#Show your love for this beautiful song as we are promoting a buddying singer also through this activity.

[moonctzeny]

love to hate me

request:  celebrity! jaehyun + enemies to lovers + “don’t you want to know how i feel?”

pairing: friends to enemies to lovers! jaehyun x female reader

genre: smut, angst, fluff... this fic has it all folks

word count:  7.514k

warnings: toxic behaviour, public sex, light restraining, jaehyun pulls a ‘white boy punching the wall’ at some point 

summary: “You and Jaehyun meet as SM trainees, developing a friendship until he debuts and you deicde to leave the company and pursue a solo career. When you reunite again in a music show and he acts like he barely knows you, you stubbornly begin a series of hate-brimmed sex rendez-vous. Your touch-and-go relationship continues on, until a song collaboration will force you both to deal with all your repressed feelings for each other”

a/n: this is the longest it has ever taken me to finish a fic.. I have a love-hate relationship with this (no pun intended XD). I hope whoever requested this likes it!

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Of-fucking-course you had to bump into him out of all people at the vending machine. All you wanted was a drink to refresh you before you got up on stage, and now you have to deal with Mr. Too Good For This World and his relentless teasing. His eyes, lit up by an amusement that was also evident in his smirk, stayed glued on your body, raking up and down at it for a second too long. Not that you didn’t like it.

“Stare much?”, you bark at him in hopes of snapping him out of his trance, and push through him to punch in the code of your favorite drink. But alas, he always had a comeback ready on the edge of his lips.

“You look ridiculous”, he states and you have to admit that your outfit, though fitting for the Halloween special of today’s music show, was way different than anything else he had ever seen you in. Reincarnated as Dorothy Gale for the night, your stylists had chosen a short, light blue checkered dress, with red stilettos that gave a sexy twist to the character’s ruby slippers. Hair neatly braided in two pigtails, decorated by ribbons and topped off by glittery pink makeup. The image of innocence. Jaehyun had to laugh.

“Says the man dressed up as Woody”

It was unfair, you admitted, how good he looked in that stupid outfit. His hair was gelled back, a few strands framing his handsome face strategically. The yellow shirt fitted him like a glove, its bright colour lighting him up as well. And those jeans, tight in all the right places, just melted over the muscles of his thighs. The ones that you’ve come undone on one too many times.

“So”, he lilts, giving you a once over before lowering both the volume and pitch of his voice, “want a ride?”

You scoff, sparing him an incredulous look, “on what horse, cowboy?”

He doesn’t reply, only points with his eyes to his crotch that is undeniably sporting a visible tent, and you gasp when you see the outline of his dick twitching under your stare.

“Jesus Christ, Jaehyun”, you mutter with a disgusted look on your face before picking up the almost forgotten beverage that the vending machine had barfed out for you. The boy mentioned, however, was unfazed.

“They don’t call me Woody for nothing”

Almost choking at the drink that was supposed to calm you down, you catch his eyes rolling at you through your third cough. Well, that ruins one of your favourite childhood movies. “Don’t pretend to be a prude. Now are we going to fuck before you get on stage of not?”

You can clearly remember the first time you met Jung Jaehyun alone. You always spotted him somewhere in the SM buildings, joking around with his future bandmates, barely ever without company. As a fellow vocal trainee, he introduced himself to you as Yoonoh, filling up the awkward silence while your vocal teacher prepared the music sheets for the both of you to rehearse.

You were thankful the two of you always got paired up together. Jaehyun was charming, easy to be around, funny. He was a model SM trainee with the otherworldly looks he possessed, almost impossible for anyone’s eyes not to follow him when he entered a room. Radiant porcelain skin, soft brown locks, and a dimpled smile that made your heart melt in seconds.

You can also clearly remember the first time you had the privilege of hearing him sing. Jaehyun had a beautiful baritone voice, one that contradicted his flower boy image but matched his manly personality perfectly. The four walls of the small practice room resonated with his sound, that was stable and smooth like honey. The lessons were challenging but Jaehyun made them bearable through spending time with him. Maybe it was your shared struggles, or how you were always tired and vulnerable when you saw him. Maybe it was those damned dimples, but your heart always beat faster when you were around him.

“Sometimes I get discouraged”, he confides in you in that same room, hours later, early into the morning now. The vocal lesson stretched on longer than expected, leaving you two sitting on the floor, sharing a cup of lemon-honey tea to soothe your vocal chords. You let your head rest to the leather couch behind you as you stare into his handsome features one by one. What time was it? Shouldn’t you be back at your dorms by now? It didn’t matter, this was one of those moments when time seems to stop and life seems unreal. When the only thing that you care about is the person standing next to you, and whatever it is they have to tell you.

 “I fear that I will never get to debut. There’s handsome guys all over the company. I just don’t know if my skills are enough.”  

You thought he was crazy for thinking that way, wanted to scream at him that he’s just perfect and more than enough for the company, or for anything in this world for that matter. But Jaehyun was reserved, the type to always mask his true feelings behind a smile and you were more than glad that he finally opened up to you, that he saw you as someone trustworthy. You didn’t want to dismiss his feelings, so you just pet his hair while you listened to his concerns.

 As you mindlessly gaze at the rainy weather outside, a couple of droplets following their own path down the froggy window remind you that time does run by. Even if every day seemed the same, following the same routine, going to the same classes over and over again.

Jaehyun had this sad look that contorted his pretty face and you hated it, reaching up to massage away the wrinkles between his eyebrows. You don’t know which godly creature made the hourglass of time freeze this moment, nor did you know why Jaehyun leaned forward to capture your lips into a kiss. Maybe it was his way of saying thank you for keeping your ears and heart open for him, for listening to him when he needed it most.

It felt so lovely while it lasted, two young people leaning on each other during an uncertainty that anchored them far away from their emotional shoreline. But life as a trainee isn’t a fairytale and falling in love can have serious ramifications. So you promise to each other that this will be a one time thing, and then you never speak of this night ever again.

Unsurprisingly enough, Jaehyun got to successfully debut, yet you didn’t have the same luck. The company had plans of focusing on their new boy group, thus postponing your debut for an uncertain amount of time. It was hard for you to decide to switch labels, to throw away the years of hope and dedication you had pinned on this company but the faith you placed on yourself was stronger.

It’s years later when you finally get to promote as a solo artist in a different company, and you are happy to say that the decision you made all those years ago was the right one. The exposure you got wasn’t the same as being in a Big 3 company, however leaving SM entertainment has its pros. Flexible schedule, less scrutiny, great creative freedom over your work. 

This wasn’t the first time you have come across your old trainee buddy. Jaehyun had multiple comebacks in a year, so it was only natural that his group’s and your promotions would sometimes overlap. You were only a rookie, and NCT turned out to become pretty popular, so of course the wins were always tied to their names.

The first time you walked past him in the hallways, dark makeup and professional styling making you both almost unrecognizable, you expected a wave, small talk, maybe some reminiscing of the old times. Instead, you got a cold stare or at best, an arrogant smirk coupled with a “Do better next time”. It was shocking to you how much Yoonoh, the boy with the shy smile and awkward social skills, would turn into such a stranger.

How you always ended up sneaking out with him to have a quickie in one of the ready rooms, was beyond you. He rushed you inside before checking both sides of the hallway, cautious to hide from any curious eyes. The coast was clear and Jaehyun doesn’t like to waste time, so he pins you against the door he just closed behind him, face dipped in your neck. You can feel his fingers dancing on the skin of your thighs, eager to explore what is hidden under your frilly skirt, and their delicacy in contrast to his feverish kisses sends a shiver down your spine.

One pretty whine from your lips, then two, three and you can feel Jaehyun smile deviously against your neck. The softness is too enticing for him to resist, so he nips at it skillfully, trying to get a reaction out of you. He recognizes that you have plenty of talent as a singer, yet the symphonies you sing out for him in those little sessions seem to be his favorite.

“Jaehyun, cut it out. I’m going on stage in like, 20 minutes”

“Turn me on then”

Wasn’t he the one that basically flashed you in the middle of the cafeteria for just existing? Isn’t it his hard on that digs against your lower stomach? The demand made you mad, and you wanted nothing more than to entice him with a nice blowjob, only to take a big, strong bite off that cock of his. But see, you had a full face of makeup on and your career is way more important than a fuckboy, so you’ll have to get creative.

Flipping him around so that he’s the one trapped between you and the door, you start to suck on his collarbones , then nibble at the tender flesh. He seems distracted enough by it so that you open the button of his jeans and fully remove his belt from their loops with no objections. Palming him over his boxers to keep him entranced, you manage to bring his wrists together, wrapping the leather around them, then lastly fastening them in place.

His eyes widen in shock when he realizes that he’s too late, wiggling his hands in a futile attempt to free himself. Your laugh is sadistic, making the hairs on his arms stand on edge and you gloat in the effect you have on him. 

Giving your palm a good lick, you form a ring with your fingers, wrapping them around the base of his member. He hisses and drops his head back, thudding loudly against the wall. His cock enlarges and reddens as you move your hand up and down, changing the pressure according to his reactions. Jaehyun isn’t one to express himself freely but there is not much he can do to stop the low moans leaving his lips. Not when you rub circles over his tip with the soft skin of your palm.

He looks so fucking good, all squirmy and desperate and trying to hold himself from saying ‘please’. You almost want to keep going, squeeze him more until he whines and begs to cum, and admire the white beads dripping from his slit and covering your hand. Almost.

You halt your movements with a last strong stroke, crossing your arms over your chest as you stare back at him. Jaehyun tentatively opens one eye to see why you have stopped, only to come across that bratty smile that he loves as much as he hates.

“You should have dressed up as a siren. Seducing people before they realize you are a man eating bitch”

“If you want someone to jerk you off you can go ask one of your little fangirls. I want to get fucked.”

“Let me go then. And you’ll wish you never did”

You scoff at his cockiness, nonchalantly freeing him from his constraints, and the way he immediately has a hold of your jaw reminds you of a predator eyeing its prey. His eyes have a crazy look in them, moving frantically over every part of your body like he can’t decide what to grab onto first. He decides on your hips, bending you over a table full of snacks and makeup tools and flyers of today’s schedule.

“You think it’s funny to tease me like that?”, he asks you with a peremptory voice that signifies you’d better shut up.

You hear shuffling behind you and assume it’s him slipping on a condom, so you make yourself more comfortable on the wooden surface. A hard slap on your ass jolts you alert.

“I asked you a fucking question”, Jaehyun presses brusquely and flips your skirt fully over your ass, pulling your panties down until they’re bunched up right over your knees.

“It’s fun”, you moan out, breathless both from the pleasure and the stinging feeling on your right cheek, “What are you gonna do about it?”

Was the room occupied by one of the artists that have already been on stage? Or will they barge in at any moment to find you bent over and pussy dripping for Jaehyun to finally dive inside you? He chuckled at the sight of you, eyes feasting off your naked body, your ass up just the way he likes it. Not so innocent anymore, huh?

He doesn’t reply to you, aligning himself against your slit and bottoming out in one go instead. Involuntarily, you let out a small screech, the sudden stretch catching you off guard.

“You better stay quiet, siren. Or maybe you would like it if people found us like this? Saw how good you take my cock whenever I ask”

You wanted to bite back at him, but the only sound you could make was a guttural moan. It was embarrassingly loud, and you fall forward to bite your fist and force yourself to shut up. It was effective, yet Jaehyun had other plans for you, pulling your pigtails towards him in a strong grip that has you against his chest in seconds.

“Nuh, uh, uh, siren”, he hums in your ear, his panting making his voice sound huskier and smokier than ever, “How about trying to stay quiet by using your willpower alone? That way it’s more- how did you call it? Fun.” 

He slows down his pace momentarily, as if he’s giving you time to answer him. But the moment you open your mouth to talk back at him, he thrusts particularly hard inside you, forcing a whimper out of your lips.

“Fuck you, Jaehyun”

“As you wish”

Jaehyun was conceited and cocky and a dick, but he was also a good fuck. He kept at it with what seemed like all the energy in the world, fucking you against that table until you came all over him, and your legs gave out. It ended how it always did, with him moaning how fucking sexy you look and how much he hates you, and you swallowing your pride as you swallow his cum. You’d tell each other to fuck off and never bother the other again, until you meet up at the next comeback, to do this shit all over again.

And that’s how things would stay if it wasn’t for that goddamn phone call from your manager.

“...so we thought what better way to promote your new song by recording a duet with NCT’s Jaehyun?”

No, no, no this can’t be happening. No way. Anyone but him.

“Are you sure this is the only way we can promote me? Can’t I just go to variety programs like every other idol out there?”

“y/n, duets by different group members are one of the most efficient methods of promoting there is! And with NCT’s latest song topping the charts this will be a great opportunity for you. Taemin and Sunmi did it. Suzy and Baekhyun, Chanyeol and Punch-“

“Alright, okay, I get it”

“Besides, since you used to be an SM trainee they specifically asked for you. The directors made some pretty big compliments on your work”

Isn’t it a little too late now? Not like they didn’t have the chance to debut you, right? That being said, there isn’t much to oppose to decline SM’s offer; your manager is right and you know it. Saying no to Lee Sooman and giving up a popularity push like that is basically career suicide. Nor could you let your manager know about your and Jaehyun’s little adventures, minutes before you have to go on stage.

“Just send me the schedule. I don’t have to record with him, right?”

“Oh no, they’ll record his part first and then they’ll send it to us. But there will be a music video of course”

Oh for fuck’s sake.

There was this little monster of worriedness that was screaming inside your head, refusing to shut up. This collaboration isn’t going to be easy, but you didn’t want to let Jaehyun’s pettiness get in the way of your career. Fumbling with your phone in your hands, you kept removing and reinserting its case compulsively, over and over again, until you mustered the courage to take matters into your own hands.You knew his number was buried somewhere in your contacts.

you [16:35]: hey it’s me, y/n

Jung Yoonoh [16:50]: y/n who??

you [16:55]: y/n y/l/n? the girl whose guts you were inside in last week? we have a song coming up 😒

Jung Yoonoh [16:57]: oh y/n right

Jung Yoonoh [16:58]: thought you’d have deleted my number

Well you sure have deleted mine, you murmur with your blood boiling, regretting reaching out to him in the first place. 

you [16:59]: i always hoard peoples contacts

you [17:00]: old habits die hard i guess

Jung Yoonoh [17:00]: like the habit of me being inside your guts?

You gasp out after reading his last message, hands awkwardly juggling your phone until you’ve forced yourself to calm down. After waiting for a while, until your face has reached its previous temperature, you feel focused again, and type out your original intentions for this conversation.

you [17:05]: this isn’t what i texted you about.

you [17:07]: we have this project coming up and while I know we aren’t exactly on the best terms, this comeback is very important for me

you [17:08]: and i don’t want to fuck it up

Jung Yoonoh [17:10]: kitty cat, relax. maybe this is a brand new word for you but i know what professionalism is

you [17:10]: don’t you ever and i mean ever call me that again

you [17:11]: glad to see we are on the same page

You didn’t expect a message back, nor did you get one. All you could do from now on, was pray that the promotions would go smoothly and Jaehyun wouldn’t do anything stupid that would jeopardize your collaboration.

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And the day you dreaded finally came. The first day of filming for the music video. 

You had already finished recording the song, a bittersweet balad about two lovers who lost their way, only for their paths to cross again. When you listened to the demo for the first time, it only took three notes from Jaehyun’s pre-recorded verse to spread goosebumps on your skin. His voice was deeper and even more developed than you remember. Long forgotten memories, shoved deep inside your brain so as not to leave a bitter aftertaste in your mouth, came flooding up again. But things have changed since then.

The sky was crying rain and lightning, fitting to the storm inside your head. Normally you'd be excited to film a music video, bubbling with energy and unable to contain a smile. Today, all you could do was let your teeth abuse the cuticles of your left thumb, until little drops of blood ruined the fresh manicure you got for the shoot. 

Following your manager inside the studio, you take a quick glance at all the props the creative directors have prepared. They were very intricate, filled with all different types of flowers everywhere. Some of the fake rooms looked like classrooms, two others were decorated like teenage bedrooms. It was a lot more than you have anticipated.

“The song will be part of a drama OST, that’s why the budget is higher than usual”, your manager tells you as if he was reading your mind. 

He leads you to the changing room, where you try on different outfits your stylist has chosen for you, while simultaneously being briefed on the concept of the music video. It’s kinda cheesy and cute, with you and Jaehyun posing as high-school students falling in love. Certain scenes of the drama, whose plot matches the music video’s, will intercept in between.

You’re seated on the makeup chair, sunk in the uneasiness caused by your co-star. Jaehyun had arrived a few minutes after you, his bare face more handsome than you’ve ever looked in your most glamorous state and you can’t help but stare at him. He is all polite smiles and bows to the staff, and even gives you a formal greeting. 

You’re not sure why you just can’t bring yourself to stop your legs from shaking as the makeup artist patiently tries to apply a rosy blush on your cheekbones. It’s like you’re scared that everyone will see right through the both of you, somehow enter your brain and find out that you’re replaying your last encounter with Jaehyun in the music show’s waiting room in your head. As you try to read through his expression, to see if he’s nearly as nervous as you are, you defeatedly can’t decode what’s going on inside his head. Not like you ever could.

You glance at both you and Jaehyun through the mirror, admiring the youthful makeup. Blushy cheeks and innocent eyes of two teenagers in love, masking the raw lust between two nemesi. It couldn’t stray any further from the truth.

A staff member leads both you and Jaehyun (who is refusing to spare even one look your way) back to the main set. The director is passionately explaining what he wants to see from you in your first scene, but you can barely focus with Jaehyun’s eyes burning holes through your school girl outfit. You block him out and walk inside the ‘classroom’, spotting the cameras and sitting on your designated seat, while you wait for your signal to start.

Of course, you had acted before. Yes, you had expected for the director to ask you for some more intimate moments with your co-star. But when Jaehyun passed you a “love note” from the desk in front of you, looking all blushy and shy and with his dimples showing, you felt that the role of crushing schoolgirl became a little too easy for you to act out. 

And maybe, just maybe he was feeling the same way too. He looked pretty flustered when he saw you dancing across class, shifting restlessly in his seat when you bent forward to tie your shoelaces. Whether you did it on purpose or not, was a question your ego didn’t allow you to answer truthfully.

Most of the individual shots would be handled at a different shoot, so all you had to do was get over this one day with him. That’s what you repeated yourself over and over again. And you did pretty well, smiling charmingly at the camera, with the director praising you for your “innocent look”. You didn’t miss the scoff slipping from Jaehyun’s lips but you were good at ignoring it, focusing on getting through the different scenes in one-shot. 

You were currently leaning your body against the wall, playing with your hair while Jaehyun glances down at you, like a boy that is ready to confess to his first love. 

“y/n, I need you to give me something more shy, more bashful”, the director yells eagerly, but you can barely hear him, too focused on regulating your breathing. The look your co-star is giving you right now might seem loving and pure to the staff, but you know all too well the motives hidden behind his facade. It’s the calm before the storm, the silence he purposefully keeps to make you squirm, right before he whispers the most sinful propositions in your ears. 

Reading him like an open book, you stand still as he leans closer, just enough so that no one besides you get to hear his words.

“Come on y/n, can’t you act bashful? Or is it impossible for you to get embarrassed after getting fucked against the window of a TV station’s building?”

Clearing your throat, you’re suddenly hyper aware of every single sound and movement in the room. Suffocating, even in the light clothes you were wearing, and desperately trying to mute out his words that bring you back to the day he was repenting.

“When you were pressed up against that glass, moaning my name, all exposed for anyone that simply looked up to see, you weren’t too shy, were you?”

You raise your palm to wipe a bead of sweat that has collected on your temple, and breathe deeply through your nose, as if a good pump of oxygen would cool off the sudden heat between your legs. 

“Shut up Jaehyun”, you simply hiss through your front teeth, but he isn’t done yet.

“You know I can’t hold myself when I see you in skirts. So pretty. And you love to tease me in them too, I’ve noticed. Flashing me again and again until you get to suckle on my dick”

You were sure his voice was barely louder than a whisper, but the thought of anyone accidentally prying into your conversation had your whole body raising in temperature. The heat didn’t take long to reach your cheeks and you couldn’t remember the last time your legs felt like jelly, as they do now.

“Perfect y/n, that’s exactly what I’m looking for!”

You blinked back at Jaehyun a couple times, your mind trying to process that the director is cheering you on instead of scolding you to focus. The trembling hands, the fast-paced heartbeat, your big doe eyes. Though involuntarily, you had nailed the scene.

“You’re welcome”, Jaehyun mouths at you just as the staff announces a break. He scurries off to his dressing room without a word, as if he hadn’t just spewed his dirtiest of thoughts on set. It was almost as if he was daring you to follow him, but it’s not like he had left you a choice. You were fuming.

“Jaehyun”, you called out to him strictly but he didn’t acknowledge you, only walked further inside the small room with his name written neatly on the door. He was removing some of the heavier jewellery, rubbing the red lines they had left on his neck and wrist, momentarily catching your eyes on the mirror's reflection. They were misty, unreadable, and with how unpredictable you knew he could be, you decided to close the door behind you.

“Closing the door?”, he muses and in just a few long strides he has managed to trap you between his body and the wooden surface. It is reminiscent of your last meeting at the music show, and the memory of you tying him up doesn’t help with the organizing of your thoughts. “What are you planning on doing to me in here?”

You point one finger against his chest, not enough to create any real distance between you, but it comforts you nonetheless.

“What the fuck was that out there? What happened to professionalism?”

“Relax, kitty cat. I was just helping you act better”. His eyes stayed glued on your hips, once again making you all wound up and jumpy under his stare, “And it worked. You should be thanking me”

“I. Told. You.”, you started, tapping your finger on his sternum to emphasize each word, “Never call me that again. Today’s already hard as it is, why do you have to make it harder?”

He takes one more step towards you, his chest now touching yours and your hand that separated you lands involuntarily on his right peck. As if his presence wasn’t overwhelming enough, you feel a hardness pressing against your thigh, and for a moment you worry he can feel how wet you really are under your skirt. His voice is a low, a deep rumble.

“I don’t know. Why do you have to make everything so hard?”

“You are unbelievable”, you scowl at him and free yourself from his trap. You turn to the big mirror to avoid looking at him anymore, and you come to the embarrassing realization of how fucked out you look right now. You had to get out of there as soon as possible, before you do anything stupid and lose any trace of self control left in you. But not before you gave Jaehyun an earful.

“What I meant was that I am out there, being paid to be all lovey-dovey with you. This is not something easy for me you know. It’s basically prostitution.”

You catch Jaehyun’s eyes in his reflection, and for a fleeting moment they turn a colour that you hadn’t seen them in for a long time. Hurt? Disappointment? Whatever it was, it was gone in a second, replaced by that smile that made him both irresistibly smackable and fuckable at the same time.

“Did it cross your tiny brain that maybe someone could hear you? Staff leaks information all the time! If they found out we were fucking…”

“Were? Past tense?”

“Are. Will be. Whatever.” You sigh, defeated, hiding your eyes with your palms as you face him once again. “Like I said, this is important to me. So no more dirty talk on set. Okay?”

Jaehyun avoided your glance, from embarrassment or uninterest maybe. “Okay”

You continue to sit there silently, but your head is so occupied with a million thoughts that you don’t notice. How you will get through the rest of the shooting, whether your manager is looking for you or not, the coldness of the glass Jaehyun had pressed you against that day. The only thing that snapped you out of it, was him suddenly taking off his shirt.

“What are you doing?”, you ask panicking, but you can’t dismiss the pool of excitement in your belly.

“We have a wardrobe change after the break, remember? And since you refuse to leave my changing room..”

You clear your throat, trying your hardest to rip your eyes away from his abdomen, that you’ve so keenly marked with love bites before. His naked skin must have monopolized your attention way more than you realized, as you can’t remember when he slithered his way closer to you, towering over your height.

“Stare much?”, he almost growls, arousal dripping from his voice.

Every fiber of your being wanted to lurch forward, glide your fingers through his hair and start nibbling at those pretty lips of his. The sexual tension, amplified by the argument you just had, was filling the room like a thick liquid would fill a cup. One more drop, one more second of his staring and it would overflow. It felt so real, that you could feel that drop landing on your forehead. Then another one on your cheek, and that’s when you realized that what you felt was real.

“What the-?”, Jaehyun mumbles as he stares up at the ceiling, a big wet spot staining it and allowing the water drops to slowly wet his styled locks. As you start to put two and two together, someone knocks loudly on the door, making you both jump one feet away from the other.

“Get undressed”, a high-pitched male voice that you recognize as Jaehyun’s manager calls through the door, “the rain is ruining the set. It’s a wrap for today”

———————————————————————

A soft touch on your lower back, an even softer breath making your ears tingle. A tentative kiss on your neck that’s full of purpose and makes you shiver.

And then another touch, this time more south on your body. Fingertips grazing over your sensitive clit. Easily moving through your wetness and finally dipping inside of you. That baritone voice.

“This pussy is mine, isn’t it, kitty cat?”

You look up to meet the face of the familiar voice, only to meet Jaehyun’s baby brown eyes. The pleasure was enough to make you ignore the despised nickname, flowing intensely through your body. You let out a desperate moan, gripping his arms to keep your balance. His fingers are now dragging through your walls and you clench around them instinctively, confused but enamored by his touch. You are falling apart.

“Jaehyun? What are you doing?”

“I want to make love to you”

“Love? But you hate me”

He plants another kiss on the slope of your neck, his hands picking up in pace and making you feel like you’re floating on air.

“Love. Hate. Is there really any difference when I’m here, ready to please you? Willing to make you feel things you have never felt before?”

“You already do”, you admit, only seconds away from your orgasm. The bliss is so close you can almost taste it, but for now you choose to taste his lips. They are so soft and warm that you realize you haven’t kissed Jaehyun since that night at the practice room. How you miss him. Not the group visual, not the idol, not even Jaehyun. Yoonoh.

“Yoonoh”, you moan out against his lips as the pleasure overtakes you, a low buzz humming in your ears, “mmm yes, Yoonoh”

“Who the fuck is Yoonoh?”

You finally wake up, your manager shaking you awake being the first thing you see. The sun’s morning rays are peeking through your blinds, warming your skin in lines. Your phone’s ignored alarm clock is still buzzing on top of your nightstand.

“No one. I���m awake, thanks”

Fuck. That makes it what? The fourth night in a row you dreamt about him?

“Get, up. Quickly. We’re late”

You groaned at the banging of your head that was caused by you getting up so fast. It was early into the morning, as you had to get ready for the mv’s second shooting day. The heavy rainfall wouldn’t allow for the filming to continue for another week, yet aided your growing anxiety of having to encounter Yoon- Jaehyun again. 

You felt a little stupid, like a kid that goes to middle school for the first time, anxious but full of butterflies in your stomach in the thought of seeing him again. You weren’t sure who the anger, that came with the inability to control the fresh feelings bubbling from your dream, should be directed at. Your manager for booking you this job? Jaehyun for making it his goal to have you dripping wet on set? You, for letting it all affect you so much?

You decide on the former, giving your poor manager the cold shower for forcing you to deal with the problems you’ve caused yourself. Checking your phone, you realise that you are, indeed, late, and wonder how quick you’re going to have to make your morning shower.

“Is Jaehyun and his team there already?”, you ask your manager as nonchalantly as you could, feigning mildly interested in his answer.

“Oh, they didn’t tell you? The other team asked for the shootings to continue separately”. You felt your stomach drop all the way down to your condo’s basement. And the icing on the cake: “Jung Jaehyun’s request”

Maybe your manager wasn’t as clueless to your electricity, or maybe it was your sudden impulse to pluck every loose thread of the pyjama top you were wearing that made him sense the discomfort following what he’d just said. He plops next to you on your bed, boards creaking in the silent room and you feel his rough hands patting you on the back.

“I’m sure he had an overlap in schedules and needed a break, nothing to do with you”

But you knew better, and you knew your palms wouldn’t stop itching unless you picked up your fucking phone and sent him a message. 

you [06:30]: i heard you can’t make it to set today. everything ok?

You wish you never did. The radio silence from his number was way worse than any insult, any form of teasing he could give you on set. You even tried calling him, desperate for an answer, a closure even. Maybe he was busy. Maybe the shooting took longer than expected. Maybe he wasn’t avoiding you; one of his managers uploaded his latest story on his instagram, not him. Maybe at the end of the week he would get back to you.

------------------------------------------------------

Going to his dorm unannounced was not a good idea. Waiting for someone to open the door for you, you hope his members will recognise you from your trainee days, or those rare nights Jaehyun sneaked you in when you were both lonely and in need of a… well, whatever you two were.

You’re starting to worry that whoever saw you from the peephole thought you were a sasaeng and called security, when Mark opens the door. His eyes are wide open behind his glasses, clearly not expecting you and immediately yelling for his ‘Jaehyun hyung’.

Soon, the called male arrives at the apartment’s entrance, annoyed for being interrupted from whatever it was he was doing. “What is it, me and Jungwoo are watching the season fina-“

As if Mark suddenly turned invisible, Jaehyun walks right past him, grabbing you by the wrist and dragging you to his room without another word.

Jungwoo, engrossed with the aforementioned show’s season finale on his computer screen, tries to cover up his naked torso in panic when he notices you. 

“Get out.”, Jaehyun orders him, and the younger man knows that his tone is not one to be argued with. It triggers the cold sweat that makes your clothes stick closer to your skin and forces your heartbeat to quicken, pumping blood all over your body. The door closes, leaving you both alone with only the sound of Jungwoo’s laptop still playing in the background. A lighthearted scene that is too oxymoronic against the tension that is just palpable at this point. What the hell were you thinking coming here?

“What the hell were you thinking coming here?”, Jaehyun speaks your thoughts out loud, and you wince at how empty your head is with excuses.

“Are you ignoring me?”

“What?”, he asks dumbly, hoping you would avoid asking again.

“Was it that hard to text me back? Am I such a waste of your time?”

Jaehyun seems angry at your confrontation, his bad mood escalating with every word that is leaving your mouth. He still avoids to look at you, toying with some plushies and decorations next to his bedpost. You realize you never had time to really notice them, barely recognizing them. You always entered the room blindly, pressed up against Jaehyun’s body and with his lips all over your neck, then left as soon as the sex was over. His apathy was infuriating.

One by one, you start to remove all of your outerwear, dropping your clothes on the floor until you’re left in only your bra and jeans. Jaehyun stares at you incredulously, then at the pile of clothes on the floor, unable to make out the reasoning behind your impromptu stripping.

“What are you doing?”

“Getting naked. Seems to be the only time you can actually pay attention to me.”

You reach for the buttons of your jeans, only able to unzip it halfway before Jaehyun has you pinned against the wall behind you, his fingers cool and pressing lightly against your neck.

“I-I fucking hate you!”, he cries, punching the surface to release some of the steam, and lets go of the hold on your neck almost completely. How tempted he is, to just fuck your right against that wall, pour out his anger by pouring out his cum inside you, then ignore each other like you always do.

It’s the easy thing to do, keeping the toxic circle going. All barking and fucking and no real problem gets resolved in the end. He wouldn’t even call a cab for you, preferring to be hated for something he wasn’t than to be rejected for showing the real him. You would still have no idea about his feelings towards you, going around saying how awful he was while asking for a round two. But Jaehyun was tired.

“Can’t you tell that I am trying to distance myself from you?”, he sighs and it’s the first time you’ve ever heard him sound so emotionally exhausted.

“Why do you dislike me so much? We used to be friends and then one day you-“

“Friends? Just friends?”, he interrupts you with a chuckle and a sarcastic puff through his nose, and you shake your head.

“If you also think that what we had was more special than a common friendship then why act like you don’t know me?”

“You were the one who wanted to ‘forget about anything happening and never telling a soul about it’, remember?”

“I thought we came to a mutual agreement! I was just trying to save our careers and it worked Jaehyun, you got to debut and I-“

“And you just threw away everything we had like it was the easiest thing to do! Do you ever want to know how I feel, y/n? First you want nothing to do with me, left the company without even saying goodbye. Then I try to forget about you, become an asshole to keep you out of my life and suddenly you want to jump my bones. One day you just play blind to everything, asking for professionalism and now I’m the one ignoring you? What the fuck do you want? A fuck buddy? A professional? A friend?”

“I want you, Yoonoh. Fuck, I just want you”

You’re not sure which one of you initiates the kiss. His lips are as plump and kissed as hard as you recalled, a couple of tears staining your cheeks that you didn’t realize you were holding back. It felt so right, the way his head pushed and pulled away from yours, always inviting you back to him. One hand was situated over the dimples of your waist, the other lost between your hair, untangling it gently. You decided to lay yours over his heart, feeling its tempo and calming yourself down.

You kiss for what seems like an eternity, so drunk in bliss that you can’t remember how you made it through life without Jaehyun’s taste all over your tongue. When he pulls away from your lips, you almost whine, but his fingertips dabbing at the soft skin of your cheeks feel just as comforting.

“I don’t want us to be like this anymore”, you whisper to him and he nods encouragingly, holding you even closer. “I’m sorry for not reaching out to you all these years ago, I just thought ‘What would a brand new idol want to do with a failed trainee like me’-“

Jaehyun brings your fingers to his lips, kissing all your knuckles one by one and you think you’re gonna burst at the seams. “You weren’t a failure, you were the best thing to happen to me back then”. His voice is so sincere that you don’t dare question the veracity of what he’s saying and you let him continue. “When I saw you again I was so bitter, I decided to turn off my feelings. I think I get too comfortable in that role. I put it on for me, my members, my fans even”, he stops then, laughing sadly, “it’s how I finally got you”

It was your turn to open up his eyes to the truth, holding his face between your hands and admiring its beauty. 

“That’s not true. I kept staying because I knew what was hidden behind all that armor. I guess, the sex was the only way to get closer to you”

“Not because I’m good?”, he jokes, wiggling his eyebrows and you can feel his dimples forming under your fingers.

“Eh, you’re pretty good too”

He starts pecking your neck, his smile obvious in his kisses and you squeal when he lifts you to his bed. Bouncing on the hard mattress, you let him lay his body weight over yours as he gives you a million traces of his love. 

“So, I’m guessing this means we start over?”, he asks reluctantly as he emerges from your half naked body and you hold back from cooing at him.

“I thought you loved to hate me?”

“I think I hate it, but I love you”

[movingkeepmoving]

Sofía, Bulgaria - June 2019 🇧🇬

The second last day of my journey was ready to start. It started once more early but not as early as intended to at first. My original plan included a coach trip from Thessaloniki to Sofía, but as lucky as I was on this trip, I got adopted by two fellow fans who invited me on their ride on a more comfortable car. While I did know tiny bits of Greek, I didn't know a single thing about Bulgaria. Well, not 100% true - I knew they're part of the European Union, they don't have the Euro and they use the Cyrillic alphabet. That's it. I didn't know they were not part of Schengen and I also didn't know a single thing about their fascinating long history.

Once being dropped of in Sofía, I fell in love with the city. Its different, it's full of history - you can tell by just walking around for five minutes - and it's super green and full of parks. I head to my hostel, ring the bell and after a couple of minutes an old lady appears, telling me in broken English there's something wrong with my room and hands me a phone. The man on the other end explains me that they have anogher building down the road, the woman will bring me there, and they will upgrade my single hostel room to a studio for the same price. Alright?!? I follow her and we have a nice and brief talk in English. I tell her I'm from Germany and it's my first time in Bulgaria, I'm here for a concert, but not to play myself - to watch a band. She's charming and welcoming as she's trying her best in communicating with me.

She drops me off with her colleague at the studio house. This new woman doesn't speak any English, so she hands me her telephone and I talk to the guy I talked before. We discuss the final details and then I have a super huge studio with a kitchen and sofa and a large bed all for myself. I charge my batteries, check the nearby restaurants and download the local Taxi App. It works like Beat in Greece, you can pay via credit card and so you don't have to withdraw too much money from the next ATM. I'm craving something fresh and healthy so I get late lunch at a close by fusion restaurant that serves an amazing poke bowl. As I have a full day left for sightseeing, I decide to head down early for the venue. I'm totally on my own this time and you never know how crazy the Bulgarian folks are about gigs. On my way getting there I have the best and cutest old taxi driver you can imagine. She talks English, shows me some sights of the city while passing them, tells me to definitely use the app after the show to not get scammed by another cab driver as the venue is in a students area and he hands me a tourist info in English about the most famous sights. He also changes the radio station to the rock channel once I told him about my plans for the evening and in just that moment, the gig gets announced on the station and Dropkick Murphys are played on the radio...

Boy, was I wrong about the audience. Nobody shows up until 30 minutes before door. The first person I get in contact with is G. from the UK. He tells me he came down as DKM and FT are his favourite artists. Well once more - I'm not alone at a Frank Turner gig and I guess I never will. Doors open, and about 6 people head into the venue, an ice hockey stadium. Once the six of us are in, nothing happens for an hour. I walk around, get me a coke and water and some caramel popcorn as apperently this is what you can buy at a gig in Sofia. Franks set is moved back by 20 minutes and once he enters the stage there are some hundred people inside the venue while the rest is still out front smoking. (For the first time of this tour, the promoter made actually sure that nobody is smoking indoors! It's a blessing!)

Once more some Frank Turner fans gather around close to the front. I can hear them singing both on my left and my right side, which makes me smile like a nutter and sing even louder. It's once more utterly insane to whitnes Franks first gig in Bulgaria. I guess it's pretty hard regarding the size of the venue and the small amount of people who do know him. But it doesn't stop him. No, he tries even harder, chats his bits through the Bulgarian language and he even managed to sing "Eulogy" in it. It's like his magic trick, everytime he does that, the crowds starts to respect him a tiny bit more. He tells the crowd how crazy it is for him to finally play a show in Bulgaria and says its pretty special to him as he wrote his university dissertation about British-Bulgarian relationships. This evening I sing extra loud during "I still believe" - as it somehow became the song of my trip to the East. I would never had thought that I would travel all the way down to Greece to see my favourite artist opening up for an American band. Well in the end I travelled to those places and the shows were the red cherry on top of doing the trip.

Sofia was finally the gig where I was able to witness a FULL Dropkick Murphys gig. I got me a seat on the side and enjoyed the non smoking environment. From the very first start about 2700 people went nuts. While looking around I saw so many happy faces and I once more realised how lucky I am living in Berlin with 5-10 gigs every day. These people had to wait more than 20 years to see Dropkick Murphys play in their city - in their country. And the guys from Massachusetts showed them what Punkrock was about. At one point singer Ken stopped the band as he saw someone in the crowd doing Nazi salutes. Ken was all about to jump into the crowd and fight that guy. Everything happened at the other side of the room, I didn't see anything besides a raging singer. But in this moment Ken earned a lot of respect from my end.

Luckily the show was ready to continue and I wandered a bit around until a friend of the band invited me to come up sidestage to become part of the final stage invasion of my tour. I've been side stage for many shows in my life, but to see this wild and happy crowd from up there made my heart jump with joy. It was beautiful and being part of the stage invasion some minutes later felt absolutely unreal. Do you know this feeling when you just think you're dreaming? That was me, dancing and singing around on a stage in Sofía, Bulgaria. Even when I look back to it now, I can not really believe this did actually happen to me.

Sometimes life is full of big surprises and I'm still so happy I decided to do this trip when all my fellow gig buddies said they wouldn't join. Traveling and going to my gigs on my very own made me learn a lot about myself but also a lot about those foreign countries and their people who react differently to you if you actually interact with them. When you're travelling in a group you tend to keep to yourself and turn around to keep chatting in your group conversation. This wasn't possible for me, I had to get in contact with people and I loved it! One more day in Sofia ahead...

[rohinirajdev]

Mai Hoon Ek Apsara Full Song || Romantic Love Song

MAI HOON EK APSARA" Full Song. Please support us in our mission to Empower Women and Educate Girl Children of underprivileged backgrounds. We need your support and love in this effort because it's an effort of INDRAPRASTHA ALL INDIA SPORTS FOUNDATION (NGO).

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[deliverydefresas]

we know the start, we know the end, masters of the scene

here you have it my friends, part 3. shout out to my baked goods for helping me in this long and boring process xD 

1 | 2 

AU: Matteo Balsano is a famous singer who has been crushing on this one girl he saw every day behind a window many years ago, back when he first started recording his debut album and inspired his first big hit, “Princesa”. Luna Valente, professional Olympic skater turned actress is at a local (and very popular) talk show to promote her breakout movie. This is where it all starts.

BENSON VS SMITH: LOVE RIVALS?

After a couple of weeks of the stars of SHATTERED WINGS being photographed together with Matteo Balsano in what appeared to be a heated discussion, sources to the off and on couple conformed by Smith and Balsano, confirm it was all caused by Smith’s jealousy.

The actress was apparently ‘incredibly upset’ when she learnt what had really happened in JA JAZMIN’s dressing room minutes prior to their cast interview in the show, more so after in said interview Mexico’s ‘Little Sun’ hinted the incident to its international audience.

However, as their promotional tour around the globe for their very acclaimed movie continues, the duo has done nothing but deny all rumors regarding their rivalry; with Smith going as far as calling Balsano ‘an idiot I wouldn’t fight over for’. Benson affirms it’s a matter taken out of context by the fans and media.

The SHATTERED WINGS stars are set to return to the city after two months on the road two days from now, bringing home numerous ticket records from all around the world, as well as the critic’s overruling acceptance.

For more scoop on these three, click here!

Had it really been two months?

They hadn’t even able to finish their conversation, much less his apology from coming off as a creep. Now it’d been two months, and probably wouldn’t have the chance to see her again. Ámbar had warned him she’d kick his balls if he even dared to ask about her when she came back, and his relationship with Simón was anything but close to ask such manner.

Basically, he’d be stuck in her mind as a creepy memory. He didn’t like it, but he might as well accept it until he found a way to clear the water; not only for her sake, but for his too.

“You keep track of the media, now? We have a PR team for that, y’know?” his manager asked from over his shoulder, not missing the open article on his phone.

“I’m not. It was just a suggested article, that’s all.”

“Suggested means you’ve read articles like that one more than once.” Delfi arched her brow, questioning him while she sat on the chair next to his. Maybe citing her in his apartment wasn’t a good idea, he had no way to evade her questions in his own home.

“Maybe Gastón has.”

“From your phone?” He didn’t have an answer for that. “Hey, it’s okay, I’m not judging you. There’s nothing wrong with keeping personal tabs about what the world has to say about you. Just don’t get too fixated on with it, it’s not healthy.”  

“It’s not even an article about myself.” He admitted. There were no secrets between them, and he’d learnt that the cleanest they were between each other, the less problematic it’d get when it came to talk about and planning his career moves. Plus, Delfina knew how to keep everything confidential, which was the reason he’d chosen to take Ámbar’s advice so many years ago when she suggested Delfi to work with.

“Let me guess, this is about the Sol girl?”

“Luna.” He corrected quickly, not even realizing he’d done it until Delfi gave him ‘the look’. She didn’t comment on it, though.

“Luna, right. What worries you in that matter? You were the one who told me not to release any statement.”

“I guess I just – I don’t know, she’s new to this world.”

“Are you worried she can’t handle it? I wouldn’t, I know her team, she’s in good hands. And from what Pedro has told me, Simón warned her about everything that’d come her way, so she wouldn’t walk in blind.”

He’d forgotten she was seeing Simón’s best friend. “Still, I haven’t apologized yet.”

“Is this the reason of your writing block?” she asked suspiciously, folding her arms. Her tone wasn’t accusative, nor was her face annoyed, but he still felt bad it was that noticeable.

“Is it that obvious?”

“You’re not subtle, buddy, but don’t worry because no one else has noticed.” Yet. “You got time, the deadline isn’t for another year, there’s no pressure from the label.”

“But?” he knew better than to think there wasn’t one.

“But you know post-production is long AF, and your perfectionist ass will drag it as much as your brain can… if you don’t hurry with the base songs it’ll only make it longer.”    

He groaned lowly, “I know.”

“I’m going now. I’ll call you tomorrow to schedule another time, okay?” She told him as she stood from her seat to grab her purse. Their meeting had gone nowhere, but then again, he had no progress in his songwriting and he was on a break until his next album released, so there wasn’t much to discuss to begin with. “I’d advise you to go and try to find yourself a muse, though.”

“Yeah, I’ll-” Wait. A muse. He needed to find his muse. Matteo called for her before she could get out of the apartment, startling the even more confused girl.

“I need you to help me find her.”

“Are you excited to be back?”

“Aren’t you excited to be back? This is huge for you Nina!” she told her friend excitedly, holding onto her arm while they walked through the airport to wait for Simón, who was picking them up. “A new book! That’s not an everyday thing!”

“It’s just a photography book, Luna. Not a big deal.”

“Just? What have I told you of selling yourself short? The book and the quotes are beautiful and it’s definitely a big deal!”

Nina beamed at her, “thank you. I’m nervous, what if people don’t like it as much as the others? I would die if it flops, or if they question why I’m even still coming out with these.”

“Nonsense! Felicity’s fans are loyal, and they’ll love your work no matter what, have more faith in them!” she bumped her shoulder against her lightly.

“You never answered me.”

“About what?”

It was Nina’s turn to bump her shoulder. “I asked you if you were excited.”

“I’m so happy I’ll finally be in my bed again. I hate sleeping in unfamiliar places.”  

“You got to sleep on your house in México, though.”

“I almost didn’t leave.” She admitted with a giggle.

Both fell into a comfortable silence afterwards, in no hurry to keep the conversation flowing. Travelling together, living together, and knowing each other after so many years made it easy to stay in silence without it being awkward. Simón joked all the time that they were a married couple, and the only thing they needed now was a dog (mostly because he wanted one, too), and Luna could swear they’d have one already if it weren’t for Nina being strongly allergic to pets.

That, and that their time was mostly spent travelling between competitions and cool places for Nina to take photographs for her blog or her books.

She sighed silently when she remembered the competitions. Now that her ties with the movie were almost over, she needed to get her thoughts straight and decide what she was going to do next. Will she be able to compete again after the break? Did she even want to? Everyone had warned her already that everything in the skating community would change for her after this. More exposure usually meant double the pressure; and she wasn’t sure it’d sit well with her. She skated because she loved to, not because she wanted to be the best, or have everyone thinking she was. Juliana had told her that was why she fought so hard for her to play her in her movie, why she reminded her of herself.

But, did she want to change her career? She loved the experience of acting, loved how fun it was to pretend to be someone else for a while every day, but she didn’t love it the way she’d seen Ámbar do it. For the blonde, you could see, hear, feel how much she loved what she did. The girl poured everything into what she did, and she succeed marvelously. The thing all critics agreed on from all over the continents was exactly that: Luna glowed the most when she was skating, and when she spoke about how much the sport meant for her; yet, Ámbar shone in all of hers because she made you believe them, which made up for her lack of experience in the sport.

So, now she had to pick what exactly to do. If she wanted to go to the next Olympics she’d have to start her training as soon as possible, even if she was on a technical ‘break’.

“What are you thinking so hard about?”

“Huh?”

Nina smiled, “you seemed to be lost – even more than usual- in your thoughts. What’s up?”

“Nothing, just… the future, I guess.” She sighed again. Luckily, her friend knew her better than anyone and gave her a short, but strong, hug.

“You still have some time to think about it, don’t go crazy.”

“Time flies, though.”

“Aren’t you the first to say time isn’t real?” Nina joked, mocking her accent a little.

“I don’t speak like that!”

Both laughed, ignoring the annoyed looks some – probably jetlagged- people threw their way.

“But, for real, Luna, you don’t even have to choose between the two. You can always pick something else; some people will be disappointed, yes, but it’s your choice. Do what makes you happy.”

“What would I do without you, Watson?” she half joked, half seriously questioned. Nina beamed at her once more.

“The same thing I’d be without you – be my less great self.”  

“True that.” Luna pretended to cheer with her imaginary cup, her friend being quick to follow her suit. “Now, call Simon. He’s late and Felicity can’t be late for her own book release.”

“Aye, aye, capt’n!”

He wasn’t going to lie, he was nervous. (He also could almost hear Gastón’s voice in his head correcting him to nervous-wreck – he kinda agreed).

Delfi, bless her, hadn’t even bait an eye when he asked her to ask Pedro about Luna’s possible whereabouts in the city. He felt like a total stalker, so he ruled out her house and the rink she skated at, as well as the gym and Simón’s apartment. Thankfully, Delfi was able to get him last-minute invitations to an event she was going to be at.

Originally, he’d thought about going solo, so the possible – or most likely, probable- embarrassments would be for him only to know. However, as soon as Gastón heard the event was Felicity For Now’s newest book launch he’d made him ask Delfi for a plus one pass (God forbid his friend asked his ex for a favor). And, since Pedro was apparently a close friend to Felicity herself, she tagged along too. She was a lot more considerate than Gastón, though, because she promised not to cross him while his ‘apology’ took place.

“I can’t believe we’re going to see Felicity’s real identity.” Gastón gushed beside him, now at the party, careful to keep his tone low. Not because he didn’t want to embarrass him, but himself.

“Calm down, fanboy. We still have the whole party to look forward to.”

Matteo, on his own, was more worried about making himself look like a fool. He knew he’d already stood out – his black suit was a lot more formal than everyone else’s semi-formal attire- but if that wasn’t enough, the way he kept glancing around like a lost puppy made more than person stare at him for a moment.

He was too concentrated on finding her on the crowd.

Not that the crowd was too big – it was rather small, actually- but still, he didn’t want to miss her; if she was there at all.

“Do you know how long I’ve wondered who she was or how she looked like? Years! I’ll finally put a face to the character!”

“Character? I thought her book was consisted only of pictures.”

“Well, yeah. They’re pictures but they’re ordered in a sequence that tells you about her life and short quotes to help you understand the concept. It’s like a photographic journal of herself.”

“Yet she never shows her face?”  

“Nope, it’s always shadowed or blurred out.” Gastón sounded bummed out by this. He must’ve really been wondering about this mystery girl longer that he knew about. Matteo felt almost bad he wasn’t aware of this, even if his best friend never really told him about his fanboy life.

He palmed his back lightly, “cheer up, bud. Tonight’s your night.”

“Matteo, Gastón!” he knew that voice. When he turned to the direction of the call, he wasn’t surprised to see Simón. Matteo should’ve figured out that if not only Luna, but Pedro were here, then he would too.

“Hi, man.”

The guitarist threw him a smile. “What a surprise! I’ve never seen you two in events like these before.”

“Yeah, well, Gastón here is a big fan of hers.” He pointed to his friend, “and I was free from songwriting, so I came too.”

“How’s that coming along? Wrote another hit yet?”

Matteo grimaced slightly, “I’m blocked, so no. How’s your album?”

“Ouch, man, that sucks.” Simón patted his shoulder sympathetically, “we’re still editing ours out, gotta choose the right songs before we pass the final demo.”

That brought back memories. Hadn’t they been in the same exact situation six years ago, the same day he saw her for the first time? He, staring on a blank music sheet, desperately trying to find inspiration for his debut album, while Simón – and her- were on the room across listening and trying to choose which tracks to pass?

He mentally sighed. Everyone was right, he was a creep.

Simón must’ve not noticed his momentary train to his memories, because he continued talking, “- she’s not here yet, if she’s the one you’ve been looking for the past hour. Felicity is arriving with her.”

“Who?”

The guitarist was amused. “Luna. She’s arriving with Felicity in ten minutes.” His heart almost busted with this information. However, when he realized what Simón was probably thinking, he went into denying mode.

“Oh- no, no, no. I wasn’t- I didn’t- she’s not why-” Simón laughed.

“Don’t worry, man, Delfi explained to us you came to apologize to her for the headlines. It’s chill.”

He was so firing her for this (no, he wasn’t). “She did?”

“Getting last-minute invitations for this is hard, if not impossible. Especially since Ni- Felicity handpicks her guests for privacy reasons.”

“I didn’t know Delfi was that close with her.”

“She’s not, Pedro is. I gave my five cents in your favor, too.”

“Thank you.” He meant it. Simón just patted his shoulder once more and reminded him of the time, pointing to the entrance before leaving to mingle with other guests. A question popped in his head, “are they always late?”

Gastón, who’d remained quiet during his exchange with Simón, chuckled, “you really went to la la lunaland, didn’t you?” Matteo flipped him off, “Simón said he was late to pick them up at the airport, so they went behind schedule because of this.”

His friend went quiet after this, anxiously waiting for the main door to open. Matteo sipped on his forgotten drink, trying to calm his own nerves. Five minutes later, it happened.

The door opened, and in came Luna and her friend – Felicity, as his friend had mumbled beside him, smiling and hugging everyone that came to greet them. He noticed how Luna would fall a couple steps back from the photographer, letting her take all the attention.

He wanted to go there and say hi, he really did, but it was as if he was glued to his spot. Watching her laugh, smile, and talk to others from afar was the sight he was used to, and to get closer, on his own (Gastón had fled to Felicity as soon as she’d entered) was something he wasn’t sure he was ready for.

Just jail him already, really. His creepiness was scaring him too.

In the end, he waited until the whole book introduction was made, the food was eaten, drinks were drunk, to go ask her for a minute (or twenty). When she saw him, he could see she was taken aback; no one had told her he’d be there, however, she still smiled at him.

“Hi.” Gosh, was he lame.

“Hi!” she managed to sound somewhat excited to see him. Surprising, really.

“Do you think I could steal you for a couple minutes? I still haven’t apologized.” He got closer, being careful not to step into her personal bubble, and offered her his hand.

She didn’t even hesitate to take it, leading him to a quiet place to talk. They ended up in the terrace, sitting down on a bench near a lit – and warm- candle arrangement.

He wasn’t sure how to begin his apology. Should he just say sorry? Should he explain why he knew her? Why he knew she liked to be called Luna instead of Sol? Should he pretend he was star-struck that day?

“I’m sorry.”

That wasn’t his voice speaking for him.

“What?”

Luna sighed quietly, posing her bright green eyes on his own, “I know it’s my fault our names – and Ámbar’s- have been on the headlines lately. I’m sorry I put you in this situation, it must be very annoying, since you’re on your break from it.”

He shook his head, “no, no, no, no. It’s my fault. I was the one who dragged Ámbar with me and the only one who should be apologizing for my actions the night we met.” He didn’t add that his creepiness was an on-going thing, “you have nothing to apologize for. It’s all on me.”

Her face scrunched up. It was cute. “I was the one who answered wrongly with Jazmín. Had I not, the media would have no idea, or perhaps would write a different story.”

“That’s on Jazmín, not on you, Luna. She lives for making other people gossip about their lives.”

“Still, I feel bad and I apologize for it.”

Matteo sighed, “I told you, you have no reason to do so. I, on the other hand, am sorry I came off like I did. I just, well, you remind me of someone I met many years ago.”

She smiled, “do I?”

“Yeah. She was just as tiny and pocket-sized.”

“Okay, now you’re pulling my leg.” Luna laughed, her bright eyes shinning even more as the laughter reached them.

“Jokes aside, I’m sorry I made you feel uncomfortable.” Her smile remained.

“Apology accepted; but only if you accept mine.”

“Oh, but I can’t do that. Such a beautiful miss like yourself shouldn’t be apologizing for nothing.” He could see her compliment affected her in the light pink shade that now covered her cheeks, “besides, you seem to be forgetting I’ve been on the headlines longer than you. This is nothing, really.”

“But you’re on a break.”

He sighed, “yes, but like it or not it’s still publicity. It helps me stick around for a little longer.”

“So, you don’t mind being in the headlines even if they’re lies?”

“They have an image of me already; it’s not a lie, and it’s not a truth, but it’s still a part of who I am.” He had confused her now, he knew it. The small frown was proof of it. “If you choose to stick in this job you’ll understand.”

“I’m not sure I will.”

He guessed so. “Going for another gold, then?”

“Not sure of that, either.” That surprised him. Partly because he was sure she’d stick to skating, and partly because he couldn’t believe she was being this open. There was a reason he spoke in riddles sometimes, just like Ámbar, Simón, or literally any ‘famous’ person he knew. Privacy, and sometimes inner thoughts had to remain for close and trusty people only.

She’d just admitted something he knew she’d been avoiding in every interview he’d watched of her, and she’d done it freely. Was she this open always? Or did he give her the vibe that he could be trusted? Maybe she didn’t think it was as big of a deal as he did?

“Oh.”

“Yeah. I still have time, though. Not a lot, but there’s some.”

“There’s no bad in what makes you happy. I’d go for that.”

“Is that why you chose music? Because it makes you happy?” she questioned him, sincerely curious. He nodded.

“It’s the only constant thing that has made me happy since I was a kid. I fought hard for it, and I’m lucky it’s worked out this well.”

“Hmmm.”

“I’m glad I bore you.” He joked, when she seemed to be lost in her contemplating after a moment in silence. She laughed, shaking her head and making a couple ringlets fall around her neck.

“You don’t. You’re actually a quite good companion, I’d like to keep you as a friend.” She shot him a quick smile, “creepiness aside, you’re pretty cool.”

His heart did a flip. “Friends, huh?”

Luna offered her hand, beaming. “Friends.”  

[toogoodmusic]

INTERVIEW: Dustin Hensley

From growing up in bars with his dad to moving to Nashville for music - Dustin Hensley has learned to create his own sound and not care what anyone thinks about it. Read below to learn more:

TOO GOOD MUSIC: So you’re based in Nashville — how long have you lived there?

DUSTIN HENSLEY: I grew up 2 hours from Nashville, so essentially forever but have lived in Nashville since 2010. I moved right after school.

TGM: What’s the back story of how you got into music? I know you started going to bars with your dad and he was performing right?

DH: Yeah. Music was just always a constant - I really didn’t know any better. My dad was in a band all growing up and I grew up in all the honky-tonks and stuff around Tennessee. I just thought everyone went to the beer joints with their daddy every weekend (laughs) I didn’t know it was a weird thing. And this was during the whole line dancing craze so I was boot scoot boogin’ with the best of ‘em!

Then dad started preaching and I was singing in choirs and it was a very kind of hoop and hollerin’ kind of church. That’s where I learned to just jump into something and play. And I had decided that I was going to be a singer, yah know, whatever that means. There was never anything else.

TGM: How’d you initially break into the mainstream then?

DH: So I moved to Nashville and got a job in the business side — did radio promotion because I felt like so many people get “into the business” and it’s nothing like they think it is. They think it’s just the singing and the lights but that’s just part of it in addition to the press and interviews and everything. I wanted to make sure I knew every aspect of it before I started down this path. It helped me a lot especially with meeting people, cause its not who you know but who knows you.

TGM: That’s exactly it - I say that all the time.

DH: Yeah exactly, it’s so true. And here we are now…that’s kind of the beauty pageant answer but I just knew I was going to do it and we’re still trying to do it and figure it out

TGM: What was the most shocking thing you learned from being on the business side of it?

DH: How many other people are trying to do the same thing. Ya know? Cause I grew up in a small town of 800 people and I was the singer - it was a very concentrated thing. But then I moved to Nashville and your dentist is trying to give you a demo (laughs).

TGM: So does being surrounded by all these people motivate you or intimidate you?

DH: So while that was kind of the biggest shock that’s also the blessing because you’re surrounded by all these talented people and they make you step up and be better. It put a fire under my butt. It also helps because starting out you may not get paid for a show so you have to rely on friends to be your band because you can’t afford what the actual bands’ cost is. You know I’ll go sing background vocals on someone’s demo, so it’s definitely motivating.

TGM: Right and probably helps with the creative process right?

DH: Oh of course. Normally we’ll have writing sessions during the day and then all meet up at night and act a fool and that’s where you get most of your material.

TGM: So how’d you end up discovering your sound? Because you started with a very country song, called “Don’t Call It A Night” but have evolved from there especially with “Nobody But You.”

DH: When I first got into town it was driven in my head that you have know who you are and that you have to find your lane. And not that I was being fake about but I had this idea in my head cause you know, I sound like NASCAR announcer, come from a small town, did rodeo and so I’m like, “Oh yeah, I’m a real country guy.” But I also loved Usher and Chris Brown.

So I ended up doing “Don’t Call It A Night” and it did what it needed to do - it got us out there. But then I ended up having some other meetings and they were like, “You’re great, you can sing and everything, but you’re not having any fun.” And I was like, “Screw you, this is my life.”

TGM: Yeah, like it’s my life, I know if I’m having fun or not.

DH: Exactly. But then I realized I wasn’t having any fun. So I had that meeting and decided I was going to do new things and get new people around me. And not starting over but so I say this all the time, “If it feels good, do it.” And I ended up meeting this guy Keller and he doesn’t know anything about country music or top 40 pop. But we went out for a couple drinks and I was like “I have this idea, I don’t know what it is, but I wanna work with you. If it works then it works if not then we tried. After a week we had 14 songs. It felt good and it felt right and I got excited about music again.

So I went back to the same publisher and threw this CD on his desk and he was like, “What’s this?” and I go, “My record.” I’m finally to the point where I’m okay with not being okay. If just you and my mama like it then I’m tickled, cause my heart is in it and I love it and I’m so proud of it.

TGM: And that kind of goes back to that fact that so many people are doing it that if you’re fake about it and you’re not feeling it then someone’s going to call you on it because there’s so many people in it to win it with their own style.

DH: Oh absolutely

TGM: What would you say is the most personal  or favorite song off the EP?

DH: I mean all of them are true stories oddly enough.

TGM: And they all seem to be about relationships so is this one relationship or multiple?

DH: Uh I’ve been fortunate enough and unfortunate enough to have some crazy women in my life. The EP is titled SHIPS since they are all about relationships. I didn’t plan to write only relationship songs but that’s whats so funny about this EP is that they’re all about relationships.

My favorite song is probably “Our Town” cause it was the first one that we did and so I guess it’s kinda special to me. But so that song and “Nobody But You” are about the same girl.

TGM: I saw on twitter that you were trying to get a camel — did you ever end up getting that camel?

DH: No and I’m really pissed about it. I mean, obviously I have no where to keep a camel, but I really wanted it and I feel like for $3,500 that’s a steal.

TGM: They’re basically giving you the camel right?

DH: I mean yeah, they’re pretty much paying for you to take this camel at the end of the day. And how baller would that have been if I could walk up to the bar on a camel.

TGM: Do you think you can get a DUI from riding a camel drunk?

DH: Well I know you can get a DUI from riding a lawn mower cause my uncle got one! He was driving it to the post office and got a DUI on it. And he was real pissed because it was a brand new lawn mower and they kept it. He didn’t care about the DUI but he cared about them taking it (laughs).

TGM: Yeah, I mean that’s heartbreaking...so who would be your dream collaboration?

DH: Lee Ann Womack…and Ciara. At the same time.

TGM: You could get a little honky tonk, 1, 2 step?

DH: I mean how great would that be? And we would definitely need to get a camel for the music video.

TGM: That’d be wild...so if you could only listen to 5 artists for the rest of your life, who would they be?

DH: The Avett Brothers — I love them that’s who really got me into song writing. Lee Ann Womack, obviously. John Mayer. David Nail. Patty Griffin. And I’m gonna add 6, Chris Brown.

TGM: I mean yeah just looking at that list, that already speaks to your whole musical bandwidth.

So one of my favorite lyrics from your EP is the beginning of “Whatever Happens”…”I don’t know your name, but you look like I want to.” How’d you come up with that one?

DH: I mean I can’t really take credit - so I had this buddy who just broke up with this girl and he was in a very “I gotta go out” mood. And he pointed out this girl when we went out who I kinda knew and he goes, “What’s her name?” I said, “I don’t know but do you want to?” Cause I knew her enough to introduce him and then I got thinking, that’s actually kinda good.

TGM: Have you ever tried to use it? As like a real line?

DH: Oh I have the worst luck with relationships. I probably should just start off with something ridiculous and maybe that’ll work out for me.

TGM: But hey, if you got good, where would all your inspiration come from?

DH: (laughs) So true!

TGM: So before I let you go, is there anything you want your fans to know about you or your music?

DH: I just want them to have fun. I want them to hear a song and take them to a moment. And that there’s someone in your corner.

Check out more on Dustin Hensley HERE and be sure to check out his full EP HERE.

[podcastcoach]

15 Things Podcasters Can Learn from Joel Osteen

I was in Houston for the Spark Christian Podcast Conference where I was speaking. It was a great event for the first time out of the gate and I met some really cool people. My buddy Sunny from the IPN asked me if I wanted to go see Joel Osteen who runs the largest church in America and is also an author and someone I refer to as "Happy Jesus Man." Jole is incredibly successful (his church is the building where the Houston Rockets professional basketball team played. It's a stadium that holds 16,800 people).  I have listened to Joel on and off over the years. I went to feed my spiritually, but I was also there to observe and look for the clues of his success. You don't get this big without doing something right.

Time Codes

01:08 Spark Christian Podcast Conference Review

02:38 What Podcasters Can Learn from Joel Osteen

30:52 How did you get over your self Doubt?

41:10 Free Webinar on Equipment

42:19 Have you surveyed your audience?

Joel Started As A Geek

Joel was the technical person in his church working with his father. He was the lighting tech and worked for his Dad.

Joel Did Something Different

There is a style of preaching in the church known as "Hellfire and brimstone." This is where you explain to your audience that if you don't accept Jesus you are going to Hell where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. Instead of peaching about the horrors of Hell, Joel went to the bible and found all sorts of scriptures that point out how God wants you to prosper. Some have deemed this the prosperity Gospel, and because it's different than what people previously did, this has its critics. This has not swayed Joel from his message. He is covering the bible the way he wants to.

He Makes it Easy for First Time Visitors

Sunny and I had walked into what appeared to be a side door, and weren't exactly sure where to go. It was easy to identify who the staff was and we just walked up and said, "Hi this is our first time here." The worker knew exactly what to do and before I could blink I was given to a person who was giving me a tour of the building and explaining that there was a book store and if I wanted to buy anything Joel would sign it at the end of the night. He then escorted us to fourth-row center stage seats. I felt lucky. I felt special. The sanctuary was beautiful. They had cool lights in the ceiling and an amazing backdrop behind the band, and a choir made of people of every shape, size, and color.

He Honored The Heritage of the Church and What They Believed in

He played clips of his father who started the church and acknowledged those who came before him. Oh, I'm sorry this isn't for you...

It's for the academy of podcasters. Let's move on.

It Was a Well Oiled Machine

There were no lags in the presentation. You didn't see the praise band ask, "He should we move on to the missing thing" and then someone says "Yeah, let's do the missing thing. Let's roll the mission intro." When the song was over, the mission people came out, the spoke about a conference that had just wrapped up. They introduced the video about how they were helping with Ebola in Africa and the video clip came on. Everyone knows what was next.

They Through in a Curve Ball

Their band did two praise songs (very upbeat - very easy to sing along) that engaged the audience. Then one of the soloists on the stage snuck into the audience at the end of the song. She then launched into an old Christian classic "Nothing but the blood" from the back of the auditorium so the people in the back now get the same view as those in the front. Most music performers pull this trick in concerts. They went back to singing more songs from the front of the stage.

Pacing and Anticipation

This is a great tip for those narrative style storytellers. They kept the service moving with the music, but about five songs into their performance their backdrop which looked like the galaxy with millions of stars started to reveal the word JESUS in big bright letters as the band hit a crescendo. The place erupts into applause, the band plays louder, hands are raised into the air and as the final notes of the song fade out Joel Osteen takes the stage and opens his message with prayer.

Everybody Knows and Does Their Part

The band multiple guitar players, keyboardists, and hundreds of backup singers, they all worked together to deliver the song in the best way that connects with the audience. The security for Joel was extensive. They were very good and kept him safe while allowing people to meet and greet him after the service. If you have a show with a host and a co-host someone is driving the show and someone is color commentary.

Know Your Point and Back It Up

Joel's message could be boiled down to this. "When you're in a bad situation you should still help others who are having problems." All of these scripture references helped illustrate his point. This is similar to the book I recommend Secrets of Dynamic Communications: Prepare with Focus, Deliver with Clarity, Speak with Power by Ken Davis.

Explain Things with a Personal Story

After sharing some examples from the bible, Joel explained a story about hos his Dad was trying to raise money for a new auditorium but heard about a smaller Spanish church had run out of money for their church and this "Half a church" was just sitting there gathering dust. Even though Joel's Dad needed the money for his project he gave it to the smaller church. Anytime you can make your point with a personal story, I recommend you do it. This gives your audience a chance to get to know you.

Joel Was Vulnerable

At the end of the story about Joel's father, Joel explained how he is still benefiting by the step his father took. In the middle of the sentence, he paused, tried to say the sentence again, and again he had to stop. His emotions were deep in his thought. He put his hands over his eyes and turned his back to the audience. He said, "I'm sorry yall, I cry to easy, and I cry too much. Nobody booed. Nobody shouted, "HOW UNPROFESSIONAL" and instead they cheered him on. He turned back around with his red eyes, and grabbed a tissue and wiped his eyes. I can't find another way to explain it besides saying this was a "real" moment, and instantly felt more connected with him.

Later in the service that I watched on Sunday (where he did the same service), he started one line and said, "Did I say that right? I'm going to say it again."

Joel Knows His Why and It Aligns with his Call To Action

Joel's goal is to get you to know Jesus and accept him. At the end of the service, he has a call to action to accept Jesus.

He Promotes Subscriptions and Makes it Easy

During the service and at the end, they put a link to their website on a giant screen with mentions of their podcast.

Joel is a Collaborator

I see on his website he is doing a service with Kanye West.

He SERVED His Audience

At the end of the night, he went through hundreds of people meeting them, signing books (or not) and treating each and every person like they were his favorite person in the whole world. He had his crew borrow their phone and snap pictures so they could share it on social media. So they could easily share what a great time they had a Lakewood church. By the time he had made it to me, there was talk he might shut down the line as it was long. He made it through. He was visibly tired. He had just performed a service and was probably feeling the dip as the adrenaline of preaching in front of thousands of people had left his body, but instead of instructing his team to send us home he waved us in knowing it would just add another 30 minutes or so to his evening. Whenever you have a chance to meet your audience to do it and say thank you.

How Did You Get Over Self- Doubt To Start Your Podcast?

12:56

Dan Kreiness of the Leader of Learning podcast uses himself as a target audience member. If it holds his attention, it probably holds someone else's attention as well. 

John DeRosa of the Classical Theism podcast likes the idea of having guests. If people didn't want to listen to you (they do) they might listen to your guests. 

Paul Cheall from Fighting through World War II change the question from nobody would listen to Would they? His downloads are getting a few downloads a day (it features memoirs from his Father). 

Holland Webb grom The Afterword podcasts didn't care about others opinions. They did it to have fun talking to each other and if other people want to listen - fine. 

Thomas from Novel Marketing had my favorite answer, "When you love your audience more than you care about your own pride you will take steps to publish your show."

Free Webinar: The Right Podcast Gear

Joing the free webinar on 2/26 at 7 PM to get all of your questions about gear answered. 

see http://www.schoolofpodcasting.com/webinar

Question of the Month for March 2020

42:25

If you surveyed your audience, what was the biggest thing you learned? If you didn't survey your audience (or a focus group) why not?

Answer at www.schoolofpodcasting.com/question

  Check out this episode!

[ehentha]

Maldives Twitter wakes up to a fever dream where everyone is Ali Rameez

At 12AM on Friday the 23rd of November 2018, a whole bunch of Maldivian twitter users changed their profile pictures to the one above. It shows a young Ali Rameez leaning back, relaxing his head against his arm. The incident is referred to by some as #NationalAyyaDay.

This is a bipartisan effort, okay? Whether you’re a snowflake or a YAG supporter or a feminist or a humanist, please come together for this one day so we can all celebrate the greatest Maldivian singer of all time: Ali Rameez. Happy #NationalAyyaDay! ♥️

— KeehveFA (@ShafaRameez) November 22, 2018

Mass confusion spread as everyone’s notifications looked the same.

Yup, giving up on trying to figure out who is who.

— Azzam Pompi Mohamed (@Pompeee) November 23, 2018

To make things worse, many users changed their names to song lyrics by the one time Maldivian king of pop. There was once a time when you could not walk two feet in the Maldives without hearing one of his songs on the TV or radio. I’d post more screenshots of the incident, but most people have already changed their pictures and names back. Guess the world can only take so much Ayya.

Of course I say one time because Ali Rameez is currently a violent extremist “sheikh” who constantly spreads hate and fear speech against Maldivian minorities such as non-Muslims and LGBTI+ people. While being a massive sexist of course. On top of this, he also regularly promotes such lovely things as child marriage.

In the above screenshot, the Dhivehi text reads “Islam dheenun beyru vejje meehaa; gathul kuraasheve’”, which roughly translates to “Slaughter those who leave Islam”. The first comment below it reads “It is best if such children move to a country where they can get the freedoms that they want. No space for atheist in this country”. It doesn’t take a genius to see how this encourages vigilante violence against non-Muslims. I suppose it is also worth pointing out again for the thousandth time that the Maldives is one of the few countries in the world whose constitution bans freedom of conscience. Ali Rameez promotes these views on his official twitter account and his facebook page, where he also pimps out his extremist buddies from religious NGOs like Jammaiyathul Salaf.

With all this in mind, it shouldn’t be surprising to anyone that Ali Rameez hates his pop star past. He did famously dump all of his CD’s into the ocean after all.

Is singer/songwriter Ali Rameez and haabee Ali Rameez the same person? 🤔

— Refty (@Refty) November 23, 2018

So while people took the opportunity to mock / celebrate him by sharing his music and reminiscing about the days when he wasn't a psychopath, others took the opportunity to gaslight Maldivian minorities by claiming that the good sheikh was being bullied.

we advocate for tolerance and acceptance yet we are intolerant to those that have an understanding different to us. I really don't believe @aliramyz should be bullied and bashed like this. This has gone beyond a simple friendly joke. This needs to stop.

— Ghaanim (@Qhaany) November 23, 2018

This kind of gaslighting is typical from “liberal” Maldivians who fall head over heels to defend extremists yet never utter a single word in support of Maldivian minorities whose very existence is criminalized. As such I am sure these people are not ignorant of Ali Rameez’s extremism. Instead I think they are sympathetic. I think extremists like that say what these people are afraid of saying. What they really think.

You will never get any of these people to admit whether they support something as basic as freedom of conscience. However they will rarely admit they don’t support it either. Instead, they will prop up the extremists who have the courage to actually express such darkness. This is why I respect honest extremists who will say to my face that they want to kill me. I have no respect at all to closet conservatives like this who pretend to sit on a fence while they crap on minorities below. It is not an equal conversation when one side has their existence criminalized.

“liberal extremism” is a thing

— Shani 🍂 (@shani1i) November 23, 2018

Can you believe the audacity of such a statement from people who do not think their fellow Maldivians deserve constitutional recognition?

Wait till you are bashed and joked about for saying this.

— Mushfiga Waheed (@MushfigaWaheed) November 23, 2018

Comments like this one are referring to an incident in the past when a woman on twitter made extremely homophobic remarks. For once a lot of people on Maldivian twitter called out this woman for her blatantly bigoted remarks. Not this crowd of closet conservatives though. Much like this incident, back then they sided with the bigot being roasted. How could you bully such an innocent person they all decried.

This past event, and the common occurrence of conservatives and extremists to claim to be victims of “bullying”, is what has led to the creation of the local meme of “bleeing”.

stop bleeing ayya 😭😭 stop bleeing his extremist opinions 😭😭😭 stop admiring his flawless voice 😭😭😭 SAY NO TO BLEEING 😩 https://t.co/Bg2lymNMtV

— imran (@imlatheef) November 23, 2018

This type of gaslighting would be funny if it wasn’t the norm. Gaslighting, for those unfamiliar, is when an oppressor makes a person doubt their own memories and self. It is a common tactic used by abusive people against their partners. Wikipedia defines it as “a form of psychological manipulation that seeks to sow seeds of doubt in a targeted individual or in members of a targeted group, making them question their own memory, perception, and sanity. “

They states that the signs of gaslighting are:

Withholding information from victim;

Countering information to fit the abuser's perspective;

Discounting information;

Verbal abuse, usually in the form of jokes;

Blocking and diverting the victim's attention from outside sources;

Trivializing the victim's worth; and,

Undermining victim by gradually weakening them and their thought process.

When have he ever advocated killing anyone he deems as infidels? Any reference?

— Mohamed Allam Naeem (@8laam) November 23, 2018

Observe this clear example from a tweet calling the original one out.

When he is okay with underage marriage. When he blames the rape victim always. These are the different views you talk about? Yes. I do have a problem with that.

— 𝕲𝖎𝖗𝖑 𝕴𝖓𝖙𝖊𝖗𝖗𝖚𝖕𝖙𝖊𝖉 (@Thathu182) November 24, 2018

Look at the response above. Ali Rameez is well known for blaming rape victims and his support for child marriage. Yet the original tweet dismisses this as having a “different understanding”.

It’s nice that everyone’s having a bit of fun. But do try to keep in mind that @aliramyz thinks it’s okay to marry 13 year olds, promotes violent jihad, is a core member of Jamiyyathul Salaf, and advocates the death penalty for those he considers laadheenee.

— Mohamed Shuraih (@MohamedShuraih) November 23, 2018

The day led to some clashes within the more progressive parts (relative to the Taliban) of Maldivian twitter as well, with some people thinking that the incident downplayed Ali Rameez’s extremism.

Just for fun, would you put a pedo on your Twitter DP? I don't think so. kthnksbye

— @waddey (@waddey) November 23, 2018

Isn't Ali Rameez known for his extremist religious views? 🤔 Love his songs but finding it strange to be so obsessed with him given who he is now.

— 🍞🌹 (@kopitaaaa) November 23, 2018

Some responses from the twitter cult leader responsible for this madness:

Haha hello my cult, what else should I do today after renouncing feminism and supporting Ali Rameez’s extremism, might fuck around and drop all my morals and principles and become someone N E W

— KeehveFA (@ShafaRameez) November 23, 2018

I would also like to tell you it’s not only Ali Rameez’s beautiful voice that mesmerizes me, it’s also his promotion of extremism (obviously), and presence in Jamiyyathul Salad (OBVIOUSLY) also in other news @imlatheef hates Ariana Grande 😭😭

— KeehveFA (@ShafaRameez) November 23, 2018

Kindly fuck off and let people fucking enjoy today, good lord! 😂 People woke up to an abundance of Ali Rameezs on their TL today, that is fucking AMAZING that it was pulled off. An, miothy than thanah thadhuvaa kudhinnah khaassa lavayeh ♥️https://t.co/hw61dHt1Jf

— KeehveFA (@ShafaRameez) November 23, 2018

Now that we’ve dealt with the drama and my existential bitterness, here are some of the funnier tweets from the day:

Kaia asking me the name of a random internet cat that popped up on my timeline. Told her the first name that popped into my mind. Ali Rameez. Thanks, twitter.

— EhJu (@EhJu) November 23, 2018

If you people don’t get sarcasm that’s really on you at this point. Brb listening to Nudhaashe Mage Loabiva for the 50th time today. :) https://t.co/TOb4K9xIaO

— KeehveFA (@ShafaRameez) November 23, 2018

Brain reading the entire timeline in Ali Rameez voice. Ali: I'm no one's crush. Ali: this cabinet is bullshit. Ali: here's a cat. Ali: I'd rather use tampons but they're too expensive W E I R D

— EhJu (@EhJu) November 23, 2018

me, before and after listening to ali rameez’s emotional masterpiece maruvedhaaney maadhamaa gaimey pic.twitter.com/AzhMts5nDO

— imran (@imlatheef) November 23, 2018

#NationalAyyaDay Ayya: Capitalising on his Freeze Band to make a Freeze Brand!

— Yuna Waheed 🎈❓ (@YuAeKito) November 23, 2018

Ali Rameez towards the end of his music career was in a band called “Freeze Band”. Once he gave up music, he capitalized on this by creating “Freeze Brand” - a company that sells dried fish and other products. Gotta admit that some of their stuff is pretty delicious though.

Ali Rameez and me in the same frame #happiestmoment 😂 pic.twitter.com/kfdXFccxCx

— ⚫️⚪️TEDRY🎈❓ (@tedry) November 23, 2018

With all these Ali Rameez songs floating around, I’m sad I haven’t seen a single “Bunebala ladhu ganefaa erey”. Definitely one of my favourites. #NationalAyyaDay

— Shubbi (@shubaadam) November 23, 2018

On this auspicious day I was just blessed to see Ali Rameez on the road. 😱😱😱😱

— S-laughter (@heyshaha) November 23, 2018

I give up on checking who’s who, I’m liking everything in bulk now

— KeehveFA (@ShafaRameez) November 22, 2018

I can't pic.twitter.com/BmK40l9i3f

— Saaif Shiyad 🇲🇻 (@SaaifShiyad) November 22, 2018

Ayya had moves. #NationalAyyaDay pic.twitter.com/TT8s4o8mjQ

— immi 🐑 (@immimmii) November 22, 2018

The other day at uni i saw ali rameez and randomly started singing “dhanee dhanee” bc obviously i was leaving the uni

— salty (@thelulifaiyy) November 22, 2018

the first time ali rameez looked at me. i was walking on sosun magu with a friend when we saw ali rameez and involuntarily shouted “EY ALI RAMEEEZ”. he looked, but looked away even faster. 😥#NationalAyyaDay

— Naura 🇲🇻 (@ayshathnaura) November 23, 2018

Since @ShafaRameez wanted me to do this so badly, like this tweet and I'll be brutally honest about your Twitter profile picture.

— Mi dhehiy vaathee, loabin gulhifaa (@haesham) November 23, 2018

Tb to the time i made eye contact with Ayya for a split second while eating pani puri @ the place infront of Iskandhar. He was having tea and looked away at the speed of light. Ma iny anga haluvan ves neyngifa

— KirimJehiBanas (@meynakambulo) November 23, 2018

The best part about this is how much I hate Ali Rameez and he still hasn't blocked me.

— San (@dontcallmesatan) November 23, 2018

Did you call him a finifenmaa ?

— Althaf🎈؟ (@AlthafAli_) November 23, 2018

pic.twitter.com/hbrqaLvwh0

— Musal (@FoniLunbo) November 23, 2018

The cat is screaming out lyrics to one of Ali Rameez’s hit songs “Finifenmalakey” (like a rose).

At the end I listened to all the heart broken Ali Rameez songs and now I feel like I have fallen out of love, hard. 😭💔 https://t.co/eVnWk4tmgQ

— Azzam Pompi Mohamed (@Pompeee) November 23, 2018

legends say people are still trying to get over the double vision of ayya from their twitter feeds 🤣🤣

— Awhosun (@awhosun) November 23, 2018

Marinating a chicken with bae. It's so hot man

— Shady 🎈❓ (@shadyfish) November 23, 2018

Ali Rameez had a particularly saucy hit video where he sensuously marinates a chicken with a beautiful woman. Probably one of the sources of his paranoia about his past sins.

#NationalAyyaDay, a day to honor the legendary Maldivian singer @aliramyz 🙏 pic.twitter.com/dTtVKU1WTw

— 🙏 آدم محمد (@Adamiington) November 23, 2018

I’d like to point out the fact that @semiicold has had his photo way before this started and I didn’t see it till after @FoniLunbo suggested this photo so a round of applause for him because we’re living in 2018 and he’s living in 3018. We stan! 👏🏾

— KeehveFA (@ShafaRameez) November 22, 2018

[kekoaskorner]

Gurtenfestival is placed in the capital city of Switzerland in Berne on the hill called Gurten. A proper citizen of Berne would call it „Güsche“. Now thanks to the advent calendar of Ticketcorner I’m able to go to the festival for 4 days and have some VIP amenities available too. I didn’t know beforehand how grateful I would be for that special treatment.

 VIP area

Day 1

This year the festival started on Wednesday instead of Thursday. But still so many people queued up to get their ticket changed into a wristband. After that they had to wait another 1 ½ hrs to get to the Gurtenbähnli to bring them up the hill. Lucky me I could jump the queue and walk straight in. The VIP area is really nice and on Day 1 there weren’t too many people there either.

Rag’N’Bone Man

First main act was Rag’N’Bone Man who sang again very well. Although I couldn’t really hear that much because of the chatter of the people around me. I really don’t understand how people can spend that much money and waste it on chit chat. We went on to see Nothing but Thieves who were good but I cannot put my finger on what was missing in their performance so that I cannot say: „Ohh I would see them again“.

Nothing but Thieves

Royal Blood was the next act on the mainstage but they weren’t my favourite either so we chilled in the lounge area. Unfortunately it was really cold and windy and very uncomfortable. So we were glad when we could walk over to the tent stage where we saw an amazing Jack Garratt. He looks like a kid who didn’t get what he wanted but God he’s good and he is really funny too! He started to play very famous songs by Justin Timberlake or Michael Jackson and then stopped. It was kinda frustrating but also very funny. At the same time Dabu Fantastic a Swiss band was playing the forest stage. Since I knew how good they were I preferred to see someone I haven’t seen before. We only heard the last bit when we had to leave the tent to be early for Macklemore & Ryan Lewis.

Macklemore

As always the two American lads put on a great show and the audience loved them. However I liked them better the last time I saw them at Hallenstadion when they had the full show going. At the end they held their traditional dance off with two random people from the crowd and wow they were really really good. Macklemore said it was one of the best dance off’s they’d ever seen and I have to agree. To finish the night we watched a bit of From Kid who were okay but couldn’t really catch my attention and so we headed home soon after.

From Kid on Waldbühne

Day 2

Pegasus

I was very looking forward to see Pegasus after I’ve seen them a week before on the ferry on lake Zurich. Again they didn’t disappoint. At 3.30 they had a lot of people in front of the mainstage and had them dancing and singing and waving and jumping. They are just an incredible live band! We then headed to a band from Zurich called Faber. They are Swiss but sing in German which is quite special. Next act on the mainstage was Lo & Leduc. I was really excited to see them in their home city at this brilliant festival. They were blown away by how many people turned up. They told us that they played one of the bars, then the Waldbühne, then the Zeltbühne and now the mainstage. It was an awesome 1 ½ hrs set until they finally had to make way for the next act.

Lo & Leduc with Manilio

We heard the last bit of Nemo who is a very young Swiss German Rapper but I really like his upbeat feel-good sound. It was finally time for Imagine Dragons. I’ve also already seen them at Hallenstadion like Macklemore & Ryan Lewis the day before and I also liked that concert better than this Gurtenfestival appearance. Maybe it was because I stood in the VIP area and not very close to the stage where I think the people had good fun. Funny enough after what felt like 20mins they turned off the lights completely on stage and for a very long time too. People thought it was already the usual walk off-walk on-encore part but I was like this is way too early. It turned out that it was some kind of power cut as the singer Dan Reynolds couldn’t hear anything in his in-ears. Few minutes later the show went on and like Coldplay’s bell I heard the drum sound in “Radioactive” really clearly for the first time.

Imagine Dragons

To round off Day 2 we decided to see Trust. This band has already very famous band members such as Stress and Gabriel Spahni from Pegasus. Stress was actually singing which is quite different to what he usually does. In the end the tired eyes won and we headed down.

Day 3

Lucky Chops

Unfortunately I had to work on day 3 so I only got up the hill for the 2nd main act Züri West. I thought the crowd would react similar to Lo & Leduc and create an incredible atmosphere but that wasn’t the case. The band didn’t interact with the audience and didn’t sing all their famous hits. Overall everyone was very disappointed. My concert buddy had the joy to see Lucky Chops before this main act. And she really liked them. They’re an instrumental band and good fun!

Casper

We also caught a bit of the performance of LP but we still don’t fancy her live voice a lot. Casper’s set must have been very good because when we reached the main stage the whole crowd did the usual rap/hip hop moves by moving one arm up and down. From my experience Hip Hop concerts have the best atmosphere. We headed to the tent stage next where we saw a German band called SDP. They had a punk rock feel and some very racy lyrics. I quite liked their performance and at one point they had huge beach balls bouncing off the audiences’ hands.

oznor

cof

To finish this evening Fritz Kalkbrenner sang behind his turn tables. He started with: “Hallo ich bin Fritz und ich fang dann jetzt mal an!”. I’ve never heard a funnier start. He continued being funny throughout the set and he seemed very down to earth to me. I realized that his music is not my kinda cup of tea but I did enjoy his set and many other late night party dancers would agree.

Fritz Kalkbrenner

Day 4

The day I was anticipating the most and it turned out to be my favourite day! Somehow there weren’t a lot of people anymore even though it was a Saturday or maybe we caught the best time to get food and found good spots at concerts. Anyway it was a very chilled fun day.

sdr

oznor

We started front row with Saint Motel on the main stage. What an awesome band! They have good up-tempo music to dance to. The saxophone was great but my highlight was when the lead singer walked through the crowd to the sound tower on the other side and climbed up. It looked very funny. Another highlight and a speciality of this festival is the dancing security. You won’t find any grim unfriendly looking security here. They help you in any way they can and even start dance moves.

Veronica Fusaro on Waldbühne

Since Kate Tempest was late we decided to see Veronica Fusaro also a Swiss singer on the Waldbühne. What a wonderful setting. The stage is facing a steep part of the Gurten hill so people can sit down or even stand and everyone can see the artists down there. Veronica has a beautiful voice and good songs – perfect for the occasion, a hot sunny summer day. Close to the end we headed for Kate Tempest on the Zeltbühne – big mistake. We didn’t like her at all. She has a weird way of rapping and her songs seemed to me like she was trying to convince me to join a cult or something similar.

oznor

oznor

Seven was absolutely brilliant. He made everyone dancing, singing and clapping. It was an amazing show by awesome musicians giving their all to us. They visibly enjoyed playing and this is automatically transferred onto the audience. 1 1/2hrs of pure joy! Thank you for that.

Beginner

Unfortunately we couldn’t see Asgeir an Islandic musician but he is supposed to be very good. Next up were Beginner a hip hop combo from Hamburg who have been successful for years. They created a beautiful colourful set on stage and also gave a 110% on stage. What I personally liked was that they were actually promoting the next act Marteria as well. There was no visible competition between them. My favourite words from Jan Delay was: “We need all your energy – oh wait no – you need energy for Marteria too. This is what you’re going to do. Give us all your energy, then load it up again with all those energy stations around this place and be ready to give all your energy to Marteria again.” Loved it J

Death by Chocolate was too rocky for us so we went to see Walk off the Earth. Brilliant decision. They are an incredible live band. We loved their own songs and the covers they did. Awesome musicians who I would like to see again.

oznor

oznor

Finally, the act I was waiting for, took the stage at 12.30pm. Marteria absolutely rocked the 20’000 people at Gurtenfestival. I have no words to describe this. Before every song he said “Alle Hände” and all hands went up. We danced, we sang, we rapped, we jumped, we enjoyed every minute of this 1 1/2hrs set. During his song “Marteria Girl” he asked the guys to take all the Marteria Girls on their shoulders. At that exact moment I knew I needed to find a tall, big strong guy who will join me for Marteria’s concert in Zurich on Dec, 9th 17! J During the last song it was total “Abriss” which you can translate to “Go totally mental”. Marteria took off his shirt and asked everyone to do so as well and swing it above their heads. (Me being a pro I took a scarf with me… Hello I’m still a girl ;-)) During the final final 20 secs he created a mosh pit and on his commando everyone jumped into it.

Marteria is on FIRE

The party went on all night until the sun greeted us with an amazing sunrise which looked like painted by Bob Ross. The clouds turned purple and Marteria’s biggest hit so far “Wir bleiben wach bis die Wolken wieder lila sind” came true. Just a brilliant finish to a wonderful 4 day Gurtenfestival in Berne with amazing weather. I have to say thank you to Ticketcorner for this incredible prize and to Gurtenfestival for these many special moments with great artists and to my lovely concert buddy.

Wir bleiben wach bis die Wolken wieder lila sind

  Gurtenfestival in Berne 12 – 15.07.17 Gurtenfestival is placed in the capital city of Switzerland in Berne on the hill called Gurten. A proper citizen of Berne would call it „Güsche“.

[kekoaskorner]

Gurtenfestival is placed in the capital city of Switzerland in Berne on the hill called Gurten. A proper citizen of Berne would call it „Güsche“. Now thanks to the advent calendar of Ticketcorner I’m able to go to the festival for 4 days and have some VIP amenities available too. I didn’t know beforehand how grateful I would be for that special treatment.

 VIP area

Day 1

This year the festival started on Wednesday instead of Thursday. But still so many people queued up to get their ticket changed into a wristband. After that they had to wait another 1 ½ hrs to get to the Gurtenbähnli to bring them up the hill. Lucky me I could jump the queue and walk straight in. The VIP area is really nice and on Day 1 there weren’t too many people there either.

Rag’N’Bone Man

First main act was Rag’N’Bone Man who sang again very well. Although I couldn’t really hear that much because of the chatter of the people around me. I really don’t understand how people can spend that much money and waste it on chit chat. We went on to see Nothing but Thieves who were good but I cannot put my finger on what was missing in their performance so that I cannot say: „Ohh I would see them again“.

Nothing but Thieves

Royal Blood was the next act on the mainstage but they weren’t my favourite either so we chilled in the lounge area. Unfortunately it was really cold and windy and very uncomfortable. So we were glad when we could walk over to the tent stage where we saw an amazing Jack Garratt. He looks like a kid who didn’t get what he wanted but God he’s good and he is really funny too! He started to play very famous songs by Justin Timberlake or Michael Jackson and then stopped. It was kinda frustrating but also very funny. At the same time Dabu Fantastic a Swiss band was playing the forest stage. Since I knew how good they were I preferred to see someone I haven’t seen before. We only heard the last bit when we had to leave the tent to be early for Macklemore & Ryan Lewis.

Macklemore

As always the two American lads put on a great show and the audience loved them. However I liked them better the last time I saw them at Hallenstadion when they had the full show going. At the end they held their traditional dance off with two random people from the crowd and wow they were really really good. Macklemore said it was one of the best dance off’s they’d ever seen and I have to agree. To finish the night we watched a bit of From Kid who were okay but couldn’t really catch my attention and so we headed home soon after.

From Kid on Waldbühne

Day 2

Pegasus

I was very looking forward to see Pegasus after I’ve seen them a week before on the ferry on lake Zurich. Again they didn’t disappoint. At 3.30 they had a lot of people in front of the mainstage and had them dancing and singing and waving and jumping. They are just an incredible live band! We then headed to a band from Zurich called Faber. They are Swiss but sing in German which is quite special. Next act on the mainstage was Lo & Leduc. I was really excited to see them in their home city at this brilliant festival. They were blown away by how many people turned up. They told us that they played one of the bars, then the Waldbühne, then the Zeltbühne and now the mainstage. It was an awesome 1 ½ hrs set until they finally had to make way for the next act.

Lo & Leduc with Manilio

We heard the last bit of Nemo who is a very young Swiss German Rapper but I really like his upbeat feel-good sound. It was finally time for Imagine Dragons. I’ve also already seen them at Hallenstadion like Macklemore & Ryan Lewis the day before and I also liked that concert better than this Gurtenfestival appearance. Maybe it was because I stood in the VIP area and not very close to the stage where I think the people had good fun. Funny enough after what felt like 20mins they turned off the lights completely on stage and for a very long time too. People thought it was already the usual walk off-walk on-encore part but I was like this is way too early. It turned out that it was some kind of power cut as the singer Dan Reynolds couldn’t hear anything in his in-ears. Few minutes later the show went on and like Coldplay’s bell I heard the drum sound in “Radioactive” really clearly for the first time.

Imagine Dragons

To round off Day 2 we decided to see Trust. This band has already very famous band members such as Stress and Gabriel Spahni from Pegasus. Stress was actually singing which is quite different to what he usually does. In the end the tired eyes won and we headed down.

Day 3

Lucky Chops

Unfortunately I had to work on day 3 so I only got up the hill for the 2nd main act Züri West. I thought the crowd would react similar to Lo & Leduc and create an incredible atmosphere but that wasn’t the case. The band didn’t interact with the audience and didn’t sing all their famous hits. Overall everyone was very disappointed. My concert buddy had the joy to see Lucky Chops before this main act. And she really liked them. They’re an instrumental band and good fun!

Casper

We also caught a bit of the performance of LP but we still don’t fancy her live voice a lot. Casper’s set must have been very good because when we reached the main stage the whole crowd did the usual rap/hip hop moves by moving one arm up and down. From my experience Hip Hop concerts have the best atmosphere. We headed to the tent stage next where we saw a German band called SDP. They had a punk rock feel and some very racy lyrics. I quite liked their performance and at one point they had huge beach balls bouncing off the audiences’ hands.

oznor

cof

To finish this evening Fritz Kalkbrenner sang behind his turn tables. He started with: “Hallo ich bin Fritz und ich fang dann jetzt mal an!”. I’ve never heard a funnier start. He continued being funny throughout the set and he seemed very down to earth to me. I realized that his music is not my kinda cup of tea but I did enjoy his set and many other late night party dancers would agree.

Fritz Kalkbrenner

Day 4

The day I was anticipating the most and it turned out to be my favourite day! Somehow there weren’t a lot of people anymore even though it was a Saturday or maybe we caught the best time to get food and found good spots at concerts. Anyway it was a very chilled fun day.

sdr

oznor

We started front row with Saint Motel on the main stage. What an awesome band! They have good up-tempo music to dance to. The saxophone was great but my highlight was when the lead singer walked through the crowd to the sound tower on the other side and climbed up. It looked very funny. Another highlight and a speciality of this festival is the dancing security. You won’t find any grim unfriendly looking security here. They help you in any way they can and even start dance moves.

Veronica Fusaro on Waldbühne

Since Kate Tempest was late we decided to see Veronica Fusaro also a Swiss singer on the Waldbühne. What a wonderful setting. The stage is facing a steep part of the Gurten hill so people can sit down or even stand and everyone can see the artists down there. Veronica has a beautiful voice and good songs – perfect for the occasion, a hot sunny summer day. Close to the end we headed for Kate Tempest on the Zeltbühne – big mistake. We didn’t like her at all. She has a weird way of rapping and her songs seemed to me like she was trying to convince me to join a cult or something similar.

oznor

oznor

Seven was absolutely brilliant. He made everyone dancing, singing and clapping. It was an amazing show by awesome musicians giving their all to us. They visibly enjoyed playing and this is automatically transferred onto the audience. 1 1/2hrs of pure joy! Thank you for that.

Beginner

Unfortunately we couldn’t see Asgeir an Islandic musician but he is supposed to be very good. Next up were Beginner a hip hop combo from Hamburg who have been successful for years. They created a beautiful colourful set on stage and also gave a 110% on stage. What I personally liked was that they were actually promoting the next act Marteria as well. There was no visible competition between them. My favourite words from Jan Delay was: “We need all your energy – oh wait no – you need energy for Marteria too. This is what you’re going to do. Give us all your energy, then load it up again with all those energy stations around this place and be ready to give all your energy to Marteria again.” Loved it J

Death by Chocolate was too rocky for us so we went to see Walk off the Earth. Brilliant decision. They are an incredible live band. We loved their own songs and the covers they did. Awesome musicians who I would like to see again.

oznor

oznor

Finally, the act I was waiting for, took the stage at 12.30pm. Marteria absolutely rocked the 20’000 people at Gurtenfestival. I have no words to describe this. Before every song he said “Alle Hände” and all hands went up. We danced, we sang, we rapped, we jumped, we enjoyed every minute of this 1 1/2hrs set. During his song “Marteria Girl” he asked the guys to take all the Marteria Girls on their shoulders. At that exact moment I knew I needed to find a tall, big strong guy who will join me for Marteria’s concert in Zurich on Dec, 9th 17! J During the last song it was total “Abriss” which you can translate to “Go totally mental”. Marteria took off his shirt and asked everyone to do so as well and swing it above their heads. (Me being a pro I took a scarf with me… Hello I’m still a girl ;-)) During the final final 20 secs he created a mosh pit and on his commando everyone jumped into it.

Marteria is on FIRE

The party went on all night until the sun greeted us with an amazing sunrise which looked like painted by Bob Ross. The clouds turned purple and Marteria’s biggest hit so far “Wir bleiben wach bis die Wolken wieder lila sind” came true. Just a brilliant finish to a wonderful 4 day Gurtenfestival in Berne with amazing weather. I have to say thank you to Ticketcorner for this incredible prize and to Gurtenfestival for these many special moments with great artists and to my lovely concert buddy.

Wir bleiben wach bis die Wolken wieder lila sind

  Gurtenfestival in Berne 12 – 15.07.17 Gurtenfestival is placed in the capital city of Switzerland in Berne on the hill called Gurten. A proper citizen of Berne would call it „Güsche“.