#3) their 'hits' are popular for a reason; that reason is they are bangers. Hi; 'hardcore Muse fan' checking in; the Muse 'hits' are class.

[sunburnacoustic]

Someone's just put out a thirty minute video on youtube titled something like 'this is why muse setlists are a nightmare' like have you that much free time in the day because I do not

[twistedcollective]

autism rambles

headcanons i yapped to a friend (@herconfuse im so sorry buddy)

theres a shit ton, some tdas but most are metal family. also these are copy pasted from spacehey, in parts cause i hit the character limit. four times. if some make more sense reading them as a dm, thats why. im so autistic about this show bro.

tw for various types of abuse when talking about glam and his backstory and family, also superrr limited mention of sh there too

theres probably gonna be another part to this at some point

tdas: - mal acted like a villain for the show bc fans enjoy drama and on my LIFE chris is rigging votes based on fan popularity and who he personally likes. so mal was just being overdramatic so he could stay on longer. two steps ahead frfr (ok nikocado pack it up /silly) - vito x anne maria. idc that the show tries to make her look bad, those two are so cute and systems can date different people bro - mike x zoey, obv, but also svetlana x zoey. shes poly for her partner sys ur honor. also, bi zoey. and super supportive singlet zoey. idk i love zoey sm shes so sweet - dawn is pagan, probably works with gaia or some other version of mother earth - cameron is autistic as hell bro thats not even a headcanon thats basically canon atp. that boy has so much tism in him - B is transmasc (yes this is tdroti not tdas. shush.)

metal family: - i think dee listens to white girl music sometimes - he picked it up from ches, who would blare 2000s white girl bangers to annoy his mom during fights - gustav has been to prison and had his record cleared via shady payoff to the govt - mary was married to gustav via some sort of arranged marraige (possibly a forced taxes and traditional conservative values thing cause he absolutely would [i hate gustave with a passion]) - gustav died believing that glam got fully possessed by the devil during that one scene - glam gets nightmares about his dad and/or about becoming like his dad and hurting his wife and kids. his sleep schedule is still ass to this day - nobody knows the full extent of glam's childhood, not even ches - ches probably assumed glam's scars were self inflicted due to location, and he hasnt asked to clarify bc he doesnt really know how - hes absolutely noticed tho - lif and dee consider the rat their adopted son and his theme song is rats by ghost since they both canonically like that band - heavy prefers the metallica version of enter sandman, dee likes the ghost cover better - vicky listens to viking metal and aggressive sea shanties - glam would love chappel roan - ches would love sabrina carpenter - dee would unironically like taylor swift and would tell NOBODY - dee is not only a brony (canon), but also a furry. he has a fursona and a ponysona - dee would be a reality shifter but he doesnt believe it exists - dee does NOT like cats. heavy absolutely loves them. lif likes them, but also draws gore of them (not in an edgy way but she thinks the biology is neat and has an art style where it works) - lif sits in graveyards in her spare time

metal family part 2: - heavy is a theistic satanist, dee is an atheist (canon), lif is an atheistic satanist but likes theistic satanism quite a bit, glam is an atheist, vicky is a norse pagan, ches is in tune with the universe and just calls himself "spiritual, not religious" - dee writes fanfic - i love headcanons where dee is just an absolute fucking nerd cause its SO ACCURATE bro that boy is a GEEK - dee knows the basics of chemical warfare from his chemistry phase - he could and absolutely would nuke someone if he had good reason

metal family part 3: - dee is a controlled pyromaniac - dee steals from big businesses and never from small/independent ones, he taught heavy who only steals food (candy, drinks, etc) bc anything else makes him feel guilty - dee has a spacehey account - hes also very active on the dark web, and holds a paywall on hacker services for people - he has sent things to people who wanted him to hack for shitty reasons. by things, i mean animals. not alive ones. also, small pipe bombs that arent quite deadly but will still hurt pretty damn badly - dee will jailbreak people's school devices, for a fee - hes such a con artist except hes not cause he actually pulls through - his stalker thing with lif was purely genetic, idk how but it was (see: glam stalked vicky too) - both relationships are super healthy tho dwdw - heavy cant work the internet without dees help, but is very active online where hes allowed to be - dee is a dipper personality type, heavy is a mabel personality type, and lif channels bill cipher without the,, yknow,, pure insanity - that one pink haired girl whos name i cant remember is super nice but super sheltered from alt subcultures and queer people, think caitlyn from my creative writing class (ik you dont know her)

metal family part 4: - lif had a dsmp phase and was an e girl in 2020 - she also has a scene phase shortly after - goth isnt her only style but its def her main and shes super good at the makeup and also the dancing - heavy would pierce someone for enough money - dee would give people tattoos at school for money, but he refuses to do stick and poke so he cant (doesnt have a machine) - lif draws art commissions online - dee and lif are both huge creepypasta enjoyers and have loads of ocs - heavy knows the basic ones (jeff the killer, toby, ben drowned, etc) - heavy and dee would write and produce films with shitty production quality thatre somehow really good and post them on youtube - dee takes college level classes and is aiming for his two-year by graduation (omg look its ollie projecting onto his fav characters again) - glam is pan, dee is demiromantic ace, heavy is straight as a fucking board, vicky is straight but was bicurious at one point cause lesbians absolutely love her (anna has a one sided crush one her rip), ches is gay but doesnt date much anyways, lif is bi with a preference for girls (although technically she has a preference for dee) - lif had a pink and girl phase in elementary, complete with the justice and claires stuff - lif is a demigirl (our lif is transfem i think iirc)

[thestarsarecool]

1 through 6 lol, if you're up for all of them

1. Unpopular John Opinion

Hmmm. It is hard for me to tell how popular/ unpopular my opinions are, but I will give this a shot. I have been listening to a lot of early Beatles lately and I think John does not get enough credit for his skill as a craftsman when it comes to songwriting. He's often lauded for his skill as a lyricist, generally in reference to his psychedelic songs or his more emotionally raw ones, but you listen to those early Beatles albums and he is writing hit after hit after hit. Of the 13 songs on A Hard Day's Night, he wrote essentially nine and a half of them! And they're all incredibly catchy and musically worthwhile. Also, I don't know if this is unpopular, but the best album for John in terms of songwriting is Rubber Soul.

2. Unpopular Paul Opinion

I do not get the hype for Tug of War! I don't think it's bad or anything, but I do not understand why it was received so much better than other albums. It is the only McCartney album that I think is overrated. I guess that is more of an opinion on an album than Paul himself, so I don't know if that counts. Hmm. I guess personality-wise, my unpopular opinion is that Paul is genuinely selfish and bossy sometimes and I understand why his behavior got frustrating, but I don't think it's this tyrannical thing that some people describe it as. Like, the behavior you hear on the nagras is a very understandably human brand of bossiness and I can easily conceptualize that situation in a way that demonizes none of the parties involved. Oh, here's one that I think is actually unpopular on Tumblr: I don't think Paul is notably more misogynistic than the other Beatles or his contemporaries.

3. Unpopular Ringo Opinion

Hmm, I think people ignore his discontent and frustration at being stuck with the Beatles' legacy. This isn't really much of an issue now. I think he's grown much more content in his old age. But there are interviews where he gets angry and it's an interesting contrast to the happy-go-lucky attitude some people describe.

4. Unpopular George Opinion

I am having trouble thinking of an opinion personality-wise because I think the go-to controversial George opinion is where you fall on the "he was unforgivably oppressed" to "he was whiny" spectrum. And since I fall towards the middle-left there (I understand clearly how his situation was frustrating and stifling and believe that he was mistreated to a certain extent, but I do think he was overly resentful and unfair in assigning blame at times), I think my opinion is generally popular? I don't know. I also think he's a great songwriter, but not as good as John and Paul, but I don't think that that's unpopular either. Hmm. Ooh, I think his self-titled album is massively underrated!!! Blow Away, Dark Sweet Lady, Here Comes the Moon, Faster...banger after banger after banger!

5. What is the most overrated Beatles song by Tumblr users specifically?

A bunch of songs on Let it Be are overrated, I think. Probably "Two of Us" is the most overrated song by Tumblr users, for obvious reasons.

6. To what extent is speculating on the Beatles' sexuality okay? Is there a difference if it's about an alive Beatle or not?

I think it's fine I guess, but I get annoyed when people pretend that their speculation is fact and that the rest of the world is stupid for not agreeing. This also ties in with my annoyance with people who write off some Beatles historians because they don't see things the way we do here on Tumblr.com. But I don’t see any problem with speculating, especially at such a low-profile level. Speculating about the sexuality of a living celebrity to the point that they know and are pressured into making a statement I think is wrong, but I don’t see that happening at the Beatle level.

[dreamtydraw]

hiya!!

I'm just here to check in and ask how you're doing! hopefully, the stress isn't too much!

personally, I'm fine, I'm gonna meet up with my childhood friend tomorrow (*^-^)

Oh! and also to answer your question, I don't know if these count as red flags (they are more things I don't like in vns) but I don't like it when the story outside of the romance aspect (if it's a romance vn) lacks depth and lore (or just makes no sense), and when there are no trigger warnings for heavy themes in a game!

(I'm really curious about which game you you're talking about >.< )

ANYWAY! I hope you have a great evening!

lots of love! <3

~🌿

happy to hear you'll have a good time plant !

I'll admit it's currently 02:02 in the morning and I have Premier Pro open with the video essay I was supposed to edit for today's project presentation which I completely forgot about making- SO STRESS IS HERE!

Kids, I'm giving you some advice: procrastinating IS NOT WORTH IT-

And about the vn ! I rather not give a name because the game is currently having a Kickstarter and I don't want to badmouth it when the dev is making an effort to finance but here is my rambling :

This game was recomanded to me by multiple moots who said they were obssess about it but the writting is mid. There is no scenaristic hook in the demo, nothing that particularly stands out for a storyline, and characters who are ( at least from their introduction ) very stereotypical in their role ( the rich ashole, the shy one, the energic one, the cute one, etc- ).

That in itself doesn't make a game bad, I mean hey Harem Otome is popular for a reason. My ick is with some choices made for two of the characters specialy.

The only dark-skinned character has multiple very visible scars ( in what is marketed as a slice-of-life game ) which is a trope that has been pointed out as racist since most of the time only POC characters will have scars even when their white counterpart should have too ( I won't go on detail here exactly on why this specific trope is linked to racism, I'll maybe explain another time if asked )

Important to say: I don't believe the design of the character was chosen with malicious intention but this was a red flag for me.

Another of my ick is that one of the li has a trans pins. Why would it ick me you may ask ? The character is the most feminine coded guy of the li group. Again, on itself alone this wouldn't be a problem but it gives me the vibe that if the character is in fact trans, his identity ( if explored ) will be linked to stereotypes.

Other dislikes I had ( which are purely personal taste here ) are: making the MC blush/having romantic reactions without given choice to the player to choose said reactions. + Having a li that is the stereotypical "aha I am heavily hitting on you cause I'm a player" character.

I'm talking about this game not because I think it's special, to me it's a very basic game that I simply won't play ever again cause I disliked it. I'm talking about it because I'm disapointed that the game my moot has been hyping up as being a banger is actually mid on the limit of possibly bad rep-

Thank you for taking the time to read and I wish you a good day.

[t-swift-converter]

POST 2 - Childhood trauma

To begin Day 1, I’d like to introduce Dave’s background with Taylor Swift before he married me. Obviously, many things in his life improved when he asked me to marry him, but it wasn’t all dreadful for my man’s younger years. One reason I married him is because Dave has sisters. 3, actually. Which is more than I can say I even have siblings. He also has two older brothers, but they aren’t relevant here. Sorry to my brothers-in-law (Brother-in-laws? BRETHREN-IN-LAW??) if they ever see this.

Dave’s 3 older sisters have been a Godsend to our marriage in many ways (I found out that he is familiar with the classic bloody underwear in the sink). I feel for the kid. He experienced the puberty of a girl three times over before he even hit puberty himself. But it has made him a stalwart partner, not ashamed of much he encounters thanks to me.

Well, in addition to the period messes and hair-clogged drains, his sisters lovingly exposed him to the gold that is Taylor Swift���s first album. This back-fired, though, because it was on repeat so much he became resentful. Thus, Taylor Swift is not associated with much joy in his early youth.

This kind of childhood trauma MUST be considered as I try now to not just undo the damage inflicted, but actually reverse it.

I was given a glimpse of the sheer possibility of Dave learning to like Taylor Swift when we had this breakthrough moment on a road trip. We went camping for the weekend in the MIDDLE OF NOWHERE in Utah. Literally, nothing around. It is a protected Night Sky area, so the stars were incredible. Besides the point. I’m almost always in the passenger seat where I DJ from my Spotify and the few rare moments I took a turn driving, I was still DJing from my phone. Dave is not one to play his own music, mostly because he has no playlists built because he never listens to music. It's a vicious cycle. Well, I think, I THINK, he got sick of my songs because he asked me (HE asked ME) to make him a playlist called “Dave likes.” I was thrilled. I hate having to guess what kind of music of mine he’ll like ‘cause he only ever speaks up when he absolutely detests a song, so it's a ton of pressure to handle as DJ.

The game became this: I would play all my liked songs on shuffle and couldn’t skip any based on what I thought he might not like. He had to say whether to skip the song or add it to his playlist. I gotta say, it took some guts for me. You know how there are just those songs that you like but you would skip them everytime if any other person was around to hear? I swear every single one of those songs played on this road trip. But it was so much fun because things I assumed Dave wouldn’t like would go on his playlist. And he was being CHOOSE-Y. Wow, let me tell you. This man has such a God-complex when it comes to music. He himself is very musically gifted, I will say. Like, he writes his own songs and stuff, so if he doesn’t like the song, he will RIP into it with such authority and audacity. He will slander the artist, too, for making such a poor song. Then, he will slander the people who listen to this “crap.” I am usually that listener.

Alright, so he’s got like 5 of 30 songs that have played thus far added to his playlist when a miracle happens. “Delicate” comes on. Now, try not to hate me when I say this, but I didn’t looove Taylor’s “bad girl” Reputation Era. Some of those songs are total bangers, don’t get me wrong. I love a good rock out session to “Don’t Blame Me” or “Call It What You Want,” but I don’t like those popular, rougher songs like “Look What You Made Me Do,” “...Ready For It?” or even “Bad Blood” from 1989. The softer Taylor is so my taste. That’s why I am not surprised at all that “Delicate” quickly became my #1 song from that album. Though, it’s still got a really good beat.

The interesting part is I made a scoff noise when it came on, knowing who it was. But Dave said “don’t skip it, it’s good.” We listened to the whole song, me interchanging between singing along and holding my breath. Then finally in the last few notes he gave me permission to add it to the playlist.

BOOM.

My man likes Taylor Swift. At least one song. And I know he already forgot he liked one song. But he does and it’s forever in the playlist promising to haunt him for the rest of his life.

So what’s this mean?! This means I actually have something to work with!! A song, a beat, lyrics, sound, there are so many ways to tackle this. The next project is to find a song with a similar vibe and again present it to him. Should I stick with Reputation and work my way through the album? Should I bounce around to test other eras? We need to fill this playlist with Taylor Swift before he can realize it. Toss out song ideas!!

Here’s what I’m thinking of introducing to him next:

Similar beats ~ Cruel Summer (Lover), Lavender Haze (Midnights)

Similar love stories ~ Afterglow (Lover), the 1 (Folklore)

Same album ~ Call It What You Want, Getaway Car, New Year’s Day

Thoughts?

[cashewbenoit]

list below:

a little who’s who in this band:

Geddy Lee - lead and backing vocals, bass guitar, keyboards, synthesizers, guitar Alex Lifeson - guitars, backing vocals, synthesizers, additional keyboards Neil Peart (rest in peace, professor) - drums, percussion, lyrics

and finally, the songs, in order of release:

1. Anthem (Fly By Night, 1975) a quintessential rush song, imo. maybe not one of their most popular songs, but a banger nonetheless. energetic, vibrant, makes you wanna nod along. would bring joy to all the old toronto dads, and isn’t that what we need? ‘know your place in life is where you want to be, don’t let them tell you that you owe it all to me.’ 7/10

2. Circumstances (Hemispheres, 1978) doesn’t have the same hopeful vibe as some of the other songs on this list, but you know what, you’re so right, neil. the more that things change, the more they do stay the same. very fitting for our leafs, i think. ‘plus ça change, plus c'est la même chose.’ 6/10

3. The Spirit of Radio (Permanent Waves, 1980) the guitar intro to this song is etched into my soul and will remain so until the day i die. bright, upbeat, joyous vibes. just what our little cringefail loser boys need.  ‘emotional feedback on a timeless wavelength, bearing a gift beyond price, almost free.’ 9/10

4. Tom Sawyer (Moving Pictures, 1981) this song has almost 300 million plays on spotify and for good fucking reason. if you’ve heard a rush song, chances are it’s probably this one. they ate and left no crumbs. none whatsoever. listen to it and tell me it wouldn’t absolutely FUCK as a goal song. go. do it. ‘he knows changes aren’t permanent, but change is.’ 8/10

5. Limelight (Moving Pictures, 1981) the fucking guitar intro. holy shit. this one’s got nearly 130 million plays on spotify, and is one of the other few rush songs you might’ve heard. would absolutely get me fired up, whether i was at home, or at the game. love this song. ‘those who wish to be must put aside the alienation, get on with the fascination, the real relation, the underlying theme.’ 9/10

6. The Big Money (Power Windows, 1985) this song has the potential to obliterate the eardrums of every corporate shitheel that wastes a seat at scotiabank arena, which is all we could hope for. this isn’t gonna be my manifesto about how much i hate the state of our ticket prices, but know that the rage runs deep and endless. ‘it's the power and the glory, it's a war in paradise, a Cinderella story on a tumble of the dice.’ 6/10

7. Time Stand Still (Hold Your Fire, 1987) let me start by saying i’m not one of those rush fans who hates hold your fire. in all honestly, i really enjoy it. that said, this is by far the best song on the album, and maybe the only one that could possibly be a goal song.  ‘freeze this moment a little bit longer, make each sensation a little bit stronger.’ 6/10

8. Superconductor (Presto, 1989) this is nowhere close to being a popular rush song, but it slaps and i adore it so you’d best believe it’s going on the list. orchestrate illusions, indeed, neil. wish this song got the recognition it deserves. makes me wanna DANCE. ‘packaged like a rebel or a hero, target mass appeal, to make an audience feel he really means it.’ 7/10

9. Face UP (Roll The Bones, 1991) banger alert!! this one’s got some fun keyboards in it (as do many rush songs, but i digress) which i think adds some Vibes to our lack thereof. this song makes me wanna get the W. ‘face up… hit the target or you better hit the ground. face up… there's still time to turn this game around.’ 6/10

10. Dog Years (Test For Echo, 1996) yes this song is actually about dogs!! we know our leafies love their pups, and i think this would pay a good homage to them (them: zeus, banksy, pablo, felix, etc.). also talks about geological time which is very much my vibe, and this is my list so i’m including it. could be like a reference to how long ago 1967 was, no? ‘it seems to me, while it's true that every dog will have his day, when all the bones are buried, there is barely time to go outside and play.’ 7/10

11. One Little Victory (Vapor Trails, 2002) the drums at the beginning of this song could wake me from the fucking dead. neil put his whole peartussy into this one. it’s fast, it’s intense, the guitar is sexy—and it’s about victory, which is something i would like to see more of from our leafs.  ‘celebrate the moment as it turns into one more, another chance at victory, another chance to score.’ 8/10

12. Caravan (Clockwork Angels, 2012) the intro to this song is kinda quiet, but i think it gets loud quick enough to still be a good choice. impeccable vibes though. think this could be a good morale booster, somehow. also has the fun misheard lyric of ‘in a world with only papaya’ which gives me a little chuckle. ‘the caravan thunders onward to the distant dream of the city, the caravan carries me onward.’ 5/10

13. The Wreckers (Clockwork Angels, 2012) i love the guitar in this. i mean, i love the guitar in all rush songs, but this one especially. the whole clockwork angels album is a masterpiece and should be listened to in order, but this one holds up great as its own entity.  ‘all i know is that sometimes you have to be wary of a miracle too good to be true.’ 7/10

honourable mention:

14. Take Off (The Great White North, 1981) not technically a rush song, but bob & doug mckenzie are national treasures and this features geddy lee so i had to include it. the actual song doesn’t start until like 75 seconds in, but it’s so good that i don’t even care. best possible goal song, and it's not even close. ‘take off to the great white north. take off, it’s a beauty way to go.’ 10/10

idk if any of y’all listen to rush but i’m annoying and i think they have so many songs that could be iconic goal songs for our leafies…..

[chdarling]

Hi! Love the fic! And I’ve got so many questions to ask but I’m going to limit myself to 3. 1) What is your relationship to the Marauders/Jily community? (i.e. how long have you been a part of it, why did you join it, did you return in lockdown, etc.) 2) Do you have any idea what song you will use for TLE 3 trailer? 3) How do you handle the pressure of creating such a long and popular series? If you think some day you can’t complete it, how will you proceed?

Anon asking the hard-hitting questions!! 😂❤️

Ok let’s see...

1) What is your relationship to the Marauders/Jily community? (i.e. how long have you been a part of it, why did you join it, did you return in lockdown, etc.)

I’m fairly new to the community! Well, I guess it’s been a little over a year now so not THAT new, but I was never engaged in fandom before I started posting TLE. I’ve been a huge jily fan since I first read OOTP back when it came out, but during the early fandom years (by which I mean when the books were still being published), I was 100% a lurker, hanging out on mugglenet and the HP Lexicon. (Nostalgia!) I read a bit of jily fanfic back then (mostly on mugglenet lmao), but generally I just kind of existed in my own little daydream bubble.

I dipped my toes back into reading fanfic (mostly wolfstar for some reason) around 2015 I think? And sometime after that I started writing TLE in earnest. I continued to write it as a secret hobby for literal years. I told no one about it and I had zero intention of ever showing it to anyone, let alone posting it on the internet. Then came COVID and being cooped up alone in an apartment far away from all my family and most of my friends…I was starting to lose my mind so I dove headfirst into finishing The Howling Nights as a way to cope. Then one day I finished it and I felt a little like the dog who catches his own tail lol. Like…what now? I just wrote a 200k fanfic, am I really going to just keep this on my hard drive forever? I decided to post the first few chapters online as a whim…and now here we are. 🙈

I LOVE the jily community. It is filled with some of the most delightful, compassionate, funny people and has honestly brought me so much joy over the past year. I was actually just talking to @the-dream-team today about how wild it still is to me to discover all these people who are equally obsessed with this very niche thing I’ve been secretly obsessed with for half my life. 🤣

2) Do you have any idea what song you will use for TLE 3 trailer?

I sure do. I have all the trailer songs chosen already. (I say all because TLE4 possibly has multiple trailers, since it will likely be split into parts. And because I have zero chill and had multiple songs I wanted to use.) I have the trailers vaguely story boarded in my head too. 😅 Sometimes when I am stuck writing I go for a walk and listen to my TLE trailer music playlist…they are very epic and inspire me to start writing again. Also A+ cardio because they are bangers lmao.

I’m going to keep the songs a surprise though! 😈

3) How do you handle the pressure of creating such a long and popular series? If you think some day you can’t complete it, how will you proceed?

🥴🥴🥴

Honestly I can’t think about this for too long or I get really anxious. 😅 I am SO grateful to everyone who reads, comments, sends me messages, etc. This has genuinely become such a bright spot in my life and I love sharing this story with you.

…but I also have to pretend y’all don’t exist when I write. 😂😂😂

Writing TLE2 has been such a different experience than TLE1, for obvious reasons. With TLE1, I was writing it exclusively for me, and honestly I was mostly just using it as a playground for learning how to write fiction. I’d barely written any fiction at that point beyond a few dabbles in my youth and I had certainly never written a multi-chapter anything. It’s funny to me now to go back and read it and look at different chapters and be like “oh yeah I was learning about dialogue here” or “heh someone was feeling a little experimental with prose in this chapter, huh?” So yeah it was very much just play without any pressure.

TLE2 has a little pressure, I won’t lie. 😂 But for the most part I really just try not to think about it. I exist in my happy little tumblr/discord bubble and I pretend no one else exists when I write. Because if I don’t I’m afraid I’ll subconsciously shift certain characters/plot lines to what I think people want, versus the story I originally set out to tell, and I don’t really want to do that. Thankfully I plotted all four books before I ever posted TLE1 (zero. chill.), so I already know where I’m going.

But yeah it’s kind of nerve-wracking sometimes because I am at my core a people-pleaser (I’m working on it), and I know that I will make choices later in the series that will not necessarily be popular. (Or maybe I already have!) And if I think about that for too long I get really anxious and it stops me from writing so I just…don’t. 🙃

As far as not completing it…I honestly think this silly story will haunt me to my dying day if I don’t finish it. Like, I cannot even tell you how many times I tried to quit it before I even posted TLE1 in 2020. Half the reason it took me so long to finish is because I was constantly berating myself to stop writing it and work on my original stuff (I know, I’m not very nice to me. Working on it!!!). But damn it, this is the story I want to write and I truly don’t think I’ll be able to stop until it’s done. I’ve tried. It didn’t stick. 😂😂😂

That said, you never know what the universe will throw at you. Maybe I should add a line in my will: “if I perish by surprise please dump this specific scrivener file onto tumblr, they’ll know what to do” lmao

Sorry this got ridiculously long. I'm going to blame the glass of wine in my hand but honestly I think I just have a lot of feelings. 😳

[tooruluv]

Tooru Oikawa x F!Reader ( part 3 )

❝ my love for him is much like winter, a skeleton for the world to see. too bad he never liked the cold. ❞

description: being the neighbor and lifelong best friend of tooru oikawa definitely had it’s perks. you were never an outcast, always had a seat at lunch, got into volleyball games for free. the problem was, however, that being in love with him outweighed those perks. you would never tell him that, though, even if it hurt like hell.

genre: best friends to lovers, angst, unrequited love, fluff if you squint hard enough

word count: 2,210

warnings/notes: um yeah. this one moves fast, but this whole fic is basically about this one scene, this one part. so enjoy. no serious warnings, just strong language and some gay shit. angst.

tag list: @afuckingunicornn​

prev | next

“You’re... gay?” you whispered.

“It isn’t a fucking slur, you drunk ass.” Iwaizumi spoke, shoving you with his arm (making you hit your head on the door, but you barely noticed). “And I don’t know what exactly I am, but I just know it’s not straight.”

“Matsu?” you turned to the other boy. 

“I’ve been gay, and Iwa is sexy as fuck so who am I to deny his sexual awakening?”

It almost made you laugh.

It was hot in the closet. Dark. And you were squished in between two (very tall) men. A single light hung from the ceiling, swaying slightly.

“I uh,” You were so numb. You played with your sleeves. “I watched ‘Kawa make out with this girl. Stood there like an idiot and watched it happen. And it… it sucks to like know about it but to see it…to watch it happen…it’s way worse.”

“Oh,” They both said, sadness laced behind a whisper.

“You were going to tell him, weren’t you?” Matsukawa inquired.

You gasped, turning wide-eyed to Iwaizumi. He held his hands up in surrender. “You told him?” and “I didn’t tell him I swear!” coming out of both of you at once.

“I knew for, like, years now.” Matsukawa interrupted. “You’re the most obvious person ever, just so you know. You might as well be the fucking heart eye emoji whenever you look at him.” He paused to gauge your reaction, which was nothing. “Back to my question: you were going to tell him, weren’t you?”

“I..” you bit the inside of your cheek. “Yeah, I think so? I don’t know. I just know I really wanted to talk to him and see him and hear his voice. And I still do. But now my mind is full of him and the really pretty brown-haired girl exchanging spit.”

“Gross.”

“Maybe we should get out of the closet and get some air.”

The next morning, you woke up on the floor in the guest bedroom. Iwaizumi had taped a piece of paper to your forehead (“drink water” it said), and a blanket was wrapped around your upper body. You could not remember what happened after leaving the closet, how you ended up in the guest room, or why you were on the floor and not in the perfectly good bed above you.

But, nonetheless, you got up and headed downstairs to the kitchen. Where the fuck is Oikawa?

A loud thump interrupted your thoughts. Yup, there he was. You let out an annoyed groan as he decided to make the most noise possible on his way to the kitchen.

You pulled yourself onto the counter, wanting to slam your head against the cabinet. You never got hangovers, why was today the day you got one?

“Well don’t you look beautiful this fine morning.” Oikawa greeted, smiling.

He always looked his best in the morning, you thought. He may come across as perfect, but it makes your heart do flips when he comes in with bed head and his glasses on. Not to mention he looked absolutely gorgeous in the morning sunlight, beaming and bright.

“You don’t look too bad yourself.” Your eyes were still closed.

You heard movement, a cabinet open then close, and only opened your eyes when he stood in front of you (in between your legs, no less). You held your breath.

“I look amazing, and you know it.” He was so close you could feel his breath. He brushed his teeth, the smell of mint circling you. Why was he so close?

He reached forward, pressing his hand to your forehead. Still half awake and clearly extremely hungover, you leaned into his touch as he moved his hands to your cheeks. His eyes scanned your face, but your eyes never moved from his.

His hands paused and stayed on your neck, just below your jaw. Hovering.

Unconsciously, you leaned forward. Only a little bit.

And he did too.

Your lips were so close. If you wanted to, you could kiss him. Just like that. A few centimeters away, and you could do what you’ve wanted to do for years. Feel what it would be like to be one of the many girls who had their lips against his. The air was so tense, so full of something you couldn’t explain. Just a few centimeters. Was he leaning in too?

He moved back.

“Medicine for your head, and you have a little bit of a fever so there’s something for that too.” Oikawa spoke. His voice sounded deeper, but maybe you were just thinking things. A small cough from him. He put pills into your hand. “You get something to drink. I’ll start picking up trash, you’re on…”

“Cups and cans duty.” You finished. It was always the routine. “Thank you.”

“Don’t slack off too much, you fucking drunk.” He joked, smiling at you with a trash bag in his hand.

You rolled your eyes at him, throwing the nearest empty can at him. You smiled, but your heart was aching.

The first time Oikawa had ever thrown a party, it was a disaster. 

People flooded the house, though it was only supposed to be a small get-together and ended up a huge banger. The school talked about it for a while. An increase in his popularity.

The two of you were left to pick up the mess. 

“Where the fuck do we start?” you asked, staring into the abyss that was once his living room.

“I’ll pick up the garbage and you pick up the cans and bottles?” Oikawa suggested. “If my mom finds any alcoholic beverage in this house she will pelt me with my own volleyballs.”

“I’ll help too.” Oikawa’s older brother said from the doorway, trashbag in hand. “Let’s get to work. We only have until six.”

Matsukawa soon joined your routine.

For the past month or so, Iwaizumi would eat lunch with you in the library as you studied for the entrance exams. Oikawa would join sometimes, or he would come right before lunch was over. He liked to eat lunch in the cafeteria, liked to “have that break from studies”. You two didn’t mind, you got more done without him distracting anyway.

Matsukawa had become your third-party during Lunch Study Dates. You didn’t complain, and you didn’t ask the two of them what exactly their relationship was. You joked with Iwaizumi that you were simply there to hide the fact they never stopped flirting. He would just laugh.

“Wait, you almost kissed?” Iwaizumi asked, studies long forgotten.

“I think so, yeah.” You kept your eyes on your paper. “It was weird, and the air was super heavy. And he hasn’t talked to me since. Not even while we were cleaning.”

“Not even a text?” Matsukawa asked.

“Not even a wave in the hallway.”

“Now that’s weird.”

“You’re telling me.” You finally looked up. “I.. Nothing has ever happened between us like that. Ever. And it was so out of nowhere, like, you would think our first almost kiss would be some cool moment or something. But it was just us, and I was hungover as fuck, and we just spent the rest of the afternoon in silence. And all that there has been since is just that. Silence.”

“I’m sorry, love.” Matsukawa reached over to place his hand over your wrist. “You know what. Tooru is an idiot. He is. I would have kissed you.”

“You’re gay.”

“And I would’ve kissed you. That’s the highest compliment you can receive. Accept it, woman.”

Growing up with Tooru Oikawa, you knew many things about the boy that many didn’t. You knew that he always put extra syrup on his pancakes and waffles, you knew that he always preferred hot showers rather than the cold ones his mother always tells him to take for soreness, and you knew that he practiced more than anyone could imagine.

He grew up with a volleyball attached to his side. He set it whenever he could, he would serve it into your yard (and then go get it and serve it back into his). He would ask you to join, but you always just watched.

Growing up with Tooru Oikawa also made you witness his growth. And you think that’s another reason you fell in love with him.

His passion was indescribable. You couldn’t count how many times people (including yourself) have told him to relax, take a day off, remind him to eat and drink. But his heart was in it, no matter how much it distracted him from daily fleets. You admired him for that.

You didn’t have that Thing growing up. You tried a lot of different things, different hobbies and sports and classes. But you never had that thing that you had so much passion for that you had to remind yourself to breathe.

One week of silence. One week of nothing from your best friend. Not a text, a call, a smile sent your way. Not even an eye contact.

It was strange. Your entire life had revolved around being around him, your routine included smiling and walking with him in the hallway, fixing his tie in the morning.

He was already in class when you came to school. And his tie was straight.

You decided to spend most of your free time in the library, knowing that Oikawa didn’t find himself in there very often. If he was going to avoid you without an explanation, you could avoid him just as hard and for just as long. That was your logic.

Iwaizumi joined you, plopping himself down on the couch beside you. It sat in the back of the library, in the corner away from everything. You were being Sad TM.

It was so stupid, of course. To be upset or sad about something that didn’t even happen; at something that almost happened but never did. Iwaizumi reminded you that it wasn’t about the near kiss, but the silence after.

A body appeared out of thin air in front of you. You wouldn’t mistake the boy for anyone in the world.

“’Kawa.” You said, looking up. He looked way taller from your position on the couch. “Hi.”

“Hi.” He said. No “nut” this time. He fidgeted with his fingers. “Can I get my jersey back? The one you wear to the games?”

Your eyes shot up.

“’M sorry?”

“Can I get my jersey back?” he asked again.

You felt Iwaizumi put his hand on your thigh. You must’ve been shaking. One week of complete silence and complete rejection and absence only to be met with the break of a tradition.

“Um, yeah.” You blinked. “Yeah. I have it at home, I can stop by later and give it to you.”

“Just bring it tomorrow. Before the game.” He spoke. But his voice didn’t sound like his. It was forced. Since when was talking to you a task?

“O.. Okay.”

A pinky promise was something taken very seriously. As kids, it was treated with the upmost respect and honor.

It was middle school, and the team announced that for a special tournament, and for school spirit, that the players would pick their best friend to wear their jersey to the games.

Oikawa immediately came to you with his “away” jersey, proudly holding it up. “Pinky promise me that you will always wear my jersey to my games!”

“Pinky promise!” you had told him.

You wore the jersey as you wrapped your pinky around his. Wearing his jersey became one of your favorite parts of going to his games.

Guess in high school, pinky promises don’t mean the same thing.

The thing about Tooru Oikawa is he never dates. This was something you knew for certain. He has never once had an official girlfriend, and he always talked about how he never planned on having one (“They’re both a distraction and a big responsibility,” he would say. “Besides, what would I need a girlfriend for when I already have a girl who does everything for me?” he would add).

Which is why you were surprised to see him hand in hand with a very familiar girl later that day. The long perfect brown hair, the long legs. After seven days of not speaking to you, he had a girl wrapped around his arm as though it was the most casual thing of him to be doing.

You stopped in front of them, trying your very best to hide your confusion.

“Oh!” he smiled, saying your name. Acting as though he hadn’t just asked you to turn in something that had meant something important to your friendship (at least it did to you). “You haven’t met Sana. My girlfriend.”

The aforementioned girl, Sana, smiled at you. Perfect teeth, of course. She gave a slight bow before reaching out her hand. Girlfriend.

“Hi! It’s so nice to meet you, I’ve been waiting to meet Tooru’s best friend!”

You forced a smile as you shook her hand. “Nice to meet you too, Sana.”

You looked over her shoulder, to Oikawa (who looked nervous, fidgety in fact), and to Iwaizumi and Matsukawa (who stood a bit further away, but just as shook and confused as you).

[ogcassiopeia]

M+M’s Top 10 Kpop Songs of 2020

NOTE: Please remember these choices are only my opinions and I am not exactly a professional music critic. If you disagree with me that is perfectly okay,  I only make these lists for fun and entertainment purposes.

10. Not Shy – ITZY

This song is so fun, boppy and sassy! It’s my favorite song that Itzy has put out thus far, and I feel they looked and sounded super confident on this track, telling us how they will get what they want and aren’t afraid to ask for it. I was dancing to this track all through the summer months and I think I will keep it on rotation even heading into 2021.

9. Sukhumvit Swimming – ONF

This is the only song I have ever listened to by ONF but I absolutely adore it. I adore it even though when the members sing ‘sukhumvit’ it sounds like they are saying, ‘stupid’.  It just comes out “I’m like a stupid swimming!” and I can’t help but cringe…but for some reason I can forgive that because the hook is just so damn ear-wormy and delicious.

8. Love Killa – Monsta X

 I am a sucker for a dark concept…we all know this by now. This song is pure badass, choas energy reigned in only by a dark, deep bass and hard-hitting, punchy lyrics. Love Killa is smooth and seductive while being intimidating and dangerous. Monsta X also rocked their form fitting suits and blood red lips in the music video (emulating popular thriller movies) while dancing in an imitation of a dirty, back-room bar brawl.

7. Home – YEZI

Gorgeous, ethereal and emotion filled, YEZI belts out incredible notes throughout the final chorus of this song about how when you love someone, they become your safe space. The mixing on the EDM back track can get a bit muddled in spots, but overall it’s a lovely song that I’ve been listening to repeatedly since it’s debut.

6. All That Love – Shim Changmin (MAX)

It’s my forever bias, hitting me again with his incredible songwriting ability and this sweater-warm song. Changmin once again reminds me of how mellow he can make his voice if he feels it suits the song, as he does get to hit some impressive notes but he never gets too loud or screechy…just sits perfectly in this melodic middle-ground. This song should have been more popular…newer kpop fans keep sleeping on TVXQ, Changmin and Yunho and it frustrates me to no end.

5. LA DI DA – Everglow

If you had spoken to me last year, I would have told you I hated Everglow. I found their previous tracks to be lacking in imagination, creativity and uniqueness so I just skipped them if they came up on Spotify. So it was a surprise to me when I listened to LA DI DA and immediately fell in love. It’s 80s synth heavy, hitting you smack in the face with retrowave/synthwave techno beats and an earworm chorus that you just can’t help but feel like your listening to the opening of some fantastical 1985 sci-fi movie.

4. Scream/BOCA – Dreamcatcher

I couldn’t chose between these two bangers which one I liked more, so I added them both at #4. Dreamcatcher has become my favorite kpop girl group of all time and it’s been a slow climb to the top of my list, but it’s a well-deserved spot for them. I came into Kpop AFTER jpop and jrock, and so Dreamcatcher’s sound and influence is like home for me. I adore the horror concept and their various takes on it, the members’ chemistry is palpable and distinct, and they actually seem to LOVE what they do and how they do it. I believe Dreamcatcher LOVES being the group they are and it’s so refreshing to see this kind of positivity and friendship in kpop….its not exactly the reality in most regards, ya know. Scream and BOCA were both hard hitting and wonderfully different in a kpop genre that’s getting a little stifled with same-y sounding releases. I hope Dreamcatcher continues to find success and produce bops, because I definitely don’t want to say goodbye to these 7 girls anytime soon.

3. Pporappippam – SUNMI

It’s 80s synthwave inspired and I love it. I love it so fucking much. You should all know by now that I am a sucker for this kind of sound. I am nothing if not consistent. Sunmi is pure perfection on this track, stunningly melodic over a low thumping synth beat that makes me want to drive down a desert road at sunset in the middle of summer. Sunmi never disappoints in her efforts to be a solo artist who can only deliver bops of the highest caliber.

2. A Song Written Easily – ONEUS

 Before this song’s release I couldn’t have cared less about this newbie kpop group and their following releases haven’t caught my attention either…but this song….this song just hits different. I do not know if it is because this song just sounds incredibly nostalgic for me or what? It takes me back to the early years of kpop, specifically 2002-2009, in it’s overall sound and presentation. Its melody sounds like a lullaby and it rolls through the song like sparks of sunshine on a wave lapping at the shore of a quiet beach. It’s perfection to me and I’ve listened to it way too many times for it to be okay LOL.

1.Lie – Shim Changmin (MAX) feat Chungha

YES. YES YES YES. 1000X YES. This song has been played so much during this year that if it had been on Spotify it would have been my #1 song. (SM WHY HAVEN’T YOU UPLOADED CHANGMIN’S SOLO ALBUM AGAIN TO SPOTIFY…ANSWER ME THIS?!) Changmin’s entire solo album, “Chocolate” was the best surprise I got this year and the fact that this album had no bad songs, nothing skippable, was such a fucking feat. This song especially hit me like a load of melodic bricks to the face. IT’S FUCKING GORGEOUS! Changmin and Chungha’s vocals go so well together, the beat is repetitive like a heart beat and the lyrics speak to the confused feelings one can have when a relationship is near it’s end.  It’s sweet, it’s smooth and when Changmin reigns in his powerful vocals and just…croons….I can’t help but swoon. Changmin can sound like Adam Lambert in one song and them come off like Michael Buble in a another and it’s one of the reasons I adore his wide vocal range. I cannot believe that this album and this song were never appreciated enough this year.

 Honorable Mentions:

I Can’t Stop Me – TWICE, Pit a Pat – XIA, Girls – NATURE, Can’t You See Me and Run Away – TXT, Cassette – DEMIAN, LALALILALA – APRIL, PLAY – Chungha, Don’t Touch Me – Refund Sisters, Boy – Treasure, Zombie – DAY6, Dumhdurum – APINK

[honeyjaez]

A solo stan who is thinking about checking other groups out?

There is nothing wrong with being a solo stan (as in only liking 1 group) as long as you are kind and courteous to other groups.

Also this post might not be for you.

But if you are a solo stan (usually starting with BTS) or just in need of finding new groups and thinking about spreading your wings here are some suggestions. 🙂

When I first got into kpop way back in the 2010 years I had no clue what I had stumbled on and I only liked 2 groups max for the longest time because I didnt know about any other groups. Since then I’ve come to love so many groups that I wish I knew about sooner.

Now mind you. I am primarily a boy group stan so there are not a lot of girl groups on her so please forgive me. -*edit I’ve decided to do a part 2 of just girl groups so stay tuned

This is also under the impression you already know BTS and their brother group TXT.

also if your fav is not on this list I dearly apologize. I picked groups that might be a good intro to like multiple groups.

Groups down below ˅˅˅˅

SEVENTEEN:

-13 Member group under Pledis Entertainment.

- Debuted May 26, 2015

-Popular in Korea and slowly gaining popularity internationally.

-AMAZING dancers.

-Like the synchronization is unreal for 13 people.

- Divided into 3 sub-units; Performance Unit, Hip-Hop Unit, and Vocal Unit

-Some songs to introduce you to them: Don’t Wanna Cry. Hit, Clap

iKON:

-Currently a 6 Member group under YG Entertainment

-Debuted September 15th, 2015

-Addicting Chorus’s and bad ass rapping

-Their Leader B.I recently left the group early this year, but fans are hopeful for a reunion. But that doesn’t mean you can’t appreciate OT7 right now.

-Some songs to introduce you to them: Bling Bling, Love Scenario, B-Day

ONEUS:

-6 Member group under RBW Entertainment

-Debuted January 9th, 2019.

-They are a crazy good for a rookie group and have a lot of bangers.

-Their choreography is no joke

-Some songs to introduce you to them: Valkyrie (Debut song), Twilight, Lit

(Seriously they have no bad songs)

NCT 127:

(NCT is actually a massive group divided up into sub-units)

-10 Member group under SM Entertainment.

-Debuted July 10th, 2016

-Crazy Powerful dance moves.

-Look mean, but are actually sweethearts.

-Gaining popularity in the west.

-Some songs to introduce you to them:Cherry Bomb, Touch, Highway to Heaven

NCT Dream:

-Currently a 6 member group under SM Entertainment

-Debuted August 24th, 2016

-Cute Charm and Powerful stage presence. 

-NCT Dream is as this moment not a fixed unit and based on idols age.

-When they get old enough the members “graduate” and join other NCT sub-units

-Mark of NCT 127 was once the leader but he reached the age limit and “Graduated” and thus no longer apart of the group.

-Many fans detest this concept and wish SM to make them a fixed unit but that doens’t mean you can’t love OT6 or OT7 at the moment.

-Some songs to introduce you to them:  Boom, We Go Up, Go

Stray Kids:

-8  member group under JYP Entertainment

-Debuted March 25th, 2018

-Gained a lot of popularity through their survival show of the same name

-Strong and Meaningful songs that deal a lot with self struggle and depression. 

-All songs are produced by members Bang Chan, Changbin and Han who make up the sub-unit 3racha.

-Some songs to introduce you to them: Hellavator Levanter, Voices, My Pace, Double Knot, God’s Menu, Back Door (I mean this list can go on and on)

GOT7:

-7 Member group under JYP Entertainment

-Debuted January 16th, 2014

-Another amazing dancing group

-Strong Charisma on stage.

-Variety Kings

-Goofballs

-Some songs to introduce you to them:Hard Carry, Eclipse, You Are 

VAV:

-7 Member group under A Team Entertainment

-Debuted October 31st, 2015.

-Severely underrated 

-Has lost some members and gains some as well.

-They work super hard year round with hardly and rest.

-Please stan VAV.

-Some songs to introduce you to them: She’s Mine, Poison, Spotlight. 

ASTRO:

-6 Member group under Fantagio Entertainment

-Debuted February 23rd, 2016.

-Cute, Charming group.

-The boys are actual angels.

-The group is a breath of fresh air.

-Super Talented.

-Addicting songs that just make you smile

-Can have the same concept as literally any other group but still make it their own.

-Vocals are beyond this world.

-Also just overall very pretty.

-Some songs to introduce you to them: All Night, Blue Flame, Baby, Always You. 

The Boyz:

-11 Member group under Cre.Ker Entertainment

-Debuted December 6th, 2017

-A really fun and charming group.

-Their song’s are very addicting

-Dance like songs

-Sweet sweet boys who deserve love.

-Member Hwall left in October of 2019 due to health reasons 

-Some songs to introduce you to them: D.D.D, No Air, Giddy Up 

Day6:

-5 Member group under JYP Entertainment

-Debuted September 7th, 2015

-An actual band so they don’t dance on stage

-but crazy talented

-Their songs are known to make people feel happier.

-I don’t think it is possible to have a bad Day6 song.

-Jae’s twitter is quite possible my favorite place on this earth.

-Some songs to introduce you to them: I smile. Time of our lives. Colors, I need Somebody. Dance Dance. Literally any of them.

PENTAGON:

-Currently a 9 Member group under Cube Entertainment.

-Debuted October 10th, 2016.

-Also Underrated.

-Such amazing discography.

-UNIQUE VOICES 

-Strong vocals and major crackheads

-Went through their survival show “Pentagon Maker” and debuted as 10 members.

-Former Member E’Dawn was basically kicked out of Cube and Pentagon after revealing he was dating label mate HyunA. Fans are still hopeful for an OT10 reunion.

-But we can support OT9 now.

-Some songs to introduce you to them: Sha La La, Shine, Like This, Cosmo (Japanese song).

SF9:

-9 Member group under FNC Entertainment

-Debuted October 5th, 2016

-FNC’s first dance boy group.

-SEVERELY UNDERRATED.

-If you want any songs to put on your workout playlist, or just get you hyped then their are your boys.

-AMAZING Dancers.

-They are almost all actors as well. If you watch K-Drama’s you might recognize Chani (their maknae) from widely popular Sky Castle and Rowoon from new K-Drama “Extraordinary You”

-Stan SF9. Stream RPM

-Some songs to introduce you to them: O Sole Mio, RPM, Now or Never, Easy Love

Monsta X

-A SEVEN Member group under Starship Entertainment

-Literally the definition of hard-working.

-Powerful Choreography, crazy stage presence, intense charisma...must I go on.

-Literally deserve the world.

-Were formed through the survival program No Mercy and have not stopped since.

-Their songs are so addicting and on top of that are actual sweethearts.

-Only want to make people smile and feel loved through their music.

-Would possibly die for their fans.

-Okay I’m talking too much.

-Gaining popularity in the Western regions.

-In October of 2019, member Wonho (the orange hair in the gif) left the group due to rumors and lies being spread about him. He didn’t want to hurt Monsta X’s reputation so he left the group but fans have strongly opposed this, fighting for starship to help clear his name and have him return. The protest continues on even after almost a month.

(Trust me, if you knew this group and Wonho, you would understand why fans are opposing this.)

-Some songs to introduce you to them: Follow, Shoot Out, Beautiful, Dramarama, All In, Alligator.

NU’EST:

-5 Member group under Pledis Entertainment

-Debuted March 15th, 2012

-Very unique style and concept with their albums.  Sticks to their own specific style.

-Addicting chorus.

-Honey Sweet vocals. 

-Had a sub-united called NU’EST W while Minhyun was promoting as a member of Wanna One. (The W stood for ‘Waiting’ which should tell you the type of guys they are).

-Some songs to introduce you to them: Bet Bet, Love Me, Face (Debut  Song), Help Me (Nu’est W song).

BTOB:

-7 Member group under Cube Entertainment

-Debuted March 21st, 2012.

-Ballads anyone?

-Are primarily a vocal focus group

-But understandably because BTOB has one of the strongest vocals in Kpop.

-But can also dance.

-Honest to good crack heads

-Variety Kings #2

-Currently 3 members are serving their military service but you can still support them in their quiet time.

-Some songs to introduce you to them: I’ll be your man, Only one for me, Beautiful Pain, Missing You.

ATEEZ:

-8 Member group under KQ Entertainment

-Debuted October 24th, 2018.

-ROOKIE KINGS.

-In their one year so far since debut they have shown the world that they are not a group to underestimate. 

-Strong Dancers, powerful choreography. 

-Their stage presence is no joke.

-Songs are super addicting and go hard so if you need a workout playlist Ateez is your group.

THE DUALITY OF EACH MEMBER. 

-San is Satan in disguise.

-Prepared for debut for a really REALLY long time. 

-Already signed up with a US record label.

-Some songs to introduce you to them: Wonderland, Pirate King, Treasure, Say My name, Wave. literally any of them.

EXO:

-9 Member group under SM Entertainment

-Debuted April 8th, 2012.

-If you know BTS, you probably know about them.

-But EXO are worth all the hype.

-Korea’s chosen representative (Whether you agree with it or not, it’s true) 

-Deadly Stage Presence and Charisma

-Their songs are always iconic.

-Leader Suho just might be god I haven’t figured it out yet.

-As of November 2019, 3 of their members are not promoting with the group. Lay is off promoting solo stuff and stuff in china and america (because SM doesn’t want EXOLS happy) and the other 2 members, Xiumin and D.O are currently serving in the military.

-Some songs to introduce you to them: Monster, Love Shot, Lotto, Tempo.

Golden Child

-10 Member group under Woollim Entertainment.

-Debuted August 28th, 2017.

-Underrated group x 10.

-Dancing is on point.

-Stage presence on point

-Hardworking

-cute songs

-They are just charming boys who smile more than the sun i swear.

-Some songs to introduce you to them: Wannabe, DamDaDi, Genie, Let Me

A.C.E:

-5 Member group under Beat Interactive

-Debuted May 23rd, 2017

-I literally don’t understand why they are so underrated.

-They have created their own unique style in kpop with a rock vibe that is hardly used in the community. 

-POWERFUL dancers.

-Rude as fuck but thats besides the point.

-Another great group if you need workout songs.

-Some songs to introduce you to them: Undercover, Savage, Callin, Take Me Higher.

Other groups that I did not talk about but I think should be mentioned:

-AB6IX

-CIX

-VICTON

-VIXX

-Great Guys 

-Infinite

-JBJ95

-Kim Donghan(solo)

N.Flying!

-Noir!!!!!

-Spectrum

[1baek2baek7]

what are your top 5 favorite EXO songs of the moment? the songs can come from sub-units, solos and even the former members. tag at least 5 people and spread the love. 💖 

I was tagged by @chogiwah <3 tysm for tagging me it rly means a lot. Go give em a follow if you're not already :)

baekhyun - un village

baekhyun is my bias and this song is just so goddamn groovy. every song on city lights is a banger and his voice is an absolute godsend. highly recommend to anyone that hasn't listened

exo - lotto

this song just makes me feel like a bad bitch. when this song comes on i just have to do a lil jig, ya know? yeah, you know

exo - unfair

this song is just perfection and my cheeks kinda hurt afterwards from smiling so much. its so happy and sweet and cute and catchy and just overall very lovely

exo - call me baby

this was the first exo song I ever heard and I mean its pretty popular for a damn good reason. everytime this shit comes on i just HAVE to dance. what else am I gonna do? sit still and just disrespect her like that?? tf?? also my fav songs pretty much always stay the same so this one's always gonna be a goodie

exo-cbx - vroom vroom

there's so many great songs that i would've loved to put on this list but i'll be found dead before I leave out cbx. this song is just so funkalicious and they sound amazing ughh I love them so much. cbx just hits different sometimes, ya feel?

this was kinda impossible ngl but it was lots of fun as well! also yes i know i'm a sucker for title tracks leave me alone. thanks again sm to @chogiwah for tagging me!

i tag @aexo289 @sunshine-jaehyun @smiling-yuta @hrenjn @trashybtsqueen @sugakookiesbutbadass

[johannesviii]

Top 10 Personal Favorite Hit Songs from 2006

17 to 18 years old. First to second university year, studying History. Another slightly chaotic year, to be honest.

It’s yet another great year for hits, even if 2005 and 2007 are both even better.

Disclaimers:

Keep in mind I’m using both the year-end top 100 lists from the US and from France while making these top 10 things. There’s songs in English that charted in my country way higher than they did in their home countries, or even earlier or later, so that might get surprising at times.

Of course there will be stuff in French. We suck. I know. It’s my list. Deal with it.

My musical tastes have always been terrible and I’m not a critic, just a listener and an idiot.

I have sound to color synesthesia which justifies nothing but might explain why I have trouble describing some songs in other terms than visual ones.

At this point it was beginning to be clear that my mother wanted me out of the appartment as quickly as possible so staying at home was becoming more and more unpleasant. I basically spent most of my day outside or at the library when I wasn’t in class, then ate dinner and slept at home. I had a few friends at university but was very unpopular (by the start of the second year, my nickname was “the hobo”, mostly because I was always wearing the same old black coat and bad jeans, but also because I liked to fish for coins under vending machines cause I had next to no money). I also had a brief but extremely bad relationship that year, which ended with me punching the dude back after he punched me between two classes near the end of the year.

While making these lists I found a tape labelled “spring 2006″ and nothing else. I think it’s one of the last tapes I ever made.

After listening to it, it contained:

Mr Brightside (The Killers) (who’s surprised?)

Crazy, by Seal, but sung by a woman. No idea who that is. (Edit: Alanis Morissette! thank you purplecyborgnewt)

Alice & June (Indochine)

You And Me (Lifehouse)

A couple of seconds of Precious, Depeche Mode

Oui (Zazie)

Precious (Depeche Mode) again. A radio host states it’s the n°15 favorite song on Europe 2 that week, whichever week that was.

City of Blinding Lights (U2)

Nolwenn Ohwo (Nolwenn Leroy)

Fragment of Song to Say Goodbye (Placebo), then the entire song.

The ending of Talk (Coldplay), followed by another fragment of Talk

Juste Après (Fredericks, Goldman & Jones)

Talk (Coldplay), this time in its entirety (I can still smell the frustration more than 13 years away)

Broken (Seether)

Enjoy the Silence 2004 (Depeche Mode)

Fragment of Missing (Evanescence), followed by nearly the entire song

Jeune et Con (Saez)

A bit of a radio show I found funny

An obscure remix of Sans Contrefaçon (Mylène Farmer).

So yeah, I stopped making tapes around that time. I also only bought two cd singles that year.

Just like the previous year, some of my favorite albums from that year have exactly zero singles elligible for this list. They are Alice & June by Indochine, and Meds by Placebo. The worst part? One of the best songs on Indochine’s album is a goddamn duet with Brian Molko from Placebo. It’s called Pink Water and it’s great. Please listen to it if you don’t know it yet. What can I say, I’m a weak and simple person, I hear a duet between two singers I adore, and I die instantly.

Anyway. Meds is kind of underrated as far as Placebo’s discography goes and I’m especially fond of Infrared, which was one of the songs of the year for me. Indochine’s Alice & June, meanwhile, is a concept double album about two girls making a suicide pact. It’s a bit of a mess and it’s not as tight as Paradize was but it’s still really, really good for the most part. The first eponymous single should have been elligible. But it isn’t. I’m sad.

On to the honorable mentions!

So Sick (Ne-Yo) - Usually this kind of music just sounds bland to me, but that one was really pleasant.

Miracle (Cascada) - Not as good as Everytime we touch. Still a lot of fun.

Smack That (Akon) - This shouldn’t be this catchy.

Pump It (Black Eyed Peas) - Same here.

Living On Video (Pakito) - I only just now realised this was a cover. What the hell.

SOS (Rihanna) - Not her best song. Still good.

L’Amour N’est Rien (Mylène Farmer) - Really funny lyrics, meh song.

World Hold On (Bob Sinclar) - Stay tuned for more.

Hips Don’t Lie (Shakira) - Song of the summer, whether you liked it or not. Fortunately, I liked it a lot.

Chasing Cars (Snow Patrol) - Very pleasant.

SexyBack (Justin Timberlake) - That beat is just incredible.

Call Me When You’re Sober (Evanescence) - I remember Rock Mag finishing their KarmaCode (Lacuna Coil) review with “We hope Evanescence’s next album will be fantastic, because this is their most serious rival yet.” And nope, Evanescence’s album wasn’t nearly as good as KarmaCode. But this song still made the year-end list, while nothing from Lacuna Coil ever crossed over. Our Truth SHOULD have been a huge hit. It had a ton of crossover appeal. One of the biggest musical tragedies of the year right there. Oh well, the Evanescence single is still good though.

Say It Right (Nelly Furtado & Timbaland) - The last cut from the list, and when you’ll see what replaced it, you are going to hate me.

And now, the top ten.

10 - Everytime We Touch (Cascada)

US: #31 / FR: #5

This kicked Nelly Furtado off the list.

I am not sorry, just so you know.

9 - Ridin’ (Chamillionaire)

US: #8 / FR: Not on the list

This is a song about respecting the law and driving at a reasonable speed and cops being mad because they can’t do anything against you. He’s a gangster, just... not doing anything illegal at the moment. I absolutely adore that concept. This is the best.

8 - Crazy (Gnarls Barkley)

US: #7 / FR: #29

I’ve never met someone who disliked this song, and for that reason I have nothing to say about it. It’s just one of these tunes, like Hey Ya, which are too perfect to argue or say anything constructive about them.

7 - Temperature (Sean Paul)

US: #2 / FR: #48

Half of this top ten 10 is made of absolute bangers with untouchable beats and you know what, I really miss that time, mostly because the current charts are morose and depressed (for good reasons, but still). This is no Get Busy, but come on, who can say we need less Sean Paul in our lives? Not me that’s for sure.

By the way, one of the very first videos I saw on (the very new at the time) youtube was a misheard lyrics version of this song. I think you all know which one it is, the original has been deleted but it was reuploaded several times since then.

6 - Rock This Party (Bob Sinclar & Cutee B)

US: Not on the list / FR: #19

You really can’t go wrong with this “Everybody dance now” sample, and this is one seriously kickass song, and yet another banger on a list already full of them. Also, this was possibly the best music video of the entire year, featuring three kids trying to imitate music videos from just about every popular genre. Check it out if you’ve never seen it, it will make your day.

5 - Marly-Gomont (Kamini)

US: Not on the list / FR: #1

Possibly the most unexpected hit song of the decade in my country. Basically, this guy made a rap song about the tiny rural village he was living in, and a funny music video shot on a 100€ budget to show to his friends and family. And it was well written. And it was hilarious, while still being insightful. And it became a viral sensation. And it charted! And suddenly it became the biggest hit of the year.

If you’ve never heard it, here it is. There was no translation available for it on lyricstranslate, so I made an account just to translate it myself. You’re welcome. Please give it a try. It’s great. It was a hit for a good reason, and I promise you the music video is funny even if you don’t speak the language.

4 - Slipping Away/Crier la Vie (Mylène Farmer & Moby)

US: Not on the list / FR: #15

So, uh, earlier in this post I said “What can I say, I’m a weak and simple person, I hear a duet between two singers I adore, and I die instantly.”

This is a duet between Mylène Farmer and Moby, based on a song from Hotel, which, if you recall, I listened to on a loop the previous year.

My poor heart didn’t need this. What did I do to deserve this. What a blessing.

3 - Over My Head (Cablecar) (The Fray)

US: #13 / FR: Not on the list

This was my #1 at some point. Then I realised the version I kept listening to was a punk rock version by A Day To Remember from Punk Goes Pop, and that I had nearly forgotten what the original sounded like. So I listened to it, and it’s still very, very nice, but it’s not quite the same.

I still bought the album, though.

2 - Nolwenn Ohwo (Nolwenn Leroy)

US: Not on the list / FR: #43

I had completely (and I do mean completely) forgotten about this song until I started to check the French year-end top 100 to make this list. Erased from my mind entirely by some sort of MiB neuralyser. And I was like “hang on, wasn’t this a good song? This rings a bell. I used to love it, didn’t I?” (and sure enough, it’s on that 2006 tape I found). So I wrote it down for the honorable mentions, just in case.

Before making the definitive list, I put the song on, and I felt like the critic in Ratatouille having a flashback.

Holy. Shit.

I remembered ALL the lyrics. While listening to it, in under three minutes I successively put it in the 6th spot, then the 4th, and when it ended, it was #2 on the list. I downloaded it and put it back on my mp3 player and on my playlists. I’ve listened to it about 30 times in the past week. It’s so great. How did I ever forget this song existed. I feel so alive.

I never cared about this singer, but this is written by Laurent Voulzy, who’s music I actually love, and he’s firing on all cylinders here. Just listen to it. Please.

It could have easily topped the list if it wasn’t for the most useful and helpful song in the entire year.

1 - Pas le Temps (Faf Larage)

US: Not on the list / FR: #2

I never watched a single episode of Prison Break. This was the French version of the opening song. I don’t even know what happens in the series. I don’t really care.

I. Adore. This song. It’s yet another #1 that helped me a lot.

The beat is untouchable and this rap is actual poetry. Not even remotely kidding. Here’s a part of one of the verses.

Aussi loin que la lumière semble s'éteindre (As far as the light seems to flicker) Seule une étincelle au fond de moi peut l'atteindre (Only the spark hidden inside of me can reach it) (...) Les dés sont jetés, rien n'est joué (the dice is tossed, the game is set) Même le sort retient son souffle piégé dans ce sablier (even fate holds its breath, trapped in this hourglass) J'ai décidé de ne pas être prisonnier (I decided I wouldn’t be a prisoner) J'n'ai que ma vie à offrir si jamais j'échouais (I only have my life to offer if I ever fail) Pas le choix faut y'aller (No choice, let’s go)

The line “pas le choix, faut y aller” (no choice, let’s go) keeps being repeated in the entire song and it’s so, SO motivational. As I said before, 2006 was not as bad as 2003 but it was still a difficult year - at the end of it, I was an adult with no money, very little hope for the future, no diploma yet apart from the highschool one, still trying to NOT become a ball of anger because of a couple of assholes in class, all of this with dysphoria and a mother who wanted to kick me out as soon as possible. And I wanted to win, and punch the world, and say here I come, I’m alive, I survived, better watch out.

Si je dois exceller, tout donner, prendre c'que j'peux (If I need to be the best, give everything, take whatever I can) Si le monde m'appartient restez pas au milieu (If the world is mine, don’t stay in my way) Et si le sort est contre moi c'est tant pis (And if fate is against me, too bad) On fait des plans pour s'en sortir, écoute (We’re making plans to survive, listen) Pas le choix faut y'aller (No choice, let’s go)

This song defined the entire year for me. This was my fight song. Everytime I wanted to give up, it was there to give me a very simple reminder.

No choice. Let’s go.

Next up: here it is, at last, the absolute best hit song of the decade

[alienshea]

And now, for no absolute reason, I will give every Gorillaz song from the main 6 studio albums my rating from 1-10

Self-Titled

Re-Hash: 7.5/10

Bopping tune, 2D doing his own backup vocals make me swoon, Noodle is great as always, no one really knows what the lyrics are but they’re valid

5/4: 6/10

Better than average,not the best song i’ve ever heard but still pretty good, kinda uncomfy with Noodle screaming about someone turning her dad on, drumbeat makes me wanna dance, wished they couldve made the music video

Tomorrow Comes Today: 7/10

The kind of song that gets stuck in your head all day, love the overall sad tone, music video makes me laugh now bc that one murdoc gif, makes me cry when i have depressive episodes

New Genius (Brother): 7.5/10

Love 2D’s voice in it, lyrics hit home a little bit for me, have never skipped this song tbh, overall pretty good song

Clint Eastwood: 8.5/10

I literally know all the words, I love the rap, iconic, there’s a reason it’s popular, Del is everything

Man Research (Clapper): 3/10

oooo boy i’m gonna get shit for this one, i always skip this song, i can’t stand the whole “yeah yeah” thing, the only great part about this song is the “tHiS Is a bReAkFaSt ClUuUuuUB!”

Punk: 6.5/10

gets me turnt, toooooo short, tbh i like any song where 2D yells

Sound Check (Gravity): 9/10

looooove this song, gives me body chills when the drums kick in, love the deep ass voice, overall emo kid bop

Double Bass: 8/10

nice jam, I like listening to this when I do homework or art, relaxing

Rock The House: 8/10

legit makes me get up and dance, great rhythm, music video is beautiful

19/2000: 9/10

amazing bop, gets me pumped, iconic af, first gorillaz song i ever heard and first music video i ever saw, n o o d l e

Latin Simone: 7/10

I don’t speak spanish so i cant really sing along, love the feel of it, will listen on repeat, prefer the english version but im biased

Starshine: 6.5/10

idk I don’t really listen to this one, not a bad song i just wouldn’t play it on repeat or actively look for it, i do like the vocals

Slow Country: 8.5/10

love the feeling this song gives me, kinda like im just floating, super chill song to get high to, have never skipped this song, i like the lyrics

M1A1: 8/10

super fun song to sing along with, honestly the best song they couldve ever chosen to start a concert, he   s c r e a m

OVERALL SCORE FOR SELF-TITLED: 7.5 (rounded up)

Demon Days

Last Living Souls: 9/10

absolute favourite song on the album, breakdown gives me chills, constantly changing it’s tune and i love it, the basssss <3

Kids With Guns: 6/10

I love singing the chorus, great song to have in the background, chill af

O Green World: 7.5/10

i love the instrumental of this one, vocals give me chills, kinda wish you could hear the singing more tho

Dirty Harry: 6.5/10

bopping beat, i love the rap part, overall not really the type of song i’d play on repeat but not bad

Feel Good Inc: 8/10

first and foremost the fucking bass of this song is the reason i’m learning bass, chorus gives me chills, kinda overused but i understand

El Manana: 6/10

kind of a meh song for me personally, not a bad one just not the greatest

Every Planet We Reach Is Dead: 9/10

banger, the reason im also learning guitar, vocals are on point, has made me cry before

November Has Come: 7/10

love the chorus, rap is kinda meh for me, i like the beat

All Alone: 5/10

not really a song i listen to, i like the bloopy noises

White Light: 4/10

I always skip this one tbh, better than man research but not by much

DARE: 6.5/10

this song haunts my dreams, its like the best kind of elevator music, on another note you fucking go noodle

Fire Coming Out Of The Monkey’s Head: 7.5/10

I WANNA BE A COWBOY BABY, narrative is really fucking good tho

Don’t Get Lost In Heaven: 8/10

beautiful, usually dont like gospel-esque music but i love this, gives me chills

Demon Days: 6.5/10

not my favourite tbh, meh for me

OVERALL SCORE FOR DEMON DAYS: 6.5 (rounded up)

Plastic Beach

Welcome to the World of the Plastic Beach: 7.5/10

i love snoop dogg, also this song gives me good vibes

White Flag: 5/10

ehhhh not a fan of this one, i usually skip it, i like the orchestra tho

Rhinestones Eyes: 8.5/10

i fucking love this song, great tune great vocals, i never skip it, i even got my boyfriend to start loving this song even tho he doesnt really like gorillaz

Stylo: 9/10

jesus this song, makes my heart hurt, i absoultely long singing along to this, his voiceeeee, bobby womack!

Superfast Jellyfish: 8.5/10

quirky af, i love de la soul in this one a lot, have never skipped this

Empire Ants: 9/10

so beautiful, has made me cry, both of their voices are so soft and lovely ugh

Glitter Freeze: 6/10

starts off strong but when it starts sounding like a drill i usually yeet out

Some Kind Of Nature: 8/10

used to be my favourite until i started listening to the album more, 2d’s part is so soulful omg

On Melancholy Hill: 8.5/10

so sad and amazing, music video is probably my favourite, is me and my best mate’s “song”

Broken: 9/10

ugh beautiful, i know all the words and always sing them loud af, has never skipped this song, honestly is everything

Sweepstakes: 5.5/10

not a big fan, i usually skip this one, not a horrible song just not for me

Plastic Beach: 7.5/10

love it, better at the beginning than the end, still a bop

To Binge: 10/10

WHEEEW BOY, i love this song, its so sad and amazing and gay jesus christ, the best thing murdoc has ever done

Cloud of Unknowing: 7/10

soulful and beautiful, again bobby womack!!

Pirate Jet: 7/10

i love the tune bc it gets me feeling ~spooky~, lyrics dont really make sense but thats okay

OVERALL SCORE FOR PLASTIC BEACH: 7.5 (rounded up)

The Fall

Phoner to Arizona: 8/10

gets me bopping and grooving, great music to play in the background while writing or doing art, my go to for when i draw or need background sound while I relax

Revolving Doors: 9.5/10

OOF, it so sad and it makes me feel things, i scream the lyrics errytime

Hillbilly Man: 10/10

fell in love with this the second I heard it, has been my favourite song of all time for over 2 years now, will never skip it in my life, i yearn to learn the guitar 

 Detroit: 6.5/10

generally a good happy bop, usually play it as background sound

Shy-Town: 6/10

nice to the ear, i don’t really like the prerecorded vocals of 2D but when Damon sung it live it sounds much better

Little Pink Plastic Bags: 8/10

i love it ugh, relaxing af, will never skip

The Joplin Spider: 9/10

big love for this song, its just soooo goooood

The Parish Of Space Dust: 7.5/10

big cowboy energy, sounds so sweet, 2D’s voice is unnnf

The Snake In Dallas: 7/10

good for when you wanna party but you’re depressed and can only stay in bed, love the little robotic sounds

Amarillo: 9.5/10

i meeeean what can i say, this song is so sad and gay and beautiful, ive cried while listening it this, will never skip

The Speak It Mountains: 7.5/10

this track is really weird and creepy and kind of not a song but i adore it anyway

 Aspen Forest: 8/10

beautiful sounds, the piano is so soothing, will play this on repeat while i zone out

Bobby In Phoenix: 9/10

i wanna cry every single time i hear this bobby come back

California and the Slipping of the Sun: 7.5/10

this song so so pretty and i cry every time ugh, he sounds so fed up im sorry pretty boy

Seattle Yodel: ???

what

OVERALL SCORE FOR THE FALL: 8 (rounded down)

Humanz

Ascension: 8.5/10

absolute banger, i get pumped everytime this comes on, skys falling bb

Strobelite: 7.5/10

i used to hate this song but then the music video came out and i tried it again and now i love it dont @ me

Saturnz Barz: 9/10

theres so much i could say about this song ans the mv unf

Momentz: 9/10

banger, i dance like a maniac every time i hear it, will never skip

Submission: 8/10

gives me a good chance to work on high notes, makes my skin tingly

Charger: 8.5/10

2D’s voice is so griity and i can help myself

Andromeda: 8.5/10

I’ve never skipped this song, has made me cry, makes me dance

Busted And Blue: 9/10

has made me cry several times, vocals are everything, will never skip

Carnival: 7/10

is a bop, don’t really listen to it much anymore but it’s alright

Let Me Out: 8/10

i love it, one of my favourites to rap with

Sex Murder Party: 4/10

ehhh dont like this one, i always skip it

She’s My Collar: 8.5/10

i dont want to admit the things 2D’s voice in this makes me wanna do

Hallelujah Money: 7.5/10

hated this at first, grew to love, very soothing

We Got The Power: 9.5/10

gets me FUCKING PUMPED, we do got the power fuckers

OVERALL SCORE FOR HUMANZ: 8.5 (rounded down)

The Now Now

Humility: 8.5/10

summer bop, makes me wanna dance, have never skipped

Tranz: 9.5/10

i love singing along to this bc it makes me feel sexy oops, always screams the lyrics

Hollywood: 7/10

not a huge fan of this but ill listen to it, favourite part is the chorus, also snoop doggy dogg

Kansas: 9/10

oof this song makes me cry, i always scream this 

Sorcererz: 7.5/10

ooo them vocals thooo, makes me relaxed

Idaho: 8.5/10

i love this song sm, one of my favourites of all time to sing, i wanna learn the guitar for this

Lake Zurich: 8/10

I love to listen to this while relaxing or writing, makes me wanna dance, COWBELL

Magic City: 8.5

always dancing to this, billboards on the moooon

Fireflies: 10/10

yall saw this coming, i always cry, its so somber, in close competition w HillBilly Man for my all time favourite

One Percent: 6.5/10

only song on the album i would skip and it isnt even that bad

Souk Eye: 10/10

its so gay and sad i love it sm

OVERALL SCORE FOR THE NOW NOW: 8.5 (rounded up)

So after months of me saying i’d rate the songs in order I finally did! Now keep in my the overall scores are averages, my personal rating for each album is:

Self-Titled: 8/10

Demon Days: 7/10

Plastic Beach: 8.5/10

The Fall: 8/10

Humanz: 7.5/10

The Now Now: 9/10

thanks for reading, i did this so i wouldn’t have to write an essay oops! <3

[omdaily10]

OLLY MURS

Album: Debut

Writers/Producers: FutureCut, Claude Kelly, Steve Robson, Adam Argyle, Martin Brammer, Matt Prime, Andy Green, Steve Fitzmaurice, John Shanks, Jerry Abbott, Grant Black, Paddy Byrne, The Invisible Men, Mark Taylor, Trevor Horn, Ed Sheeran

Release Date: 29/11/2010

Chart Positions: #2 (UK), #3 (Scotland), #11 (Ireland)

Certifications: 2x Platinum (UK, 800k+)

Awards: ‘Album of the Year’, BBC Radio 1 Teen Awards 2011

Launched in a trilby hatted, tight trousered blaze of glory in the winter of 2010, Olly's self-titled debut album was the fastest selling release by a brand new British artist that year, taking less than a month to achieve its first of several platinum discs with sales that, in any ordinary instance, would have given him a chart topper, had it not run into the newly-five-piece-again Take That with their monolith 'Progress' album which swept all before it in the last quarter of that year.

Looking back on it now to write this review, and the overwhelming feeling is to view this album as a scrapbook of ideas – and that’s without the withered craft masking tape effect dotted around its artwork to reinforce this proposition. Perhaps because of the nature of the show he came from and its demand for instant audience satisfaction, there was less time for Olly to be discovering his identity as an artist separate to what might have been seen on The X Factor away from public view, even though this first album didn’t emerge until almost a year after his final.

Instead, he's very much finding his identity as an artist out in public and trying several different guises on for size in the process, hence there is a sense that this album is more primal and less cohesive in comparison to what came after it. The building blocks are in front of him, he’s just trying to figure out how to piece them together. But that, if anything, is actually part of this album’s roguish charm – from the moment the balls-to-the-wall opener ‘Change Is Gonna Come’ kicks in, with all the bravado of early Robbie Williams and George Michael in its defiant opening lyrics: ‘Something’s come, I feel it down in my bones / Yeah it’s been a long time to come, but you’re here tonight’. Even if he doesn’t have all the answers yet, he’s damn well gonna make a good attempt to leave his mark on pop.

A nod to many of his heroes permeates the album; there’s a bit of Michael Bublé swagger on the swinging and swaying ‘I Blame Hollywood’, which he premiered acoustically on his first ever radio tour for ‘Please Don’t Let Me Go’ that summer, and which quickly became a fan favourite. Its chorus lyrics of ‘I try to be strong, to be brave / To behave like a hero, hero / I try to be tough, to be cool / To be smooth like DeNiro, DeNiro’ hint at a sense of self investigation into who he wants to be as an artist. Then ‘Accidental’ takes on the early cheek of Justin Timberlake, with Murs crooning like a soulful puppy to a prospective beau about being ‘always at the place where your friends meet / It’s a long way home but I’ll walk your street.’

‘Hold On’ really is the lost single that never was from this era. With a sample from ‘So You Wanna Be A Boxer’, a number from the evergreen popular stage school musical staple ‘Bugsy Malone’, the chorus of this song which, as its title implies is about staying strong through adversity, sees a cheeky call and refrain with the samples’ chorus line of ‘Well you might as well quit / If you haven’t got it’. Musically, the repetition of ‘Hold on, hold on, you’re gonna get through it’ to this acts as the first response to his detractors, which he was already generating in the likes of The Guardian’s incredibly withering review of the album.

But there is more of a vulnerable side showcased here too, even if it’s not always successfully done. Piano led contemporary ballad ‘Ask Me To Stay’ is perhaps the most engaging, and the most believable in terms of his vocal delivery and the song’s structure. The ending refrain of ‘At first you make a wish and pray that things will never change / And then we reach the point of being just good friends again’ is that magical moment of emotion and wistful feeling in a great sad banger pop song that is incredibly difficult to capture well on record.

The roll call of talent that worked with Olly on this album is quite astonishing, even when you consider that this was firstly a debut album, and secondly one from an artist that few were expecting to be around for very long. The legendary Trevor Horn is at the controls on the closing track, an epic, sweeping ballad called ‘A Million More Years’, and a few songs before that, the sunshine bright, gospel soaked midtempo ‘Love Shine Down’ marks the first writing credit for a young singer-songwriter then cutting his teeth and paying his dues, and just a matter of months away from signing his own deal, called Ed Sheeran. (There’s also backing vocals, somewhat typically over sung, from a pre-fame Jessie J too, but we won’t dwell on that.)

Eponymously titling this album seems fitting really. Only on another album of Olly’s that we’ll come onto in future weeks do we hear him at his rawest and at his most untouched if you will. This ticks those boxes, but for very different reasons. It has boundless enthusiasm throughout, and a feeling of excitement and anticipation of the unknown, and all the success that was to follow and more readily guide his material and his identity as an artist and performer. 

As Fraser McAlpine wrote in his review for BBC Music, he had ‘revealed a debut album almost as good as his taste in his hats’. And on its way to producing his first four hit singles and taking him on his first ever sold out tour of the UK – including four sold out nights at Southend Cliffs Pavillion in his own backyard of Essex, two sold out nights at London’s Hammersmith Apollo and a support slot with labelmates JLS on their summer arena tour, Olly Murs fever was about to sweep the nation – and the charts.

[miki-agrawal]

From Carole Baskin to Leslie Jordan, the Unlikely Stars of the Quarantine

A look at the people and products who captured our imaginations (and, in some cases, our hearts) during a strange moment in history

Originally Posted On lamag.com By Paul Schrodt On May 17, 2020

It’s hard to think of the COVID-19 pandemic and its impact as anything other than a series of downturns: in global health, the economy, our cultural lifeblood, and moods. But as in any crisis, there are positives deserving praise. Dr. Anthony Fauci, unknown to many of us months ago, now has his own bobblehead—and deservedly so. But other experts and personalities—some with direct ties to the novel coronavirus, others who are delightful distractions—have captured our collective imagination. Here are 20.

Carole Baskin

Netflix’s zeitgeist-defining docuseries Tiger King is teeming with wilder-than-the-last characters, but one rises above the rest. Baskin—the 58-year-old former big-cat breeder turned conservationist and archrival/attempted murder victim of central subject Joe Exotic—sports an enviable feline-inspired wardrobe; coos her memed-around-the-world tagline, “Hey all you cool cats and kittens”; and prefers not to answer questions about her mysteriously missing ex-husband. A morally ambiguous figure for our uncertain times, she’s also sure to be one of Halloween’s most popular costumes—so stock up now on the fiercest tiger prints you can find.

Dua Lipa

The British singer, 24, didn’t want to release her second album, Future Nostalgia, into a pandemic—she announced its arrival with tears on social media. But its neo-disco bangers are exactly what a lockdown dance party demands, and the release is her first Top 10 LP in the U.S. She’s liberated the masses to move while (fabulously) self-quarantining with her model-celebrity-spawn boyfriend Anwar Hadid. But how hard is that?

https://www.instagram.com/p/CAayNagnmHF/

Ryan Heffington

Heffington, 46, had already been motivating Angelenos to hone their hip shaking 
at his Silver Lake dance studio, the Sweat Spot, but the Grammy-nominated choreographer has turned his Joshua Tree house into a makeshift gym space. For his five-day-a-week Sweatfest cardio class on Instagram Live, he coaches around 8,000 viewers at a time through unique moves. Fans are known to end sessions with a cathartic cry.

D-Nice

Born Derrick Jones, 
D-Nice had a moment as a hip-hop
 artist in the ’90s that
 quickly faded. But 
the 49-year-old DJ 
reached newfound fame streaming his live Club Quarantine sets from his downtown L.A. apartment, drawing hundreds of thousands of stay-at-home revelers, including Rihanna, Oprah Winfrey, Bernie Sanders, Joe Biden, and Michelle Obama. The funk-and-soul-heavy playlists are more than a sonic escape—they’re an act of communal transcendence against all odds.

Zack Fox

A previously undersung L.A. comedian and internet provocateur, Fox, 29, racked up more than 300,000 views with a stone-faced parody—which made perfect use of Three 6 Mafia’s “Slob on My Knob”—of Gal Gadot’s viral-for-all-the-wrong-reasons “Imagine” sing-along.

https://www.instagram.com/p/B98XjQ7AK9X/

Juan Delcan and
 Valentina Izaguirre


The local artist couple, based in View Park-Windsor Hills, illuminated the power of social distancing with their “Safety Match” viral video, in which animated matches light up in a row until one of them steps out of the way. Viewed roughly a million times, the contemporary art piece achieved what no government PSA could.

Alison Roman

The New York Times cooking writer (and native Angeleno), 34, had already achieved food-world stardom with two best-selling books before lockdown. Under quarantine, Roman’s simple yet flavor-packed recipes for dishes like caramelized shallot pasta—and her unfussy-but-particular Brooklyn boho banter—have become required reading and eating. Roman went from darling to pariah in May when controversial comments she made about Chrissy Teigen and Marie Kondo went viral. If only shallots made you immune to Twitter backlash.

Ina Garten

More than 3 million people on Instagram watched the tranquil Barefoot Contessa, 72, demonstrate how she keeps her “favorite tradition,” the cocktail hour, alive under desperate conditions. The Food Network star has been a rightfully beloved figure for nearly two decades, but her mixing a gigantic cosmo was a hilariously refreshing reminder of what a true treasure she is.

https://www.instagram.com/p/B-cJUwUpxbM/

L.A. tap water

You’re not good, we never loved you, and yet without gallons of overpriced filtered alkaline H2O, we’re suddenly overjoyed to guzzle you.

Bidet attachments

After hoarders cleared out the toilet paper aisles, the makers of bidet products began cleaning up with their water-jet-shooting self-cleaning devices. The brand Brondell saw a 300 percent spike in sales, while the cleverly marketed Tushy sold out entirely. The future may be wipe free.

Zoom

The video-conferencing platform—which has raised security concerns and provides the same service as FaceTime, Google Hangouts, and Facebook Messenger—has become a key part of life under quarantine. Zoom stock has jumped more than 100 percent since January.

https://www.instagram.com/p/CAAihoslm_O/

The brothers Cuomo

New York Governor Andrew Cuomo, 62, has been lionized for leading his state through the darkness. But his cute younger brother, 49-year-old CNN anchor Chris, stole plenty of shine when he 
tested positive for 
COVID-19 and 
without missing a
 beat continued hosting 
his show in self-isolation
from his basement. Despite regular potshots from 
right-wing critics, the younger Cuomo managed to come off 
as more sincere and urgent than ever. One NYC matchmaker says the duo are topping her “most wanted” list, beating out even the Jonas brothers.

Reply All’s “The Case
of the Missing Hit”


Podcast Reply All delivered a blockbuster with a mind-bending search for a song—which might not exist—that a man says got stuck in his head in the ’90s. A reflection of the unanswered questions inundating our lives, except with far lower stakes, the March episode has sparked a 35 percent increase in the show’s listenership.

Trolls World Tour

Universal’s Trolls sequel, with a bizarre rock-versus-pop premise and a message about cultural appropriation that will likely go over the heads of its intended audience (and perhaps that of star Justin Timberlake), set a record for the biggest debut for a digital release, topping every relevant platform during its opening weekend in April. The $20 two-day rental price seemed steep to some, but to parents with stir-crazy kids it was a bargain.

The Womanizer vibrator

With Tinder hookups on hold, we’re turning inward—and reaching for sex toys. This cheekily marketed device has seen
 a 152 percent year-over-year rise in U.S. sales thanks to quarantine orders. Its resonant new slogan for those hungry for pleasure: Stay home.

https://www.instagram.com/p/CAp1cWNpQz6/

Sourdough
bread


It’s a cliche at
 this point, but
 making it ourselves is truly com
forting, if not always Tartine level. No wonder more than 100,000 posts have been tagged with #crumbshot on Instagram.

The new class of badass reporters

Journalism is never more important than during a national emergency or the mass dissemination of misinformation. We happen to be living through both. A young crop of reporters in the White House briefing room—including Weijia Jiang of CBS, Kaitlan Collins and Jeremy Diamond of CNN, Yamiche Alcindor of PBS, and Kristin Fisher of Fox News—has resisted President Trump’s theatrical boasting and mugging, pressing for straightforward information and fact-checking on the spot.

Leslie Jordan

The 64-year-old veteran actor from Will
 & Grace and American Horror Story has amassed more than 3 million Instagram followers since March as a result of absurdist check-in videos in which he appears to be either very bored or very stoned. Pointing to his DIY painted toenails, he shares: “I messed this one up.” Relatable.

https://www.instagram.com/p/CAtA9Nfhat7/

My Year of Rest
 and Relaxation


Ottessa Moshfegh’s
 2018 best-selling novel, about a beautiful, lazy, pill-popping
 young woman who attempts a yearlong 
hibernation in a Manhattan apartment, had
 been celebrated at the time of its publication for its dark humor. Now its wit is hailed as beautifully horrific, as evidenced by the literary critics who are circling back to it. Vice declared of the book in one recent headline: “Blacking Out in a Juicy Couture Tracksuit Is a Lockdown Mood.”

The smart bike

Already a cult obsession, Peloton’s $2,245 souped-up stationary bike has never been more covetable as gyms lie dormant. The company’s stock bounced 50 percent in March, leaving an offensive Christmas-ad debacle in the dust. Cheaper competitors are also racing ahead. Echelon, whose bikes start at $839, reported a tenfold increase in sales the same month.

Tushy is a bidet startup which aims to replace toilet paper, Tushy was founded by Miki Agrawal.

[micha-fm]

So, about my new obsession, I mean, the new Post Malone album.

Until now I hadn’t been the biggest fan of Post Malone. I knew his big hits like “Congratulations,” “White Iverson,” and “I Fall Apart”. I’ve always thought he was good, but I just had never paid as much attention. Until he released beerbongs & bentleys, and oh my god. It’s literally all I’ve listened to for the past 2 and a half weeks since it was released. I actually bought a physical copy, and no one does that anymore, so I’d have to say that speaks volumes.

To break it down, I think this album embodies everything that a hip hop album needs. It’s got great beats, catchy hooks, nice lyricism and flow, and a few features. After listening to this album, I went back and listened to Stoney, and I just think Post really nailed it on this one. I didn’t vibe with every track on Stoney, where as I vibe with every. single. track. on b&b, but for different reasons.

Post’s age probably plays a huge factor in his popularity because as a millennial he has a relatability factor that other hip hop artists don’t have as much right now. I mean, he has a song on b&b titled Zack and Codeine, playing on The Suite Life of Zack and Cody from the good days of Disney Channel. And he mentions the Jonas Brother in “Better Now!” Another huge thing is that he isn’t falling into the same traps that a lot of other rappers of the younger generation have in going with the trends of trap drums, ridiculous hooks, and isn’t calling out and blasting those who came before him. I’ve become a big fan of Post in the past few weeks, forsure.

To break down the top songs on this albums though, it’s all of them. Okay, I’m kidding, but they are all dope and I think Post made a really nice, cohesive body of work in beerbongs & bentleys. I think if I had to pick top 3 tracks I’d go with “Stay,””92 Explorer,” and “Sugar Wraith.” All super different tracks. “Stay” is a soft, acoustic sound that just has a kind of nostalgia to it. Before I dive into “92 Explorer,” I wanna touch on that “Jonestown (Interlude).” This. Is very 90′s grunge. And I love it. I mean, if you aren’t gunna nail an interlude, you probably shouldn’t do it, right? But Post absolutely nailed it, and it’s a great transitional moment for the album. So, “92 Explorer” is fuckin hype! It’s got the great beat, the flex, the Nirvana mention towards the beginning which I definitely appreciated, and the hook that you can’t get out of your head. This one is a banger, and I know I’m going to blasting it through my speakers all summer long. “Sugar Wraith” has a little bit of both a hype and chill feel to it. It’s got a good beat, but it’s a little softer. He’s singing about love, but also is flexin. It’s a great track to wrap the album because it’s that last bit of cohesion to really seal the album together.

His singles that he released before the album were of course amazing as well. “rockstar” with 21 Savage laid the groundwork for everyone to expect a killer album from Post. Followed by the release of “Psycho” with Ty Dolla $ign just confirmed it. (The other features of G-Eazy and YG on “Same Bitches” and Nicki Minaj on “Ball for Me” were fire too, but like, I can only go into depth about so much.) Overall, bravo Post. Bravo. You’ve impressed me, and I can’t wait to see what’s coming next.

-Micha