#everyone stream the album btw

[quincywillows]

Short n' Sweet n' Sound: Crafting a Narrative for SC6

My fellow Carpenters, where are y'all at?!

Now having had SNS for a few days (and thoroughly enjoying it), I thought I would share how I rearranged the album to give it a bit more of a coherent storyline. If you're a listener like me, you may also have been just a tad disappointed by the curation of the track list -- it's a collection of really enjoyable songs, not a bad one in the bunch, but it lacked the cohesive, strong emotional through-line that I thought really put EICS over the top.

So, using the pieces we had, I attempted to reframe the narrative into something slightly easier to follow. Disclaimer that obviously this is not Sab's vision and I respect her approach to the album, and also double disclaimer that in making up this narrative I am ignoring every single "real life" situation the lyrics may be referring to (which is how I prefer my pop music anyway).

So let's go! Here is my reimagined narrative for Short n' Sweet:

The Premise

To start, I wanted to focus in on the emotions portrayed throughout the album and find where I thought the "heart" of this witty, sometimes bombastic album was. That of course ends up being Sabrina, but I was thinking specifically about this character she has created in the music videos for this era -- this confident, clever, unapologetically chaotic woman who isn't afraid to mess with men for fun (and if a little bloodshed happens in the middle, well... oops?) I picture her tough as nails on the outside, little patience for BS, convinced she has it all figured out and that nothing will be able to get the best of her, because she's already worked to stay three steps ahead.

All of this gets flipped upside down -- and our album begins -- when fate, or the universe, or whatever you believe intervenes and drops a bomb on our independent, unflappable heroine: a man. No, no, THE man. A man unlike all the others she's tricked before, who actually sweeps her off her feet and -- God forbid -- makes her want to make him and her fall in love.

The Track List

Track 1 - Juno: So our album opens here, bright and sparkly and starry-eyed. I kind of view this song as our intro into the story as she's met this mystery man -- let's call him The Lover -- and suddenly she's feeling things she hasn't in a long time, or maybe ever. This dude has her daydreaming, fantasizing, thinking about these mundane things like romance and motherhood, concepts that are foreign and fascinating to her. She also is jumping the gun and fast-forwarding majorly, kind of suffering from love at first sight syndrome. The chemistry between these two hasn't truly ignited yet, but the heroine can feel it there, and that is both thrilling and terrifying. Maybe she can have it, and still come out in control. She's done it before. But is it worth the risk?

Who knows?

Track 2 - Bed Chem: There is, naturally, another motivator playing a role in the will-they-won't-they here -- hormones. And, as our heroine just confessed on the opening track, she is THIRSTY. It's that magnetic pull that despite her better instincts causes her to cave to their mutual attraction. She doesn't know much about The Lover just yet, but she does know they have sparks, and she wants to act on it. She's strong enough not to get too attached. A girl has to satisfy her needs, no?

Track 3 - Espresso: Thus, our heroine and The Lover have hooked up, and now are toying with the idea of being a "thing." Our heroine is at her highest peak of confidence here, as she feels she has this guy wrapped around her finger, and oh, doesn't he look so cute that way? This song chronicles the honeymoon phase of their new romance, empowering her by how she has this guy on the hook... but also lowering her defenses without realizing it. She has learned at this point that he has an ex -- one that "don't do it for ya" anymore -- but she's choosing to gloss over that fact with these silky smooth grooves.

However, this track serves as an early turning point, foreshadowing some of the very pitfalls she's going to confront in the coming tracks -- right now, she can't relate to desperation. Later...

Track 4 - Please Please Please: With that first turn, we also get our first glimpse of true vulnerability from the heroine with PPP. At this point, a few little orange flags are starting to pop up in the relationship with The Lover -- maybe he's getting a little vague with details on where he's hanging out late at night all of a sudden. Maybe our heroine's righthand gals have noticed he's been texting someone a lot, someone who isn't named "SC" in his phone. But whether she likes it or not, whether she realizes it or not, our heroine has fallen in love, and she's putting up a big confident front that she has it all under control. She doesn't want to hear the warnings of her loved ones; they just don't "get" The Lover the way she does. But this song cracks the glass a bit, betraying her internal insecurities -- both for her heart and her well-constructed persona and ego.

Please, please, please, don't prove 'em right...

Track 5 - Good Graces: Okay, so, that moment of authentic emotion was extremely embarrassing. Enough of that! Our heroine immediately turns the bad bitch confidence back on the instant it starts to seem like the trickling of bad news might be true, giving The Lover one last warning. He has the best thing he'll ever have right now with her, and he better cherish it, because she can turn on a dime so fast. She's done it before. Hasn't he heard about all those unfortunate players from "Feather?" No? Anyway, the message is clear -- it's simple, he just needs to stay in her good graces. An ultimatum will make him get back into shape, won't it? She isn't sure, she's never really done this actually-caring thing before...

Track 6 - Coincidence: Surprise! The rumors were true. The Lover wasn't over his ex -- the one she learned about during "Espresso," but chose to brush aside under the guise of arrogance and wishful manifesting. So The Lover has split, leaving our heroine to process her first real genuine heartbreak for the first time... but not before she stomps out the story to all of her friends in a self-righteous, sarcastic biting fury. The campfire style sing-along vibe here brings to mind a good vent gossip sesh with your girls, all of you trashing the no-good loser to support the scorned friend. That's where the heroine is at right now -- still somewhat in shock, rehashing the details to anyone who will listen as if it's ridiculous, nowhere near ready to process what actually happened.

Track 7 - Sharpest Tool: Once the cheerful choir of her friends has left, our heroine is left to process the heartbreak by herself for the first time on the record. She's starting to acknowledge some of the red flags about The Lover that were always there, but also getting glimmers of self-reflection in how she mishandled it -- how she bought his faux reassurances just like he bought her faux arrogance, how they never actually talked about the more complicated aspects of their romance. Another soft, fragile down tempo moment to showcase a true emotional beat for the heroine.

If that was casual, then I'm an idiot...

Track 8 - Taste: Okay, but forget all of that again, because it felt terrible. For one thing, the heroine has never done anything wrong in her life for the record (yes, including those maybe-potentially-no-longer-living-men), and this is obviously everyone else's fault. Anger is much, much easier to sit with and process (or rather not process), so that's what she's going to lean on for a while. She's over it... but, just remember, she had him for a moment and she's going to linger forever. And she's completely over it... but dang, doesn't she leave quite an impression! Sue her!

And singing 'bout it don't mean I care!!!

Track 9 - Dumb & Poetic: The anger is start to ebb, leaving nothing but the numbness and ache behind -- but first, our heroine needs to get her last digs out. The musical shift to acoustic down-tempo reflects that slow shift in mentality, transitioning from heat to hurt, but don't think that makes her tongue any less sharp. She unloads the clip of her disses towards The Lover on this final fiery track.

Track 10 - Don't Smile: Okay, screw it. She's sad. The heroine, ice queen, queen of playing boys like Nintendo, has been played. And the worst part is, she's pretty sure it wasn't even intentional. The Lover was too dumb, too earnest and impulsive, to even mean to have hurt her. Somehow, that's almost worse. She wasn't an intentional get -- she was just a moment in time. She was already there, but it doesn't matter, and that's what sucks. It sucks that she's being ripped apart at the seams over this, when she convinced herself the whole time she had it under control, and he truly seems to not give one damn about their (short) history. It's not fair. What's the point of love, anyway? How did she get into this mess?

Track 11 - Slim Pickins: At this point, even the mere prospect of love and romance feels exhausting. If even this perfect guy, The Lover, wasn't the right match, then what hope is there? The heck of it all is that the heroine still finds she wants more -- she wants to recreate that feeling she had back in the days of "Juno" and "Espresso." It feels impossible, like it will take a lifetime to find it, and she's going to be bitching and moaning the whole way there. Even so...

Track 12 - Lie To Girls: If our heroine got anything out of this whirlwind experience, it was a hard lesson. Yes, men suck... but she played herself, too. She ignored the warning signs, she glossed over the red flags until they were sticky and drenched. In protecting her own heart and trying to maintain her confident shell, she also let it go too far. She didn't get the insight and truth she needed before she fell in love. So maybe that's the takeaway -- that love is possible, potentially, but she needs to listen to herself better next time. Not just the hormones and "bed chem." That ardent defender she is for her girlfriends, her sisters and her mother and the girl outside the club getting her tarot cards read; she needs to be that protector for herself. Maybe if she does that, next time, things will be different.

Maybe. For now, our heroine just needs to sit with the hurt and take the time to heal, slowly but surely. Maybe this time, when the cracks became faded scars reinforced in gilded gold like kintsugi, she'll be a bit more steeled -- and ready to soften to truly sweet when the Right Lover truly comes along.

[leclercvsx]

FANBOY | SMAU

CHARLES LECLERC

pairings: Charles x singer!reader

summary: charles (and some other drivers) fanboy over y/n and her music.

faceclaim: Huh Yunjin (my wife xo)

warnings: none

yourusername

liked by charles_leclerc, danielricciardo and 1,824,264 others

yourusername: i can change everything about me to fit in

y/nfan: IS THIS A SONG LYRIC?!?!

y/nlover: i might cry like actually

fancyy/n: MOTHER IS MAKING A NEW ALBUM IM CALLING IT RIGHT NOW

luvy/n: UGH i need new music rn pls

y/nlover: no because actually

lilymhe: this album will make me sob won’t it

yourusername: maybe🤭

lilymhe: AH HELLO

riabish: so excited !!! 😭

liked by yourusername

loveyy/n: this album gonna be so relatable, i can just tell����

l0vey/n: release it already🫣

chae_yung: i heard it first😊

yourusername: don’t tease them😠

eun.7: y’all are about to lose your shit😹

liked by yourusername

—

y/n.jpg

liked by charles_leclerc, lilymhe and 2,836 others

y/n.jpg: opened the jpg account for a few minutes so welcome new people and old people 🙄

TAGGED: chae_yung and eun.7

lilymhe: i’m honored

chae_yung: i will smack that look off your face

y/n.jpg: girl be for real, i can take you in a fight😤

chae_yung: stfu

danielricciardo: made it just in time😰

y/n.jpg: please go back to redbull, i need it in my life😭

charles_leclerc: i barely made it🙄

y/n.jpg: leave ferrari !!! jk…unless🫣

y/nfan: MOTHER WHEN IS THE ALBUM BEING RELEASED

y/n.jpg: SOON VERY VERY SOON, MY CHILD

eun.7: ew

y/n.jpg: you’re my biggest hater

y/nlover: release the album now🤭

y/n.jpg: how about, no🤭

alex_albon: my girlfriend loves you more than me😔

y/n.jpg: your girlfriend is now my wife 🫶

lilymhe: YES I LOVE YOU

alex_albon: i love you too❤️

lilymhe: not you🙄

—

yourusername

liked by charles_leclerc, lilymhe and 2,538,284 others

yourusername: my new album ‘folklore’ is finally out and available for streaming on ALL platforms!! I hope you guys enjoy this album as much i did making it.

This album means a lot to me and has a few of my favorite songs i’ve ever written on it. Such as ‘This Is Me Trying’, ‘mirrorball’, ‘seven’ and ‘the lakes’.

stream now !! 🫶

y/nfan: NO COS SHE ATE WITH THIS ALBUM

y/nlover: don’t mind me just sobbing over seven

fancyy/n: i BALLED listening to this whole album😭😭

lilymhe: my new favourite album, i love it so much☹️

yourusername: i love YOU so much🫶

charles_leclerc: honestly, one of your best albums.

yourusername: why thank you mr leclerc🤭

alex_albon: lily’s been crying nonstop over this🙄

yourusername: my poor wife :( i didn’t mean to make you cry 😔🫶

lilymhe: you’re forgiven babe❤️

alex_albon: leave MY GIRLFRIEND ALONE

eun.7: meh, it was alright

yourusername: 🙄

chae_yung: so proud of you🫶

yourusername: ily😭

l0vey/n: no cause seven’s chorus made me want to kms☹️

yourusername: please don’t !! 🫶

—

yourusername

liked by charles_leclerc, carlossainz55 and 1,274,628 others

yourusername: in the words of sebastian vettel (my lover) “Everyone is a Ferrari fan. Even if they’re not, they’re a Ferrari fan” ❤️🏎️

TAGGED: charles_leclerc, carlossainz55, ferrari and eun.7

ferrari: ❤️

liked by yourusername

charles_leclerc: it was great meeting you ❤️

yourusername: you too!! 🫶

carlossainz55: ❤️

liked by yourusername

lilymhe: meeting you has made my life complete btw😘

yourusername: AH MY WIFE I LOVE YOU

alex_albon: first you take my girlfriend and now you’re not even a williams fan🙄

yourusername: no one’s a williams fan 🫶

y/nfan: not eunchae wearing a CHECO hat

yourusername: don’t. we’ve had our discussion about THAT.

eun.7: it was so fun tho, even with you there x

yourusername: girl the only reason you were there was because of ME

—

y/n.jpg

liked by charles_leclerc, lilymhe and 1,728 others

y/n.jpg: currently falling in love with charles leclerc, don’t mind me x (the toto pic is off pinterest…dilf<3)

TAGGED: charles_leclerc

charles_leclerc: im honoured love😉

y/n.jpg: on my knees rn

eun.7: obsessed much

y/n.jpg: i will literally fight you right now

chae_yung: i ship it 😚

y/n.jpg: 😙😙

lilymhe: i know something people don’t👀👀

y/n.jpg: shh now😉

y/nfan: new relationship = new music 🤪

y/nlover: f1 y/n is my fave y/n😫

eun.7: just realised, don’t you hate ferrari? 🤨

y/n.jpg: when they’re screwing my man over, yes.

—

y/n.jpg

liked by charles_leclerc, eun.7 and 2,372 others

y/n.jpg: can i go, where you go❤️

feat freddie the horse cos i missed him sm and duke my not so little puppy 😙

TAGGED: charles_leclerc

charles_leclerc: i love you ❤️

y/n.jpg: AH i love you too, so much😭😭

y/nfan: NEW SONG??? NEW BOYFRIEND?? IM GOING INSANE

y/nlover: omg an album about being in love💔💔💔

eun.7: why didn’t you take me with you to see freddie😔

y/n.jpg: you didn’t deserve to come x

charles_leclerc: i went with her instead🤭

eun.7: wow, i’ll remember this

lilymhe: HAHA I KNEW THIS FIRST🫶🫶

y/n.jpg: of course bby😘

chae_yung: happy for you!! ❤️

y/n.jpg: i love you so much😭🫶

—

charles_leclerc

liked by carlossainz55, yourusername and 875k others

charles_leclerc: stream y/n’s new album, lover ❤️

TAGGED: yourusername

yourusername: hehe, thank you baby😘

charles_leclerc: you’re very welcome sweetheart❤️

charlesfan: they’re adorable🙄

y/ncharles: he’s promoting her new album :((((

carlossainz55: i like the song cornelia street

yourusername: and the song cornelia street likes you, carlos <3

eun.7: makes no sense

yourusername: fuck off

y/nfan: thank you Mr leclerc for being an inspiration for mother to produce a new album🧎‍♀️🧎‍♀️

y/nlover: i need maathp shooting through my veins

ferrari: ❤️

sebastianvettel: congrats mate, the album is amazing too y/n!

charles_leclerc: thanks mate, but you made her cry of happiness😭

yourusername: i love you😭😭

danielricciardo: i was her fan first btw

yourusername: of course danny😘

ferrarifan: she’s already getting along with his friends😭i😭love😭them😭

i hope you all enjoyed this one shot! i loved making it! although he didn’t really fanboy over her but that’s fine lmao. Small reminder, requests are still open!! 🫶

masterlist | request

[aestheticpearl]

✩ ‧₊˚ ✩𝐬𝐚𝐤𝐮𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐞 𝐦𝐮𝐬𝐢𝐜 𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐜𝐚𝐧𝐨𝐧𝐬 ✧·˚ ༘ * ༄

✧·˚feat: kayson mayer, jonah, xanthus claiborne, andrew marston, issac rhoades, elias, zaros athat'lin, luca pearce, rowan

✧·˚summary: this is basically just my headcanons of what kind of music each character listens to and their favorite albums since saku only really listens to soundtracks and can’t really tell what they would like (that is a joke btw i know you also listen to some kpop)

✧·˚a/n: music is a very important thing to me so i hope i did everyone justice and feel free to add your opinions as well!

kayson mayer ✧·˚ ༘ * ༄

favorite albums:

you never walk alone - bts . fine line - harry styles . hard to imagine the neighborhood ever changing - the neighborhood

okay hear me out, i definitely think kayson would be a kpop fan, not like a kpop stan more of a “i enjoy their music” more than anything. i feel like kayson isn’t huge on music but he love the slower stuff when he’s not at practice or trying to get pumped up for volleyball. he seems to have more of a moody taste in music in contrast to his more up beat personality, but i mean we all gotta cry over something.

jonah ✧·˚ ༘ * ༄

favorite albums:

HIT ME HARD AND SOFT - billie eilish . currents - tame impala . brat - charli xcx

this bitch definitely loves billie eilish. only man i know that definitely cries to ‘what was i made for?’ besides kayson maybe. he fucks heavy with tame impala, but not in the master manipulator why that other man fuck with it. he loves having them on in the background of streams mostly. hyper pop king, loves charli xcx and he is having a brat summer. he is definitely on tiktok so much and is very much influenced by what’s trending on the app.

xanthus claiborne ✧·˚ ༘ * ༄

favorite albums:

THE TORTURED POETS DEPARTMENT - taylor swift . firebird suite - igor stravinsky . preacher’s daughter - ethel cain

LISTEN OKAY xanthus is the kind to never admit that he would listen to taylor swift but god damn it he loves her new album and her slower stuff she is his guilty pleasure artist for sure. okay he loves classical music but like classical music don’t really have ‘albums’ per say so i chose his favorite piece. firebird suite is something that he has adored the story that is told through the music, same with ethel cain’s preachers daughter. he loves how the music is telling a story more than anything.

andrew marston ✧·˚ ༘ * ༄

favorite albums:

something to give each other - troye sivan . being funny in a foreign language - the 1975 . harry styles - harry styles

do you feel the rush andrew? sorry. i think honestly he has always loved troye sivan, might be the repressed gay in him but who knows. a full really fond of being funny in a foreign language, loves how raw the whole album is and enjoys the slower ballads. loves the debut album of harry styles, it’s just so soft and sweet he really likes listening to it.

issac rhoades ✧·˚ ༘ * ༄

favorite albums:

cry - cigarettes after sex . laurel hell - mitski . did you know that there’s a tunnel under ocean blvd - lana del ray

bro is depressed. like i don’t know what you were expecting with him. he knows that most of the songs on the cry album are very sad but some are very sweet and he like the mix of the two. mommy issues up the wazoo so of course he listens to mitski. lana del ray is new and a bit more positive of a listen, it’s almost like someone special came into his life and change the outlook of it a bit.

elias ✧·˚ ༘ * ༄

favorite albums:

who really cares - tv girl . star boy - the weeknd . positions - ariana grande

something about this tv girl album just screams elias to me and i think he would really enjoy this album the most out of the others. of course he loves the weeknd just look at him, he is a starboy and a party monster on the weekends. this bitch loves ariana grande’s positions album so much he created a stan twitter just to defend it against the haters.

zaros athat'lin ✧·˚ ༘ * ༄

favorite albums:

the rise and fall of a midwest princess - chappell roan . MEGAN - megan thee stallion . GUTS (spilled) - olivia rodrigo

was it casual when you fought my claim? he loves chappell roan and will definitely tell you he listened to her before she blew up which in his defense he did but he doesn’t need to keep telling people that. loves megan thee stallion her new album is what he listens too before he insults the fuck outta earis. loves the range of emotions he feels when listening to olivia rodrigo, i’m convinced he’s just a teenage girl.

luca pearce ✧·˚ ༘ * ༄

favorite albums:

songs - adrianne lenker . teenage dream - katy perry . MAP OF THE SOUL : PERSONA - bts

soft baby child loves soft songs that can put his ass to sleep in less than fifteen minutes. katy perry is his favorite, teenage dream got him through college and continues to make him romanticize the crap out of his relationship, as he should! he loves kpop, i just feel it in my bones that he loves persona and how happy the album is.

rowan ✧·˚ ༘ * ༄

favorite albums:

louder than bombs - the smiths . AM - arctic monkeys . the game - queen

he loves music that you could find in an old vinyl record store and these albums capture his taste perfectly in my opinion. a bit of indie here and alt rock there and you’ve got a rowan playlist that he will put on anytime he drives you anywhere.

∘₊✧──────✧₊∘

this is where i would put my glittery divider but i can’t add anymore photos lmao

.love always <3 pearl

.masterlist

[vengefulvermin]

Can i get more passage of time/music development yapping ☹️☹️☹️??? I give you official permission to yap the most you can im so interested

YES YES YES YES YES I LOVE THIS ASK

warning beneath the cut SCARY WALL OF TEXT WARNING 😱

decided to divide it into colored parts if you dont gaf about certain elements 😭

second warning all of this is unedited rambling so some points might contradict each other or just plain not make sense.

okay so for CONTEXTTTTT

i have diagnosed OCD, and like, roughly since the end of last year and the beginning of this one, the 'obsession' part of OCD that was negatively affecting me, was the concept of time. how fleeting it was. how it's basically unescapable ALL THINGS MUST PASS (get out of my head george harrison) that shit proper cold dead SCARED ME MAN. sleepless & haunting me in my dreams type shi. sometimes it still does. i try not to think about it too much

to cope, i found great comfort in the 70s-80s since at the time i was and still am hyperfixated on david bowie and that was sort of his prime (love his 90s-00s work tho.) i was also starting to think of how much parallels and similar experiences i have to previous generations and how it's not ALL that bad after all so far. i can still walk to a record store and roller skate if i really wanted to, or go to a diner.

okey here's where the life changing stuff happens. i decided i'd listen to pink floyd's the dark side of the moon. then TIME CAME ON. ohhhh god oh gosh golly god i was bawling and everything the whole song spoke to me on a molecular level. then i found out about DB's song also called time, and i ALSO crode to that. i was like. wow. i'm not alone on this feeling of utter desperation and helplessness as eventually all things Must Pass. (GEORGE HARRSION GTFO)

i used to be bitchy on how i whined i was part of the 'wrong generation.' i thought i was alone, but virtually everyone of almost every era has thought this. somebody who lived my dream life wished they had what i have now.

that's when i started to lowkey realize the parallels and oneness of human experience. i could go to a club in the 70s, and (granted the infrastructure and music remains similar) i could today. nothing would change on how i perceive events. there is no color filter on the past. unless you got huge TVs and stuff all over your house, you could walk around, and think it's the 80s. AND IT'S BASICALLY THE 80s. the way your parents or any other gen Xer saw the world with their *eyes* (not counting the changes in buildings and stuff) is the same as you today pretty much.

i already really enjoy subcultures, and particularly how they evolve and adapt. the indomitable human spirit prevails no matter how gentrified or 'banned' things become. nowadays i feel like there is No Youth Subcultures. at least, none that will pass the test of time and be memorable enough to be remembered in the books. nobody's gonna go to their child and proudly say: "when i was your age, i was a chav" or something. and i credit this to the lack of creativity allowed in the wider music industry.

HEAR ME OUT this is because 90% of youth subcultures had everything to do with music. and now, everything must be palatable. to be clear there's nothing inherently wrong with that type of music, but to me it speaks no soul. it has no risks. contemporary pop music is very much formulaic and this is because now more than ever entertainment (this also applies to movies btw) is more of an investment than passion. I WILL SPECIFY.

music production is so vastly different genre to genre, and we're not letting it flourish because of how much short form content is valued nowadays. LET ME COOK.

tiktoks are formulaic. algorithms are formulaic. WE'RE GETTING SOMEWHERE. there must be an instant hook or rift in music if you want to 'go viral' as a musician. digitized fame doesn't mean SHIT (to me), since clearly monthly listeners don't equate real world fans. album sales are being replaced with streams, and because of how ASS spotify treats its artists, newer, less established acts need to GET ON THE GRIND INSTANTLY to earn Coin. that means that to be smart and work with the exploitative system they're given, they have to make albums filled with 1 minute 30 second songs. so you can technically give them the most amount of streams possible. i feel with this formulaic approach, you can't get 6 minute long gutwrenching guitar pieces. no more 4 minute drum solos, hell avant garde experimental works were 2 people shout their names out at each other for 20 minutes. THERE ARE NO MORE FRANK ZAPPAS.

i'm not going to be one of those sad assholes who claim there's 'no more good rock music' and how it'll never be the same. as corny as this is, the next beatles or nirvana could be right under our noses and we'll NEVER know because of how fame is distributed. it sucks to see a small band beg on tiktok for streams to kickstart their career. but this is what we gotta work with. if we want subcultures to be created and thrive, we gotta go looking underground again, except unlike in the past it's a kajillion times easier now AND everything gets gentrified in 2 tiktok weeks. but this is evolution. MUSIC EVOLUTION

the end honk shoo honk shoo (it's midnight)

[wavesoutbeingtossed]

what's your favourite in-album lyric parallel (two lyrics in songs from the same album which mirror eachother well)?

personally it's evermore's "and when i got into the accident / the sight that flashed before me was your face" (coney island) and "and when i was shipwrecked / i thought of you" (evermore)

also i hope you're doing well today <3

Oh this is SUCH a good question!!!! I can think of a ton that cross albums but within albums needs a bit of a deeper dig!!

One off the top of my head from TTPD: We learned the right steps to different dances (How Did It End?) / Who's gonna stop us from waltzing back into rekindled flames (loml) / dancing phantoms on the terrace, are they secondhand embarrassed that I can't get out of bed cause something counterfeit's dead? (loml)

Lover: I hate accidents except when we went from friends to this (Paper Rings) / Feels like home, stay in bed the whole weekend, it's nice to have a friend (It's Nice To Have A Friend)

folklore: I think I've seen this film before and I didn't like the ending (exile) / You're a flashback in a film reel on the one screen in my town (this is me trying)

Red TV: What do you say when tears are streaming down your face in front of everyone you know? And what do you do when the one who means the most to you is the one who didn't show? (The Moment I Knew) /The idea you had of me, who was she? A never-needy, ever-lovely jewel whose shine reflects on you / Not weeping in a party bathroom, some actress asking me what happened, you / That's what happened, you / You who charmed my dad with self-effacing jokes. sipping coffee like you're on a late-night show / But then he watched me watch the front door all night, willing you to come and he said, "It's supposed to be fun turning twenty-one" (ATW10MV)

Midnights (stay with me here):

Sometimes, I feel like everybody is a sexy baby and I'm a monster on the hill / Too big to hang out, slowly lurching toward your favorite city, pierced through the heart, but never killed (Anti-Hero) / Don't you ignore me, I'm the best thing at this party (You're Losing Me)

Always remember the burning embers, I vowed not to fight anymore if we survived the Great War (The Great War) / Always remember we're burned for better, I vowed I would always be yours 'cause we survived the Great War (The Great War) / All I did was bleed as I tried to be the bravest soldier / Fighting in only your army (You're Losing Me) all of The Great War parallels You're Losing Me in the essay I will--

You know how much I hate that everybody just expects me to bounce back just like that (Labyrinth) / To you I can admit that I'm just too soft for all of it (Sweet Nothing)

OK that's enough for now lol. But that's such an interesting way to look at it! Great pick yourself btw. :)

[finalgirlmegumi]

whats a good starting point for a guy who wants to get into led zeppelin!!

HEHEHEHEEHEHE… hello anon, come in come in….. sit on this nice cozy chair dont mind the leather straps on the armrests heheeh……..

ok in all seriousness. And ill try to keep this as short as i can. theeee lz experience is hearing them play live, rather than the studio recordings. This may sound weird to hear from a guy born 20 years after lz stopped doing shows lol but theres a LOT of material out there that u can watch/listen to if u wanna get (what i assume is a fraction of) the experience. Probably the easiest thing to find and in best quality (though in my exp the quality of online streams is still atrocious, maybe theres some hq torrents though?) is “the song remains the same”, a concert film of three dates they played at MSG in 1973. but theres also videos floating around of their concerts at Royal Albert Hall 1970 and Earls court 1975 (you can check yt for these) plus a few odds and ends here and there (im a big fan of this tv appearance in france 1969, though this was super early on so their performance “style” isnt yet well defined, esp wrt plant, but the actual playing is still peak imo)

as far of audio-only live recordings go, theres of course the album version of TSRTS, the BBC sessions album (of various radio appearances they did through the years), and the album called “how the west was won” with live versions of many of their more popular songs taken from a couple dates in california in i believe 1972. These are all on spotify or yt or wherever else u listento music. Theyre also really well mastered (and remastered, and re remastered…) bc Jimmy Page is anal like that. So even if theyre live theyre great quality and u can hear every instrument distinctly.

ALSO theres like a million lz bootlegs out there, which is like its own niche subfandom(?). A bootleg is an illegal recording that fans made back in the 70s and then spread around and/or sold for money. the digital versions of many of these are available on yt and archive.org but theres also a huge marked of selling them, the og 70s vinyls are especially prized. idk much about lz bootlegs bc i never could listen to a single one all the way through as all the noise bothers my brain lol so if anyone reading this does and has tips please share<3

I spoke about live stuff bc in my opinion, and also according to members of lz, fans, various music critic type people, basically everyone agrees lol lz studio songs were just kind of the first iteration of what would then mutate and stretch into a more loose, longer, live experience. Imo lz, studio or live, is some of the best music ever made point blank period, but its definitely not for everyone, in that you have to be able to get in that classic rock/prog rock* type of mood of songs lasting anywhere from 6 minutes studio to 35 minutes live, and taking you on this weird journey with ebbs and flows, rather than having a tight structure that is easier to follow and listen to like all pop music ever. i mean this in an entirely value neutral way: a pop song, whether from 1965 or 2015, is easy to listen to bc IT carries YOU through the listening experience, whether you want to or not, whereas for instance a 20 min version of dazed and confused live requires you to willingly be there. Its not work or effort, exactly (at least not to me) but it definitely requires a different type of attention.

and btw maybe you knew all this already lol but i said it incase you or anyone else who ends up reading this doesn’t know a lot about rock

ANYWAY, of course theres also the actual studio albums. i dont think theres any specific way you should listen To them, like my friend has been going thru them chronologically but back in the day when i was just getting into lz i just jumped from one song or album to another as the mood struck me (which is how hoth ended up being the first lz album i ever heard… i think itd finished torrenting first and i liked the cover and took it on my ipod on holiday with me, and now its my favorite album of all time & engraved on my very soul lol). If you want MY recs of the stuff i like best, i have this recruitment playlist where i put a mix of my fave lz songs and the ones i think are must-listen for any new fan.

Ok so i ended up writing a bunch anyway LMAO. ty for the ask lmk if u have any specific questions ❤️

[peppertaemint]

Dear Peppertaemint,

This unnecessary mess with Taemin and fan behavior has made me think about different levels of disclosure within the fandom community, the industry, if there are limits and who should be aware of them. I have some questions, more like openings to get some food for thought because I don't think there's some definitive answer to this.

Do you think an idol should be more careful when they disclose information regarding career management? I couldn't help but think of a similar situation with Jimin when he casually revealed in an interview with Japanese media that BH considered having a music video for the entire album an unreasonable request. That led to uproar and I admit I was surprised and angry myself. But then again, Jimin didn't elaborate more on that aspect and the matter hasn't been brought up again. I believe that the situation with Taemin is sort of similar, as in he made a statement on a live stream which was taken as an indication of mismanagement by SM. Do you take they should be more careful on how idols phrase their statements? Perhaps either elaborate more, knowing how the fandoms are behaving lately? Should they take that into consideration? Or perhaps they have no part in how fans are reacting?

Hi @reflections-in-a-critical-eye <3 I love that you sent an official Ask, lol.

I've been thinking about this since the mess started, and although it is complicated, I think it's a mix of pervasive low EQ as well as the Western savior complex at play.

It would be a shame if artists felt they couldn't share what they already do with us. I appreciate Taemin's honesty, even if it creates chaos. I wouldn't want him to stop being himself because of fan behavior. Apparently, that's what happened with NCT Ten due to fan behavior, and now he barely comes to Bubble or anywhere to speak to fans. :( And we know Jimin really limits what he shares, too, so we wouldn't want that relationship damaged further.

What I think is required is EQ on behalf of the fans. This feels silly to write, but it's sort of EQ 101 that is helpful for everyday life. Emotions can be contagious and some people are more prone to catching them than others. Having healthy boundaries means not accepting everyone else's emotions. If an artist says "I'm upset" that doesn't mean you have to take on that upset.

Another part of EQ, complicated by social media, is how we interpret each other's emotions. In-person, someone can say, "I'm disappointed by this," and as the listener, we're using verbal and non-verbal cues to understand the full meaning of what is being said. How upset is the person, how much has it affected them, do they seem okay, are they sharing to unburden themselves, does the issue seem resolved? These are all questions that often go through a person's head when they're confronted with someone sharing their thoughts and feelings. When this happens in person, it's a natural process for most of us.

When we're encountering a piece of media, for some, it's much harder to engage in these EQ processes. When Taemin sends Bubble messages, unless he adds a specific marker of tone (like the Korean "haha" or "keke" or some other emoji or face), it's up to us to interpret the extra bits. We don't know if he was crying while sending these messages or playing Nintendo or something, totally fine (I don't think he was crying, btw; I am just using that as an example!).

I'm not sure what Jimin's non-verbal communication was when he dropped the bit about the label denying him music videos for all songs on his album. If he was smiling while saying it, that would be a signal that although a disappointment, what happened is okay. When Taemin said he was disappointed, he wasn't sad or distraught. Those non-verbal cues told me that, although it wasn't what he'd hoped for, things were okay and this wasn't something to dwell on. Instead, many people latched onto his disappointment and took an emotion that maybe seemed to be at like, an intensity of 3 (to me) and ratcheted it up to a 10. This isn't good for anyone, and especially not him.

The other side of this is fan as a Western savior (colonialist!). It's a constant issue when it comes to international fans of Kpop, many who are Western and perceive that Western ways are superior, and that success in the West is of greater value than success in any part of Asia. They also feel that they "know better" than industry people in SK (and often even their artist!), and that they must demonstrate activism on social media to "save" their artist.

A good example of this is that even when international SHINee fans were confronted with K fans asking them to stop engaging in online activism about Taemin's performances because it would be damaging to him to continue, they did not stop. Being confronted with cultural context (K fans were explaining that what they were doing wasn't good culturally and was reflecting poorly on him), they did no self-reflection but carried on, trying to "save" their artist.

There are a lot of nuances of Korean culture that feel counterintuitive to non-Koreans. I had a Korean friend tell me that I should use filters on my thoughts and opinions in writing so people understand clearly that I'm stating my thoughts and opinions, such as "I think that..." etc. At the time, I thought it was odd and a misunderstanding of rhetorical writing (LOL, me being an asshole), but later in my study of the Korean language, I learned that this is how people are expected to express thoughts and opinions in Korean and the language is set up to enable this. It's considered impolite or aggressive to use different constructions. So, in this way, I'm not surprised that international fans struggle to understand the Korean perspective. It's subtle and nuanced and might feel counterintuitive to them depending on their home culture.

There is one other facet to consider, and that's just plain bias. We are biased toward our favorites and want them to have everything. And how dare anyone not give them exactly what they want. Fans are like out-of-control parents at their worst, lol. So, even if a calm and perfectly fine Taemin says "I'm disappointed because of X", a swathe of people will go into crazy mommy mode. Give my baby boy everything!!!

Anyway, this is probably a too-long reply, but this is my take on what's happening here. I don't think idols need to change their behavior, even if part of me thought, Taemin, you've really done it now. LOL. There is a fundamental difference between sharing honest emotions and fans struggling to parse them versus situations where bullying and harassment are thanked or congratulated (RM), or someone saying they received death threats from fans is met with silence (BTS). Even though Taemin's words did spark the fan debacle, he still took responsibility for it all and spoke about Yeonjun when his junior was being slammed online. While it's true he made no mention of the girl group who covered Guilty, I think he mentioned Yeonjun specifically because of the fan's bad behavior.

Jimin may have deserved an infinite budget for his debut album, and I certainly would have loved to see more beautiful, dance-focused MVs from him, especially in a larger project a la Lemonade. But, that wasn't in the cards this time, for whatever reason. It's understandable to be disappointed by this. If I heard Taemin wanted a visual album and didn't get it, I'd be so sad. But I guess there is a final EQ point to be made. Just because we feel sad or angry, as you mentioned, that doesn't mean we have to act on it... Were you secretly emailing expletive-laden missives to Big Hit, hmm? Did you launch "akgae" campaigns online against other BTS members in hopes that they'd be sidelined so Jimin could get a bigger budget? Do you have a secret DC Gallery account?

[stormblessed95]

Hi i just started way of the kings, bc that was the only book from sanderson that i found, and i really wanted to start a deep series (like i have completed both percy jackson series, all 4 shadowhunter series, sjm universe all 3 series and ofc harry potter) and they were good but i wanted a more deeper well thought out more mature series, and i heard everyone like not even one single bad review from my fav book readers that i follow. I really hope i love this (cldnt get into lor or got series idk why maybe will give a try again) but can you give a timeline or any link which will explain it and the sequence of books in each series, if you wont mind. thanks,

ps its sort of sad the low amount of effort that bighit puts into jimin releases, not even mere promotion or posters even or pre order/save links or a larger grp of sites to but from or a europe ver album (which btw all of teh above that everyone else got, all the members did and pjms (no major account or so called ot7 army) are the ones promoting or putting up fliers and posters for promoting its just sad and so hurtful to see. its just so sad when people put side by side pics of jm and other member's stores and pre order links for thier albums and see jm's being like 4 stores long just that short list, it was really just sad. people have to beg them to give the pre -release songs pre order and pre save list and got that liek 2 days before the release, is just straight up negligence and mistreatment, it was really shocking to see esp since i became an army during proof era and the chapter 2 comebacks were my real full comebacks the clear discrepancies in releases of jm and others shocking (i agree even v faced some but not to this amount sry and how the rap line projects always get the lowest amount of engagement esp hobi and his hots album/documentary) i dont like solos always but in these moments when i see real tiem engagement by pjms on insta and twt i sort of become thankful for them, bc otherwise this album would have been in the gutter and esp with geffen vp streaming head's twt/comment , its really just disgusting to see, never have i seen such blatant disregard for an album release. Its just sad just very sad. anyways, thanks for the stormverse information in your recent ask, it helped a lot!

Anon come back! Lol was the list of books in last ask not what you want? Are you asking for a timeline of all the books in the cosmere in chronological order? Or just the Stormlight Archive series? Which starts with The Way of Kings? (feel free to give me updates as you read anon!!)

Stormlight Archive series includes:

Book 1: The Way of Kings

Book 2: Words of Radiance

Book 2.5: Edgedancer (Novella)

Book 3: Oathbringer

Book 3.5: Dawnshard (Novella)

Book 4: Rhythm of War

Book 5: Wind and Truth (comes out Dec 2024)

.

As for the rest of your rant, I can agree that the effort Hybe has been putting into promotions for BTS lately have been abysmal, especially for who BTS are. They can and should be doing better in that aspect. But I don't super want to get into that honestly. Lol I just want to focus on enjoying what IS coming out and the efforts from the fandom too

[jimiminily]

🌹𝐻𝑎𝑝𝑝𝑦 𝑏𝑖𝑟𝑡ℎ𝑑𝑎𝑦 𝐽𝑖𝑚𝑖𝑛🌹

Enjoy your 29! 💜

13.10.2024

Happiest 29th birthday Jimin 💜🎂🎉

Where do I even beginnn??? he's really my everything omg 🥹🥹 Firstly I wanna wish him eternal happines, healthiness and love 💕 Jimin is so easy to love 🩷 I really adore him thiiiiiiiiii🌌🌌🌌♾️🌌🌌🌌iiiiiiiiiis much so precious and lovable the most beautiful stunning prettiest looking and rlly kindhearted and gentle I miss him sm 💔 and btw his second solo album 'MUSE' was released on 19th July! (Almost 3 months ago) and the way I was so happy to be in Jimin's era TT the main track 'Who'.. I was so overwhelmed of how awesome and amazing it was and im not even being biased but that really is soty and aoty woowww Jimin really is hardworking even in the military he's amazing fr 🫡🫡 I'm glad that this is the first and last birthday without Jimin and he's not spending his birthday alone since Jimin and Jungkook are together in the military 😊 speaking of them they released a travel show named 'Are You Sure?!' and it had 8 episodes and the last one ended a month ago AND I REALLY ENJOYED IT!! THEYRE SO PLAYFUL AND CUTE TOGETHER 🥹🥹 anyway!! Happiest 29th bday Jimin, can you believe it??? He was 25 when i got to know him! 🫶 the world is lucky to have you love, I love you 🥰💜

Days left until military discharge:

- Namjoon & Taehyung: 242 days left

- Jimin & Jungkook: 241 days left

- Yoongi: 251 days left

<👆 everyone wil be discharged in June 2025>

- Hoseok: 4 DAYS LEFT! 🎉🥹 (17 oct)

- Seokjin: 4 months ago discharged 🥰🎉

- His solo album 'Muse' on all streaming platforms!

- Jimin <Who> Official MV

He was active today on weverse! Here are all the links to his 7 posts with correct translation! I'm so happy 🥹💞

Post 1:

🐥 everyone im here, its been a while hehe

Post 2:

🐥 my birthdays here already... kekeke

Post 3:

🐥 i was frantically adjusting and before i knew it, its already my birthday

but it feels like time really flew by, but also it feels like its been slowly crawling by kekekekeke if i look back at it, it seems fast but if i look forward it seems slow kekekekekekekekekekekeke

Post 4:

🐥 hehehe ARMY you all~~

when will I get to stand in front of you guys and call you out guys like this

I miss you.. I miss youuuuu

um it's a long time passing by, isn't it?

what does it feel like to ARMYs? [long/short]

I wonder what kind of days you guys are spending~

Wouldn't the time that you're waiting for us become tiring~

While I worry about that, I also hope that you guys are just spending the times with just happy things

Because you guys must only (experience happiness) hehe

Post 5:

🐥 for the first time in a while, armys are making <me> happy memories once again hehe

im not saying this to make you worry!

because it isnt easy hehe

but theres also a lot of good people in the military, so we're all working hard together to receive training

im eating well and im working out really hard as well !

so dont worry about me

thank you for the birthday wish

how much luck do i have, that im receiving birthday wishing while in the military

i dont know when i can pay all of this back

once i leave, ill do anything to repay <you>

so please just wait a little bit for me

im writing something but im somewhat hesitating

so i think thats why my words are a little choppy hehe

army~~~~

i wont forget this precious today

armys, who are the most precious in the entire world,

i love you💜

Post 6:

🐥 I really love you so much

Post 7:

🐥 I'll come again

[uarmyhope insta story]

[rkive insta story]

Bighit bday posts

Tweet

YT short

🎂241013 Happy Birthday Jimin🎂

More photos

With his talents and solo ventures, the singer, songwriter, producer, global ambassador and record-breaker has made a name for himself as one of the most prominent figures in K-Pop.

HBD to the first Korean soloist to reach #1 in the 65-year history of the Billboard Hot 100! His single Like Crazy is the longest charting song by K-Soloist on Spotify Global Daily Chart! Like Crazy is also the most streamed song in the history of Spotify South Korea. He is the First and Only Korean/K-Soloist to have multiple albums surpassing 1.2 Billion Streams on Spotify. (MUSE and FACE). Jimin is the First and Only Korean/K-Soloist to surpass 300 Million streams on Spotify USA Chart. He is also the First Korean Soloist to reach #1 on Spotify Global and also First Korean Soloist to gain 1 Billion Streams on Spotify in a single year! He holds the record of Most Streamed 2024 song and 2024 album currently (Who & MUSE)!

____

And surprisingly today!:

Jimin sets a new Worldwide Record as the FIRST and ONLY person to have over 23+ related keywords and hashtags occupying Twitter's Worldwide Trends simultaneously for the FIFTH YEAR in a row!!

Jimin related terms are 26 of the top 30!

I love you so much Jimin🩷 till then, D-241 ♡

╔═════════*.·:·.✧ ✦ ✧.·:·.*═════════╗

╚═════════*.·:·.✧ ✦ ✧.·:·.*═════════╝

[solarwynd]

"Armys use jimin as motivation" only when it comes to taking credit off of his achivements while doing bare minimum in it. And if they can't state out loud the obviousness of difference btw jk's songs push and other members then they should shut up their mouth about jimin's achievements too. There's memebrs' albums that has been released for 2 yrs yet they couldn't give it 1B as whole but sure they wanna throw pitty parties when it's jimin's day.

They're ot7s so they have all the rights to want to stream for all members and give them the achivements but couldn't they wait even for a day to start their # for hl?? Not even a day they can spend to celebrate jimin?? There's so many who just did one tweet "congratulations to jm for 1B now can we do that for other members too?" Like what kind of congratulations is that?

It also depends on the songs you want to achieve certain things. Not saying they can't give other members same achievements but LC has been stable on global charts since it's release. They would have to pull "MONEY" by lisa then cause girly was getting 2m+ streams without being on global charts cause blinks were looping the song for that record. If today i wake up and decide to give smf2 1B then it's not as it was for LC isn't it?(it's not impossible but it'll take a lot of time till we can get to it) Both songs are different you gotta think about how and which song is well received by people and has the capability of achieving it.

Also armys hardly make these kind of tweets when jk archives something is because they think he's wayy above everyone's and is out of league so it's only right for him to get those things that's how they think.

“And if they can't state out loud the obviousness of difference btw jk's songs push and other members then they should shut up their mouth about jimin's achievements too.”

Inadvertently armys have been. They’re witch hunting anybody who types out the word “organic” in jimin praise tweets cause they think it’s JK shade. (I mean it is and it’s the truth, so tough lmao)

“If today i wake up and decide to give smf2 1B then it's not as it was for LC isn't it?(it's not impossible but it'll take a lot of time till we can get to it) Both songs are different you gotta think about how and which song is well received by people and has the capability of achieving it.”

Very true. Jimin just hit that sweet spot with Like Crazy. This really can’t be understated.

[gaykey]

despite taekeyists delusions that everyone hates their the members who always get the short end of the stick are onho and not just the fans but from the company too (thankfully jinki is free now). people only talk about them in regards to the other members n jinki especially gets dragged into shit that other solo fans start and they dont defend him since they dont even like him. also ever since he went to griffin taemin solos and akgaes have been on his ass and shading him for literally everything like theyre in different and completely unrelated companies, they even shaded him for that 2023 bb album thing like dude has been on hiatus for months just leave him alone n ntm the mess after he did comeback. and with minho, the fandom never talks about him other than "hes the shawol president" or the whole thing about his body n nobody except flamers bring up his mistreatment either like the main shinee acc didnt use to post or rt his schedules and it was only flamers calling them out and it took ontae to leave for them to do that stuff seriously. and that one taemint who got a hit tweet for a tweet with minho didnt even post anything about his upcoming drama rather was telling people to stream the horizon mv as if it that has anything to with the whole thing. "ot5" shawols constantly doubting if he even wants a singing career or just wants to be an actor. they need to be freed from this fandom i fear.

anon, i agree with you.

i do think the taekeyists (i love that btw) are recently reallllyy contributing to dragging the fandom down even further than it's been. and this is from someone who has lived that life (and still does in some ways but-)

onho are very much neglected as a whole from the famdom - i just didn't see it for a long time because i would say that my socials are very much ot5, and i do see a lot from all aspects of the fandom and because flamers and jinggus are particularly vocal and loyal (because of the aforementioend neglect from the fandom).

like you said though, it's got a whole lot better since jinki left sm. though i have seen the random af hate at him from taemin stans in particular calling him old?? idk.

however.....minho is, in my opinion, the most criminally neglected by the fandom. to the point where even iiiii, didn't notice how much the main account didn't post about his activities until flamers pointed it out.

his comeback rollout does seem better than his last, but people have pointed out that his teaser era is shorter than usual?

again - i have seen a lot of people hyped and talking about his upcoming release on my twitter (not so much here), so it's hard to judge the general fandoms attitude towards it??

and i didn't see the one taemint's hit tweet 🙄🙄🙄

i really hope he gets the recognition he deserves from the fandom with this album though, because he seems so excited about and has worked super hard, and it sounds sooooo good from what i've heard.

he's clearly passionate about music, and in love with performing, so i don't get the doubt from people whether he still wants to do it?? that's wild.

i do fear though, that the taekeyists will still be the most vocal in the fandom and spend all their time fighting each other over who's better whilst preaching being ot5 💀

[mediapiays]

That anon worrying about Kcharts has no idea how Kcharts work.

Melon charts are now completely made of unique listeners. So it doesn’t matter how many streams you have, only how many unique listeners you have.

Bugs and Vibe are fandom driven platforms. You need a solid fandom streaming for you to make that happen. Or you gotta be a loved song. Korean entertainment scene is very normative: that’s why PAKs exist. A song hits and that’s all they listen to. Like hip hop listeners are monster streamers on Apple, casuals on Spotify etc. nope. In SK, everyone loves and then lives one song. Groups chart on most occasions. Jimin has the third most streamed (in 24 hours) album on Melon under IU and LYW with half the no of songs.

As someone who has lived in Korea, either you need mad hype and promo, or you need someone giving out melon passes or be a girl group to chart high on Kcharts these days. The only exception being Day 6 who have been killing it these days. Even SK’s beloved Lee Mujin is charting well below 30 on k charts. Korea’s top vocalist Baekhyun didn’t chart.

Korea loves trot. Korea loves bubblegum pop. Korea loves dance numbers. So unless you are pulling any of these, you are not about to chart high. Your assumption is wrong too, the encore happened and Like Crazy peaked well after that. Like Crazy peaked on Melon when it hit no 1 on Bill Board. Not when it launched. They all wanted to see what this American validation was. Once again, I was there physically in April. I saw it. That promotion period hell was mostly on Twitter. Jimin was front and center in Korea for weeks after. Who is not their taste and in their heads, the boys are on hiatus. They really aren’t looking forward to their music right now. May be once they come back things will be different.

Right now, if you look at Melon, some absolute unknown names are charting. kiss of life, TWS, Kepler, Mauve??, I haven’t heard half these names. Does that mean they are the most iconic musicians?

Kcharts is a puzzle I refuse to solve 😭 btw I didn't know kep1er was charting?

[cobaltscribe]

One take that pisses me off is the constant decrying of how music is getting worse. Especially when people whine about how the problem is because music is "too accessible" now, both with regards to production and listening.

Like not only do these takes always reek of the undertones of the "degradation" of society, but they always go hand in hand with the mythologizing of the idealized past and of live music (especially from the 90s). From this one video that spurred this rant alone, there were plenty of comments reminiscing on skipping out on school lunches or bus fares to save up money for just 1 cd/album and then they compared it to how all music is just under one subscription now. Like I fail to see how making music more affordable and accessible (not even just by streaming but by the advent of online piracy) is a bad thing! At all!

I think it's a good thing people can access infinitely more music than they could 30 years ago! That you don't need to know people to make a band just be able to make music as long as you can access a production software, that's a great thing!

People who think there isn't good music anymore are generally also simply blinded by nostalgia. I mean, how convenient is it that music was best when you were listening to it as a kid. Baseball was greatest when everyone was 14! Like if you can't find good, creative music, then you need to look harder! The problem with the commodification of music is more to do with the hegemony of streaming platforms and their recommendation algorithms, but to act like the music industry was somehow easier to get into before the age of the internet is blatantly untrue!

This also applies to people complaining about digital art. I think its great that people don't need to shill out for good physical materials to be able to draw what they want, actually. There are still people making art in the genres you hold as the pinnacle of their medium (generally always western centric/European movements btw) so if you hate shit like dadaism or post modernism there are still people studying classical styles!

Stop blaming the fact that you can't like good music on some social degradation, fall-of-the-west bullshit and accept that maybe just maybe you are biased. And people have always made bad art. And that the influences of capital have always pushed any commodity towards hegemony and the lowest common denominator! I can't stand most popular music in many genres even from the 90s and 80s and before, and that's not because of some decay of the soul of real music or whatever the fuck but its just because I don't like it!!!

[bisluthq]

But she doesn’t have to go after artists who do confessional songwriting to say that’s not her style? Also the only album I’ve heard recently where I was in shock like “oh my god this is about X” was TTPD. It wasn’t just that there was lots of comments she made which felt pointed, like she kinda went in a rant about artists who sell multiple versions of physical copies of an album and how wasteful it is, and talked about how her album is not longer because no one needs that many songs in an album lol

EVERYONE puts out tons of versions of their album now. A LOT of artists are making albums that are much too long (TTPD was the most egregious but Drake’s was also fuckkkk long). Not everything is about Taylor. Billie is allowed to bemoan confessional/personal tracks being the norm (btw speaking of Drake the Drake/Kendrick feud is like this also??? More so than past rap feuds even like these two have gotten crazy personal? It IS a trend rn??) because that’s not how her and Finneas write and it must be frustrating to not make headlines with your album, when you’re going for #1 as they obviously are, because you don’t do clickbait in your music and just write about feelings?? And she’s allowed to say she thinks as many versions as ALL artists are putting out rn is a bad trend for the environment? And she’s allowed to say albums have gotten too long?? Because, like movies in the streaming age, she’s right??? Taylor is symptomatic of all of this and may even have started many of these trends but they’ve become the norm and saying you don’t like them, when you’re Billie and also hugely successful, isn’t shade?? It only seems that way if you think everything revolves around Taylor which… it doesn’t? Taylor could stop putting out releases tomorrow (she won’t) and these trends will still be a thing for a while and Billie can still dislike them????

[irlgoomy]

Just finished working on another album... This time its somethin for Vast Error. I thiiink I can kinda talk about it since it was soft announced on their fundraiser stream a few weeks ago, and a few previews were posted. Thoughts are under the cut because I dont want to fill up your timelines with this lol.

I *finally* got to do an aspects album! Its something ive been wanting to do ever since I got back into hs in 2018. I just never had the time or reason, or platform to do it.

I kind of consider this album to be a sister to Cyber City Sound Pak. Homestuck and its fanworks, and Undertale/Deltarune are two sides of the same coin in my brain so it just feels natural to consider Duodenary as the other side of Cyber City Sound Pak.

Duodenary, Thats the name of the album, btw.

So I started this right after I released Cyber City Sound Pak... I dont think ive ever worked this hard on back to back releases before. Nose to the grindstone type mindset, lol. To be quite honest, I was certain that I'd burn out real bad after working on this. Duodenary is 14 songs, and an hour and a half long. And I somehow did all of this within 6 months.... Right after finishing up another album of a similar length (Duodenary is longer than CCSP! This is my longest album yet!). I mean, who wouldn't need a break after making like 30 something songs within the span of a year???

I didn't. Instead I think with this album ive finally broken through a mental barrier ive had with music production that I didn't know was there. I feel *renewed*. I want to explore more genres and make stuff outside my current wheelhouse and explore what I can just... Make. I've been trying to force myself to take a break but I really just can't. Not out of the need or pressure to constantly have a project going, but because I'm having a shit ton of fun with it. I feel like all of these projects ive dreamed about doing are finally in my reach, I can finally execute them in a way that i'll be happy with...

(I am however keeping myself from doing any projects outside of personal ones, since jumping into one would absolutely burn me out instantly lmfao. That I know for sure.)

Duodenary doesnt have a release date yet, and I don't want to say what the release window is yet, since that hasnt been announced through official channels yet. It'll be sooner rather than later and I'm really, really freaking excited to share it with everyone.

[faith--in-the-future]

harry is a mainstream artist tho so how is that just branding...? can someone's team fake sales and streams? Im not attacking you btw just genuinely curious I didnt get what u mean

he's a mainstream artist now

u need some backup history for this but basically hshq's strategy has been to sell him as a mega star before he became one and that was really the key, his first album was everywhere he had a week on LLS national TV ads snl etc that were already positioning way above the others. BUT even with all that he had less monthly listeners than zayn, liam AND LOUIS! at the start 2018 louis only had the pre walls singles (only 2 of them that actually got promo) and harry had all that and he was doing worse on Spotify! but do u think anyone is aware of that in the gp? hell even among fans? no! and it doesn't matter bc who was being described by rolling stone as the new Rockstar of the century? who was in every campaign ads and Victoria secret show? who won awards and was on red carpets? it wasn't liam or louis and zayn's moment was already dwindling down. meanwhile louis was being mocked by radio interviewers and being asked why didn't he just quit music.

thats what I mean when I say that branding is crucial, bc it was that approach that lead to the construction of the pedestal harry stands on today, the actual history is forgotten and unnecessary, the mega 1d star/only talented one out of 1d prophecy became reality and everyone is convinced that this was all organic and "meant to be" bc they made sure that it appeared that way, that's also why harry is trying to sell the underdog narrative even now (the Grammy speech was an attempt at that) bc it's important that this seems like an organic progression not something that he has been given on a silver platter and that was built from illusions and pr strategies