#this the only beatles i’ll listen to

[bootleg-nessie]

Rating band names based on their accuracy:

(I keep updating this list so check back later)

The Beatles: 3/10. None of these people are beetles, they’re just a bunch of fruity guys from Liverpool with matching haircuts

(Edit: changed from 0/10 to 3/10 because John Lennon beat his wife)

Pink Floyd: 4/10. There is not a single person named Floyd in the band, but some of the members do arguably look kinda pink

Nirvana: 10/10. Getting high and listening to Nirvana is roughly what I imagine actual nirvana to be like

Foo Fighters: either 0/10 or 10/10. I have never seen foo in real life so either they’re pretending to fight a problem that doesn’t exist or they’re doing an absolutely fantastic job of fighting it

The Eagles: 0/10. Same as the Beatles, there is not a single eagle in this band. The name is misleading and we have all been lied to

Queen: 6/10. Partial points for Freddie Mercury

Led Zeppelin: 0/10. I don’t think any of these guys have ever even seen a zeppelin, let alone one made of lead. A lead balloon would crash faster than my hopes and dreams

The Rolling Stones: 3/10. There is not a single stone in this band. Some points added because I’m pretty sure they rolled quite a few

U2: 0/10. Despite what the name says, I am not a member of this band

Metallica: 9/10. Naming a metal band “Metallica” is like naming your dog “doggy”

Red Hot Chili Peppers: 2/10. These guys are not chili peppers. They’re not even that hot, let alone red hot

Guns N’ Roses: 0/10. How the fuck could a gun or a flower play music

Backstreet Boys: ?/10. Depends entirely on their current given location

Simon and Garfunkel: 10/10. No notes

The Doors: 1/10. Jim Morrison is kinda shaped like a door tho

Chicago: 4/10. The number of people in this band does not come even remotely close to the population of Chicago. Points added because it originated in Chicago

Earth, wind, and fire: 2/10. This is even more innacurate than Chicago. Points added because wind instruments were often used

Def Leppard: 3/10. There is not a single leopard in this band. Some of the members are probably kinda deaf by now tho

The Beach Boys: ?/10. Accuracy depends entirely on location

The Black Eyed Peas: 6/10. Not sure what the hell an ‘eyed pea’ is but the black part is pretty accurate

Imagine Dragons: ?/10. Depends entirely on whether or not they’re thinking about dragons.

Cage the Elephant: 1/10. Why would you do that. Let the elephant go

Green Day: 0/10. They’re not even green

The Police: 0/10. There is not a single cop in this band

KISS: 5/10. I’m sure they probably kissed sometimes

The Monkees: 0/10. Are you fucking kidding me

We Butter the Bread with Butter: 8/10. I can’t verify this but I have no reason to suspect that they’d lie. Butter seems like the most logical thing to butter bread with

King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard: 0/10. I got really excited about the concept of a lizard wizard only to be let down. My disappointment is immeasurable

They Might Be Giants: 5/10. I googled everyone in this band’s height, the tallest guy’s only 6’1 so I wouldn’t exactly consider him a giant. Then again, I can’t really argue because the claim was only that they MIGHT be giants

The Presidents of the United States of America: 2/10. None of these people are Joe Biden nor are any of them former presidents. This is incredibly misleading. I’m pretty sure “Lump” was written about my first girlfriend tho so I’ll give them a point or two

Gorillaz: 2/10 Not quite but we’re kinda close genetically so I’ll give them partial credit

The Killers: ?/10. I have no way of verifying if they’ve actually killed before but the fact that they’re not in prison tells me probably not

The Offspring: 10/10. These guys are definitely somebody’s offspring

Arctic Monkeys: 1/10. They are neither monkeys nor are they from the arctic

Thirty Seconds to Mars: 1/10. It takes WAY longer to get to mars than that

Beastie Boys: 8/10. They’re pretty beast on the guitar

Jimmy Eat World: 1/10. Slow the fuck down Jimmy, you’re biting off way more than you can chew

Hole: 9/10. One point deducted because I’m pretty sure they had more than one hole

Rage Against the Machine: 10/10. They did exactly that

Alice In Chains: 0/10. This is illegal. Let Alice go

The Band: 10/10. This could not possibly be more accurate

Nine Inch Nails: 1/10. I can’t find any good pictures of their feet but from what I can tell their fingernails definitely aren’t nine inches long

Bush: ?/10. Not quite sure about this one, felt uncomfortable asking

The Who: 2/10. I’m not dealing with this “Who’s On First” bullshit

Radiohead: 0/10. Not a single person in this band has a radio for a head

Queens of the Stone Age: 0/10. This band should be called “five random dudes from the modern era” but FRDFTMA is a bit of a mouthful

Soundgarden: 2/10. Sound does not grow in the garden

Sonic Youth: 5/10. They’re not exactly youth anymore but the sonic part checks out

Talking heads: 8/10. There’s more to the band than just a bunch of disembodied heads but the heads do tend to talk

The Cranberries: 0/10. Decent music but I only added them so that the Beatles and Freddie Mercury weren’t the only fruits on this list

The Wiggles: 8/10. They do tend to wiggle a lot

Blue Man Group: 10/10. Yep!

Weezer: 5/10. They all look like they definitely have asthma

Limp Bizkit: 3/10. While the visual image of baked goods playing the guitar is hilarious, Fred durst is not a biscuit. Points added because he probably has erectile dysfunction

Stone Temple Pilots: 0/10. None of these people are accredited as being licensed to pilot anything, much less an entire stone temple. Stone temples don’t need pilots anyways

Wasted Youth: 8/10. I guess it really kinda depends on how you frame it but yeah, they probably wasted a lot of it

Them Crooked Vultures: 3/10. These are people and not birds but Dave Grohl’s posture is kinda bad and John Paul Jones is so old that his neck kinda looks like a vulture’s so I added some points

Audioslave: 0/10. Slavery is illegal

Traveling Wilburys: 4/10. Sure, they traveled a lot but not a single one of those lying bastards was named Wilbury

D12: 6/12. There were only 6 people in this band

NWA: 10/10. I’m a little too white to safely comment on this one but I’d say they nailed it

Jet: 1/10. A real jet would be way too loud

Goldfinger: 0/10. Not a single person in this band has a finger made out of gold

No Doubt: ?/10. I can’t really be too sure how Gwen Stefani felt but I think it’s probably a safe assumption that she had some doubts

The White Stripes: 3/10. I bet if you stripped them down naked and made them stand shoulder to shoulder and squinted really hard they’d probably look more like white stripes

Screaming trees: 3/10. They scream occasionally

Garbage: 2/10. I think they’re being a little harsh on themselves, their music isn’t THAT bad

Butthole Surfers: 5/10. Not even gonna touch this one

Megadeth: 3/10. To be fair, some of the former members are dead but only a little amount of death, not mega death

Dead Kennedys: 2/10. Last I checked Kennedy was still dead but neither he nor his clones are members of this band

Cake: 0/10. The cake is a lie

Cracker: 8/10. Most of them are

Tool: 7/10. I don’t know much about their music but they sure look like tools

Counting Crows: ?/10. Is this what emo kids do instead of counting sheep? Accuracy depends on whatever bird they happen to be counting at the moment

Dave Matthews Band: 10/10. It certainly is

Oasis: 1/10. Their music is the opposite of an oasis

Blur: 2/10. They are not that fast

Barenaked Ladies: 0/10. If I wanted to be this disappointed I’d reestablish a connection with my biological father instead

Meat Puppets: 10/10. Technically, aren’t we all?

Live: 8/10. Apparently they still do live shows but I deducted some points because I’ve only ever heard their music on Spotify

ABBA: 9/10. I’m still not giving any points to Guns N’ Roses but that’s mostly out of spite

5 Finger Death Punch: 8/10 I guess it probably depends on how hard you hit them but this seems to be the usual amount of fingers to punch somebody with

All American Rejects: 9/10. They’re all rejects from America so I don’t really see any issue with this

T. Rex: 0/10. Even if any of these people WAS a T. Rex I don’t think their arms would be long enough to play their instruments

Free: 0/10. Unless you steal their music, in which case it becomes a 10/10

The Strokes: 3/10. To my knowledge, none of them have had a stroke but I still added a few points because the name was probably accurate for other reasons

The Smashing Pumpkins ?/10. Another thing I have no way of verifying but this seems like a waste of perfectly good pumpkins

Therapy?: ?/10. The hell are they asking me for? I don’t know their medical history

Twenty One Pilots. 0/10. There’s only two of them and neither is a licensed pilot

Finger Eleven: 0/10. Leave the poor Stranger Things girl out of this

Fall Out Boy: 9/10. I conferred with an expert on this one who confirmed that they are in fact boys who had a falling out

Cream: 8/10. Considering this was the OG supergroup I’m sure a lot of people did in fact cream when their music came out

Edit: humans aren’t fucking monkeys. Stop saying we are

[starbylers]

After spending some time listening and re-listening and thinking a lot, I think I finally have my head wrapped around all these songs. This post is an exploration of what they could tell us about Mike’s story, and also a sort of theory I noticed once I saw the full picture. This playlist is—in my opinion—the story we’ve been theorising for the past two years reflected in 12 songs. That might sound hyperbolic but it’s simply what I heard and interpreted, and wanted to share because I enjoyed writing it. I hope this is an interesting read!

If you didn’t see my last post about why I do believe this is Finn’s Mike/ST playlist despite the somewhat ambiguous title you can read that here. It’s totally okay if you disagree but I’m not interested in debating it, and this analysis is coming from a perspective of assuming we've guessed correctly that the playlist relates to ST (obviously we can't 1000% verify that, but for the purposes of this post that’s my stance).

I’m going to focus on themes and overall meanings in the songs because in my opinion that’s where any connections are going to lie, rather than specific lines holding anything important (aside from a few which I’ll highlight) because I feel like that’s closest to how Finn would’ve thought while making it. Basically a macro level representation of Mike and what he goes through next season, something that would help a person get into the headspace of a character. Oh and my larger point is about the playlist as a whole, which will come together at the end :)

➠ Track 1 | Ballad of the Texas King

The first song is an anomaly in that I think it’s meant to set the tone more than anything else. These explain better than I could hope to:

"Itʼs a murder ballad, and as is common in murder ballads, deals with promise and innocence being snuffed out.” [link]

"Clarke sings of a chance encounter with an ominous figure that feels akin to selling your soul at the crossroads" [link]

Hey kid come along, something is wrong, I believe you now / All this to say only one way that this can go / Come with us for a ride / Don’t it feel like hell? Boy let me tell you, that’s where you are

• • •

A nice little coincidence, Finn himself is quoted as saying season 5 is a “crossroads”. I can see this song being an allusion to inevitable big choices with life-altering consequences next season, and also more mature themes being tackled within Mike’s story. I mean he’s stepping back into his role as leader, and now they’re older that will come with a lot more weight and responsibility in situations where the fate of the world is likely hanging in the balance. Not to mention how his personal struggles will be tied up in that, it’s probable that a slightly darker, more self-reflective—and transformative—tone is waiting for us in regards to season 5 Mike.

➠ Track 2 | What You're Doing

A simple song about a turbulent relationship where one person is unhappy because their partner is messing them around, and they're pleading with them to stop.

Look what you’re doing, I'm feeling blue and lonely / You got me running and there's no fun in it / Please stop your lying, you've got me crying, girl

The partner is the one holding control in the situation, while they feel at the mercy of their partner’s careless choices. The mood here is one of helplessness and desperation while still remaining open-hearted, hoping they’ll change.

I've been waiting here for you wondering what you're gonna do / If you should need a love that's true it’s me / Why should it be so much to ask of you what you're doing to me?

• • •

This is heavily M!Ieven coded. What do we know about their dynamic? Mike is always the one chasing El (trying to “win her back” in s3, terrified of her not needing him in s4, stressing about her being in danger all the time). El is consistently seeking autonomy (choosing to learn about her identity over pursuing romance with him in s2, choosing to break up with him in s3, choosing to leave him behind in s4, and I’m willing to bet she’s the one who removes herself from his storyline in s5). We know their separation will happen early season, and naturally things between them must be unstable leading up to this. El being the one to pull away while Mike stresses over it checks out considering these past patterns, and also the end of s4 with her already closing herself off while Mike appears at a loss.

➠ Track 3 | After The Earthquake

A song reminiscing on a relationship and the failure and death of it, with a sense of lingering nostalgia and unwillingness to let it go. It’s set to the backdrop of a metaphorical car crash.

It wasn't built to last / If you wake up you’ll remember the awful things I said / Looking back to the vibrant days / Those days I'd never let you fall apart but things fade / Why would I ever fall in love again when every detail’s over the guard rail? / Velvet curtains drawn, flowers at your feet / Say you’ll climb your way out of your wake now / Are you awake now?

• • •

In simpler terms…this is a break up song. The longing tone makes sense to me for M!Ieven because I’ve long suspected the initial split between them is not going to be super clean cut (this should make more sense later). Mike and El were together for a long time for their age, and have a lot of intense shared memories. El was also his first and only experience of relationships; it’s going to be difficult to detach. It being the right decision to end something doesn’t mean it’s easy or simple. Even if Mike is gay and didn’t truly like her romantically, he still loved her and in my opinion that distinction isn’t something he’s going to have figured out and made peace with the second it ends.

➠ Track 4 | Promises I've Made

Very straightforward and repetitive, and follows on seamlessly from the last song: this is about having trouble moving on from someone who’s left your life.

Ever since you have gone the days don't seem so bright and I wish I could forget you but I can’t / I have promised myself I wouldn't dream of you but I find that awful hard sometimes to do

• • •

Based on what I’ve seen people might fight me on this, but to me it’s M!Ieven coded mainly because of its positioning in the playlist (directly after a struggling relationship song + break up song) but also because it is technically about an ex love. Could we say it doesn’t need to be interpreted that specifically? Yes. I suppose it could be Byler coded too but personally...the way I would interpret it is as Mike moping over whatever happened with El. There’s not any intense emotional pining going on; if you listen it has a very laid back, chill sort of mood and is honestly very upbeat. There’s no deep heartbreak. It’s just about missing someone. Plus it sort of perfectly closes out the process we see over the last two songs of being unhappy with someone, to breaking up and grieving, to the typical post-break up struggle of navigating this hole in your life and naturally missing what once filled it. This is a whole sub-arc for Mike.

➠ Track 5 | Angst In My Pants

We’ve reached the gay section! This song is about trying to fit yourself into an acceptable—aspirational, even—life but never feeling content, and continuously trying to squash this troubling Feeling, the titular phrase: angst in (your) pants. Some people think it’s a reference to literal physical arousal but others including me think that in context it’s intended more as a metaphor for sexual frustration/dissatisfaction.

I hope it doesn't show, it'll go away / It's just a passing phase / When you’re all alone, you and your head / When you think you’ve made it disappear it comes again, hello, I’m here and I’ve got angst in my pants

The queer subtext here is very clear, I don’t think I even have to explain (check out the cover art too lol). The song closes with a realisation/acceptance that no, this “phase” won't ever go away i.e. it’s just who you are.

Give it a hundred years, it won't go away

I also thought one of the opening verse lines was an interesting segue from the last few songs:

But when you’re all alone and nothing bites you’d wish you stayed at home with someone nice

• • •

Angst In My Pants may aswell be titled Forced Conformity the thematic parallels to ST are that blatant. Another point for team Mike Wheeler actually is connected to the main themes of the show like all his other friends, and no it’s not because he’s somehow oppressed for being a nerd. Also rather than being about feelings for another person the song is about personal struggle with sexuality which excites me to think about in relation to Mike because we’ve been saying he needs to explore his own identity outside of being a love interest.

➠ Track 6 | The Better Side

A very sweet, slow, slightly melancholy song. I’ll be honest I cannot decipher more than 2/3 of the lyrics but here are the most meaningful ones of those I could:

I know you cry and I’m trying to keep you by my warmth

You’re never gonna see my eyes, you’re coloring all the skies you want to / I tried staying alive, keep my head on the better side when you’re far away

You’re on the better side you’re always the better one for me

You’re all that I need, I’m not gonna miss you anymore

My understanding is it’s about pining over someone who is a “better” choice, whatever that means in this context. Deciding you want someone, someone who you don’t currently have, someone who is maybe distracted, distant or physically absent? But vowing to change that because you recognise that you need them.

• • •

This directly follows the Gay Thoughts song, and precedes the Gay Thoughts song 2.0 so I feel safe interpreting it as Byler coded and about how it’s Mike’s turn to pine. (Also because “better” implies that there’s a “worse” i.e. this is a situation where you’re differentiating between two things i.e. in Mike’s case, Will vs El). I can envision Mike and Will getting moments together away from whatever chaos is surely going on, having the space to connect more where Mike starts becoming conscious of his feelings, realising slowly that Will is the “better” one for him. And as the song also suggests, perhaps Will has pulled away from him in the beginning. I think this is possible because the torment Will's likely going to endure from Vecna could understandably cause him to push Mike away, fearing his safety or him finding out how Will feels, and also I just don’t think he’ll be able to stand the pain of being M!Ieven’s couple’s counsellor for much longer without cracking. But I think Mike “it’ll be easier if we’re a team” Wheeler would make it his mission to fix any rift between them, the final line literally being I’m not gonna miss you anymore.

➠ Track 7 | Don't Ask Me To Explain

As far as I can tell, this song is about being afraid to face queer feelings for another person who is also hiding this about themselves, and being conflicted about whether to confess because you're not sure how they feel.

How will I ever know you enough to love you if you're hiding who you are? / How am I supposed to let it show when I don't even know? / Don’t move on without me, who will be watching my body when I sleep? / I don't want to be the one who's coming out first, I'd really like to but I'm just too shy

The end is an admission of…something. I’m not sure whether to interpret it as wishful thinking over this queer relationship you believe you can’t have, or as an offhand comment about forcing yourself to love someone you can’t because of your sexuality. Interesting either way:

It’s so easy to lie to myself and pretend that I could love you but I can't

I did do some research and the alleged true explanation of this song is it’s from one queer friend to another (man to woman, I assume both closeted, maybe a failed romance?) but I could only find one uncited source for that and everywhere else seems to agree with my interpretation so it seems when listening to the song that’s the story people hear. (Plus either way the song is about being queer. Undeniably so).

• • •

It’s not Byler coded we’re way past that, it literally just…is them. It does seem to suggest a level of internal conflict in Mike regarding coming out that I can’t say I expected (yes I have no doubts about canon Byler but I’m also a pessimist by nature—that should tell you how obvious their endgame is though lmao—so I assumed the Duffers would go wrong somewhere). I always thought he would be almost consciously clueless about himself until he finds out Will loves him, and the focus be more on him liking Will back rather than him liking boys (and obviously wasn’t a fan of that), but the prospect of Mike actually being aware and grappling with his sexuality is what we’ve been praying for and builds on the more low-level thrum of sexual confusion in Angst In My Pants. Oh and the song also could suggest Mike suspecting that Will likes him/is queer too before anyone confesses.

➠ Track 8 | What Do You Want Me To Do?

Another straightforward one. It’s quite angsty, a big contrast to the more sad feelings about a relationship from the earlier songs. This is about someone who left you for someone else/someone who walked out on you, who decides they want you back.

You walked out took your chance, turned your back on our romance / You said the change would do you good / But then the bubble burst your dream, turned into a nightmare scream / You came crawling to me your knees, and you were asking me to love you please

The main message of the repetitive chorus is basically: you want me to need you, but that’s not real love. You’re just using me to feel better about yourself.

What do you want me to do? Say that I need you more? Is that what real lovers do? Or only what you use me for?

• • •

I mean isn’t that last part how we’ve always described M!Ieven’s dynamic—all about aligning with the other’s needs whether for safety, validation or feeling ‘normal’, rather than genuine romance? I don’t think there’s any chance at all of El leaving Mike for someone else lol, as I said I don’t think we need to interpret these songs super specifically. But it does make me wonder: could we possibly see a moment of regression for El at some point in the season, after they separate? The focus here in my opinion is frustration at someone trying to re-enter your life when you know they don’t truly love you. Reflecting on their dynamic I talked about with earlier songs and their history in the show (El walking away, Mike scared to lose her), is it possible the break up could leave Mike struggling initially then he progressively understands why it was the right choice (especially after spending time with Will), meanwhile for El it’s the opposite—she’s more sure about breaking up but something happens later on that shakes her belief in herself. Her having one last hurdle to overcome in her dependency on Mike to finally break that pattern of hindering her growth by retreating to him could make sense. And based on this song…Mike would not be receptive to being El’s safety net. Growth for both of them.

➠ Track 9 | Substitute

Again, very angsty compared to earlier. It’s about a relationship characterised by false perceptions (focused on class), and those being what is holding it together. One partner is pretending to be something they’re not, cosplaying as someone else, and the other is also being dishonest/fake.

You think we look really good together / My fine looking suit is really made out of sack / The simple things you see are all complicated / Substitute your lies for fact / I see right through your plastic mac

The relationship breaks down because of this and their partner doesn’t truly want to fix things, and ultimately trades up.

Those crocodile tears are what you cry / It’s a genuine problem, you won’t try to work it out at all, you just pass it by / Substitute me for him / Substitute my coke for gin

Essentially: your partner not knowing the real you because you’re putting on a facade—the facade being the version of you they really like, the thing that was making you compatible—leads the relationship to fail. The literal title suggests neither of them as they are are what the other truly wants or needs.

• • •

Obviously this does not directly parallel M!leven in terms of the topic of the lying but in terms of the themes and core relationship issues…yeah. To me this could be about point Mike has reached after gradually coming to realisations about the nature of their relationship after it’s over, like I mentioned before. I can envision a mid-late season confrontation (or something less aggressive sounding lol) between them, pairing perfectly with the topic of the previous song. El scared trying to fall back on Mike and he’s like…no, we don’t work, I can’t be that for you anymore and this is why: betraying who he is (nerd) to impress her, trying so hard to play the “boyfriend” role (yet they never successfully emotionally connect), if he’s gay then there’s also the facade of straightness, etc. I think it would show a lot of emotional maturity from him honestly, and I really need him to have a strong grasp on what went wrong with El for them to have a shot at forming a healthy friendship, and also to psychologically process all that stuff before getting involved with Will.

➠ Track 10 | The Rebel Kind

A short song about life being tough when you don’t have much (this one is class-focused too), but still craving the freedom that comes from not following societal rules and pressures for how to do life “right”, and instead living on your own terms. Basically the struggle is worth not having to conform. The first verse sums it up pretty well:

They call us the rebel kind but they don’t understand the things a man must do to prove that he’s a man / It’s not easy but I don’t mind, I just wanna run with the rebel kind

• • •

Again, obviously the specific topic is not relevant to ST but the thematic parallels blew my mind, I mean the entire show is about people being outcasts and learning to find strength in that, and the final season is going to majorly drive that point. We know this from the fact that Will “being different” Byers is the one who’s arc is said to tie up the whole show. Now in regards to Mike…if this doesn’t scream forced conformity and deciding to reject it for your own happiness I don’t know what does. It perfectly captures the thematic end point of his arc next season (and not just his but probably the entire party’s in one way or another). Also the toxic masculinity reference in that one line applies heavily to Mike with his history of trying so hard to do what he thinks he supposed to do in going from boy to man i.e. We’re not kids anymore. Did you think we were never gonna get girlfriends?

➠ Track 11 | Block Rockin’ Beats

Another one I think is mainly to set a tone; no real lyrics just beats. In my opinion it comes after The Rebel Kind for a reason. Somehow it just makes sense, it’s got this really loud, frenzied, unrestrained energy to it.

➠ Track 12 | Just What I Needed

We end off with a love (or desire?) song. It’s interesting because it’s quite aggressive sonically but at the same time it talks about being with someone in a simple uncomplicated way:

I don’t mind you coming here and wasting all my time / I don’t mind you hanging out and talking in your sleep

…but it’s also very intense how you feel with them.

Cause when you’re standing oh so near I kinda lose my mind

There’s a repeated line that stuck in my head. It’s obviously written about a female subject, but there is such a rejection of the feminine going on:

It’s not the perfume that you wear, it’s not the ribbons in your hair

It’s saying those feminine attributes are not why this person is attractive—and yeah logically that means the subject must have those things, but as I’ve said I don’t think these songs need to be interpreted on such a specific level. The point being made is about a deeper connection. The line is just intriguing to me from the perspective of Mike being into boys, I mean he could’ve picked literally any other romance song.

I needed someone to feed / I needed someone to bleed / I guess you’re just what I needed

The message here is basically: I was craving the rawest form of connection/intimacy with another human being (that doesn’t have to necessarily mean sexual it’s just those visceral words feed, bleed in comparison to perfume and ribbons which sound very fluffy lol)…and now I’ve found you and it’s exactly what I was looking for.

• • •

With all the themes through the songs of rejecting fake relationships and conformity, and accepting and exploring queerness…Will Byers is obviously going to be the thing Mike needed. I’ve been saying (and so have many) but Byler isn’t happening till the end. Also the playlist finishing with this song is telling in my opinion. Aside from the Castle Byers Classics link, the title itself implies searching for something which is now found, a journey being over. I say this for the purposes of pushing my agenda about this playlist painting a narrative. Hear me out:

Personally……that’s not accidental. It just isn’t. Even if my more specific interpretations aren’t correct, I just cannot believe that this wasn’t curated to draw a particular picture. I believe in coincidences and if the playlist had been titled as it was with a bunch of random unconnected irrelevant songs I’d be the first person to file it under that. But the title and the inclusion of a song from Will’s official playlist and these specific songs in this specific order? Yeah it’s about s5 Mike and I cannot wait to see him! If you made it this far thanks for reading <3

[what-gs-watching]

“I can only smile like this because I have lost so much.”

Y’aaaaaaall, how excited am I that Doctor Who is finally back?! The 60th anniversary specials got me so on board for 15, and I am really so curious about how his arc is going to play out. Nunuwho, and all that. I’m here for it, I’m ready, I desperately need the distraction. 

Obviously, last time we saw 15 he was getting into hijinx with his new companion Ruby over Christmas, and I appreciate that’s exactly where they picked up for the first episode. 

Let’s talk about it. 

Space Babies

Wherein the Doctor and Ruby end up on a space station and something is definitely wrong.

Okay so, this episode was honestly just really cute from start to finish. Babies on a space station? Running the station, rolling around in little strollers? Trying to fight the boogeyman? Fucking adorable. Was the CGI to move their mouths weird? Of course. But again, I’m totally bought into this absolutely ridiculous situation so you gotta just roll with it. It’s pretty clear that this season is going to be a lot more whimsical than they have been in the past, and that might not be some people’s thing, but oh well. I can’t drag myself away from Doctor Who, it’s become too much of me, so I really will just follow where they lead, why the eff not. 

It’s also obvious they’re gonna keep leaning into the whole Timeless Child business, and I’ll go along with that too even if I was NOT a fan of the Flux because I’m interested to see what 15 is going to make of it. He was surprisingly upfront about where he was from when Ruby was grilling him, that was something that historically had to be PULLED out of the Doctor. Telling her, “the one that was adopted was the last one left” (which, isn’t he technically the first time lord also, since they basically harnessed whatever he technically is to become time lords?) And then this man actually said the word ‘genocide’ AND  expressed his gratitude about the fact that he’d survived. Is the Doctor finally letting go of the guilt he felt over that entire absolutely insane situation? 15 really is all about that emotional growth. You love to see it. 

Bypassing the ridiculousness that is a monster made out of straight up baby BOOGERS, I also thought it was interesting that they let that creature live. I’m not sure 10 would have. But again, the whole ‘the only one of my kind’ thing. Adopting the forgotten. Saving everybody, for once. 

Basically, the whole thing was pure fluff. And I like that sometimes. Cute first official adventure. Even though I gotta say I was surprised he gave Ruby a key like, fucking immediately. 15 really is going all in on those human emotions. It’s gonna get him in trouble, gang…

The Devil’s Chord

Wherein Ruby makes a request for where she’d like to go, and they land in 1963, but again, something is definitely off.

OKAY so, here’s the thing about this episode. Asking to see The Beatles recording their first album is a DIRECT LINE to my heart. Ruby talking about listening to records with her aunt - that’s me with my dad. And it’s absolutely what I would suggest. I enjoyed that he said everyone asks about the Titanic (I would too, eventually) but this girl got her priorities right. 

And I loved how he reacted to it. Pure fucking joy, 15. And the little vignette with them getting dressed up and strutting through the fucking TARDIS, yelling “I’ve got wigs galore!” And then being so absolutely excited about landing basically on the cross walk of Abbey Road. Just, all of it. Pulling all kinds of strings for me. I can’t even. 

I can also appreciate how  they got around not being able to utilize actual Beatles music - music is dying! Music is gone! John and Paul singing about having a dog; “my dog is alive, he’s not dead … he’s not your dog, if you want a dog get your own.” I loved the surprise of it, how absolutely absurd. 

The conversations that Ruby and The Doctor have with Paul and John too…the whole episode is a love letter to music, and I love that. 15 says something like “songs that lift you and devastate you and-and make you soar…” and shit, that’s exactly what it is (I say, as I continue to cry through The Tortured Poet’s Department).

John saying “why do I wake up crying?” ugh. The whole fucking thing. As someone whose life has always revolved around music in some way or another, the thought of losing it really is mind melting. All the feels.

All that to say - the Maestro. Damn, gang. Hard fucking whimsy, I see. And what an absolute psychopath. In a creepy, good, but also terrible way. What the fuck was that? 

The point being now we know a little bit what they’re up against - because 14 played a game at the end of the universe, they apparently let gods from the Pantheon into the universe. So now we’re less about aliens, and more about forces The Doctor really shouldn’t be fucking with, but is going to anyway. Because he caused it, after all. And the devastation he had when he realized that - 15 feels so much, so hard. Gonna hit the entire emotional spectrum with this one, which is so not a Doctor thing, and I will enjoy the entire ride.

 There were so many good moments in this one - Ruby playing the piano on the roof, or when she was trussed up in musical notes and just started emitting Christmas music - and that’s the other thing, the Maestro saying “this creature is very wrong.” Girl, what are you? I love the companion backstories, I really do.

Oh AND The Doctor declaring they had to hide, at one point. My dude is realizing his limitations. 14 wondering what he was underneath all of the gadgets and the time machine really sunk in. And then him talking about how his soul was ripped in half? Jesus. Growth, growth, growth. 

Someone might as well get the emotional epiphanies I should probably be having. It counts if I watch someone else go through it, right? 

There’s too much to say about this one. I loved it, even if I did think the last musical number was almost a bridge too far. But, I’m already on this train, so I’m giving up on clinging to expectations.

Boom

Wherein the two of them land on a planet that’s clearly at war but maybe it’s not all that they think it is.

This one is definitely more classic Doctor Who - immediately they’re in danger and it just ramps and ramps and ramps the entire episode and you can never really relax. I love those. This episode is basically all stakes. 

Doctor standing on a landmine? Check. Ruby valiantly trying to help but most likely is going to make it worse but does it anyway? Yes. Post-apocalyptic “ambulances” wandering the battlefield killing people if they’re injured instead of actually helping them because an algorithm decided it? Of course. 

I feel like a lot of shows lately have been trying to lecture me about the danger of AI (I’m looking at you, Murder At The End of The World, which was so terrible I didn’t even bother writing it up) and I’ve been like ‘yeah yeah I get it jesus’ but I think they did a solid job of it in this one. Capitalism and AI together is honestly a worrying combination, and they got me with this plot.

Essentially, 15 is trapped on a landmine that immolate whomever it ensnares basically, turning him into a giant bomb  which isn’t great because as we know he’s a big ol’ space-time event and he needs to get out of it but then the daughter of a soldier we saw killed by the ambulance shows up and then another soldier coming after the kid and things just go haywire. 

The point is, AI is running everything because war has become an industry (more than it already is) and the algorithm is forcing casualties in a war that literally doesn’t exist and everything is kind of terrible but the Doctor manages to talk his way out of it sort of, by connecting to a projection about being a father and protecting their kids always and forever, no matter the form they’re in. 

It’s kind of sweet that they’re letting 15 talk more about his long, long life - in the previous episode he mentioned his granddaughter and when Ruby asked if he had kids he said something like “did have, will have” and then at the end he tells the child he’ll be back to check on them and that “fish fingers and custard” is his favorite which obviously made me squee and I just really appreciate that he’s more…integrated? It’s always felt like they worked so hard to make sure they’re all different and of course they are, but they’re all The Doctor and I want that thread of all of the things that have come before. 

Also, Ruby again with the weirdness, making it snow after she gets shot accidentally and then grabbed by the ambulance, basically dying on the ground. Girl is complicated. Gimme that backstory!

The other thing I really enjoyed was the mockery of “thoughts and prayers”. Fuck people who hide behind that. Fuck corporations that hide behind that. The Doctor’s not taking your shit, and neither should we. 

All that to say, all three of these episodes were ridiculous in their own ways, and I’m about it. So far, 15 is 1000000% his own thing and I love it even if it is fairly far off the beaten path for Doctor Who and I’m excited to see where else he’ll take us. 

Like he said, “There's hardly any time that we're not dead. Which is a good thing, too. We've got to keep the pace up.”

[johnnycakesswitch]

Details I noticed while rereading The Outsiders- Chapter 3

Chapter 1 Chapter 2

• Pony says the west side of town where Cherry and Marcia live was “only” about 20 miles away and Two-Bit offered to WALK them home

• the greasers canonically think Elvis is tuff and don’t like the Beatles

• Soda worked at the stables when he was just 12- this was probably his very first job

• Pony cried right along with Soda when Mickey Mouse got sold and saved his money for a year thinking he could buy him back for Soda

• Two-Bit tells Pony not to get mouthy when he starts mumbling under his breath 💀

• Ponyboy says that they can look meaner than anything when they want to

• Two-Bit asked for Marcia’s number and she gave it to him, but he assumed it was fake

• Ponyboy describes Tim as actually enjoying being a greaser. He says Two-Bit just takes it, Soda ignores it and loves life anyway, and Dally hardened himself beyond caring

• Pony used to have a yeller cur dog

• the Curtis parents only died 8 months prior to the book

• when Pony is imagining life out in the country with his parents still alive and his brothers, he thinks that maybe Johnny could come live with them 🥺

• Dally and Mrs. Curtis got along really well and she could keep him out of trouble

• when Pony asks what time it is Johnny goes “I don't know. I went to sleep, too, listening to you rattle on and on” 😭😭

• people always say the slap in the movie was so dramatic more bc in the movie it was more of a push than a slap but in the book it does say that Darry slapped him so hard that it knocked him against the door

• Johnny asked no questions just immediately ran “several blocks” w pony when he said they were running away. A real one fr

• "I think I like it better when the old man's hittin' me." Johnny sighed. "At least then I know he knows who I am. I walk in that house, and nobody says anything. I walk out, and nobody says anything. I stay away all night, and nobody notices. At least you got Soda. I ain't got nobody.” Wow my heart just broke into pieces

That’s all for this time yall, I’ll try to do chapter 4 soon :)

[thebeatles-world]

Omg I just found your account ahdsj and I love it!! Especially your ringo stuff eee, could I rq a blurb where the reader is a assistant for the beatles and ringo starts to notice you've been getting stressed and haven't been sleeping enough/eating well and is determined to help? Sorry if your fanfic rqs aren't open rn I was just wonderin!!:>

Thank you! I love writing imagines for Ringo 🥺😍🥰 & honestly pls request more imagines of Ringo because I love him sooo much. Also my inbox is always open for imagines of The Beatles! Don’t be afraid to request one!

I hope you like this imagine!

Help!

You were working as a assistant for The Beatles for a while now.

It did get chaotic sometimes working for the boys. They would run all over you and you honestly felt like a teacher calming down a classroom full of children when they got rowdy, loud and chased each other.

Your job wasn’t as easy as they thought it was. You had to mange them, schedule dinner meets, conferences, meet and greets, handle their paperwork, made sure the boys got up on time, and communicate back and forth to Brian every day about what’s going on.

You felt like you were running around with your head cut off and the boys weren’t making it easy…

“Boys! Can you stop that please?” You asked nicely as you saw John, Paul and George playing with their food and started to throw it at each other while laughing.

You noticed that Ringo was just silently staring at them, slowly taking bites of his mashed potatoes.

Of course as usual they didn’t listen to you and continued to do what they were doing.

“Please don’t do that, you are going to-“ You begin as you saw Paul grab a handful of mashed potatoes from his plate and threw it right at John’s suit.

“Ruin his suit.” You mumbled to yourself. It was too late. John’s suit was ruined and it was only 30 minutes until they needed to leave for showtime.

John and Paul just started laughing at the mashed potato stain that John now had on his suit.

“It feels like I’m working for a bunch of children!!” You groaned out loud, covering your face as you left the room.

Ringo felt bad for you. He knew that his bandmates didn’t care and they weren’t taking it easy on you. He was the only one that didn’t participate in the foolish acts that they did.

He also noticed that you weren’t eating and sleeping well. He knew that you were up late at night planning for the next day and working hard while the boys were sleeping.

Ringo wanted to give you a hand and help you out. He felt like it was the right thing to do and he wanted for you to have a break for once without having a stressful day.

At least he thought that your job wasn’t easy…

After the concert, you stayed up late as always and worked on plans for the next days ahead. You made sure paperwork was done and you wrote a few reminders down to make sure you wouldn’t forget.

You heard a knock on your bedroom door.

You raised an eyebrow, putting down your pencil.

“Who could this be? Probably one of the boys wanting something.” You mumbled to yourself as you put on a robe.

“Yes come in.” You said, sitting down on your chair.

“Hey… It’s me Ringo.” Ringo gave you a smile as he opened your bedroom door.

“Hey Ringo, Can I help you?” You said in confusion.

“Aren’t you supposed to be sleeping?” You added as he came to your room.

“I was wondering if we could talk?” Ringo said, sitting down on you bed.

“Yes of course. About what?” You raised an eyebrow.

“I noticed you work very hard and I know you don’t get appreciate of how hard you work. You deserve to have a stress-free life. You done so much for us. You are the most selfless person i know. You are a very lovely lady and I hate to see how my band mates treat you. I was wondering if… I could help?” Ringo asked.

You were shocked but in awe of his words.

Ringo noticed how hard you been working? And noticed how you felt?

That was so sweet of him.

“Ringo, you are such a sweet guy… I appreciate your offer but-“ you begin before he cut you off.

“I’ll do it for free. I’ll do it to make sure you don’t have enough on your plate. I want to make sure that at the end of the day you are eating, sleeping well and being stress free. That’s all it matters to me.” Ringo took your hand and held it.

“I promise.” He said softly.

“Okay. Of course. That will do.” You said softly with a smile.

“Thank you.” You added, leaning in to give Ringo a hug.

“You’re welcome Y/N.” Ringo hugged you back.

Over the next few weeks, there was definitely a huge improvement.

With Ringo’s help, you got to relax, eat and sleep well. He even calmed John, Paul and George down when they were acting really rowdy and he made them realize that your job position wasn’t easy.

He even helped you out scheduling meetings, dinner, hotels, meet and greets with public, flights and people as well.

Having Ringo by your side made it so easy. You weren’t stressed out as you were back then. He had your back and having his help made it more easier on you. Every night he would offer to give you a massage which of course you accepted because Ringo was really good at massaging you and his massage’s relaxed you and your body a lot.

“Ringo I just know you are going to be husband material one day!” You told him as he started to massage your feet.

Ringo started blushing after you told him that.

“You deserve it my dear Y/N. For being a good assistant.” Ringo said.

“Hey guys have you seen my -“ John said as he came to the living room where Ringo was giving you a massage at.

“Aww Ringo, I didn’t know you had the hots for Y/N.” John smirked at Ringo.

“What are you talking about? I’m just giving her a massage.” Ringo said, raising his eyebrow at him. You raised your eyebrow at John as well while you took a sip of your lemonade drink.

“Mhm sure. Just make sure to use protection if you guys ever decide to do it.” John smirked and left.

John’s comment almost made you spit out your drink.

[jakescaravel]

Autumn Intake

Pairing: Jake Kiszka x reader

Word Count: 4,282

Warnings: Smoking, mentions of weed, cuddling, kissing (this is purely Jake fluff!)

Albums mentioned (to listen to while reading!): Disraeli Gears, Dark side of the Moon, The Cars

Ok thats it, enjoyyyy!!

After a long day of getting yelled at by your boss and hiding away to cry in the bathroom, you were finally going home. The sun had already set and a chilly autumn wind swept through the air.

The heat in the car was on full blast as you tore down the residential road leading you to the tiny cabin you shared with your best friend and boyfriend Jake. You were anxious to get home, to get to him.

Usually you drove to the house just as the sun was setting and beautiful shades of orange and pink painted the sky. Usually you listened to some Beatles or Cream songs but today you were too upset to fiddle with the bluetooth of your old car or to pull over to connect your phone in the first place.

Despite the growing temperature in the small vehicle making your body hot, your feet were cold. Luckily you were only minutes away from home. 

As you pull into the driveway, you see a steadily flowing line of smoke coming from the chimney, and a few lights on in the house. (Silly little habit of Jakes, no matter the countless times you had argued over the expensiveness of keeping extra lights on, he still did it but of course you only found it endearing).

After parking you make your way to the door and it opens before you can even lay a finger on the handle. You are greeted with the immediate warmth radiating from the house, and the man standing right in front of you. The smell of chicken noodle soup hits your nose and the hunger you didn’t know you had grumbles loudly in your belly. The faint crackle coming from the fireplace tickles your ears, relaxing you.

You look up and see him in the doorway wearing his big ‘I missed you all day and I’m so happy to see you smile.’ He brings you in for a big hug and rests his chin on the top of your head swaying back and forth with you. The fabric of his sweater feels soft on your face, and it smells like him even though it belongs to you.

It's hard to describe what hugging Jake feels like, and you’ve tried many times. It feels like finally visiting your childhood home after being away for so long. It feels like being wrapped in a million blankets that hug your body perfectly, lulling you into peaceful sleep. It feels like home.

You let yourself melt into his arms, breathing in his comforting scent before stepping out of the cold. He smells like burning wood, a homey campfire, your favorite smell in the entire world. The one that reminds you of years of camping with your family and friends, and hundreds of nights spent under the stars roasting marshmallows with your favorite boy.

You pull away slightly to look up at his face. He looks so cozy and gentle. His hair is hung in a low bun messy from an afternoon of napping on the couch and his eyes are lazy and tired but he looks at you with the same amount of love he’s looked, since the moment he met you.

“Long day at work baby?” His sweet gravelly voice makes its way to your ears warming you from the inside out. 

“Yeah, like you wouldn’t believe. I missed you.”

“I missed you too.” He leans down and places a single gentle kiss on your forehead. Jake rubs your cheek with the pad of his thumb, lightly prickling the skin from his rough calluses. “Is that old boss of yours still giving you trouble?”

You nod slowly looking into his beautiful brown eyes, so beautiful. 

“Alright then.. I’ll kill him” his eyes light up and that stupid smile creeps out as you giggle into his arms.

When you let go first (Jake would never let go first as he drunkenly took a vow years ago when you first started dating.) you take a step into the house. You notice your brown fuzzy blanket on the floor next to the couch from when Jake sprang up to rush to greet you upon hearing the car in the driveway. Part of you feels jealous of his day spent lounging around doing absolutely nothing but he is so hard working and deserves this just as much as you do. 

“I made soup, I made chicken noodle, your favorite.”

“Really?!? Thank you Jakey! It smells amazing, I'm sooo hungry.” You stand on your tiptoes to deliver a kiss right to the end of his nose. He blushes and smiles shyly. Then his tone changes completely, his British alter ego slipping out.

“Well take your coat off, stay a while, let's eat! And I’m talking about the soup, not you by the way, although you do look entirely delectable.”

Oliver makes an overly exaggerated gesture pointing to the already laid out bowls of soup. This silly little persona never fails to make you smile, it's just so Jake and reminds you of the night he made it up. That night is one you replay a lot in your mind. It was the first time you said ‘I love you’. It might have been a drunken confession but you would have had it no other way.

“Did you not eat yet honey, it's so late?” You say as you hang up your coat and put your bag down by the door.

“Honey?? I’m not your honey, I’m a man goddamn it!”

Oliver goes away and Jake comes back with a comforting smile. He pulls you in to whisper “no, I wanted to eat with you.”

“The soup is probably cold by now.” You whisper back.

“No. I warmed it up just a few minutes ago so it's the perfect temperature. Not too hot, not too room temperature-ee.” He smiles at you.

“Gosh, you're so perfect and why are we whispering?”

“I don’t know, it's kinda hot though. Feels like we’re keeping secrets.” He moves his eyebrows up and down in a flirtatious manner.

You pretend to swoon and you dramatically place your hand over your forehead, half falling to the floor. “Oh Jacob, what ever did I do to deserve you?”

“Yeah I have no idea what you did, must have been something really great.”

You punch his arm, maybe a little too hard.

“Hey!” He giggles and in one quick move he scoops his arms under your legs and carries you towards the dimly lit dining room table. “Put me down!” You’re both laughing as he sets you down gently.

There is one perfectly placed candle in the middle of the table, next to it lays a small hydrangea from the bush in the front yard. You pick your seat next to him and settle into the chair as he does the same. You lean forward to smell the pretty flower. He knows they are your favorite, which is why he planted the bush all those months ago.

You bring one knee up to your chin and relax even further into the comfortable padding of the wooden chairs. You and Jake had gotten them for free at a stoop sale last fall. It was pure luck that they perfectly matched your wood cabinets. Jake was very insistent on them matching. He was mostly responsible for all of the interior design in the house, he has a very good eye for this kind of thing so you’ve never minded.

Before digging into the wonderful meal he has made you, you steal a quick kiss, this one on his lips. He leans into it and you feel his soft lips press into yours. You can taste the apple and peanut butter on his tongue and you smell the traces of weed left over on your sweater. You also smell his cologne.

Your mind flashes back to last summer when you had walked into a sort of candle shop. The two of you walked hand in hand around the whole shop for at least an hour smelling every single candle and every single hand soap. You both agreed that out of all the seasons, fall had the best smells (crisp apples, warm cookies, cinnamon, pumpkin and squash soup). You also agreed it had the best tastes (pumpkin pie, turkey, chai, walnuts), the best holidays (next to Christmas obviously), and the best weather. After a bit of searching, you had found thee fall smell and in anticipation of the new shared favorite season, he had bought three bottles of it. (“To last a lifetime with you, or.. whatever three bottles will last me until, this shit is expensive man!”)

You're broken out of your day dream with a little poke on your leg.

“Hey you in there?”. 

“Yeah, yeah just thinking, you smell good baby.” He hums in response wearing a satisfied sort of smirk.

You feel your cheeks warm and the smile you can’t help makes its way across your face. Right as you're about to take your first sip of the warm broth Jake yells, you almost drop your spoon.

“WAIT!!!!!” 

He jumps up and scampers off to the living room. He walks back a minute later looking content when a familiar drum fill fills the house followed by ‘strange brew, killin what's inside of you.’ 

He sits back down as the album you had both picked out on your first date plays out on the record player you gifted him on your first Christmas together. You had immediately bonded over your love for cream and especially the ‘best album of all time’ Disraeli Gears. 

Your eyes light up. “Good song!!”

“The best.”

There's a beat of comfortable silence between you before you decide to unleash what you’ve been holding in all day.

“Ok so.” You sigh.

His expression immediately changes to one of concern and you tell him about your shitty day. You tell him how much you had just wanted to come home to cuddle or watch tv together or anything other than work and how you had cried multiple times. He rests his hand on your arm while he listens to you rant, nodding his head every once in a while to show you he’s still listening. After quickly returning from flipping the album to the B side he sits back down and rubs your forearm once more. 

“Come sit in my lap baby, I'll play with your hair.” He gazes at you with those twinkling eyes and you can never resist them.

You move to sit in his lap and wiggle around until you're comfortable. He wraps his arms around you as you nuzzle into his chest. He brings his hands up to your hair, softly dragging his nails across your scalp.

“Tell me the rest of your story.”

After you finish telling Jake all about your day he says his sorrys which of course he doesn’t have to say and squeezes you to him. He peppers you with little kisses along your jaw until meeting you on the lips for a long slow kiss.

Jake finished his soup before you and he waits eagerly for you to finish with an excited look on his face. It looks… suspicious. 

“What are you planning, mister?”

“Well now that you ask… since it's friday and you won’t have to see any of the stupid work people until monday… we should celebrate. I have the perfect idea.”

He stands and holds his hand for you to grab, leading you to the couch that is already a mess of blankets and pillows. He pushes you to fall back onto the plush blankets and he’s not far behind. He falls on top top nearly crushing you. After a quick wrestling match which you unsurprisingly lose, Jake leans over to grab something resting on the coffee table. He turns back to face you and he holds up a small brown lighter and a tightly wrapped joint. 

“OH FUCK YES!” 

“Smoke with me baby?” His low gravelly voice is so unbelievably sexy when he asks you the question and it's always been your favorite thing to smoke with Jake. 

“Yes yes yes always. Ohh I love you, this is exactly what I needed!” You notice his flushed cheeks and half hidden lids.

“How much did you already smoke?” The realization hits you that he's been high the whole time and suddenly some of his actions make a lot more sense. He always gets so cute and affectionate when he’s high, you had suspected it but now it was very evident.

He rolls his eyes “You know I don’t really know, who's even keeping track?” He looks down and smiles to himself.

He presents you with his rendition of a ‘girl blunt’ with a precious will toothed grin. You had explained the concept to him the past week and ever since then, he has refused to use any papers other than the sunflower ones you got him. You could have sworn you had seen the old papers in the trash a few days after.

You practically squeal with excitement and waste no time cracking open the window behind the couch to let out the smoke. The cold air blows through the house and you wrap a blanket around the two of you as you both lean out of the window. He hands you the joint and you place it in between your lips as he holds the lighter to the end of it. You take a long inhale and look up to see him staring at your lips.

The feeling of the smoke traveling down your lungs warms you from the inside out and you melt into the soft couch. You blow the smoke out the window and hand the lit joint to him. He takes a big hit and then passes it back to you once more. After some minutes of passing it back and forth, your mouth goes dry and you feel your heart rate quicken. The familiar taste of weed coats your mouth and your body goes slightly numb embracing the relaxing effects.

After you’ve both had your fill, Jake closes the window and he lays down on the couch. He opens his arms and you settle in next to him pulling the blanket over you. You turn your body into the cushion and he matches your shape, cradling you with care and comfort. His entire body is pressed against yours and it feels so safe. Nothing bad could happen to either of you at this moment. The whole world starts to melt away and it's just you and Jake on this couch. 

Whenever you two smoke together it feels like your souls are intertwining. The connection you’ve shared since day 1 twisting itself around the two of you like silk, wrapping you both up into the softest, safest cocoon. With any physical contact like this, it's hard to differentiate between your two bodies, you’re just one being. You don’t even have to be talking to him or looking at him to feel completely content. Just his presence and the soft music in the background is enough to feel perfectly happy.

As you relax, you start to really pay attention to the song playing on the record player and you can’t help but laugh at the exaggerated British accents in the song ‘Mother’s Lament’. You turn to Jake, a big smile paints his face and you both fall into a fit of giggles as the last song ends on a dramatic piano slide.

You both laugh as you're looking into each other's eyes, never once breaking the contact and a comfortable silence finds itself over the two of you once more. You stare deeply into his eyes although it feels rather like you're staring right at his soul. From the way he's looking at you there's no way he doesn't feel the same.

You can both feel the weed dancing around in your system and he certainly felt it judging by the way his hand kept moving over your ass and his necklace dangled over your face when he leaned down to kiss you. There's that taste of apples and peanut butter again. So perfect, so Jake. 

The silence is broken when he says, “babe?”

His voice moves slowly through the air and his speech sounds delayed. In your state you find it entirely hilarious and he looks at you with confusion before falling into his own fit of giggles. When you finally calm down, you ask “yes?”

“We should go as Westly and Buttercup for halloween!” He looks so cute with his excitement. His eyes are sparkling and his cheeks are the prettiest pink. You can tell he is very into this idea. To be honest you’re surprised he isn’t thinking of forcing you both to go as pirates for the millionth time although this idea isn’t far off. 

“Oh my god, that's such a good idea, I already have the perfect dress, we would just need to buy you some stuff.”

“So you wanna do it!?”

“Yeah! That’s such a good idea, and it's our favorite movie. But you have to do whatever I say all day.” You squint your eyes, challenging him with a playful smirk.

“As you wish.” 

You giggle and kiss him softly. All of a sudden you are very excited for halloween. 

“Hey are you cold?” He asks.

“Yeah a little, you’re warm though.” You say as you curl into him. Jake starts to stand up.

“Nooo don’t leave, you’re so comfortable!”

He runs away from you teasingly and you chase after him. He reaches the fireplace and throws another log on the fire. He squats down and moves his messy bun out of the way, holding it behind his head with one hand to blow on the fire. The embers glow a bright red, it’s completely mesmerizing in the darkness of the room. The flames grow much higher, licking the inside of the chimney and his face is lit up, you can see the flames in his reddened eyes. He looks so cozy it makes your heart flutter. How is he all yours? 

“We gotta listen to some more music. What should we put on?”

“Hmmmm I don’t know, let's look.”

You both walk over to the shelf containing all the records. You both rapidly switch through them trying to find the perfect bit of music to match the mood.

“Jake!” You hold up the dark cover with the prism on it displaying the silver letters: The Dark Side Of The Mood.

“Oh my god, You are a genius.”

You carefully pull the record from its pocket replacing the previous album with it. You go to put Disraeli Gears safely away back in its place on the shelf as Jake fiddles with the needle. 

The sound of a woman wailing in the background is heard then the calming sound of an organ replaces it in its perfect opposition to the drum beat. This song truly is a work of art, the whole album in fact.

He hurries back over to the couch to snuggle right back in with you. He wiggles his toes to show off his warmest socks with little ghosts flying around. You lift up your foot to show your ‘work’ socks (boring).

You both rest silently listening to the music although it's hard not to focus on his heartbeat. You close your eyes and paint a picture of the song in your mind. You can literally see the sound of the slide guitar like a bird flying through space. The high notes of the guitar look like stars in the night sky. The song changes to a haunting electronic sound causing your heart to beat even faster. It's almost scary sounding in the dark room and for a moment you begin to panic. The feeling of the polyester blanket suddenly starts to feel suffocating but all it takes is for Jake to rest his hand on your forehead, calming you down and bringing you back to earth.

Jake has that sort of power of knowing exactly what you need and when you need it. It's the kind of connection you’ve never shared with another human being and it’s never failed you.

“Wow, I never realized how scary that song is. It's so spooky, and haunting” He says into the dark room.

“Yeah, maybe it wasn’t the best choice. It is kind of powerful though, I could like, feel it in my skin if that makes sense? But it's a little too spooky right now, can we put on something else?”

“Yeah I agree.”

Jake starts to get up again but the blanket is tangled around the two of you. After some fiddling with it, he stands and you follow closely, clutching his arm refusing to leave his side. You both walk over to the record player and he removes the spinning disc. All of a sudden like a crack of lightning shooting through your brain, you remember food exists so you leave him to venture into the kitchen. When you open the refrigerator door, the bright light hitting your sensitive eyes, something terrible happens. You realize... there's nothing to eat.

“Jake!!!! There's nothing to eat, this is really bad!” You call from the other room. He pokes his head around from where he stands.

“Shit, lemme see.” He follows into the kitchen and looks at the mostly empty shelves. 

“I just wanted some chocolate covered pretzels or something man come on.” You hang your head in defeat. Jake snickers.

“Hey! This is really bad Jake, I wouldn’t expect you to get it honestly.” You walk closer to him as you speak the words until your noses are touching. He pretends to bite off the end of your nose and you back away laughing. 

“Jake.”

“Hmm?”

“I’m so hungry I’m gonna eat you.”

“You know I wouldn’t mind that.” He smirks and sends you a wink. You roll your eyes.

“Get your phone quick, I need an apple cider donut from that place next to the record store.”

“Baby.”

“What? Go get the phone please, I'm so hungry.”

“It's 11pm.”

“Fuck. Okay let's get Dunkin Donuts.”

He whips out his phone and opens the doordash app. You scroll through the many options and each pick out 3 donuts. One boston cream, a vanilla one and chocolate one for Jake and three pumpkin donuts for you. You both cave and order a slice of pizza each, to pair along with the donuts.

After placing the order, the after effects of the weed pull you back into the comfort of the couch. You perfectly intertwine with each other and the rhythmic sound of Jake's heartbeat draws you into a peaceful slumber. 

The sound of someone knocking rapidly on the door wakes the both of you and Jake jumps up. The sound startles you and you clutch your chest trying to regain your composure after the initial panic fades away.

“Who is it, it's so late?” You look at him and he looks back with the same level of confusion before his expression changes and he starts to laugh.

“What??”

“Baby.. it's the food we ordered, we fell asleep..” He giggles all the way to the door and opens it to greet the person. With a quick thank you and an exchange of two large boxes, Jake closes the door and sets the food on the table. You can smell it from a few feet away and you walk over to join him. Without a doubt it's most definitely the best thing you’ve ever smelled. 

“Hmmmm.” You both say at the same time.

After fixing yourselves both a plate and placing them on the coffee table next to the couch, you pick out the next album. The Cars, a classic, an album perfect for fall and another shared favorite between you and Jake.

The retro sort of sound is so very dance worthy so you move your way over to him gracefully moving your feet in a haphazard function. He laughs at you so you pretend to look hurt. 

“You can judge my dancing skills when I see you dance alright big shot?” He rolls his eyes, smiling still. 

You sit next to him on the floor and see that he has already started on his pizza. You waste no time scarfing down your own slice as well. He waits for you to finish yours before moving on to dessert. You both cheer for the donuts holding them up high before quickly finishing all of them. You steal plenty of bites of Jake’s after regretting your decision in only getting one flavor.

“I don’t know at the moment it just seemed really good!”

After finishing all the donuts, you both lay back for a moment, unable to move from the amount of food you’ve consumed.

“That was delicious but I need to sleep for like a week now. Should we go to bed or just fuck it and sleep on the couch?” You stand up stretching your limbs and he does the same. Jake intertwines your fingers in his and sways them by your sides.

“I don’t know we’ve been sleeping on the couch a lot lately, I kind of miss our bed.” A small smile plays on his lips and you both share a look of agreement without evening having to speak the words.

You and Jake walk hand in hand to fall asleep on the couch for the third time this week. You both fall asleep instantly, dreaming about one another, those kinds of dreams that you don’t ever want to wake up from.

.

.

.

.

[sarahisslytherin]

alright || r.l.

summary: remus deserves the world but you can’t seem to give it to him. contains: so much angst, insecurities, self-loathing, lowkey unhealthy dynamic. a/n: i wrote this at 1am while listening to hozier and it shows.

it’s dark in the marauders’ dorm. cold, even. you can feel the bass beat thumping in your ribs and if you try hard enough you can make out the tune playing downstairs. bowie. queen. beatles. they all echo up the halls throughout the night yet it’s not enough to lure you out of the cave you’ve made out of that room, the burrow you’ve made of remus’ bed. 

then the door opens and he walks in quietly, cautious not to wake you in case you’re asleep. you aren’t, he’s not surprised. he tells you as much as he sits at the edge of the bed, lets his head fall into his hands as if it’s a boulder he’s been carrying on his shoulders.

“sounds like some party.” you force a smile.

”it’s alright.” remus says, staring off ahead of him. “not much fun without you.”

your heart swells in your chest because, yes, you want to be missed. you admit it. you want your presence to be cherished and your absence to be felt. especially by remus. it’s selfish, you know. but it’s true.

“you should enjoy yourself, moony.” you tell him. he turns to you, a pained, almost offended look on his face.

“you know bloody well i can’t.” he nearly hisses, turns away sharply like he can’t bear to look at you. “how can i enjoy anything knowing you’re unhappy?”

“that has nothing to do with you.” you sigh. “i’m a mess right now, remus. but i’ll get through it.”

he shakes his head, eyes not meeting yours. “it does have to do with me.”

you replay the moment in your mind. meeting him at the library after hours. between the stacks of epics and poems, a quiet and desperate confession. he loves you. you knew it before he told you, felt it in your very core, but never dared to acknowledge it. because you don’t know how to love him back. not with chaos in your head and walls still around your heart.

“you’ll be fine, rem.” you say it because you believe it. no matter what you wish, you know it deep down. you know that you are forgettable, you are surmountable. you are not the love of anyone’s life, you are only a moment in time.

“and what about us?” he chokes out like the question has been lodged in his throat for ages. he breathes. “everything is so unclear, and i understand you don’t want to commit to anything right now. i know that. i just can’t help but hope that maybe, when this is all over, that maybe you’ll want me.”

“remus, i can’t promise-”

“i know, i know.” he sighs, head hanging low. you scramble towards him, place a soft hand on his shoulder. “i’m sorry, that was selfish of me.”

you chuckle bitterly, eyes fixated on your feet dangling over the edge of the bed. “if anyone’s being selfish, moony, it’s me.” a pause. “i wish i could give you what you want, i really do. you deserve the world and i just can’t give that to you. not now, and i don’t know if i ever can.”

a silence falls upon the dorm, and you fear you’ve lost him for good now. but then you watch his big hand engulf yours, watch as he brings your knuckles to his lips and presses a kiss to them, as if embalming in the skin all the words he can’t quite spit out. 

“i can live with that.” he says, eyes growing sad as what comes next builds inside him. “just promise me, promise that no matter what happens, that you’ll be there.”

“i promise it, moony.”

a tear streams down your cheek, and before you can wipe it away he does it for you. then, where you’d least expect to find one, a smile. it’s bittersweet but it’s raw and it’s honest. you watch his brown eyes crinkle in that charming way they always do when he smiles. and just for a moment, no matter how fleeting or intangible, you know you will be alright.

taglist: @velvetcloxds @oliverwoodmarrymepls @canibeoneofthepogues @leahsficemporium @saintlike78​ @sereinegemini​ @imabee-oralizard​ @sheraayasher​ @mendesxruel​ @gilmore-angel​ @cupids-crystals​ 

[zilabee]

on walking in the park one evening during the pandemic, listening to music:

[the song that started playing] was I’ll Get You, which is really a true 50/50 Paul and John song, and as I listened, the song slipped behind my defences so easily that it took me a moment to realize what was happening, that I was hearing it, first in indistinct glimmers, then completely, with the same ears as I had when I was little. It sounds so slight the day afterward, like most such experiences. But it wasn’t. When the song ended I put on a random Beatles playlist, practically in a trance. I didn’t even want to look at my phone for long enough to get distracted by a text, I didn’t want to lose the feeling, and walked for hours through the night, listening. I had put so much of myself inside those songs for safekeeping.

...

There are millions of bigger Beatles fans than I am, but I feel stubbornly certain in my heart that no one can love the Beatles more than I do. They were incredibly alive to me from the moment I heard them. Looking back, I think it was their joyfulness I found so mesmerizing. Even their saddest songs have an undercurrent of happiness. (You’re never too far from a 7th chord with the Beatles.) I think it’s because they were four working class kids whose crazy plan had actually worked. Especially in their early pictures they look dumbstruck to be so famous and gifted and rich and happy. It’s there in their first perfect song, Please Please Me. A minute and a half in, John and Paul mess up the lyrics, then sort of cover it as they launch, with John laughing — but not to the listener, just caught up in the happiness of the playing with Paul, this other genius he found in Liverpool — and then covering the laugh with the start of the chorus.

...

Last night, I listened to all of it. In my head I tracked the other songs in which various band members laugh (I Should Have Known Better, It’s Only Love, If I Fell, etc.) and observed with intense satisfying scrutiny just how weird and sad and good John’s parts of A Day in the Life are, so much of each that it’s hard to believe it’s a part of mainstream culture... until you remember that one of Paul’s transcendent gifts is to lift the sensation of hopelessness from a song without rejecting its presence. I listened to I’ve Got a Feeling. “Everybody had a hard year.” I nodded, in the misting dark, as I headed home. In my defence it was very late by then. Everybody had a hard year.

[Charles Finch, LA Times, Nov 2021 ]

[spaceagebachelormann]

˗ˏˋ ziggys 500 celly ! ´ˎ˗

ᰔᩚ 𝐍𝐎𝐖 𝐏𝐋𝐀𝐘𝐈𝐍𝐆 —heavy metal lover , lady gaga

🔭 𝐎𝐏𝐄𝐍 𝐅𝐀𝐍𝐃𝐎𝐌𝐒 — narnia, the outsiders, the mighty ducks, classic monsters, keeper of the lost cities, powerpuff girls, riordanverse, ride the cyclone, david bowie, the beatles, anyone on the misc masterlist, sweeney todd, phantom of the opera. if u want another lmk !

✧⃝ 𝐑𝐔𝐋𝐄𝐒 — anyone can participate ! u don’t have to follow me ! i only ask that u read my request rules if u aren’t sure abt something :) also it’s lady gaga themed because i love her (divider by bunnysrph)

jan. 01 -> jan. 05

♭navigation ! 🎧 masterlists ! ❍ request rules !

𝑺𝑯𝑶𝑾 𝑴𝑬 𝒀𝑶𝑼𝑹 𝑻𝑬𝑬𝑻𝑯 ! — give me a character and a trope and i’ll give u headcanons !

𝑻𝑯𝑨𝑻 𝑩𝑶𝒀 𝑰𝑺 𝑨 𝑴𝑶𝑵𝑺𝑻𝑬𝑹 ! — give me 5 songs to listen to and i’ll give u my opinion on them all !

𝑩𝑨𝑩𝒀 𝑳𝑰𝑲𝑬𝑺 𝑰𝑻 𝑹𝑶𝑼𝑮𝑯 ! — (stealing this from dal <3) ur turn, give me relationship/friendship hcs for me and a character !

𝑾𝑬𝑳𝑳 𝑰𝑴 𝒀𝑶𝑼𝑹 𝑳𝑶𝑽𝑬𝑹 𝑨𝑵𝑫 𝒀𝑶𝑼𝑹 𝑴𝑰𝑺𝑻𝑹𝑬𝑺𝑺 ! — give me a vibe/character/literally anything and i’ll make u a moodboard !

𝑺𝑰𝑳𝑰𝑪𝑶𝑵𝑬, 𝑺𝑨𝑳𝑰𝑵𝑬, 𝑷𝑶𝑰𝑺𝑶𝑵 ! — talk to me ! complain, tell me about ur day, infodump, whatever u want !

𝑺𝑶𝑹𝑹𝒀 𝑰 𝑪𝑨𝑵𝑵𝑶𝑻 𝑯𝑬𝑨𝑹 𝒀𝑶𝑼 𝑰𝑴 𝑲𝑰𝑵𝑫𝑨 𝑩𝑼𝑺𝒀 ! — ask me for book/movie/tv show recommendations based on another movie/tv show/book, vibe, etc ! <3

 𝑰’𝑴 𝒀𝑶𝑼𝑹 𝑩𝑰𝑮𝑮𝑬𝑺𝑻 𝑭𝑨𝑵 ! — tell me your first impression of me and i’ll tell you mine of you !

mutuals — @presidentroarie @isitovrnow @juneberrie @inkluvs @sophierequests @faerieroyal @orangelovesyou @su-alteza-emia @sluggmuffin @literaturewithliz @madwickedawesome @doyouknowwhoyouare13 @shefollowedthestars @starstruckwillows @janesociety @cannibalizedyke @herrscherofsentence @deftoners @lunarfleur @larsgoingtomars @cau-lee-flower215 @lunarluvbot @renqiisnce @sp1rit-realm @solutopia @eva-eyre @diqldrunk @majorlycelliers

[sweetdreamsjeff]

Amazing 'Grace': How Australia Gave Jeff Buckley His Biggest Hit

23 August 2024 | 12:00 pm | Jeff Jenkins

“In that moment, Jeff Buckley became a superstar in Australia.”

“I’ve got something I’d like to play you,” the woman from the overseas label announced.

It’s the start of 1994, and I’m at a Sony sales conference on the Gold Coast. We’ve been running through the major priorities for the year – Celine Dion, Mariah Carey, Pearl Jam and C+C Music Factory – when the representative from the company’s New York office mentions a new signing.

“I’ll play it during morning tea,” she says.

As she pressed play on the CD, you could hear a Mojo Pin drop. The Sony staff – music fans, grizzled music veterans and cynical indie types – were all united. No one had to say a word. The look on everyone’s face said it all: “This guy is special.”

In that moment, Jeff Buckley became a superstar in Australia.

Hearing him sing Hallelujah for the first time was a revelation. Nothing needed to be said. It was as if Sony’s Australian staff made a pact: we’re going to make this record a hit.

Jeff Buckley’s debut album, Grace, was released in the US 30 years ago today. The album’s Australian release came the following month, when Inpress editor Andrew Watt put Buckley on the cover and eloquently explained the album’s appeal. “Every now and then a new artist comes along whose sheer quality and artistic vision is so obvious that you just know you’re going to be listening to him for a long, long time.

“Grace is an album that seems so complete and so vivid in its expression that it’s almost an insult to try and deconstruct it and examine it to try and find out what makes it work.

“Probably the highest compliment that can be paid to Grace is that it’s timeless. It’s a brilliant album now, it would have been 10 years ago, and it will be in 10 years’ time.”

The record company bio that accompanied Grace had a section where the label listed what format it fitted. Grace ticked most of the boxes – alternative, AOR, easy listening, heavy metal, jazz, jazz/rock and “all other”. But Buckley responded: “That’s all just useless typing … everything it’s not, it is.

“What is it?” he added. “It’s just American music.”

And yet, Grace didn’t connect with American audiences. It peaked at number 149 in the US. Australia was the only country where it landed in the Top 10.

The American critics were initially unsure of what to make of the album. “Jeff Buckley sounds like a man who doesn’t yet know what he wants to be,” stated the three-star review in Rolling Stone.

John Encarnacao had no such reservations in his four-and-a-half-star review in Juice. “What kind of person wouldn’t like this disc?” he asked. “Maybe someone afraid of involvement. Or someone unprepared for music to penetrate their outer layers. Or anyone who rolls their eyes at the names Joni Mitchell, Neil Young or Sinead O’Connor. Grace is one of those sacred recordings.”

Grace received some play on US college radio but was shunned by the mainstream stations. “The songs were too long, and they didn’t have any hooks,” Buckley explained, relaying the complaints of the American radio programmers.

“It’s all a question of taste. I have no idea. I don’t know how their minds work, and if I ever do find out, I’ll hang myself from the nearest tree. I’m not really bitter about it at all.

“It’s a total crapshoot dealing with radio, so it doesn’t matter. Just so long as people come to the shows and enjoy it and get what they want, I can’t ask for more.”

And that’s exactly what Australians did – they embraced Buckley live. That first Jeff Buckley tour in 1995 is referred to in the same hushed, reverential tones as The Beatles’ 1964 visit and Nirvana’s shows in 1992.

You had to be there.

In Melbourne, Buckley did three shows at small venues – the Lounge, the Prince Patrick Hotel and the Athenaeum Theatre, as well as a set live to air on Triple R’s rooftop.

Lainey Wilson Has Never Been In It For The Awards: ‘I Want To Feel Something & I Want People To Feel Something’

Amazing 'Grace': How Australia Gave Jeff Buckley His Biggest Hit

23 August 2024 | 12:00 pm | Jeff Jenkins

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“In that moment, Jeff Buckley became a superstar in Australia.”

Jeff BuckleyJeff Buckley (Source: Supplied/'You And I' album cover)

More Jeff BuckleyMore Jeff Buckley

“I’ve got something I’d like to play you,” the woman from the overseas label announced.

It’s the start of 1994, and I’m at a Sony sales conference on the Gold Coast. We’ve been running through the major priorities for the year – Celine Dion, Mariah Carey, Pearl Jam and C+C Music Factory – when the representative from the company’s New York office mentions a new signing.

“I’ll play it during morning tea,” she says.

As she pressed play on the CD, you could hear a Mojo Pin drop. The Sony staff – music fans, grizzled music veterans and cynical indie types – were all united. No one had to say a word. The look on everyone’s face said it all: “This guy is special.”

In that moment, Jeff Buckley became a superstar in Australia.

Hearing him sing Hallelujah for the first time was a revelation. Nothing needed to be said. It was as if Sony’s Australian staff made a pact: we’re going to make this record a hit.

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Jeff Buckley’s debut album, Grace, was released in the US 30 years ago today. The album’s Australian release came the following month, when Inpress editor Andrew Watt put Buckley on the cover and eloquently explained the album’s appeal. “Every now and then a new artist comes along whose sheer quality and artistic vision is so obvious that you just know you’re going to be listening to him for a long, long time.

“Grace is an album that seems so complete and so vivid in its expression that it’s almost an insult to try and deconstruct it and examine it to try and find out what makes it work.

“Probably the highest compliment that can be paid to Grace is that it’s timeless. It’s a brilliant album now, it would have been 10 years ago, and it will be in 10 years’ time.”

The record company bio that accompanied Grace had a section where the label listed what format it fitted. Grace ticked most of the boxes – alternative, AOR, easy listening, heavy metal, jazz, jazz/rock and “all other”. But Buckley responded: “That’s all just useless typing … everything it’s not, it is.

“What is it?” he added. “It’s just American music.”

And yet, Grace didn’t connect with American audiences. It peaked at number 149 in the US. Australia was the only country where it landed in the Top 10.

The American critics were initially unsure of what to make of the album. “Jeff Buckley sounds like a man who doesn’t yet know what he wants to be,” stated the three-star review in Rolling Stone.

John Encarnacao had no such reservations in his four-and-a-half-star review in Juice. “What kind of person wouldn’t like this disc?” he asked. “Maybe someone afraid of involvement. Or someone unprepared for music to penetrate their outer layers. Or anyone who rolls their eyes at the names Joni Mitchell, Neil Young or Sinead O’Connor. Grace is one of those sacred recordings.”

Grace received some play on US college radio but was shunned by the mainstream stations. “The songs were too long, and they didn’t have any hooks,” Buckley explained, relaying the complaints of the American radio programmers.

“It’s all a question of taste. I have no idea. I don’t know how their minds work, and if I ever do find out, I’ll hang myself from the nearest tree. I’m not really bitter about it at all.

“It’s a total crapshoot dealing with radio, so it doesn’t matter. Just so long as people come to the shows and enjoy it and get what they want, I can’t ask for more.”

And that’s exactly what Australians did – they embraced Buckley live. That first Jeff Buckley tour in 1995 is referred to in the same hushed, reverential tones as The Beatles’ 1964 visit and Nirvana’s shows in 1992.

You had to be there.

In Melbourne, Buckley did three shows at small venues – the Lounge, the Prince Patrick Hotel and the Athenaeum Theatre, as well as a set live to air on Triple R’s rooftop.

“His shows caused the biggest buzz in town since the Stones were here in March,” I wrote in Inpress.

I took my friend Nova Weetman to the Athenaeum show. She wrote about it in her recent book, Love, Death & Other Scenes. “I was down the front,” she recalled, “weeping as the strains of Hallelujah lifted us up.”

Buckley was a potent mix of Jackson Browne and Jimmy Page. He had the heart of a poet. And he could rock like a god. As one Rolling Stone live review said, “The punchline is, Jeff Buckley can get away with anything.”

Interviewing Buckley was no easy task. He seemed troubled, knowing that the interviewer would inevitably ask about his father.

Jeff’s mother, Mary, had been briefly married to a then-unknown Tim Buckley. When he was eight, Jeff spent a week with his dad; apart from that, he never knew him. Two months after that meeting, Tim Buckley died of a heroin overdose.

The young Buckley loved record stores. “They’re a really emotional place,” he said. “All my life, I tried to work in one, but they never accepted me, and now I’m in them. I go to Tower Records and see all these lives in the bins.”

He noted the sad irony of his record being filed next to his father’s catalogue. “Separated all our lives, and now I’m right there in the bin next to him.”

David Browne, the author of Dream Brother, the biography of Jeff and Tim Buckley, noted that the younger Buckley “was painfully aware of the mistakes Tim had made in his life, and struggled to avoid them”, though “the weight of acclaim helped undo them both”.

That first Australian tour sent Grace into the Top 10. I remember a backstage scene when a Sony rep informed Buckley that the album had gone gold and was headed for platinum. “But do I really want that?” the artist responded.

In Sydney, he visited Bondi Beach at sunrise. “I tried to swim, but the water was too cold,” he smiled. “My nuts totally contracted into my body.”

Thirty years after it was released, Grace has gone eight-times platinum in Australia, and it remains a consistent seller.

Buckley returned in February 1996 for bigger shows, forging a rare connection with Australian audiences.

On the morning show on ABC radio in Melbourne, Raf Epstein has a popular segment called Changing Tracks, where a listener talks about a song that was playing at a pivotal moment in their life.

Recently, Julie recounted her memories of driving down Puckle Street in Moonee Ponds in September 1995. “I was listening to triple j,” she wrote. “I had just given birth to my only daughter … and I was in a loveless marriage. I was feeling extremely emotional and desperate. My husband had not wanted to be a father and was reluctant to involve himself in parenting.”

Like Tim Buckley decades before, Julie’s husband said, “I don’t want this.”

She realised she would be better off on her own.

“Listening to the radio that morning, I heard Jeff Buckley for the first time,” Julie continued. “Singing with a lilting, powerful, emotionally charged voice, he seemed to soothe my pain, and it lifted me out of the hole I had found myself in. I bought the CD that day, and his music supported me through probably the worst 12 months of my life.

“Every time I hear Jeff singing, he reminds me of the strength I found in the most vulnerable time in my life. For that, I am grateful.”

In that first interview with Inpress, Buckley revealed his desire to write a new American national anthem. “I hate the national anthem,” he declared. “The song itself is about having kicked somebody’s arse in war with bombs and stuff. Someday, there will be a [new] song, and hopefully, if I live into old age, I’ll make a stab at it.

“That will be my crowning achievement if I can replace that awful thing called the national anthem.”

He also said he hoped that Grace would be timeless. “If I make it into old age, I’d like to be able to visit it and have it still be true. The things I love the best are very timeless.”

Buckley highlighted Bob Dylan, Patti Smith, Duke Ellington and Allen Ginsberg. His favourite Ginsberg poem was Kaddish, which includes the line:

And how Death is that remedy all singers dream of.

Sadly, Jeff Buckley didn’t make it to old age. On May 29, 1997, while in Memphis working on the follow-up to Grace, he went for a swim in the Wolf River. His body was found on June 4.

Jeff Buckley never got to write that new national anthem. But one of his wishes came true: Grace is timeless.

In that first Australian interview, Buckley mused about his second album. “I’ll make an album that’s so not me,” he predicted. “But it will be me.” He even revealed he had a title for the record: My Sweetheart The Drunk.

The posthumous album Sketches for My Sweetheart The Drunk was released the year after Buckley’s passing.

“The songs that would have been My Sweetheart The Drunk (as well as all the other recorded material he left behind) are the true ‘remains’ of Jeff Buckley, not the speck of dust that was pulled out of the Wolf River,” his mother Mary Guibert said.

The Sketches album entered the Australian charts at number one. It was Buckley’s first number-one anywhere in the world.

Guibert also compiled the 2000 live album Mystery White Boy, which included five songs from the Palais Theatre in St Kilda, as well as Buckley’s cover of Big Star’s Kanga-Roo, recorded at Sydney’s Phoenician Club.

The great tragedy of Jeff Buckley and the modern music business is that Grace was his only completed album.

In the liner notes for Sketches, Bill Flanagan wrote: “If the music business ran in the ’90s as it did in the ’60s, Jeff would have had five albums out … But Jeff loved searching more than arriving.”

By the time Tim Buckley died, aged 28, he had released nine studio albums. Jeff, who died at 30, released just one.

But then, we were blessed to have experienced Jeff Buckley’s genius. One perfect album and some magical live shows.

Hallelujah.

[idkaguyorsomething]

A Shitty Recap of An Unearthly Child

For convoluted legal reasons, the very first episode of Doctor Who, An Unearthly Child, is unavailable for the public to screen (they cover the details here: https://www.ign.com/articles/why-the-first-four-doctor-who-episodes-ever-made-wont-be-on-bbc-iplayer ). So I’ll be recapping it with some screenshots here!

[Image ID: The words “An Unearthly Child” superimposed over an image of a 1960s police box]

We open with a scene of a police officer walking through the mist, opening the gates to the Foreman Junkyard and passing by a Perfectly Average Police Box.

Cut to Coal Hill High School, where the bell has rung to signal the end of the day and we see our leads, BARBARA the history teacher and IAN the chemistry teacher.

[Image ID: a man and a woman talking in a high school chemistry classroom. There is a chalkboard in the background]

BARBARA: We need to talk about Susan.

IAN: Susan?

BARBARA: You know, the fucking weirdo.

IAN: I do know, though when you put it like that-

BARBARA: Look, her grades are really high but her homework is shit, and when I went to go see where her home address is I ended up in a random junkyard.

IAN: Well, that could’ve been a typo in the school system.

BARBARA: Maybe, but when I went to go ask her about talking to her grandfather, she said that it would be absolutely impossible. For her only living relative, don’t you think that sounds a little-

IAN: Don’t!

BARBARA: Sus?

IAN: *sighs* Well, there’s probably some perfectly reasonable explanation for it.

BARBARA: I promised to go lend her a book, want to help me get to the bottom of it?

IAN: Sure.

Cut to SUSAN in another classroom, stimming!

[Image ID: Susan standing in the foreground, holding a radio with one hand and drumming her fingers on her wrist with the other. Barbara and Ian are in the background]

BARBARA: I have that book about the French Revolution you wanted, Susan.

SUSAN: Oh, thanks! I’ll return it tomorrow.

BARBARA: You can return it when you’ve finished it.

SUSAN: I will have finished it by tomorrow :3

IAN: Nice Beatles tunes you’re listening to there.

SUSAN: Wow, I didn’t think you were young enough to know about the Beatles.

IAN: Listen, student of mine, I was just about to give Barbara a ride home, and I’ve got extra room in my car if you want a lift.

SUSAN: Umm, you know what, I think I’d rather walk home in the dark. That has spookier vibes. Yeah.

BARBARA and IAN exit the room. We hold on SUSAN, who starts flipping through her book.

[Image ID: Susan flipping through a book] SUSAN: The fuck is this bullshit?

Cut back to BARBARA and IAN IAN: Well, that settles it. Something is definitely off about that situation. We should stake out her home address and see what’s up with that.

BARBARA: Now you’re talking!

[Image ID: BARBARA and IAN standing in a classroom, looking at each other lovingly]

Cut to BARBARA and IAN in IAN’S CAR, parked outside the Foreman Junkyard eating Taco Bell.

[Image ID: the blurriest photo ever of Ian and Barbara sitting in the front of Ian’s car]

BARBARA: Did you know Susan doesn’t know how English currency works?

Flashback to the classroom, where all of Susan’s classmates are laughing at her.

[Image ID: Susan standing in the classroom, looking very upset]

SUSAN: Shit, you mean you haven’t converted to the decimal system yet? Now I’ll have to learn what sixpence and a shilling is!

[Image ID: Barbara and Ian sitting in Ian’s car again, with Ian looking slightly annoyed] IAN: You know people from other countries exist, right?

BARBARA: Don’t chicken out on me, this whole operation was your idea.

IAN: I think you’re just really curious about this whole situation and that there’s a simple explanation for it all.

BARBARA: Her homework lately’s been shit! It’s the right thing to do!

IAN: Barbara, we’re staking out a junkyard in my car eating Taco Bell. There’s been shittier homework. Bad social skills, good schoolwork, and reading books in improbably short periods of time, you know what that sounds like to me? Autism.

BARBARA: It’s the 1960s, you’re not supposed to know that exists yet.

Then they notice Susan stepping into the junkyard and get out to follow her.

[Image ID: BARBARA and IAN standing in front of a police box, placing their hands on it]

IAN: A police box? In a junkyard? Who’s going to have an emergency in here?

BARBARA: Forget that, where’d Susan go?

Just then, the DOCTOR steps into the screen!

[Image ID: the First Doctor standing in a junkyard]

DOCTOR: Rassilon’s toenails, the only thing this planet has is weed and racism!

IAN: Hey you, have you seen a young woman wandering around here?

DOCTOR: No, I can’t say I have. And who are you again?

BARBARA: We’re Susan’s high school teachers. We’re here to check on her because we suspect that she might be hiding her grandfather’s corpse around here while the rats eat her homework.

DOCTOR: Uh huh… perhaps you have the wrong junkyard.

Suddenly they hear Susan’s voice coming from inside the police box!

SUSAN: Grandfather, you left the bong on the stack of scrap metal again!

BARBARA: Susan!

DOCTOR: Shit.

IAN: Are you her grandfather? Is she being locked inside that box? What the hell? Susan, try to dial the police from inside there!

[Image ID: the Doctor looking at Ian smugly in the foreground while Barbara looks on in the background] DOCTOR: I think the two of you are just hearing things. You know how it is with junkyards and their junkyard echolocation. Common knowledge. This is just an ordinary, empty box.

IAN: If it’s just an ordinary box, then you wouldn’t mind stepping aside so we can look inside, would you?

DOCTOR: Oh, fuck off already!

IAN: Not in a million years. Susan, we’re coming for you!

The two of them tussle while BARBARA runs around them and opens the door to the police box.

[Image ID: some blurry shit that looks like an old man throwing hands with a guy in his 30s if you squint]

Barbara steps into the police box, and all three of them end up on the inside!

[Image ID: Barbara, Ian, the Doctor, and Susan all standing around the interior of the police box]

SUSAN: Grandfather, did you grab the bo- oh.

BARBARA: O_O

IAN: How is it bigger on the inside? That defies the laws of physics?

[Image ID: the Doctor holding up one hand as he lectures Susan. Ian watches them in the foreground] DOCTOR: You’d better get used to it, because you’re my prisoners now. Susan, I told you something like this would happen if you tried to attend high school. Now we’ll have to get a litter box or something for them. I think Koschei left some collars and a leash somewhere around here last time he visited…

IAN: You can’t keep us prisoners in here, that’s inhumane! Besides, someone else is going to stumble onto this box eventually.

DOCTOR: Well then, it’s a good thing that neither I nor Susan are human, then? And I’ll just have to pilot the box elsewhere.

IAN: Pilot a box? But physics-

SUSAN: No, it’s true. Grandfather and I are both Time Lords from the planet Gallifrey, although those names won’t be established for another couple of seasons. The box is actually a time traveling ship called the TARDIS, which is an acronym that I came up with that’ll give a headache to anyone trying to understand the lore. We’re exiles, actually.

[Image ID: Barbara looking at Susan sweetly but sternly]

BARBARA: Susan, sweetheart, have you ever heard of brainwashing?

SUSAN: You’re inside the ship! How do you want proof more definitive than that?

IAN: That’s it, I’m out of here.

Both Barbara and Ian attempt to leave the ship, but find themselves being held back.

[Image ID: Barbara and Ian try to open the doors of the TARDIS but are unable to. Their faces are in distress]

BARBARA: Damn, that old bastard must’ve locked the doors somehow.

DOCTOR: Did you not hear the part where I said you’re my prisoners now?

IAN: I saw him pushing one of those buttons on the console!

DOCTOR: You’ll never find out which button that was! It takes decades to learn the controls to the TARDIS. Even I haven’t learned them all yet!

SUSAN: You threw away the instruction manual, grandfather.

Ian rushes at the control panel and presses a button, but the Doctor presses another button and he gets fucking tasered.

[Image ID: Susan watches as Ian gets electrocuted]

DOCTOR: Bad human! Down!

SUSAN: Grandfather, no!

DOCTOR: Let’s get out of here, we’ve stayed in one place too long already. They wouldn’t let me join the Coal Hill PTA, anyways.

SUSAN: I won’t let you!

The Doctor starts operating the controls to the TARDIS, but Susan jumps at him from behind and knocks him off balance.

[Image ID: a couple of smudges that look like Susan and the Doctor tussling behind the TARDIS console]

SUSAN: They have the Beatles and free love and people my own age here!

DOCTOR: My child, you’re several decades older than every other human at that high school.

SUSAN: I don’t care, you can’t tell me what to do anymore!

They knock over several levers and press multiple buttons in the process, and a few seconds later, the wheezing noise of the TARDIS taking off is heard. Everyone inexplicably passes out, and we fade to black. Then, the TARDIS reappears in an ancient landscape, where we see a strange face looking upon it…

TO BE CONTINUED

[flashfuture]

The like fandom idea that Jason became a problem child in order to make Dick the golden child are kind of wild. Because like... read the golden and silver age comics. Dick is the golden child. He is the most coddled and adored batkid purely by the metric of writers used to want Batman to be a hero and a good man plus it’s forty years of Dick being the only kid that exists. Bruce will never ever again be caring a child to bed when they fell asleep studying or making a whole day planned around their birthday or putting off a case to take them out to the beach house for a weekend or crying his eyes out as they go off to college. Like none of those traditional fatherly things are gonna happen because that Bruce is dead the writers made sure of it. Now he’s far more likely to clock one of his kids in the face then start a pillow fight. 

Read the two years of Jason comics. He started off the bat in reboot as a problem child. You have a little thief stealing tires and smoking? Not supposed to be your all around good american boy like Dick Grayson was. (I say this as a Roma person, Devin Grayson included that Dick is Romani for purely racist reasons it was not always intended in canon and I do not see Dick as representation. If you are Roma and want to go for it. But if I read one more google translated story of Dick speaking Romanian for some god forsaken reason I’ll break my laptop) 

Think about the world in which they were made. The 1980s were not in need of the same boy wonder as the 1940s. Robin was supposed to be what saved Jason from delinquency. And in the end the writers had him unable to be saved. He became aggressive against people like the Black Mask. The age old did Jason push that guy or watch him fall and does it even matter if he just watched because Batman and old Robin would have jumped after him so what is Jason’s deal? On to the end of his life with running away to find his birth mother and happening to run into Bruce who was looking for a nuke. Jason died in the end a hero to save his mom true but it is made clear in the narrative it was his own fault for not listening to his dad. 

^ All of that written of course by a known hater of Robin who wanted to kill the symbol but couldn’t have touched Dick Grayson a far too beloved character. And like I said the 1980s. ‘Listen to your parents or you’ll be in trouble punk’ is not a crazy far out there narrative for them to have spun. 

Back onto Dick he was made to make the little boys of America feel good about themselves like they could do anything. He listened to his dad and he was a stand up citizen who was all about justice! Go to the 1960s when he goes off to college. The first thing he does is get involved with a protest. He was calling Bruce up asking him to host a Beatles knock off in Wayne Manor. Bruce was always telling him to worry about his studies. That was what their first big fight was about! Bruce even explicitly tells Dick at one point to worry about himself and the Titans more than him ! The era a character is written in is reflective of the message they send and with time passed it is easier to look back and contextualize what the message was. Like modern day comic writers since Jason have been trying so fucking hard to ruin Dick and Bruce’s relationship but outright changing canon so that Bruce was a worse person in every argument. It’s not even funny at this point like every year down to the fucking weeks of Dick Grayson’s child hood was written out in succession and these modern writers are like we get it we do But what if Bruce also didn’t care about Dick. Like where am I???

The solution to Bruce Wayne and Batman not being a very good person is obviously in their minds make Bruce a horrible dad to Dick that way it evens out his shit behavior across the board. If there is no glaring example of how good Bruce has and could be then no one would think he should be like that. So we’re supposed to just nod along and be like Yeah i think Bruce would beat Jason up and smack Tim around and tell Damian he doesn’t like him. Seems fair to me. Which???

Anyways all this to say. Dick Grayson was always the golden child the writers just want you to forget Bruce was a good dad once.  

[danielfuckingricciardo]

The Esteban and Fernando ones are good!

can i ask for Toto and song number 5, or Mick and song 16

I really hope all songs will be picked 🤗

Hi! Thank you so much for the request! ♥︎

(I am working my way through all of these, albeit very slowly right now! But I promise every single one of these will be filled eventually!)

I absolutely love this one, I feel like the wholesome vibes of this song completely match Mick’s vibe so well! I hope you enjoy this one!

(Your Toto request is also on its way! I’ll be sure to tag you when I post it ☺️)

Song 16 - Norwegian Wood (This Bird Has Flown) // The Beatles

Pairing - Mick Schumacher x Reader

Word Count - 1.6k

Content Warnings - Swearing, serial killer references, mild sexual references

I sat on a rug biding my time Drinking her wine We talked until two and then she said "It's time for bed"

“It’s not much, but this is home. Make yourself comfortable, I’ll go get the wine.” You say, turning to Mick, whose eyes were busy taking in every inch of your tiny apartment.

He snaps out of his trance and nods as you disappear into the kitchenette to retrieve the bottle of wine you kept around for emergencies, and two glasses.

You turn around for a second, and take a moment to observe as your slightly tipsy companion struggled to remove his shoes. You can’t help but smile at his mannerisms, there was just something so endearing about him, which was what had initially drawn you to him earlier that evening.

Typically, you would never bring home strange men you had just met that night in a bar. You’ve watched enough true crime documentaries to know that a lot of them start this way, but with Mick, you just couldn’t help yourself. He didn’t seem like the type to seduce innocent women into bed only to chop them up into tiny pieces and feed them to his dogs. He was too sweet for that, too innocent. Gazing into those bright blue eyes of his you could tell that he had a good, kind soul. You wanted to stare into his eyes forever, and that’s why, as the bar closed for the evening, you found yourself asking if he wanted to go home with you.

You hadn’t meant it in a suggestive way. If bringing home strange men wasn’t your style, then sleeping with them immediately after meeting them was even more unlike you. Honestly, you just wanted to spend time with him. He was just great to talk to. He listened attentively, spoke so sweetly and succinctly, and he really understood your wacky sense of humour. You wouldn’t mind, of course, if the evening progressed towards something a little less friendly and a little more heated, but you were happy just to get to know him more, away from the loud music and passionate punters of the bar the two of you had met at.

Wine and your only two clean matching glasses in hand, you leave the kitchen and return to the lounge, where you see Mick sat on the floor, his back resting against the sofa, and a throw cushion in his arms squeezed tightly against his chest.

“You’re a floor person too, huh?” You say as you drop to your knees beside him, sliding in next to him and placing the wine and glasses beside you on the rug.

“Yeah. It just looked… comfy.” He says with a smile.

“Can’t argue with that. My landlord just had new carpets fitted and it’s like walking on a chinchilla.” You say with a chuckle.

“That’s a strange mental image, the poor chinchillas!” Mick says, and you both erupt into a fit of giggles.

“Have you ever stroked a chinchilla? It’s like petting a tiny cloud! Did you know that their fur is so dense that they can’t actually get wet because their fuzz retains the moisture for so long it can cause a skin infection for the poor babies.” You say, and Mick raises an eyebrow at you.

“So how do they get clean?” He asks.

“They take dust baths!” You say, and Mick nods.

“You sure do know a lot of things.” He says, and you chuckle slightly.

“Oh, it’s all pointless trivia, I assure you. Not all that useful in real life but I’m great at quizzes.”

“Got any more pointless facts for me?”

“Ooh, umm… Roman soldiers were actually paid in salt because back then it was super valuable. That’s where we get the word salary from, because salt in Latin is sal.” You say, and Mick smiles.

“Being with you is like having a glass of wine with Wikipedia.” Mick says, and you chuckle.

“I hope that’s a good thing and I haven’t like, totally freaked you out with my nerdiness already.” You say, and Mick shakes his head.

“Nah, I like it. I like you.” He says, and you can’t help but smile at his compliment.

“Wine?” You ask, gesturing to him with the bottle.

“Yes please.”

“I’m afraid it’s only the cheap, screw-top stuff. I’m sure you’re used to better.” You say, opening the bottle and filling his glass to the appropriate level, before filling your own.

“It all tastes the same anyway. I’m convinced wine experts just gaslight themselves into thinking otherwise.” He says, and you laugh.

“Conspiracy theory alert!” You chuckle, before taking a long swig of your beverage.

Mick takes a sip and pulls a face as he swallows.

“I’m starting to think maybe I just don’t like red wine.” He says, and you collapse into a fit of tipsy giggles.

“Does anyone? To be honest, I only buy red because I don’t have space in the fridge for anything else.” You say, and it’s Mick’s turn to laugh.

“I know some red wine guys. I’m definitely not one of them.” He says with a smile, and you shake your head.

“This really is a shitty red. I’m getting notes of pickle brine, paint thinner and… plastic?” You say, holding the glass up to your nose and taking a deep inhale.

Mick begins to giggle tipsily as you swirl the dark liquid around in your glass the way you had seen sommeliers do it on TV.

“The paint thinner is definitely the most prominent note.” He says, and you smile, setting your disgusting beverage down on the floor beside you.

“Hey, I just want to say, thanks for coming back with me. I know my cramped, dusty old flat isn’t exactly the sort of place you spend your time, but I was really enjoying talking to you and I guess I just didn’t want our time together to end before it had to, you know?” You say, and Mick smiles sweetly at you.

“No, thank you for inviting me. Your flat is lovely, it looks exactly like you.” Mick says, and you quirk your eyebrow at him.

“What on earth do you mean?” You ask, and he bites his lip in thought.

“It just looks like you! It’s cozy, and warm, and cute. And it’s full of books,” Mick gestures to the piles of open textbooks on the counter, “You know a lot of things, I think you’re full of books too.”

“I have read one or two books in my time,” You say with a smile, “I suppose my flat does look a lot like my brain. Slightly messy and unorganised and full of useless stuff.”

“Not useless, interesting.” Mick says, gesturing to your with his glass, and you roll your eyes.

“That’s not what people normally think.” You say, a slight sad look appearing on your face.

“Well, forget those people. You’re very interesting. I could talk to you forever.” Mick says, nudging your shoulder with his own.

“I could talk to you forever, too, but sadly, I’m gonna have to call it a night.” You say, offering him a small smile.

“Really?” He says, turning to you with a sad look in his bright blue eyes.

“I have work tomorrow, and it’s 2am, definitely past my bed time.” You say, standing up from your comfortable position on the floor.

“I suppose I’d better go.” Mick says.

He stands up and brushes his hand gently against yours, sending shivers through your body.

“Or…” You say, brushing your hand against his.

“Or what?”

“You could stay?” You suggest, and Mick’s eyes light up.

“I’d like that.” He says with a smile, and he takes your hand in his, properly this time.

“I don’t have a spare room or anything, so I guess we’d have to sleep together,” You say, your eyes going wide as you realise the implication of what you had just said, “I don’t mean it like that, I mean, we’d have to share a bed. Not that I wouldn’t want to sleep with you, of course, I would, in the future, only if you want to, though, but I’m so tired and… fuck I’m rambling. Sorry.”

You offer Mick a shy smile and he squeezes your hand.

“You don’t have to be sorry, you’re cute when you ramble. Let’s go to bed, okay? I’ll be the big spoon.” Mick says, and you nod, unable to speak. Instead, you just stare at him with awe in your eyes and a soft, sleepy smile on your lips.

Mick guides you to your bedroom and takes a seat on the edge of your bed.

“Do you want me to go outside while you change?” He asks, and you shake your head.

“It’s okay.” You say softly, and you unzip your dress, allowing it to fall to the floor.

Mick’s eyes travel up and down your body as you reach for your pyjamas and pull your oversized shirt over your head.

You turn around to see him looking and smile at him, before crawling under the sheets and wrapping them around your shoulders.

“You getting in?” You ask, and Mick stands to remove his shirt and jeans, before sliding into the sheets beside you and wrapping his arm around your torso.

“Goodnight, (y/n).” Mick says, and you take his hand in yours, wrapping it further around your body and giving it a small squeeze.

“Sweet dreams.” You respond, before peacefully drifting off to sleep.

[angelgirl-2008]

˚ ༘♡ ⋆｡˚ Welcome to my. tumblr page !

Here I blog, you can catch me on Pinterest and Tiktok as well ! (Catchbutterflies & Luvbellah)

A little about me:

—My favorite movies; Girl, Interrupted, Alice in wonderland, Coraline, Buffalo ‘66, American Psycho, Mean girls, The virgin suïcïdes, Pearl, and 10 things I hate about you :)

—I love to read and draw. My favorite books are; The metamorphosis; Girl, interrupted, Coraline, Frankenstein, The virgin suïcïdes, Bell jar, and I really enjoy Stephen King !

—I really enjoy listening to music as well ! My top artists are: Melanie Martinez, Lana del rey, Lesley gore, The smiths, The beatles, Cass elliott, David bowie, Margo guryan, Loretta lynn, Skeeter davis, The cure, The mamas and the papas, and I also love classical music (Fav is Tchaikovsky!)

More:

Please dni if you’re a man/boy ! Blog is for the girls and I only, thank you. Perverts and weirdos will definitely be blocked as well…

—If you’re a fellow girl blogger and would like to be friends, I’ll usually answer on here. You’re welcome to shoot me a message and I would love to get to know you, personally !

.·:*¨¨* ≈☆≈ *¨¨*:·.

[vivi-in-the-sky-with-diamonds]

Paul's SFW Alphabet

(Photo from ?? I need to start writing down my image credits-)

Doing a double post today since I planned on posting this already lol, welcome to the SFW alphabet series! I'll be doing the SFW (and later NSFW) alphabet with all four boys. The SFW Alphabet can be found here. Hope you enjoy!

A = Affection (How affectionate are they? How do they show affection?)

Paul is the most affectionate Beatle and doesn’t mind showing so. He’s always quick to steal a kiss or a hug, no matter who’s around.

B = Best friend (What would they be like as a best friend? How would the friendship start?)

I imagine you either met Paul at school or through a mutual friend (another Beatle, perhaps?). You both confide secrets in each other and take the other’s secrets to the grave (figuratively speaking).

C = Cuddles (Do they like to cuddle? How would they cuddle?)

Paul is a cuddle bug through and through. He likes to have you on top of him so he can run his hand down your back while you listen to his heartbeat (yes, I’m talking about this again, sue me).

D = Domestic (Do they want to settle down? How are they at cooking and cleaning?)

Paul loves the idea of settling down. He’d suggest splitting cooking and cleaning duties for both of your sakes, but also because he likes cooking.

E = Ending (If they had to break up with their partner, how would they do it?)

If he had to, he would let them down slowly. He also seems the type (to me anyway) to give a parting gift.

F = Fiance(e) (How do they feel about commitment? How quick would they want to get married?)

Paul also loves the idea of marriage. Of course, he doesn’t want to get married straight away, he’d rather spend time to get to know you.

G = Gentle (How gentle are they, both physically and emotionally?)

This man is one of the most gentle souls you’ll ever meet. Unless you’re a spider.

H = Hugs (Do they like hugs? How often do they do it? What are their hugs like?)

He loves hugs (he has the perfect arms for them too). He hugs you every chance he gets. I imagine his hugs are quite tight, like a bear hug.

I = I love you (How fast do they say the L-word?)

Paul is quicker than some to say the word (and you’ll be free), but not super quick, if that makes sense. He doesn’t just go throwing the word around.

J = Jealousy (How jealous do they get? What do they do when they’re jealous?)

He can be jealous at times, but only occasionally. If you have guy friends, he’s totally cool with it, but if you spend more time with them than him, that’s where the problem arises.

K = Kisses (What are their kisses like? Where do they like to kiss you? Where do they like to be kissed?)

Paul is the Kiss King (which is totally not a thing I made up on the spot). He’ll kiss you absolutely anywhere but loves to kiss your hands or stomach (like when your shirt rides up when you stretch). As for places he likes to be kissed, the answer is everywhere, but really his cheeks, neck, and the spot just above his heart.

L = Little ones (How are they around children?)

Paul is wonderful with children, and he adores them. He’d want children with you someday, whenever you’re ready, of course.

M = Morning (How are mornings spent with them?)

There are two types of mornings with Paul, but since this is the SFW alphabet, I’ll just talk about the one. You’ll wake up next to each other and cuddle with each other while discussing anything and everything, from daily plans to dreams to the future.

N = Night (How are nights spent with them?)

Again, two types, only discuss one. Romantic dates are aplenty with this one. Restaurants, museums, concerts. You name it, he’s taken you there on a date. Even dates at home, spent cooking or watching a movie.

O = Open (When would they start revealing things about themselves? Do they say everything all at once or wait a while to reveal things slowly?)

Paul would probably wait until you’d known each other a bit before revealing anything too wild, and even then, he’d ease you into it.

P = Patience (How easily angered are they?)

Patience of a saint. Need I say more?

Q = Quizzes (How much would they remember about you? Do they remember every little detail you mention in passing, or do they kind of forget everything?)

Paul remembers almost everything, right down to your favorite candy.

R = Remember (What is their favorite moment in your relationship?)

Probably your first kiss, or when it finally snows in Liverpool and you make a snowman together.

S = Security (How protective are they? How would they protect you? How would they like to be protected?)

Quite protective. Definitely reminiscent of a moment from a 1960s sitcom where the protagonist keeps a baseball bat under their bed for protection.

T = Try (How much effort would they put into dates, anniversaries, gifts, everyday tasks?)

Paul puts an unholy amount of effort into everything he does. Everything must be perfect for his love.

U = Ugly (What would be some bad habits of theirs?)

I’ve never really imagined Paul with any bad habits, but I know for a fact he smoked at one point if that counts?

V = Vanity (How concerned are they with their looks?)

Paul’s second middle name might as well be “Pretty Boy”. Man can’t go out until his hair is perfect and his lashes are on fleek (do people still say that?)

W = Whole (Would they feel incomplete without you?)

Absolutely. After meeting you, Paul can hardly imagine how he lived without you.

X = Xtra (A random headcanon for them.)

Sometimes, Paul really prefers to be the little spoon when cuddling.

Y = Yuck (What are some things they wouldn’t like, either in general or in a partner?)

As much as he does it himself sometimes, Paul doesn’t like swear words. Do not ask me why.

Z = Zzz (What is a sleep habits of theirs?)

Sleeps like a damn rock. Despite always falling asleep with you in his arms, he always wakes up in some crazy position that usually involves you getting slapped in the face.

[nowordsformylove]

What’s your favourite solo song from each of the Monkees and/or Beatles? :p

I want to preface this by saying I listen to music at a snail pace so the only one of these guys who discography I’ve made it all the way through is John’s.

Starting with the Beatles

Paul: Wings era my fave songs are Silly Love Songs, Jet, Magneto and Titanium Man. For his solo stuff def Temporary Secretary bc that was my most listened to song last year, aughhhh it’s truly so hard to pick bc I love his music so much >.<

John: Mind Games, Look At Me, Oh My Love

Ringo: Occapella <3 and Goodnight Vienna :)

George: I Dig Love favoritest song ever <333 also love Blow Away

Now the Monkees… again prefacing this with the fact that I have barely listened to them outside of the Monkees discog.

Mike: Mama Nantucket, I Fall To Pieces, and Flying and it makes me so upset that it’s not available on Spotify cause I have to YouTube it whenever I want to listen :(

Davy: I have spent A LOT of time listening to Davy Jones 1971 Bell Recordings, my fave is probably Rainy Jane bc I used to watch this video of him performing it almost everyday. Other than that and his 1964 album I’ve only listened to his songs from The Point soundtrack (really good if you haven’t already checked that out). I recently preordered his Incredible album so I’ll be getting to that one soon :D and if 7a keeps releasing his solo stuff eventually I will have a full collection and will have gotten through his discog

Peter: um. I’ve only listened to his solo album one time a few months back but I don’t remember any of it so I really can’t give an answer here. 

Micky: very similar to Peter except I haven’t listened to any of his stuff YET. I am going to get to it soon tho bc I’ve been in a very Micky mood recently (as you can see by my queue lol). The only thing I have to say in regard to this is that I don’t like listening to live albums which I know he has a few, and I probably won’t listen to any of his albums that are cover songs (of songs I know or don’t care about ex: Micky Dolenz puts you to sleep, broadway Micky, Dolenz sings Nesmith, Dolenz sings REM) so that rules out a lot of his discog :\  love you Micky I’m sorry I am failing you </3

I would love to hear your answers too!!!