't afford I warn you, baby, each night, as sure as you're born You'll hear me howling outside your door

"Jesus christ don't be kind to me"??? God take me out back and shoot me, it would be kinder. Ghost literally begging, he can't go back, he can't unlearn her love, her warmth, when he's felt it. He's known the warmth of her doorway, her bedroom, she's given him more than he ever could have asked for. And through it all he knows if she dumps him back in winter he'll find his way back to her. He'd track her through the darkest, coldest, winter.

"Give me mercy no more" he's BEGGING, PLEADING with her. Please, he begs, don't show me the kindness that you have, I can't stomach the ache of losing it. It's a kindness she "can't afford" one that holds a price she never knew existed, it's a price that wraps her in tethers and stares hungry at her beating heart. Kindness doesn't come without strings in this universe, and sometimes it's a price that you can't pay. It's a price Love can't pay, will never be able to pay.

"I warn you, baby, each night, sure as you're born, you'll hear me howling outside your door." He will never leave her alone. He'll always come back. She'll hear him scratching at his door, howling at her door. If he can't have her, no one can. Ghost will follow her, he's been spoiled by her kindest, the food she's left out, the warmth of her doorway. How could he ever go back?

Don't you hear me howling, babe?

Don't you hear him howling? Can't you hear him? Feel him? When he holds you close, when he cashes in the life that you owe him, can't you hear him howling? Won't you let him in? Won't you keep him? Let him keep you? You've brought this upon yourself.

Love can hear him howling, and she's opened the door. She's set out food and a box of blankets, and Ghost has decided to cash in her kindness. He loves her, he wants her to keep him, and more than anything she wants to keep him too. She's picked up a stray, and she's never letting him outside again.

[ghouljams]

hello I'm fucking obsessed with your Hozier analyses. You just GET IT!! Wasteland, Baby! was my hyperfixation for a while, so I'd like to pitch a few suggestions that I would love to hear more from you about:

Movement - Ballet König, Ghost/Die or König/Fetch (honestly, all of the demon au humans watching their demon darling work): "When you move, honey I'm put in awe of something so flawed and free...Move like grey skies, move like a bird of paradise, move like an odd sight come out at night...so move me baby"

Nobody - Price/Duck, Soap/Moon: "And I think about you though, everywhere I go, and I've done everything and I've been everywhere you know, But I've had no love like your love from nobody" "I'd be appalled if I saw you ever try to be a saint, I wouldn't fall for someone I thought couldn't misbehave"

Talk - honestly works for every pairing, but I'm thinking König/Liebling or König/Bee: "Imagine being loved by me, I won't deny I've got in my mind, all the things I could do, so I try to talk refined for fear that you find out how I'm imaginin' you"

Dinner & Diatribes - again, works for everyone, but I'm getting Ghost/Die vibes: "I knew it from the first look of mischief in your eyes, I'd suffer Hell if you'd tell me what you'd do to me tonight. A pillar I am of pride, scarcely can speak for my thinking what you'd do to me tonight"

Obviously, you don't have to go with the pairings I suggested. I'm just here to feed the Hozier analysis because goddamn I love that man's music. (Maybe we could also get some Sleep Token lyrics sometime? Very Ghost tbh) (Also sorry for dumping this essay length ask in your inbox LOL I got carried away)

OK I'm going to list Hozier songs I associate with each couple and a short(Ghoul Short) reason. I'm just going to be doing couples I haven't already talked about, but god there's so many of these assholes.

"Nobody" is Gaz and Birdie's song, genuinely I think it's their first dance at their wedding. "I'd be appalled if I saw you ever try to be a saint, I wouldn't fall for someone I thought couldn't misbehave" is just so them. Both of them have spent their lives experiencing every part of the world they could, and they've found a love unparalleled in each other.

"De Selby part 1" or "Damage Gets Done" is Soap and Moon. Idk I think they need a duet, they're hard to pin down. With De Selby there's this huge-ness to it, the night and the dawn that your love captures and contains. The feeling of holding the sun in your hands and being burned. Damage Gets Done is almost mournful but it's a celebration. It's two people with nothing but each other, desperately hoping that their codependency doesn't hurt, doesn't end. They're young and reckless but that won't be what hurts them, it'll be the other person that spells their ultimate doom.

"Talk" 100% Konig and Bee. All the things he wants to do to her, do with her. It's madness, he has to hold himself back, talk refined, or he's worried he'll scare her off.

"Wasteland! Baby" feels Price and Duck to me. Just the gentle rhythm, the ebb and flow of "I'm in love, I'm in love with you" holding hands as the world ends around them. Through the fear and the fire that happens each time a boy falls in love with a girl, through sickness and health, through deployments and medical school, through unplanned weddings and even more unplanned pregnancies. For every airport pickup, and lunch break, I'm in love with you.

"Movement" is Ballet!Konig and his darling, self explanatory. She makes him love dance again, she moves and thus moves him as well.

"To Be Alone" is Ghost and Die. "Honey, when you kill the lights/ And kiss my eyes/ I feel like a person for a moment of my life/ But you don't know what hell you put me through" do you see my vision? They're tied to each other, they need each other, but it's scary and it hurts, but they can't quit each other. Not yet. (BUT ALSO "Who We Are" is so fucking Ghost and Die "Christ, hold me like a knife" I could write ESSAYS)

"From Eden" is Price and Price. This again strikes me as something that would duet well with the two of them. The death of innocence, the familiarity with each other. There's something almost ancient, intrinsic, about the way they fall together. A demon slithered up from eden and settled outside Price's door, and it was so familiar to him that he had no choice but to love them.

"In a Week" is Gaz and Luck. The duet just works so well. They lay together at the end of all things and yet they still know who lays beside them. They'd know each other blind, in a crowd they'd pick out their love's voice. In death they'd still recognize each other. They're home with each other, and it doesn't matter which consumes them first because when they're found they'll be together with their fingers entwined.

"Son of Nyx" is Soap and Hush. The atmospheric swell of piano, the fuzz of background noise, the haunting lilt of a lyricless voice, the strings dragging against the melody of the piano. Somehow the discordant sounds all piece together into (one of my favorite) song, and then everything falls away just to the strings. The emotion of it just leaves me breathless. There's something careful about the music Soap and Hush make together, something that starts in confusion and ends with a swell of emotion.

"Moment's Silence(Common Tongue)" is Konig and Fetch. It's the oral. BUT it's also the release, the short moment of clarity, or respite, that they give each other. There's no meaning to the things they do, no honor in mercenary work, no greater good they're fighting for. They take meaning in each other, and soothe the wounds of a war that isn't theirs.

"Foreigner's God" is Viking!Soap and his darling. This is another essay I could write. Both of them foreigners, bound by their shared history, by their language, by their desire to live on for the people they've lost. Soap holds his love like a new god. Both of them have suffered, but together they can rebuild.

"Run" is Knight!Ghost and his princess. "Run to me, lover, run until you feel your lungs bleeding" y'know? You get it. The clawing of others for his love, the desperation to get to each other. "A shame without sin" their whole relationship is built on an absence of sin(physicality) but it keeps the shame of their desires. ALSO "First Light" is so them. The absolute love and devotion, seeing your lover when you open your eyes and knowing that your whole life is laying beside you.

I'm not gonna do the fae or Ghost!Ghost because this is already long, sorry. but i have many thoughts on everyone. You're reigniting my Hozier hyperfixation.

[ghouljams]

also would give my liver for hozier tropes

ghoul can you talk about how witch/price correlates to hozier lyrics

I have a couple songs that make me think of Witch/Price. "To someone from a warm climate" for sure, but I have several. Ghoul being pretentious under the cut.

The feel of coldness only water brings

There are some things that no one teaches you, love

That come natural as a dream, you didn't know that you were in

And darlin', all my dreamin'

Is only put to shame

And darlin', all my dreamin'

Has only been given a name

But it came easy, darlin'

As natural as another leg around you in the bed frame

I mean come on, that's them. It feels like a love letter from Price to Witch. From his winter chill to her summer sun. The love that no one can teach you, that feels so natural it feels like it's always been there. They unlearn loneliness together, they fall into each other and it's like a dream they never want to wake up from.

"All of my dreamin... put to shame" Better than a dream, so fantastic it puts dream to shame.

"All of my dreamin... given a name" Witch! The name of Price's hopes and dreams, better than a dream because he can name her. And then just the fact that it's a given name, it's a name that hasn't been coerced or stolen, it's freely given.

"As natural as another leg around you in the bed frame" God they fall into each other and it is natural, it's comfortable and companionable. It's laying in bed on a cold night cuddled close and trying to squeeze that extra bit closer. They lay in bed and Price brushes a spare eyelash off Witch's cheek, tangles their legs together, warm with each other as natural as breathing.

Another song that I think of is "I, Carrion" but specifically because when I heard it in concert Hozier explained it as: being unable to rationalize falling so you romanticize it. Icarus can't bring himself to believe he'd fall, to understand he's going to die, so in his last moments he falls in love with the earth and hopes that she won't hurt him. Which feels very... Witch and Price fall for each other understanding that they could kill each other, that loving each other could kill them. They don't mix, they're summer and winter they're not supposed to mix, but they each hold their arms out to catch each other and hope that it won't hurt when they hit the ground.

NFWMB is self explanatory. Price would gladly fuel the pyer of Witch's fury, plus:

Give your heart and soul to charity

'Cause the rest of you

The best of you

Honey, belongs to me

Just!!! The belonging to each other, the end of loneliness! Witch gives the world her talent and her care, but the rest of her (the best of her) is Price's. She fully gives herself to him, and he gives himself to her in turn. They burn brighter together than they ever could apart.

Lastly I'm going to say "Would that I" is very Witch and Price vibes. Even just the first 2 verses.

True that I saw her hair like the branch of a tree A willow dancing on air before covering me Under cotton and calicoes Over canopy dapple long ago True that love in withdrawal was the weeping of me That the sound of the saw must be known by the tree Must be felled for to fight the cold I fretted fire but that was long ago

Price sees Witch and she's an act of God, she's the wind in the trees and the summer sun. She covers him, under cotton and callicos, it's comforting and affectionate. Old fashioned in a way that speaks to well worn blankets and carefully washed linens.

Price and Witch both have people, but I think at their core they're both very lonely. There's a well of love that they pull water from for each other, with the understanding that they are giving up part of themselves. They give up who they were before they knew each other, they sit in front of the ashes of their former selves and tend to the fire to keep the chill at bay. They give each other their names and build a life together that's greater than it's parts.

Eventually we all hear the sound of the saw, but pruning can be good. We cut off old dead branches to let new ones flourish. We snip flowers to plant seeds. We burn the forest floor to allow new growth to take its place. Price and Witch hold each other and wait for their seeds to sprout after a long plateau of dead limbs and old growth.

And God when that seed sprouts it is something neither of them have seen before, and it's very well loved.

[ghouljams]

are we talking hozier???? Jackie and Wilson is the ultimate Ghost and Goose song (after work song of course). “Every version of me dead and buried in the yard outside […] We tried the world, good God it wasn’t for us // She’s gonna save me, call me ‘baby’ // Run her hands through my hair // She’ll know me crazy, soothe me daily // Better yet, she wouldn’t care”

(Just ignore the last verse lol)

Anon Jackie and Wilson is quite literally my favorite Hozier song, and is absolutely a Ghost and Goose song. (Their youngest daughter is named Jacqueline [Jackie])

I think about them every time I listen to this song. I create little movies in my head of them sitting at the bar and bumping their shoulders together. Of laying in bed and counting each others fingers quietly, tracing scars and whispering soft admissions. Of watching the sunset from horseback and hoping heaven looks just like this. Anyway.

So tired trying to see from behind the red in my eyes No better version of me I could pretend to be tonight So deep in this swill with the most familiar of swine For reasons wretched and divine She blows outta nowhere, roman candle of the wild Laughing away through my feeble disguise No other version of me I would rather be tonight. And, Lord, she found me just in time 'Cause with my mid-youth crisis all said and done I need to be youthfully felt 'cause, God, I never felt young

I mean again I could literally go line by line but the first part is them. It's their meeting and Ghost falling in love. It's Ghost being at his lowest in a bar in nowhere Texas, wondering what he's doing with his life. He's tired, he's surrounded by strangers, he's trying to be a person again, he is wretched.

And Goose blows into his life like a firecracker. She laughs off his attempts at getting rid of her, steals his hat, and he lets himself be a person with her. "No other version of me I would rather be tonight" Good lord he is human with her, he's Simon, he's loved so entirely for reasons wretched and divine. He doesn't have to pretend, he can just be, and in her arms he is the best a man can be. She found him at the end, at rock bottom, just in time to make him pull himself out. Just in time to make life worth living, in time to give him a reason to pull himself out of bed in the morning.

Goose is full of life and youth and she pulls Simon along with her. He gets to feel young when he's been old since he was a child. Forced to bear the weight of the world, now he has someone that helps him set down Atlas' burden. He's having a mid-life crisis at 30 because he never thought he'd make it this far and now the biggest threat to his life his getting kicked by a horse. But it's good, it's so good, there's no one- nowhere else he'd rather be.

She's gonna save me, call me "baby" Run her hands through my hair She'll know me crazy, soothe me daily Better yet, she wouldn't care

Yeah.... yeah. I mean self explanatory. I said in "Work Song" that Goose gives Ghost the space to decide what he wants her to know. She doesn't poke and prod for answers or try to change him. She's there to help him overcome the hard times, but she isn't trying to fix him. (Although she does sign him up for therapy lol) She doesn't care about what bad he did in his past, she trusts that he did it for the right reasons.

She's a balm for his wounds, and the first time she calls him "baby" I think Ghost absolutely melts.

Lord, it'd be great to find a place we could escape sometime Me and my Isis growing black irises in the sunshine Every version of me dead and buried in the yard outside We'd sit back and watch the world go by Happy to lie back watch it burn and rust We tried the world, good God, it wasn't for us

They do have a place to escape to, but also it's just a further removal of Ghost from his life in the military. He wants somewhere just for himself and Goose. A small part of heaven that they can share. Somewhere they can grow things --fruits and vegetables, a family-- somewhere with sunshine and warmth.

The parts of himself that he always hated buried in the yard. Ghost made human again, sitting on the porch watching the sun set. The world moves fast but he's not racing to catch up to it anymore. He sits and enjoys the time he has, the life he's made, because he has Goose to share it with.

"We tried the world, good God, it wasn't for us" feels very much an admittance that they both had problems. They both had scars that they'd picked up trying to fit themselves into the right boxes for the world. Trying to make themselves easily consumable, and finding that for the right person they don't have to. They make their own little patch of the world with the understanding that if it all burns down at least they'll have each other.

We'll name our children, Jackie and Wilson Raise 'em on rhythm and blues

Building a family together, knowing how they're going to raise their kids might not be to everyone's taste but it'll be theirs. And the kids won't mind, the music is good and their house is full of love. It's aspirational, it's a promise; we will have children my love, and we'll raise them without scars.

[ghouljams]

Ghoul's Hozier Bullshit

Work Song(Ghost/Goose)

To Someone from a Warm Climate(Price/Witch)

Like Real People Do(König/Liebling)

It Will Come Back(Ghost/Love)

Jackie and Wilson(Ghost/Goose)

All Hozier all the way down

[ghouljams]

Welcome to the Show

Hello, hello! I'm Ghoul(they/them) and I write fic, like a lot of fic. This is my Directory

I write in second person(you) so all of my fic can be read as x reader, and you can think of any callsigns/nicknames as your own. However, my fic is technically x oc, if that's not for you no problem! I don't include descriptions or names in any of my fics. MDNI

I do not give consent for my work to be used in ai, be that ai chats or ai writing. This is a hard boundary I will not budge on.

COD AUs

Cowboys Fae Demons Ballet Historic Aus Sin Summer Ghost!Ghost Regency Au Cyberpunk Au The Ghost Distribution System Professor Au I want the Darlings

FAQ:

Can I write Fic with your OCs?

Yep! Just tag me in it if you post it.

Can I tell you about an OC I have for [insert au]?

Of course! OC talk is always open, but posting is contained to the morning.

Can I draw you OCs?

Yes. BUT I try to keep their descriptions vague so people can use them as Reader inserts, so I might not post/reblog it if you submit/post the art.

Do you take requests?

Sort of. If you have thoughts I'd love to hear them and if they inspire me I'll write something, but it might not be exactly what you requested. I tend to use asks as jumping off points rather than direct requests.

Do you cross post to anywhere else?

Not currently! If you see my fic elsewhere that isn't me. I don't give my consent to have my work reposted anywhere else.

Could you make a character AI for [insert character or au]?

No. I absolutely abhor ai and hope it crashes and burns before it does any more damage to art and creativity. Role-Play in a discord server like an adult.

Do you have a list of your OCs anywhere?

Yup. Here you go!

Ghoul's Hozier Bullshit

Pillow Princess Ghost