#will wood lyric referenced

[lobotomize-d]

Spamton knocked the piece the fuck off the cheesboard and insisted that he won the game and then tried gaslighting Jevil into thinking it was them and this is how they got divorced

[mars-ipan]

why is will wood so good at writing music

[fadeawaywithyou]

"the line about the tsa in his new ep sounds weird he shouldn't be referencing modern day. i can't not imagine him in the woods-" killing you with my laser pew pew pew pew shut the fuck up shut upppppppp hozier is a real person in the modern day stop romanticizing Irish people like some fae forest amalgamation they're a real modern culture with real modern issues let hozier exist in the modern day i get it he has great songs for that wood-dark-fantasy-romantic aesthetic but let him be a well-rounded person with well-rounded music references and lyrics and topics it's weird that you can't handle anything otherwise

[dont-offend-the-bees]

Spinning on That Dizzy Edge

So I was NOT gonna write one today. But then I had a train ride, a notes app, completionist tendencies and no self control. So I'm gonna keep the commentary short and sweet, as I am writing/posting all of this on my phone xD

Short, sweet, somewhat suggestive (the M rating is probably over-cautious, but Charles is feeling frisky!), no warnings off the top of my head. Bon appetit!

Title/various lyrics referenced in the fic are, of course, from Just Like Heaven by The Cure. The other lyrics referenced are A Little Respect by Erasure!

1k, M-rated, also available on Ao3. Thanks again, @painlandweek !

There was a haunting at the old Lamplighter's Arms. 'Least that's what the locals said.

It was an ancient place, older than the dirt, all bare brick and low beams. Inside there was an old upright piano, and it couldn't have been as old as the building, but no one could actually prove that. Dark wood and centuries of drunken etchings, a little warp and wonk in the keys that lent it a honky tonk air. No one knew how it had survived so long, and no one had ever had the heart to replace it. Or the courage to disturb a piano that, supposedly, on a dark and stormy night, was known to play itself.

Urban legend had it that it was the spirit of Susie Shipton, the old innkeeper's daughter - mournfully playing for her husband who went to sea, never to return. Singing sweet songs to lure his wandering spirit home from the troubled depths.

Unlike most pub-haunting legends Charles had come across, this one was actually bang on. Or at least it had been. They'd met Susie Shipton last year; lovely girl! And with a little help from the Dead Boy Detectives, she'd been able to shuffle off to her lovely afterlife. Hand in hand with that wayward soul she'd been singing to all those years. It was dead romantic — Charles might've had a bit of a cry about it.

Susie had moved on, but the Lamplighter still had a haunting. It had just swapped the one resident ghost for a couple of part-timers.

"Bit gloomy this one, innit?" said Charles, swaying on the spot. It was about as close to dancing as he could do when the tempo was this bloody wistful.

Edwin hummed, not looking up. His hands spidered effortlessly along the old wooden keys, picking out interesting little harmonies like it was nothing. He handled the notes like he was crafting a spell. "Mother used to play this one." His brow furrowed. "At least, I seem to recall..."

Charles leaned on a table, smiling at the back of Edwin's bowed head. He remembered the way Edwin's eyes had lit right up when they first spotted the old upright piano. How he'd watched Susie's hands on the keys with barely-disguised envy. He'd been eyeing up her spot on that piano stool since the moment he clapped eyes on it.

"The legend of Susie Shipton has long been a staple of this establishment, Charles," he'd said, all pretending to be casual, as he'd suggested what they ought to do with the first stormy night since solving the case. "It would be a pity to let it die out, don't you think? One must consider historical preservation..."

They'd been coming ever since, showing up with the thunder and lightning. It was one of Charles' favourite things to do. Dancing around, having a laugh. Or even just lounging against the bar, listening to Edwin's music pattering along with the rain on the rattly old glass windows.

Edwin lifted his head a little, tilting his ear back like he was listening for Charles. Then, his playing shifted, smoothly. Slow, meandering melodies gradually becoming faster, more repetitive. Sketching out a familiar riff...

Charles laughed, clapping his hands together. "I tried to discoooover!" he sang, cheerfully off-key.

"A little something to make me sweeter," Edwin joined in softly, throwing a smirk and a twinkle of his eye over his shoulder.

"Oh baby refrain! From breakin' my heeeeaaart!"

Edwin chuckled as he played, watching Charles dance around out the corner of his eye.

"Mate," Charles gushed, a bit breathless after belting out the chorus. "When'd you learn to play this one?"

"I'm quite good at picking things up by ear," said Edwin, smiling as he threw in a few little flourishes that weren't there on Charles' record. "And you've certainly listened to it in the office enough."

"It's brills," Charles grinned, sloping on over to drape an arm round Edwin's shoulders. "You're brills."

Edwin smiled, a lopsided flash of his teeth, and he played on - finding ways to work in some more of Charles' favourite eighties riffs into some sort of medley. When he meandered into The Cure, Charles, tongue in his cheek, tucked his face into Edwin's. Sang the words into his ear, quiet and personal.

"Show me, show me, show me how you do that trick, the one that makes me scream, she said..."

Edwin shivered, just a little, eyes dark as they flickered to him. "Charles," he said, sternly. "You're being very distracting."

Charles grinned. "God, I hope so." He stepped up close, fitting himself into the sliver of space between the piano and the stool, pressed as near to Edwin as he could manage. Fingers teasing the hair at the nape of his neck. "Show me how you do it, and I promise you, I promise that —"

"I'll run away with you," Edwin chorused, smiling eyes and smiling voice.

Charles felt fizzy on the inside, like someone had grabbed him by the heart and given it a shake. Sometimes Edwin just had to look at him, and all Charles could feel was bubbles. "Oh, oh I'll run away with you!"

Charles let him finish the first chorus without interruption. But before Edwin could sidle into the next verse — the proper sad one — Charles took his face in his hands and kissed him.

Edwin's hands came down in a clumsy thonk on the keys, before getting with the programme and getting all over Charles, instead. Well, not quite all over — so far, he was keeping them settled oh-so-politely on his waist.

Charles made to lean on the nearest thing — which just so happened to be the keyboard — but Edwin stopped him with a pointed clear of his throat at the first hint of discordant notes. Edwin reached around him, with both hands, and carefully lowered the wooden lid over the keys.

"You may proceed," he said primly.

Charles laughed, propped himself up on the piano lid, and got right back on the job of tempting Edwin into doing some very impolite things to him on it.

Give him a minute or two, he'd have Edwin forgetting his manners good and proper!

~~

Thanks for reading beloveds!! I shall see you tomorrow for the grand finale of Painland Week! 💛💛💛💛💛

[aro-with-bad-aim]

I love how almost everything is connected in will woods music so I’m gonna ramble about it (hopefully coherently) to spare people who know me in real life.

Firstly (I’ve already mentioned this on another post about this band), going all the way back to a verbal equinox, the character of dr sunshine shows up again in self- ish in dr sunshine is dead. Also the line “I’m far too weird to live, but I ain’t too weird to die” is reworked to “too weird to love, too scared to die” in outliars and hyppocrites.

Going to EIAL, the phrase “draw a line in the sand” from chemical overreaction is also seen in Marsha thankk you for the dialectics. And omg destroy to enjoy is pretty much just a reference to self- ish. The line “glory be satori but it’s all hallucinatory…” is in 2012, also with a reference to “mahaprajnaparimita” which also is mentioned in 2012.

Self- ish is pretty much all connected, with the first and last songs, self and ish, basically being one song split into two. Dr sunshine is dead, cotards solution and mr capgras are all connected musically, and also interestingly capgras and cotards are both mental illnesses, specially delusions, which makes their connection to dr sunshine make more sense (that might be a bit of a stretch though). The song with five names and hand me my shovel I’m going in are perfect parallels, and the repeated lyrics less tune of “gotta get to the bottom of this” playing in the second verse of the song with five names can also kinda be heard in wealth and hellness by human zoo in the bit will wood sings in. There’s also the reference to hand me my shovel I’m going in during half decade hangover. The song had come out in 2016, which was just over half a decade before icimi came out. 2012 is interestingly the only one without much of a connection. Not sure why yet, might just be for the sake of it.

The normal album. I love the normal album. Suburbia overture references the other songs so much and I love it. (There’s only one other album that I know does this: enter a beginners guide to faking your death by jhraiah- go listen to it). The first reference to another song is the line “myers briggs, okultra” which is a reference to Blackboxwarrior okultra. It’s also kinda interesting that it’s referenced alongside a “psychology” term as the song is full of psychology references. The second reference is “everybody knows that, nobody knows that, everybody’s all up in my- everybody’s all up in my- everybody’s all up in my business” which is a reference to …well better than the alternative. During the spoke part of vampire culture, the backing music is from Blackboxwarrior. The line “you pull out your roscharch like a paint by numbers treasure map” could be a reference to outliars and hyppocrates, in the line “prints of your fingers in the roscharch jigsaw say you saw a treasure map”. Finally and obviously, love me normally is referenced in the title of the song, and the end of the song is the beginning to love me normally. I don’t know if this is a stretch/ coincidence, but a part of good morning campers from chnt (or welcome to camp here and there, l can’t remember) kind of sounds like the part of outliars and hyppocrates: “who’s wanna be human anyways, i mean what do people do”.

I can’t find any connections that I haven’t already mentioned in icimi because I haven’t been listening to it as much (most songs make me cry), but its still a good album :D

[saintarmand]

pelléas et mélisande

i found an english translation of pelléas and mélisande (the libretto is on pages 34-72) aka the opera referenced in the lyrics of "come to me." i recommend reading it yourself because HOLY SHIT but i'm here to bring you the highlights

this is canonically how lestat sees louis and their relationship. welcome inside his brain. it is BEYOND PARODY

plot summary: an old guy named golaud marries a random girl he finds in the woods. her name is mélisande and she is so beautiful and so sad. she starts spending a lot of time with golaud's younger brother pelléas and they fall in love. golaud becomes suspicious of their relationship and when he sees them kissing he kills his brother in a jealous rage. mélisande gives birth to a beautiful baby girl and then dies of a broken heart.

mélisande's entire characterization is being sad and frail and beautiful. obviously

pelléas is called upon to protect her so she won't be afraid. lestat. buddy. my guy

(i'm pretty sure she's just pretending to be upset she lost her wedding ring but this is just her general disposition)

they're playing at some rapunzel shit and pelléas gets a little carried away and uhhh...

this is just him fooling around but. the vibes. and yeah there's a bird motif going on with mélisande

oh and she's pregnant in this btw. this is some fanfic shit

ofc golaud is being sarcastic in that last one cause he's feeling betrayed but mélisande does have doe eyes apparently

balcony monologue vibes????

church scene vibes?????

of course she uses only the tiniest voice. and he's immediately like ARE YOU FOR REAL ARE YOU LYING

"his gaze tied a string around my lungs" "in the quiet dark we were equals" ok ok. hand size ppl ur welcome btw

mélisande is ready to die bc ofc she is

one more kiss before he dies

aaaaaand he dead. and she feels dead

"her face seemed not her face" anyone????

also here's loumand breakup vibes. and HER CHILD IS LIKE HER SIBLING

tl;dr the opera lestat projects onto reads like loustat fanfic

[foxes-that-run]

You are in Love

This song has a new light after Say don’t go, she wanted him to say I love you and he didn’t, she’s searching for signs in silence

The 1989 Liner notes make a poem that tells the story of one single couple, which we all know is Harry Styles and Taylor. In September/October 2014 Taylor did a lot of 1989 media while heart broken minimising the relationship.

Taylor has said 'You are in Love' is about Jack and Lena. Neither Jack, who worked on the song or Lena knew that before this. Where, arms crossed, Taylors talks about crying and said the relationship she wrote 1989 (and it's 81 uses of the word 'love') about was infatuation. After Say Don’t Go, makes sense, she was hanging out for an I love you that seemed to come after the album.

In an Elle Interview she said she had been in love but was disappointed and that happily ever after wasn't real, but would be beautiful and mundane. She said the lyrics were things Lena had told her. (OK, weird chats between Lena and Taylor about burnt toast and the chains Jack doesn't wear.) In her Rolling Stone interview in the same time she sounded sad, RS said jaded:

In summary, like writing Clean in London closing the book (but leaving out that Style was written 2 weeks later) there is some self-preservation in discussing inspiration. It's Taylor's art, sharing vulnerability and her choice how it's presented.

I think this narrative also worked against them in long run, HS wrote Fools Gold about his hurt about it at the time. A lot of fans view that the relationship was less significant to them than their later (very recent) work indicates.

Playing live

You are In Love only made it on the setlist for 28 shows on the 1989 World Tour (at 54 Mins) and not at all on the Rep Tour. It was played at the 4 August 2023 Eras show.

When was it written / Working with Jack

In October 2014 Jack said to the Hollywood Reporter that it was the fourth song they wrote together. Jack's quote calls it "you were in love" I wonder if it was an error or the song was retrospective at one point. We haven't seen original lyrics for it. Jack said they were 5,000 miles apart when they wrote Out of the Woods and referred to a cancelled show in September 15, Taylor was in Cape Town, Australia and NZ in October - November so it was likely then, with YAIL after. Sweeter than Fiction was first mentioned 30 August and released October 2013. So we know it was written between September - November 2013. Taylor likely recorded the vocals in January 2014 when she was in LA. My guess is September 2013 after Harry and Taylor saw each other at the VMAs.

Lyrics

[Verse 1] One look, dark room Meant just for you Time moved too fast, you play it back Buttons on a coat, lighthearted joke No proof, not much, but you saw enough Small talk, he drives Coffee at midnight The light reflects the chain on your neck He says, "Look up" And your shoulders brush No proof, one touch, but you felt enough

The open sounds like remembering a moment, rather than in it, playing it back. This and the line of "Meant just for you" reminds me song Harry wrote for One Direction If I could fly about wishing he was with TS and sharing his vulnerability only with her.

Taking off a coat is also referenced in Style. "The lights are off, he's taking off his coat". This post has photos of You are in Love/haylor

Another Style reference with Coffee at Midnight "Midnight/ You come and pick me up, no headlights”

'No proof, one touch' is one of my favorite lines, it captures wanting to keep a part of their time together just for them and also how strong their connection is.

[Chorus] You can hear it in the silence (Silence), silence (Silence), you You can feel it on the way home (Way home), way home (Way home), you You can see it with the lights out (Lights out), lights out (Lights out) You are in love, true love You are in love

The song is about the feeling that love is something you feel rather than being told. It is silent, private and unseen. The open includes a reference to way home, home being an important concept of safety in HS and TS's songs.

[Verse 2] Morning, his place Burnt toast, Sunday You keep his shirt, he keeps his word And for once, you let go Of your fears and your ghosts One step, not much, but it said enough You kiss on sidewalks You fight and you talk One night, he wakes Strange look on his face Pauses, then says "You're my best friend" And you knew what it was, he is in love

As per Say don’t go, she’s searching for signs of I love you in silence

The mundane aspects of life are romanticized, letting her guard and past worries go. There is a similar idea in New Years Day where cleaning up after a party and in Keep Driving where mundane mornings are romanticized as here. "Maple syrup, coffee / Pancakes for two /Hash brown, egg yolk /I will always love you"

Taylor said she had not experienced being her lovers best friend at that time, to me the best friend line sounds exactly like 18 year old HS.

Taylor has worn a few shirts of Harry's, like the one at the top in the 1989 polaroids and these two. Harry also referred to this in From the Dining Table "I see you gave him my old t-shirt / More of what was once mine" Harry also wrote on Olivia “she’s lying in bed with my tshirt on”

[Bridge] And so it goes You two are dancing in a snow globe, 'round and 'round And he keeps a picture of you in his office downtown And you understand now Why they lost their minds and fought the wars And why I've spent my whole life trying to put it into words

Harry also refers to a picture of Taylor in Sunflower Vol 6 "I've got your face hung up high in the gallery" it is not a literal gallery or office downtown, but a metaphor for showing everyone she is his person.

In Wonderland, Taylor also talks about loosing their minds "And in the end, in Wonderland, we both went mad". On Midnights a romantic struggle is called a war in The Great War. Here she is saying that the relationship was challenging, but the love made it worthwhile.

Taylor uses the imagery of dancing in a snow globe and fishbowl again in the Lover Video, which also references Harry. The imagery is that they are under the microscope, unable to escape being on display but being in that together here and in Lover is beautiful.

[Breakdown] 'Cause you can hear it in the silence You can feel it on the way home You can see it with the lights out You are in love, true love You are in love

Taylor is telling herself it’s love he’s not saying. Before say don’t go this song never had that element to me, but the silence is a bit :( now

The song closes with a warm idea that this love is present away in private quiet moments and that is what makes it a true love.

You are in love had a Taymoji pack:

[ghostlyblaze807]

Connecting pop songs to horror podcasts (pt. 1)

Thought I would do this because I listen to quite a bit of pop music mixed in with my Will Wood, MCR, and Hozier, so I can bring you guys some new horror podcast character coded songs. Enjoy!

First one I have is ‘this is me trying’ by Taylor Swift. Hear me out with this, don’t leave immediately just because you see her name.

A lot of these lyrics can be connected to Arthur back in the alcoholism era, with some flash forward to visiting Daniel in Season 4. (Lyric analysis below, I will be talking about it as if it was purposefully written to fit this podcast)

(First verse and chorus) This first verse jumps back and forth between the years after Faroe’s death and visiting Daniel. The first two lines could be about Arthur practically throwing his life and potential career away after Faroe drowned. Looking at the fifth and sixth lines, we all know Arthur was suicidal at some points during the podcast, and was probably much worse in earlier years. Lines 3, 4, 7, and 8 can all be related to visiting Daniel in season 4. The chorus (starts with ‘I just wanted you to know…) speaks for itself.

(Second verse, chorus) The first two lines and the last two lines of this chorus stand out the most to me for this. We all know about the alcoholism era and how he eventually opened up to Parker, a stranger to him at the time.

(Bridge and chorus) The bridge is likely supposed to be referencing missing a romantic partner, but for this purpose I interpret it as Arthur not being able to think about anything but missing Faroe and his guilt over her death.

There you go, sorry for the rant. If you agree with me on this I highly recommending giving this a listen. Buh bye for now :)

[hargrove-mayfields]

Hold Me Closer, Tiny Dancer

for Day 7 of MungroveWeek @mungroveweek

rating: teen

prompts: Big Spoon/Little Spoon, Touched after being touch-starved, Bruised skin, First kiss, Dungeons and Dragons.

content warnings: Referenced child abuse and abandonment, past relationship abuse, and mental health struggles.

————

Billy is the kind of guy that sees sex as the endgame in a relationship.

All the flirting and the posturing and the touchy-ness, it’s all just the build up until whoever is on the other end can get him in their bed, and then it’s over.

Not that he’s scared of commitment, that’s all that he could really want is some damn stability for once in his life, but he’s scared of what comes next. After they get that first time under the covers with him, they only want more and more from there. They just want to keep taking and taking and taking from him, until they’re demanding those three little words he hasn’t been able to utter in forever, and he can’t bear it.

Love just isn’t something Billy Hargrove is good at. That’s what he’s decided anyhow. It scares him and makes him think too much. But when he holds hands with a girl and feels that swell of pride in his chest, he wonders how much more intense that feeling would be like if there was a ring on her finger. When he kisses a boy and feels warmth all over, he wants that vulnerability to be a feeling he wakes up to every morning. So, maybe he’s just too messy to settle.

But the future isn’t something he has the luxury of looking forward to when he’s always stuck in the past.

So when Eddie Munson comes along in the harshest winter of his life, Billy gets attached real quick.

They don’t even have to touch for the butterflies to start twisting him up on the inside. Just that snarky laugh is enough to have him blushing like some goofy cartoon character. Eddie’s sort of like that, all animated and full of life.

Mostly in that Billy can’t believe he’s real.

That somehow he’s fallen in love all over again with some dork who brings him pretty leaves he found in the woods and who steals Billy’s pencils and returns them with ink all over them and who knows prose and lyrical shit from his musical endeavors but can’t pronounce Hargrove without a tiny bit of his uncle’s southern drawl slipping into his accent.

Everything about him is endearing, except maybe how he leaves crumbs in Billy’s car and doesn’t brush his hair more than once every three months, but that’s just part of his charm, as Eddie easily convinces him.

Especially since the first time he’s in Eddie’s bed, it isn’t for sex.

Before he could even get his hopes or his fears reared up, he’d been beaten back down, literally, and the only place he had to go was Eddie’s.

Eddie, who didn’t care that Neil Hargrove called him a fag and a bad influence as he hit his child just for knowing him. Eddie, who wrapped his lanky arms around Billy’s bruised up body and told him a story about a raccoon he saw from the window they’re both looking out of. Though Billy’s vision is blurred with tears, he’s just happy to be settled back to chest with his crush, held and cared for for the first time in hell, probably his eighteen years.

There’s no sex appeal to showing up snotty and bloody on Eddie’s stoop, just like there’s no ulterior motive to helping him.

It’s more like…

“Oh hey, the shaking stopped! That’s a sign, that’s a sign.” Eddie trying to break the silence is what it’s like. But Billy isn’t ready. His thoughts are racing too fast for his own good.

Nervousness clamps his stomach like a vice and makes him feel sick. So it’s back to Eddie to keep it from becoming too real, “Want me to give you some space?”

Somehow, that seems worse. Right now, Billy’s comfortable, safe. Take Eddie away, and he loses that glimpse at security. He hopes he doesn’t sound as distraught as he feels when he gives his brief answer to the air, “No.”

Audible panic or not, Eddie stays, well, Eddie. All nonchalant, like he’s done this a thousand and one times before. Billy hopes, despite himself, that that isn’t the case. Selfish maybe, but he’d really like this sort of care all to himself.

“Cool. I might fall asleep back here though. I can’t wiggle.”

Oh. Maybe he’d gotten his hopes up.

Billy acts to apologize, not only saying, “Sorry,” but also peeling away from Eddie's big spoon, about to slip out of the bed when those skinny arms flex and are able to use whatever they can muster to get Billy to stay. Call it desperation, judging from the speed and the airiness in Eddie’s voice once he pleads with him.

“No, it’s good. Wiggling is bad. It keeps me up all night and then I pass out in the middle of English class. Again. And when I conk off in English class I fail, and then I’ll stay up all night for the rest of my life thinking about being a loser. A never ending cycle.”

At least Billy isn’t the only one that feels like he isn’t enough. Not that it would’ve taken that to convince him, but he decides to breathe out his tension, and let Eddie bring their position back to the center of the mattress. The way he talks, so honestly and smoothly, it’s no wonder Billy’s chest feels like it could explode from how his heart pounds against his ribs.

To distract from the obvious, he decides to leave the moping and join in on the higher energy, to tease Eddie, pull his puffy pigtails a bit, “Now you’re gonna put me to sleep.”

“That’s a first. I'm usually annoying everyone clear into like, outer space levels of awake.” Eddie retorts, but there’s way too much emotion in it to just be a reciprocal joke.

Billy tries, in an overly casual way, to help, since Eddie is doing so much for him right now. The least he can do is let him vent back, and maybe offer a little comfort, “Nah. More like white noise to me.”

It lands. He can almost hear Eddies smile turn back on like the flick of a light switch, though he can’t see his face with the way Eddie is cuddling him like a child with his favorite teddy bear.

“That’s the nicest way anyone’s ever told me they’re ignoring me. And I mean that.” The actual words there are just light hearted and jokey, but his tone sells something a lot sweeter. Something that restarts Billy’s heart all over again, especially when the context catches up in Eddie’s next soft response, “You’re different, Billy.”

His instinct is to reject that comment, obviously said with warm intent, “Yeah. What other queer would show up and ask for fucking cuddles from a dude?”

But Eddie doesn’t flinch for even a second. Actually, he stuns Billy yet again with an even sappier comeback, “I dunno, I would probably. Especially from you. ‘Cause I like you so much.”

“You don’t gotta lie to me.” Billy’s voice quivers slightly. He can’t tell if he’s shaking in Eddie’s arms, but he feels like he should be.

Eddie Munson said he fucking likes him. While he’s in his bed. Honestly Billy should be used to that, but maybe it’s the outcome he knows is coming that makes him feel so anxious. He can’t stand to have to let go already.

That or it’s the never ending ease with which Eddie talks to him, like he’s this suave prince charming even though he’s seen the guy eat off of the cafeteria floor. That gentleness sends ripples of warmth down his spine from where Eddie’s breath puffs by his ear, “Who’s lying? Are you lying?”

Somehow that inspires Billy to be honest. As if that will change the outcome he has yet to avoid. He hopes, and he says, “Kind of. To myself.”

“So what’s the truth?” Eddie asks, even though, deep down, Billy was hoping he wouldn’t.

Because then he has to admit.. “That I like you back.”

A beat. Then Eddie squeezes him a tiny bit tighter, and says, like it’s the most casual thing, “Cool.”

Billy’s reaction of disbelief is visceral, a snorted, breathless laugh accompanied by a brief questioning, “That’s it? Just.. cool?”

Eddie’s arms move in what feels like a shrugging motion. Billy should have known he just said that and hadn’t meant it, should have the routine memorized enough by now to realize that he wouldn’t like him in that way.

Besides, Eddie has ICD. He doesn’t have control over his impulses the way most people do. It was stupid to assign meaning to the words that tumbled out of his friend's mouth just because he was being selfish. Or he was just hopeful that this time, the other person would care about him too.

Behind him, Eddie makes a sound like he’s thinking long and hard about it, before announcing, one hundred percent genuine, “Actually, no. I also meant to say- Yay!”

That’s all Billy can take. He just doesn’t get it. He wants to believe that Eddie isn’t just fucking with him, but his heart has been used too many times before. Seeking answers, and comfort, and a real love connection, Billy wiggles out of Eddie’s cuddles just to turn around and face him with questions in his eyes.

The happy little grin on Eddie’s face drops off when he sees that look in Billy’s.

Suddenly he’s so serious, and that almost hurts worse than any kind of rejection or loss, “Oh. Did I mess something up?”

Billy shakes his head to tell him that, no, Eddie hasn’t done a damn thing wrong. It’s his own stupid self that did this. But he does consider, for a moment, that the confession was authentic. He runs with it, can’t let go of that hope.

Still, he doesn’t understand why Eddie didn’t seem to want to take things a few bases ahead like everyone before him had, if he wasn’t lying about having feelings for Billy. “

You.. don’t want anything else?”

“Honestly, I’m just happy you didn’t climb out the window when I said I liked you.” As he speaks, Eddie smiles again, like he can’t keep the happiness away. He's always so lighthearted and genuine about everything.

Billy envies him. And loves him with so much of his heart, he can’t bring himself to speak for a moment.

Since he stays silent, letting his feelings play out through his expressions instead, Eddie offers a suggestion, emphasizing it with a gently placed hand to Billy’s cheek, “Let’s just take this at your pace. No expectations.”

“Kiss me?” Billy wills himself to ask, sacrificing his comfort in the silence to prepare for disappointment.

But Eddie provides something much more fulfilling, “Sounds easy enough.”

And he stays true to his word too.

Adjusting to once again close the tiny bit of space Billy had made between them when he turned to face this way, Eddie kisses him. It’s just a calm thing, the press of warm, slightly chapped lips together. The hand on Billy’s face cupping his jaw now instead, to make the gesture as strong and sturdy as the feelings behind it.

It doesn’t last long enough before Eddie dips away, so Billy decides to initiate another one. He misses the mark slightly in his overeagerness to reconnect, but Eddie either doesn’t notice or doesn’t care, not even when that corner of his mouth ticks up into a smile beneath his kiss.

Billy decides then and there that he’s going to take more chances, if this was going to be the reward.

~~~~~

“Are you positive you want to stay?”

Billy has all but moved into the trailer at this point, spending long nights and weekends on Eddie's couch or in his bed, wherever he falls asleep. Right now, it was the couch, with the hand crocheted blanket from Eddie’s late aunt Roxie around his shoulders, and his hair all tousled about from sleeping on it. He passed out hard last night, coming here straight after another argument with Neil that hadn’t ended well.

Eddie eventually had to wake him up, only to inform him that a group of his friends would be over this weekend to play some campaign they’d agreed on weeks ago and Eddie had forgotten until the Henderson kid called him that morning to say that Maddie would be filling for Gareth, since he couldn’t make it and apparently decided to tell Henderson first.

All of that was over Billy’s head, half of the names Eddie is rambling off to him barely recognizable when all is said and done, maybe more from his memory getting fucky again than anything else. There’s lots of reasons for why his head gets foggy, but his doctor wasn’t sure if they could blame it on being knocked around too many times or a little something called constant chronic pain.

Either way he was being dragged to Hawkins before any such diagnosis was official.

And here he is now, comfortable as fuck on Eddie’s old worn-in couch, wearing his flannel because it’s he only thing his boyfriend owns that isn’t several sizes too small for his shoulders, and using his family heirloom blankets.

He’s here to stay.

“I’m not goin’ home, so.. why not?”

Eddie still looks skeptical, and voices as much in a doubtful tone, “Okay, but, this is your final warning. It can get really intense. Like, really really.”

Somehow Billy gets the feeling this wouldn’t be the first time someone told Eddie his interests were too much. Not that he doesn’t appreciate the way he’s looking out for him, but Billy doesn’t want to be the one to crush his boyfriend's spirit.

So he makes a light joke of it, “It’s a board game, Eds. And I’m sorry, but you thought Jaws 3-D was a masterpiece. I’m not sure your definition of intense and mine are the same”

Special interest mode, activated.

“It is! It perfectly parallels how humans think poetic justice is only valid if they personally can identify with the hero! That’s all it takes to be defined as a hero or a villain!! That kicks ass!” Eddie rants passionately for the hundredth time, though the pointed laugh before he starts speaking is Billy’s sign that it’s all in fun.

So he keeps it going, “Eddie. As your boyfriend I feel obligated to tell you this, but whatever commentary a movie about a revenge driven, computer generator shark has to offer, it probably wasn’t intentional.”

“It’s not meant to be realistic. Metaphors, baby!” Eddie defends, the actual depth of this conversation many times gone over already. This is just a summary of it for a little joke, though they could be here for hours if they wanted to.

Which means it’s Billy’s turn to infodump, all those years spent researching the ocean in the library and local California museums not gone to waste yet.

“But sharks don’t even raise their young! Real world or not! Revenge doesn’t matter to the creatures that don’t even stay a day after their shark babies are born to abandon them. I mean, they could at least wait ten years like my ma-”

Stop. Oops.

That wasn’t exactly what he was supposed to say. Or even what he meant to.

He’s always defended his mommas decisions to leave him behind. Something about Neil constantly reminding him how difficult he was as a kid probably did some numbers on his ability to process the whole thing. But sometimes, his heart reveals some sadder truths in this process of healing it.

Eddie's love wraps around his bones like an extra layer of support, seeping out all the bad. Sometimes he’s got to expel those thoughts whether or not he realizes it until they come pouring out of his mouth.

And then he feels sad.

Because he’s thinking about his momma.

Eddie moves quickly into caring mode, holding his arms out to invite Billy for a cuddle. The whole boundaries thing is still a pretty big deal, even though it’s been weeks, proving Eddie meant it when he said they didn’t have to rush this. Hell, Billy thinks Eddie might never stop asking for his consent for even just cheek kisses, in the silent language the two of them are slowly developing.

There’s trust there that Billy isn’t used to. Throwing himself blindly into love and hoping to be caught hadn’t worked, and neither had acting cold. Then Eddie had shown him other options, and there was no going back.

Billy leans into his hug, pushing just a little so Eddie lays back against the armrest with his arms still around Billy, pulling them together into the perfectly nested out, cozy spot where Billy slept last night.

Even though they slept only feet away from each other, he had missed Eddie. He missed waking up from a nightmare and kissing him, the warmth and the pressure of his limbs scattered all over the bed and over Billy, and even the sound of his not so gentle snoring. He’s become the routine, the only constant in Billy’s life that he’s desperate never to let go of.

Still, Eddie is the one to change the conversation, so the effort, and the intention of their love, must be equal, “Agree to disagree?”

“Sure.” Billy gives him that, too comfortable to argue about stupid things or bring up more trauma. He hadn’t meant to and now he feels a little drained. Nothing a little early morning spoon session can’t fix.

That’s why he has the confidence to push the boundary again, just enough comfort flowing through their connected energies now that he isn’t afraid of making Eddie upset, “Still coming to dnd tonight though.”

~~~~~

“What bet did you lose?”

There’s six people, all wearing matching shirts, all accessorized in various articles of plaid and leather and whatever else they think makes them look like Eddie. Serious respect to the one who actually asked the question, he’s guessing Maddie from the previous conversation, who wears her shirt like a cutoff and actually has her own taste.

That proves Eddie right though. Billy had walked out of the bedroom for all of two seconds before he’s being glared at and asked stupid questions.

He just hadn’t realized the implications of Eddie’s friends being the overwhelming part, rather than the game. The confusing, twisting, hell of a game he’s too afraid to even attempt.

“Excuse me?”

Even being used to fighting and drama, Billy just isn’t really sure how to respond to that. He knows what Eddie’s friend means, but at the same time, he doesn’t. As far as he knew, everyone in town had heard about Billy Hargrove’s fall from grace after a few nights ago when Neil went on a bender looking for his runaway son and telling anyone who asked exactly what he thought of his kid. And for punching said kid in the face again, which is why Billy had come here to begin with.

But maybe the lowest of the Hawkins High hierarchy doesn’t fill up on the products of the rumor mill as quickly as he’s used to from his spot near the top.

One of the other nameless ones chimes in next, even more sarcastic and cold than the girl, “What ungodly punishment are you subjecting yourself to by being here?”

Billy just doesn’t understand what he did. His most notorious moments in school were still mostly aimed at whichever groupies tried to get too close to him. The best he can come up with is that these nerds were all jealous of him living with Eddie now, but, no offense to the love of his life, that doesn’t seem very likely.

Thankfully, Eddie takes the heat and changes the subject before Billy is forced to figure out what kind of response is needed from that level of passive-aggressiveness.

He steps right in the center of the room and claps his hands a few times, both to get everyone’s attention and to put accentuation on his demands, “Hey. Shoes off in my house, dorkuses. Or need I remind you of the last time?”

That sounds like there’s a story there just waiting to be told, and considering Billy would rather hear that than keep being questioned, he takes the obvious bait, “What happened last time?”

“Why, dear Jeffrey over there tracked in some dog shit surprise. Had to cut a square out of the carpet because it-“ Eddie starts to explain, but before he gets too graphic with it, Billy interrupts.

“I got it, Eds. Don’t need all the details.”

The obvious disgust on his face is probably what makes Eddie giggle like a self-satisfied little kid, before he says, “Suit yourself. Just be lucky you met me after. Took months to get the stink out.”

Dustin, the only one of the freshmen trio that still shows up to these things often enough to be considered an official member, is of course the one to interrupt the flow between Billy and Eddie, just because the smug little bastard would be, “Funny. I thought you still smelled like dog shit.”

Billy’s got to give it to the kid, if that wasn’t a snide comment about his boyfriend, he’d absolutely be laughing right now. And okay, maybe he can’t suppress just the tiniest chuckle, which of course gets noticed in an instant by Eddie.

Which is enough to make him spring into action against the insult, literal physical action because he puts Dustin in a headlock and ruffles the shit out of the kids hair after knocking his hat off.

Seeing that the tension has been successfully defused, Billy decides he’s no longer needed. That and, even though he’s grateful Eddie cooled the situation off, he’s not really looking to have to defend himself constantly.

Over the ruckus of the play-fighting teenagers and the crowd of their friends chanting for who they’re placing soda-pop bets on, Billy announces, “I’ll order a pizza and fuck off again.”

Instantly Eddie freezes, his hair half-way in his eyes and his shirt wrinkled like Billy hadn’t carefully hung it on the line this morning from all the commotion, “You know you don’t have to do that.”

Billy isn’t sure if he’s talking about the pizza or the leaving, but he’s down for both. He’ll make an appearance again when it’s time to eat. Slow integration with all this noise and personality will probably be the best for him anyways.

He challenges Eddie’s question so he doesn’t have to worry, “Who else is going to?”

Eddie doesn’t do phone calls. It’s one thing to be loud and energetic in person, but put a speaker up to him and it’s like he has no clue what to say. Maybe it’s his wired different brain, but something about not being able to stare people in the face makes it a hell of a lot harder to get his point across.

So yeah, Billy’s got him beat there. Whatever Eddie’s problem is though, times it by twenty for the amount of anxiety sitting around this place at this very moment. This is the best decision and Billy would’ve stood by it even if Eddie said anything else. But he doesn’t.

So Billy puts his hand in the shape of a phone and shakes it, wanting to go kiss Eddie before he leaves the room but restraining the urge in front of all these people that probably wouldn’t get it, “Just call for me when Aggy gets here with the pizzas.”

~~~~

Later when everything’s said and done, they’re back to where they started.

Eddie is flat on his back, lanky limbs spread out like a starfish, while Billy curls up into his side, more like a koala. There’s a quilt over their tangle of bodies, but the slightly awkward yet somehow very comfortable position means they’re barely covered by it, though that’s fine anyways because Billy runs hot.

In his own little self-sustained furnace at his boyfriend's side, Billy’s also about to fall asleep, even just listening to Eddie’s extroverted self socialize all day having made him tired. His eyes snap open when Eddie asks him a question.

“Was today okay?”

The startle the abrupt cut in the silence gave him also earns him an apology kiss on the forehead from Eddie.

He’s okay though, because it reminds him that he wanted to put his head on Eddie’s chest, readjusting to get closer and comfier. His response is a sleepy after thought, a soft little hum of agreement, “Mhm.”

Eddie takes the opportunity to put his fingers in Billy’s hair and gently play with it, as he talks up at the ceiling, “I'm glad. Because I didn’t want to have to cut all of those dudes out of my life.”

“Like you’d choose me over all of them.” Billy murmurs, though he’s actually flattered that Eddie has even chosen him at all, no matter the order of importance.

And it only gets better when Eddie says..“I would. A thousand times over, I would. I love you, man.”

Because he says it so easily, like it isn’t a big deal.

Like it’s just a normal thing. Which it is. Billy can’t lie and say he doesn’t feel the same, but they haven’t said it out loud yet. He didn’t think they ever would, a fact he’d been okay with since the first time he realized he liked dudes and girls.

“Love.. me..?”

Eddie flushes red in an instant, all the way down under the collar of his shirt to where Billy’s head is resting, and he quickly tries to correct it like the questioning means he did something wrong, “Sorry. I promised to pace myself. I’ll take it back and lock it back up in my heart until you’re ready.”

Now Billy is just glad he already loves Eddie back, because that sickly sweet proclamation would have done him in otherwise. To ease the worry in his lover's pounding heart, he makes sure to let him know.

“No. S’okay. I love you too.”

So maybe Billy isn’t as bad at being in love as he thought.

He was once someone who thought all he mattered for was sex, a few moments of distraction for somebody who would forget him anyways. Over time, he’s been proven wrong

Billy Hargrove can be loved. It just took the right person- his match in love, the other half to his soul he found in Eddie- to show him that.

[crazylittlejester]

sneaks in here to yap about will wood

did you know hes been in bands before will wood and the tapeworms? he was in a verbal equinox, then he formed the stereosexuals with jonation maisto (whose helped with some of his newer music!) theres also two more in there, jamface and strange thick but i dont know too much about either other than will wood was in them.

a lot of will woods songs are also connected from what ive listened to

in skeleton appreciation day, will wood sings "a selfish book is always open" then his next album is named "self-ish"

in your body my temple, will wood sings "when the waters run red" which could be a reference to the lyric "the drunk-tanks blood red" in the song 6up 5oh Copout

in falling up, will wood sings "i grew up in suburbia" and then of course, theres suburbia overtune

in the first step, will wood sings "i dont want to be an organ donor" which could be hin referencing the stereosexuals song 1fish2fish

thats about all the things ive seen that are connected, but some of his lyrics could also be references to his older songs in the stereosexuals, as theres only been 3 publicly released. will has said the other 12 were lost on an old hard drive, but for all we know he could be lying. the stereosexuals used to be on spotify, but arent anymore for some reason, so you can really only listen to it youtube sadly.

will wood has 3 songs related to rats in "in case i make it," which are tomcat disposables, euthansia, and willard!

then in his live album "in case i die" he has two songs that weren't released, which were "and if i did, you deserved it" and "misanthropologist"

he also has a podcast named "life in the world to come" which he does with his friend chris dunne, which is about well, life in the world to come. people send questions in and the two answer them, but like most of the time most of it is them yapping, but im not complaining.

:3 (also, explain the plot of the four swords manga??? you need to go to a LIBRARY!!)

oh wow i knew like none of this

i mean i knew he had a lot of repeating themes/lyrics but not the other stuff

thanks for sharing dude 🫶

(ALSO IVE CHECKED they dont HAVE IT at the library. but someone sent me the link so no worries)

[kataraslove]

“love you to the moon and to saturn” jw is that a reference to taylor swift’s song seven? if yes what do you think is the ultimate taylor song for kataang 😊

YES. seven is one of my fave songs from her and one of my fave songs ever. i love that line in particular, but also i adore “passed down like folk songs / our love lasts so long,” which was my previous blog title.

i love this question, but i will admit that it’s so hard for me to choose just one ultimate song! so here’s probably like my list of the most kataang-coded songs from her discography, categorized by each of her albums minus debut:

fearless tv:

forever & always: old katara reflecting back on the promises that aang had told her throughout her life of them growing old together. i love a good kataangst.

jump then fall: from aang’s perspective, telling katara to not be afraid of falling in love. also a reference to one of his first bending lessons to her: “if you want to be a bender, you have to let go of fear.”

untouchable: it can go with any kataangst context, but specifically katara realizing that aang as the avatar might be an entity far too much for her to comprehend and far out of her reach at times.

speak now tv:

enchanted: kataang’s initial meet cute. enough said. they were enchanted to meet each other.

back to december: you can think of this as a sort of au in which katara and aang get together but it doesn’t last, so it unfortunately strains their friendship. which is why they think back to that first time they’ve met in the southern water tribe (“december.”)

superman: katara recounting what it’s like to love someone who belongs to the world. can take place right after their kiss on the day of black sun part 1 when aang flies away.

I can see you: those times when they catch each other in secluded corners in between important world meetings.

red tv:

everything has changed: katara and aang’s respective “oh” moments. i like to think of it as occurring after aang’s death.

the very first night: I saw an amazing edit of them to this so now it’s their song.

run: this is such a cute song. it reminds me of aang wanting to take katara and just escape from it all. all of his responsibilities.

1989:

out of the woods: where does their relationship stand in the latter part of book 3 amidst the war?

this love: do me a favour. just search up the chorus. and tell me that’s not aang’s conflict in book 2/subsequent death/rebirth at katara’s hands.

you are in love: there’s a lyric referencing letting go of your fears. which is exactly what aang says to katara about becoming a bender. also: “one night he wakes / strange look on his face / pauses then says / you’re my best friend / and you knew what it was / he is in love,” works so well with the “it’s reminded me how I feel about appa. and how I feel about you.”

reputation:

end game: they want to be each other’s endgame <3

delicate: can take place in the very initial stages of their relationship after the balcony kiss and learning how to navigate their newfound relationship

king of my heart: katara realizing that aang is the one she wants. the king of her heart.

call it what you want: just adult katara being in love. i like to specifically think that this is adult katara during a particularly bad time (maybe having to relive the horrors of war and bloodbending during her mission to ban bloodbending) but it’s okay because she has aang - love of her life - at her side.

lover: (THEIR ALBUM!!!!)

lover: “have i known you 20 secs or 20 years.” just katara and aang’s relationship throughout the years.

paper rings: “i hate accidents except when we went from friends to this.” THE FRIENDS TO LOVERS ANTHEM!!

false god: aang is the avatar that people worship, but he literally worships katara 😉

it’s nice to have a friend: just platonic kataang appreciation because I adore their friendship

i haven’t forgotten folklore (the best album), evermore, and midnights!! i promise i’ll reblog this with the rest. also, I dedicate this to @antizutara, who is probably the biggest kataang swiftie that i know.

feel free to reblog this with your own editions, as well. taylor’s discography is very versatile based on your shipping needs.

[mydarlingdahlia]

So…in light of me finishing the entire Hunger Games series, I’m going to be giving my opinion /basically ranting on (personally) one of my favorite little details in the whole series.

𝚃𝚑𝚎 𝙷𝚊𝚗𝚐𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚃𝚛𝚎𝚎.

Warnings ⚠️: MEGA, I mean GARGANTUAN spoilers for The Hunger Games Trilogy & Prequel, ermmm that’s mainly it except for murder 👍

Proceed if you don’t mind being spoiled.

Also fyi this is mainly going to be about the tree. So yeah.

The hanging tree is a tree (no shit) in district 12 that the government/peacekeepers used to use as gallows for hangings back in the early postwar era. (The war resulting in the Games.) It’s referenced a lot in TBOSAS, the prequel to the first book of the series.

From what I remember they don’t use it much anymore because they don’t really execute people anymore, if ever. Whipping/imprisonment is mainly the punishment for crime, or they use a more updated version of execution.

So, it’s kinda a symbol for district 12, mainly cause there’s a whole song about it. And it’s mentioned multiple times throughout the series, Especially in the first book and the prequel.

You find out in the prequel that the song was written by a girl named Lucy Gray Baird (I think that’s how you spell her last name) and she’s a MAJOR character in that book. She’s actually a victor of the games.

And President Snow’s first lover. I’ll elaborate on that in a bit.

She wrote it because while Snow was posted in 12 as a Peacekeeper (kinda a form of police/military in the districts and Capitol) a man was hanged on said tree and Snow watched over the execution. In said lyrics, there’s a fair amount of symbolism in them, that could be taken from multiple perspectives.

Let’s dissect the first verse.

The man who was executed (and inspired most of the song) was named Arlo Chance, a surviving rebel in 12 the against the Capitol. He planted a bomb the coal mines in 12 and murdered 3 people and was henceforth hanged for it as punishment for his crimes.

Pretty self explanatory and simple when you look into it.

Onto the next verse.

Now this verse is interesting.

Because the “love” the “dead man” called out to was Arlo calling out to his lover, who had in outburst in the crowd that gathered to watch Arlo’s hanging. Her name was Lil, and she was also a rebel.

His last words to her before the rope caught his neck were for her to run, supposedly so she wouldn’t be captured by the Capitol and punished on his and the other rebels’ behalf. She, ultimately, was caught.

Now, in earlier books, some may have thought the meaning of the lyrics were a little different.

A man, who is most likely a criminal, is being hanged. Some believed the man was the one singing the song to his lover, hence why he’s telling her to flee (maybe to him at the tree) but that’s mainly just theory.

That’s pretty much all I have got this verse, so onto the next two I wanna cover.

The first one is mainly conceived as (before the prequel was released) that it was just a love story between two random people and the hanging tree was to be their meeting place before they fled with each other hand in hand to live happily ever after.

But later in the prequel, there is a scene where Lucy Gray sung that verse to Snow (while they were in love) because she wanted to run away with him, and at the time, he did as well.

That verse was his signal for where to meet early the next morning (or midnight) when they were going to flee from the districts and the Capitol forever. But, the second verse is where it all falls apart.

Because while Lucy and Snow were traveling, Snow found some evidence that could possibly incriminate him if it were ever to be found by authorities, because they were murder weapons with his DNA on them.

So he had second thoughts. And a sort of “disagreement” happened between the two. Where Snow was chasing Lucy through the woods at one point with a shotgun.

And she began singing that verse, because she knew he had betrayed someone, who she saw as a friend, and that someone that saw Snow as a brother. Sejanus Plinth. He’s a whole piece of work I’m not getting into right now.

Basically he was conspiring with the rebels, and being from the Capitol, Snow didn’t like that.

And the Sejanus (who Snow betrayed) was executed at the hanging tree for treason (hence the necklace of rope). So Lucy knew what he did, and became afraid of Snow.

It’s unclear whether Snow actually managed to kill Lucy (because at one point he shot into the trees and heard a scream) or whether she ran away, but she was never heard from again after that fact.

And basically Snow got off scott free from the betrayal, the cheating he’d done early in the book, and the murders he committed. And no one was able to trace it to him, because he got rid of the only people who ever could.

So, he was able to become the president of Panem without much question. And no one questioned his time as a Peacekeeper, or the time he spent with Lucy Gray.

These are the things I notice reading books lol

Thank you for letting me share my thoughts 🙏

[bonesbuckleup]

You recently introduced me to Cloud Cult by way of your post referencing "One Way Out Of A Hole," and I've done nothing but obsessively listen to them at full blast ever since. My Spotify Wrapped will be a wreck (as will my car if I keep accidentally speeding while screaming inspirational lyrics). So... do you have any other music recommendations?

Yes.

But also full disclosure, Cloud Cult (LINK!!!) is arguably one of my most obscure band-that-I-love and a lot of these are much more mainstream, but I do enjoy and Spotify says I frequently listen to:

Orville Peck--I'm not usually one for country but particularly his album Bronco owns my soul. You like twangy songs with a lot of heart performed by a queer man who wears a tasseled mask in every appearance? Then boy oh boy is Orville Peck right for you.

Mother Mother--I think they're pretty well known but they're new to me! Favorites are "It's Alright" and "Sick of the Silence"

The Narcissist Cookbook--they live somewhere between punk, spoken word, yelling, and grit-your-teeth-and-get-through-it inspirational. Favorites include "GOOD MORNING SUNSHINE" and "Ghost Stories." 100% an acquired taste and not for everyone.

First Aid Kit--hippy girl music that makes you want to go run through the woods. Kind of a less-known cousin to Florence and the Machine. They've got a solid vibe throughout most of their stuff so you really can't go wrong with a start point, but their recent album Palamino scratches my brain in a nice way.

Florence and the Machine--self-explanatory. Current faves are "100 Years," "Choreomania," and always "Which Witch." Seeing her live was the closest I've ever been to understanding how people join cults.

Hozier--another self-explanatory one but also his newest album just dropped and I am obsessed.

Gregory Alan Isakov--my love. Chill folk music with lyrics that sucker punch you when you pay attention and listen. Excellent music to put on while writing.

Nathaniel Ratecliff & the Night Sweats--Just a solid good-time band with great lyrics and a lot of heart. Swings from stomp and holler to really thoughtful/high-feel songs. Almost all hits tbh. Favorites are "S.O.B." and "And It's Still Alright."

[sophietv]

The Multidimensions Of Taylor's Art

I wrote this piece on Twitter back in May when people were very loud about the fact that trying to attribute a song to a muse was disrecpectful and was diminishing Taylor's art.

I think today is a good day to repost it:

Taylor Swift's art is multidimensional. She said it herself and as we keep repeating over and over again, she's a Mastermind.

The message she conveys with one song is larger than just being a good song with beautifully written lyrics.

I see a lot of people talking recently about how when people talk about the muses of the song they are "reducing" Taylor's art to her muses. And how gaylorism was somewhat "better" before because the focus was less on this.

(I would like to differ on this, but it’s a whole other conversation). 

But Taylor's art is multidimensional and intentionally directed to her fans. ALL her fans.

In one song, she manages not only to create a masterpiece with incredible lyricism.

She also manages to include deep queer references, ingrained in queer history. 

She also managed multiple times to reference queer arts, books, poems, artists etc.

Acknowledging all of it and appreciating it is, yes, very important. I mean, it's the core of her art and a beautiful part of gaylorism.

Who hasn't learned a lot about our own history all thanks to Taylor?

But while this part is very true. Taylor also manages to make sure in every song that we can identify the muse.

It has always been an important part of her artistry. Remember liner notes from Debut to 1989?

She even decided that it was not enough, and starting with reputation, she started including Taymojies, making sure you knew very well who and what that song was about.

But she doesn't even stop there. For most of her songs starting with 1989 all the way to Midnights, she's also making sure that you can identify said muse through her lyrics.

Ever wonder why, for most of her songs there's parallels you can easily make with social media posts, articles, interviews, videos etc?

She's making sure that she references things in her songs that will point to the muse and that you'll be able to track back with some simple google search. 

All of this is very very clearly intentional.

She also uses the same imagery that she knows very well her fans can recognize since 1989 while talking about her muse.

Using recurring themes that she's well aware her fans (us) will associate with the person (Sun, gold, New York, daisies etc.)

But the depth of her work doesn't even stop there. She'll even use timestamps in her songs to communicate certain messages or references to certain persons. And this is when the length of the song is not simply intentionally referencing one person:

Ex Sweet Nothings: Karlie's birthday

And so much more…

This can clearly be qualified as pure genius. But she pushes it even farther. 

If we take Midnights for example she even samples her songs to older ones to help you identify the time, the event or the muse this song references.

Lavender Haze - I Think He Knows

Question…? - Out Of The Woods

Maroon - King Of My Heart

And it's not even the end of the massive amount of information that she manages to put out in a 3-4 minutes song.

This is simply astonishing. 

Her brain truly is amazing.

Her lyrics videos are made to help you identify what and who the song is about. With visual clues and very intentional uses of capital letters and comas.

For example: "Your Midas touch"

Making sure you know she's referencing king Midas who turned everything he touched into gold (gold again, interesting).

Or: "some name dropping sleaze tell me what are my Wordsworth"

From The Lakes, referencing the poet William Wordsworth.

And it still goes further. She will include small details in her songs that you'll pick up on if you pay attention but will fly right past most listeners. A sort of secret message for those who really pay attention.

Ex: in Getaway Car, when she sings.

"Ain't a circus, ain't a love story and now we're both sorry (we're both sorry)"

This is two girls singing "we're both sorry. Meaning the relationship she was trying to protect with this getaway car was with a girl. Once again pointing to the muse.

I already wrote a novel and I haven't even touched the music videos and tour visuals…

But her genius in songwriting doesn't even end there.

Because, if you don't know the muse or refuse to see it. She'll also manage to buy some plausible deniability in her songs so it kind of points to her PR relationships too.

Not much, just enough so that if you really want to believe those Hollywood stories, you can hold on to these lines/visuals and be happy.

But she manages to do so, while staying true to the real muse and not so much to the PR relationship.

A good example is Invisible String and the famous Yogourt shop line with the wrong shirt color.

If your life depends on Toe, it's enough to make you happy and you won't search much further.

However if you search a bit, you'll find out how she intentionally messed up the lyrics.

I could still go on and on about the depth, the genius and the complexity of her songwriting, but I think you see my point now.

She said it herself, her songwriting is painfully autobiographical. And she puts an immeasurable amount of effort in it to make sure you get the story right.

Dismissing the muse of the song to not reduce her work is just as bad as dismissing her queerness and all the references she does to it, to not "speculate" on her.

In both, of all the multidimensional approaches that she uses in her art. You are keeping yourself from enjoying and dismissing about 50% of her hard work. If not more when you include music videos.

Acknowledging her muses to the songs is not reducing anything but more embracing as much as you can the genius and hard work she puts behind every song and every artistic decision she makes.

And I'm not saying that you HAVE to acknowledge the muse or else you are not a true fan. Art is meant to be enjoyed differently by every person and at the end of the day you take what makes you happy, simple as that.

My point is to say that acknowledging the muse in her music is not reducing anything. Quite the contrary. 

[sparrowmoth]

The Lips You Haven't Met • [AO3]

A/N: Flashfic prompt fill written for the Wesper Fic Club discord. Thissss one is a snack sized divine!Jesper/mortalWylan AU... <3

Prompt (from @waterloou): Write a fic inspired by Tamino's "The Longing." (I've noted the specific lyrics that inspired me on AO3.)

CW: Implied/referenced parental abuse

Only ever in dreams, but Wylan has seen him. Has touched him. Has known him. He is not merely some ghost of a thought or a memory or desire—though Wylan does want him, does remember, does think… that maybe…

And it might be madness.

But he thinks, because the world is so vivid in his dreams of the young man—Jesper. Pretty name. He thinks if he could find it, that soft place in the woods, he might find Jesper also. He thinks if he could find it, find a place even so near enough to call out from a distance and see who would respond—

It might be real. Not just a dream.

It might be Jesper’s lips he’d meet, at last, and not some mercher boy afraid to love him—not so much they never touch. Their hands are cold compared to Jesper’s. Their hands, though real, though never doubted—physical and present on him—their hands aren’t warm and soft like Jesper’s.

Jesper, who he dreams of.

Jesper, who he wakes to find might never have existed.

And so, and so—because he must know—Wylan goes into the woods that night. He does not sleep. He wanders. He passes through the aspen, eyes downcast as not to meet theirs. He passes over leaves and roots and over deer trails cutting left and right. He doesn’t know where he is going. He knows exactly where he’s going.

One of these is true.

“Wylan!” someone calls out as he steps into a meadow, and he startles at the sound. Jesper’s name has almost left his lips when he sees the lantern, hears the crunching boots, realizes—that’s his father’s voice. That’s his name being called out in anger—

Wylan runs like a deer through the moon-drenched meadow, never sure as he is now that someone is calling and it isn’t his father. He just needs to run. He just needs to get there. Where? He doesn’t know.

But he finds it—collides—with a warm, open chest, and two arms wrap around him and a voice whispers, “Shhhh,” as he’s wrenched down to the ground and pinned like prey between the bushes—

He looks up into the face of who he thought so long a dream.

Now, he knows they are a god.

Jesper smiles at him, and it is radiant, despite the shadows thick around them. He is real and heavy and present, with Wylan light as air. He can feel his spirit rising—then, sinking like a rock as raging footsteps draw much nearer—and his name is all but snarled—

Jesper’s smile is no less radiant, but the edges have grown softer, like the end of summer daylight. He seems to sink down into Wylan, seems to push them both down, down… into a sky that shouldn’t be there—a dark sky full of stars, the air as buoyant as the water—

Wylan doesn’t want to wake from this.

Jesper promises he won’t.

[longlistshort]

The images above are of Terence Gower’s El Muro Rojo (Barragán), 2005, from the group exhibition Color Effects at Galerie Lelong in NYC last year.

From the artist’s website about the work-

A large black and white photograph of the roof patio of the Casa Barragán is mounted on an enormous red wall. The photograph is a copy of Armando Salas Portugal’s famous 1953 photograph (this time commissioned from architectural photographer Jorge del Olmo), and shows a corner of Luis Barragán’s roof patio with its famous coloured walls reduced to grey tones. The work separates a tonal and planar understanding of the architecture from the “emotional” encounter with colour that Barragán aspired to.

From his statement about his practice-

I work on a number of bodies of work at once, each developed over several years. In the past decade my work has focused on a critical re-reading of the modern movement and its utopian bent. A desire to reexamine the notion of progress—a term corrupted by the excesses of technological modernism—has fueled my research on the post-war period and has led to a search for models from the past that might still be relevant today.

Below is the Armando Salas Portugal color photo referenced by the Gower work.

Armando Salas Portugal, “Barragán House”, Mexico City, 1948. View of the roof terrace in the late 1960s. Image via Barragan Foundation

Armando Salas Portugal is known for his photographs of the Mexican countryside and the architecture of the city. He captured the work of several famous architects, in addition to Luis Barragán’s projects.

From Wikipedia about the influence of modernism on Barragán and his concept of “emotional architecture“-

Barragán visited Le Corbusier and became influenced by European modernism. The buildings he produced in the years after his return to Mexico show the typical clean lines of the Modernist movement. Nonetheless, according to Andrés Casillas (who worked with Barragán), he eventually became entirely convinced that the house should not be “a machine for living.” Opposed to functionalism, Barragán strove for an “emotional architecture” claiming that “any work of architecture which does not express serenity is a mistake.” Barragán used raw materials such as stone or wood. He combined them with an original and dramatic use of light, both natural and artificial; his preference for hidden light sources gives his interiors a particularly subtle and lyrical atmosphere.