#ah yea anyways.. thanks for coming to my Ted talk :]

[ohbaby-here-we-go-again]

Discovered a big part of why I like sleep token comes down to ‘echos,’ repetition, and layering.

Hear me out guys !

Ok so I’m probably going to be bad at articulating this, but I feel like a big part of sleep token’s sound comes down to them playing with the concept of echos and the use of repetition in music.

Some of it is pretty bog standard, like as a general rule you’re going to have things that repeat in songs (chord progressions, choruses, melody etc) because that is their nature. But there are other things where I feel the repetition is a deliberate choice or deliberately emphasised (I’m going to dot point, because my brain is so full and idk how else to structure this)

- when you listen to a lot of the piano vessel composes, it typically contains a lot of repeating phrases, usually 2-4 notes that he either repeats exactly or progressively shifts up or down in pitch

- similarly (and probably even more so) the digital sounds, included to help build the layering within songs, are very repetitive in nature. They even sometimes have an echo-y distortion to them

- on that note, the layering is such an important part of sleep token’s sound. They build up phrases steadily, and while theses aren’t technically canons, to me they have a similar feeling when you hear everything together

- also because of the repetition of shorter melody phrases, and the complementary repeating sounds cushioning them, I feel like you really get that atmospheric vibration/hover that you sense when you hear real echos irl which is neat (this is also aided by that atmospheric droning sound they tend to make use of)

- what’s also cool is ii has literally said when writing the drum components, he listens to what else is going on in the song (digital parts, guitar, piano, vocals) and mimics certain rhythms present so everything fits together cohesively

- vessel has like a set of themes and words he uses throughout his songs (post I did on that here tho I do want to do an updated one at some point) so when you’re listening to ST you do get a lot of déjà vu (not in a bad way) from lyrics

- this echoing in lyrics was taken even further in the last album with Euclid

- another neat thing is that while ST obviously uses a lot of repetition they cut things up into segment, either by stripping back the layered sound, changing the pacing, implementing a new melody segment, seemingly switching up genres etc. but it’s all interspersed in such a way that key element resurface again later

- they’re also really good at knowing when to do this too, like just when the repetition of a segment might start to lose listener’s interest they change it to something different but still at least a little adjacent

-edit: also the layering of vessel’s vocals and the incorporation of the espera for live performances. And vessel repeating certain key phrases in songs

idk I’m kinda rambling at this point but yea, the way the music sounds to me feels a lot like rocking back and forth ya know, or like listening to an echo or waves, it’s soothing in alot of ways - even the heavier/more intense songs (also I noticed you can sometimes see vessel rocking while he preforms when he doesnt have the zoomies)

And before anyone goes “ren that’s just song structure,” “ren most songs have a beat you can move too” I know ! and i know I’m articulating this badly. But I’ve been listening to ST’s whole discography on repeat minimum 8 hours a day for at least two week (this is not an exaggeration) and I don’t know how to make you understand, other then to make you listen to them for 8 hours min a day for two week while I gesture wildly and shout “rocking back and forth ! echoes ! Push and pull of waves !”….

[phen397]

Me alone at home making dinner like I am some weird cooking show:

"Just take that meat and put it in the pan OK then break it up, really go at, get in there, go crazy, go stupid, OK cool."

"OK now I like mushrooms but I know that not all people do so you don't gotta put them in, like I'm not telling you what to do, like what am I your dad or smth, God just do what you want. "

"Kinda funny how if you wanted spaghetti sauce you really only need to change a couple things from Chilli, just leave out the beans and add oregano and some sugar and boom you have spaghetti sauce, like cooking isn't hard alot of people see these sort of things that can completely change what your making and think like 'ah fuck oh jeez I better not mess this up there are so many little things I could do wrong and not get what I want, ah jeez I can't cook'. Like shut up, it's so cool that if I change one or two things about a thing I am making I get something completely different, like how darn cool is that? Anyway in go the mushrooms."

"Gotta cook the water out of them. Now alot of foods have water in them especially fruits and vegetables, celery is like 90% water, and it is also why when you cook spinach you go from having this much [------------------------] to having this much [----] kinda neat."

"Do you know why we add sugar to the sauce? You know that tang that tomatoes have, that like acid? Yea it gets rid of that. If you add in just enough you are left with just the tomatoe tast but if you want it sweeter for some reason you can add more, I mean just live your life do your Thang."

"Now to add the sugar I am just gonna go for two spoon fulls right away cause I don't respect the natural order of things and will forever live my life on the edge."

"Now if we give this a taste we will find *slurp* that I have nailed it first try and you should never doubt my judgement again for now that I stand on this hill before God himself I will have the utmost unshakable faith in the fact that this sauce slaps so hard that even God will desend to my level and ask me how to create such a balance, to which my response would be, 'through trail, error, joy, guilt, and above all, a burning curiosity for the unknown, the beheld, for that is what pushes us to be better, to be more. Anyway thanks for coming to my Ted talk'."

[dowoonie-namjoonie]

Day6 Finding Out You’re Pregnant

A/N: I don’t own these gifs, this is all just for fun, please enjoy. Also, fellow mydays I know I’m loyal to Sungjin...but Wonpil! He’s sooooo cute, alright thanks for listening to my ted talk read on!

Sungjin

Everything seemed normal today, finally Sungjin had a night off from work, so he decided to spend the whole day with you. It was a wonderful surprise, usually your husband would spend 24/7 writing and composing songs for the planned comeback, but today he was chill. Half the day both of you went to the mall, Sungjin got you some new heels for a formal dinner a few nights away, then he got both of you some well deserved ice cream, but at the end of the day was spent on the couch. On the couch, cuddling together which you both rarely did, watching a romantic comedy. It seemed Sungjin really wanted to spoil you today with things you liked. 

Your belly was full from just eating a delicious dinner, so when your stomach began to twist in pain you just assumed it was gas or something. Then, half way through the movie, the pain started to grow. It didn’t feel like gas anymore, instead you felt like throwing up the pork you had just eaten. 

“You okay,” Sungjin asked, concerned that he was making you uncomfortable. He noticed awhile ago that you were moving around a lot, an uncomfortable look plastered on your face. 

“Yea, um...just feeling a bit...-blerg!” 

Quickly, you covered your mouth as you felt bile rise up your throat. Flying off the couch you made your way to the bathroom, begrudgingly filling up the toilet with vomit. Sungjin followed close behind, even holding your hair. 

“Dear god,” you whined, sinking against the wall next to the toilet. 

“Honey,” Sungjin cooed, stroking the back of your head with comfort. “Are you not feeling well?” 

“I guess...,” you started, confused on why you randomly you just got sick. That’s when it hit you, lately you’ve gained weight but you assumed it was your increase in appetite, piecing it together your realized you’re late. “Oh my god!” You squealed, covering your mouth with the thought you’ve just had. 

“What is it,” Sungjin asked, kneeling down in front of you. He took your face into his hands, worried that there was something wrong with you, it was clear on his face. 

“Honey,” you smiled, putting a hand on top of his, rubbing it gently. “I think I’m pregnant.”   

“What?” Sungjin’s reaction was monotoned like you’d expected. His eyes were wide with shock as he searched your face trying to see if you’re lying or not. “Are you sure?” 

“Yes, yes! My periods late, I’m gaining weight, my feet are swelling, now this...” 

“I um,” he let go of you, shocked at the sudden news. “I guess you’re right.” 

“Honey,” you crawled over to him, grasping his arm to see if he was mentally okay. “Are...are you okay?” 

“Of course,” he sighed with content, the news just hitting him. A bright smile washed over him, “I’m gonna be a dad!”  

Jae

It was perceived that Jae didn’t want kids, so as you held the positive pregnancy test in your hands you didn’t know how you were going to tell him. Jae and you have been dating for three years now, everything was going great for both of you. At some point you’d even expect a ring on your finger. But now that you’re pregnant, you’re not sure who happy Jae would. 

You sat on the cool tile of your bathroom floor, millions thoughts running through your mind. This was the last thing you needed right now, Jaw as going to be home any minute now, tired from another day of work. 

Right on cue, Jae shimmied the front doors lock, your body tensed as you heard the echo from the bathroom. 

“Babe,” he yelled, kicking off his shoes in the outcove at the front door. “I’m home.” 

Going further into the shared house he didn’t see you anywhere, instantly growing confused at where you could be. Did you go out and you just forgot to mention it to him? Wouldn’t be the first time. 

“Babe?” Jae noticed the shut bathroom door, which was never shut. It was a system you both had, leaving the door open met it wasn’t occupied or smelly to go in. Softly, he knocked at the door, slightly you flinched at the action. “Are you in there?”

“Y-Yea,” you stuttered, trying to not put him off or give any indication you weren’t okay. Jae knew better, he could hear in your voice that cracked tone you had when you were crying. 

“Why are you crying,” he asked, a reassuring smile on his face. Even though you couldn’t see it, it still gave the same effect on you. “Can I come in?”

Gosh, you so desperately wanted to say no, pick yourself up, and pretend that nothing ever happened. But, that wasn’t fair to Jae. Gently, you pushed yourself off the ground, placing the pregnancy test on the sinks counter, then unlocking the door without a word. Instantly Jae came through the door, he was right, you were crying over the sink trying to hide your face from him. You hated when he saw you like this. 

“Babe,” he cooed, coming over to you at the sink. “What’s going on, do you wanna talk about it-What’s that?” 

You placed the test on the sink so he’d have access to it. It was another form of not telling him yourself, rather you’d want the test to tell him. “Is that a...pregnancy test?” Jae picked it up, with cation of course, he knew you had peed on it already. Refusing to meet his face, you didn’t quite see his reaction at first. “Two lines means?”

“It’s positive, I’m preg-pregnant Jae,” you muttered, head still down faced to the sink.  

“Ok...,” he dragged out, placing the test down back on the sink. Turning his attention on you which, mind you, was needed greatly. Jae went up behind you, placing his head on top of yours since you were much smaller than he, his arms wrapped around your waist a comfortable warmth rushing through you. “Everything’s going to be okay,” he tried calming you down, holding onto you tightly. 

Jae may have not known why you were crying, but he thought it was better not to pry the answer out of you. “Well, we’re going to have a baby,” he started, rubbing your tummy lightly. “Guess we should finally get married too. What do you say?” 

Younghyun

Younghyun and you have been trying to get pregnant for awhile. Both of you have been married for four years now, with no luck of children your way. Nothing you did got you pregnant, but it seems luck struck the both of you. You had been late this month so you were suspicious that you might be with child. While Younghyun was at work you went to a local pharmacy, grabbing a pregnancy test off the shelves. Long story short, the pregnancy test was positive, and you’ve never been happier.

You made the most over dramatic plan you could to tell Younghyun, your idea fell on a gift to give him. With haste, you ran to the store grabbing all the things you needed to make this “gift”.

After that, you put all of it together, placing it into a polka dot bag. Due to your excitement, you decided to go to his work than wait for him to come home. You took a bus there since he was using the car, the whole time your leg shook with anticipation as you held onto the gift sercurly.

When you got to the front desk of his studio you asked the woman there for Mr. Kang Younghyun. She instantly recognized you, this wasn’t the first time you’ve been to his office, sometimes you’d come over to eat lunch with him.

Anyway, the woman gave you a visitors pass, so you walked to his office. Opening up the door to reveal Younghyun, you could only assume he was composing a song at the current moment. He sat in his seat, playing the bass and every so often writing down what he played on a sheet in front of him. He was so entranced that he didn’t even notice your arrival.

“Brian,” you raised your voice, grabbing his attention. Your husband was shocked to see you since this was a surprise visit.

“Love,” he wholeheartedly smiled at you, glad to see his beautiful wife. Just who he wanted to see since he was having a hard time with the song he’s writing. “What are you doing here?”

Younghyun went over to you, yanking you into a soft, chaste kiss. He wrapped his arms around your waist holding you close, you would do the same except you had a gift in your hand. “I was in the neighborhood,” you joked, pecking his lips once more. Even if you are married to him, no matter how much you kiss you still get flustered by it.

“Oh really?”

“Yes, and I decided I wanted to give a gift to my loving husband.”

Younghyun’s eyes glowed with admiration as you held the present up to his face. You were just the best, in his time a need you came to make him feel better.

“What’s the occasion,” he let go of you so he could open the present with more room.

“Nothing,” you bit your lip, lying of course, but you wanted him to figure it out himself. Younghyun discarded the bag pulling out a jar of-

“Pasta sauce?” 

He looked confused rightfully so, you saw not to long ago a pregnancy surprise with Prego sauce. 

“Not just any sauce,” you smiled, inching him to figure out what you were doing. 

“Now with...10% more cheese,” he laughed, reading the jars facts. 

“No,” you whined, walking over to him. “What’s the name of the sauce?”

“Prego,” he looked at you, really trying to figure out why pasta sauce was his gift. He didn’t even like red sauce that much. 

“Jesus Bri, I’m pregnant! Prego-pregnant! Get it!” 

“Love,” he dropped the sauce, thankfully he didn’t break it. He grabbed you hard, giving you a bear hug, littering your face with kisses. “Are you actually? Is this a joke?! This would be a mean joke?!”

You shook your head, laughing at how anxious he seemed. But man, was he so ecstatic about a baby. “I can’t wait to meet her,” he calmed down, placing a hand on your flat stomach. For a moment he imagined you with a big pregnant belly, you were his life and so was this baby.   

“Oh,” you giggled, kissing his cheek lightly. “What makes you think it won’t be a boy?” 

“Oh, I just know. Ah...” he sighed, pulling you into a more gentle hug this time. “We’re having a baby...” 

Wonpil

You found out this morning you were pregnant, expertly hiding it from Wonpil through out the whole day. You wanted to tell him in a different way, so most of the time you spent today was on unique ways to announce it. 

Two months ago, you and Wonpil finally got hitched. The wedding was grand and the honeymoon even grander. Wonpil knew how to make you feel special without a doubt. Of course, you hadn’t expected to get pregnant so quickly, but that’s because of the lack of protection (if you catch my drift). 

At the end of the night, Wonpil decided he wanted to shave his face. More like he needed to, his stubble was poking through and JYP wasn’t exactly a fan of that look. They always made him shave it, not that you minded. 

As he was getting rid of his facial hair, you snuck past him into the bathroom with a blue, dry erase marker in your hand. 

“Oh, Y/N,” he looked at your through the mirror as you stood behind him. Bouncing on your heels in excitement. “Do you have to go to the bathroom or something...don’t worry I won’t look.” 

Even though you and Wonpil are married now, he still get’s shy and blushy about certain things. “Actually babe,” you started, uncapping the marker. “Can you solve this riddle for me?”

“Right now?”

“Yes, right now.”

“Ok,” he smiled, face lathered up with shaving cream, but he stopped just for you. 

With the marker you drew on the mirror, the first thing you wrote was “there’s”. Wonpil raised a brow, but let you continue, then you wrote a “a me.” 

“There’s a me?” 

“Not done yet,” you muttered, writing the word “baby” right in the gap in the E. 

Wonpil questioned the riddle, reading it in his head trying to decipher. 

“Read it outloud, that might help,” you giggled at how cute Wonpil looked when he was thinking. He bit his lip in frustration, sorta mad at himself that he couldn’t figure it out. 

“There’s a me baby? There’s a me...” 

“Where’s the baby?” You asked, leaning against the wall. 

“In me,” he questioned again. “There’s a baby...in me...There’s a baby in me? Is that the riddle?” 

“Think about it,” you simply said, Wonpil looking at you without a clue in the world. 

Then it clicked. 

“OH, you’re serious! There’s a baby in you,” he exclaimed, grabbing your hand. You shook your head vigorously, smiling at the sudden enjoyment. “I can’t believe your pregnant! I would kiss you right now, but I don’t wanna get shaving cream on your face!”   

Dowoon

This was all Dowoon actually, he started to have his suspicion about you being pregnant when you ate a whole jar of banana peppers. You hated spicy food so seeing you randomly craving a whole jar of it was a odd thing to see. Dowoon, this sweet man, didn’t want to freak you out and force you to take a test. After all, this was all so sudden for him too. 

Dowoon proposed to you a few weeks ago, he’d always said he wanted to get married at the age thirty, but he decided to break that rule just for you. There was no doubt in your mind, this was the man you wanted to spend the rest of your life with. Now you weren’t even married and expecting a child. It may sound selfish, but he just needed to know. 

After practice, Dowoon had gone to a convenience store, buying the most expensive test off the walls. He wanted the results to be the best they could be. He had to admit though, it made him red in the ears while trying to figure out what test was best. 

When he got home, he was met with you standing directly in the doorway waiting for him to come home. Lately, you’ve been more clingy with him, it was definitely a new feeling to have you attached to the hip. A few days into the clinginess he started to get used to it, gladly accepting the spontaneous need to cuddle. 

“How was work Dowoonie,” you held your arms out, expecting him to whisk into a hug with you. Dowoon, instead, stood there with a freaked out look on his face. 

“Was work bad?” 

“Um...it was fine, but-Y/N, I need you to do something for me.” 

“Alright,” you spoke suspiciously. Taking into notice how fidgety he looked, nonetheless he held out the plastic bag in his hand. Confused, you took the bag, opening it up to a pink box. “A pregnancy test? What’s this about?”

“You’ve been acting different lately, not a bad different but...different. I think you might be...you know, pregnant.” 

“Does that freak you out,” you asked, gulping afraid to hear a negative response. 

“Yes-I mean no...I don’t know! Are we really ready to have a baby?” 

“Well...is anyone really read to have a baby?” 

Lovingly, you took his hand, interlocking your fingers with him rubbing the back of his hand with your thumb. “I might...have some news for you then?” 

“Oh?”

“I may have already taken a test...and I may have already known I was pregnant for a day or two.” 

“What!” Dowoon looked shocked, a look a disbelief riddled his face. Hey, you felt very guilty that you hid this from him, but come on! This was a hard thing to talk about in general. “You didn’t tell me?” 

“I tried,” you sighed, rubbing your temples with one hand. Dowoon obviously looked upset which broke your heart, the last thing you wanted to do was hurt him. “Don’t be mad.” Cooing to him, pulling his arm gently, placing your head into his chest wrapping your small arms around his frame.

“I’m...I’m not,” he muttered out, giving up and putting his hand in your hair. Softly, running his hands through it. 

“We may not be ready,” you started, squeezing him lightly. “But we need to try, for our baby.”