#And Salt is my favourite album of the year as well

[dreampsychosis]

My favourite songs of 2023. Alco by Half Moon Run.

[chichiichiii347]

In the fan newsletter volume 100, the members were asked to answer to questions from each member and here’s my take on the translation:

Toshiya

Kyo > Toshiya

- Rich or Extremely rich? (referring to food such as ramen broth) Rich

- All humanity is turning into dogs: woof 🐶

- Very hard or very soft noodles? Hard

- Pigmon or Kanegon? (from Ultra Q) Pigmon

- Would you dye your hair blue again? If everyone dye their hair like the old days then I’ll consider it.

Die > Toshiya

- Are you the type who sleeps well at the hotels during tours? depends on which day

- How often do you change your smartphone? 4-5 years

- What do you usually order from Starbucks? Drip coffee

- Which electric appliances are you very particular about? Electric toothbrush

- If you were to drive, which car do you want to drive in? Shelby Cobra

Kaoru > Toshiya

- Any recommendations lately? ask and answer by yourself

- You’re not watching anime recently? I watch it sometimes

- Which is the most delicious ramen shop? If it’s hard to say here then tell me next time: I’ll tell you secretly

- What would you say if Die send you a picture with his hair completely shaved off? maybe he can’t deal with the intense heat..?

- How do you want our next song (album) to turn out? I want it to come with a different kind of excitement

Shinya > Toshiya

- Which country do you like aside from Japan? the US, Hawaii

- Which manga did you like the most as a kid in elementary school? Musashi no Ken

- Are you becoming farsighted? My vision is getting worse so it could be that…

- Do you want to live in Nagano in the future? I'm thinking about it lately

- Are you planning to keep your black hair forever? Silver hair

Kaoru

Kyo > Kaoru

- Jumping up and down (びょんびょん) or chuckle (むひむひ)? (I think he’s referring to fans’ reaction) chuckle

- Which one is better, Light salt or Cheese Karl snack? Curry

- Aren’t you gonna grow your hair long? It’s troublesome

- Aren’t you going to dress up as a pirate? I’m not doing anything this Halloween, so I won’t do that

Kaoru > Kaoru

- Gonna do “it”? Give “it” to me

Die > Kaoru

- What make Hanshin so strong this year, let me hear your opinion: pineapple candy

- If a Hanshin member was to throw an MVP, who would that be? Kinami Seiya

- If you could scout one player from an 11-members team (other than Hanshin), who would that be? Yamamoto Yoshinobu

- If Hanshin finally got “it” after 18 years, what do you think is going to happen at the Dotonbori river? become the prey of Idiots, onlookers and youtubers.

* I don’t watch baseball so I’m not so sure about this whole conversation, but I know Die is a huge GIANTS fan while Kaoru is at Hanshin’s side, and people in Osaka often jump into the Dotonbori river when celebrating something big (new year, winning the olympic games..) so Die is talking as if the Hanshin would surely win the game (or winning over the GIANTS? idk..)

- If the GIANTS were to change the manager, who would that be? I think Abe Shinnosuke…? but the atmosphere would be…

Toshiya > Kaoru:

- We will die at some point in life, would you rather (1) be remembered by everyone in the world or (2) always be remembered by one particular person until they die? 1

- If you have a chance to time-travel for once, which timeline would you choose (1) before you were born, (2) after you’ve passed away? 2

- If there is one drug that brings super power, would you choose the one that (1) make you look young like your 20-year-old self or (2) keep the same appearance, but have the strength of a 20-year-old? 2

- Which member is most likely to runaway from terrors? Kyo

- Who is the most manly member? Toshiya

Shinya > Kaoru

- Which country do you like aside from Japan?Hawaii

- Which manga did you like the most as a kid in elementary school? Toriyama Akira

- Are you becoming farsighted? Yes, I am

- Who is your favourite Hanshin player? Kakefu Masayuki

- Which LINE stamp do you use the most? Kaoru chan

Kyo

Kaoru > Kyo

- Any recommendations lately? Fish from Fukushima

- Are you building plastic models? I’m building them intensely

- What would you say if Shinya send you a picture of him and Tom Hanks? from Deep State?

- Have you seen Mad Heidi? I haven’t seen it, but I’ve watched MEN

- How do you want our next song (album) to turn out? Isn’t Ramen Jiro (without the broth) the best thing ever?

Toshiya > Kyo

- We will die at some point in life, would you rather (1) be remembered by everyone in the world or (2) always be remembered by one particular person until they die? must be 2, right?

- If you have a chance to time-travel for once, which timeline would you choose (1) before you were born, (2) after you’ve passed away? maybe 2, to the future

- If there is one drug that brings super power, would you choose the one that (1) make you look young like your 20-year-old self or (2) keep the same appearance, but have the strength of a 20-year-old? 2, the inner strength (health)

- Who is the most affectionate member? Must be me

- Who is the best at telling lies? Must be Shinya

Die > Kyo

- Any scary experience at the hotels while touring? a fan peeping through a peephole and put their ear to the wall (in Osaka)

- Favourite game console? Mega Drive

- The most intimidating movie character in your opinion? Norman Bates

- How many pair of sneakers do you have? about 50?

- FOOD (don’t know why he’s using english here lol) that touched your soul lately? Blowfish dish from the restaurant that senpai took me to

Shinya > Kyo

- Which country do you like aside from Japan? None. Aren’t you Shinya!

- Which manga did you like the most as a kid in elementary school? Jojo. Aren’t you Shinya!

- Are you becoming farsighted? Dunno. Aren’t you Shinya!

- Have you gotten more tatoos? I’ll get more when I’ve become a skin-head. Aren’t you Shinya!

- Will you give up smoking? No. Aren’t you Shinya!

Die

Kyo > Die

- How many times do you go to the beach each year? when I think about it, I guess I haven’t went to the beach for years

- What is your choice of drink on a cruiser, beer or wine? I get drunk immediately after having wine so I think it’s better to go with beer

- The whole world is destroyed: If everything and everyone dissapear all at once then I’m not scared

- Won’t you dye your hair red again? or would you dye it blue? Frankly, during the pandemic when I could not see anyone, I’ve made a mistake and dyed my hair blue. It didn’t suit me at all, to the point that it gets creepy. So I cover it with red dye right on the next day.

- What’s your favourite colour other than red? BLACK&WHITE (he used english here)

Kaoru > Die

- Any recommendations lately? Prison’s book of rules

- Favourite type of meat for Yakiniku (grilled meat)? high-quality outside skirt steak, thick-sliced beef tongue, beef organs

- After Hara Tatsunori, who’s going to be the GIANTS next manager? I wanna see Abe Shinnosuke as the manager already

- What would you say if Kyo send you a picture of him standing on top of the mountain that he’s just climbed? The Zoom meeting has already started

- How do you want our next song (album) to turn out? raw (fresh) sound

Toshiya > Die

- We will die at some point in life, would you rather (1) be remembered by everyone in the world or (2) always be remembered by one particular person until they die? I’ve spent my whole life with this band so maybe 1

- If you have a chance to time-travel for once, which timeline would you choose (1) before you were born, (2) after you’ve passed away? If I can not return to this life time then I’d want to see what the future is like

- If there is one drug that brings super power, would you choose the one that (1) make you look young like your 20-year-old self or (2) keep the same appearance, but have the strength of a 20-year-old? 2-I’ll work on my appearance somehow…

- Who’s a foodie among the members? Our interests may vary but isn’t everyone a foodie?

- Which members hold the most secrets? All of us are secretive but I think “that person” definitely stood out.

Shinya > Die

- Which country do you like aside from Japan? The humidity right now makes me really want to feel the air of Los Angeles

- Which manga did you like the most as a kid in elementary school? Captain Tsubasa

- Are you becoming farsighted? I’d say my vision has gotton worse from 2007-when I got lasik surgery

- Favourite GIANTS player? It’s hard to choose one, but I’d say Kuwasa Masumi, he lived near my house back in Osaka, and used to be my hero when I was in PL Academy

- Your luggages always seem heavy, which item is the heaviest of them all? Dyson airwrap styler, hair dryer, hair iron, hair oil, hair cream, hair treatment spray… most of the items that added weight to my luggage are hair related

Shinya

Kyo > Shinya

- You’re already dead. No, I’m not dead

- If you can become another person, would you choose to be Yoshiki san or Gackt san? please choose one. I’ll choose Yoshiki san because I’m a drummer

- Aren’t you going to build a room in your balcony? I don’t have a balcony in the first place

- Would you try the punch perm hair style? I really want you to try it? or eipper. you only have two choices, punch perm or eipper? If only these two choices then eipper…

- You’re already dead. No. I’m not dead.

Die > Shinya

- Would you wear anything other colour aside from white at the liveshows? Please answer with something different from “No”. Maybe there’s no other options in the future?

- Would you change your hair style? Please answer with something different from “No”. Maybe there’s no other options in the future?

- Would you change your phone to the iphone 15? Please answer with something different from “No”. I’ll skip for once next time

- Favourite Apple’s product that you’ve owned? please also explain why. I’d say the Macbook Pro that I’m currently using. Without it, nothing will work out

- If you didn’t become a Youtuber then who would you be? Maybe a drummer

Kaoru > Shinya

- Any recommendations lately? What kind??

- What kind of game should I, Tooru and Fujieda play? Who’s “I”??

- If you have the Rock f Solo sheet for Kurenai (ロックfソロシート), please give it to me. I only have DIR’s records

- What would you say if Toshiya send you a picture of him DJ-ing in the club? You’re spinning the Kurenai Solo Sheet! Yay

- How do you want our next song (album) to turn out? Ah! the person who ask this question… must be Kaoru kun? Am I right? 😏😏😏

Toshiya > Shinya

- We will die at some point in life, would you rather (1) be remembered by everyone in the world or (2) always be remembered by one particular person until they die? Maybe everyone in the world

- If you have a chance to time-travel for once, which timeline would you choose (1) before you were born, (2) after you’ve passed away? Absolutely the future, I want to see the future world

- If there is one drug that brings super power, would you choose the one that (1) make you look young like your 20-year-old self or (2) keep the same appearance, but have the strength of a 20-year-old? Inner strength

- Who the most domestic member? Die san

- Most ambitious member? Kyo san

——————

And that’s it. They haven’t change one bit 😂

[moriartyluver]

ARE YOU MINE CHAPTER I

"OH! YOU'RE HERE EARLY."

(Name) looked up as she tuned her new guitar, eyes meeting a pair of bright blue ones.

"James, hi," She smiled before returning her attention to the instrument in her hands "Did you see Sherly and John on the way here?"

About half a year ago, (Name) had discovered, near her secondary school, that there was an abandoned building. An old art studio to be precise. It was surrounded by a small forest but the building itself was enough for them to practice in. It was much better than practicing at Sherlock's or some overpriced old shed.

Sherlock, (Name) and John had all went to the same school and were friends, although not extremely close. One day, (Name) had found out in conversation that Sherlock also played the guitar, aswell as the violin, and they had been extremely close since. 

Shortly after, Sherlock and (name) had found the little abandoned building and cleared it out, as if claiming it as their own. Obviously they weren't planning on keeping it, but once the band would start taking off, they had their eyes on a proper place to practice, they just needed the money for it.

James nodded before speaking "They're at the corner shop, buying snacks for the practice. How long have you been here for?"

"Long enough." (Name) sighed, leaning back in her chair. "I've just been messing about with this guitar, y'know, trying to see if I can make a good tune or something.." she paused then looked towards the door where she saw Sherlock and John coming in from.

"We bring sustenance!" Sherlock laughed, holding up a few bags of crisps, tossing a (favourite snack) at (name) who smiled gratefully in response then sat beside her as john approached his drum kit after dumping the remaining snacks on an old coffee table.

"Took you long enough," James said, sitting down "(Name)'s been waiting here for God knows how long."

"Not my fault you all have terrible sense of time." She said "if I message the group chat and say we're meeting at 2, we're meeting at 2. Not 2:30pm, and certainly not 3."

"Hey! I bought you (favourite snack)! I deserve a thank you, not a nagging!" Sherlock exclaimed, pointing at an unamused (name).

"Whatever" she rolled her eyes

John opened a tube of salt and vinegar Pringles, then gestured to a bag beside (name) "What's in that?"

She looked down then opened the little plastic bag, with a local supermarket's logo on it. "Oh this? ..uh it has all my music stuff in it. Like albums and my record player."

James frowned in sympathy for a moment "Right, forgot to ask how it was with your parents last night, you know, after what you told us with the guitar breaking."

"You can always crash at my place if they end up kicking you out," Sherlock offered

(Name) shook her head in response as John offered her a Pringle, taking one with a small 'thank you'  "It's fine, really. Went better than I expected in fact."

"Really?"

"Well it wasn't perfect, and my parents lectured me quite a bit, but they were grateful I returned at all after what dad did. They said I wasn't allowed to keep these," she pointed to the bag ",there anymore. My parents said it would distract me from my studies when I go to university, but I'm allowed to stay in the band as long as it remains a hobby. My mum convinced my dad to get off my back about it, thankfully. I agreed to it, but I'm probably not gonna stick to it."

"Didn't you tell your dad you didn't really want to go to University yet?" John asked

"Nah," (name) said "I just said I was taking a gap year and I'll start next year. Hopefully our luck will change and by then, I can get away with just being a rockstar.." she smiled "Speaking of-"

"Oh god not this again," Sherlock muttered

(Name) scowled at him "We can't be a band if we don't have any songs, idiot. We can't just keep doing Arctic monkeys covers for the rest of our careers if we want to be taken seriously. Sure it's fun, but we can't earn real money if we don't make real music!"

"Yeah but you're the song writer, not us." The ravenette pointed out  "You got anything yet?"

(Name) pulled out a notebook with the words 'composition notebook' written on the front. She flipped through the pages. "We still need to sort out our concept but I think I've got some ideas. I think our first album has to be something special, you know...I've been thinking about what we're passionate about and then I sort of came to the idea we should make a song about government corruption, and the oppression of the working class, but I still need to get the lyrics right.."

"That's not bad actually," Sherlock hummed "It'll get us noticed for sure, and we're spreading a message too, good job, (nickname)"

(Name) flashed a smile, then stood up, holding her guitar and strumming a few strings hesitantly. She sat back down with an exasperated sigh.

"There's something missing, though...I can't figure it out yet.." she muttered

"Maybe you should take a break?" John suggested

James nodded in agreement "Let the thoughts process in your mind. We'll just play a few random songs and let you do some thinking. You eat your snack and relax."

(Name) put her notebook in front of her, resting her cheek against her palm as Sherlock, John and James played 'Creep' by Radiohead in the background, although it wasn't helping much.

There was an edge to their music that they didn't have yet, but it was hard to decide what. Their band was quite traditional though. Two guitarists, both of which sing, a drummer and a bassist. Other bands had some variation but the vision that (name) had was difficult to explain.

Yes, (name) adored her very new and modern guitar, but there was something about traditional instruments...Sherlock played violin, perhaps they could make do with that..? No..

(Name) shut her eyes, and in the strange foggy darkness, she saw the stranger from yesterday, playing piano elegantly. She opened her eyes slowly, roughly scribbling various words, which morphed into phrases and then lyrics  on the paper. She put her pen down and turned back to her lyrics from earlier.

"The sins that hide in a precarious mist...?" she muttered under her breath, then shot up in her seat, yelling over to the rest of the band. "Hey!" They stopped playing and turned to her "What rhymes with mist?"

"Hmm.." James put his finger to his chin "List..Cist..wish..?"

"Wish doesn't rhyme with mist." Sherlock said, narrowing his eyes at James.

"It does if you say it in a certain way, but of course you wouldn't know that with your Yorkie accent." James argued back.

"You bloody Yankee..!" He cursed, holding up his guitar threateningly

"Sherlock, no! We don't need another broken guitar!" John warned, forcing Sherlock to put his guitar back down.

(Name) laughed quietly, then turned back to her notebook. "Alright you guys go back to practicing now, thanks!"

"Wait, have you got something?" Sherlock asked, putting down his guitar and approaching (name), who flashed the page to him.

"Just the first line. It's all subject to change," she said as Sherlock took the notebook from her hand "Thoughts?"

"It's not bad.." He muttered "Where'd the sudden burst of inspiration come from?"

Taking the book back, she shut it before explaining "I realised what we were missing."

"Which is..?" James said

"I know this might sound a little nerdy, but if we incorporate elements of traditional classical music and 19th century themes, we might have out own little USP and get famous in no time." (Name) explained

"As much as that sounds cool, I don't think they played electric guitar in the eighteen hundreds."

"Don't worry about that," The (hair colour)-ette insisted, stretching her arms "Did you go to that shop I told you to after you nearly got us kicked out when we were in town yesterday?"

"Which shop?" Sherlock asked cluelessly.

Groaning, (name) stood up walking out with her hands in the pockets of her jacket "Never mind then. God you lot really are hopeless without me.."

James followed after her, throwing on his coat because British weather meant rain in the middle of summer. "Wait, where're you going now?"

"Taking a shopping break, now hurry up or we'll miss the bus and have to stand out in the rain for another 15 minutes for the next one." She said, nodding her head to the exit of the abandoned art studio and unfolding a black umbrella.

~

"I thought you went here yesterday, why are you here again?" John asked as the band walked into Qs again, empty as usual.

(Name) combed her fingers through her (hair colour) hair "I was meant to take a new amp as a package deal from Herder yesterday but I told him I'd come back for it another time. I couldn't carry that thing by myself so I figured I'd get it now then go to the place I was telling you about."

It wasn't surprising that the band were quite childish and daresay, mischievous, in public settings. At Herder's it was much worse than trying to kidnap a mannequin (which Sherlock and James had tried to do a few months ago at a local shopping mall. They were banned now though. As you can see, they have quiet the habit of getting banned from public spaces.) The band would often come in, solely to mess around with various instruments, even if they couldn't play them.

In fact, Von Herder had tried to shut Q on weekends and any time that the Band would be available outside of school hours just so he wouldn't have to deal with them, but he stopped because John convinced him not to, they were close after all, considering John was one of the few people who could ever listen to him ramble about instruments and the process of creating them.

Within seconds of opening Q's doors, Sherlock and James had already ran to the Basses and Guitars like little children in a toy store.

"(Name)! Look at this cool guitar!" James called out to her, but she shook her head, instead standing by the counter, waiting for Von Herder to come back out.

"I'll be there in a second, just need to talk to Herder and get my new amp," She said, tapping her fingertips against the counter.

"I swear to you, Albert, the piano has something wrong with it's keys!"

"Are you sure your own abilities aren't to blame?"

She heard talking behind the door.

"You're always like this.. no wonder you chose to stay with father," the first voice scoffed

Three individual voices.

"Now, now, Mr William, I'm sure we can find the issue, right, Albert?" The third voice said

"Mother's birthday is coming up, I need to be able to play something for her, and it can't be all wobbly, or else I might sound like an armature." The first voice said again "Of course, though, you'd never care, brother. You didn't come to Mother's last birthday because of work or some other pathetic excuse. Those orphans have turned you against your real family, once again."

'One german and two tories, probably..' (Name) thought to herself. Of course, she did know that you couldn't determine one's political status based solely on their accents, but seriously, they sounded like aristocrats or something. One of the posh voices was more whiney and annoying, but it sounded like a boy her age, so not exactly childish. The other was more stern and authoritative, likely older at that.

The door swung open, and Herder appeared in front of two young men who were stood in the back. "Oh, (Name)! There you are," The German smiled, then frowned, somewhat nervously. "Are you...alone..?"

"Unfortunately not," She laughed. "I'll make sure James doesn't break a bass string again, don't worry."

Herder seemed to narrow his eyes behind his blindfold. "I should hope so," He said coldly "You're all lucky I don't charge for all the accidents you and that band of you have caused..now let's see, where did I put that amp.."

He crouched down to look beneath the counter, feeling around until (Name) heard a muffled "Aha!" to signify he had found it. While he was crouched, (Name) managed to get a better look at the two young men who were speaking, almost arguing, earlier.

One was wearing a smart suit, his brown hair combed back and his bright green eyes shining with the reflecting of the light, and a younger man, possibly a little older than (Name), stood beside him. They had similar facial structures, but their features differed. Instead, the younger boy had dirty blond hair and brown eyes, but not plain brown. It was more of a hazel shade, bordering on dark red. They were still talking in regards to a piano, but a little quieter now.

Von Herder stood back up, sliding a box across the counter to (Name). "It's a little bit heavy, but I'm sure you could get a friend of yours to help you carry it home." He said, nodding his head to where Sherlock, John and James stood. "Schönen Tag noch!"

"Erm.. Herder, can I ask you something..?" (Name) asked, her voice dropping to a whisper. Von Herder nodded in response, curious "You know when I was here yesterday.. That guy playing the piano..do you know him..?"

"Oh? William? Yes I do." He said

(name) shook her head, assuming he was referring to the dirty blond with his brother. "No, sorry, I mean the one here yesterday..?" She repeated.

"Yes, I know. That was William."

'Clearly this is not going anywhere..nevermind then..' (Name) thought to herself

"Right.." She muttered, giving up her pursuit of the stranger from yesterday. "Thanks for the amp, Herder." She said, picking up the box by it's little plastic handles and walking over to the rest of the band with a disappointed sigh.

"What's up with you?" Sherlock asked, raising a brow.

"It's nothing, just that this box is so damn heavy.." said (Name). She looked back at where Herder was stood, alongside the two posh guys. "Who are they? I don't think Herder's let anyone go behind the counter before. He freaks out when people test out the instruments, for god's sake."

John perked up "Oh them? The taller one," He gestured to the brunette "That's Albert. Herder runs this place but it's owned by him. He seems quite wealthy so I wouldn't be surprised if he owned most of the places here. The other one's his brother but I hear they don't talk much. That's the second time he's been here by the looks of it."

(Name) blinked at him. "Never took you for gossip, John."

"I'm not..!" He defended "Herder just tells me these things sometimes when he's showing me his newer stuff."

~

"Did we really have to walk here?" Sherlock groaned as (Name) pushed the wooden shop door open, causing a little bell to ring.

"This place is literally only 5 minutes away from Qs, you lazy fuck." (Name) said. "And the rain stopped so there's really no excuse, stupid."

The shop, a sign reading "Moneypenny's boutique" at the top, covered in various flowers, roses, lilies, carnations, was on the edge of a road branching off of the main road. There was a few passersby but none actually entering the little vintage boutique. In the tinted, delicate windows were displays of dresses and suits and blouses and corsets and coats. The exterior was painted a mahogany colour and the words on the sign were written in gold.

As the bell rang, a woman with very straight, auburn hair, cut short to just under her chin, walked out from behind a doorway of vertical blinds. Her pale face was painted with subtle freckles around her nose. Her bangs covered her forehead and her brown eyes were shielded by a pair of large glasses. She wore a scarf around her neck, despite the humid weather, and a white blouse under a jacket. Simply put, she looked like she had just time travelled from the 19th century into present day.

"Moneypenny!" (Name) greeted "It's been a while, huh?"

The woman smiled "It's nice to see you again, (Name)." She looked at the three confused men stood behind her "Are these the..?"

"The band? Yeah." She confirmed

The quiet woman, now known to the others as "Moneypenny", gave a polite smile. "(Name)'s told me alot about you all, please feel free to visit at any time."

(Name) leaned against the counter, humming as she watched Moneypenny put away some fabrics. "The flower thing is new," She said, making small talk "Y'know with the sign..? Did Fred do it? It looks quite nice."

Moneypenny nodded "It is..Fred did it a couple of weeks ago actually. He's helped around a little more considering it's the holidays."

"Right, that makes sense.." (Name) trailed off, looking back at the band as James mouthed a 'What the fuck are we doing here?' to her. (Name) mouthed back 'I'm getting to it.' while her bandmates looked at her in confusion.

"(Name), why are you here?" Moneypenny asked amidst the awkward silence.

(Name) chuckled nervously, standing up straight "What makes you think I didn't just want to pop in, say hi? We're mates, Monepenny, aren't we?"

Moneypenny narrowed her eyes at (Name) skeptically "Well, if you were," she said in her usual quiet voice "You'd be browsing, or making conversation. So?"

(Name) sighed, her forehead resting against her arm as it lay on the counter for a moment. She looked up "Alright fine, but you better promise to hear me out fully." Her friend gave a hesitant nod "So..you know I have this band, obviously, I mean they're right there." She nodded her head to the three young men "Anyways, I've got this concept. It's super cool really, like we're gonna combine classical music, you know like Beethoven and Mozart, piano stuff from a couple of centuries ago, and then merge that with U.K. Rock music." 

Moneypenny hummed although it didn't seem she cared much. She picked up a little box, walking through the little door behind her as (Name) followed, desperate to pitch her idea to her. 

"So I.. erm.. I mean we wondered if we could maybe ask a talented fashion designer for a favour? Someone gracious and kind like you?" She smiled 

"Enough of the flattery, (Name), get to the point." Moneypenny warned with a frown, placing the box on a table covered in scraps of cloth 

"My point is, could you maybe please please please let us borrow some of your very cool pieces to wear?" (Name) pleaded as she followed Moneypenny back to the counter, clearly disinterested "It'll be worth it, I promise-"

"No." 

"Come on, Moneypenny!" (Name) exclaimed "When we get famous, it'll promote this place too! What reason could you have for not agreeing? I thought you said you had faith in the band!" 

Moneypenny pinched her forehead with her thumb and index finger "It's not that, I just think it might take a while for it to be worth it." 

"Yeah but with all these new ideas, the coke-" 

"The Baker Street Boys." Sherlock corrected 

"Whatever," (name) rolled her eyes "With all these new ideas and our improved concept, we can actually be something! Give us half a year and we'll have our first proper concert, a decently sized fanbase and proper management!" 

"My mind's made up, (Name), now unless you're going to buy something, I suggest you go  practice so you can achieve those far fetched goals." Moneypenny stated, her arms folded. 

The door opened with another ring of the bell, revealing a short boy with spiky black hair, holding a flower pot. Moneypenny and (Name) turned their attention to him, both wearing smiles on their faces. 

"Fred!" (Name) greeted, walking towards him "It's been a while, huh."

"(Name)." The boy now known as Fred said. He looked over to the awkward trio of Sherlock, James and John, unlike their rowdy selves. "This is the band, isn't it?" He asked

(Name) nodded "Yeah, but Moneypenny here isn't a big fan of us, she thinks we're going to fail and end up as tramps, living on the streets because we're so talentless and pathetic."

Fred squinted his dark eyes in confusion, muttering a "Huh?" 

"(Name)! That is not what I said!" Moneypenny scolded 

"Yeah you did." she joked "Come on, Freddy, tell Moneypenny we're actually worth a few outfits or so. She doesn't want to lend these talentless hobos anything, even if it could be amazing promotion when we get famous." 

"(NAME)!"

"Fine, fine," (Name) scowled, gesturing to the band to follow her as they walked towards the door. "We'll get out of your hair then, we're leaving!"

A/N: ooh more characters. Y/n's probably barely gonna be in the next chapter to make a little room for our other lead ifykyk. I'll upload a false lovers chapter soon and make a masterlist for this too. I've mostly been writing series stuff instead of oneshots but I'll try to get something sorted soon lol. My computers is kind of acting up and my phone broke so I've been on the edge of insanity recently without a method of escapism lol

[deadcactuswalking]

REVIEWING THE CHARTS: 23/11/2024 (Sam Fender, Tate McRae, Linkin Park, Sabrina Carpenter, Jin)

Well, there’s a much bigger story to this Friday in music other than some Christmas songs on a singles chart… but that can wait. For now, “That’s So True” by Gracie Abrams lands a third week at #1 – I really am surprised by how well that’s lasted – and welcome back to REVIEWING THE CHARTS!

content warning: language, references to sex and abusive relationships

Rundown

The festive season is starting to be in full swing, but this is still a remarkably busy week on the UK Singles Chart, one that I didn’t initially expect to be as intensive as it ended up being, but we have nine new songs to cover, a whole bunch of re-entries and I’m hoping to get it out soon enough so I can listen to the Kendrick album and still get a good night’s sleep. Regardless, as always, we start our week with the notable dropouts, songs exiting the UK Top 75, which is what I cover, after five weeks in the region or a peak in the top 40. This week, it’s honestly a bloodbath, in which it makes more sense to split what we have into different categories: first being songs that are hurt by the three-song rule as the artists have a new debut we’ll end up having to discuss later on in this episode, those being Tyler, the Creator with “Darling, I” featuring Teezo Touchdown and “Espresso” by Sabrina Carpenter. We follow that with a series of old songs – firstly, those that stick around forever and always resurge like “Yellow” by Coldplay, “Cruel Summer” by Taylor Swift and yes, even “Mr. Brightside”, with the next set of old tracks being One Direction songs that had returned after Liam Payne’s passing, namely “Night Changes”, “Story of My Life” and “What Makes You Beautiful”. Then finally, after all those qualifiers, we have regular chart entries we bid adieu thanks to competition, ACR, the Christmas flood, or most likely a combination: “on one tonight” by Gunna, “NEW DROP” by Don Toliver, “Dancing in the Flames” by The Weeknd, “Guess” by Charli xcx featuring Billie Eilish on the remix, “Cry Baby” by Clean Bandit, Anne-Marie and David Guetta and finally, “Who” by Jimin. It’s likely that we see at least some of these re-enter come January anyway, so take everything from this Christmas period with a grain of salt.

Now for our gains and returns which are really all over the place, starting all the way down at #74 with the return of “Headlock” by Imogen Heap, thanks to TikTok virality. Fun fact: this song has spent two weeks on the chart across 18 years, and both times, it was at #74, a peak it first reached in 2006 whilst My Chemical Romance were #1 with “Welcome to the Black Parade”. I love “Headlock”, I was introduced to it via samples by Clams Casino and A$AP Rocky, who actually are the co-leads on the weird remix mashup below the top 75 also with Imogen Heap (itself her first time charting since “Headlock”). Imogen Heap charting two songs incredibly low on the chart right before Christmas, neither of them new, both of them sampled by A$AP Rocky, is really a 2024 chart moment – anything happens nowadays, man. Then after that, we dip fully into holiday music.

As for our Christmas songs that re-enter this week, we have “Snowman” by Sia at #71, “It’s Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas” by Michael Bublé at #65, “It’s the Most Wonderful Time of the Year” by the late Andy Williams at #62, “Merry Christmas Everyone” by Shakin’ Stevens at #60, “Underneath the Tree” by Kelly Clarkson at #52, “Jingle Bell Rock” by the late Bobby Helms at #51, “Fairytale of New York” by the Pogues featuring the late Kirsty MacColl at #48, “Santa Tell Me” by Ariana Grande at #46 and “Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree” by Brenda Lee at #34. These aren’t necessarily all my personal favourites, but they’re the ones you expect to get in this early every year, alongside Mariah Carey’s “All I Want for Christmas is You” and “Last Christmas” by Wham! from last week, which move up to #17 and #16. Most of the other upwards movement is for songs new to the top 75, but we do see some gains in the top 40, for “Like Him” by Tyler, the Creator featuring Lola Young at #39 (more on both later), “it’s ok i’m ok” by Tate McRae at #28 thanks to her new single (more on that way later), and finally, Linkin Park land two gains thanks to their #1 comeback album, From Zero: “Heavy is the Crown” at #21 and “The Emptiness Machine” at #10. Yes, unfortunately, more on them later as well.

As for our top five, it’s nearly the exact same apart from one smash hit debut: “The Door” by Teddy Swims is still at #5, but right above is a new debut from Sam Fender, “People Watching”, his third top 10 hit, which we’ll discuss in more detail later, once we get through… everything else. Then it’s more typical: “APT.” by ROSÉ and Bruno Mars at #3, “Sailor Song” by Gigi Perez at #2 and of course, “That’s So True”. With all that out of the way, we still have a lot to get to with our new songs so let’s take a deep breath and begin.

New Entries

#75 – “MAYBE.” – SIENNA SPIRO

Produced by Max Wolfgang and Sol Was

This is an artist completely new to me, SIENNA SPIRO, a London singer-songwriter with just a few songs out that were recently released, compiled into a full album that’s just four songs. Given her earliest release is from this year, it seems that TikTok virality has helped her break out so quickly, with this being her first to chart and more interesting than I was expecting, given the stressful pace of the piano that leads the track, though SPIRO’s vocals are very much in typical indie girl territory and not showing much character. The breathy nature of that style of delivery definitely helps rather than hinder in a song so paranoid and minimal, taking hard turns into slower and faster piano melodies yet not adding much in the way of new layers apart from what appears to be some string swell in the back of the chorus. The relationship spiral that she sings about is not that specific, wrapped up in analogy rather than specific details for the most part, which doesn’t let me connect as much as I’d want to with a song this empty, but her vocals and those pianos fill up so much of the space in the mix that the song drowns in her regret for the previous relationship, taking a sinister edge with that chorus and bridge being about wanting to take revenge by ending the relationship, which is a draining pain for her but clearly fixes some kind of insecurity that would spiral out of control without her presence, hence why leaving would hurt so much. What that is I’d love to know, because that would make the song more biting and really sell me on the scorned woman angle, but that bridge would be the perfect place to drop it and it never happens, which is a damn shame because there is a lot of potential for a really resonant song here that never realises itself. I also personally could see some subtle horn sections elevating this tone-wise, really accentuating the righteous villainy of her lyrics that doesn’t fully come through with melancholy pianos and a weaker vocal performance. I like the idea of this song, but I’m hearing the blueprint instead of the fuller idea, and I really want to know where this could go, so I suppose eyes are on SPIRO’s next hit – if this can make it through the winter freeze – to take more steps.

#64 – “Sticky” – Tyler, the Creator featuring GloRilla, Sexyy Red and Lil Wayne

Produced by Tyler, the Creator

Like many albums that stick around and not just for a few big hits, Tyler, the Creator’s CHROMAKOPIA is playing around with the three-song rule and having songs drop out just for another to fill its space and this week, we get a track that I expected to swiftly enter the week the album released, that being “Sticky”, one of the album’s bangers and unfortunately I think those are sort of its weak points. I still like this one, though, even if only the second half seems to serve much of a purpose in the record’s overall thematics, mostly as a victory lap but also to warn the audience about how messy this album’s emotional baggage and honesty can get, and by extension, to just embrace that as much as one embraces the obstacles in life Tyler’s otherwise facing. Outside of that, it’s a brag track, and definitely a well-structured one, starting with a minimal, slightly annoying whistle and characteristic pitch-shifted chanting alongside other sound effects that will make it a perfect fit for high school and college bands, especially given the female group vocals that ride the incessant hook over calamitous, Timbaland-esque drums (turns out he co-wrote the record). Tyler’s falsetto verse makes reference to “the zone” – which could potentially be both the gay club and the hood, in a twist of words only Tyler can really do, making the lazy pronouns line later on even more disappointing. That said, if you don��t like one verse, it’s not like you get much time to decide, or much time to lament a mid performance, as the verses are nearly all just four lines, with GloRilla commanding the song despite not even being on the album’s vinyl editions, Sexyy Red flailing into a bombastic horn loop at least, and Lil Wayne clearly having more recorded that ended up getting scrapped.

What I mostly appreciate about this song however is the madness that ensues once the female group vocals start cheering “CHROMAKOPIA” with a squealing chuckle and quickly leading into that intimidating horn loop borrowed from Young Buck’s 2006 track “Get Buck”, and allowing for T’s longest and most fun to follow verse, no doubt helped by the added piano and Solange’s cooing. Sure, he spends most of the verse either flexing or, well, actually getting sticky, but it’s delivered charismatically and over undeniably hard production that it’s difficult to say it doesn’t work out, especially when that second hook of “Better find a mop, it’s gettin’ sticky in this bitch” might be the bigger earworm of the two, especially with how that deadpan mantra leads into frankly the hilarity of Tyler crooning “sticky” on the outro, a word that should never be sung that sincerely, let alone with that much detailed vocal layering. CHROMAKOPIA is Tyler’s funniest album since he got out of his less mature phase in the mid-2010s, and if any song shows it, it may have to be this one, even if for me, its charm wears off through middling guest appearances and perhaps a little too much commitment to its initial, quite thin bit. I personally would probably pick “Balloon” over this, but I can’t say why I don’t get the hype. It’s still a banger.

#55 – “Messy” – Lola Young

Produced by Solomonophonic, Manuka, Monsune and Carter Lang

We go from sticky, and now it’s getting messy, with British singer Lola Young, who I hadn’t heard of until her feature on Tyler’s “Like Him”. I was curious to how her solo work sounded but just hadn’t gotten the chance yet and I suppose what better time than this episode? This song, from May of this year, has finally bubbled up enough traction to appear in the top 75, and is way more relaxed than I’d expected, with a slick acoustic guitar line and detuned synth noodling that I suppose isn’t far from what you’d expect from Solomonophonic’s production, but what did catch my ear is Young’s delivery, which is a confrontational and semi-spoken approach that starts off with a typical smoky R&B style then consistently derails into angry ranting before catching herself and going back on track. It’s a perfect representation of that back-and-forth that comes with the frustrating relationship she’s describing in the song: the imperfect rhyme in the first lines of the chorus is great too, because of how her partner is clearly giving her diminishing returns for her stressing about not just how she acts but how she presents herself, none of which can be perfect for them. She’s rarely actively frustrated about it though, instead going for a dismayed tone that sounds hopeless with how much she’s tried to change and how little effort and love she gets in return. I love the bursts into harmonies from the end of that second verse onwards, they are beautifully blended and the production here strikes a subtle balance, even if that guitar solo between choruses feels weak and jerky, I would have included a vocal bridge or at least a change in the lyrics for the final chorus to make the crescendo work instead of an honestly awkward intermission that turns an amazing song into a great one that could be close to perfect. It’s still great, though, it just feels like finishing the song was the last touch that just slipped by. I am definitely interested in checking out that album now to see what else will connect but for now, I’d recommend checking this one out.

#44 – “Dirty Cash (Money Talks)” – PAWSA and the Adventures of Stevie V

Produced by PAWSA and The Adventures of Stevie V

We’re really making PAWSA a thing, huh? Even with how uncreative he is as a throwback house producer? Okay, well, this time he’s grabbed another great sample, that being from The Adventures of Stevie V, a dance act formed by, as you’d expect, Steve Vincent, and had a massive hit in 1990 with their 1989 debut single, “Dirty Cash (Money Talks)”. The track is a fantastic amalgamation of early 90s dance trends, with some great breakbeats and sampled yelping, deep-voiced incompetently-rapped interludes, and an anonymous diva at the lead vocals over a hypnotic bassline. This track in particular comes with a jazzy horn line too, kind of reminiscent of what Soul II Soul would put out in the same era. The seven-minute 12-inch edit is the best version, in my opinion, as the extended length and blend of samples really accentuates the sinister edge to the money-hungry vocalist. Back in 1990, this peaked at #2 in the UK, blocked by a similar but even better house classic from the same era, Adamski’s “Killer” featuring Seal, one of the greatest #1 hits ever, so you can’t complain, and it’s definitely not been forgotten since. Not only did it act as a rare stateside crossover for European house on the Hot 100, it was remixed in 1997 for a #69 peak, and was famously given a rework by UK rapper Dizzee Rascal, a fantastic song dissing both the people who spend their money without thinking, and the politicians who spend the state’s money without looking over the state of their own country, using London’s slums as an example and placing an entirely different meaning to “dirty cash”. Dizzee’s recession-era rant “Dirtee Cash” peaked at #10 in 2009, whilst Taio Cruz’s “Break Your Heart” was #1, but would later spend two weeks at #2 the year after as part of a mash-up with Florence + the Machine. “You’ve Got the Dirtee Love” was blocked by Helping Haiti’s cover of “Everybody Hurts” and Jason Derulo’s “In My Head”.

To this day, “Dirty Cash” still gets a lot of play – in fact, it briefly returned to the chart under the top 75 this year and is doing great in the dance charts, which brings us to PAWSA’s remix under the same name but shortening it down, using stemmed vocals and replacing them onto an admittedly catchy if basic 90s throwback beat. Here we perfectly see what the 90s actually sounded like at its best versus what we may want it to sound like for the marketable pastiche, in a side-by-side comparison. Once again, PAWSA lazily reworks the song, using practically the same verses and choruses, in a very similar structure, just one with much less to it thanks to a shortened runtime and hampered instrumental, with much less moving parts here, especially in terms of ones that aren’t ripped straight from the original. With that said, it’s still “Dirty Cash” and there is an intensity to the bass and glitched sound that he finds by time-stretching mid-quality stems and stammering some of the vocal take. There’s more to this than what we’ve seen from PAWSA before, but considering we’ve had a hit song that brilliantly reinterprets and recontextualises an already charming song itself full of samples, this just doesn’t feel necessary. Are we just set to regurgitate forever? Listen to the original instead, but this isn’t worth spending much time on overall, and I doubt it’ll actually last either.

#25 – “Running Wild” – Jin

Produced by Gary Barlow, Ryan Carline and Jacob Attwooll

Clearly to draw attention away from his massive son, former Take That singer Gary Barlow is now producing solo work for BTS’ Jin, who has left less of an impact than his bandmates but did release a solo album last week, with this being his lead single and holy shit, of course this was written and produced by Gary Barlow. Not only can I hear Jin’s exact inflections in his voice, but it has a plastic synthpop sheen that’d fit an X Factor winner from the early 2010s, maybe not the winners’ single but absolutely a follow-up, especially with that cheap guitar lick and dramatic pre-chorus soundtracking pure lovestruck cheese. I wish Jin didn’t go into his falsetto so often so he meshed within the chorus’ mix a bit more and didn’t just stick out, but that level of unabashed commitment to something that sounds like a relatively cringey theme song – it reminds me of what the English dub of Pokémon would occasionally spit out – is charming in itself. There’s also so much compression here that a buzzy new rave angle could be heard in the synths, adding an extra layer of just “going for it” that’s full of charm. Sure, there’s basically nothing to it – not even a great cinematic bridge to really help it click – but it’s a vehicle for Gary Barlow to have a cheap slab of cheese hit the charts once again, and there really is something addictively sugary about it somehow. Give it to BTS to make fun from the insufferable, I suppose. Oh, and there's like eight versions but fuck that noise.

#24 – “Juno” – Sabrina Carpenter

Produced by John Ryan

Much like with Tyler, Sabrina Carpenter’s Short n’ Sweet has been able to consistently have fan favourites pop in and out of the chart, this one being a long time coming and a personal favourite of mine and many others on the album’s release. Production-wise, it’s not particularly special, given its love of reverb and those delicate guitars that form a decent albeit admittedly stiff pop rock groove. Sabrina is truly what makes this song, with writing as awkwardly horny as the blank spaces she leaves in between certain lines to let them linger in the verses then a pre-chorus that goes for a much jerkier guitar lick and accommodating vocal line that leaves no space in the mix and even less to the imagination. The chorus, with a wonderful “ow!” to tail-end it, is when the writing really gets into interesting territory: the title of the song references the 2007 film Juno, about teen pregnancy, and Sabrina herself debunked any deeper double meaning it could have. It simply means that this guy should “mark [his] territory” as said in the hilariously cinematic bridge with those panned drums that make drama out of very unsubtle lines. She continues down this line of argument, saying that he should make her pregnant because this would mean there’s a second, even cuter version of her… okay, well, considering the film’s content and all the bizarre implications of that line, it gets a bit messy. Sadly, Tyler still has my mop, so it’s not time to discuss that – fun song, let’s move on.

#22 – “Two Faced” – Linkin Park

Produced by Mike Shinoda

Out of all of the songs to chart from Linkin Park’s lazy, fine-tuned-to-work-on-rock-radio “comeback” From Zero, it really didn’t have to be the one that best exemplifies why the album is so insufferable. The entire record is mostly just bog-standard Linkin Park delivered soullessly, with the lyrics doubling as bitter reflections upon their fans for not accepting “change” – lyrics about identity and belonging are nothing new from Chester, or even Mike, but coming from the controversial new lead vocalist Emily Armstrong, they ring a little hollow and angry, whilst the writing, production and instrumentation doesn’t reflect that by being raw or aggressive in ways more than your average LP record, if not actively re-treading prior ideas. If your mission statement is “Fuck you, we’re back, accept us as who we are or get out”, maybe a deliver a product that is something worth pissing people off for, and not some stale, half-baked intimidation of better music. Otherwise, it comes off unjustifiably bitter, with this entire song being immature vagueposting, potentially veering towards the divided fanbase and the late Chester Bennington himself, with nothing ever really being up to the fault of Armstrong or Shinoda, in fact there’s a degree of patting themselves on the back for their bravery, whether that be in the pre-chorus or the passive-aggressive chatter outro wherein Mike reassures us we’re “on the same page”. Well, not exactly, given you haven’t updated your formula to fit the cleaner production or to make your rapping any less phoned-in and amateur. Hell, we even get a reference to the “zero” motif, the whole “starting anew” theme in the album that is completely unwarranted when what we’re working with here is the same foundation, just worse. Linkin Park can probably make great work with Armstrong – “The Emptiness Machine” is there – but that would involve making the pathetic half-risen middle finger much more prevalent. If you’re going to tell me to fuck off, do it with guts and gusto, not a half-hearted, flattened version of a decades-old formula that Linkin Park as a band was constantly trying to stray from during their time with Chester. I understand why after the lacklustre reception of their pop-focused then-final album that Shinoda would want to leave that behind and return to “form”, but he may have learned the wrong lessons for the frustrated and confused themes he wishes to pull from. Much like the rest of this album, this is worthless, sanitised and unnecessary, and I’ve spoken much more than I need to about this revival, which has been wildly successful regardless, than I’d have wanted to in the first place.

#8 – “2 hands” – Tate McRae

Produced by Ryan Tedder and LOSTBOY

So, Tate McRae has yet another song and I’m really struggling to find the appeal with her in general, and this is no different. Ryan Tedder goes for another 00s pop and R&B-influenced track but with a glassy monogenre sheen and faceless misunderstanding of what made songs from that era special – there’s a male vocal interplay ad-lib but it’s either this pitch-shifted refrain which, to be crass, just sounds fucking gross, or the same exact “Yeah” sound clip. It’s a charmingly unabashed sex jam with busy drums, but there’s a constant whooshing nothingness to everything else, whether it be the crashes, the airy synth fuzz, the Frank Ocean-esque vocal filters on the male vocal, or those obnoxious horn stabs that never justify their existence. I think McRae is in a difficult place wherein she needs to be interesting to survive in the pop climate as her kind of anonymous, generic pop star is not big on a global scale anymore, but being interesting is the exact opposite of her cursive-singing personality-devoid delivery, and it's the direct antithesis of ongoing hack Ryan Tedder, so we get vaguely interesting but completely tarnished messes like this and “exes” to try and fill a void that I’m not sure people were clambering for exactly, but if they were, Tate was simply the first to fill it, and we’ll be dealing with her for a while as a result. I just wish there was more to this and honestly more to her as an artist overall.

#4 ��� “People Watching” – Sam Fender

Produced by Sam Fender, Adam Granduciel, Joe Atkinson and Dean Campbell

Because of how long “Seventeen Going Under” ended up sticking around, to me, it didn’t seem like it had been that long since North Shields singer-songwriter Sam Fender had released new material, but this new single comes as the title track for an upcoming record that will be released nearly four years after his last. Fender has been performing this song for months, and detailed its subject on social media, that it was about a maternal figure that had passed away the year prior, and that Fender experienced this loss gradually in real time, being sat next to her as she died. This next album is in part dedicated to her, it seems, and what he owes to her, and that is definitely present in this one as despite its jangling, almost fluttery indie guitar tones and pianos making for a really big and joyful sound, the lyrics start on a much sourer note: “people watching” refers not to people watching him but how he will look at the public surrounding him when going home, feeling envy for them despite not knowing what problems they may be facing. Youth and perceived carefreeness provide some level of hope, but by the chorus, reality treads in: these people are just running on the treadmill of life, and it begins to feel like the entire town is collapsing in on him, under all the lights and weather. That second verse may be the most devastating – he describes the decaying care home, how he “cornered” the nurse to understand why this loved one wasn’t getting the treatment he thinks she deserved but soon coming to the sobering knowledge that it’s an understaffed, neglected institution that can barely be called “home” – the vision of seeing the nurse fleeting across the home overworked is what takes that last glint of youth and optimism out of him, and the yelled chorus with its propulsive drive and horns give a massive, heartland-rock sensation that reflects being faced with overwhelming wrong and being helpless to right any of it. If anything, there’s a guilt to having been able to contribute to it, and an endless fear that leaves him wanting to escape the entire country, stretched painfully into that strained squeal of the sax by the end.

“I fear for this crippled island” feels like it sums up tactfully how many people feel about the UK and what many would say is a state of perpetual decline, lacking the power it once had and falling into delusions about the shells it has left of its formerly great institutions. There’s not much focus on personal tragedy here – I imagine there’ll be more on the deep cuts – but there is a righteously devastated sense of how his loved one was failed by the systems he’s made to believe are working and supposed to be there for the general public’s safety. It’s not yet boiled into an anger, either, just an overpowering emotional weight that is prevalent in much of his music, and this is no different, in fact, it takes very little in the risk department and apart from the lyrics, wouldn’t be too dissimilar to “Seventeen Going Under” and songs from that parent album. It’s still a great song, of course, and there’s no problem in having a signature sound, but part of me wants something a bit new – Hell, maybe something a bit more stripped down and acoustic – from Fender in the long term. We’ll see next year, but for now, you really can’t complain about a song this potent launching into the top five on its debut week. Brilliant track.

Conclusion

What an exhausting week. So many new songs, so much to discuss in a few of them, and a messy rundown. We’re nearing December even closer next week, but as for what we have going on in this episode, it should be obvious who’s taking what: Linkin Park take Worst of the Week easily for “Two Faced” and fittingly, in second place, is “2 hands” by Tate McRae as the Dishonourable Mention. There’s more trying to snab the best but it isn’t particular close for Sam Fender’s “People Watching” taking Best of the Week, so I may as well tie the Honourable Mention between Sabrina Carpenter for “Juno” and Lola Young for “Messy”. I think we all know what’s happening next week between Christmas and Kendrick Lamar, but for now, thanks for reading, rest in peace to Andy Paley, and I’ll see you then.

[beautifulpersonpeach]

Suga Ain't Sweet

This post is kinda 18+ so if you're underage please do me a favour and skip this one.

I don't do this ever, but I'm in a mood and I want to talk about Yoongi. He's my bias, if that isn't clear by now. I usually don't talk about him or any of my biases, because I know I sound deranged and definitely unstable when I talk about them. But I've been getting some asks, D-Day is around the corner and after those concept pics I'm here to give you a sample of what loco BPP sounds like. I ask for your forgiveness in advance, or you could, you know, deal.

Lol.

I'm streaming/listening to D-2, from the top of the album down, and I just listened to People play after Burn It, and almost came. That's why I'm here really. To tell you that man is so raw it's impossible to think he hasn't been getting some for years. Everything about Yoongi, from the kind of music he makes to the way his eyebrows move, screams to me he's a pro at playing hide-the-salami, Korean style.

Listening to Suga on D-2, he sounds the way salt and bitter tonic tastes. You get what I mean? He sounds like that gooey milky-white thing he's shoving into the song.

Suga ain't sweet.

And he makes sure you understand it.

He serves cock in every song. C.A.W.K. Nearly every song this man has ever made is filled with the most naked greed I've ever seen in a man. The most honest sort. It makes Yoongi seem more vulnerable than the rest of the members, to me. I mean, Namjoon and Hoseok are just as shameless but at least they moderate those impulses better than Yoongi, at least so far. Maybe in D-Day we'll see a more mellow Yoongi but somehow I doubt it lol. Jimin and Jung Kook sometimes give me the sense they have the potential to express their shadowed thoughts as well as the rapline do, but out of every member, Yoongi's approach is often my favourite.

To quote what I've seen another Suga bias observe:

"Have you noticed how the posters are having consistent glitch affects with D-Day having the most distorted version?"

I'd noticed the same thing, how that glitch in his album design has progressively worsened. In the past on this blog, I've talked about Yoongi's love for distortion: autotune, pitch and sample distortion, chaos and fragments are his favourite tools to play with because it's how he makes sense of the mess inside him. And even within that mess, I recognize that while self-loathing is one thing you'll occasionally see in his work, self-pity is a whole other thing he certainly has no time for. The result of Yoongi's process is cathartic release and progressive evolution towards a more whole and healthy version of himself. In his music, Yoongi breaks it all apart, fragments himself beyond recognition, kills his own alter-ego, to put it all back together again into something that feels more right, more honest, and more just.

Everything about his music feels very much to be all him, it's bitter and salty and nothing about it is sweet. Except the aftermath which to me feels like post-orgasmic bliss.

It's how I feel listening to the production on Burn It, which makes me almost grateful Yoongi has said he'll try out more acoustic / folk / classic rock sounds in his next project. Like yes please something easier to take in at once, cause D-2 is so heavy. It's so bitter and so salty. It's so him. So him it's difficult to take it all in at once. It's too big, too thick, too heavy… too much. But somehow it fits and it feels incredible.

I hope that Yoongi gives us sweet on D-Day, but if he doesn't please don't look for me, because I will be managing my sanity very carefully during that period.

Goodluck and godspeed to us all when D-Day drops.

(You're lying to yourself if you think you're ready for D-Day)

*

(I just... fuck, I'm such a goner)

[hinamie]

oh my god ok so i know im late I didn't talk about it because it happened during one of my Offline Eras but . but listen ok lisn the new former vandal album sent me THROUgh the FUCKINNG ROOF to be fair i knew it would like i joked about going upstairs to listen to it and cry when it dropped but i didn't think that every fucking song would hit me so hard in the kokoro it made me wail because I too have immense religious guilt ANYWAY im gonna rant incoherently and at length now hope u all missed me

ok first of all gotta shout out the fuckin album title i knew it was gonna be devastating when I saw it . fuckin. divine interference????? music for god's playthings indeed i eat that shit up i was like yoooooo hes also got a bone to pick with jesus go off bestie <333

so former vandal are artists visionaries kings so ofc tracklist is all mythology n religion-inspired (lazarus/goliath/ouroboros etc) and i think its so cool that theyre all in caps until u get to the end and the final song is denial and it's in lowercase and maybe its simple but i was like ART. ARTTTTTT. and it made me go back and look at the tracklist of their previous album and I realized that the whole thing was about vices and unhealthy coping with an overwhelming and forsaken existence but then the final song was Get Right (still my go-to comfort song to this day tbh tbh tbh) and it's like an acknowledgement that ok maybe none of this is the answer and something has to change anyway wrong album oops back 2 divine interference

i made a point of listening to the songs that hadnt been released as singles first so the first song i listened to was Lazarus and tbh probably my fav song on the album maybe tied with parables and maaaaybe even icarian. BUT LAZARUS SLAPS SOS SOSOOSO HARD god the theme of not knowing how to leave something behind even when it's bad for you,,, both criticizing but also mirroring the actual story of lazarus in the lyrics being like "wow kinda fucked up of god for resurrecting u without ur consent" but also acknowledging that he himself is guilty of holding onto the things that kill him.,,, GOD ITS SO FUCKING G GOOD I FDFGSADFGDG

salt also !!! BANGER not quite up there with the likes of lazarus but it gets bonus points because a. i lov the idea of starting to recognize that you're coming into yourself n an identity apart from your vices n traumas and b. for having two of the most RAW lines in the entire album imo which is reaaallly saying something: "now that everything's bright I guess I'm fine/but there's an art in the dark that took years to refine" and "the spark of divine intervention/that I'm still terrified I've left behind" (ALBUM TITLE DROP ALBUM TITLE DROP) god these two just dont miss and i love it but i am far too neurodivergent to contain myself they need to give me a break pls i am v i b r a t i n g

ok gonna move into the Chill(tm) tracks I think with goliath as well as shame/rotten I vibe more with the lyrics than the actual songs because i prefer my angsty alt pop to be Upbeat thank u very much but can i just say. the lyrics of these two songs ESPECIALLY SHAME/ROTTEN LIKE ok first of all i love the tonal shift halfway through that manages not to make them feel like completely different songs it's just jarring enough like there's been an acceptance of sorts,, like omg same i too am like 'god i feel like the scum of the earth might as well own it a bit',, "the fear of god/the need for blame" fuckin bullseye ow,, "I starve to feed the parts of me/far from who i oughta be/tell me are you proud of me yet?" FUCKIN BULLSEYE OWW

I know i just said i prefer my angst upbeat but crocodile tears (very upbeat very rock wuaw) is probably my least favourite track if i had to pick but it does have a lyrical BANGER of an opening verse ("holding the hand that's holding me under" g o d) i think i just don't dig the overall melody too much and find the ending a bit repetitive fr my tastes,, who knows though it took a while and many re-listens for ouroboros to grow on me maybe this'll b a similar story ,, but then again ouroboros had the advantage of echoing mine own mental health and self-destructive behaviours shdgj

ok so i was crying from the beginning right but the songs that made me ugly bawl were growing pains (very similar vibes to get right but in a "i know that i'm healing" way rather than a "i need to heal" way) and denial,, but starting w growing pains,, my god idk What they did with the mic/vocals after the bridge but it felt like the music was being injected directly into my ears secret direct path 2 my bloodstream god I hadnt felt chills like that in such a long time and idk just the whole Mood of the song having been hurting for so long and only now starting to recognize the damage you've done but also appreciate the progress youv made,,, i have so so many emotions but DENIAL (its funny saying it in caps bc its the only track in lowercase getit getit) oh my god ths going straight on the list of Songs That Make Me Think About My Relationship With My Dad but also Songs That Make Me Emo About All The People I've Grown Apart From and i think its so powerful to frame a personal transition away from faith as growing apart from an old friend and missing them despite any hard feelings holy shit though holy shit . the first listen by this point i had already been emotionally devastated by the Whole Album so i was like ok surely ill get a break by the last song lol nope sorry i ended up crying so hard i think i gave myself a headache

I think I must have yelled about the songs that they released as singles when they dropped individually but it's been so long that i forget what i said but honestly parables and icarian are still just as good as when i heard them for the first time (when parables dropped i spilled my tea on my fucking notes bc i was vibing too hard),, I love parables' msg of accepting the lessons ur (traumatic) past taught u and how it shaped u as a person even if u recognize that that person is someone hurt and in need of healing and maybe that has to happen alone! and i know for a fact i've gushed about icarian (still one of the most gojocore songs Ever imho dont fight me on this) but now looking at it in the context of the rest of the album i love that it's first cause it really frames the whole icarus thing of having flown too close to the sun or to god and getting burned and that pain essentially being the catalyst for the entire Journey tht the rest of the album outlines (obsessed w the fact that the next song is jaded like fr having these two songs one after the other is literally "fucked around/found out" gsfhjsh)

but all that being said not to b dramatic but this album destroyed me it rearranged something deep in my soul and i don't know who i was before it but i probably wont ever be the same :) i literally love these two so much im so appreciative of them its so rare to feel so Seen by a piece of media so to have an entire album hit so incredibly close to home for me and slap while doing so????? i feel so lucky . this entire album feels like taking the first step to address years of hurt and self destruction it feels like losing a friend it feels like finding yourself and i just . i love it so much

[thepermanentrainpress]

CONCERT REVIEW: TEARS FOR FEARS W/ COLD WAR KIDS AT ROGERS ARENA - JULY 24, 2023

Tears for Fears have been wowing audiences with their high-energy new wave for over 40 years. Playing to an almost sold-out crowd at Rogers Arena, Roland Orzabal and Curt Smith put on a show that felt like time traveling back to 1985.

Opening the show was indie rock group Cold War Kids. Their first album was released in 2006 — I was surprised to see them and their style of music opening for a much older band. It took a few songs to win the crowd over, but by the middle of their set everyone was clearly having a good time. Lead singer Nathan Willett greeted us about halfway through and said “Vancouver, this is an oldie, you know this!” before launching into “Hang Me Up to Dry,” one of their first and most popular singles. The whole set was high-energy and a lot of fun. People were dancing, getting into it, and the band commanded the stage and crowd. 

They played for 45 minutes or so, concluding with “First” – the group’s biggest single to date that reached #1 in 2015. Nathan told us that it was an “excellent experience” to be part of this with Tears for Fears. “They are incredible people and this has been a life-changing tour. Thank you guys for being a part of it. We love you, peace and love.”

Between sets, I noticed the pre-show playlist had covers of Tears for Fears songs on it. Examples included “Everybody Wants to Rule the World” by Lorde, “Shout 2000” by Disturbed, and perhaps the most well-known cover, “Mad World” by Gary Jules. This was a cool feature I’ve never seen a group do before, and was a reminder of their legacy over the years.

Finally came the main event. Although they look a bit older, there’s no mistaking the famous duo on stage.  They opened with “No Small Thing,” the first track from their latest album The Tipping Point – also the namesake of this tour. This was followed by the titular track. Then came the first major hit of the night — the smooth, mellow yet merry “Everybody Wants to Rule the World.” Perhaps my personal favourite of their singles, it lit up the arena both literally with phone videos and in the energy as we all sang along. 

Curt in particular spent a lot of time speaking to the audience. Just a couple songs in, he thanked us for coming out “on a Monday… It’s great to be back in Vancouver.” Curt also informed us it was a special night as their touring drummer, Jamie Wollam, hails from Salt Spring Island just outside of the city. “He’s an amazing guy with an amazing heart and a proud Canadian,” Curt added, leading of course to loud applause. Roland took the mic to inform us “it’s fantastic seeing people singing along to our new songs… It means a lot.” He told us to expect a lot of new songs that night (“If you don’t know them, you will”), and that they’d do “perhaps a cover as a sing-along, and a forewarning, some deep cuts.” 

The setlist consisted of a mix of songs from all of their eras, with particular emphasis on their latest album. After a deep cut (2004’s “Secret World”) we heard another hit – the 1989 tune “Sowing the Seeds of Love.” This was followed by no less than four songs in a row from the new album. Although the newer tracks were not as well known as the classics, the attention and style never left the room on stage or in the audience. I heard the entire album before the show, and it’s a timeless, diverse, orchestral release leading to a trippy experience on stage. Psychedelic backdrops and various dark hues added visuals to the melodic, often strange music.

We got back to the familiar songs with the very upbeat but sad “Mad World.” Curt danced around the stage to flashing neon of red and blue, basically turning the arena into a club. Curt and Roland then left the stage for a bit as their backup vocalist, Carina Round, used her beautiful voice to sing “Suffer the Children.”

In addition to highlighting Vancouver as a hometown show for the drummer, Curt said it’s “a gorgeous city and great if you’re a runner.” He also mentioned he’d spent quite a bit of time in Vancouver filming episodes of the show Psych, in which he played himself. Tagging on to the runner comment, Roland remarked “our songs are more famous than we are. It’s great, because Curt can go running along the seawall without being mobbed. I’ll go on holiday and say I’m a musician in a band called Tears for Fears, and they’re like ‘who?’ Then I say you know ‘Everybody Wants to Rule the World?’ and they say oh yes, yes.” He had a great sense of humour about this, and it was clear the group was so happy and grateful to be here performing these well-known songs for us 40 years down the road.

We closed the main set with a long staple hit – “Head Over Heels / Broken” – a song still running through my head a few days later. We all sang along to the “La la la la…” part, leaving the show on a high note.

But it wasn’t quite over yet — they came back for an encore and introduced the band. Keeping the synth beat on the keyboard was Doug Petty. The guitarist was Charlton Pettus, also noted as a co-writer and producer on the new album. They then highlighted local drummer Jamie and backup vocalist Carina, before of course introducing themselves as Curt and Roland.

The previously promised sing-along cover turned out to be “Creep” by Radiohead, of all things. It’s not a song I expected – it certainly isn’t upbeat or cheerful – but it did seem appropriate for the band’s style. It’s also very well known and was a fun one to chant the chorus to.

The final track of the night was perhaps the most upbeat of all of their hits – “Shout.” It was the perfect closer as the entire arena stamped their feet, jumped around, and chanted “Shout! Shout! Let it all out!” once again echoing a club at the height of the 80s. It’s clear Tears for Fears have still got it. A couple generations later, they continue to record, entertain, and draw a crowd of thousands. They may have aged physically, but their music, old and new, is simply timeless.

Written by: Cazzy Lewchuk

[littleragondin]

CURRENT ASK GAME

Tagged by @troubled-mind thank you! („• ᴗ •„)

Current time: about 8 pm as I start

Current activity: drinking tea and pretending to write

Currently thinking about: if there are fun stuffs to do in Salt Lake City (most probably), and the logistics of this year Going Home Trip.

Current favourite song:

That's actually an old favorite but I have been falling asleep with it for the last few days so I think I will go with 最初と最後の空へ by Saito Takumi

It's one of the very first songs of his I heard (after watching him in Tenimyu) and it always does something to me. It's on one of the very first japanese album I bought on the net!

(ok and just bc I am obsessed with it, the music playing during the museum scene in Ferris Bueller's Day Off)

Currently reading:

"Jesus and John Wayne: How White Evangelicals Corrupted a Faith and Fractured a Nation" by Kristin Kobes du Mez, "Queer Korea' edited by Todd A. Henry, and "Flux" by Jinwoo Chong. I uh, am also making my way through the Neil/Nick chapters of book 1 and 2 of Love Syndrome.

Currently watching:

I am finally back to actually watching things so my active watchlist includes > Laws of Attraction, I Feel You Linger in the Air, Love Class 2, Mysterious Lotus Casebook, Kiseki dear to me, and Love in Translation. If everything go well, I will add My Personal Weatherman to the list for my evening, and given the way the obsession is going, there is a high risk of a rewatch of Love Syndrome III over the week end (yes I just finished it two days ago, yes, i know, well. I'm not the one in charge here i'm afraid.)

Current favorite character:

Oh boy. That changes by the minute so uh... alright I've been (mostly) good with the songs so I'll cheat here I guess lol

Nick (& Neil but Nick most of all) from Love Syndrome III who lives rent free in my head right now

and I am absolutely charmed by Tag in Love in Translation look at that little ray of sunshine

Current WIP:

As always, those may forever be wip but I am trying to write/finish the two different ideas I had for what Thee and Tanthai did between episode 6 and 7, and I am trying to draw Mr Ruthless Night of the Horny (for stupid purposes obviously) (can you guess who is affected with incurable LoA brainrot)

If you feel so inclined, I will tag @scienceoftheidiot @benkaaoi @petrichoraline @howdydowdy and @gillianthecat

[albumwalloffame]

Top 10 Best Album Covers of 2023 - Part 1 of 2

I'll be honest, ranking 2023's worst album covers was pretty easy, for the most part. Then again, that is usually the easy list to rank, and I would say that the Best list is usually difficult to rank, these lists are usually difficult to explain. I don't remember 2022's best list being very difficult to rank, yet 2023's was. Maybe I just wasn't looking in the right places, but the line up of 2023's album covers was pretty... meh? Like nothing really stood out to me, and even the ones that did... honestly I could mostly rearrange the ranking of this list and feel like most of them are in the right place. Take these rankings with a grain of salt because, with a couple of exceptions, I'm not particularly "wowed" this year.

Still, there are some great album covers this year, may as well talk about them.

#10. Yes - Mirror to the Sky

I think this is the resident, "Yep this is pretty standard for the association" entry of these lists for 2022. 2020's best list had Unleash The Archers rank at number three, with their cover being a power metal album cover, 2021 had two other power metal covers compete for the number 2 spot, and 2022 had Scorpions rank at number 10 on the worst list, as the Scorpions are pretty well known for bad album covers.

For a prog rock album, this is pretty... well, pretty. The cosmic blues and curved rock formations make this a visually pleasing piece of cover art, it's no Relayer, but it's pretty nice, and fits in with the rest of Roger Dean's fantastic artwork.

#9. Lana Del Rey - Did You Know That There's a Tunnel Under Ocean Blvd.

Long title aside, I think this is the requisite "Throwback" album cover. The cover that evokes aesthetics and vibes from album covers of previous eras. It kind of gives me Miles Davis vibes, specifically "Kind of Blue". What can I say, I just love when covers evoke the past in a classy way like this.

#8. Dolly Parton - Rockstar

Mm-hmm... ROCK IT QUEEN!

#7. Meet Me at The Altar - Past // Present // Future

Honestly, I may just be putting this one on the list because, it fills me with hope that pop punk isn't dead. After Machine Gun Kelly grifted into rock and roll, The Offspring released that awful album in 2021 and Green Day released an equally awful album prior to that, seeing this album cover makes me hope that one of my favourite genres is not dead.

Also, love the hair.

#6. Ayumi Hamasaki - Remember You

Elegant, classy, long flowing black dress... I'm sorry what is there about this album cover that is not for me to love?

Part 2

[david-watts]

Name one favorite band from each decade

well!! this should be uh. interesting. forgive me for starting in the 1940s since I'm not exactly well-versed in bands from earlier decades

1940s: glenn miller and his orchestra I kinda grew up listening to them on accident, probably because of dad's army, something my m*ther, dad and grandpa love/loved to watch. I don't tend to listen to them that often, but since I do have a favourite then well I might as well put it down!

1950s: bill haley and his comets again, this is my dad's influence, but several of the songs on the cassettes he made up for me were by them. I also have a copy of the rock around the clock album that I got for free at a record fair a long time ago and I would say it's my oldest but I have a 78rpm disc from the 30s. I guess it's my oldest playable disc since we don't have a working 78rpm player

1960s: the easybeats now this was a tough choice! I nearly put the rolling stones, but also I think I enjoy a more wide selection of the easybeats' music than the stones' (not to say I don't enjoy their 60s body of work, it's more about the level at which my brain vibrates) and honestly how can I not list the band I have spent the most money buying albums of

1970s: the kinks I know. but considering that the glenn miller orchestra were formed in the 30s I can count the kinks for my 70s band, since I think I slightly prefer seventies kinks over 60s kinks musically (otherwise the shit that they got up to in the 60s wins out like dave really invited his mother to his shag pad with porn lying about) and yeah. I listened to 20th century man again today in the car before I unwillingly fell asleep. shit's good

1980s: flash and the pan was tempted to put the kinks again but. did you expect anything else from me. I wish opera singers was on the internet in better quality so y'all can go feral over it too

1990s: pink floyd was tough since I don't actually listen to stuff from that decade too often. just hasn't ever been my thing? but honest to god my choice came down to douglas adams playing with them that one time and probably being that publius guy (ik he denied it but seems like something he'd do. dude was probably doing it to procrastinate)

2000s: my chemical romance again, don't really listen to bands from this decade. like yeah I listened to radio pop at the time but also I was at max eight years old, so like. I kinda did have to list the band I've enjoyed most in casual passing (also kinda influenced by gerard way using a flamethrower I like fire)

2010s: for half the 2010s the only things I listened to were classical music/film music (aka I had been watching the same films over and over again and uh. kinda memorised the soundtracks to listen to in my head. I did not have much internet access which is why I did that but I did also pirate dr who music to my phone during the time I DID have it) so my knowledge of the music of the 2010s is. rusty. or alternatively remembering the shitty songs people blasted in various spaces at school and I so desperately wanted to make them listen to the fuckin salt and pepper diner challenge if we remember that. fuck it the tso is definitely my most consistently listened to 'band' (it's an orchestra) from that decade even if I think I found my old spotify wrapped decade thing and it says I listened to queen the most. yikes

2020s: abba like the fact that they released a new album and it slaps and I have two copies of it made this choice easy lol

anyway thank you for putting up with my long answer!! yes I was very weird in the first half of the 2010s, don't @ me

[purplesurveys]

1614

How often do you eat your favourite food? These days a set of chicken and waffles is my current favorite, and I have that just, like...once every 2-3 months. Not very often at all. I don’t think it’s like sushi where I could never get sick of it, so I try not to have it a lot.

Have you ever fallen asleep on public transport? (including planes) Only once - on a plane trip from Shanghai back to Manila. I hate the idea of falling asleep around strangers.

What room of the house are you in right now? I’m at the dining area watching the dogs alternate between affectionately playing and aggressively humping.

What was the last tv show you watched? The Walking Dead. We attempted to watch an episode while in Tanay knowing full well the wifi sucks, but since we were getting bored out of our minds we gave it a shot. Long story short we managed to get to like 3 minutes before accepting the fact that an episode would not be possible to finish that day.

...I ended up looking for the episode’s transcript online and just doing a table read with it so that my sister could know what happened for the rest of the episode. With voices, impersonations, the full package. It was ridiculous but we did manage to kill at least like a half hour with that, so I’d say we were still the real winners that night hahaha.

Have you been using Apple Music? No. I remember using Apple Music a grand total of One Time a few years ago... one of my favorite acts (I can’t remember who it was anymore) did an exclusive thingy on there, like an exclusive song or releasing their album a day before on Apple Music or something like that. Anyway, I put up a free trial just for that promo thing then abandoned my account right after lol. I’ve used Spotify for nearly a decade now.

Do you pay rent for the place you live? How often? Not at the moment. I don’t pay any other particular bills either, but I do hand over a portion of my pay to my parents every two weeks. 

How do you feel at this particular moment? Anything on your mind? I’m doing pretty okay. I have work to attend to all weekend but I’m trying my best not to complain about it because ugh what’s the point.

Where was the last place you went on vacation/holiday to? Who’d you go with? Tanay with family.

Does the place you work have music playing? What sort? Well anyone is free to play music out loud if they want to, but we mostly wear earphones. Occasionally we’ll switch on the smart TV in one of the rooms to have a steady stream of K-pop music videos playing. 

List all the colours you’re currently wearing. Black and white.

What’s your favourite type of donut? Anything that isn’t filled, I could possibly end up loving. I LOVE doughnuts and get excited when I encounter unique flavors or concepts hahaha.

What do you usually eat for breakfast? I don’t prepare anything apart from iced coffee; but in the times I get to have a spread with my family I will usually go for the roasted eggplants, scrambled eggs, hotdogs, salted egg, and sometimes the luncheon meat too.

Do you have any candles in your bedroom? Do you light them often? Yeah I have one here but I haven’t lit it in like two years.

When was the last time you went out for dinner? Last Friday was an office day and my team and I had Korean barbecue.

Have you seen all the Hunger Games films as of current? I just saw the first one – and I saw it a lot as it was endlessly aired on one of the movie channels back when we still had cable.

What was the last thing you said to someone else in person? “Is this normal?” The prongs on my laptop charger plug are looking a bit...roasted(??) lately lol so I ran to my sister to ask if her charger looks the same.

Do you use Windows, Mac, Linux, or something else entirely? I have a Mac.

How many times do you call someone on the phone a week? As confident as I’ve since become talking on the phone, I still don’t really want to be the one making the call – I’m in the belief that everything can be settled via a chat thread if you just communicate well and concisely enough, lol.

Have you cooked anything today? What was it? I have not.

Do you have a lot of cousins? What are their names? I mean in the context of Filipino family trees then my list of cousins is pretty much endless; but I do have 11 first cousins, with whom I keep in touch the most. For second cousins, I have 3 that I’d say I’m particularly close with but I’ve lost count of how many I actually have.

What does your shampoo smell like? I don’t know, it has a generic shampoo smell. < Same, I’m not picky when it comes to smell.

What about the body wash or soap you’re using at the moment? Just soap. Have you ever had an exotic or unusual pet? The most ~non-traditional~ one we’ve had is probably the chick my sister won at some carnival game. We really tried to take care of him and nurse him and all but he died overnight.

Any movies you’ve seen recently that you’d recommend to me? A few months ago I did a rewatch of Two for the Road, which is never going to be dethroned as my all-time favorite film. It has its kinks and quirks and fair share of shitty dialogue and ridiculous camera angles (it was the 60s – and particular for that movie it was also narrated in a non-linear format, which was unusual for its time) that need to be forgiven, but overall it has a beautiful yet painfully honest story that can only be executed no less by the performances of Audrey Hepburn and Albert Finney.

Why did you last go see a doctor? It was in like May 2020 when I got deathly sick, which turned out to be a UTI. Shittiest I ever felt – bones felt like glass and I felt like I was just going to drop dead any minute.

What was the last thing you bought online? New pods for my vape. Where do you usually park your car? We have a carport for it.

Does your mail get delivered to your house or do you have to collect it? It gets delivered directly to us.

Are you more logical or creative? Logical.

Do you cut tags out of clothing so they don’t itch and bother you? Yes, as soon as I take it out of its packaging. I HATE tags, or at least how itchy they can be.

What is your dream job? Do you think that’s attainable for you? In another world I’d be making the most of my writing hobby as a lifestyle writer/reporter, but given that the money for that line of work will never be sustainable, I’ve had to give it up. It’s definitely attainable and I have some contacts who can make it happen, but it always circles back to the money.

I’d also love to do PR work for companies that I closely follow and am a fan of, like WWE or Hybe. This is definitely more difficult to get to than the previous but I think anything is possible anyway as long as you work towards it, meet the right people, put yourself out there and not be afraid to make mistakes, yadda yadda.

When was the last time you looked at Facebook, Twitter or etc.? Around half an hour ago.

Have you ever been on a train? Where did you go? Once. I just went to Manila lol.

How many times a year do you go on vacation? Around 3-4 times a year, when my dad’s home. We don’t book vacations if we’re incomplete.

Can you curl your tongue or do anything else cool with it? Just curling it is what I can do.

What was the last job interview you went to? It was for my current job back in November 2020.

--

Do you ever just feel like you need to be alone for some reason? Well yeah, don’t we all get our recharging moments? I’ll sometimes have weeks that for some reason were bombarded with work calls AND face-to-face events, and those would usually knock me out for the rest of the weekend. But sometimes I’ll also want to be alone just because.

When was the last time you wore something totally inappropriate for the weather? Does this happen often? You don’t get such moments here since the climate is pretty uniform all year round (read: HOT), but what comes to mind is my quick stop in Japan, 2016. I was 18, not a seasoned traveller and didn’t do my research at all, and definitely did not prepare any thick jackets or padding or whatever you wear for colder climates; and I had no idea it was gonna be 1ºC in Fukuoka. All I had were t-shirts and the thinnest of cardigans, so suffice it to say I had a shit time LOL. I was begging to go back inside the ship towards the end of the limited time that we had there.

The last time you went out of the house, where were you going and what did you do? My parents and I were headed to the airport to drop off my dad, who was flying out to go back to his work. Pretty straightforward trip; my mom and I went straight home after since it was like 10 PM anyway and we were both tired.

When was the last time someone cancelled plans on you? Were you annoyed? We invited Kaye and Lea to our group’s Christmas party, but they canceled the day of. That entire week leading up to the party I could tell they didn’t feel like going so I wasn’t all too surprised, but I did feel a little bit sorry/regretful since I had gotten gifts for both of them – which are still here in my room, haha.

Do you have a friend that has a tendency to “dump” you whenever they get a new partner? No, but I used to be that friend, regrettably so. For the last three years I’ve been making it up as fuck to those friends.

Would you ever want to go on vacation with just one of your parents? Eh not really, our relationship isn’t cemented on one-on-one time with each other. I’d rather spoil everyone at once, like taking the family out for dinner or booking a hotel for the weekend.

In summer, do you prefer to wear dresses or shorts and tops? Or maybe something else? I prefer going the casual route so I’m more on sleeveless tops, halter tops, etc paired with either shorts or comfy jeans.

Has someone ever tried to start an argument with you over Facebook? What happened? Nah.

Have you ever had an unusual type of milk (eg. oat, rice, almond)? I haven’t.

If you could experience life as a Disney princess for a week, which princess would you pick and why? Rapunzel because Eugene Fitzherbert, duh? How many cans of soda would you say you drink in a week, if any at all? 0.

When you’re at home, do you spend most of your time in your room? Yes, since my office is here. I do try to split my time here and downstairs so I can have ample playtime with the dogs.

If you like to sleep in late, have your parents ever told you off for doing so? I don’t sleep in because I could never. I always automatically wake up at around 7-8 in the morning. How much stuff do you take with you when you go on vacation for a week? I always overpack; my bag for a weekend trip is usually filled with stuff good for 4-5 days, haha. That said, if I were to go on vacation for a week then I would definitely pack twice as much clothes.

How old is your oldest living relative? I have no idea man, I have the biggest fucking family. But as far as I know, oldest would be my maternal grandma who is turning 77 this year. 

Do you know anyone who is an alcoholic? How has that affected you? Yes, a few relatives. I witnessed countless screaming matches and my then-2 year old cousin suffocated to near-death because of it. It made me ashamed of my family for years, and also very fearful of alcohol. I used to vow never to take a sip. Once I got to try it myself, I learned that it is possible to be responsible and disciplined about alcohol and that my relatives were just god fucking awful at handling theirs. I do like to drink, but the motivation to not end up like them is what pushes me to be smart about the shit I drink.

Could you willingly live on a vegan diet? Sure, as long as the resources are accessible and affordable.

If you’re a fan of Harry Potter, are you sad that there’ll never be another book or movie? I wasn’t an HP fan so didn’t really ever stop to think about this.

If you’re an only child, do you wish you had siblings? If you have siblings, do you get along? I get along very well with my sister; I’m not on speaking terms with my brother.

How long have you had the shirt you’re wearing? Since like 2018 or 2019.

What happened last time you got drunk? Skipped out on the fireworks when the clock hit midnight last January 1 in favor of keeping my dogs company, while I did karaoke.

When’s the last time you straightened your hair? No idea. I don’t want a straightener anywhere near my hair.

Do you bite your toe nails? No.

Last thing you said out loud? No idea, I haven’t talked in like an hour.

Last time you laughed your head off? Last weekend when I was watching that episode of Dish Granted where Steven and Tony had to make a cake of Zach Kornfeld’s head. I know they tried their genuine best but the cake ended up so hilariously horrifying that I ended up pausing the video one too many times to just throw my head back and laugh.

What do you want right this second? I would love to be able to snap my fingers and have all the weekend work I have done in an instant.

How are you sitting? Cross-legged on my bed.

Your mood? A little sleepy, otherwise bored.

Did you sleep alone last night? Yep.

Do you plan on sleeping in tomorrow? No.

Do you find piercings attractive? They can end up being so but I don’t look for piercings.

What were you doing last night at midnight? Probably playing a few rounds of In the Seom while having my coffee.

Will you have sexual intercourse within the next two weeks? No.

How many cigarettes have you smoked today? None.

Do you have a hard time admitting you’re wrong? Sometimes.

Do you like potato chips? Eh, just certain kinds. I love when they’re baked though.

Do you give out second chances way too easily? No, quite the opposite.

[bakubub]

favourite time of year

w/c: 1.2k

written for @kal0psi-a 's halloween collab

folding the sticky dough carefully, just as the recipe instructed, i try my best to ignore the itching in my nose in a feeble attempt to stay concentrated, but give up when it starts to irritate my eyes.

"eughh, because of you there's flour in my nose," i complain to my boyfriend, who has his chin hooked over my shoulder and very heavily leaning over me.

"hey, don't complain! have you seen my hair?" he asks, stretching his neck to show me. sure enough, his hair is more white than it is black. i rake my hand through it before he can say anything, my dough covered hands clumping his hair together as an avalanche of flour sprinkles all over my chest.

he screeches, jumping back from me and i quickly use this chance to start running, because based on previous incidents, there's a 90% chance he will chase me relentlessly.

his cough from across the kitchen halts my escape plan, "are you happy now? i have flour in my nose too," he complains.

i watch in amusement as a cloud of flour puffs around him in the shape of a mushroom as he sneezes heavily, looking quite literally like a cartoon character and quickly near him to snap a picture. this will do nicely for the autumn section in this year's album.

since we started dating, tetsuro and i have been taking photos of one another, which we organise into albums by year, separated by season. it started when he gave me an album on our first anniversary, now, 6 years later and married, putting together an album of the past year has become tradition. each season we do an activity that correlates with the vibe, and today, we're making pumpkin pie with halloween shape indents because really, what else comes to mind when you think of fall?

i laugh loudly at the photo i took, his face caught mid sneeze, and it seems to flick the switch deep within tetsuro that i thought i had flicked earlier, and his feline gaze snaps to mine, before lurching forward in an attempt to catch me. i move just in the nick of time and run to the other side of the bench. he chases me until we're playing cat and mouse around the bench like children, slowly stalking one another as the other makes it as though they're backtracking but running forward instead.

"give up, wicked witch!" he exclaims, putting his right hand on his heart and holding the other outwards as he closes his eyes, apparently overwhelmed with emotion, "it is i, prince tetsu-" in the midst of his theatrics, i move in for the kill. his need for dramatics is most definitely his achille's heel, i think as i stab him in the hip with my fingers, and he yelps, opening his eyes only to find the mouse catching the cat.

"and the wicked witch of fall wins!" i yell, jumping up and down, getting flour all over the hardwood floors.

"fine, this round goes to you. your reward? a magical kiss from your prince charming," he says, leaning in and halting my celebration.

"the prince kisses the witch? haven't heard this fairy-tale before," i mutter before he silences me by placing a soft but unhurried kiss on my lips. my hands automatically make their way around his neck, and i lean back slightly as his hands firmly hold my waist, providing protection and support even in a moment as miniscule as this. in the glow of the autumn sunset, painting our kitchen with a golden hue, with the man i love in front of me, everything is perfect. we break off, his forehead leaning on mine, neither of us moving away.

"this is our fairy-tale, with its own happy ending."

looking up, I'm met with his golden brown stare, the small specks of gold especially visible in this lighting, practically glowing. his white turtle neck hugging his form nicely, and his raven hair sprinkled with flour, i can't help but wonder if this is what we're going to be like in the future, when we've lived our lives, and grown old together; the only indication of our age being the salt and pepper hair, and the slightly more prominent lines around our eyes from spending a lifetime of smiling.

because that's how it would be, i think, to have tetsuro next to me for eternity, to smile and to laugh every day.

he has to kneel down considerably to reach my lips with his own, to rest his forehead on mine, but the look on his face and the emotion in his familiar, beautiful eyes reflect nothing but comfort and content, genuine even as he says stupid and cliché things. in a way, he’s promising me nothing but a life full of the music of our happiness.

"i love you, witch," he whispers, as if afraid to ruin the moment by speaking.

i kiss him again, before pulling out my secret weapon and dumping more flour over his head. "love you too, prince!" i screech as i run away. i hear his chuckles as he chases after me, muttering empty promises of revenge just as he did before, and every other time, and hopefully, if my luck holds out, every time after.

---

"okay, nod gonna lie, dis ith really goo-dh" i say, speaking with a mouth full of the pumpkin pie we finally got around to baking.

i watch him snap a photo of me, smiling through my full mouth, knowing full well i have pie all over my mouth and teeth.

“you’ve never looked better, babe,” he says, chuckling, before trying it himself, moaning through his full mouth, "oh mhy gohd." i roll my eyes as he continues, "baby, thth is fudding amathing," he says, taking another, and then another bite.

“slow it down, moron. you’re going to choke and the wicked witch is going to have to ruin her comfy position to give you the heimlich,” i say, my legs crossed on the carpeted floor with my feet nice and warm in my thick panda bear socks.

“how abouth we sthip straighd to the kith of life?” he asks, wiggling his eyebrows with a mouth full of pie.

"how about you shuffle the cards, prince? i'll pick a movie," i suggest, or rather order, raising my brows. he salutes sarcastically as he sets down his plate and goes to get our worn out deck of uno cards.

"i thought you were a witch, not a princess," he mutters once he swallows his pie.

"actually, i married the prince so that legally makes me a princess. c'mon tetsuro," i say, pressing play on a random comedy to play in the background.

with the fireplace going under the television, and our pumpkin spice and cinnamon candles lit, the room is cozy, warm and calm.

that is until tetsuro yells his profanities about me placing a 2+ on his 4+.

"THAT'S NOT ALLOWED! YOU CAN ONLY PLACE A 4+ ON TOP OF A 4+"

"since WHEN?! THIS WASN'T THE RULE LAST WEEK!" i scream back, refusing to back down. i am not picking up four cards. "i would never cheat. unlike YOU," i accuse, shoving another fork full of the pie into my mouth in defiance.

he dramatically gasps shoving a fork full of pie into his own mouth, and glares at me. i glare right back, both of us wordlessly agreeing that whoever loses the staring competition loses the uno argument. ignoring the burning in my eyes, i keep my expression neutral as i watch the tears building up in tetsuro's lashline, his right eye twitching and turning slightly red.

"YES!" i scream as he blinks, wiping his eyes and sighing dramatically before beginning to pick up six cards, unable to come up with an excuse.

i laugh mercilessly and we continue the game, which i ended up winning after he picked up another 12 cards, flashing me the 'please have mercy on me' eyes every time he reached for the deck.

"you really are a wicked little witch aren't you?" he mutters as he gets up. i snort in response, eating the last of my pie.

"i wanna another slice," he announces. "you want?" nodding eagerly, i give him my plate.

"i want a slice with a bat," i call out, referring to the misshapen shapes we cut out on the top layer of the pie.

when he came back, he halted at the door as he silently watches me set up face masks and mani-pedi equipment on the coffee table, the entire pie tray with two forks, instead of two slices, in his hands. i raised my eyebrows, and he mirrors my expression towards my makeshift salon on the floor of our living room.

we both shrug and he comes and sits next to me, picking up a face mask packet and reading the description.

"ooh! aloe vera!"

that's how we ended up watching shitty comedies all night with white face masks on and stomachs stuffed with pie.

---

laying in bed my head resting on tetsuro's shoulder and my hand rhythmically stroking his hair, i bask in the feeling of comfort and my mind being stress free. shielded from the cold night with a million blankets and the massive man sleeping next to me, with my especially cold, numb feet tucked under his thigh, i match my breathing with his easily as i follow after him into a deep slumber.

because that's what the season of autumn is about, really. taking it easy after the adventurous months that were spring and summer, to rewind and become a home-bug again as the weather cools down. and these moments with tetsuro?

these moments are what makes this my favourite time of year.

ahhh this was so, so fun!! special thanks to @/kal0psi-a for organising this entire collab <3

[jovialluminaryalpaca]

True Beauty | Little by Little | Han Seojun x Kang Soojin fanfic series/one shot? Idk

Part 2 , Part 3

This is the first time, I'm posting something on Tumblr, so bear with me haha, I don't know why but I kinda would've loved to see Soojin with Han Seojun after the time leap and her redemption. It's my opinion and I'll feel absolutely grateful if y'all respect it, thank you, I hope y'all will like it.

Warnings: Slight panic attack trigger mention (not edited)

It was late in the evening and it had been an hour since Seojun left the studio for the day, he now sat on one of the stools staring at the empty glass in front of him. He didn't know why he was here but there he was, he remembered coming to this place for the first time, the night he let Jugyeong go back to Suho and after that night, he found himself coming back to this place often, whenever he needed a break or to get away from everything for a while.

He rubbed his face a little too harshly to check if he was sober enough to move and to his luck, he was just tipsy. He paid for his order and bought himself a simple soda before leaving the place. He put his mask and beanie on and kept walking as the cool wind hit him. He kept looking around to see if anyone recognised him but much to his pleasure no one did. His eyes stopped and soon did his feet when his eyes fell on a familiar figure. He blinked twice to make sure if he wasn't hallucinating.

What was she doing here?

He felt bold and decided to walk up to her. He kept walking till he stood a feet away from her. She had pamphlets in her hands and struggled as she tried to hold them steady and approached people to help people in need. She took out another pamphlet out as she felt a figure walk near her and looked up only to freeze in her place. Her words stopped in her mouth as she looked at those eyes. She was not blind to not recognize who was standing in front of her.

He expected his face to lift in a scowl as usual but it didn't. He was surprised, indeed and definitely had no words to speak. He knew that she met Jugyeong and reconciled with her but he never really bothered to know about her whereabouts. But after what he saw in front of him, he definitely didn't want to be that person who would laugh on her face and blame karma and he obviously didn't want to ack like a jerk and rub salt on her open wounds. So he didn't speak a word and just observed her as she stared right back at him.

She changed so much, he observed. Something about her was different, it wasn't like she was not the Kang Soojin he knew in his teen days, she was still her, but she looked so much better, somewhat relaxed and for some reason it felt like whatever that ate her then was not there around her now and it was very visible on her face. He shook his head wordlessly and turned around.

"Ya, Han Seojun." She called out as he stopped in his place. There was silence for a while as she took a deep breath and walked closer to him.

"I owe you an apology." She said as he blinked while his back faced her.

"Can we go somewhere where we can talk alone?" She continued hesitantly expecting him to walk away as soon as those words left her mouth but to her surprise he turned around and looked at her.

"Okay." He said and followed her.

-

"Thank you." Soojin said and bowed a little to the helper and sat in her chair as Seojun studied her.

He leaned forward and took a bite of the food in front of him and she gulped as she faced him finally.

"What I did back then was very foolish of me. I despise myself for stepping down to that level." She said as he listened to her.

"And I don't expect you to forgive me because I am asking you to. I know I'll always carry the guilt of hurting people who trusted me. I owe you an apology, even if what I did wasn't directed towards you." She said as she looked down and placed her palm on the table.

"I'm sorry." She finally said as he slurped his drink.

"It's alright." He said and she looked up with slightly wide eyes.

"What?" He asked as she opened her mouth to say something but closed it again.

"I didn't expect you to forgive me so easily." She said as he placed his drink on the table.

"Like you said, what you did wasn't directed towards me. If Jugyeong gave you another chance, I can do it too. Anyways, We weren't really friends in the first place, so yeah." He said as she nodded and then there was a wave of silence that surrounded them.

She felt grateful that he forgave her.

"You didn't come to Heegyeong unni's wedding?" She asked.

"Yeah, I was busy with my debut and all of that." He replied with a shrug.

"Oh." She replied as he nodded.

"So, you are an idol, now." She said as he looked and rolled his eyes slightly.

"Yes, that I am." He said.

"How does it feel to be one?" She asked.

"Stressful. But, I feel happy that I get to live my dream." He said with a small smile on his face. She smiled back and nodded.

"I thought you didn't come because of well...nevermind." She said as he looked at her and she ignored his gaze and went back to eating her food.

"Honestly, I didn't come because Jugyeong told me that she invited you." He said as she looked up.

"Well, of course, you hate me." She mumbled and to her surprise he heard it.

"I did. But, I don't think quite the same now." He said.

"Does it mean you hate me less now?" She asked as he chuckled to her surprise.

"Weren't you the one who despised me?" He asked as he raised one of his eyebrows and she rolled her eyes.

"Maybe, I was and it was because of obvious reasons." She said in a light humourous tone.

"Is that so? Can I know the obvious reasons please?" He asked as she cleared her throat and lifted her fingers to start counting and he could not help but notice how her eyebrows furrowed in annoyance as she revisited those years.

_

"Soojin-ah" Soo ah called out as she held her friend's hand and pulled her along and made her sit on the table where all her friends were seated on. She looked around and found Cho rong eating as Hye min tried her best to control her laughter while looking at her partner and eating her food in silence, Tae hoon was asking Soo ah to eat first and take selfies later because the food might cool down and not taste the same, Jugyeong was explaining something on her phone to Suho as he fed her and then there was Seojun who looked appalled at the sight of the couples that surrounded him. He was seated right in front of her at the corner of the table and sulked as he leaned his head on the pillar next to him and waited for his food. His eyes were closed and disgust was clear on his face. It had been two months since she first ran into him on the road while distributing pamphlets for a charity event and now they were friends and dare she say best friends because it haunted her how comfortable she felt around him and how she actually liked spending time with a guy who once so full of himself. She pushed her leg forward and tapped his shoe. He got startled and opened his eyes to look around and then looked at Soojin who smiled innocently at him. He lips lifted in a scowl as he murmured something and went back to sleep as Soojin chuckled, ofcourse sleep was important.

He jolted up again and looked at her as she was looking at the menu.

"Ya Kang Soojin. When did you come?" He asked.

"A few minutes back." She replied as her eyes checked the menu out and he looked at her and couldn't help but smile as she observed the prices of the food items.

He missed her, it had been a week since they last saw each other because he was busy with recording his new album and couldn't find time to catch up with her as she was busy arranging and hosting charity events.

He cleared his throat as he saw Suho look at him and then at Soojin and went back to feeding Jugyeong as she opened her mouth wide. Seojun rolled his eyes at Suho and scrunched his nose up, he sighed as he relaxed his face and then looked at his phone and scrolled through his social media to find something interesting, his order appeared in front of him when he sat his phone aside. He thanked the waiter and dug in. Soojin just stared at with disgust as he finished the entire plate by the time her food arrived and he shrugged as he looked at her.

A smile appeared on her face before she could stop herself, she shook her head and looked at her plate, neither of them knew what was happening but the entire table looked at them start a new chapter in their own books.

_

Soojin sighed as she sat on her table and removed the hand that covered her forehead as she completed her work. Today was a very stressful day for her with so many events to plan but she was happy that she got to relax later as Seojun promised her a meal at her favourite restaurant and then a game night.

She switched the lights off, picked her belongings, locked the room and walked out. She smiled as she remembered how many times Seojun apologised to her for not attending the event which was arranged by her and promised to make it up to her. She didn't know how both of them got there but they did. Her younger self would've laughed on her face if she said that she would be one of Seojun's close friends one day.

To be honest, they were nothing alike, she was smart and he was well kinda dumb, she came from a very different household where she yearned for love from family and he came from a family who absolutely loved him and provided him with as much comfort as possible, she was terrible at singing and his voice was absolutely beautiful, but maybe the difference was something that made them different than the others out there, it made them unique.

She bumped into someone and her smile faltered as she looked at the person. Her heart raced in her chest and she felt terrible memories flood her head and she froze in her place. Tears blurred her vision as she looked at the person in front of her.

"Soojin?" The figure, her father asked and she heard footsteps approach them but she didn't turn around to look at who it was as her eyes were fixed on the person in front of her.

"Ya, Kang Soojin. See, I'm early..." Seojun trailed off as he noticed the presence of another figure around her.

"Get out." She said with anger in her voice as it broke in the end.

"Soojin..." Her father asked again.

"GET OUT." She screamed as both the figures around her remained still in their place, while one was in shock and the other was worried. She waited for a while for her father to leave and when she noticed that her father wasn't leaving anytime soon, she turned the other way and walked past him as Seojun looked at her and followed her outside.

"Soojin?" He called out as she kept walking.

"Soojin?" He called louder but she still didn't stop, her vision was blurry with the tears that kept running down her cheek and she kept wiping them off aggressively. He ran towards her and held her hand to stop her and she turned around to snap at the person who did that but she couldn't when she looked at who it was.

"Come with me." He said softly as he took her to his car and both of them sat inside in silence, he started the car and drove to her apartment. When they reached, she got out without saying a word to him and walked towards the elevator. He locked his car and ran behind to stop her. He was surprised how she managed to get into the elevator in the time he locked his car.

"Soo jin?" He called as he finally caught up with her in front of her apartment and she stopped in her tracks.

She didn't turn around and sniffled quietly.

"Are you alright?" He asked hesitantly. He heard no response, tears didn't stop flowing down her cheeks. His heart dropped at the sight in front of him, he didn't like watching her cry, it hurt him and he didn't understand why it did, but it did. He hesitantly walked closer to her and placed his hand on her shoulder.

"Say something." He said and at that moment she turned around, wrapped her arms around him and broke down in his arms. He was taken aback but he caressed her back slowly to calm her down. She hicupped as he stayed still and let her let it all out.

After a very long time, she finally stopped and let her hiccupping self dettach from him feeling a little embarrassed but he didn't care about it. He held her face and brushed the remaining tears off from her face and gave her a small smile.

"I don't know who that was and what happened. But, all I'll tell is, our past never defines us, it's behind us, it's like a closed book, you are not what you were years ago and I know that after getting to know you in the time we spent together in past few months. Don't let it bother you too much. Okay? Take care." He said as she looked into his warm brown eyes wordlessly and nodded, while she did that, a warm feeling spread all over her body at the closeness of his face and the softness of the tone of his voice and her heart fluttered in her chest.

"Call me if you need anything, but for now, go rest, when you feel better give me a call and no, I didn't forget that meal, we will go grab it when you feel better. Alright?" He asked as she nodded in his palms.

"Good night." He said and smiled at her before letting her go.

"Good night." She managed to croak out as she walked towards her apartment.

She walked in and waved at him and he waved back at her and walked away. Her heart beat rapidly in her chest as she closed the door and leaned her back against it.

It was ironic how someone who once called her a piece of trash and despised her so much comforted her and said that what she did in the past doesn't define who she is now.

A sudden realization hit her like a truck. How was she so oblivious to it? She wondered.

She never felt comfortable around anyone in her life but in Seojun's arms, it felt as if she belonged there. The way he caressed her calmed her wrecking nerves, it just made her feel safe there and as much as she didn't want to accept it and as much she was afraid of being heartbroken again, she knew at the moment that much to her dismay she developed feelings for someone who will look at her the way a friend does, again.

[toenzy]

I have been tagged by @constantwords (to be tagged on tumblr is truly a disorientating act of violence and I shall be in touch with my very real legal team) and have decided to actually respond to something for once. I’m getting a little zesty in my old age I guess.

Currently reading:

Re-reading Raw Spirit by Iain Banks for the millionth time

Still need to finish Mostly Harmless by Douglas Adams, as I’ve been working through all the Hitchhiker’s books (handily contained in one neat, enormous tome). Paused as I’m not enjoying it as much as the previous books.

Last song:

It’s probably something by Opeth.

I’ll check.

Yeah, Deliverance. From the album, er, Deliverance.

Last series:

I don’t really watch much conventional TV or even post-broadcast stuff? As I’m at my Mum’s while my fiancé and I search for a place to live close to Exeter Uni, the TV is certainly on a lot. I think we watched Cash in the Attic most recently? That or Animal Park.

If this is supposed to mean narrative series I have no idea. It may have genuinely been a year or more since I watched anything that would fit that label.

I don’t generally understand the appeal I don’t know what to tell you. 

Occasionally I rewatch the 6 good series of Red Dwarf so it was probably that, also I keep forgetting to watch What We Do In The Shadows.

Last movie:

Shit, no idea. Wait, stayed in a hotel recently and ended up watching The Predator (2018). It was awful, no redeeming features.

Currently working on: 

WELL

I technically haven’t finished my degree, I have 2 more pieces of work to submit and then I’m done. I wasn’t able to actually complete them when they were due because of various reasons, not least of which was/is long term grief after the death of my Dad.

Luckily the University have been extremely understanding, so I can submit the missing pieces as if it was the first go around. First one for my Ecology of Urban Areas (a mock grant proposal concerning research into the effect of warning signs on hedgehog deaths and whether such deaths are temporally variable) has been handed in.

I’m about half way through one of the projects, for my Palaeoecology module, a fossil key/mini guide to Dinosaur Provincial Park in Alberta, Canada.

And then I’ve got an essay to do; on a mass extinction event of my choice! (I’m probably going Late Devonian (~373-365 Mya), it was brutal)

Holding out hope I can scrape a 2:1 (my grades have generally been decent but my dissertation was a giant disaster, not going into it) but if I get a 2:2 I won’t be too disappointed in myself, just the usual amount really.

Also the living situation of my fiancé and I is in a state of flux (see above) so there’s stuff EVERYWHERE in our room, and the spare room, and the loft, and also still stuff in Reading so *screaming*

Did you know the rental market in the South West sucks out loud? Yes you did, because you already knew it sucks everywheeerrrrrrreee.

Favourite colour:

It’s black, black slaps and if you spill something down a black shirt basically no one can tell.

Sweet/Savoury/Spicy:

Savoury. I genuinely cannot get enough salt, I always crave more. 

tagging: oh

er @alwaysfaithfulterriblelizard who I don’t think checks their tumblr anymore, @scavengedluxury  @medicalmechanicas @angelofsappho

[petekaos]

hi hello pls gimme thai music recs !!

hiii nonnie!! of course i can hehe! some of my favourite thai artists have to be: desktop error, tilly birds, bodyslam, scrubb, milli, wonderframe, f.hero, maiyarap and lazyloxy! all of these artists are a little different so i hope you can find what you're looking for here. this got a little long so i’ll put it under a cut.

desktop error is my secret little alternative indie rock and experimental band nobody knows about. i stumbled upon them back in late 2019 and imagine my surprise when sarawat mentioned them in 2gether! i think they did get some sort of recognition after that but they're still pretty unknown internationally. absolutely undeserved though, because they have to be some of my favourites on this list. there's not too much information about them but i know they're made up of five people who have been friends since high school and university and they incorporate both traditional thai instruments as well as more modern instruments into their music. they have a lot of live performances and sets on youtube too! two songs i definitely recommend are rest, ticket to home, and kwan jang la. i have a whole post here recommending desktop error songs! you should check that out bc desktop error only have one album on spotify; ticket to home for example is on youtube and you can find the link in that post!

as for tilly birds, i adore them soooo much. they're an alternative rock band with some r&b influences here and there! the guys also just seem like genuinely good people; they supported the democracy protests in thailand for example. i'd recommend checking out same page and just being friendly by them!

bodyslam is probably the most popular on this list. they're a thai rock/pop band who i like a lot! the lead vocalist has a very unique voice and they have super fun live performances. from them i really recommend the คราม (kraam) album, especially track 6. they're quite well-known and well-loved as well.

scrubb gained popularity through 2gether especially, but i used to listen to a couple of songs before then too! they're a music duo who formed during college and i'd say their music is more (alternative) rock? i'm super bad at music genres so take that with a grain of salt. good starting songs from them are everything and closer.

milli is literally out of this world. she's an up-and-coming rapper who's just 18 or 19 i believe and she's been taking the thai music world by storm! she's featured with a lot of artists, such as tilly birds and wonderframe! she talks about a lot of political activism and loving yourself in her songs; she's an inspiration! she recently released a song with f.hero and changbin from stray kids, which is a solid song. from her, i'd recommend checking out mirror mirror and not yet!

i've been following wonderframe for a while and she's lovely! i really like her voice, she does mostly r&b and pop, and i remember her winning something at the kazz awards last year too! she released a song with mek jirakit which i recommend checking out because the mv is also just super cute ... it's called ลองเลย (love stranger project)! another song i recommend from her is วงวาร.

f.hero is fairly well known in the thai music industry. he's a rapper and has collaborated with a lot of other thai artists, especially ones rooted in heavy metal and rock. he's famously collaborated with bambam, formerly from got7, as well as changbin from stray kids as mentioned above. i can recommend slipped your mind, which features tilly birds, mirror mirror, and do you, which features bambam.

as for maiyarap, he's a rapper (duh) who has gone on quite a lot of competitions and also has a nice singing voice! his latest single with milli, แฟนใหม่หน้าคุ้น, as well as his collabs with three man down and lazyloxy are pretty good!

lazyloxy is another thai rapper whose songs i enjoy! he has quite a distinctive voice and i don't listen to him a lot but he's still a very solid artists. my favourites by him are probably tiger cry freestyle and badboy, which incidentally features maiyarap.

i could go on and on and on, but i'll stop here for now! as you could probably tell from this list, the thai music industry is pretty tight-knit, especially in the particular genres, and so you'll have people collaborating and featuring on each other's songs a lot. this is very common in the rap sphere, for example! so by listening to some artists, you'll probably be introduced to others too. i'd say my absolute favourites on this list are desktop error, tilly birds, and bodyslam! i hope you can find something you like :') <3

[newmusickarl]

Album & EP Recommendations

The Line Is A Curve by Kae Tempest

The term national treasure gets banded about a lot, but I think in reference to Kae Tempest it very much applies. An immensely creative, multi-talented talent artist who always produces emotive, thought-provoking work - be it a play, a poem, a novel or indeed an album.

Just focussing on the latter, Kae has already proven themselves to be an astute songwriter, having gained two Mercury Prize nominations for their incredible first two albums, debut Everybody Down and their colossal concept record Let Them Eat Chaos. Their previous effort, 2019’s The Book of Traps and Lessons, was another mammoth work, with Kae taking a perceptive and brutally honest look at the state of post-referendum Great Britain. Now back with their latest opus The Line Is A Curve, Kae has delivered another stunning and poetic collection of songs, with this one arguably their most accessible work to date.

That’s because unlike their previous work which was very much narrative-driven, in that you had to totally immerse yourself in the record from start-to-finish to reap the full rewards, this one is far more immediate and easier to digest. Of course, Kae’s dazzling wordplay continues to astonish and inspire, but with Dan Carey’s production work better than ever, the synth-driven beats will have you grooving away, and the refrains will lodge in your brain until you find yourself repeating them. Also, despite not being fixed to a single narrative this time around, the album remains tightly cohesive with each track beautifully segueing into the next for a seamless flow.

Additionally, this is also a much more collaborative album too, with a host of exceptional guest features showing up throughout. From the gorgeous, soulful tones of Lianna La Havas’ voice on ambient piano number No Prizes, Fontaines D.C.’s Grian Chatten lending his signature drawl to recent single I Saw A Light, to Brockhampton’s Kevin Abstract delivering a killer verse on album highlight More Pressure, they all drop in to help further elevate Kae and Dan’s brilliant songcraft.

That said, even in the moments when it is just Kae’s spoken word and an intricately crafted sonic backdrop, the album continues to shine. From the anxious pulse of opener Priority Boredom, the epic and visually evocative Salt Coast, the late-Arctic Monkeys’ waltz of These Are The Days, the sublime string-tinged haunt of Water In The Rain, the thumping electronica of Move and the acoustic closing hymnal Grace – everything here is all just exceptional and (much like that last sentence, sorry) will leave you utterly breathless.

I had a hunch from the teaser tracks that this was shaping up to be my favourite of Kae’s records and one of the Albums of the Year so far, and it seems indeed that my gut was right. Stunning, exquisitely crafted instrumentation and delicate, spellbinding lyrical majesty – it’s been a busy period for great releases the last couple of weeks, but there’s no record I found more gratifyingly enthralling than this one. Give it a go because it really does deserve your attention.

Listen here

Fear of the Dawn by Jack White

Elsewhere this week, music’s chief mad scientist is back in business - and he’s got a very busy year ahead. Late last year, Jack White announced that he had not one but two new albums dropping in 2022, with the singles suggesting a definitive split between them - with one album containing his more acoustic bluesy cuts, and the other his more experimental rock tracks. The one that has arrived this week is the latter entitled Fear of the Dawn, and it is the sound of a frenzied genius keeping himself entertained by making whatever sound he damn well pleases – and it makes for a fun and invigorating listen.

Although lockdown would’ve undoubtedly drove Jack to messing about with his instruments in the way that he does on Fear of the Dawn, you could argue that his solo career was always heading this way anyway. With his debut Blunderbuss he produced a straight up rock record that followed on nicely from his work with The White Stripes, The Raconteurs and Dead Weather. On 2014’s Lazaretto he mostly stuck to that same formula, before 2018’s Boarding House Reach threw up a real curveball. The sounds were weirder, the structures more abstract and the production just sonically all over the place – although it wasn’t for everyone, I found it a bold and fascinating listen.

Now although Fear of the Dawn isn’t quite as psychedelic and out there as Boarding House Reach, it is closer in DNA to that record than arguably any other of Jack’s work. On Fear of the Dawn, Jack is still playing around and pushing the limits of his blues rock sound, but this time around it is more of a controlled chaos. Where Boarding House Reach would have you smiling in bemusement at the crazy sounds you were hearing, Fear of the Dawn will have moshing out with your jaw on the floor, as Jack throws humungous riffs and all kinds of playful studio tricks at your ears.

Lead single Taking Me Back is the perfect opener, with some scintillating distorted guitar, buzzy synthesizers, and all of Jack White’s signature swagger. The title track then follows nicely with its buzzy riffs, trippy guitar slides and more than a couple utterly hypnotic solos, making for a thunderous two minutes. The White Raven then takes things up a notch with its harsh stuttering guitars and earth-shattering sonic reverberations – without a doubt one of the highlights here.

White’s unexpected collaboration with none other than A Tribe Called Quest legend Q-Tip is up next, the brilliantly batshit Hi-De-Ho. From that point onwards, the album only gets stranger in the best way possible with the rhythmic funk-rock groove of Into The Twilight and the chainsaw-like riffs of What’s The Trick standing out. Eosophobia and Eosophobia (Reprise) are both also great, with equal measures of heavy Led Zeppelin influence, meandering jazz-rock like passages and jittering art-rock riffs. Album closer Shedding My Velvet is then both simultaneously the most traditional and most subdued song on the record, undoubtedly setting the stage nicely for his second upcoming 2022 album, Entering Heaven Alive.

I am yet to decide whether this is my favourite Jack White solo effort to date, but I do know for sure that this man simply doesn’t know how to make a boring record, and like his other work this one is well worth your time. Fear of the Dawn will have you glued to your headphones, with mind-melting guitar work and astonishing sonic wonderment aplenty.

Listen here

TILT by Confidence Man

Now, the other week I was browsing in my local Rough Trade record store, and the most delightfully infectious dance song I think I have ever heard in my life caught my attention. Instantly nodding my head with the biggest smile on my face, I was completely taken away by the rave nostalgia being invoked – if I thought I wouldn’t get asked to leave the shop, I would have started throwing some mad shapes there and then. Needless to say, I did a “Shazam” by the speaker (not a David Blaine move, I used a music recognition app) and it turns out it was Holiday, the lead single from TILT - the sophomore album by Australian-based dance duo, Confidence Man.

A few days later, I dove into the rest of TILT and was delighted to find the rest of the album is equally mesmerising and giddily joyous. Thriving with the warm, uplifting sounds of the 90s dance scene, be it house (the aforementioned Holiday and Relieve the Pressure), UK garage (Toy Boy), Eurodance (Woman, Push It Up) or soul-charged dance-pop (Feels Like A Different Thing), Confidence Man serve up a variety of jubilant electronic tracks that feel like instant classics.

Overall, TILT is just an absolute blast from start to finish and I’m certain even the biggest music snob would have a hard time not getting completely entranced by this one. Intoxicating sounds and a whole heap of shameless fun.

Listen here

Just Another Dreamer by Low Island

And finally on the Albums and EPs front this week, electro-pop outfit Low Island finally delivered their new EP Just Another Dreamer, and it is quite simply four of the best tracks of the year so far.

Opener Everything Before Us is one of their finest songs to date, boasting heartfelt lyrics, an enchanting beat and some wonderful electronic flourishes. The title track is equally sensational, with a captivating melody and a beautifully catchy chorus, before Down To The Furthest Point arrives with its playful bassline and synth-drenched swells. Life’s Work then wraps things up in poignant fashion, a stunning ambient piano number dedicated to a member of the band’s late grandfather, who sadly passed away just a couple of days before the EP’s release.

This a faultless effort from Low Island, whose work just continues to go from strength to strength. If you have a spare 15 minutes this weekend, definitely check this one out.

Listen here

Also out, also great: Ramona Park Broke My Heart by Vince Staples (read my review for Gigwise here), DISCO4: PART II by HEALTH, Normal Fears by Fatherson

Tracks of the Week

Toni / Something Changed by Interpol

On the tracks front this week, the big return was that of NYC rockers Interpol who announced their seventh album, and their first in four years - The Other Side of Make Believe, due out in July. Along with the announcement they have given us not one but two new tracks in the last couple of weeks, album opener Toni and track five, Something Changed. Both tracks are quite laidback and understated, with a distinct lack of classic Dan Kessler riffing meaning neither song totally lights up. However, they are still worth checking out for the cinematic two-part short film that accompanies the two new songs.

Watch Part One: Toni here

Watch Part Two: Something Changed here

Looking High by Foals

Due to head out on tour in the coming days, the campaign for Foals’ seventh album Life Is Yours is in full swing with new single Looking High joining previously released cuts 2am and Wake Me Up. After the dark rock sounds of Everything Not Saved Will Be Lost Part 2, Looking High continues to suggest a move over to a brighter, more shimmering and dancefloor-ready sound. Although it’s not quite as strong as the first two singles, it’s still another fun cut that suggests that their next album is going to be another winner.  

Listen here

Bliss by Yung Lean & FKA Twigs

And finally this week, although Stardust the latest mixtape from Swedish emo-rap pioneer Yung Lean is a bit of a mixed bag, the collaboration with FKA Twigs that opens up that record is definitely worth checking out. With a playful pop melody, killer hook from Twigs and a fun retro video, it’s a great way to kick off the long Easter weekend.

Watch the video here