#edm tickling

[kanene-yaaay]

The Other Ending (A Brand New Life)

Kanene's notes: After finishing Enigma of Fear I IMMEDIATELY cried for like 10 minutes, opened the doc of this fic and forgot I had any other wip in my life so jhgfdfghjkjhg welcome to a story with no sense that only wants a happy ending for everyone

Warnings: LOOOOTS of spoiler from the game, some hurt/comfort, angst, mentions of child abuse, domestic fluff, found family, fluff, family tickles, Ticklish!Jaser and Ler!Calisto + Ler!Sofia. This sounds more serious than it actually is but I swear that there's plenty of fluff and comfort to make up his sad past. Around 6.500 words.

Also!! Verity = Veríssimo; Pai = Dad; Mãe = Mom

[~*~]

Jaser was staring at the bundle on his arms, barely conscious of everything else that happened around him. Even before Veríssimo turned to him with relieved eyes, he was already trembling non stop, now, with the infant (with Mia-), he felt like he was Golias, watching his own body like an outsider, seeing it move automatically to carry the baby trusted to him automatically, without really processing what was happening.

This is all wrong.

None of this was supposed to happen, in no ending, in no place, in no reality. Yet, the little whimpers and wiggles in his arms couldn’t be anything but real. The ragged, quiet (and alive) breaths of Sofia next to him could be nothing else but real and that was the first time since… the first time he actually felt anything. 

Veríssimo moved closer and Jaser’s arms curled protectively around Mia, pulling the baby to his chest. For a maddening moment he wondered if they were all being poisoned, with how difficult it was to breathe.

“You’re an older brother now, Jaser.” Veríssimo said somewhere close by. The words made his head whip around so fast his vision disappeared for a moment before focusing on that worried, exhausted face. For a flash, the crinkles on the corner of his eyes were older and his beard was as white as part of his hair, dotted with drops of blood. Jaser could almost feel the burning on his stomach.

One blink and the memory was gone, this Veríssimo was still young, not so marked. He looked serious and kind, as if Jaser’s reaction (his first reaction) was nothing new, something expected. 

The boy (but not really) didn’t understand. He had always been a brother, older, younger, whatever fit at the moment, but not like this, never like this.

“Say hi to Mia.”

He looked down to the tiny infant, ugly and unaware of the world around her, at how her simple existence broke something that had always existed and would continue to do so for decades and decades to come. How did something so finite break their cycle, his personal loop?

(Had it always been so fragile to be undone like this?)

“Hi.” He croaked. 

Sofia, if she was awake, would’ve smiled at him bright like the sun at his first words, cradled him nicely in her arms and made everything disappear in a sea of warmth. Veríssimo showed his happiness in a different kind of way, and so, he quietly put his hand on his shoulder and looked down to both of his children. The corner of his eyes were soft. 

Jaser began to laugh, first with gasps, each one more hoarse and painful than anything, but the insane feeling bubbled across his chest up his throat until he was roaring with laughter, with surprise, with revolt, with how maddening all of this was. When the baby was lifted from his arms and a strong hand guided his face to an equally stronger chest (that in such a short time of years would look so small and mortal). Only when the wet fabric of his shirt began gluing on his face Jaser realized he was crying, an ugly kind that he couldn’t stop no matter how he tried.

His Vision was faltering, words coming and going in flashes and flicks of light, his objectives shining in a vivid green behind his eyelids no matter how tightly closed he pressed them, warnings blasting on his mind, screaming about his Role, the Prophecy and his Meaning. He was above everything else the Unhaunted one, no matter what, he should keep going through the plan. 

In the middle of that cacophony, Jaser gripped a single thought with all his strength and pushed it forward: he was not walking away now, because his Vision was wrong, it had been wrong about this Ending and it had lied to him and he was not going to obey it anymore.

(If it lied to him about this reality, then where did those lies stopped? How many lives has he thrown away for his role? How much of it all was pointless? How much would’ve he gotten back if he had fought it before?)

His mind was convulsing and collapsing. There was a feeling choking on him that Jaser could recognize, the usual darkness that would grant him peace every time he passed out, usually because of his father’s senseless violence. It was a good thing, he thought, at least he would be in control of everything again when he woke up.

The loud sound of a door hitting a wall shot through the place and Jaser felt a stronger paranormal presence, a cold wind came rolling and howlering across the room, trying to pull him away with barely any resistance at all, with how his body felt weak.

But then, just as the cold had clung across his torso and pulled, a high pitched cry filled the space and Veríssimo’s tensed like steel as he brought him even closer to himself, shouting something Jaser could no longer process.

Then, there was darkness.

(...)

The first time he discovered about it. It was in an inconspicuous morning

As Sofia walked to the kitchen, yawning and still barely awake from Mia’s decision to call for their presence the entire night, she almost shouted when he saw the boy standing still in front of the oven, green eyes glowing in the darkness like spotlights. They flicked over to her hand, which was holding tightly onto a dagger and showed no expression, the younger simply turning around to stare at her fully, completely clothed and with his hair combed and on his daily clothes.

“Sorry for disturbing you, mãe. I simply wanted to make breakfast.” Ever since they got out from the Perimeter, Jaser started to talk more, his voice going from hoarse to a more smoother tune. Sofia is sure that in a few years he will have a low, deep voice not so much unlike Veríssimo. The thought, together with him adapting so easily to her new address (mom! she is really a mom, now!) made her heart melt, a hand slowly (because he was still wary at receiving touches) resting on his hair, combing it with her fingers for a couple minutes before pushing a few words out of her mouth.

“What do you want to eat?”

Usually, as Veríssimo kept working at home with fewer cases and late days were more common, besides the kids, they didn’t really have breakfast besides some fruit and, in Sofia’s case, a good cup of hot tea. Until recently, Jaser didn’t also eat much, preferring to skip his breakfast as well, only changing his mind when Mia kept stopping her own eating to shove pieces of fruit uncoordinatedly at his general direction. The only way to subdue her was seeing him nibbling on something, even if she kept babbling irritatedly and pointing at him if Jaser ate too slowly for her taste.

“You are still recovering from giving birth, I will take care of the carcass.”

Sofia wondered if the tiredness was making her listen things. “The… carcass.”

Jaser blinked, unmoved at her confusion. “Yes, for our meat.” Then he stopped, considering. “Unless dad has already taken care of it when he came back yesterday?”

Yesterday Veríssimo had come home bloodied in the middle of the night, giving her a heart attack before he explained he had to take care of an urgent case of blood zombies before coming home. Jaser didn’t see much surprised or interested at the time.

“We don’t usually hunt,” they had fish, but for the state of the Statch’s house (especially Golias room) when they rescued Jaser, she really doubted he was talking about that. “But we do have some frozen meat if you want, there’s also ham and eggs that we can make to put in your bread.”

Jaser frowned at the content on her fridge. “Thank you, but I can hunt and gut a pig for you. If you want fresher meat.”

“No, no, dear, there’s no need.” She quickly began gathering tomatoes, bell pepper and a couple of bananas and apples on his arms, before he could try to follow through with his idea. She didn’t really cause a problem with whatever neighbor who was raising pigs nearby. “We can stick with what we have here, right?

Carrying her own supplies (butter, bread and some delicious carrot cake covered with chocolate that Veríssimo bought yesterday) she let him cut the vegetables for the scrambled eggs while she made a floral tea for her and, much to her demise and immense nostalgia, a cup of coffee for Jaser.

As the table was set and they were enjoying their breakfast, the high shrieking sound of crying shot across the house and Sofia drank the last sip of her tea before preparing to get up, only to be stopped as the tall shadow of her husband tumbled across the corridor to Mia’s room, the crying only resounding for a couple minutes before fading away. When she looked at Jaser, he was already halfway across the living room, a tight and worried expression on his face.

“Jaser?”

“I will… help him.”

He had only arrived at Mia's door when Veríssimo got out, Mia sitting on his arms and patting his face, absolutely delighted by his beard before turning to Jaser and squealing, her chubby little arms reaching for him.

The boy with green eyes scanned her and relaxed, holding her hands and shaking them lightly with a tiny smile, wisely keeping them away from his hair. 

“Good morning, Mia.”

Veríssimo bounced her softly and she replied with babbling, which, in Sofia’s opinion, was just a step away from forming “Mama” and therefore Veríssimo should stop deluding himself saying that her first words would be “Papa”.

“Did you sleep well, Jaser?”

“Yes, pai.” When they locked eyes, it seemed like there was a silent conversation going on. “I apologize.”

“One is not faulty for the house they are born in.” Veríssimo stared at him, serious and kind. “But there’s always the light from the future to take over the dark of the past. Your eyes will learn to see it.”

“Maybe one day.” 

Seeing they were still standing in the corridor, Sofia made a show of putting more food on her plate, humming and remarking a little too loudly as she served another cup of tea. “What a kind husband I have! Leaving all his breakfast for his hungry wife to eat since he’s too busy philosophizing to reclaim it.”

Before she could get another bite from his bread there was a large shadow in front of her, accompanied by gurgling baby noises and she smiled, ignoring both and chewing smugly.

“Sofia…” Veríssimo said, both fond and exasperated when she gasped in fake surprise, looking up with wide eyes. 

“My husband!” Because he has a butter melting heart, Veríssimo only looked in love at her and her smile before turning her attention to Mia, immediately answering to her reaching arms and lifting her out of her husband’s grip, throwing her high in the air. “And who is this? Ohh, maybe it’s my little sleeping beauty, huh? It is, it is!”

“A beautiful princess, must have inherited from her mother.”

Sofia huffed. “More like she inherited my powerful lungs.”

Still squealing, Mia wiggled in the air, which rid a bit of her shirt and reminded the adult something Calisto used to love when he was around that age.

“Is that a chubby tummy that I see, huh?” Gasping once more, she brought Mia next to her face. “A very tasty tummy for me? Oh, my thank you!”

Shoving her face on her belly, she began blowing softly and making ‘nhom nhom nhom’ noises, relinquishing on the high pitched, baby laughter that filled the entire place, happy and loud. Sofia began giggling as well, moving so she could take a look at Mia’s beautiful smile, reddish-brown eyes looking at her while her hands pushed her face away uncoordinated, she pretended to nibble her little fingers only to she the baby pull them away with another laughing shriek. 

“Hmmm, such a delicious baby. You don’t want me to eat your cute tummy?” As her giggling began slowing down, Sofia lifted her high once more, smirking at the other joyful squeal that brought. As if wondering out loud, she teased. “Maybe I should try to have another thing for a snack, then? I know!! What about these cute little toes right here?”

Back to nibbling and blowing raspberries, she laughed along with her kid, tickling her a little bit more and then bringing her close so she could kiss that small smiling face.

When she felt Veríssimo resting his hand on her, she let him grab Mia, both pretending to not see his fondly exasperated face, as he took the baby to her special chair. It was a good thing if Mia got all her energy out now, perhaps her morning bath would be even easier.

(Or she would be too pent up for breakfast and make even more of a mess than usual, they would know the answer in a couple of hours.)

“If our Tickle Monster is already satisfied, maybe she can let Mia have her meal as well?”

Sofia smirked. “I don’t know, I feel like I could go for a second serving.” Staring directly at Veríssimo, she had the perfect view of his eyes widening, mouth opening to a clever reply before thinking better, turning around and quickly helping Mia with her breakfast. She laughed and turned around to give Jaser a conspiratory wink, only to find him staring at the scene with a slightly tilted head and confused frown.

At her wink, he blinked back at her and showed a small, closed lipped smile staring at Mia once more before beginning to eat, staring thoughtfully at his meal.

Sofia went to make another cup of coffee for Veríssimo, a bit of warmth in her heart. It was good, even if sad, that Jaser was starting to get used to their displays and affection.

(...)

The first time he felt, it had been in an unmarked night.

When Veríssimo looked at his side, as he expected, Jaser was there, not even pretending to look at the starry night or the floating leaves in the cold wind. He was using a coat, at least, which was going to save both of them from a scolding later. Just in the corner of his collar, there was the hint of a white symbol that Veríssimo was pretty sure was not there when he bought the coat for the kid. 

He sighed and turned around fully, the conversation they were about to have was not about it, possibly.

“Don’t you wish to know what would have happened if the prophecy had been completed?”

“There are questions that must not be answered.”

At this, Jaser smiled with an expression that was too old for him. He said nothing else and Veríssimo was glad, there was a kind of knowledge that must never be obtained for the strings attached to it not to be lost. To know everything is to lose everything, and Veríssimo already knew too much only by noticing how those green eyes would linger too much on his face or his sword.

There was no helping, sometimes, at wishing that he arrived earlier, before the kid was forced to grow up too much for his age. 

(What an unattainable thing to wish, Jaser would say if he heard him. I never had a beginning or an end, my life was a song never actually born and always on repeat, a copy with no original piece, unable to limit what it was or it will be. And yet, if someone could wish to find that end, it could be only the two of you.)

But he said nothing, because there was no need for things to be said.

“Mia is going to like growing up in this house, with both of you.”

“Good.” The implications were there, Veríssimo purposefully looked in the other direction. “She is going to like having you as her brother. You must be an example and teach her things about life that she may never ask us about.”

“I have nothing to teach, no thing to give.” He said, a hint of fear in his tune, a broken kind of thing in his smile. “This is my first time here, I know nothing about this life.”

There was no helping the amused huff that left him at his words and the confusion as the boy stared at him.

“Then none of us will teach her anything. This is my first time here, too, afterall.”

And so Jaser huffed a laugh, looking at the sky with a lighter smile. 

“So this is it… The Unhauted one becomes a brother and nothing more. Things really have changed.”

“No, I don’t think the Unhaunted would ever be a brother.” Jaser freezes, fingers clasping on his sleeves before being forced to open, a neutral expression taking over his face as he stares at the adult. “But I think Jaser will.”

Veríssimo put a hand on his hair, messing it while the kid still didn’t care about his appearance enough to push him away. 

After a while, both finally turned fully to enjoy the stars and cold wind.

“Mãe won’t like that you came outside without a coat.”

Veríssimo sighed, part of him glad to hear the slight joking tune that wouldn’t be there in months ago. “Please don’t tell her.”

Jaser hummed non concomitantly and Veríssimo let his hand slip to grip the kid’s shoulder and shake him, not even realizing when his fingers brushed the unprotected neck by mistake, pulling an uncharacteristic yelp and jolt from the younger.

They stopped for a moment, staring at each other a bit confused and a bit wide eyed. Veríssimo was the first to understand, the corner of his lips quirking upwards.

“Be careful to not let Sofia find out this.” He said in that cryptid tune of his, that said any and everything, helping in nothing the puzzled expression in Jaser’s face as he brushed the tingling feeling out of his neck. He looked at Veríssimo’s hand with the corner of his eyes, as if it would answer his new waves of questions.

Verissímo, on his turn, simply turned back to get into his house, knowing he had already tempted the luck enough by spending that much time outside.

And if he caught Jaser kneeled in front of Mia’s crib, calling Mia his sister in whispers on another completely different time, he was careful to walk away quietly enough to not disturb any of his children.

(...)

The last and also, in it’s own way, first time it happened, was during a visit.

“Miaaa, aren’t you happy to see your favorite uncle?” 

The baby screamed and giggled non stop, although that was mostly because Calisto was spinning her  around, not really an answer. The adult cheered either way, though.

Sofia, the only voice of reason, replied from her place on the couch. “You’re her only uncle.”

“And therefore her favorite!”

Sofia refused to rise to the bait. “Stop throwing and spinning her around so much! She will get nauseous and you will be the one cleaning it up.”

“Throwing babies around is good for them! It adjusts their senses about the world surrounding them, you know? I read about it… somewhere.” Calisto rolled his eyes but obeyed nevertheless, bridging Mia close and bouncing her on his arms. Sofia looked at him with one doubtful, crooked eyebrow at which Calisto made a face before turning to his niece. “Aren’t you excited for when your mom will stop being a worrywart? I will be able to show you so many fun places. We’ll get into so many adventures together.”

“You’re not taking my baby to coffee shops, she will not be inheriting your bad habits!”

“Hey! I know plenty of other places in the city other than coffee shops.”

“Is that so?” She challenged. “Name five of them.”

“Five?! With how small this city is, if I know three it’ll be more than enough to satisfy her for her entire life!” Calisto sniffed petulantly and sat next to his sister, probably only so she would listen to his conspiratorial whispers to Mia. “Don’t worry, my dear niece, you mommy doesn’t have any culture to pass on but your favorite uncle is here to save you from that boring life, ok?”

Mia, nor Sofia, answered, the latter instead scanned Calisto up and down, eyes sharp and lightning with understanding, when Calisto turned around to investigate the sudden silence, he was pinned down by her glare.

“You’re stumbling on your words again and your leg doesn’t stop bouncing.” Sofia narrowed her eyes. “How many cups did you have today?”

“....Two…?”

“Calisto Besatt, I’ve changed your diapers, you don’t dare to lie so boldly in my face.”

Like a flower without water or sunshine, Calisto whitled. “Four.”

“Calisto! It’s not even five in the evening, how much more do you plan to drink tonight?!”

“What, you want me to keep deciphering all of those rituals without my little bit of happiness? You know how much I need them for my work, Sofia.”

“What you need is to sleep and create an effective routine to not accumulate so much paper and need to spend an entire night awake to finish it!”

It was hard, and a bit interesting, to try to reconcile both of his memories of an inexistent ending and his new reality, sometimes things were different enough that Jaser had no problem distinguishing both, other times, those same differences left him disoriented in his actions.

Looking at Calisto, he kept waiting for that broken, mad man inside the Perimeter, someone who understood his words and warnings on a level that no one else would ever be able to, murmuring non stop to himself, analyzing every symbol and every ritual with eyes that saw almost the same as his own, who would spend nights without sleeping and sacrifice all he had to save what he lost. 

Jaser kept looking into those brown eyes and hoping to find a green hue just like his, only to find nothing. 

That was a good thing.

Sometimes his disorientation hit for other reasons. Before, Jaser never really cared about how broken and different his family had been, he never even looked or interacted with his own siblings outside carrying on his objective, and never even got to know if they had cared about him on any level before they were led to their end. 

Even so, Jaser couldn’t imagine doing this again with Mia, just like he couldn’t imagine Veríssimo knocking him out with punches or Sofia haunting the corridors whispering madly about a song. To see the strong bond between Sofia and Calisto, it made him wonder if that was how siblings really acted around each other, playing fight, faking arguments and running to each other’s side the very moment they are needed.

Therefore, Jaser tried to be next to Calisto every time he visited, even if he didn’t know exactly how to answer to his attempts at conversation and interactions, he could still try to learn something from him.

A loud shout brought him back from his thoughts, only to see Jaser almost laying on the couch with how much he was squirming away from his older sister, whole body trembling not from fear but with laughter, a gigantic smile on his face that was mirrored by Sofia as she followed him close, a hand burrowing on his stomach and the other holding his shoulder to not let him fall.

And there it was that thing again. The one that made the person laugh and yet try to get away from the sensation. Sofia kept doing it and Jaser had yet to understand how it even worked.

“Sohohohohofia!! Sohohohfia, plehehehease! I wihihihihihill drop MiahAHAHAHAA!”

The last word disappeared in a laughing scream as Sofia pushed him to fall completely on the sofa, the two of them being the most careful while adjusting Mia to lay as well on his chest. After this, Sofia used both her new free hands to sneak underneath his shirt and… Jaser twisted his face this and that way, only seeing that there was a movement over his sides, but not really what was happening. With this, however, Calisto arched his back and began kicking his legs as funny kind of sound (a strange mix between those snorts from pigs and a hissing kettle) appeared amidst his laughter, one arm holding his niece close and the other missing all the attempts in pushing his sister away.

“NOHOHOHOT THEREHEHEHE!”

“Awww, can’t little Calisto have his belly tickled, huh? Is it too much for him to get a few belly rubs?” A high pitched sound, and yet more laughter. Jaser really didn’t understand what was happening. “What if I go here, instead?” With a strange kind of fascination, Jaser watched as her hands moved upwards and rested on his armpits, which, somehow, morphed completely the laughter from the other, transforming it into a giggly, high pitched and long winded sound not so unlikely Mia did when she was excited.

“Eheheheeeeeek!! No! Nononohohohoho! Geheheheeeeet ohohout! Sohohofiaahahahhaahaha! Ihihihim dying!”

“Is that so? My little brother must be really getting old, you lasted so much more in our tickle fights when we were children!”

“Thihihihis barehehely-eeek a fight!” Another one of those squeals and even more high pitched laughter, even Mia was senselessly pushing her hands on her uncle’s torso, although somehow differently from what Sofia was doing, the sparse “oof!” sounds Calisto let out showing the difference.

What was that word again? Tickle?

That was when Calisto found his gaze and extended an arm at him (or tried to, since something happened again and not even half minute later he was cluing that same arm on his torso and doing that snorting sound), still laughing, still smiling, still squirming away. “Jaahahahahaseher! S-Saveeheheh meehehe! Yohohour motheheheher wehent crahahazy.”

Sofia gasped, affronted (but not really, like faking an affrontement), taking in a deep breath and letting it out in a loud, muffled sound on Calisto’s belly. Partially muffled and partially disappearing at the loud shriek from the other, with, again, more laughter.

“Mãe?” Jaser asked, as she lifted her head, ready to reply with something else and, just like she did every time Jaser called her, Sofia turned her full attention to him, also smiling. Like they were having fun. “Let him go, please?”

She laughed. “Alright, alright. Turning my own son against me, you have no shame.” One last squeal and Calisto was left panting and letting out those tiny, fast kind of huffed laughter. Something must have shown in Jaser’s face, to gain Sofia’s next words. “Don’t worry, Calisto is just being dramatic, he can take much more tickling than this. He actually likes it!”

Tickle and tickling, Jaser guarded those words in his mind where he kept all the new information about his new family. Calisto likes it and Sofia likes doing it too. “I see.”

Calisto groaned. “Sofia! Stop embarrassing me in front of my niece and my nephew!”

“Stop being embarrassed, then. It's cute! Besides, everyone is ticklish.”

So, it’s something embarrassing but not. He added ticklish to the information.

“Yeah, you’re right. Everyone is.” He pointed that by poking Sofia on her back, making her jolt on the same place at turn to him with a playful smirk.

“Me too?”

Both adults stopped and turned to Jaser, who kept staring at them. Something sad flashed on Sofia’s eyes while Calisto put a hand on his chin, thoughtfully. “I mean, yes, probably. Every kid that I know is.” Then, his mouth curled in another playful smile, his sister and him were really alike. “Want us to tickle you?”

“Yes.”

Calisto blinked, astonished, before being nudged by his sister, scotting aside to open a seat between the. Sofia patting it in an invitation while Calisto adjusted Mia into a more comfortable position, the infant watching Jaser with big attentive eyes. For some reason, as he walked and sat between the adults, Jaser felt a zing of anticipation. 

He remembered Mia squirming and wiggling, Veríssimo’s tactical retreat and Calisto trashing, but also they incessant and bright laughter. Something that made you both keep on smiling and running away at once… How would that even feel like?

“Am I going to hurt you?” 

“No, we’re going to be very careful. And if you want us to stop, just ask and we will, alright?” Sofia smiled reassuringly as the young kid looked at her.

“Do I have to do anything?”

Calisto snickered, a bit of amused and a bit of fond. “Not really. Although it might be hard to not do something when you’re very ticklish.” Looking at his slightly confused face, Calisto smiled. “You’re going to see.”

With a single finger, Sofia lightly traced his neck and Jaser barely had time to process the strange feeling before he let out a quick funny huff and quickly threw himself away from her 

“It might feel a little funny at first.” Calisto remarked “Sorry, it got me by surprise.” Jaser straightened himself, feeling a hint of heat on his cheeks as he went back to his previous position, much to both adults’ joy, and embraced himself again for the strange, sudden spark of sensation.

“My turn, now!” Following his sister’s lead, Calisto’s hand began to dance and wiggle on Jaser’s neck. Where his fingers touched, a different kind of electricity spread, making all of his nerves tingle and his body to try to act on its own. He wanted to squirm away once more and to giggle uncontrollably. At the giant grin appearing on his face, his eyes closed on their own and a silly kind of laughter started to crawl up his throat, trying to get free. 

Jaser barely lasted a few seconds at all of this before falling to the other side with a couple of muffled, quiet giggles.

Sofia watched him, now resting on her arm, with eyes shining and soft, but with a playfulness on them (now directed at him) that made a shot of adrenaline run across his blood.

“It looks like someone is ticklish.” Sofia pointed out the obvious and Jaser couldn’t help but let out a short, fleeting noise, too quick to be stopped when the sudden sensation of someone poking his ribs made him almost lose his control and scramble away from the tickles. Almost. “I got a lovely squeak, now! Thank you, Jaser. Maybe we can do that again?”

That he did. As she kept poking at his ribs, more and more squeaks flowed from his mouth, sometimes in quick, short bursts of noises and sometimes louder, depending if she attacked his ribs with fast pokes or if she took  the opportunity to prod and dig on the bone. Jaser couldn’t stop himself from squeaking and letting out tiny huffs and puffs, a humming kind of laughter that he didn’t even know he could do.

A soft tracing on the shell of his ear and on the - seemingly - extremely ticklish skin right behind it made him shake his head involuntarily with a shiver and the sudden tickly sparkes that filled his sensation, louder snickers and a couple of bouncing noises of surprise flying in the air with the new attack. 

“Look at this, I got two giggly yelps.” Calisto pointed, proud, at his discovery. Jaser wondered if the siblings were making a competition of his reactions. That thought only made him smile more, body wiggling from one side to another, running away from the absurdly soft touch from one side only to fall into more pokes and prodding that kept making him jump and jolt in the same place.

“Are we just-” His voice sounded funny, higher, wobblier, words stumbling and dancing across giggles and chuckles as a result of the tickles. “Ticklish everywhere?”

“Not everyone.” Calisto pointed, focusing on an especially sensitive spot under his chin that made him squeal and try to protect the place by bringing his chin down to his chest which, considering Calisto’s hand was still there scratching and scribbling over and over the spot, but now unlocked between his chest and neck, didn’t really help. “Some people are ticklish and certain places that others are not. We still don’t know why humans are ticklish at all and why we laugh when that happens. There are papers that say it’s a reflex for protection or some social aspect of humanity. In general, children are mostly ticklish everywhere, though, probably because….”

There was a slight pause, filled with a kind of anticipation that Jaser would probably be prepared to understand in any other circumstance in which he was not having his mind completely overcome by the hand now crawling upwards on his torso towards his armpits. It finally made him understand why Calisto was squirming so much that time and also completely destroyed his simple desire to just stay still, every rational thought disappearing, taken over by tiny, funny sounds and quicker, fast-peaced guffaws. 

If Jaser could actually stop to analyze that silence, he would’ve realized that, technically, he was currently the child his uncle was talking about.

“They’re all soft!”

It was too late, and suddenly two hands clamped on his sides and began squeezing non stop, making him fall once again on his mom, another failed attempt as the tickling followed him and his squirms. A loud, screeching sound left his mouth, followed quickly by louder, stronger crackles and hummed chuckles taking over the room as Sofia also used the opportunity to softly spidering and scratching his armpit, pulling a snort. Jaser could barely register the next words being said.

“Or at least they should be! Sofia, where is the rice and beans for this kid?” He began squeezing his hip bones as well, searching and finding the most ticklish spots with the deathly precision of an investigator who had done this for years, analyzing all the reactions of his victim only to latch on them. And latch he did, Calisto drummed and tased a place where his stomach met his side and clawed at his hipbones, prying more and more squeals and crackles, delighted in seeing his usually so closed and suspicious nephew having so much fun. “Jaser, you’re still so skinny. I can feel your bones!”

“Plehehehease dohohon’t!”

A poke on his bellybutton and he was curling into a ball of protection, another squeaky squeal flying high in the air. His eyes crinkled where they were sealed tightly shut and there was a slight soreness on his face, Jaser doesn’t think he ever laughed that much.

“Calisto,” they stopped tickling him and Jaser discovered that even without any movement, he still could feel a newer, softer tingling which created another wave of ghostly tickles. It  slowed his laughter but kept the snickers coming at the same time. 

When both adults adjusted themselves on the couch, Jaser almost flinched at the anticipation of a new attack, the stubborn wobbly smile on his lips never leaving his face for not even a second. 

Sofia started. “I think it’s time for our grand finale.”

With a so deeply serious tune that could only be fake, Calisto agreed. “That’s right, it seems so!”

“Are you alright with it, Jaser?” Finding his eyes, she showed him a bright, incredibly soft and happy smile. “It’s fine if you had enough fun, too.”

“Whahahat is ihit?” Curiosity sparkled in his voice at the same light it twinkled in her eyes, as if she was feeling just as much joy as him.

“It’s an extra special tickle surprise.”

“Our trademark, our friends would say.”

“Do you want to discover it?” 

“Ok.” Jaser answered Sofia’s question and watched as both siblings exchanged a determined nod, as if connected by a mental link. In sync, both of them grabbed one of his arms and pulled upwards.

“Keep those here, ok?” Calisto patted his head and Jaser almost flinched in anticipation, this time a bit more conscious of the opening he was giving them since all his tickle spots (as it seems) were concentrated on his upper body. “It will help a lot for our trick.”

“Ok.”

“One...” Sofia started.

“Two…”

They stared at him, who for reason stared at Mia, who simply started clapping. Electricity continued to run wild across his nerves, setting each of them alight. Eventually, Jaser completed. “Three.”

Calisto and Sofia took twin deep breaths and in that very same moment Jaser knew exactly what was going to happen, he barely had time to let out a squeak when two faces shoved themselves on his sides and belly in a huge “PFFFFBBBT” sound, shaking their heads as if to increase what was already the most murderous, effective tickle attack Jaser ever felt.

“IYAHAHAHAHAHA!”

Jaser fell backward on the couch, completely boneless, trying to become a tiny ball and being continuously caught off guard by more and more tickles. No matter how much they did it, each new blowing-air-tickles kept leaving him in shrieks of laughter, the sensations feeling like they exploded everywhere across his stomach and explored in a buzzing feeling every tickle spot nearby. They were both long winded tickling and also tiny airy attacks that were peppered all across his sides and ribs, leaving him crackling and snickering at each one. With this, all the kind of funny reactions were pried from him, snorts, squeals, squeaky and an uncontrollable, unstoppable kind of laughter flying across the space and taking over the entire house.

The more they tickled him, the more ticklish Jaser felt, as if that playful activity was self sufficient on itself, and the more he was tickled, the more he laughed, and the more his laughter kept coming, the more those lighter and fuzzier feelings took over his mind, making his entire body more relaxed and, therefore, more vulnerable to more tickles, which would start the entire cycle again. 

So he just kept snickering, giggling, crackling and guffawing non stop.

When his uncle and mother stopped, he was still left giggling and huffing laughter as their warm hands rubbed his back and combed his hair, the waterfall of titters slowly coming to a stop a couple of minutes later. Jaser took wobbly, deep breaths and felt his own face smile a giant grin that had never before lived in his expression, a mark of joy that refused to disappear from his face. His entire body felt like all his bones had melted, relaxed like never before.

“It was… fun.” He said out loud, in a tune with a tad of disbelief and surprise. “Really fun.”

“Aww, see, Calisto, he got that from you.” As his uncle sputtered and batted Sofia in retaliation, who simply continued her teasing. “Mia will have so much to learn about tormenting brothers from her mother.”

Jaser snickered at the batter, his reactions much softer, easier than before. What a silly thing to say, Mia definitely wouldn’t remember any of this moment since, as it seems, normal, non-Unhaunted children didn’t really attain every single memory from the moment of their childbirth, right?

Even so, he turned around to look at his younger sister, who had been particularly quiet the entire discovery, staring as those attentive eyes glued on him and she smiled and giggled.

…Right?

Jaser huffed and offered a finger for her to grab, smiling as well.

(He could understand Calisto perfectly well, now. There were people who really were worth sacrificing everything for.)

For this little life, the tiny infant that changed his entire life, who gave him this chance of reality, who was kind enough to share her family with him, who changed him, Jaser really wouldn’t mind learning everything he could to keep and make her happy.

[leche-flandom]

Today my friend told me how she doesn't think it'll work out with the guy she's been casually dating. "He said he and his wife are taking a two week break from ENM anyway, so this feels like a natural way for me to let it end."

Me, tilting my head like a confused dog: They're...they're gonna stop being DJs?

[atthebell]

colorpicked pride flags from enigma do medo

starting with the bi flag of course. this one was, obviously, easy as hell. lethicia <333333333

lesbian flag from the castle, looks sick as fuck, perfect oranges and magentas for this one

nonbinary flag from the caves because it tickled me to use the danger signs outside the eye for this. warning no binary here.

trans flag from the fissure bc well that's where there was a lot of blue tbh

and finally ending with the original gilbert baker flag including pink and turquoise (sex and magic, fitting for edm i think), also from lethicia. listen she had a lot of colors going on during her fight everyone else was a little monochrome

these are just what i felt like making before i ran out of steam, i might make more eventually i just may need to gather more screenshots 😭

[elceeu2morrow]

'Louis Tomlinson has proven he's not just an ex-boyband star, he's a rocker'

Some know him as 'that guy from One Direction', others, including myself know him as arguably one of South Yorkshire's finest exports but Louis Tomlinson is only getting better, writes Daniel Bird

Image: Mirrorpix/Daniel Bird

Daniel Bird Assistant Showbiz Editor 17:31, 12 Nov 2023

Louis Tomlinson may only have two solo albums but he's proving to be one of the artists people should keep an eye on.

Having burst onto the music scene in 2010 as one-fifth of One Direction – a band created by Nicole Scherzinger on The X Factor after all five members were rejected, he's proven he's not just an ex-boyband singer. While singers from bands tend to keep a low profile and venture into other industries after a split, Louis is on a one-way ticket to becoming a mega-star in his own right.

Known for never losing his Doncaster accent and humour, the 31-year-old is currently embarking on his Faith In The Future World Tour, performing to thousands of die-hard fans every night – which he deserves credit for.

Although he may have come from one of the biggest bands of all time, the cheeky chap isn't afraid of getting up close and personal with fans – much to the dismay of his security who leap into action when he jumps off stage and runs to the barricade to see fans. In recent weeks, Louis has seen his expensive vests ripped off him, with fans even going as far as tickling him.

This, however, hasn't stopped him from putting on an incredible show. Despite only releasing two studio albums as a soloist (his second topping the Official UK Charts), he's pushing himself to the limits and playing arenas across the world. Most recently, he performed to around 21,000 fans at Manchester's AO Arena on November 11.

Walking onto the stage may be daunting for some, but Tomlinson showed no signs of fear as he opened with The Greatest – ironically, perhaps the greatest opening track. Throughout the night, he performed hits including Kill My Mind but also paying tribute to his One Direction days, belting out Drag Me Down and Where Do Broken Hearts Go. But since his pop days, Tomlinson has edged towards a more EDM and synth sound before finding his comfort in rockier tracks. He'd previously stated he'd taken inspiration from the likes of Sam Fender, Amy Winehouse, Arctic Monkeys and Manchester legends, Oasis.

Image: Mirrorpix/Daniel Bird

Nowadays, fans can expect the odd pop hit but also enjoy punk rock as well as indie pop and soft rock.

However, despite being in the business for almost 14 years, Louis remained grounded and acknowledged that Manchester was the start of his career. Between songs, he recalled his first audition for The X Factor in front of Simon Cowell, Scherzinger and Louis Walsh, being in the city. He told fans: "This is where I did my very first audition, so to be back here on my own it definitely feels full circle and I couldn't have done that without you.

[lottiecrabie]

to dust and bones. part one – matty healy

they cross paths at a bar. he’s out for blood, and hers beat tantazingly beneath her flesh. (or the worst people you know are in the worst situationship in existence)

warnings: 18+, power games, fingering, unprotected sex, edging, choking, dom!matty, bratting, general toxicity, mentions of drug use, oc

part one of two

6521 words

Alana shoots back the bitter tequila, licking hot sauce off her sweaty hands. Her face scrunches in pain, head shaking. Her sinuses clear; her thoughts leak out of her head. There’s ear-splitting music ringing around her— some god awful EDM shit she’s drunk enough to dance to. 

Crowded bodies push against her. She sways to the beat, hips rolling to some seductive rhythm drumming in the deepest parts of her heart. Her skin-tight black dress rises up her legs, revealing inches of tantalizing skin. 

Alana feels rugged hands graze the outside of her thighs. She smirks to herself, leaning back against the hard wall of body behind her. Fingers climb up instinctively to her waist, spreading across her stomach, tugging her into him until they’re flushed together, indistinguishable from the other. 

Black curls tickle at her cheek. He’s familiar against her; the muscles and dips of him unfortunately memorized in a corner of her brain she hasn’t managed to blitz out even with all the coke. 

Matty Healy. Dark angel leaning over her, nosing her perfumed neck. 

“Buy a girl a drink first,” Alana whispers. Thankfully he’s close— too close to breathe properly, to make sense of her scattered thoughts— and he manages to hear over the DJ’s techno beats. 

“Why would I?” Matty bites back, breath blowing against her ear. Alana forces down a shiver. “I can have her without.” 

She whips to face him, a furious dash between her eyebrows. Rage climbs up her spine, taking over her head, and it’s only the second most familiar emotion she feels with Matty Healy. What an insufferable asshole, looking at her all smug when he sees the anger spreading through her veins. 

Cheeks red, head swimming with the alcohol and the drugs and the deafening music, Alana tries to come up with some scathing reply. She wants to leave him burning, skin red and raw where she lashed at him. Wants to dig her nails into him, tear his beating heart from two fragile ribs. 

“Fuck you,” is what she manages, of course, because the world is a blurry daze around her, and her brain is working slower than her tongue. 

Matty smiles saccharine sweet at her. It feels awfully condescending on the cutting traits of his face. “But you have, princess.” 

“You’re—” He cocks his head, encouraging her with gleeful eyes. Alana breathes through her nose. “—not worth my time. Go do your horny act somewhere else.” 

She flips on her heels, marching determinedly to the crowded bar. Matty is hot on her trails, of course, leaning into her to tease, “Horny act? I barely even touched you.” 

“The most you will.” 

“Yeah, sure.” 

Alana pushes her way through the swarming crowd, digging her elbows in unfortunate places to get an in. People turn to her with a snarling face, but most seem to back down at the sight of her. Perhaps they recognize her, with flushed cheeks and cleavage dipping low. Perhaps they recognize the man towering behind her, following her godly parting of the sea of bodies like the privileged kid he’s always been. 

She finally manages to get to the bar, hands slamming the counter victoriously. A pretty bartender bounces to her, upping her chin in question. “What can I get you?” 

Alana opens her mouth. Instead, Matty cuts in, “Dirty vodka martini for her and a gin tonic for me.” The bartender nods, getting to work. 

Alana’s head flips to him, daggering him with a murderous glare. “I can order for myself.” 

Matty scoffs. “You practically begged me to buy you a drink.” 

She stumbles over the words in sheer offense, shrill as she gasps, “Begged— Oh, you fucking asshole.” 

Two drinks slam over the counter. “Put it on my tab,” Matty says, kidnapping her martini and making his way out of the crowd. Alana follows him bitterly, already planning to rack up his bill now that he’s so stupidly offered it to her. She’ll buy rounds for the whole club just to ruin him. 

He leads them to the VIP lounge, nodding at the bouncer as he moves to let them in. What a douchey move, she thinks, climbing up the staggering stairs, holding the skirt of her rising dress. 

The lounge is drenched in red light. Black leather couches and satin cushions scatter the place. Gray cigar smoke lingers above their heads. Some softer RnB plays, and Alana’s ears find momentary relief. She bites her lip to contain a pleased moan. 

Two dancers, impossibly tall and svelte in white lingerie dresses, move against two poles on a small stage. They’re languid and confident, swaying to a temperature rising rhythm, effortlessly seductive. 

Matty sits in front of the dancers, legs spreading as he makes himself too comfortable. He rests the two drinks on a black table in front of him, looking up at the girls with a cheeky, provocative grin. 

Inexplicable fire twists up in her guts. Alana drops beside Matty, practically sticking to his side, one leg crossing over the other to faintly kick his shin, which he takes in chuckling stride.

Her arm reaches over him to grab her martini. She places it between her lips, glass knocking her teeth gracelessly. He considers her, eyes following the land of skin she's uncovered through her new pose. 

“Aren’t you gonna say thank you?” He teases as she finishes a new mouthful of her cocktail. 

Alana offers him a deadpan look. “No.” 

He rolls his eyes, grabbing his gin tonic, leaning an arm over the back of the couch. “Brat,” he shakes his head. 

The lightning is low, casting red shadows over his face, but she can still see his dark gaze, hungry for flesh and those pathetic whines she can never hold back when he’s knuckles deep inside of her, penetrating through her skin. She draws a finger around the rim of the glass. 

She hates it most when Matty gets that way, intense and greedy and so fucking clear. His stare is predatory, watching her every little move to pounce on. The game feels instantly more dangerous. Anxiety spikes; some fight or flight response she never chooses right. 

Matty downs half of his drink, conspicuous Adam’s apple bobbing. She watches it religiously, remembering the purple stains she scattered around it just a few days ago. 

“Don’t drink so fast. We just got here,” she says warningly. She knows why he’s speeding this up. 

Matty lowers his glass just enough to offer a burning stare, hotter than she can handle in this stuffy room. 

I’m gonna fuck you is written bright and clear in his eyes. 

He finishes his gin tonic in another long sip, licking the last drop from his red lips. Heat spreads through her abdomen, clenching it guiltily. She flexes her hands around the stem. 

Slamming the glass back on the table, Matty adventures two fingers over her naked leg. It tickles, raising the hair of her skin as she shivers openly. His palm swallows the meat of her thigh, the tempting skin she so freely offered him. His hand is cold, glacial against the fire licking up her limbs. 

“Drink up,” Matty whispers, a devilish smile catching his cheek. She shakes her head, words completely lost to her. 

“I’m not thirsty.” Alana’s heart smashes against her ribs. Uncontrollable thing, careless thing. It always throws her into the worst situations, leaving her sober head to clean up its mess.

“No?” Matty pouts, climbing his hand to the hem of her dress. “You look a little flushed.” 

“It’s the light.” She stares up at the red fluorescents to prove her point, like he couldn’t see the mood lighting reigning over the room. 

“I think you’re scared,” Matty says. He’s never been one to stretch his words, coat them in syrup to swallow easier. 

She racks her throat. “Why would I be scared?” Although she promised herself not to give him an inch more, Alana gulps some of her martini to shake off the nerves (not fear, just some pesky anxiety from the lingering drugs). Matty smiles at the action triumphantly. 

“Because you left me naked and tied up to my bed last time.” He leans into her, whispering playfully into her cheek. “Because you didn’t let me come, and now you’re afraid of what I’ll do to you.” 

More backless bravado than sense, she grins cheekily. “It was funny. It’s not my fault you can’t take a little joke.” 

Fingers dipping under her dress. Alana bites her lip, hiding the breathy moan that wishes to slip her lips. It’s useless; he sees right through. “Oh, I’ll make you laugh.” He bites at her jaw, not enough to sting, but enough to know he’s serious. She scrunches her nose, tilting her head into him. 

Matty leans away, grabbing the martini from her hand. He places it between her lips. Instinctively, Alana opens them, and he tips the glass into her mouth. “Good girl,” he teases as she drinks. Her eyes snap to his dangerously, some unmasked threat that she’d spit it in his face if it wouldn’t ruin some really good vodka. “So feisty,” Matty tsks, amused. 

He takes the glass away. She licks at the rim, catching some droplets as it falls down the cone. Matty swirls the leftover martini, staring down shamelessly at her wet lips. 

“I could fuck anyone here,” he whispers. Clarity strikes through the flames, shaking away some of that daze. She frowns at him, taking a self-conscious peek at the pair of girls still twirling around their pole. Of course, Matty catches her moment of weakness, grasping it greedily as she scowls. “Yes, especially them. Have them bent over the other for me, cunts opened for my cock. Couldn’t you just see them, screaming in my sheets, rutting against each other?” 

“You overestimate your skills,” Alana bites, though it’s mostly from anger at the unwelcomed images he’s forced inside her brain. “You couldn’t handle them.” 

He arches an eyebrow. “Like I can’t handle you?”

She purses your lips, face crisping. She wishes it was true. That he didn’t have enough hands and tongue and cock to work with all of her, with the mess of hair she throws back carelessly as she rides him, with the nails digging into his back mercilessly, with the hips he grasps between heavy hands as he bruises her skin. That the rage and the hatred and the head-twirling passion she throws at him wouldn’t be caught, wouldn’t be swallowed to spit back tenfold. That he wouldn’t know what to do with all of her. 

But he does. Goddamit, he does like no one else ever has. 

Alana refuses to dignify him with an answer. Still, Matty doesn’t need one, dipping the leftover martini in her mouth. His breath is hot against her ear, sticking on her sweaty skin. 

“I could fuck anyone here,” he repeats, probably to martel home some complex she’s not interested in diving into. “But I want you.” 

She’d bite back something cheeky and snobbish, something near of course you do or who doesn’t or some other grand words to deflect. Right now, she’s too busy obediently swallowing what he’s giving her, but she’s sure he reads them anyway in the burn of her stare. 

As if to plead the last of his case, he raises his cold hand to the final stretch, meeting the black lace of her panties. Alana moans, alcohol dripping down her chin from the startled jump, something else dripping where his fingers meet the apex of her thighs. 

“Let me fuck you,” Matty breathes, biting her jaw, this time to sting, to tear apart. 

Finished with her drink, he slams the glass beside his, turning back to her quickly, afraid to miss even the smallest of shivers. “Begging already?” Alana pants, out of breath. 

His free thumb wipes the alcohol off her chin, bringing it back to her lips, forcing them open. She sucks his finger into her mouth. He presses against her tongue, heavy and undeniable. Drool sticks to it as she releases it, red lipstick staining the knuckle. 

His other hand, much more occupied, teases a delicious rhythm over her wet panties. She leans further into the cushions, manually stopping herself from dropping her legs open for this whole lounge to see. 

“Don’t give me ideas,” Matty warns. “You know how I enjoy you begging. All those pretty sounds you make, whiney and pathetic.”

His spitful hand racks through the sweaty mess of her hair, tugging at the roots. Her head bends, throat barred. He grunts at the sight.

Matty can’t stop himself any longer. He crashes his lips to hers, licking into her open mouth. It’s a messy thing, more teeth and spit than anything romantic, hands still buried in her hair. He tugs it harshly, swallowing the pitiful moans she releases. 

Alana clings to his shoulders, afraid she’d drown in the satin if it wasn’t for his buoyant body slithering around her. She curses his jacket, bulletproof vest to the claw marks she’d litter on his skin. Black nail polish tainted red by the end of the night— but he’s safe for now. 

Matty bites her lower lip, dragging it from her. She shudders in his arms, head swooping ecstasy climbing up her thoughtless brain. It must be the martini downed too fast. (It’s him. It’s always him.)

His hand releases her hair, finding the slope of her neck instead, digging into the skin. His thumb presses meanly at her jaw. Alana wonders if it’ll bruise. 

He pushes her further into the sofa, practically swallowing her whole under his lanky limbs. She can’t make sense of the edges of him. He’s everywhere, invading her flesh, slipping under her very skin, to the beating parts of her she wishes to banish him from. Hot pleasure drips down her veins. 

Matty licks into her lazily. He tastes like gin, which he knows she hates. He does it on purpose, buying drinks she’d never put to her lips just to spit it in her mouth. Alana can’t stand the taste of it. She doesn’t know why she craves the taste of him, faintly smokey from some expensive cigarette. 

He thumbs at her clit vaguely, more as a smothered promise of what he could do than any real attempt at skill. Still, it’s enough to make dangerous fire course through her veins. She clenches around nothing, groaning. 

“Are you gonna fuck me in front of everyone?” Alana rasps, biting and mean like he’s not playing her like his favorite puppet. 

Matty hums indulgently. He presses his index into her clothed entrance, wet and sticky for him. “Do you want me to? Let them know how good you are for me even with all that talk? All those sounds you make just for me?” He nips at her jaw, climbing up to her ear. “We can give them a show.” 

Alana’s heart slams against her ribs, begging to be let out and fall to his booted feet. She breathes heavily, head falling as he continues some slow circle on her clit, never enough to wipe from her head the outrageous knowledge that it’s Matty Healy blowing the flames. 

“Bathroom,” Alana gasps, eyes scrunched close. 

Matty laughs lowly, shaking his head in the side of her neck. “Coward.” 

Still, he sits up, dragging her body with his. Her brain knocks against her skull as she comes back, taking a deep breath of air. Reality feels very far away from the tip of her fingers. She’s drowning in him, in the smell of his cologne and that awful taste of gin clinging to his lips. 

The walk to the bathroom feels like a dreamscape maze, more colorful mood lightning and stepping over leather shoes than any tangible thing. 

The room is dark and clinical. The floor is black marble, sleek and easy to step on, heels clicking as she adventures further into the bathroom. The light is low. Alana has to squint to make sense of Matty locking the door behind them. He turns back to her, lion stride as he loosens his tie. 

He’s gonna eat her alive. 

Matty crowds her space, pushing her against the sink’s countertop as he noses her cheek. Alana’s thighs hit the cold marble, shivering at the contrasting temperature. The tip of his fingers find her skin again, climbing up the goosebumps, driving under the hem. 

Alana’s own hands bury in the mess of hair at the nape of his neck. Black nails dig into the unruly locks, tugging vaguely. She breathes with him, the only surrounding melody in this musicless room. What a strange feeling to be so thoroughly abandoned by distractions. 

Tired of wasting time, Matty grabs her thighs, throwing her carelessly on the marble countertop. Her legs spread wide, welcoming him in the middle of her, black heels kicking beside his knees. Hands rise to her waist, trailing greedily over her skintight dress. “Fuck, you’re hot.” 

Alana grins. Compliments are always the worst moves, climbing up to her head and loosening whatever miraculous hold he had on it. She leans away against the gray tiles of the wall, cheeky and devilish, fingers slipping from his mane to the muscles of his shoulders. “Say that again.” 

Matty tries to dip for a kiss instead, but she dodges easily, turning her head into her shoulder. He groans at her childish antics, digging his nails into her ribs. “You’re fucking annoying.” 

“‘S not what I asked.” 

Matty buries his face in her offered neck, leaving wet kisses as he scales up her jaw, up her cheeks. Alana giggles, wrinkling her nose, shifting in her seat. “You’re beautiful,” Matty finally whispers in her ear, gently biting the lobe. She hums, nodding at him. Roughly, he warns, “And if you keep playing these games, I’ll leave your ass so red you won’t be able to sit for days.” 

The threat should make a spike of anxiety hit her. Instead, languid fire pools at her stomach. She moans, closing her eyes, pushing her hips further into his. The angle is a little awkward, just slightly too high to really get anything working. She manages to roll her pleading hips on his belt buckle. 

“Greedy thing,” Matty tsks. “So fucking impatient.” 

“It’s not my fault you’re all talk.” 

Matty scoffs. “You’ve got a death wish.”

Alana flutters her eyelashes at him, pouting. “I thought you could handle me.” 

He groans, hands burrowing back into her skirt. Calloused fingers grab at her hips, digging into the black lace of her panties. He drags it out slowly, smirking down at her as Alana scoops herself up to help him. A brief ceasefire, just because he knows all the parts of her to press into. 

She giggles in his open mouth, finding him again, embarrassingly giddy. Thrill beats in her veins, cunt throbbing for him, for the good part of this relentless chess match. He kisses her indulgently, shitty grin undeniable against her lips. Alana doesn’t even have it in her to care. 

In the corner of her eyes, she sees Matty shove the lacy thing in his pocket. She releases his lips like he’s burned her, scowling petulantly. “You have to give those back. I’m running out of underwear.” Every time they fall back into this poisonous push and pull, Alana loses a pair of her favorite lingerie, forgotten in the endless pockets and sheets of Matty Healy. She’d consider going commando just to spite him if he wouldn’t like it so much, love knowing he’s gotten under her skin, made her change some known habit. 

Of course, Matty shakes his head with a teasing grin. “No.” 

“At least buy me new ones.”

He cocks his head, considering her. “Are you gonna try them on for me?”

Alana rolls her eyes, just a little bit turned on at the idea of it. “You’re such a boy.” 

Cockily, he racks her to the edge of the countertop, finally pressing her against his hard cock. Alana gasps at the sinful feel, eyes rolling back for completely different reasons. He grinds into her, the rough material of his trousers rolling against the most sensitive part of her. A traitorous whine leaves her lips; she bites it shut just a little too late. 

Matty whispers smugly, “I’m a man.”

What a fucking douchebag. Alana can’t handle this back and forth he coaxes out of her, always swaying between burning anger and choking desire like the world’s most on-beat metronome. 

She gracefully lets him have this one. Doesn’t even come up with a jab or a glare in bitter answer. Of course, that might be because he’s sailing up her thighs, thumb pressing into her clit as jaw-dropping relief climbs up her spine. Her head falls against the backsplash, lips parted, rolling her hips against his fingers as he circles lazily at her. 

He’s fucking perfect. She wants to cut his fingers clean off, curse them for ever making her feel this way. Peeking her eyes open, Alana swears he knows this, gathering a pool of her arousal to smear it over her bundle of nerves. She gasps in the quiet air, uselessly kicking her feet. 

“You’re so wet for me,” Matty says in wonder, eyes locked to the way she grinds for him, dripping on the black marble. 

“First time making a girl wet?” Alana tries to brat, but it comes out weak between two moans. 

He smirks condescendingly at her, tracing her swollen lips with the tip of his free hand, coating her chin with tacky lipgloss. “We both know the answer to that.” 

Without warning, he thrusts two fingers into her. It’s embarrassing how quickly her cunt welcomes him home, insides rearranging to make room for him dutifully. Her face scrunches, crying against his jaw. 

“Fuck, Matty.” 

“Yeah?” He arches an eyebrow, curling his hand to draw a feverish wave of ecstasy out of her. 

She grips his shoulders, pushing the jacket off of them, trying to sink her claws into anything. He’s relentless between her legs, thrusting and circling and working magic. Pressure builds inside her abdomen. She's mewling in his neck, panting in his ear. 

Matty stares down at her in hunger. He’s got her right where he wants her, Alana knows this. But why does he keep watching her like he’s about to rip into her throat? Smug and dangerous and voracious? 

An inexplicable strike of nerves hit her. His fingers dip into her faster, swiping at her clit. The cold sink and his warm body and the feel of his rough fingers inside of her are too much. Pathetic moans spill from her lips, overflowing out of her. She wrinkles her face closed, then forces it open again. Just to keep an eye on him, on his flexed arm as he wrecks her from the inside. Bliss threatens the edges of her. She tastes it on her tongue 

Alana cries, “Are you gonna make me come?” It’s pathetic to ask. She’d demand it in normal circumstances, holding onto his arm, a ruinous hand over his own guiding him into her sopping cunt. 

But— She left him hard and sticky last time, screaming after her as she touched up her lipstick. And now he’s looking down at her like he’s got her exactly where he wants, brain melting out of her ears, begging for him.

He leans into her with a trickster smile, licking his teeth. “Don’t you trust me?”

“Never.”

He pumps harder inside of her, adding a third finger. The world blurs around Alana. She screams, digging her nails under his white shirt. Right—

Matty thrusts out of her as quickly as he entered. A guttural cry rips from her throat, head banging on the wall from the stolen orgasm. Soaked fingers fall limply on her thigh, drying the slick on her skin. He grins, smacking her cheek with a sweet kiss. 

“You fucking asshole,” Alana bites, out of breath, fury swirling around her dazed head. 

“What?” He finds her lips next, catching them with a biting kiss. “Were you close?” 

“I’ll kill you.” 

“I’d like to watch you try.” 

Matty pushes the cups of her dress down, revealing her tits, flushed and peaked for him. He twirls two fingers around her nipple, greedily watching as another wave of pleasure hits her, as the uncontrollable rage smothers for ecstasy. 

Alana is half-pissed to lose that sharp sense of anger, something to strike through the blur of him, to hold onto. Pissed that he can melt away all her hatred, make her putty in his expert hands. 

He dives for her breasts, biting and licking and sucking on them like a starved man. Muted pain stretches over her chest. Alana racks a hand through his sweaty curls, gasping. 

“Are you gonna ask nicely?” Matty whispers, starting that torturously cycle on her clit again. “I like when you ask all sweet and desperate.” Alana shakes her head, sloppily kissing at his jaw as he teases a finger over her entrance again. “Come on,” he chuckles lowly. “Beg for it.” 

“Screw you,” Alana bites, legs spreading wider for him in complete contradiction. 

“Yeah, I bet you want me to.” 

Matty dips a finger inside of her, pumping slowly, unbothered by her rushing him. Her hands are everywhere on him— the mane of his black hair, the cut of his jaw, the buttons of his shirt, undone by her sloppy hands, the muscle of his working arm, the belt at his hips. Pressing and clawing and tugging at him, pleading with a silent hand to work faster. 

He’s uninterested in listening, especially when her mouth still refuses to grant him the sweet nothings she always moans for him. His pace is steady and consistent, entirely not enough. She smacks the counter uselessly. 

“You’re the worst,” Alana whines, head flopping around her neck. Tension builds meticulously slow inside of her. She throbs around his finger, wishing for more, but he continues to deny her.  

“I just want you to be good for me,” Matty breathes, holding her head up with a heavy hand. 

“Just fuck me, Matty.” 

Trying to speed it along, Alana pounces on his belt buckle, frantically trying to undo it with trembling fingers. It’s a messy affair; he pries them away easily. His jaw clenches, clearly unhappy with her. He exhales through his nose. The air grows electric. Alana’s pussy shamefully clenches around him.

Matty is a fucking sight. She desperately wishes it wasn’t true, that he wasn’t perfectly sculpted to fit around her stained palms. A fallen angel crashed to Earth just to lick the vodka and red off her lips. 

“Can’t you ever listen?” His hand moves again, slithering around the front of her throat. He presses meanly at the sides, blood rushing away from her head. Alana’s lips part, but only quiet spills from them. “That’s all that ever shuts you up, isn’t it?” 

Alana laughs gleefully at his anger, managing a choked, “Not even,” just to spite him. He digs into her arteries, surely leaving a constellation of bruises for her to cover up. 

“Fine, princess,” Matty grunts. “We’ll do it your way.” 

In a second, he’s got three fingers back inside of her, fast and hard, curling just right. It’s miraculous how he manages to be everywhere inside and outside of her, how he drowns her in the feel of him. 

Her head disconnects from her neck. She gasps for air, purring in their shared breaths. Euphoria coils around her belly, hot and sticky and so, so close. Sweet oblivion. She barely remembers their names, barely remembers what—

“Fucking hell, Matty,” Alana screams, slapping his shoulder with no force, missing his gone fingers. “Just— Just let me come.” 

“Brats don’t deserve orgasms. I thought you learned your lesson.” 

Matty takes a clinical step away from her. Breathing harshly, she tries to reattach herself to the firm reality that exists around her and not this dreamed-up land the cliff of a shattering climax brings her to. 

He’s so proper, still dressed while her dress bunches useless around her waist. So put together as she drools and drips and pants for him, unhinged and unmade. How fucking embarrassing. 

She’d lash at him in retaliation, bring him down to her dirty level, make him feel crass inside. She has the urge to on the tip of her tongue, feels the burn all the way to her throat. 

But what would Matty give her in return? Not what she wants. Not what she craves. 

God, Alana hates when she has to fucking listen. 

“Matty,” she sings, finding the lapels of his shirt and tugging him back into her. She flutters her eyelashes innocently at him, licking her lips. “I’m sorry.” He snorts at her. It’s another bruise to heal tomorrow. “Please, I mean it. I’m sorry. I’m sorry.” She grabs his cheek with one hand, kissing the other one religiously. “Fuck me. Please, please, Matty, fuck me. I need you.” 

With her free hand, she coaxes him back between her legs, spreading his long fingers over her sopping hole. “It’s all for you. It’s always just for you.” She licks his jaw, biting his earlobe. “You’re the only one who can make me feel this way.” 

Alana presses his fingers into her entrance. They enter her together, a delicious stretch that has her sighing in relief. It’s crowded and nasty and, oh, my fucking god, she’s fingering herself with fucking Matty Healy. 

He seems to be thinking the same whirlwind of thoughts, locked gaze on the spectacle of them between her thighs, working together for perhaps the first time ever. 

Alana puppeteers him, pumping their joined fingers together. She’s quick to drive herself to the edge, already so restless and aware and turned on, constantly teetering the cliff he refuses to give her. She knows her best spots anyway, knows how to get herself off quick and easy. 

“Are you gonna come for me?” Matty asks, still reveling in the sight of them. Alana nods eagerly. “Are you sure?” 

He rips their fingers out of her again. Alana smothers a sob, pain tingling the tips of her. She wants it so badly. 

Matty sucks her wet fingers clean, twirling his tongue around her metal ring. “Come on, Alana. Don’t you trust me?” She shakes her head childishly.

She thinks she might go insane. How fitting, completely going off her rockers because of Matty fucking Healy. Her entire body is in a frenzy, feverish and electrified, buzzing with stolen orgasms. He could blow on a bitten nipple and she’s half convinced she’d come on the spot. 

But he’s not going to, is he? Alana pouts pitifully to herself, cursing the chess games she plays and then has to suffer from. She knows she put herself in this situation, pushed him too far and now has to watch as he whips back tenfold like a tense elastic. 

All she can do is follow along, pleading and praying and begging for a release he’s just not giving her. 

“Oh, baby, it’s okay,” Matty coos. 

“Please. Please, I can’t—” Alana shakes her head. “I’m so close. Please, let me come.” 

He racks two hands through the tangled mess of her hair. “You’re so pretty when you beg. If only they could hear you. If only they knew how fucking pathetic you are for me.” 

Alana cries, nodding just to please him, “I am. I am.” She throbs around nothing. “Fuck me, please.” 

Matty pouts at her. “See, it’s not so hard.” 

He pushes her from her perch on the countertop, catching her as her legs tremble beneath her weight. He leaves her no time to adjust to gravity again, turning her hips around and bending her over the sink. 

She gasps at the cold feel of the marble on her tits. His hand presses strongly between her shoulder blades. Alana manages to throw a look back his way, mesmerized by the way he undoes his buckle with one hand, by the strings of curls falling over his forehead, by his swollen, red lips parting as he pants. 

By his cock as he pushes his trousers just down enough to reveal it, hard and leaking, swerving just right. 

Alana bites her lip, eyes rolling at the sheer idea of it. 

“‘Gonna fucking ruin you,” he mutters more to himself than her. 

Of course, she can’t stop herself from breathing back, “Haven’t managed to yet.” 

He tsks, spanking her naked ass. It rings deliciously down her leg. “Can’t ever stop bratting.” She giggles giddily, shaking her head. 

Matty grabs himself by the base, guiding himself between her thighs. His tip rubs at her dripping entrance, still teasing her when she’s near ready to explode from the lack of him. 

“Matty…” Alana warns. 

He chuckles. “God, you’re impatient.” He thrusts into her, bottoming out. 

A scream rips out of her throat. Alana slams her hand against the counter. How fucking right he fits, curving just perfectly inside of her. She bites her tongue, bliss loosening all her tense muscles. 

No matter how fucking shit this thing with him is, this, him inside of her, will always be holy. 

Matty grabs her hips, fingers digging into her flesh, and pounds into her. He has a wild, brutal rhythm going on, sliding in and out of her before she can register any of them, until all she knows is to moan, pleases and so goods and mores falling off her lips before she can think them. 

His skin slaps against her, the rough leather of his belt hitting her ass with each stroke. Mostly, he’s silent for once, too. Pretty, mean words robbed from his throat as he grunts and whines openly. How victorious it makes Alana feel, drowning in the sounds of him like he’s not invading every inch of her. Like she’s won. 

Her tongue burns. Ecstasy weeps down her spine. She clenches around him, again and again. “Matty—” She warns, out of breath. She’s learned her lesson. “Matty, I’m—” 

“I know, baby.” He whispers hotly, driving into her faster. “What a good girl. Are you gonna say please?” 

“Please,” she yells, face scrunching, cunt throbbing as she—

Her walls close around nothing. Alana chokes at the lack of him, too sudden and too quick for her to register until it’s too late. Matty robbed her of an astronomical orgasm again. 

She lays there pitiful, pillaged of all fight. Her cheeks feel wet and scratchy and— oh, God, she’s actually crying. 

“Oh, baby,” Matty coos, taking her arms and dragging her into the warmth of his body. Her head rolls on his shoulder, letting him play her like his favorite ragdoll. He wipes at her tears. “It’s okay. It’s okay.” 

“It’s too much.” 

“You can handle it.” He grabs a handful of her tits, using his other hand to guide her vision to the bathroom mirror. “Look at you,” he whispers. “Look how fucking beautiful you look.” 

Alana’s hair is a nest, pretty layers tangled around her face. Her face is flushed; eyeliner dripping down her eyes, lipstick smearing her chin, cheeks red from leftover blush and those pathetic tears. Her chest is blotched scarlet, freckles of growing bruises littering her skin. She’s a mess. 

Yet, Matty looks at her with devotion. I’m beautiful. I’m beautiful. 

He works slowly into her. His hips grind against her ass, deliciously reverbing in her cunt. Just this is enough to send burning ecstasy down her limbs. It’s this heady mix of pure pleasure and the striking fear that he won’t let her have it that reigns over her head.

Matty makes heavy eye contact in the reflection of the mirror. Pupils dark and penetrating, watching her every hitched breath with fascination. He wants her so much, it chokes her. 

His strokes grow faster. Alana whimpers, gripping his arm, terrified of the orgasm building inside of her. She’s run out of words to beg with. All there’s left is pleading eyes, still wet with tears. 

Matty sees the message loud and clear. “Shhh,” he whispers. “Trust me. You have to trust me.” 

Alana shakes her head. Trusting him is an impossible task, bigger and grander than he’s ever demanded of her. She can’t. She can’t let herself. 

He snaps inside of her, cruel and relentless, building her back to that epic cliff. He noses the side of her neck, moaning over and over, “Just trust me. Come on, baby. You have to trust me.” He licks her cheek, shushing in her ear. "Just trust me. Just trust me."

She thinks it’s the meanest he’s ever been with her. Demanding her to trust him at her most vulnerable when it’s him— and it’s her— and she can’t— and she has to. 

He's irredeemably cruel. Doesn't he know that he's asking the world of her? How can he ask her to just trust him?

Still, that incessant burning edge. Pression building in her stomach. He presses over her belly, cooing, “Pretty girl.”

She wants it so bad. She wants him so bad. He'll give it to her. She just has to believe that he'll—

Her face scrunch and—

Wiping waves of oblivion. Her head falls into his shoulder, jaw growing slack. Hot, white pleasure strikes the deepest parts of her. Her fingertips buzz, oxygen just a little sweeter, just a little lighter. 

Her brain loses all coherent thoughts. She’s a mess of burning fire, licking up her limbs, screaming uselessly Matty, Matty, Matty. It’s all her heart can chant, crashing down a cliff. She smashes to the ground, gracelessly and furiously. Doesn’t stick any kind of landing; just pure, unfiltered ecstasy. 

This is why Alana falls into him all the time. Why she keeps this ridiculous tango, choking and poisonous. For the momentary relief of not existing, of just being a body in his skillful hands. She purrs, relieved of any burden, relieved of him, even.

Matty follows quickly after her, spilling inside of her with the sweetest moans she’s ever heard. She laughs happily, gravity still very far from her. 

He lingers inside of her, dropping his head on her shoulder, breathing heavily against her naked skin. 

“Fuck, Alana.” 

“Fuck, Matty.” He chuckles, rubbing his forehead lazily against her. Alana peeks one eye open, nervously watching the ruins of them after their catastrophic pass through each other. “We’re a mess,” she laughs.

It’s always strangely like this when they’re done. Light and breezy. Easy. 

Matty smirks, kissing her shoulder. “Mostly you.” 

She slaps him, laughing an offended gasp. “Shut up!” 

He thrusts out of her. Cum leaks down her thighs, which only makes her vaguely blush. Matty tucks himself back in his trousers, buckling his belt. He works at his half-unbuttoned shirt next, then his forgotten jacket kicked at their feet. Alana watches him solemnly. 

When he’s done with himself, he turns her back to him. With gentle fingers, rough at the tips but oh so careful with her, he lowers the skirt of her dress, raising the cups over her bare breasts again. It’s weird to have him like this. Sort of sweet. 

He kisses her nose, then smiles ruefully. “See ya.” 

Alana frowns as he steps away from her. “What? That’s it?” 

He looks back at her, tightening his tie. He arches a bored eyebrow. “What? Did you want to suck my dick clean?” 

Alana’s lips part in affront. Fucking Matty Healy. Asking her to trust him just to slap her in the face. She can't believe she considered him any kind of sweet. Considered them anything but an unwatchable forest fire spreading in front of their very eyes.

“Only to bite it off,” she spits, fists clenching in anger. 

He smirks. “Kinky.” He opens the door, stepping through. It slams behind him. 

It’s dark and cold in the bathroom. Alana crosses her arms, craving a drink and a cigarette. God, she’s a fucking mess.

[saynomorefic]

Hi June! If you're still up for it, 4, 5, 34, 35 and/or your choice for the otp asks?

Have a lovely day 💜

Hii W! Tysm for the ask <3 I kinda wrote a novel 😅

4. Their favorite show to watch together? 

Simon 100% watches anime. My knowledge of anime is next to nothing but I feel like he likes Deathnote, Attack on Titan, Hunter x Hunter, etc. I think Wille prefers teen dramas (he got a taste for them from Felice/ the girls) and docuseries, because he's hungry to learn more about the world around him. I think together they probably watch whatever anime Simon is into and nature documentaries because they're both kinda big nerds?! Oh, and Avatar.

5. Who is the cheesier one of the two? 

Sorry but Wille. I feel like I see this pretty much confirmed everywhere, from canon to fic. That boy knows how lucky he is and takes every opportunity to show it.

34. How do they cheer one another up during sad times?

I agree with the consensus that it's physical (lol) however I'll try to say some new things. Wille seems to want to talk it out, and Simon has demonstrated that he shows care by listening, asking questions, and offering support. I imagine he learned these skills from living with Linda and Sara. Sometimes when Wille's sadness turns to big anger (like once a year) they'll go to the junkyard and smash a bunch of shit, then go make out. Yeah. 

Simon seems to go within when he's sad, so Wille tries really hard to stop him from spiraling and get him out of his head until he's ready to talk. He'll plan little excursions, like a walk in the park, or get Simon to dance with him in their living room, anything to show him that it's not all bad. Wille also tries to make him laugh. I envision a lot of tickling. He knows not to rush Simon, who will share when he feels safe and ready. 

35. What are their tastes in music? 

I've thought about this one quite extensively. 

So I think Simon inherited a bunch of Micke's taste, because we know Micke exposed him to music and took him to concerts as we see in canon. I imagine it's a good mix of 80's and 90's rock, things like Nirvana and maybe some Swedish bands (like Kent, thank you Wilma @nothingadoaboutnothing ;)) 

As for contemporary music, I feel like Simon likes indie rock, some of it more underground, some more standard like the Arctic Monkeys, Vampire Weekend, etc. I see him listening to Lizzy McAlpine and Sufjan to cry and get his feelings out. I also feel like he likes Lady Gaga, perhaps a mix of her vocals and aesthetic. 

Wille likes rap and EDM as we saw in YR. However, much like the TV show thing, I think Felice and company have definitely awakened some love for queer pop / hyperpop in him. I see a burgeoning Charli / Chappel fan. Maybe this is just wishful thinking but I see it. Simon 100% makes fun of him (but definitely doesn't complain when he puts it on). 

Bonus / free question: 

39. Do they get along with each other's family? 

I want to say I'm hopeful on this one. Simon seemed to do fine with Kristina and Ludvig, although I'm sure there's going to be plenty more awkwardness and discomfort now that Wille has stepped down. Overall I think they're pleasant towards each other with occasional moments of connection. 

I think Wille is very invested in getting to know Sara, Linda, and possibly Micke. Post S3, I think he starts to form a closer bond with Sara; I'd like to think she becomes like another sibling now that he doesn't have Erik anymore. Wille tries hard with Linda in the beginning, and eventually realizes that all she wants is for him to treat Simon well and be happy, which for him is easier than ever. Perhaps Wille is the bridge towards a better relationship with Micke - he understands shitty family dynamics and is neutral where everyone else is scarred, so maybe he can help them be in each other's lives again in small ways. Like I said, wishful thinking.

I think Simon actually pushes for Wille to spend time with Wille's parents more, because Wille definitely prefers holidays at the Erikssons. S3 made me feel very hopeful about both fronts.

[thesinglesjukebox]

AESPA - "SUPERNOVA"

Not exactly dying stars...

[6.83]

Anna Katrina Lockwood: Aespa aren't rookies anymore, and that comes across. "Supernova" sounds like it could be a SHINee single from 2008–2013, were it on the Matrix soundtrack; it's exactly what I've been hoping for from Aespa since their debut, and it's the first time I've felt like I really get what they've been going for. The synths are scribbly and cosmic simultaneously, and the often lackadaisical vibes of previous releases has been replaced by a maniacal aplomb. There are some shouty bits, as is the current trend, but they're tempered by that uniquely SM tunefulness. and backed up by the controlled and well-tuned performances. Two of our most familiar and beloved SM-associated songwriters are involved -- Kenzie and Dem Jointz -- along with Paris Alexa, who as far as I can tell has her first K-pop production credit here. I would strongly encourage the powers that be at SM to keep working with her!  [9]

Jonathan Bradley: It should be exactly the wrong point in the nostalgia cycle for anyone to be resurrecting the EDM maximalism of LMFAO’s “Sexy and I Know It,” but aespa’s “Supernova” is satisfyingly gigantic. It launches with a bass thud suitable for a blockbuster movie title card and follows it with bristling bass swells that only avoid sounding out of control because it doesn’t seem possible that they might have been controlled in the first place. [7]

Joshua Minsoo Kim: In the SM catalog, you can trace a song like “Supernova” back to f(x)’s “Red Light.” The problem for me is that despite all the fun elements, there’s no sense of release, no actual ecstasy, no goddamn hook. I’m dragged along for the ride, and it’s just the same self-serious melodies and whirring synths we’ve come to expect. The epicness is tiresome. [3]

Iain Mew: The bass noises revving up like an incomprehensible machine and the group strutting forward with purpose keep everything through to the first post-chorus escalating perfectly. From there they add a lot of stuff that ought to work as thrilling expansions, not least the gorgeous digital rain of synths, but the switch is a bit too hard, too fast. The song loses something without the single-mindedness. [6]

Taylor Alatorre: The smile that crept across my face when the bass-heavy rap breakdown got flipped into a "Planet Rock" sample -- sometimes life's simple pleasures really are all you need. Aside from that moment of dimension-hopping, "Supernova" is fully content to play around in the expansive yet finite limits that it sets for itself, guided only by its mission to recreate the scintillating highs of K-pop's second generation while avoiding the chintzier pratfalls. There's no attempt at transcendence here, and if any shedding of old identities has occurred, it's evident only in the external branding. But why let that stop you from enjoying the way Ningning punches her way through "bring the light of a dying star" as she crests the wave of that brain-tickling synth line? [8]

Ian Mathers: Finally, a song using supernova imagery that actually understands that a supernova is a dying star (to the point of explicitly calling it out in the lyrics). Would love if this were even more crunchy and compressed throughout (you know, really lean into it, like the way the vocal processing sometimes goes a bit wild on "nova"), but this is solid. [7]

Wayne Weizhen Zhang: The conceit is frustratingly, exhaustingly executed—intense and bold and shiny but devoid of fun. It’s not a good thing when I have to check whether will.i.am is involved in the production.  [5]

Alfred Soto: Combining Femme Fatale-era Britney Spears elastic electro-boogie and the best of Destiny's Child, "Supernova" fucks with time and space with its bass line alone: the girls could tesseract with it. The illustrative lyrics matter just enough.  [8]

Mark Sinker: Songs about space and robots are always better than songs about love or sex -- wait it's about sex isn't   [9]

Katherine St. Asaph: Adds some playfulness and sonic variation to the long-lost, much-mourned-by-me 2010-11 pop formula -- "Blow," "Till the World Ends," "Bad Romance" -- without sacrificing any of the electrogoth maximalism, nor any tension or explosion. I miss when pop music sounded like this. [9]

Nortey Dowuona: I’m just here so Dem Joints won’t get fined. (Marshawn Lynch voice.) Also Lance Taylor need to stay his freaky ass inside. [3]

Jacob Sujin Kuppermann: Went from a standard piece of aespan shock-and-awe pop to something altogether sillier and more glorious the second that "Planet Rock"/"Trans-Europe Express" break comes in — as TSJ's longest-tenured aespa defender I feel so vindicated that they've finally figured how to make ten perfectly ridiculous seconds of pop music that they've always deserved. [8]

[Read, comment and vote on The Singles Jukebox]

[florxdexcerezos]

continued from here: x

Nikki had heard of a party that no one who knew them both was going to, and invited Kartik. He'd been tremendously stressed with everything going on in his life, and he needed to just let go. She would present the space and he could indulge as he pleased.

Keeping a fair eye on him, she watched him knock back a couple of drinks. His inhibitions soon quick disappeared. Hers were much more used to such habits of lemon vodka forcing them away. Tickled by alcohol, and the beat of the edm music pumping in her veins, Nikki broke her personal space rules. Kartik was her partner of choice, given their familiarity. Her pretty bright smile was the only thing that stood out in the dimness of the room, so to not lose him, she grabbed his hands and kept them placed firmly on the curves of her hips.

The kiss was unexpected by not unwelcome. Though she could barely compile a thought, she knew she wanted it. Wanted him. Wanted all of him however he wanted to provide. A hand went up to cup the back of his neck, not quite pushing him further into the kiss. She pulled from the kiss to take a breath, pressing her forehead to his. Not knowing quite what to say, if anything, she elected to return with a kiss of her own, gentle but passionate. As if unveiling years of pushed down feelings.

[faunandfloraas]

23 for the song ask game!

has interesting sounds that tickle my brain right

If any of you guys like edm I would highly recommend checking out electric fields, they're a super unique and fun duo!

[decembermoonskz]

+ stray kids : 5-STAR (★★★★★) | my comeback review/thoughts °˖✧

welcome! let’s get started! >:) happy skz day <33 feel free to let me know you thoughts and if you agree with stuff or have your own interpretation :D 

god i missed skz music so let’s get it

album ;

★ - favorite

:: Hall of Fame ★

OMG SUCH A GREAT INTRO TO THE ALBUM

this is such a great statement for the theme of the album as well as who stray kids are

the bass is really good and the key is wonderful

the pre hook is absolutely amazing and it gets you hyped

minho’s parts are one of my favorites tbh he has such good energy and it makes it feel like his lines are a punch to the gut

i love the whole hook!!!!!!!!!

and the sci-fi vibe sfx are really good wow

felix’s lines too tho like yes sir spit facts >:D

:: S-Class

this is an amazing title track imo!

honestly this is a great statement about who stray kids is and how far they’ve come. now hear me out.

they kind of show a little bit of everything that makes up their genre so to speak. noise music, hard bass, charming little quirky parts, not even mentioning the fun choreo and footwork that they’re known for. 

it showed that they’re here and that they aren’t changing their brand any time soon.

the whistle to start it off is so iconic honestly 

the pre hook yet again is my favorite and the ending section of the chorus with all the footwork :D

the pre hook is both gentle and hype-building

also that endless bass in the hook is so nice it’s low and tickles my ear just right

THE SWITCH UP FOR VERSE 2 BRUH that reminded me of nct’s songs being a totally diff song at certain points LOL

THE BRIDGE IS SO FUCKING PERFECT BRRRRRUUUUHHH

that deep synth during the dance break is delicious 

it really is great just wow *claps*

:: ITEM ★

so welcome to one of my favorite songs on the album

the intro is one of my favorite things ever the nostalgia of the 8bit sounds

the hook is so aggressive and i think using changbin and felix for the “item!” part is perfect

the second verse rap may be the best part tbh it’s so addicting hearing their fast raps the rhythm is so good

jisung’s rap was probs my fave hhhh no surprise

such a nice mix of happy and aggressive tbh which also has to do with the major vibe

honestly if this was their b-side i wouldn’t complain honestly it’s such a good song all-around

honestly love they didn’t unveil this

:: Super Bowl ★

oh god i knew i’d love this one !!!!!

super impressed with doing it in all english

all the whispers tho omfg so clean

honestly i understand why this didn’t become god’s menu tt it doesn’t give tt quite like current god’s menu and gives off more b-side 

honestly it’s so addicting like item just whoa the bridge is so nice and the hook is so good i’m very hit or miss with chanting choruses but this one does it nicely

the whispers tho are so perfect i have to mention them again *melts* especially with headphones

:: TOPLINE (Feat. Tiger JK)

changbin rapping first *nods* very nice

the bass hits are so nice on the ears

ooooh! pre hook >>>> so nice the keys are some of my favorite

i love the note falling off at the “we don’t give a fu-” 

OH GOD THE BOOM DIGI DIGI BOOM BOOM no that really is an anthem!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

okay i really like tiger jk’s part! it fits in perfectly and then goes into jisung honestly >>>> *chef’s kiss*

all the raps are really clean (so proud of hyun rapping as always his raps have only gotten better)

another chanting chorus that does it right fr fr it’s so good 

this is a certified concert song hoping for it on the next tour

anyway BOOM DIGI DIGI BOOM BOOM

:: DLC

that sound after “dance like crazy” really tickles my brain in the best way uwu

i love the vibe of this song it’s so happy and uplifting

honestly it’s such a nice song to dance crazy too go figure :)))

i love the beats so much (i always love changbin songs hehe)

those little vocals at the end of the song made me soft idk why it was so cute

i hope this is on the next tour too i wanna jump to this

:: GET LIT ★

oh fuck GREAT intro

THAT BASS IS NASTY FUCK YEAH

the first verse is so harsh /pos

pre hooks i love you pre hooks <333333333

THAT CHORUS SYNTH IS FUCKING GOOD OMG 

vocals >>>>>

hwang hyunjin i will fight you /pos (context: him slurring his words after hook 1)

the edm vibes i’m here for them *nods*

oooo bridge... *heart eyes*

the little sound at the end hehe

:: Collision ★

trumpets.... TRUMPETS ?!?!??! OH GOD YES

OOF THAT LITTLE VIBRATTO HELL YES

oh this song is going to haunt me till the next comeback watch me loop it and make it onto my top songs for spotify

THAT HOOK IS PERFECT OMFG

omg i love this one so much

hehe chris hehe *kicks feet*

jisung’s voice omg it’s so perfect

verse 2 > verse 1 imo

the ending and the phone ringing sound big oof i love it

:: FNF

i already really loved this song bc of its message but hehe chris starting *covers face and kicks feet*

literally every pre hook on thsi album is good wtf <3333

felix vocals *^*/

hyunjin rap *^*/

the lyrics </3 oof my heart tugs honestly they’re so good

i get TMT vibes from this song tbh and i like it

oh the bridge is so quiet it made me :(((( it’s so soft and heartfelt

after learning about the “catching up” part from chan it makes me more emotional 

:: Youtiful 

time to cry ig *shrugs*

more chris starting vocals TT TT 

this really does go in the #lovestay, you can STAY, category 

the hook is my favorite part <3333333

jeongin was right this does have the comforting disney vibes

all the “i’ll be by your side” vibes are making me so emotional

also chris starting hook 2 makes me wanna cry woohoo love that for me

they dropped the fan chant as i was listening and i looked at them and wanted to cry awesome :))))

:: The Sound (Korean Ver.)

into existing songs now

i already liked the sound before but i tend not to like kr versions of jp songs (besides TOP) but this one is actually alright

i still have bias towards the original but i’m open

the raps are still really good tho like catJAM

i still miss “this is THE SOUND! it’s THE SOUND!”

:: Mixtape: Time Out

i actually like how they ended with the mixtape it feels like an end to the album and a hug for STAY lol

like “congrats you got through the emotional damage this album gave you :))))) /j

no really i like this being the end to the album smth we’re familiar with and a very like... idk conclusive song to end it with

like going out with a happy bang!

god i really fucking love stray kids man <3

mv/performance ;

honestly i’m not always for big flashy mvs but i know that’s kind the era of kpop mvs rn but skz never really bothers me with their mvs even if there’s a lot going on LOL (like the soldiers, the octo monster, the horse, the fire, just for examples) oh and i won with all the chris shots LOL anyways

i really like the choreo it’s really playful and like they said it’s like a “playful annoying” HAHA it really comes off as these annoying kids having fun without a care. my favorite part of the choreo is the hook and the start of verse 2 i love the switch up so much it’s not even funny. 

also the part where minho and chris get to be center with the footwork that’s such a nice moment!

i loved all the scenes on the boat fr fr that’s so cool! i also loved the camera work yet again their mvs always have such nice camerawork and editing <3333333 i love how they yet again did everything that tends to “bother” people. adding a lot of things to their videos and making them wild just like making their music noisy HAHA 

i also really liked the minchanjeong shot for the bridge it’s so good. that and seungmin’s shot at the end of the bridge too! hyun showing up in the fire for hook 2 was also so nice! ugh i could talk about the whole mv tbh LOL

final thoughts ;

wow overall this comeback is hard-hitting and there’s so much to take in!! there’s literally way too much to deal with you can’t process it all on one listen or watch. you need like ten LOL i’m in love with this cb tbh after listening to the album and the songs and seeing the mv like 4-5 times (this will go up later lol) i’m really happy and pleased with this cb!! overall it’s quite literally 5 stars HAHA <3333 thanks for reading if you made it this far *bows* i’m out to vibe to the album and watch the fan chant (we got 4 parts of chris in s-class can i get an amen)

[enbydust]

Hey hi hello, you're cute and have a great taste in games. What music are you into tho?

💚💚

I did put that on my pinned lol I need to narrow that down it’s such a big question where do I startttttt

Well ummm my absolute favorite artist is Will Wood, though that should be obvious from the everything about me. His music helped me put so many of the things I struggle with into words cause voicing my feelings is a lot easier when I can use someone else’s words.

But in a broader sense I’m really into songs that have a story to tell from any genre really. It started with The Devil Went Down to Georgia cause my dad is a big Zac Brown fan, and since then I just roam platforms looking for songs I like.

Aside from WW I love to bring up

-grandson(rock/edm and punk themes)

-Days n Daze(Midwest emo/folk punk)

-Schafer James(spooky vibes and WW adjacent)

-Harley Poe(murder-folk is what I’d call it I guess)

-Rare Americans(idk what this is tho I think it’s rock of some kind?)

-Amigo the Devil(similar to WW and Schafer James as far as subject matter, but more folksy)

-and last but not least, The Taxpayers(another one I have no idea how to classify but I love how messy and raw they sound)

Idk you kinda gotta listen to them cause I really will listen to almost ANYTHING as long as it tickles my brain but most have a similar sound. Acoustic Instrumentals with lots of layers to the music and a narrative tends to be what most of them have in common

I’m also a classical music nerd but that’s it’s own essay tbh, I could ramble for hours about instrumental music and drum corps.

[crtter]

Actually, THE hit song from the 70s to me is Fox on the Run by Sweet. The keyboard / guitar solo at the beginning is like… mindblowing to me. Few songs that aren’t some variation of hardcore EDM tickle my brain like that.

[light-lanterne]

,,,so, did you know that tumblr has a 10-videos-per-post limit ? i didn't x.x

anyway, here's part 2 of this ask. basically i'm rating song recs based on this system and someone send a wonderful, too-long-for-tumblr list of recs so i took screenshots and i'm going through this systematically. feel free to send song recs of your own if you'd like !!

much like before, these are all kpop so perhaps you'll enjoy some of these songs ~

oh no :( please don't misunderstand, i liked the song percy sent. just not something i'd put on my playlist :(( okei, let's see if i like these more u.u

couldn’t listen all the way through | not my thing | it’s okay | kinda catchy | ok i really like this | downloading immediately | already in my library

hmm, yeah, this one felt a bit darker than the last one :O loved the hard bass ending, it reminded me of "cactus" by a.c.e (again, i don't know edm terminology so that might be completely wrong x.x )

couldn’t listen all the way through | not my thing | it’s okay | kinda catchy | ok i really like this | downloading immediately | already in my library

hey, no >:( what is this. a song with creepy almost-circus-esque vibes at the beginning ? how the heck did you figure out one of my weaknesses ?? >:(

oh well, surprise surprise, angel likes guitars and is skewed by spooky motifs e.e whatever, let's move on,,,

couldn’t listen all the way through | not my thing | it’s okay | kinda catchy | ok i really like this | downloading immediately | already in my library - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - ☽ - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - performance video for those who want it (warning: flashing lights) ~

hey, i know these guys ~! i never listened to them much but it's nice seeing that they've become their own thing :O isn't their concept that they're travelling through different magical realms in their dreams ? correct me if i'm wrong,,,

anyway, love the hints of darkness in the mv and the music itself. there were some very funky sounds that definitely tickled my brain ~ also, i love a good raspy voice in the chorus :D

couldn’t listen all the way through | not my thing | it’s okay | kinda catchy | ok i really like this | downloading immediately | already in my library

you had me at vampires ngl,,, loved the harp melody and the somewhat eery feeling of the video ~ definitely a very chill and sweet song :]

oh no, the pressure is on >.< i hope i like them ;-;

couldn’t listen all the way through | not my thing | it’s okay | kinda catchy | ok i really like this | downloading immediately | already in my library

the whiplash of going from the enhypen song to this,,, not even an intro to prepare x.x

anyway, yay !! i love heavy whatever-genre-of-edm-this-is (not even going to try anymore ;-; ) with the horns and alarms blaring and all that so woo :D

couldn’t listen all the way through | not my thing | it’s okay | kinda catchy | ok i really like this | downloading immediately | already in my library - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - ☽ - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - stompy dance practice video for those who want it ~

been a while since i watched a dance practice video so i forgot how much i enjoyed the synchronized stomps and claps :] again, no idea how to call this subgenre of electronic music but i really like it ! super energetic and fun :D

couldn’t listen all the way through | not my thing | it’s okay | kinda catchy | ok i really like this | downloading immediately | already in my library

thoughts before the chorus: oh, this sounds a little familiar :O maybe saw it on some award show live,,,

thoughts after the chorus: oh, it's the song one of my now-gone neighbours used to blast at seven am every day for the entirety of one summer,,,,,

:(

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - ☽ - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

and that's it !! thank you for taking the time to compile and send this ~ sorry it took me a day to get to it but hey !! i definitely had a lot of fun and found a couple songs / artists i'm totally not going to obsess over for at least a week :]

thanks again for the ask ~ hope you have a wonderful day or night :D

[richardsphere]

Leverage Redemption Log: The Panamanian Monkey Job

Look i know we're going to Panama because of last episodes ending tease/it being a 2 parter. But can we just agree that sometimes the writers just pull words out of a hat and call it a title? --- Seriously that Location Establishment Font is horrible. The point of an establishing shot is to show the place we're at and that is the opposite of what your font is doing. --- Harry named-for-a-volleyball is returning to his old place of work to be a suitable distraction to let Leverage Inc slip by to steal his old client-list or something. (i think that the team is still "inc"and the big alliance of other teams working with/beneath them is International? feel free to correct me)

obligatory "evil lawyer joke" and we're scarcely a minute in. Parker making Neigh-noises as she removes the horse painting. 10/10. (Lola also gets a 10/10, it would be cool)

Oh the tax-evasion supervault has a brochure, how quaint. ominous mini-spydrone. (It's either introducing Hardisons understudy cause actor is busy, or actually spying? Im betting on its a fake-out) --- Ok the Panama City Courthouse is a phrase with words long enough that it forces the letters to get vertically smaller and make space between the words so we can actually us see between the letters. Which is a mercy, but unless we're about to spend half a season in LLanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch I do expect this font-styling to be a persistent nuisance. (apologies to the Welsh if there's a typo in there.) --- "blackouts, memory loss, deja vu" saw that punchline coming but its a classic.

just walk into the money laundering operation and start burning things. Simple and effective. Sophie seems to think she's getting too old for this, (think she might switch from frontline grifter to a more Nate-like organiser, carry on her husbands legacy sort of thing)

Elliot hears the drone.

Hardisons sister (read replacement) has a really dead stare...

"I teach every kid i meet how to do crime" That you do,

"one of us gets cover blown, they just kill us. But Harry, he reads like a fed. They'd torture him first. Gives us time to save him." You're not wrong Elliot, but you shouldnt say it. --- "I did not go through the trouble of making the only place in the world where its legal to store illegal property for you to cut corners". Time for a security exposition dump Basement has only 1 way in (elevator, or so he claims Parker is a Vent Enthuisiast) On site and off-site camera monitoring facilities (other in the Philipines) (could be a simple footage loop?) No drilling (seismic sensors, easy to trip=Boy Who Cried Wolf protocol. IE: Sheherezade Job.)

7/10 on the Tickle Yourself gag. Reduced to 4/10by the "dribble a football" (you can dribble a football, Handeggs are a bit tougher though) EDM festival next-door is a go-go. The monkey is the name and logo of a fake animal protection group that is faking outrage about a non-existent DJ playing a non-existent birthday party so they can be shamed by Sophie into playing at a non-existent benefit concert for an existent monkey. --- Creepy goons want to interogate Partyplanner Hackergirl whose name i have already forgotten (im bad at names allright,)

We're not busted, he's just asking why there is a sudden EDM rave nextdoor to his legal "illegal-things" storage. (understandable, bad form of the rest of the team to leave the newbie alone)

Turns out that Warcrimes George is a fan of "legally-not-Deadmouse". (why were we in Tokyo? Oh right *mimes headshot* great show) I have never liked an antagonist who was not meant to be sympathetic to this degree before. Ok so Deadmouse better show up or he's gonna face-shoot her.

--- Opioidrefugee is meeting in the park, guard negotiates him up to 8 million

Huh, the vault operator actually has an apparently semi-decent arguement for his own morality. (giving the tyrants a way to exit the stage into retirement means they have the option of peacefull retirement, and if even 1% of tyrants takes it, thats thousands of civilians not dying in civil wars as they cling to power.) like he's not a good person certainly, but you can argue a moral grey-ness in his business-operations there.

--- Harry sees Maxwell as he leaves... Hardison drills the roof, Breanna mans the phone. Elliot is in the vents (cause the elevator is broken)

Invisible lasers (thank god they're invisible for once) cause a throuple-fight with Hardison and Elliot.

turn of the lock turns the lasers off, and now Maxwell is pointing a gun at Parker.

--- neck-slap unconcious, Maxwell is in the vault... which is laced with explosives we're about to blow up. (making it seem like he blew up a vault full of every dictator and crooks secret stashes. Might be the evilest frame-up this show's ever done) "three of them have armies, one of them has Nukes" Well he's certainly right, that does sound like a "run for the rest of your lives" situation.

Hardison bought the theatre. Tearfull goodbye is imminent. Hardison claims that at least a dozen crews consider Parker a mom.

Sophie is officially out of retirement.

[pickletehdromer]

An Explanation of my Headphone Test playlist

I've been meaning to write something like this for a year or so now, but now that @miikarin has some hifi headphones on the way I finally have the motivation to actually go for it.

As an introduction, I know there are plenty of audiophiles who will judge or recommend a certain headphone based off of "does it represent X genre well" or "is it good for Y type of music," but personally I subscribe more to Crinacle's opinion on the matter that it's less important to judge a headphone's ability to represent a genre as it is its ability to represent and reproduce individual instruments, although those preferences can still be rather subjective.

I'll honestly just quote Crinacle directly on this one, as he words it quite exceptionally well:

"For example, when in reference to rock genres I would specify its abundant usage of distortion guitars, power chords, drum kits and more aggressive vocals. In funk, the use of bass guitar, electric piano and saxophones. In classical orchestra, mainly a focus on string ensembles. And for pop… well, “pop” just means popular music so that can encompass any and every subgenre under the sun. In the critical listening of audio equipment there is only one constant in the music: instruments. If a track sounds wrong, it’s because the instruments sound wrong. An IEM or headphone doesn’t sound bad because it doesn’t play a particular genre well, it’s bad because it doesn’t play certain instruments well. As mentioned, genres only come into play in critical listening when used in reference to associated instruments. For instance, if a headphone’s bass timbre is too soft and lacks impact, you would probably dismiss it for hip-hop and EDM due to their emphases on basslines and rhythmic beats. Yet, I doubt many would find issue in such a headphone for orchestral tracks, despite the fact that instruments like the orchestral bass drum hold pivotal roles in providing a deeper atmosphere to any composition. This creates the consensus that headphones meant for classical music are supposed to be bass-light, even though it’s more a matter of perspective and priorities rather than a hard-and-fast rule."

Most of my playlist follows this general rule. One track might be there for one specific instrument, while a different track in a similar genre is there for another.

However, as music evaluation is a balance of objectivity and subjectivity, familiarity with a certain track is also vitally important. Everything on my specific playlist is a track that I love to listen to for a specific reason, and I've heard them enough times to be able to say with some level of confidence that I know them mostly inside and out. If you ever make your own playlist (which you absolutely should), you should absolutely fill it with your favorite music that you love at some intrinsic level. For clarity's sake, I personally listen to lossless ALAC files of this playlist downloaded locally from Apple Music, and I play it back either through an Apple Dongle or an Audient iD4. I'll also be referring to both headphones and IEMs as "headphones" throughout this post.

Because of Tumblr's limits to how many audio files I can add to a post, I'm only able to highlight about half the playlist, though I will add a link to the full playlist on Spotify at the end of the post.

Off the Wall is always what I like to listen to first on a new headphone. The differences between the guitars in the left and right channels are really fun to focus on, but honestly what I like to listen for on this track specifically is the decay on the hand claps throughout the track. On headphones with particularly emphasized treble response (like the Moondrop Chu or honestly anything from Grado) they tickle my inner ear in the most satisfying way.

High Voltage was recorded at a time before guitars in rock songs were double tracked to give that "wall of sound" sort of vibe, and with each guitar hard panned left and right it can some could argue that this track is better experienced on speakers. They'd be correct to a certain extent, but given just how exceptionally good AC/DC's guitar tone has always been, to an extent that it set the standard for upper-mid forward guitars in the future, It's a Long Way to the Top is an absolute joy to experience on a headphone, and having each guitar hard panned to one side allows the listener to focus easily on the differences between the two and fully enjoy when they play in unison.

This track is on this playlist specifically for the first fifteen seconds. The inital attack on the toms in the drum have so much impact that it alone is worth recommending the whole track.

A less well known recording (well, less well known if you haven't played Bayonetta) of the Bart Howard classic lies on this playlist because it's a hallmark of early stereo recording, which is to hard pan each instrument to one side and leave the voice as the center image. It's incredibly disorienting on headphones, however, for headphones that may struggle with imaging, or have incredibly narrow imaging (looking at you, Audio-Technica ATH-M50X) it can provide a surprisingly intimate representation of the music. While my fondness for this recording is intrinsically tied to my fondness for Bayonetta, I still find this performance pleasantly vulnerable in its own way.

Speaking of video games, I also have an incredibly soft spot for Sonic Adventure 2. Its music also is far better than it has any right to be. This track lies on this playlist for one reason and one reason alone: its percussion. The kick, snare, and cymbals are all reproduced in an extremely satisfying way.

And I mean, come on, the great emerald's power allows me to feel

On the full playlist, every track from this one to Glamdring exists in some form or another specifically for qualities in its bass. Isshin Doutai's kick and bass synths play off each other in a way that both keeps them from falling into each other and fills the acoustic space.

Respite On the Spitalfields's (and also Unleash!!!!!'s, although it's not embedded in this post) bass guitar tone justifies its existence on this playlist. While the distortion places the parts of the instrument you hear the most solidly in the mids, it still retains that distinct timbre of a bass guitar that is accurately represented through most headphones/speakers.

While also being the track that inspired my choice in username across the internet, Skyhunter is here for the speed of Gene Hoglan's double kick throughout the track moreso as a test of a driver's resolving capabilities at the lower end of the sound spectrum. On less capable drivers the kicks bleed into each other and feel more like sloshing through mud rather than precise, individual hits.

Painkiller is probably the most well produced metal album of all time, and its title track is a pristine example of metal as a "wall of sound" while still retaining clarity between each instrument. Like Skyhunter, the double kick is a large reason this track is on the list, but unlike Skyhunter there is a much more prominent attack at the start of the kick, which, to me at least, helps them be more disguishable on a wider variety of headphones/speakers.

Labyrinth is on here for a reason I have touched only briefly on: imaging, or the ability of a headphone to place instruments between left, center, and right. This quality in a headphone varies wildly, even within the same brand. For example, the Sennheiser HD 800S is legendary for its imaging capabilities. If a guitar is set 37 degrees to the left of center, you will hear it 37 degrees to the left of center on an HD 800S. However, on something like the HD 650/6XX, it's more difficult to tell where a sound is coming from outside of left, center, or right.

Labyrinth is a really fun track to listen to for this specific purpose, starting with the hard right voices and almost all the way to the left organ, with synthesizers going in every other direction.

Those are some of the highlights, which hopefully do a good job of demonstrating how I personally evaluate headphones as well as just me being able to gush about music I like.

Here's a link to the full playlist on Spotify. If this post gets some sort of traction, or if the interest is there, I can make a follow up post individually going over the other half of the playlist that I wasn't able to in this one.

[yuuana]

Music Monday #228: VICTON - Virus release: November 2022 genre: Kpop cw: intermittent bright flashing

Yeah, I know, I've been saying I'd feature this MV for how many weeks now? Several. Like, all month. And it was supposed to come up here even before that and then didn't because reasons of my health being complete shithouse for months now. But I am determined, dangnabit! And have some things to say.

Let's just say VICTON has been Going Through It over the last couple of years. Debuting in November 2016 as a seven member unit on Plan A (later Play M) Ent, VICTON has been on a steady if not very flashy progression, releasing several singles and EPs and one OST before finally putting out a full album in 2021, then changing companies to IST in 2022. It could have been a promising new phase - IST is among the more successful of the small labels - but between Chan's DUI investigation last September (and subsequent departure from the group) and then Subin, Hanse, and Byungchan being unable to come to satisfactory contract terms this past April (due to military service requirements, Seungsik, Seungwoo, and Sejun are still on their original contracts), there's a very real chance that we've hit the end of the road. There hasn't been an official disbandment notice, but it wouldn't be unprecedented for a group to have a silent disbanding. On the other hand, the industry also has yet to pull out a success with a group whose members are signed across different labels1, so while I'm still clinging to hope as an ALICE, I know that hope is quite thin indeed.

Getting back to the song itself, Virus isn't really fast enough to be called a proper dance beat while at the same time having too many EDM elements to be properly called a ballad either. The use of flanging on the members' voices works for me, but makes this a somewhat atypical track for a group whose fandom name is an "acronym" for Always We Love the Voice. XD The rest of the EP is more straightforwardly melodic while still being in that space between dance and ballad.

Maybe because of what happened in the two months ahead of its release, the video carries a certain melancholy feel to it that may or may not actually be warranted? This also only has the five members in it which, given the usual production cycle, makes me wonder if they weren't made to take an afternoon to redo the group scenes and then the whole thing re-edited to remove Chan's participation in it. My ear isn't tuned enough to tell if they re-recorded the EP as well - I suspect not, because that could have been a potentially huge expense, depending on where in the cycle they were when he was dismissed, but I really couldn't say.

Seungwoo (who was not part of this EP) has completed his service, but Seungsik and Sejun have only just started theirs (enlistments in March and June of this year, respectively). Given the contract issue and the low level expectation that Hanse and Byungchan will start their manditory service terms next year, if they are still able to work together, another comeback is likely to be some time off yet.

"Choice" is out now wherever you like to do your Kpop streaming and likely still available for physical purchase as well. If that EP tickles your fancy, I recommend giving the rest of their discography a try as well.

1. yes, I know there are groups doing the still-together-across-labels thing, but GOT7 has done one release this way and no one else has been doing it long enough to be called a success yet, so I stand by this claim.

Want to see Music Monday deep dives more often? Sponsor a song selection! For the low, low price of one (1) KoFi, I'll write up the song of your choice. ANY song of your choice. Yes, even that one that's been played to death. Yes, your obscure faves too. With sponsors, I can stop skipping weeks and falling further and further behind in the releases! Sponsor a current CB for the next open Music Monday slot or sponsor a throwback for a Thursday feature! But seriously, if you've been enjoying my selections and analyses, we (me and the foster kittens) would love a KoFi in thanks. DW | Twitter | Mastodon | Ko-fi | Patreon | Discord | Twitch