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angelrari · 7 months

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gossip girl · pt. vii

based on the tv series gossip girl

max verstappen / charles leclerc x socialité!reader

fc: elsa hosk (y/n) · taylor hill (léa) · barbara palvin (jolie)

a/n: hi! i am so nervous about you reading this i feel like i'm gonna die!!! i hope you guys really like it and once again thank you so much for commenting and leaving messages i adore them🤍

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gossip girl here, your one and only source into the scandalous lives of monaco's elite.

the moment you stepped off the plane you noticed that doha was extremely hot and humid. max had warned you, he had sent you multiple texts telling you to bring fresh clothes and sandals, and to leave behind jackets and boots. you couldn't stop yourself from thinking how it would be to race under such conditions when even walking outside was uncomfortable.

"hey". you heard max's voice through your airpods.

"hey, i've just landed". you said. "i'm on my way to the hotel right now".

"i'm sorry i couldn't pick you up-".

"max". you interrupted him. "don't worry, i'm very aware you're busy right now. plus you've already sent a driver, which is more than enough".

"yeah, but who would've be a better driver than a two-time f1 champ-?".

"didn't you say the other day you didn't want to sound too cocky? and i'm pretty sure he will do the job well".

"well, tell me if he doesn't, i'll drop everything and i'll pick you up".

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· · · · ·

saturday was the day. by the time you had woken up, max had already left the hotel. the night before, he had told you his schedule was packed, from trainings to meetings until the sprint shootout.

you knew it was going to be a difficult day. being back into the spotlight absolutely terrified you. you weren't sure how people would react when they saw you back in the paddock. back then, when charles and you were a thing, the fans used to love you, but now you weren't so sure.

max and you had planned this beforehand. it wouldn't be like it was in the past. you would not be walking next to max and celebrating his third world championship win with the team like you did with charles whenever he ended on the podium. max had told you he would love to see you there, but you had made it clear you wanted it to be more private. after all, that was a girlfriend would do and you were not. you decided you would be hanging out in the paddock with the rest of the vip guests, but max had given you a red bull pass so you could access to all the facilities if you needed to.

the first thing you did when you arrived to the circuit was text max just to tell him you were there, just like he asked you the night before. he was quick to respond, asking you to join him in the garage, where he was getting ready for the sprint shootout. even though it was still early, the atmosphere was busy. you adjusted your sunglasses hoping you would not be recognized easily, but you quickly spotted a couple of cameras pointing at you. god, the rumors would be terrible.

"y/n?". you head a voice you knew very well. charles was standing in front of you, with his red race suit tied on his hips and a surprised expression on his face.

"hey". you said as you approached him. he, as he always did, opened his arms to give you a hug as a greeting. "i was going to wish max good luck before the craziness starts".

"making friends with the enemy?".

"oh, come on, charles! you know very well that my favorite team has always been ferrari". you said. "plus, i'm pretty sure you love max".

"i know, i know. i'm just messing with you". he confessed. "how come he convinced you to come here?".

"well, you know, stepping out of my comfort zone and that stuff". you explained. "i wanted to come before, but i always felt like the rumors would be too much after we-".

"yeah, don't worry, i get it". he interrupted you. "i'm glad you're here".

"i happy to be here too". you said. "i should probably go see max, he must be waiting for me".

"go, i will see you later".

"good luck, charles". you said as you wrapped his arms around his body, he tightened his embrace to hold you closer. "and please don't get hurt".

"thank you". he said after giving you a soft kiss on your forehead.

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max stood next to two of the red bull engineers, with his navy blue race suit tied on his hips and a bottle of water on the other. he listened carefully to what the engineers were explaining to him, but, as soon as he noticed you, he excused himself to approach you.

"i thought you got lost and i was about to send someone to find you". he said as soon he was close enough for you to hear him.

"i actually found charles on the way and we talked for a bit".

"oh, that makes sense". he replied smiling.

"how are you feeling?".

"pretty relaxed now, but i know it will change the moment i get in the car". he confessed. "i don't want to insist, but you can stay here if you like or, if you want to go somewhere quiet, you can go to my driver room. i've made sure they let you in wherever you want".

"don't worry, max. thank you".

"max". a man called him. "sorry, i hate to interrupt, but the trainer is looking for you".

"just one second and i'll go".

"i should probably go grab some food before the shootout starts". you said. "good luck out there".

you smiled at him and placed your right hand on his arm. max reached out to grab the left hand to pull your body closer to his, your arms instinctively embraced his body as he did the same. and for a few seconds it felt like there was no one else in the room.

· · · · ·

after the celebration of max's third world title with the team, max and you had headed back to the hotel, keeping in mind that the next day was still race day. max, who after a couple of drinks couldn't stop smiling, had asked you if you would like to stay for while and now you were sitting on the sofa of max's hotel room balcony, where you were able to appreciate the stars in the qatari sky. max, after asking which drink you fancied, had opened a bottle of red wine and filled two glasses. you noticed how the burgundy color looked prettier under the moonlight, just like the ocean blue of his eyes.

max had placed his feet on the table in front of him while yours had ended on his lap. his fingers timidly drew small circles on your bare legs and ignited your skin with every movement.

"you know what?". he said while his blue eyes starred at the moon. "i have this vivid image of you in my mind from when you traveled to barcelona to support charles".

"oh, that was in 2019, right?".

"yeah. charles wouldn't stop talking about you back then". he smiled as the memories come back to his mind. "i remember seeing you smile to everyone who approached you, even though charles had told us you were shy and, man, i just remember thinking you looked so pretty that day with that red summer dress you wore".

"oh god, i remember it! you didn't speak to me the whole time i was there and i thought you disliked me or something".

"well, it was the other way around, i definitely had a crush on you". he confessed. "but you were dating charles and you were way out of my league".

"oh, come on". you hit him on his left arm and he chuckled.

"it's true, it's true". he took a sip of the red wine. "and now, four years later, here we are".

his blue eyes starred deeply into yours. the blood rose quickly into your cheeks while your pulse accelerated. it was almost ridiculous how he could make your body temperature rise with just one stare. you left the glass on the table and moved you feet from his lap to be able to come closer to him.

"i've always been fascinated by you".

the moment those words left his mouth you found the courage to place your hands softly on his face. max stare dropped from your eyes to your lips and his hand found their way to your waist, pulling you even closer to his body. carefully, your nose touched his, feeling his breath become deeper. time stopped the moment you placed your lips on his and all you could feel was him: his hands grabbing the fabric of your dress, his chest touching yours as he leaned towards you, his lips moving against yours and deepening the kiss so passionately that you were out of breath. and that night, under the qatari heat, two bodies became one.

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dear-ao3 · 4 months

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saphs song prompt challenge

ring in the new year with me and a silly challenge. any fandom, any genre. only rule is that you must use the song to inspire the fic. multi chap, one shot all are welcome. do as many or as little as you want, on time or not! doesnt matter to me. most fall into the angst/hurt comfort genre because that's what i write best but i threw in some other more happy ones

theres a collection link on ao3 for them here

all of these songs are some of my favorites to write to/about and i wanted to share :)

on each day of the month ill post some of my favorite lines/a bit of analysis of each song if anyone needs a bit of inspiration. happy writing everyone

the songs:

jan 1: quite miss home by james arthur

jan 2: lonely eyes by lauv

jan 3: dear reader by taylor swift

jan 4: my friends toyota by asiris

jan 5: montana by mikey ferrari

jan 6: girl on the internet by knox

jan 7: 3 am by matchbox 20

jan 8: jet pack blues by fall out boy

jan 9: love u like that by lauv

jan 10: line without a hook by ricky montgomery

jan 11: who says you can't go home by bon jovi

jan 12: just to hear you say that you love me by faith hill

jan 13: honest by the chainsmokers

jan 14: two by sleeping at last

jan 15: i hate your friends by alex cole

jan 16: safe inside by james arthur

jan 17: all i want by kodaline

jan 18: almost lover by a fine frenzy

jan 19: stick season by noah kahan

jan 20: if i could fly by one direction

jan 21: what am i by why don't we

jan 22: falling slowly from once

jan 23: the night we met by lord huron

jan 24: roaring 20s by panic! at the disco

jan 25: wonder by shawn mendes

jan 26: best years by 5 seconds of summer

jan 27: one way ticket by one ok rock

jan 28: falling by harry styles

jan 29: give me love by ed sheeran

jan 30: illicit affairs by taylor swift

jan 31: shallow by lady gaga and bradley cooper

#not a tag #from saph #ao3 #song prompt

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wongyuseokie · 2 years

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Mine | JJK

Summary: Jungkook really shouldn’t have ventured into the house that no one else did, and he really should have seen the warning signs, but something about you drew him in, and now, he was in and never getting out.

☆ 18+ minors dni |☀︎fluff | ☁︎ angst | ♕smut | ♥ completed works Word Count: 5647 words

Age: 18+ Pairings: Jungkook x Demon! Female Reader

Genres/AUs/Tropes: Smut, Angst, Horror

Warnings: Unprotected sex, OC is much more than someone who manages a haunted house. Keep reading to find out. Squirting, deception, and revenge at its finest. Mentions of blood and Koo falls over and scrapes his knee. Multiple orgasms, and oral male and female receiving, call it a sinister Pokémon hunt?

Author’s Note: Kinkotober? Halloween smut is based very (EXTREMELY) loosely on the Haunting of the Bly Manor. Also, lowkey based on Taylor Swift’s Blank Space MV, the last scene, where she kills the guy and then gets ready, a new guy shows up at her door again, and the music restarts. You’ll get it later 😅 Authors Note 2: I wrote this fic some time ago, and I wanted to revive it (GET IT) for Halloween. This is my contribution to The Nightmares of Mystic Manor collab hosted by BTS Dream Court and BTS Carnival Net Authors Note 3: I didn't think I'd revive a fic, much less this one, but I could not have done any of it without my lovely friends who took time out of their days to hear me yell about banners and content for so long, thank you @shina913 and @here4btsfics for taking the time to read through this and give me feedback and help beta this! I adore you both endlessly!! 💕 Banner Credits: @classicseffects Cross Posted to AO3 © playmetheclassics 2022. All rights reserved.

Jungkook loved Halloween.

It was the perfect time to play jokes and scare the shit out of people and the perfect time to encourage his “no fear, and YOLO” agenda. But tonight, he had different plans. He was going to do something that no one would dare, and for that very reason, Jungkook had to do it.

There was a mansion on Hill Street. It was rumoured to be haunted. Once upon a time, it housed a mob boss. Anyone who ever crossed him was met with a long and torturous death. He often took care of business at home. People have said that the manor’s walls had witnessed brutal murders. Decades later, the ghosts of the mob boss’ victims continue to roam the halls, wailing and screaming for mercy. and The story was that anyone who walked into that house never came out, and every Halloween, some idiot would venture into that house to never be seen again.

Jungkook laughed at all the rumours, but he was about to become that idiot tonight.

“Dude, just keep your location on, okay? Once you get to the house, just send me a message, and if your ass isn’t out by tomorrow, I’ll call the police,” Jimin warned. He was exhausted from trying to reason with Jungkook.

Jungkook could be as stubborn as a mule, and he nodded, seeing how Jimin finally gave in which made him so happy. “I’m fucking serious. If I don’t hear from you, I’ll kill you before whatever resides in that house kills you first!” Jimin said, and Jungkook nodded, this time taking the words of his friend thoughtfully.

“Noted! Now, I shall see you tomorrow if the house hasn’t killed me before that,” Jungkook jokes, making Jimin glare at him.

God, how he hated Jungkook’s adventurous streak and wished that he could tie him to a chair until Halloween was over. Jimin knew, Halloween or not, Jungkook would still venture into the house, regardless. Might as well let him do it once, get spooked and never try again, Jimin rationalised as he glared at Jungkook, who excitedly packed his bag and laced up his boots.

“Alright, see you never, Hyung!” Jungkook said as he headed towards the door, earning a smack upside his head from Jimin.

“Just go on and get your adrenaline fix! I will see you later, you brat!” Jimin nearly yelled, and Jungkook nodded, giving Jimin a tight hug before leaving.

“Damn!” Jungkook said as he reached the edge of the forest, where the manor was. He couldn’t lie to himself–it was eerie! The entire journey here was right out of a horror movie. It was dark and foggy and oddly quiet. It was just an old house, according to Jungkook, nothing else. Just a stupid old place with horrible rumours.

Jungkook would merely step inside, take a selfie and possibly say hi to a non-existent disembodied soul and then leave. And then brag to Jimin about how he was invincible and how Jimin was too worried for his own good.

However, despite how brave Jungkook was, he couldn’t ignore the feeling that he was being followed or watched as he got out of his car and approached the manor.

Jungkook always had a terrible habit of walking with his head held too high. Often, this meant he would miss a step and trip, and that’s precisely what happened as he approached the manor. He tripped and scraped his knee. He hissed in pain as he got up on his feet, only to jump in fear when he felt a hand on his back.

“Hi,” a small voice spoke from behind him. The voice filled the silence of the forest, and Jungkook swore his heart nearly stopped. Maybe this wasn’t such a good idea.

“Fuck- what the hell,” Jungkook gasped, panting hard as he placed his hand over his chest to steady his erratic heartbeat.

“Jesus, who are you?” Jungkook asked you. There was something about you, he thought, something ethereal and angelic. It was almost as if you were glowing. However, he didn’t dwell on it for too long. It was a forest, and it was foggy, it could have just been his eyes.

“Y/N,” you said, and Jungkook nodded slowly. “Are you following me or something? Who else would come to the Hill Manor?” He asked, staring at you, and you let out a soft laugh that Jungkook could have sworn sounded like music, like a choir of angels singing. But there was an underlying hint of something more sinister behind your laughter. But again, he didn’t dwell on it for too long. After all, ghosts didn’t really exist for him.

“I manage the Hill Manor, so I feel like I should be asking you what you’re doing here? Anyway, what’s your name?” You asked, moving your hand away from Jungkook’s back. And he swore that he felt the part that your hands were just on tingle. It didn’t hurt, but it felt funny.

Again, he didn’t think anything of it.

“Jungkook,” he said, smiling softly at you.

“Fuck, aren’t you nervous to, like, live here? Aren’t there ghosts and shit inside?” Jungkook asked, making you smile. The sweetest smile ever, he thought.

“Ghosts don’t exist, but I’m guessing you’re an adrenaline junkie. Here to prove something to your friends?” You questioned him, and Jungkook nodded shyly.

“Well, it’s a good thing I caught you. Most people try to break in and then run away when they hear my footsteps approach the front door,” you joked, making Jungkook smile.

“Come on, why don’t you come in? Your cut looks pretty deep and needs to be cleaned out. I have a first-aid kit inside and we can bandage it up, then afterwards, you can take as many selfies as you want,” you offered, and Jungkook nodded as he followed you towards the manor.

Jungkook could have sworn that the blood loss was affecting him more than usual. Your movements were so lithe…which made it really strange since the path to the manor was unpaved and uneven. Any normal person walking through this area would be staggering around. But you weren’t walking. You were floating. Your feet never touched the ground, but he thought that maybe he was starting to hallucinate due to blood loss, and again, the forest was foggy.

People don’t float. At least…not normal people.

“Holy shit,” Jungkook breathed out he entered the manor, and you closed the door behind him.

“What? Did you expect bodies and carnage?” You asked, and Jungkook shrugged, making you laugh.

“I manage this house, so I make sure to clean, and care for it. Besides, why would I want to make it look less appealing when my job is to get this place sold?” You explained, and Jungkook nodded as he looked around the house.

“Wait, you actually have buyers interested in this property? I thought the scary stories would have put them off?” Jungkook asked, and you smiled at him and shrugged.

“Well, I guess. I’m banking on finding one of those eccentric buyers that think living in a rumoured haunted house is cool,” you joked, making him grin at you.

“Why don’t you sit down? I’ll grab that first aid kit for you,” you suggested, and Jungkook nodded as he sat down in the living room. Everything looked modern, but what really caught his eye were the oil paintings on the wall. They were portraits, and he could have sworn one of the faces resembled yours. But again, he didn’t give it much thought.

“I can’t take these down. It adds intrigue to the house,” you said as you found Jungkook eyeing the paintings.

“You know, if I didn’t know any better, I’d say that one looks a lot like you,” he jokes, pointing at the specific portrait, earning a smile from you.

“Now, wouldn’t that be crazy?” You said, laughing and Jungkook nodded, agreeing.

It would be fucking crazy.

“I thought you were grabbing a first aid kit?” Jungkook asked as he saw a wet washcloth in your hand and disinfectant in the other.

“My grandma taught me old school methods. She said it’s always important to learn how to treat injuries without relying too much on modern medicine,” you explained, making him nod.

“Will I still get a band-aid?” Jungkook jokes, and you smile, nodding.

“Of course,” you answered as you sat on the couch next to him.

“Lift,” you said, nudging Jungkook’s thigh, and he hesitated. You rolled your eyes and slid off the couch to sit on your knees in front of him.

“Oh no, I can lift my leg,” Jungkook replied quickly, feeling bad for making you sit on the floor. You smiled, shaking your head at him.

“Lean back, let me clean your knees. You have tiny pebbles and dirt on them,” you offered, and he nodded, leaning back.

Jungkook winced when you dabbed his knee with the disinfectant. “Ow!” Jungkook whined, earning a soft chuckle from you.

“I thought a man covered in tattoos would have a higher pain threshold?” You joked, earning a scowl from him.

“That was voluntary pain, this is not,” Jungkook argued, and you shrugged.

“You decided to visit this manor. Despite everyone telling you not to, I’m sure. So… this counts as something pretty voluntary to me,” you said as you dabbed a salve on his wound.

“Are you always this sassy?” Jungkook asked, and you smiled at him.

“It depends on my mood,” you answered.

“And what has gotten you particularly sassy this Halloween evening?” He asked, and you sighed.

“Well, I used to throw Halloween parties here, but we had an incident some years ago where this family decided to bring their toddler. Needless to say, she got spooked. Word got out and we got some bad press. Since then, Halloween has become quite lonely,” you explained, and Jungkook nodded.

“Until you tripped. I was taking a walk, and as I was heading back, I saw you were first staring at the house and then fell over,” you explained, earning a glare from Jungkook.

“You saw me fall and didn’t help?” He asked incredulously.

“I’m helping now, aren’t I?” You spoke, and Jungkook nodded. You smiled, wrapped bandages around his injured knee and stood up.

“Thanks,” Jungkook said.

“Uh, any way I can repay you?” Jungkook asked as you sat on the coffee table across from him.

“I’d suggest joining me for a drink, but I’m assuming you drove here?” You asked and Jungkook nodded sadly.

“Ah, yeah, I’m sorry,” he scratches his neck.

Just then, as if by some force of God or magic, the wind started to howl outside, followed by some lightning and a loud thunderclap, making Jungkook throw his head back and groan.

“Welp, I guess I’m here until that dies down. I hope that’s okay?” Jungkook asked, and you nodded.

“More than okay. What’s your poison?” You asked, and he stared at you strangely.

“I feel like that’s a terrible thing to ask someone in a haunted house,” Jungkook jokes, and you laughed, leaning forward as you stood up.

“Do you scare easily?” You asked, and he looked up to meet your gaze.

“Nope! And I’ll have whatever you’re having,” Jungkook said confidently, leaning back into the couch, making you smile at him as you wandered off to the kitchen to fix him a drink.

A few moments later, you return and present him with a glass of amber liquid and ice. “Here you go!” Jungkook mouths his thanks as he accepts the drink. He took a sip of it, then immediately grimaced at the intense, burning feeling that went down his throat.

“Fuck, what is that?” He asked. He didn’t exactly hate the taste, but it certainly didn’t feel like anything familiar that he’s tried before.

“Whiskey, but it’s kind of an old treasure from this house. One of the previous owners had it, and well, I guess it got stronger over time?” You chuckled.

Jungkook’s eyes widened in awe. “So…we’re drinking a dead man’s liquor,” he laughed, “That’s got to be a solid reason to haunt you!” You roll your eyes at him.

“Why are you so damn convinced that this house is haunted?” You asked, and Jungkook shrugged.

“Where there’s smoke, there’s usually fire,” he said wisely, earning a chuckle from you.

“Alright, ghostbuster, would you like a tour of this manor?” You asked, making Jungkook’s eyes light up, nodding enthusiastically. “Finish your drink, and I’ll show you around. When we’re done,I’ll leave it up to you to decide whether or not this house is haunted,” you said, making him smile.

“Deal, but I do want a selfie with a ghost,” Jungkook jokes. You stifle a smile in response as you watch him down the rest of his drink.

“Oh, wow- I can see why this place would scare someone though,” Jungkook gasped as he followed you up the grand staircase that led into the hallway where the bedrooms were. “So if I opened the door to one of these rooms, would I see a spirit?” He asked playfully, earning a nudge from you.

Just as Jungkook laughed, a flash of lightning illuminated the second floor of the manor. He swore he saw someone behind you, just a shadow, but it wasn’t yours.

He immediately dismissed it.

“Scared yet?” You teased, making Jungkook glare at you.

“Here,” you said, handing him a bottle of liquor. “Take another sip of courage.” Jungkook grabs the bottle from you and takes a long swig, making him shudder. He would never get used to that burning sensation but at least it soothed his nerves.

“Okay, I’ll say this- this place is quite creepy,” Jungkook said as you guided him along the first floor and to another set of stairs.

“Come on, we haven’t even gotten to the best part,” you said as you climbed up another set of stairs, only for Jungkook to grab your wrist slowly.

“Wait, can I walk ahead?” He asked–showing off a bit–, waiting for you to tease him, but you just smiled at him.

“Are you scared?” You asked. There was no humour in your tone. You were honestly concerned.

“Spooked,” Jungkook admitted, and you smiled at him.

“Sorry. Why don’t we take a little break? We can relax in my room. It’s a lot less creepy,” you said, making him nod.

There was something so eerie about the hallways in this house, almost as if someone was lying in wait, ready to pounce at any point and drag him into the shadows…where he would meet a slow and painful death.

Jungkook’s grave thoughts are interrupted when you grab his hand and guide him to your room. He flinched at the contact because your skin was painfully cold to the touch…but then again, the entire house felt frigid. He thought that maybe you needed to sit in front of the fireplace or something to warm up but judging by the light clothing you had on, it looked like you were already used to the house’s arctic nature. You did live here, after all.

“Here,” you said, letting go of Jungkook’s hand as you opened your bedroom door. You let him in first and turned around to close the door behind you, not bothering to lock it.

“Yeah, this room is a lot more, I guess, bright?” Jungkook said, not knowing what to say. He wanted to say that this was the only room in the house that didn’t look insidious or scary. You walked closer to him, placing your hand on his back. He recoiled slightly but relaxed when he turns to face you.

“It’s okay to admit that you’re scared. I wouldn’t judge. Not at all. My first three months in this house, it was hell. I’d stay awake all night and wait ‘til broad daylight to get some sleep. But you get used to it, you know,” you shrug Hearing that gave Jungkook a small sense of comfort.

“Why don’t you sit?” You said as you guided him to your bed, and Jungkook nodded, kicking his shoes off and sitting on your bed, wincing slightly when his wounded knee grazed your mattress.

“You okay?” You said, approaching him and standing in between his legs. Jungkook nodded, smiling at you.

Jungkook didn’t know what exactly it was, but there was something magnetic, practically hypnotic, about you. He first felt it when you touched his back when he fell, and it never went away. You were drawing him in, and for some reason, Jungkook felt at ease. It wasn’t like you had wings, devil horns, or fangs. You were just a person…with a strange job.

“I’m just going to change into something more comfortable, but why don’t you make yourself at home?” You suggested, and Jungkook nodded as he settled further into your bed, allowing the soft sheets to caress his skin.

Jungkook fished out his phone to message Jimin and update him. He did breathe out a sigh of relief when he saw that his phone hadn’t mysteriously died upon setting foot into the house. That would usually happen in all horror movies.

Jungkook shot Jimin a text with his location, replied to a few other messages, and sent Jimin a selfie and a quick note about how you helped him out. Jimin replied, ‘use protection,’ making him chuckle as he placed his phone on your bedside table.

When you emerge from the bathroom, Jungkook nearly chokes at the sight of you.

“Y-you’re glowing…you know that?” Jungkook stutters, and you smile at him.

“What?” You asked, laughing as you climbed into the bed sitting inches away from Jungkook.

“You have this glow around you. Literally, like an angel, a halo if you will,” Jungkook said, and you rolled your eyes at him.

“I’m guessing that yo’re single? Your pickup game is pretty weak,” you teased, and Jungkook pouted at you.

“Hey!” He scoffed.

“It’s true, I am single, but that wasn’t a pickup line! I was merely stating a fact,” he said, and you smiled, inching closer to him.

Jungkook was painfully aware of the fact that your version of changing was simply removing your hoodie, leaving you in your tight tank top and leggings that hugged every inch of your legs. You weren’t wearing a bra, he could tell.

He tried to be a gentleman, but he was only human. Your hardened nipples were poking through your shirt, and Jungkook wanted to latch his lip around them while his hand played with the other.

“Then tell me…what is your game like?” You asked, your voice low, and he smiled at you.

“I don’t talk a lot. I prefer to show,” he said, staring directly at you, making you smile at him.

“Show?” You cocked an eyebrow, playing along with him.

“I can demonstrate…if you like?” Jungkook asked, and you nodded.

“May I?” He asked, and you nodded, yelping slightly as Jungkook wrapped his arm around you and pulled you onto his lap. “You’re so cold,” he said as he wrapped his arm around your waist, his fingers moving to inch up your tank top slightly and settling on your skin.

“I guess you’ll have to warm me up?” You said, making him smirk.

“And here you are saying my pull game is weak?” Jungkook teased, earning a playful frown from you, and laughed.

“Fuck, Y/N! If I start, I don’t think I’ll be able to stop,” Jungkook said, and you smiled at him.

“Then don’t stop,” you whispered, and Jungkook groaned as you moved to place a soft kiss on his neck.

“Fuck- shouldn’t I at least take you out on a date or something first?” He asked, and you smiled, sitting on his lap.

“You wanted to pay me back for fixing up your knee? This can be it,” you said, and Jungkook grinned.

“Fuck, I came here with the intent of taking a selfie with a ghost,” Jungkook joked as he pulled you in closer, and you laughed.

“Well, just say you fucked one,” you joked as he laughed along with you.

“Come here, let me show you how grateful I am,” Jungkook said as he pulled you in for a kiss, and you moaned, immediately kissing him back with his lips gently massaging yours. He moved away when he felt you tug at his shirt and lifted his arms, allowing you to take off his top.

“So good,” you mewled as you took in his body. His abs seemed to trail down endlessly. Jungkook smirked before pulling you back in for a kiss, this one more desperate, making you moan. He took it as an opportunity to slip his tongue into your mouth, deepening the kiss.

His hands moved to the hem of your tank top, and he yanked it,off your body, exposing your breasts to him.

“Fucking hell, your tits are amazing,” Jungkook moaned in approval as he wrapped his lips around your hardened nipple, while his other hand massaged your other breast.

“May I?” he asked, as his hand slithered down to your cunt.

“Fuck- Jungkook, please,” you begged, and he shamelessly smirked at your state. He pushed you off his lap and onto the bed, laying you on your back. Jungkook’s hands went to your leggings and pulled them off along with your panties, groaning and moaning when he felt how wet you were.

“Fuck, all this for me?” Jungkook asked, making you sigh in pleasure. His hands trailed up your thigh and stopped, spreading your legs apart further, laying down between them. You could feel his breath on your cunt, and it didn’t help that he gently blew on your cunt, making you buck your pussy into his face.

Jungkook gripped your thighs tighter and pulled you close, his nose hitting your clit making you moan at the touch.

He moved his mouth to wrap around your cunt, sliding his tongue up and down your folds. He was listening to your moans, waiting to see when his tongue would meet the spot that would have you cumming. Your thighs started thrashing in his grip, and he figured that he found the perfect place.

He moved and wrapped his lips around your clit, his tongue jutting out and harshly flicking at your clit. Your hands went to his hair, knotting themselves in his soft curls. Jungkook slipped two fingers into your cunt, moved them in and out of you making your walls tighten at the onslaught.

“Fuck- Jungkook! So good,” you breathed out. Jungkook hummed into your pussy, the vibrations making you clench even tighter. He enjoyed the praise, always eager to please. He kept moving his mouth, sucking and flicking your clit, while his tattooed fingers continued to pump in and out of your pussy.

You felt something snap, and you pulled at Jungkook’s hair. You fell apart on his tongue and fingers. He wasted no time lapping up your release.

It was almost inhuman how quickly you undid Jungkook’s trousers and shrugged them off. Within seconds your lips were wrapped around his cock.

Jungkook was thick, and your hands wrapped around the remainder of his length as you took him and started to suck him. He let out a sound that sounded like a mix between a low growl and a strangled whimper as you continued to suck him.

You grazed your nails along his thighs and he let out a shaky breath, bucking his length into your throat, making you gag slightly. You hollow your cheeks and bobbed your neck up and down his length, sucking and licking until you felt him still, releasing in your mouth.

Jungkook couldn’t get enough of you. His eyes drank you in; his mouth was desperate to taste you again. He approached you and lifted your legs, placing them on his shoulder, his mouth immediately finding your cunt.

Jungkook dove straight in, his thick tongue flicking against your swollen clit. Your hands made their way into his hair. He pushed in three fingers this time and it didn’t take much before you came on his tongue. Jungkook lapped at your release while you whimpered in oversensitivity.

“Let me kiss it better?” Jungkook offered.

You rolled your eyes at him, “Just fucking do something.”

Jungkook smirked as he dove straight in. Again. He started by running his tongue along your folds, moaning at the taste. He gently grazed his teeth against your clit, making you buck your face against his mouth. He wrapped his lips around your clit and sucked while his tongue constantly ran over your swollen clit.

“More,” you begged as your head fell back into the bed. Jungkook complied and slipped three fingers inside you as you moaned at the stretch.

Jungkook moved his three fingers against the inside of your pussy and kept hitting against the rough patch of the skin. His tongue kept running over your clit while his three fingers thrust in and out of you at a fast pace.

“Fuck! Jungkook, I want to cum,” you whimpered as he kept fingering and licking you. Jungkook moved his fingers faster, and you felt your orgasm wash over you, your thighs threatening to snap shut around Jungkook’s head.

“Mm?” He looked up and smirked when he saw how fucked out you looked. Jungkook helped you ride out your orgasm with his fingers and tongue, and you were practically mewling as you tugged on his hair. He loved knowing that he could do that with just his tongue.

Jungkook rubbed his cock against your wet folds several times and then pushed in. “Fuck,” you hissed. “Fuck you’re tight,” Jungkook groaned.

You hissed as the stretch was quite intense after three orgasms, but he felt so good. “Move,” you whispered, and that’s all it took for Jungkook to lift your legs and place them on his shoulders, allowing him to hit deeper inside you.

His thrusts were rough, and each time he would withdraw only to push back harder and deeper.

Jungkook’s thrusts started to get more uneven as he closed in on his orgasm. He reached down and rubbed at your swollen clit, making you cum around his cock. Not long after, he came inside you, making you moan at the feeling of him pulsing and spurting into you.

He removed your legs from his shoulder and moved down your body. Jungkook’s mouth found your cunt, as he licked his cum out of you, making you orgasm yet again. You whimpered, tugging at his hair and pulling him up to hold you.

You came around his tongue whimpering in pleasure, but Jungkook wasn’t done. He got off his knees and pulled you into his arms. Your back was pressed against his chest, and he spread your legs wide open as he trailed two fingers down to your cunt.

He slipped his fingers into your cunt and started pumping. Jungkook wasted no time. He had one goal: to make you cum as many times as humanly possible.

“Fuck,” you whined as you grabbed his tattooed arm. Jungkook moaned as he sucked on your neck. You felt your vision fade as you came hard and practically snapped your legs shut and curled into Jungkook’s embrace.

“Fuck, that was-” you stopped speaking when you saw you had squirted all over his hands. “That was fucking hot,” Jungkook said as he pulled you closer to him.

“Happy Halloween, I guess?” Jungkook said, laughing, making you smile as he pulled you into his arms. “Fuck- so good,” you said, curling into his chest and placing soft kisses on them.

Jungkook found your kisses intoxicating. They were making him dizzy, but maybe that was just a testament to how good your kisses were. You smirked triumphantly when you noticed that he, like many, fell into a deep sleep when you pulled your lips away from him.

And he would stay that way for a while.

“This fucking moron,” Jimin cursed as he got out of his car. It had been a day since Jungkook left on his stupid adventure. He hadn’t called or returned home since telling Jimin that he was with a female who kept him occupied.

The fact remained, he willingly entered an alleged haunted house. Anything could have happened to him…

Jimin stepped out of his car and glanced at the manor suspiciously. Why would anyone in their right mind ever venture into this house that was beyond eerie and looked like it was straight out of the multiple horror movies Jungkook frequently watched.

The thick fog made it hard to see, but he swore that the ground he was walking on was smooth until he tripped. While Jimin was prone to falling off most objects, the ground was even, so why did he stumble and graze his knee, and why did it almost feel like he was pushed? He looked around but saw no one.

Jimin shook his head, cursing when he saw his knee bleeding. He hissed in pain as he got up on his feet, only to jump in fear when he felt a hand on his back.

“Hi,” a small voice spoke from behind him, the voice filling the silence of the forest, and Jimin swore his heart nearly stopped. Maybe this wasn’t such a good idea, and perhaps he could go on with the rest of his life without wondering if Jungkook was fucked and killed by a demon.

“Fuck!” Jimin yelled, panting hard as he placed his hand over his chest to steady his erratic heartbeat.

“Jesus, who are you?” Jimin asked you. There was something about you, he thought. Something ethereal and angelic. It was almost as if you were glowing. However, he didn’t dwell on it for too long. It was a forest, and it was foggy. It could have just been his eyes.

“Y/N,” you said, and Jimin nodded slowly.

“Are you following me or something? Who else would come to the Hill Manor?” Jungkook asked, staring at you, and you let out a soft laugh that Jimin could have sworn sounded like music, like a choir of angels singing. But there was a hint of something more sinister in your laughter. Again, Jimin didn’t dwell on it for too long. After all, ghosts didn’t exist for him.

“I manage the Hill Manor, so I feel like I should be asking you what you’re doing here. Anyway, what’s your name?” You asked, and Jimin smiled, replying.

“Jimin.”

You smiled, blushing.

“You must be Jungkook’s friend. Jungkook described you so well and spoke about you nonstop,” you lied.

“He’s- uh, recovering. Why don’t you come in, and I’ll get you a band-aid for your knee?” You suggested continuing your lie, and Jimin nodded.

You seemed harmless, and you smirked as Jimin followed you into the manor. You did the same thing with Jimin, flirted, fixed his grazed knee, and planted a soft kiss on his cheek, saying how good of a friend he was, and that was enough.

If a man kissed you, they’d be fine. But if you initiated the kiss on any part of their body, that was when they would fall under your spell, enraptured, bound, and kept.

The first step was to establish some physical contact, and you did that by pushing the men down the minute they stepped towards the manor.

Then you would appear. Act as a regular Florence Nightingale and try to heal their wounds, and then, once you are done, you would make them fall deeper with each touch.

And with every touch, the poor souls would forget why they were ever in the manor to begin with.

All they’d know is that they wanted to spend their time in the manor ravaging you, and you would let them, gladly.

And when you were done with that, you would kiss them. A final kiss, a kiss which had the magic to put them to sleep as you moved them into another room.

A room where all your lovers and conquests would stay, be well fed and taken care of. But they could never leave, and if they tried, then you shuddered to think what would happen. You hated to ever kill one of those handsome, gullible men.

Which is precisely what you thought when you moved Jimin to his private room. He could never leave, but only you could enter. There were seven rooms in the house for this purpose, and you would take your sweet time filling them.

It made you laugh at times. All the signs were there, the old whiskey, the portrait that had your face on it.

It was your manor. You ruled it and haunted it.

You were left heartbroken by a man once—well, several centuries ago. But with the perks of being an immortal and a succubus, you decided that you would get rid of the wings, and the tail, and adopt a more modern look and lure men in.

No man was ever going to leave you, you’d ensure it. You smirked as you locked Jimin’s door and checked in on Jungkook as he was still sound asleep. You knew he had five other friends, and one by one, you will capture them all and keep them.

Had they been wise, they would have paid attention to the rumours because, indeed, there was no way to leave once you entered this house. They were all yours.

“All mine,” you said, caressing Jungkook’s soft face as you closed his door and took his phone to message his friend Taehyung. And once he texted that he was once his way, all you had to do was quietly wait by the forest, trip him up, and you’d have another one.

In the end, you could say, “Finally, they’re all mine.”

#jungkook #jungkook x yn #jungkook x you #jungkook oneshot #jungkook fanfic #jungkook smut #jungkook angst #indigo writes #mine: jjk fic #jungkook imagine #bts fanfic #bts smut #btscarnivalnet #bts fanfction #bts imagines #bts one shot #nightmaresofmysticmanor

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hollyhomburg · 9 months

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OFFICIAL BILY PLAYLIST

Notes: people have asked me for this a few times over the course of the series and i’ve finally put it together. i put a 🌟 next to the ones that i feel like are the most representative of each of the characters :) hobi of course has the most songs out of everyone because that’s sort of his thing!

Series Masterlist

Tae

🌟 Chappell roan - pink pony club ( tae’s quintessential song)

🌟 Crawlers- Come over again (the m/c about the tae x jimin relationship)

Kali uchias- Telepatia (the first song that ever made me think of bily tae)

Mitski - washing machine heart (tae x mc)

David Kushner- Daylight

🌟 CL - 5 stars (mc x jk, how she feels about him)

🌟 Lily is that you - FMRN

Peach Tree Rascals- Mariposa

Enhyphen- Fever

Jk - seven

Jimin

🌟 Frank Ocean - Chanel

Hozier - Take me to church (tae x jimin, jimin about tae)

Glass animals- The other side of paradise

Imagine dragons- Enemy (jimin x jin, once they find out about each others secrets)

Soyoon ft rm. Smoke sprite (this song captures the essence of jimin’s devotion really well)

Yoongi

amber run - i found (mc x Yoongi at the beginning)

Fujii Kaze- Shinunoga e-wa

🌟 Orange juice - Noah Kahn (Yoongi x pack, when he comes home and is unsure if the pack will take him back)

Lela Ross- Like we’ll never have sex (mc x Yoongi)

🌟 Delaney Bailey- J’s lullaby

Tessa violet- kitchen song

the cinematic orchestra - to build a home

Call your mom - noah kahan

Hobi

🌟 Willow smith- Meet me at our spot (m/c x hobi, a song that captures every single late night drive they take)

Cherub- Doses and mimosas

Golden vessel - Highway

Le seraphim - Sour grapes (hobi x m/c, how they feel about each other in the middle of the story)

Halfalive- whats wrong (THE hobi song, i first heard this at the very begining of writing and it greatly captures his charecter)

Mikky ecko- Pull me down

Damien styles- American paranoid freak

Lorde – Ribs

Slenderbodies- Anemone

🌟 Sapient dream- Past lives

Namjoon

Timber Timbre- like a mountain

Cults- Gilded lily

🌟 Hozier- Work song

Role Model -Notice me (m/c x namjoon)

the neighborhood - Daddy issues

Jin

🌟 Epic high- Rosario (THE quintessential bily song, the very first idea i had for bily came from this song)

Hozier- Eat your young

Taylor swift- Sweet nothing

soap and skin - me and the devil (jimin x jin)

Sufjan stevens- Fourth of july (jk x jin, when jk goes into the hospital b/c of seizures)

M/c

🌟 Kate Bush- running up the hill (m/c x hobi, the very end of the story)

Selena Gomez - Ring

🌟 Rae Ami- Meanie head (her x geumjae)

Mia- Bad girls

Melanie martinez- EVIL

Misamo- “do not touch”

Billie eilish- What was I made for

#bts omegaverse au #bts a/b/o #bts x reader #bts poly au #bts gang au #bts mafia au #bts polyamory au #bts au #bts fluff #bts hurt/comfort #bts werewolf au #bts angst bts omegaverse fic #bts hybrid fic

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taste-in-music · 4 months

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My Top 30 Songs of 2023

Hello everyone! Welcome back to my annual countdown of my 30 favorite songs of the year. 2023 had a lot of great music releases, and I’m so excited to recount the songs I returned to this year. And now, let us commence with the list!

Here are 10 additional honorable mentions: "Wide Eyes" by Loviet, "I Cry When You Sleep" by Pearly Drops, "Dreamgirl" by Father Koi, "My Love Mine All Mine" by Mitski, "Batman Song" by Cat Missal, "The Neighborhood" by Grace Enger, "I Been Young" by George Clanton, "Bright Red" by Ryan Beatty, "Dumbest Girl Alive" by 100 Gecs, and "The Narcissist" by Blur.

30. Angora Hills by Doja Cat: “Angora Hills,” a hit off Doja Cat's latest album Scarlet, is airy yet effortlessly self-assured, trading between quick-spit rap verses and a chorus of kitteny coos. But don’t get too lost in the sparkling keys and cutesy voicemails. There’s a spark, an edge, a darkness lurking in the murky bass and ominous synths which lends the song a greater intensity. “'Cause love is pain but I need this shit,” Doja Cat raps on the second verse, playing out cleverly rhymes romantic fantasies with an exhibitionist spin. “I wanna show you off,” she suggests on the song’s chorus, the red-hot desire roiling just beneath the surface.

29. Slut! by Taylor Swift: I think everyone was a little surprised hearing “Slut!,” the first vault track on 1989 (Taylor’s Version). When I first saw that title, I thought I was in for a catchy package of sassy one-lines and circa-2014 pop feminism. Instead, we got a tenderhearted ballad of wispy synths and Swift’s insightful musings on love in the limelight. Commentary does creep in (“Everyone wants him, that was my crime,”) but Swift focuses more on choice imagery of a love worth risking it all for: aquamarine swimming pools, thorny roses, and lovedrunk confessions. Sometimes, the most defiant thing is knowing that no matter how people might try to strip you of dignity, they’ll never be able to take your love away from you.

28. Nothing Matters by The Last Dinner Party: All-female British rock outlet The Last Dinner Party made a splash in 2023 with their confrontational yet exuberant debut single “Nothing Matters.” For a song with such a nihilistic title, it packs a punch of gravitas and a wry sense of humor. Lead vocalist Abigail Morris knows just when to heighten the melodrama, stretching the word “sailor” into “say-lahr” and belting the final refrain to the high heavens: “You can hold me like you held her / And I will fuck you like nothing matters.” In the music video, the group stomps around a gothic mansion in frilly petticoats and leather boots, tearing up feather mattresses and lip synching down to a camera positioned six feet deep in a grave. It all exhibits a keen ability to balance out the toughness with a cheeky wink, making it clear the group is only just getting started.

27. Running Out Of Time by Paramore: Much of Paramore’s sixth album This Is Why tears into the absurdity and stress of modern life. On “Running Out Of Time,” Hayley Williams captures the breakneck speed of life accelerated by packed schedules and the 24 hour news cycle, describing a self-destructive ouroboros of trying to catch up with the clock, doing her best to do good and always coming up short. “Intentions only get you so far,” she sings, “What if I’m just a selfish prick…?” It captures the stress and self-doubt, but also the conviction to keep moving forward despite it all. Williams provides a spirited performance as always, her vocals cutting through a pop rock groove that provides just enough energy to keep you from falling down the doom spiral completely.

26. Designated Driver by Taylor Janzen: Taylor Janzen’s debut album I Live In Patterns offered up several tracks which balanced heartfelt lyrics with propulsive pop flourishes, but it was “Designated Driver” that maintained the most momentum for me throughout this year. Atop a steady thrum of shimmering synths, Janzen unpacks her mixed feelings on being the "dependable friend," cracking under the pressure like a windshield. As the song builds, Janzen unveils the self-doubt eating away at her, where the raw emotions draw the other person in to detrimental effect: “you put your trust in a daydream / ’cause you love this dying part of me.” Janzen has the acute ability to put language to even the most obscure shades of anguish and giving them a more anthemic spin. “Designated Driver” is the song you can blast to get you through the grief, even as the toxicity shrinks away in the rearview.

25. One Of Your Girls by Troye Sivan: “One Of Your Girls” is a song so smooth that it’s easy to miss the melancholy which saturates its sparkling chords and clever lyrics. Troye Sivan taps into unrequited desire atop a lush, bassy thrum, describing a love interest who “everybody wants,” but who needs to keep their queerness covert. Sivan ushers in the song’s sing-along chorus with a languid sigh, glazing his voice in vocoder to keep the ache at bay: “Give me a call if you ever get desperate," he relents, "I'll be like one of your girls.” Pair it with a gender-bending music video, and you’ve got a song that delves into just how far a person might go obscure the hurt and save face.

24. I Need A New Boyfriend by Charly Bliss: It’s been four years since Charly Bliss’s last album Young Enough, and in 2023 they blasted back onto my radar with the scuzzy, snarky single “I Need A New Boyfriend.” This time, Charly Bliss sprinkle their anthemic rock sound with a touch of hyperpopping, bleep-blorping synths and churning electric guitars. Frontwoman Eva Hendricks laments her loser lover who grouches through parties and gives backhanded compliments, her observations both witty and scathing: “It took me three years but I finally figured it out / I’m just too fun for him,” “’Cause even though we had a five year plan / I couldn’t stay with him another minute.” By the song’s riotous end, you’ll also have the conviction to kick such soul suckers to the curb.

23. Feather by Sabrina Carpenter: It’s rare that a bonus track from a deluxe edition from an album is the source of a pop artist’s ascent to stardom. Rare, but not impossible. Case and point: “Feather,” the floaty bonus track from the deluxe edition of Sabrina Carpenter’s fifth album emails I can’t send. A downy kiss-off about leaving an ex in the past, Carpenter dreamily narrates the steps to her ghosting process over a softly strut beat of key glissandos and memorable ad-libs. It’s the humorous side of “Feather” that makes it a notable hit in Carpenter’s catalogue, the touches of sarcasm cut through the sweetness and showcase her multifaceted charisma as a performer. That little chuckle she lets out as she says “I’m so sorry for your loss” is the stuff superstars are made of.

22. LEFT RIGHT by XG: There was a handful of weeks back in the spring where every iota of my brain space was taken up by XG. The global girl group broke through with videos of the group’s rappers adding their own verses onto iconic modern beats, (group leader Jurin’s verse over ROSALÍA’s “SAOKO” is a bop and a half.) In a departure from the bombastic samples and in-your-face performances of those videos, XG takes a subtler approach on “LEFT RIGHT,” an ebullient blend of R&B and pop that goes down easy but has the same insidious ability to get stuck in my head. The lyrics are goofy yet earnest enough to make up for it. This boy has the narrator’s heart “Spinnin’ round and round / Just like my Pirellis, burning on the ground.” When a love is so strong it can pull you any direction, you’ve got no choice but to kick into gear and let the vibes carry you away.

21. Hummingbird by Metro Boomin ft. James Blake: When I took my seat in the theater to watch Spiderman: Across the Spider-Verse, the second installment in Sony’s stunning animated superhero franchise, I knew the music was going to slap, (the needle drop for “What’s Up Danger” from the first movie is one of my all-time favorites.) While the soundtrack has many a banger, it was ultimately the tender hearted “Hummingbird” that I latched onto. James Blake lends his silky soft vocals to wistfully pine for a love that always remains just out of reach. Metro Boomin elevates the distance Blake describes with spacious and spacey production, dappled with piano and a chirpy sample of Patience & Prudence's "Tonight You Belong to Me." It’s a love song that spans time and space, across the Spider-Verse and well beyond.

20. Patty's Diner by Upstate: “Patty’s Diner” by Upstate came to me via a recommendation from a friend, (shoutout @bellamysgriffin) and I don’t know whether to thank or throttle her for it, because it’s one of the most potent tearjerkers I’ve heard in recent memory. Upon my first listen, I found the song to be starkly understated, nothing but a plucked guitar and traded verses from both lead vocalists. The central character is Patty, a diner owner who passed away from cancer. Now, her memory lives on in late-night radio commercials and fading recollections of her kindness, all recounted with a melancholy shrug. In its staggering simplicity, “Patty’s Diner” captures something potent about the grief we hold for loved ones: it can come with a smile as well as tears. Take a page from Patty’s book and keep pushing forward. What else are we supposed to do?

19. There It Goes by Maisie Peters: On her sophomore album The Good Witch, Maisie Peters writes a lot about the breakup experience. A whole number of spunky kiss-offs from that record could’ve landed on this list, but as the autumn chill locked in for the final months of the year, I found myself more and more drawn to the album’s penultimate moment of reprieve. “There It Goes” shows Peters letting go of the relationship by pivoting towards self-improvement. Atop a warm strummed guitar groove, she lists off the steps to reconnecting with her friends and herself: going to yoga class, reading novels, stumbling through the streets of Stockholm. Much of The Good Witch focuses on the thunder of emotions which come from heartbreak. “There It Goes” is the calm after the storm. It demonstrates the much harder to describe but no less essential development that happens after growing apart: growing up.

18. Only Love Can Save Us Now by Kesha: On her latest album Gag Order, Kesha pivoted from the party anthems that put her on the map in favor of a sparer, darker sound. Then halfway through the album, “Only Love Can Save Us Now” swings in to prove that Kesha can still serve up a barn-burning banger if she wants, and thank god she does. On “Only Love Can Save Us Now,” Kesha unloads a list of unapologetic declarations over a typewriter-clack beat, each line wry and searing: “Yeah, I'm possessive / Maybe I'm possessed, bitch / Fuck yeah, I'm selfish / Shut up, eat your breakfast.” The chorus kicks in with a rollicking guitar, gospel choir, stomping drums, and jangly pianos which all lend a folksy intensity. “I don’t got no shame left,” Kesha sings in the song’s final moments, “Baby, that’s my freedom.” It’s a moment of deft catharsis on an album so heavily defined by what it holds back, a defiant invitation to exorcise your regrets and then invite your demons to come and join the dance party.

17. Mother Nature by MGMT: It’s been five years since MGMT’s last album Little Dark Age, and it feels like I’ve lived a whole lifetime since then. “Mother Nature,” the lead single off their fifth album Loss of Life, shows that MGMT have seemingly grown as much as I have. The song is warm and welcoming, built from sunshiny strummed guitars I’d usually expect from Alex G or Big Thief. But the stargazing, larger-than-life scope of the group’s past work remains, merging the mundane with the magical. “I wrote the fairytale on the midnight drive,” Andrew VanWyngarden sings in the song’s opening moments, “Wanting to know if I'm more than alive.” The rest of the song walks this line between enchantment and ennui, alluding to a greater darkness looming just beyond the horizon. The bridge makes a swing for the anthemic, describing a castle siege over scuzzy wails of distorted synth, a last swipe for hope “before the fantasy is cast into the fire.” I can’t wait to hear how “Mother Nature” fits into Loss of Life, but it’s a song that is determined to live life to the fullest, even in the most barren of landscapes.

16. brrr by Kim Petras: Over the past few years, Kim Petras has become one of the pop landscape’s most audacious players, knowing when to wallop her listeners with unrestrained discussions of sexuality and when to play it coy. She finds a perfect balance between these realms on “brrr.” Built off a beat of squelchy synths and throbbing bass, “brrr” is equal parts daring and alluring. Petras addresses a love interest who puts up thick walls of ice around their heart and makes it clear that she sees right through the charade. “I’m not one to be afraid,” she lilts teasingly on the pre-chorus. Instead of being put off, she buys in, the implication clear as she delivers the title line with a wink and a smirk: “...you think you’re so cold, brrr.” Leave it up to Petras to make even the iciest of imagery steamy as hell.

15. labour by Paris Paloma: It starts with a low male voice, way back in the mix, counting her in on four. Then, the storm clouds roll in. On social media, “labour” by Paris Paloma has been deemed an anthem of female rage, but unlike the immediate, memetic quality of its viral peers, “labour” understands that rage needs time to simmer before it explodes. Paloma airs out every grievance of how this women’s work batters us in body, mind, and spirit, ruthlessly recounting bursting capillaries, cracked skin, every bullshit archetype and patriarchy-serving expectation thrown our way. Paloma knows that at the end of the day, no amount of spectacle could hit harder than the all-too-simple truth at the song’s core: “It’s not an act of love if you make her / you make me do too much labour.” Her vocals layer and layer until the final chorus slams into you like a tidal wave of anger, and by the song's final moments, Paloma has made the narratives made to hold us back into something wholly her own.

14. Nymphs Finding the Head of Orpheus by Nicole Dollanganger: Of all the tales Nicole Dollanganger spins on her album Married In Mount Airy, “Nymphs Finding the Head of Orpheus” is by far one of the most elusive. Dollanganger offers up a foreboding atmosphere of feather-light strings and dark ambient reverb. The imagery centers on rebirth, the baptismal potential of a tepid pool, bodies reclaimed by nature. It has little to do with the gory bacchanal of the mythical moment in the title, but the insinuation remains, seeping in at the seams to suggest violence and regeneration as potentially interconnected. On an album so concerned with all the evils of men, perhaps the most terrifying thing of all is what lies beyond our standard perception of human actions, of nature locked in shadow. On "Nymphs Finding the Head of Orpheus," Dollanganger offers a glimpse of this disembodied face in the darkness, one we’ll never be able to truly know.

13. Sandrail Silhouette by Avalon Emerson: "Sandrail Silhouette" opens DJ Avalon Emerson's album & The Charm, reintroducing a new side of her craft. A departure from the electronic spin of her past work, the song feels organic yet gleaming, constructed of a move-and-shaker groove of rich strings, shuffleboard keys, and gloaming skids of bass. Emerson’s vocals waft over the landscape with the calming timbre of someone telling a bedtime story, stringing lyrics together like beads on a friendship bracelet. It’s an environment that’s easy to get lost in, so much so that it hit November before I even bothered to ask, what even is a "sandrail silhouette?" I have no clue, but it’s not so much about the words themselves as it is about the feelings they evoke, a wistful nostalgia that is aching yet hopeful. This feeling comes across in obtuse details (“Go ask a sequoia”) and stunning clarity alike (“Tell me I got more time / When all my friends are having daughters.”) Like the yearning for the past Emerson describes, my love for this song is hard to put into words. It’s easier to just sit back and let myself feel it.

12. WHAT A MAN by DEBBY FRIDAY: “WHAT A MAN” by DEBBY FRIDAY simply slams so fucking hard. I don’t know what else to say. From the very first listen I came to immediate conclusion that it slammed into oblivion and was one of my favorite songs of 2023. "WHAT A MAN" unfurls like an erotic noir thriller, all churning bass and musings on a love that’s slipped the narrator’s fingers. DEBBY FRIDAY’s lyrics are obtuse yet evocative, contributing to the seductive atmosphere: “I held a heart / It wasn’t mine / When he came looking / I wasn’t kind.” Stacks of escalating synths ratchet up the tension until all hell breaks loose on the back of a scorching electric guitar solo that’d make Andrew Lloyd Weber’s Phantom of the Opera jealous he didn’t come up with it first. It’s the kind of song that rips loose and is over all too fast, asking for forgiveness in the aftermath of ruin, and never, ever permission.

11. Top Dog by Magdalena Bay: Hands down the best pop song of the year to reference Laura Dern, a race that should by all means be a lot more competitive than it is. From its opening references to the actress, synth pop duo Magdalena Bay make it clear that this isn't a song where they're going to be taking themselves too seriously. Everything about "Top Dog" oozes lackadaisical confidence, all with a cheeky wink to the listener. Against a backdrop of strummed guitars, they pepper in samples of cameras snapping and, fittingly, dogs woofing. Not only that, but they also add in a healthy dose of aughts nostalgia with a synth palette that feels directly pulled from dial-up bleeps, Motorola ringtones, and 8-bit power-ups. Mica Tenenbaum’s vocals are a pitch-perfect balance of airy nonchalance and self-satisfaction, traversing through the goofy canine metaphors without once sounding like she’s forcing a punchline to land. It makes for a song that’s loopy, loping, and effortlessly fun.

10. Honey by Samia: It’s hard to pin down what makes the title track of Samia’s sophomore album so special. “Honey” is subtle yet anthemic, an ever-growing conviction coming into fruition over the song’s duration. “I’m not scared of sharks / I’m not scared to be naked / I’m not scared of anything,” Samia sings in the song’s opening moments, going on to narrate a continual climb towards self-confidence and determination. My favorite detail is the gradually growing backing chorus which appears and reappears with more intensity with each new iteration of the song’s main refrain. “It’s all honey,” Samia repeats, over and over at the song’s close. All the times I’ve listened to this song, and I still haven’t pinned down an exact meaning for that line, but maybe that’s the point. The nonchalance, the uncertainty, the acceptance that no matter where life takes us, it's sure to be sweet.

9. Welcome To My Island by Caroline Polachek: In the opening moment of Desire, I Want To Turn Into You, Caroline Polachek shows off the titanic potential of her voice, letting out a dexterous, breathtaking belt that warps and careens into the stratosphere. Even if the song was just comprised of its first thirty seconds, it’d probably still be on this list. But then, of course, there’s the rest of “Welcome To My Island,” a facetious introduction to the sonic space Caroline Polachek will go on to explore over the rest of the album. Over a glimmering, twitchy beat, Polachek half-raps, half-belts a series of pitches for her personal paradise of waving palm trees and placid oceans. On the song’s bridge, she gets more vulnerable, revealing the pathos amongst the phthalo blues: “I am my father’s daughter in the end,” she sings like she’s on the brink of tears, “no nothing’s gonna be the same again.” But when the groove snaps back over an outro of brassily tuned guitars and defiantly chanted “hey hey hey”s, it’s clear that Polachek’s island is worth booking an extended stay, self-doubt be damned.

8. bad idea right? by Olivia Rodrigo: “bad idea right?,” the second single on Olivia Rodrigo’s sophomore album GUTS, followed on the heels of operatic ballad “vampire” by not following it at all. Like the preceding sophomore single “deja vu,” it’s snarkier, wonkier, and (in my opinion,) way more engaging. While Rodrigo undeniably knows how to pen and pull off a dramatic power ballad, her comedic chops deserve recognition too. On “bad idea, right?” she chattily recounts a night of terrible decision making, tossing out hilarious, memorable one-liners at a dizzying rate: “…you're callin' my phone, you're all alone / And I'm sensing some undertones,” “I only see him as a friend / (The biggest lie I ever said,)” “I just tripped and fell into his bed.” The production ups the ante with a strutting bassline, ad-libs which drive every line home like Rodrigo’s inner monologue coming to life, and a squealing guitar solo in the song’s back end. " All in all, "bad idea right?" captures the tumultuous clownery that having a crush conjures up, self-aware embarrassment colliding with lovesick horniness that makes you look a wealth of poor choices the eye and brush it off with a “fuck it, it’s fine.”

7. Echolalia by Yves Tumor: Echolalia is baby babble, the sounds humans make when they don’t have a grasp on language, but still need to communicate some innate need. On their latest album Praise A Lord Who Chews, But Which Does Not Consume (Or, Simply, Hot Between World,) Yves Tumor taps into these primal urges, transmogrifying them to a cosmic level through the medium of phychedelic rock. Such is the case on slow burning second single “Echolalia,” a hazy whirlwind of devotion and desperation. “Looked up to god,” they sing in the first verse, “You looked so good.” Tumor’s voice stays in their husky lower register, gritted out with hushed intensity over an alluring blend of gleaming synths, burning bass, and heaving breaths. “The way I’m thinking, is this unnatural?” they inquire in the song’s final moments, then lay their hesitations to waste in the heat of the moment, “you look so magical." At its most intense, “Echoloalia” strips away the set dressing of pretty words and veneers, unveiling the desire, hunger, and everything that simmers just below the surface, begging to break free.

6. Casual by Chappell Roan: I’ve long bemoaned how many a great pop album has been brought to a screeching halt by a ballad haphazardly thrown in to make things more “emotional.” A pop artist holds genuine promise to me when they’re able to clear this hurdle and make an album’s slower moments just as compelling as the bops. I'm glad to announce that Chappell Roan pasts this test with “Casual,” a mid-album on her debut album The Rise and Fall Of A Midwest Princess. On "Casual," slower pace of the song provides space to let Roan's simmering frustrations with a one-sided situationship reach a breathtaking boiling point. Roan pines for something more official with a girl who insist on having “no connections,” pointing to front seat cunnilingus sessions and dinner dates with her maybe-belle’s parents as proof that they're much more than a casual fling. Eventually, Roan just can’t take it anymore. “I hate that I let this drag on so long,” she confesses at the top of her lungs, “you can go to hell.” It’s testament to Roan’s promise as an emergent pop force that she can establish compelling stakes which make the emotions of her ballads tangible, never skippable.

5. A&W by Lana Del Rey: I already gushed about “A&W” back in March for how it showcases Lana Del Rey’s versatility as a performer, her veracity as a lyricist, and her astuteness in curating her personal history. As the year progressed, “A&W” kept pulling me back into its tumultuous depths, trying to parse its meaning and always falling just a bit short. Over the course of the song’s two-part structure, Lana Del Rey deftly maps a trajectory from childhood innocence to reckoning with how the world will wolf women down without mercy, their physical bodies exploited as their humanity goes unseen. “It's not about havin' someone to love me anymore,” Del Rey states, “No, this is the experience of bein' an American whore.” Lana Del Rey has grappled with these themes of for her whole career, walking the line between nostalgic recollection and ironic deconstruction, but on “A&W” they sharpen into focus and hit both the heart and gut like never before. That switch up into the second half of the song still sends a chill down my spine every time it’s ushered in on the back of those skittering trap drums and roiling bass. “A&W” is everything that makes Lana Del Rey Lana Del Rey, it's alluring, eerie, it’s Venice, bitch, and it’s one of her best songs, period.

4. Boy's a Liar Pt. 2 by Pinkpantheress ft. Ice Spice: When I listen to “Boy’s a Liar Pt. 2” by Pinkpantheress featuring Ice Spice, I feel the popular music landscape shifting beneath my feet. A strange thought to have about a song that’s so pointedly small in scope. Even with the Ice Spice verse extending the length of “Boy’s a Liar,” the song just barely exceeds two minutes. Given such restrictions, the amount of detail both artists manage to cram in is nothing short of impressive. Pinkpantheress jam-packs the beat with bouncy synths and a drum pad which races like a fluttering pulse. Ice Spice spends most of her verse telling off the useless titular liar, but adds in a one-two punch of vulnerability near the end with a heartened confession: “…I don't sleep enough without you / And I can't eat enough without you / If you don't speak, does that mean we're through?” “Boy’s a Liar Pt. 2” is more than just a rare remix that exceeds the quality of the first installment. It’s the bona-fide hit of the TikTok generation that feels fully born of the app’s tendencies, it’s mile-a-minute pacing, nostalgic skew, casual intimacy, and brutal honesty all rolled up into an inescapable earworm. I’d take part three in a heartbeat.

3. Psychedelic Switch by Carly Rae Jepsen: Throughout her career, Canadian pop connoisseur Carly Rae Jepsen has captured love from all angles, rendered its scope of e•mo•tion in a slew of shades. “Psychedelic Switch” off her latest album The Loveliest Time shows her setting the disco ball to spin, covering the entire spectrum of light and color in one go. Over a pulsing, dance-floor ready beat, she swirls together metaphors with the precision of a gourmet mixologist, taking odds and ends of all things dreamy to capture the onset of a whirlwind romance. This love is like a psychedelic trip. It’s like lucid dreaming. It’s like meditating. It’s sunsets and paradise and coming home. It's the all-encompassing rush of euphoria that only pop music can capture. Jepsen finishes off the concoction with a dash of sighing violins, a twist of bass throbbing like a heartbeat, and a couple drops of reverb-washed ad-libs. Every one of Jepsen’s album cycles has the fan-favorite standout to add to her growing canon, and from the very first listen I knew “Psychedelic Switch” had cemented itself within her ranks of cult classics.

2. Not Strong Enough by boygenius: When Lucy Dacus, Phoebe Bridgers, and Julien Baker announced their first full-length project as the singer-songwriter supergroup boygenius, the record, (the record,) had the aura of something larger than life, a culmination of three generational talents celebrating their chemistry as collaborators. If there is any song on the album that captures this magic, it’s “Not Strong Enough,” a song which burst out of the gate sounding like an instant classic. “Not Strong Enough” chronicles the search for identity amidst uncertainty, the line “I don’t know why I am / The way I am” may just be its driving force. And boy does it drive, as the singers search for clues listening to The Cure while drag racing down canyon highways, skipping old exits, roving out in search of a meaning that may never materialize. This freedom and frustration culminate on the bridge, where Dacus’s mastery of vocal dynamics takes center stage. “Always an angel / Never a god,” she sings, starting off with a whiff of timidity before escalating to belt it up to the heavens, backed up with stunning harmonies from her peers. An angel may only ever be second-best, only ever identified through its relation to a higher power, but that just makes the journey towards self-actualization more transcendent.

1. Sepsis by Blondshell: For the longest time, I was determined to put any other song but “Sepsis” at the number one spot on this list. Initially, my pick from Blondshell’s self-titled debut was “Kiss City,” an amazing song, but sadly not the one I played over and over, screaming along because the lyrics hit too damn close to home. Much of Blondshell grapples with addiction, and on “Sepsis,” Sabrina Teitelbaum explores how the validation one gets through situational flings is one hell of a drug. Atop the ebb and flow of electric guitar, she interrogates the tendency to keep returning to a man she should be avoiding, a dick with a front-facing cap who’s bad in bed. Still, she keeps coming back, pissed therapist be damned, because “if I’m in love, nothing hurts.” Teitelbaum hones these observations through the metaphor of curing ailments and fast-acting sickness, “he’s going to start infecting my life / it’ll hit all at once like sepsis.” It’s a metaphor which exposes how self-destructive these habits are. “What if I’m down to let this kills me?” she howls at the apex of the bridge before, the sentence slurring into a frustrated scream as the entire song tumbles back into a cavalcade of fiery chords. If there’s anything “Sepsis” and my relationship to it proves, it’s that confronting these unhealthy habits is difficult, but essential. Sometimes, you’ve got to recognize that these coping mechanisms aren’t a “cure” and are only “making it worse.” It’s only then that true healing can begin.

Thank you so much to anyone who has interacted with this blog over the past year. I hope you all are having a happy holiday season!. My top 10 albums list should be out soon. See you then!

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