#i am far from a professional singer but i am having fun

[hylianengineer]

WHAT is wrong with my mic this time, I swear to god, why does this always happen. Am I not loud enough? Do I need to be closer to it? It was like two inches from my mouth, how is that not close enough? I know it's working because I'm getting SOMETHING, but it's cutting out like every other line. Grrr.

[turnstileskyline]

RockSound June 3rd, 2024 – Dallon Weekes Interview (Transcript under the cut)

hello all!!!! i am still taking a little tumblr break (gonna upload and dip) but my copy of the rocksound idkhow issue came so i wanted to get these photographed and transcribed because i know i have shaky hands. (if you spot any mistakes let me know and i'll fix them asap!)

Taking Over The World (One Show At A Time)

As they close out their UK headline tour, IDHKOW's Dallon Weekes reflects on the lessons learned from taking 'Gloom Division' out on the road.

Words James Wilson-Taylor

Photos Corinne Cumming

Now that the UK tour has come to an end, how are you reflecting on this latest run of shows? Well the shows were fantastic. All of the crowds were great and it was really exciting to be back there after, you know, COVID and the album delays and everything. It's felt like it was forever since we've been back. But to be able to go back with this new lineup that I have, it was pretty special. Because I feel like the live show has grown a lot. Being able to add more live musicians to it, and rely less upon synth tracks and things like that. To have people up on stage actually doing it live, we're a little more untethered, which, must like that tour itself, was pretty chaotic. But we seem to thrive on chaos. So it worked out. It was really fun.

Did it click together quite quickly with the new band? What were the initial live rehearsals like? It was really fun for me. My heart goes out to the guys who are playing for me because they had this whole catalogue of music to learn before we hit the road, but they are such professionals and so talented too and most of them live here around Utah where I'm from. Anthony, my guitar player, still is in LA. But whenever shows come up, he flies out here so we get some proper full band rehearsals. But to be able to have really professional musicians dig into the songs and learn how to play them and have some input as well is really invaluable to me because I always really enjoy when a live show has tiny deviations from the recorded versions of the album that you might have in your collection. Sometimes bands can go a little too far from that and it can be fun sometimes. But it can also be a bummer, it kind of depends on the song, I guess. But I like having small moments or extended bits, or maybe an idea that you got post recording an album, when you're all jamming it together and someone does something cool. And you go, 'Dammit, I wish that was on the record'. So you just put it in the live show and it makes for a cool experience, I think.

With the added band members, it gives you a little extra freedom to step away from the bass at moments and explore your position as a frontman. It feels good, but it's interesting too, because that was never on my bucket list. I never had that in mind for my life to be a frontman, or a lead singer. I just always wanted to make music and write and record and have that be my job. I've been lucky enough to have achieved that goal. But, you know, circumstances being what they are, I eventually landed into that role without having it as a goal, but it's something that I do enjoy. It's something I did years ago with Brobecks. But between then and now it's been more than a decade. So I think it took me a minute to sort of relearn that role and find myself in that role again, and luckily once it started rolling, it didn't take long for me to find that footing again. But there was that learning curve where I tried to remember how to be in this spot, rather than just filling a spot on the side of that stage just playing bass. So yeah, it's been fun to be able to put it down every once in a while and have a little more freedom to wander around or spill water bottles all over the stage, which is a bad habit of mine.

It also allows for a nice relationship with the audience. I mean, that's something you've always had – it almost feels like a conversation in places. It's a little secret club in a way for all these fans. That was the impetus when it started. Because this was a secret project, no one was supposed to know about it. And I really had no goals in mind for it other than to get some music out of my head and play it for a bunch of strangers that didn't know what other bands I'd ever been in and see if that art that I was making could stand on it's own two feet without waving some giant flag saying, 'Hey, everybody, I was in this band before, come and see what I'm doing.' There was something about that which felt really disingenuous and kind of gross to me. So starting this project in secret with this ridiculous band name that no one could ever find appealing made a lot of sense at the time. But as things snowballed – and what a wonderful problem to have, I'm talking about this like it's some sort of bad thing but it's not, it's a great thing – eventually it became too late to choose a more sensible band name. But, you know, band names are ridiculous anyway, so who cares? I guess the secret is just to not care. But yeah, finding that role again. It took a minute, but it's been a lot of fun. I'm enjoying it a lot.

In terms of the newer songs in the set, did playing them live and seeing the audience reaction change your opinion about them at all? It's a similar feeling for both me and the audience. Because the way that writing and recording music works now is different from how it was 20 years ago. You used to write your song, go out and play it every night, workshop it, tighten the screws on it, and then you go record it and put on a record. Now, with Youtube and streaming services and bootlegs and things, you have to keep a tight lid on this new stuff that you're working on until it's been officially released. So now, you write your song and you record it and then you learn how to play it afterwards. So taking those out into the world for the first time on stage after you've recorded it, I think it's a new experience for the audience and for the performers as well, because you get a handle on this new thing that you've already recorded. Then night by night, kind of like I mentioned before, someone might do something different. The song sort of evolves and changes a little bit from the way that you recorded it. I think there's a lot of fun to be had in that. Sometimes those things can only happen once you are in front of people and playing those songs. It's all a really organic process and I really enjoy that.

I guess the other thing you had to consider was how best to balance this new material, which pushed you into some new places musically, with the older songs that everybody knows. It's become a challenge now because when this thing started, I hadn't recorded or released anything. It was about four or five months of playing dive bars in secret and just denying that this was even a thing while I was recording. Then by the time we did have something out there, I think we put a song on YouTube first with no record label, no radio, nothing. Then that song just kind of took off. Then we were expected to fill an hour whenever we would go on tour and we had only released five songs. So learning that frontman role and stretching bits out and filling in our set with some covers and maybe some old Brobecks songs, that was the challenge. Now, the challenge has become picking a setlist that has bits and pieces of stuff that you love and that the audience would appreciate from the past and from the current record. So it's a different challenge now, but it's one that I'm enjoying. Revisiting stuff that is important to me from the past and things that I really like playing and stuff that the audience either needs to hear, because we're promoting it, or is stuff that I know they have responded to well in the past and that they'd like to hear. So it's a combination of different factors to make a decent setlist, I think, but I try to keep all that stuff in mind.

One particularly special moment at the London show was when Will Joseph Cook joined you onstage to perform your collaboration "Sunnyside'. That was fun. He's a London boy. The algorithm sent me some of his music a couple of years back and it was a song called 'Take Me Dancing', one of his songs from maybe four or five years ago. It was one of those songs that when you hear it as a songwriter, it's so good that it kind of pisses you off, you know? Dammit, that's good. So I reached out to him to see if he wanted to collaborate on some stuff, and it's been a great working relationship ever since. Then we just pass each other ideas back and forth all the time. He hit me up and asked if he could come to the London show and I said, 'Why don't you come out on stage and we'll sing this 'Sunnyside' song that we to wrote together'. He's like, fuck yeah, so we hooked up a spare microphone and ran it on soundcheck and then brought them out on stage for the set. It was a lot of fun to be able to do that. To play it live with the person who helped cowrite that was pretty special.

So you see that collaborative relationship continuing on more songs in the future? We hung out pretty much all day that day backstage and showed each other ideas that we have floating around. After I got home, I send him some more songs. So yeah, we're definitely going to keep that collaborative working relationship going. He's a good young man with a bright future.

You have also been able to bring some more Brobecks songs into your setlist and put a new, IDKHOW twist on them. Are there any more of those older songs you'd like to re-record or perform again? I've got a shortlist of maybe four or five old Brobecks songs that I think never really got a proper chance to be a proper song, you know, whether that was because we didn't have enough money to record it properly or get it mixed or mastered or even release it. Then I eventually released the songs in a vacuum and no one ever really heard it. But there's four or five I think that I would still like to give a proper chance to. It's not super high on the priority list. But it is something that I'm interested in because I am a fan of songs. And you know, probably more so than albums as a whole, I'm a song man. There are a few from the past that I think had some potential. But I would probably have to consider, you know, the passage of time in between when I first wrote them as a young man and, if I did rerecord and release, now there might have to be some lyric adjustments or something because I don't know how well some lyric choices when you're 22 would go over when you're 42. So there might be some rewrites in order. But revisiting some of those I think would be fun because this project and that project, they aren't unrelated to each other. I very well could have easily called this The Brobecks. But whenever I started this, putting a period at the end of that old project seemed like the right move and moving on to something new that didn't have any baggage to carry along with it. It felt like the move. But yeah, that doesn't mean that that stuff isn't still important to me. It's still very meaningful and I really love playing old Brobecks songs and I think that I always will.

Now that you have had some time to reflect since the release of 'GLOOM DIVISION', how are you feeling about that collection of songs now? It's interesting how your perspective changes on things. When I first recorded it, and was getting ready to release it, I was so excited and I thought this was the best work that I've ever done. Then even with the good reviews that it has gotten and the fan response, there was still more mixed reviews, or mixed feelings, about it than I thought there would be. But seeing that happen has given me a sort of step back, trying to be more objective, which is hard to do when you're making art, you know, because it really is for you. That's still number one for me whenever I make art. It is for me, and I want to like the thing that I'm making. That's the most important bit and if anyone else happens to like it, that's just a really great bonus. But I made this record and I loved it and I thought that surely everyone else would too. All of my favourite records and the things that I draw inspiration from are not popular records. These are not things that were at the top of the charts. You know, even on some of my top 10 Records of all time – Elvis Costello's 'This Year's Model' or The Flaming Lips or Ben Folds Five, all of my favourite stuff, these were never people that lived at the top of the charts. So, to me, the response kind of makes sense. As long as you're making something that you like, and you're not trying to play to the gallery, then whatever their response is, so be it.

UK artists in particular seem to have always had a big influence on you. I've been a sucker for everything British since I got into the Beatles, and if it was from the 60s and it was British then I was all about it. Even in the 90s, | was a big Britpop fan. In the post grunge-90s, Britpop in America was not the cool thing to be into, but I was all about it. Blur was my favourite. I loved Pulp and I liked Oasis too. That was my shit back in the 90s while everyone else was listening to Rage Against The Machine, which I can appreciate more now. Back then, I viewed it as the stuff my older brother and his friends were into and they're all bros. So I was being kind of a little hipster about it. But I love Rage now. But yeah, back then in the 90s, again I was into stuff that wasn't living at the top of the charts.

It must have been particularly exciting to finally come over here and play shows for the first time. Yeah it was very cool to be there finally and see where rock and roll...wasn't born but where it had been fine tuned and perfected. We may have done it first but I'm always of the mindset that y'all did it best. There's no pride in regards to, you know, who did what and when. I'm a fan of what y'all do. I love it over there.

One UK show that must stick in the memory was when you played Brixton Academy in 2016 with Panic! At The Disco just after David Bowie had passed away. That must have been quite a surreal but special moment. I remember waking up in my hotel that day to the news and being hit with it harder than I probably thought I would have ever been. I'd always been a big Bowie fan, but sometimes you don't really realize how much you like something until it's gone, which is kind of fucked up. So I woke up to the news that he had died and I cried a little bit, you know, which kind of surprised me. Then I went out walking the streets, because we had a full day before we had to be at the venue for soundcheck, and his music was everywhere. Walking past that mural that's down the street from the venue where people had made this makeshift memorial, there was this awesome sense of community. That was a great reminder about the importance behind art and behind music. All of these people walking the streets, they might not share anything in common, but at least for today, or that day, everyone's sharing this art that this man made. There's something so special about that. Whenever an artist passes along from this world, you hope that your art that you make continues to be enjoyed by people and that way you get to sort of live on and still impact people. So that's the hope. I certainly hope that's the case with me and I'm sure I'm not alone in that. Playing that venue in particular, or really any historical venue where I know for sure that someone I love has played there and has walked down this staircase to the stage just like I'm doing, I always think about that right before we're about to take the stage. There's something intimidating about it and something comforting about it at the same time.

Similarly, when you played Camden Electric Ballroom with IDKHOW, that is another venue with so much history. There is a plaque outside in memory of when Prince performed there. That's another reason why I really love playing in London because there's so many choices. You throw a stone and there's a gig happening somewhere and you have your choice of just about anything under the sun that you can go see. So the fact that there are people on the other side of the world that would choose to come see this project and watch us play the songs that I write here in my basement is nothing short of a miracle to me. This last round of shows that we played over there, particularly that last show in London, to be able to have that venue full of people is so special to me and does not go unappreciated.

[yuzurujenn]

[2024.05.24] FaOI Makuhari - 2024 Show Guide · Latest Interview with Yuzuru Hanyu

Q: FaOI will start the new year’s performance this year with the Makuhari performance as usual. Everyone is also full of expectations and interest in Yuzuru Hanyu's joint performance this time. Hanyu: This time I will be collaborating with T.M.Revolution/Takanori Nishikawa. I have been listening to his songs since elementary school. So, when I heard that he would be performing on this show, I was really surprised and thought, "No way, how is this possible?" 

Q: Do you think his songs are listened to by people of your generation?  Hanyu: I may be a little bit behind the times (laughs), but I am of the same generation as my sister, so I often listen to his songs. When I listen to them, I think he is really amazing. I often listen to his songs when I warm up. 

Q: In some ways, this joint performance is also a dream come true!  Hanyu: Of course. I didn't expect that I would be invited to skate this piece, and Mr. Nishikawa's singing has always given me strength, so it was a surprise for me to be able to work with him this time. Personally, I was so happy to hear his singing live. I was very excited and looking forward to how I could work with Mr. Nishikawa while skating along with his singing, in an atmosphere full of power and tension. My skating style is very light and airy, or to be more precise, I have always pursued that sense of elegance, but I tried to make some changes for this collaboration. I wanted to create an appearance that can only be seen here. 

Q: It seems that this will be a shocking collaboration.  Hanyu: The song for this collaboration is a song that I have been listening to since I was a child, and I can sing it without reading the lyrics. This song is very familiar to my ears and body, and that is why I wanted to perform it for the collaboration. I really want to skate along with Mr. Nishikawa's singing. In the two years of skating as a professional figure skater, the biggest feeling I have is that it is very important to change the way of my skating to match the melody of the song and the content that I want to express. I thought a lot from the beginning, and I wanted to create a figure skating program that will make everyone exclaim "Only Hanyu can do this."

[Pursuing the meaning of figure skating programs]  Q: Working together with singers you have met for the first time to produce programs, how do you view this form of collaboration every year?  Hanyu: I am very excited each year. I will think about how this singer sings, how much enthusiasm and energy they will give me, etc. Every singer has a different aura and energy when standing on the stage. The trusting relationship with the singer, the enthusiasm of the band itself, and my own enthusiasm and energy, etc., all come together to create my figure skating performance during the official performance, so every year at FaOI is unique. So, I am also looking forward to the collaboration every year, and I hope everyone will look forward to it too. 

Q: Now that you are a professional athlete, have your views and perceptions on collaboration changed?  Hanyu: After entering the professional path, I have more things to consider, especially I often think about whether everyone is satisfied with my performance and whether they are satisfied enough. The program must have a meaning. I have been thinking about this very seriously in the two years since I turned professional and completed the first (GIFT) and second (RE_PRAY) ICE STORY. For this reason, I really want everyone to feel the meaning of the collaborative program, "This song must be sung live to be right", "Hanyu is unique to this scene, Nishikawa is unique to this scene", I want to create such a work. 

Q: You have collaborated with many singers for figure skating programs so far. So, what is the fun of directly interacting and co-creating works like this?  Hanyu: I think that a piece suitable for figure skating is completely different from a piece written as a song. When collaborating, to a certain extent, we have to make songs that can be used as a figure skating piece. But from the perspective of singers, the songs they create are like their own children. Since I have also started to create my own things, I understand the feeling of not wanting to give your children a complete makeover. I definitely do not mean to offend the singers, but I just want to create exciting works as much as possible from the perspective of figure skating. My goal is to make everyone feel that this is a work that can only be enjoyed at FaOI. When working with singers at FaOI, I expressed to them how I wanted to do it from the perspective of figure skating. The most difficult one was "REAL FACE" from the year before last (2022). Mr. Suga Shikao specially sang the rap part. And this song has a second verse almost without a break between the verse (Verse) and the transitional music (Pre-Chorus). In my own words, it was very difficult to do something completely different at the moment of preparing to jump. With the joint efforts of the singers and the band, we finally made this work. Feeling everyone's enthusiasm makes me want to work harder on such collaborations. I have always wanted to use figure skating to create works that can only be created with the collaboration of Hanyu and the singers, and this is how I have always done it. 

Q: That's why the audience always watch your figure skating intently.  Hanyu: However, the more expectations there are, the heavier the burden on my body. I have been fighting against the fear of not knowing when I will fail to live up to everyone's expectations. I wonder how long I can continue to produce works that will meet everyone's expectations, when will I reach my limit. The time will come one day when I am unable to meet everyone's expectations. Although I am very scared, it is precisely because of everyone's expectations that I can constantly refresh my limits, continue to expand my vision and field, and make my life more colourful. Although it is very hard, I can only express my deep gratitude to all the audience. 

Q: You are the chief producer of your own ice show, so FaOI is a moment when you can be a "little brother". What do you think is the fun of FaOI?  Hanyu: Yes, first of all, I feel at ease when Keiji Tanaka is here. In addition, the time of skating with many figure skaters like this can give me a lot of excitement. FaOI is an ice show that brings together many excellent figure skaters. "There is such a figure skating", and "You can skate like this", I learned a lot from it. And everyone chats harmoniously here, it is really a very happy place.

Q: In addition, apart from skating, have you started anything new recently?  Hanyu: Well, that is to buy headphones. Recently, I started buying relatively cheap headphones. I found that I didn't have the headphones I used when I was on the ice, or when I was doing choreography on the ice, what should I do? And these are consumables, so I started looking for suitable headphones in a lower price range... As a result, I became addicted to them... There are so many types of wireless Bluetooth headphones now, so I looked at them and thought, “Hey, there are also these”, “Hey, this one looks pretty good, oh, this is also great...” (laughs) Among the headphones I currently have, there are those that are customized and very expensive, but I will also try to find headphones that do not exceed 5,000 yen. Sometimes, "Oh, sorry, it's over 10,000 yen, but this headset is really great, so it's fine if it's over!" "This is a necessity and it's necessary to spend money, and I'm training very hard!", that's how I find reasons for myself (buying headphones). 

Q: You are really addicted to headphones.  Hanyu: Yes. In fact, if you look around, you can buy a good pair of headphones for around 3,000 yen (laughs).

FaOI: Thank you very much for accepting our interview. I look forward to your wonderful performance at the Makuhari Ice Performance.

Source: https://weibo.com/5437806211/OfMSSBAGU Info: https://fantasy-on-ice.com/goods.html

[halliescomut]

Jeff Satur-Lucid MV costar Nene Pornappan Pornpenpipat

So I know we've all been rewatching Lucid's MV, because it's so wonderful and beautiful, but of course I was curious about Jeff's costar, because I always am. So I looked her up, and turns out if you're a BL watcher, you may have recognized her. (I did not, though I have watched both seasons of this show, but I did think she was really beautiful.)

She's in 2gether the series, which is awesome. I did a very brief look into her, and the woman has a pretty wild career history and is also wonderfully talented. I didn't want anyone who watched Jeff's video to think that she's just a pretty face (though clearly she's very beautiful) so I did a smidgen of a deep dive.

I'll start with the basics...she is a Thai-Chinese (born in Bangkok, though both parents have Chinese ancestry) actress, and singer. Her Thai name is Pornnappan Pornpenpipat, and her Chinese name is Zheng Naixin. She uses the nickname Nene across pretty much all of her career endeavors. She's 25, and her birthdate is 25 June 1997. You can find her Instagram (nenevader) here.

Her professional career starts out in 2013, where she competed in True Academy Fantasia 10 (AF10) as the youngest contestant, being 16 at the time. Two years later she would debut with Thai idol group MilkShake managed by GMM Grammy. (You can see her in the center below.)

They released 2 singles, one in 2015 as their debut, and a second in 2016. While not officially disbanded as far as I can find, they have not released new music since 2016.

From 2016 to 2022 she would act in various roles in various countries, including Vietnam and China, and eventually play the role of Air in 2gether the series, which is also produced by GMM (specifically GMMTV).

In April of 2020 Nene participated in the Tencent Video's Chinese girl group reality competition show, Produce Camp 2020, eventually debuting as a member of BonBon303 in August of that year.

From 2020 to 2022 BonBon303 would release 3 EPs eventually disbanding in July of 2022. During those two years Nene would also continue appearing in various Chinese shows, including reality and variety shows.

She debuted as a solo artist with the single Promise on July 12, 2022, under Sony Music China.

You can watch the official MV here. (It's a good song, very much a kind of chill pop-y summer bop, appropriate to it's release date.)

In the midst of all of this she also works sporadically modelling (unsurprising, as she is very beautiful) and was also a brand ambassador and promoter for Leader and Lancome respectively.

More impressively she also worked as a cultural Ambassador in 2022 as the China-Thailand Cultural Ambassador (I'm assuming one of many) and as the 2022 Thailand Customs Festival China-Thailand Cultural Exchange Ambassador. We have been seeing especially over recent years an increase in cross-country- and cross-cultural cooperation amongst many East Asian and South East Asian countries (Remember Jeff was also part of the KonnecThai Music and Arts event in late April of this year).

She also has her first solo fanmeet in Bangkok coming up at the end of this month for her birthday, which is awesome and I hope she has a really fun time.

Now this is a lot of basic information, but doesn't give us much in the way of personality other than to clearly display that this women is multi-talented and determined. I can't personally attest to her personality, but based around her choices for her solo song/MV, and her Instagram posts, she seems to be very cool, she doesn't shy away from posting casual, candid, or unmade-up photos on IG, which always adds point in my book for authenticity.

I'm not saying you need to follow her or stan her, or anything else, but I know how much Jeff values his own career (especially now that it's 100% under his control) and I don't think he would have chosen Nene, if he didn't think she was a pretty cool person. Here's some pics/clips she and Jeff posted of the BTS of the Lucid MV where they are clearly having a lot of fun.

If you wanna look for some more info, you can start on her Kprofile page here, or also check her Wikipedia page here.

[olliethescribe]

Also Hypno hcs

hehe you made a mistake making ur inbox public

Hypno headcanons (I have many)

a fire hazard, there’s a reason we don’t see him use flash paper (and by extension, his gloves are fire-proof)

one of four siblings, likely a middle child (parallels Leo), had a rowdy upbringing 

Trans masc, bisexual (I mean, his sexuality is canon)

Rock collection, mostly purple gems, likes the smooth ones

Names every single one of his animals

Most likely actually learned about hypnotism (and by extension magic - it drives me batty that he was introduced as a master hypnotist (I’ve rewatched newsworthy too many times)  and then they went full on magician with him). Anyway, he probably learned about it at the, and I am not making this up I swear to the gods above, New Zealand Gypsy Fair. It likely inspired his let’s just say bold costume choices, from the hoop earring to the waist wrap. 

He’s Māori. It makes the most sense to me.

Totally had to alter his speech pattern when getting to the united states, knows far too much kiwi slang and cannot use it

Also autistic (magic flavored)

Is good with kids, spent some time as a children’s entertainer 

Very professional and takes what he does seriously, encourages others to learn about magic so they’re more informed about his craft

Resents that he can hypnotize people at will, does it to make certain goals easier to attain 

Loves himself in any form and is chill being a hippo man, misses Doug

He totally stole that hippo from a zoo 

Was most likely rejected a lot as a human, it sucked (it’s evident in Newsworthy - he takes being tricked extra poorly and seems very hurt)

Good singer - this one’s just fun to think about 

[linskywords]

Taylor Swift Meets Hockey RPF: Advent Calendar Day 20

The 6th ficciest Taylor Swift song of all time is…

Song: Gorgeous Album: Reputation Year: 2017 Lyrics: https://genius.com/Taylor-swift-gorgeous-lyrics Ficciness Rank: #6

The hockey boy dynamic in this one, I am dying. Making fun of each other because you can’t handle the way the other person makes you feel? Ignoring the other person because you want them so bad? Being angry because you don’t want to feel this way but the other person isn’t giving you any choice? Very hockey and also very relatable.

This song is so tongue-in-cheek and also has some serious potential for angst. Check out this bit:

“If you've got a girlfriend, I'm jealous of her But if you're single that's honestly worse 'Cause you're so gorgeous it actually hurts”

Allow me to betray a little too much of my own life history by saying boy, do I know that feel. If this guy is dating someone, okay, yeah, you’ll be jealous, but if he’s single? Suddenly you have to deal with the maelstrom of thoughts and possibilities and–should you make a move? What if he turns you down? Oh god, what if he doesn’t? That can be overwhelming even if you aren’t a professional hockey player who has to worry about potential homophobia from the public and from his teammates. You should really stop thinking about this. But you can’t, and it’s THIS GUY’S FAULT. So annoying.

(Slight points off this one for the singer already having a boyfriend. But we’re gonna ignore that.)

Pairing I’d assign to this song: This has to be Tyson Barrie. He’s already on record talking about how gorgeous Gabriel Landeskog is. I have no doubt that he spent his years on the Avs feeling exactly this: how dare Gabe be so amazing and make him feel this way?? I think we’re going with Gabe’s POV on this story. He and Tyson are friends, obviously, they have a great time hanging out, and Gabe doesn’t mind if sometimes Tyson does weird things like get a little too drunk and make fun of the accent that Gabe is pretty sure he doesn’t even have. Gabe just laughs it off as Tyson being Tyson. But then one night Tyson maybe has a couple too many drinks and says even more outrageous things about Gabe than he usually does. Gabe still doesn’t mind, but Tyson leaves early–EJ hustles him out of there–and Nate sits down next to Gabe and shakes his head ruefully and apologizes for Tyson. “He just never got past the pigtail-pulling phase, you know?”

Gabe: “The what?”

Nate: “You know, pigtail-pulling. Like when a little kid likes someone so he pulls her pigtails?”

Gabe: “Sorry, did you say when he likes someone?”

Nate, with a dawning look of horror: “…Oh no, I’VE had too much to drink. EJ, take me home too!”

Gabe’s world is rocked to its foundations. Tyson…LIKES him? Gabe’s never even considered this possibility before. Does that mean Tyson’s thinking about the two of them doing…oh god, he probably is. And maybe even…and what if he’s thinking about it right now?? Gabe was not built to handle these possibilities.

He decides, after a sleepless night of picturing Tyson picturing…things, that he’s going to have to let Tyson down easy. It’s the only way to move past this. He goes over to Tyson’s place, but then Tyson opens the door and Gabe looks him in the face and he can’t say it. He can’t say anything at all.

Tyson: “Gabe? Did you want something?”

Gabe: “Yeah, I just came here to give you this.”

And then he gives Tyson the longest and most satisfying kiss of his life. So far, anyway.

Lyrics to title this story: Take It As a Compliment

Masterpost Playlist

<Prev | Next>

[sonsband]

Hi!! Is your Atiny secret Santa

I'm so sorry I was mia for so long I swear I didnt forget about you! I just didnt come online much; It was my birthday week so I guess that already answers part of your question heheh

SanHwa is such an amazing duo to have as biases!! (and yes, Wooyoung absolutely comes with the package hahaha) Honestly... I could easily be ot8 cause just like you I start to talk about my biases and then start adding the others cause like... They are all amazing

You have been an Atiny way longer than I have! They really caught my attention during kingdom Which Changmin was the MC of and I never made the connection but YES!!! he and Hwa really have very similar vibes!! (tho Hongjoong at 2020 Mama had me intrigued as well) Have you been on tumblr since the beginning or are you new to this part of the fandom?

idk how involved you are and if I would be exposing myself if I told you my bias line, so I'll refrain for now hahah

Any favorite moments from your biases?? Together or individually...

Hope you are having a good weekend!!

omg noooooo don't worry about that! happy birthday! I hope it was wonderful, did you do anything special? I love that you give yourself a whole week, it is absolutely deserved.

They’re so precious, I like my idols talented but also a little cringe, and those two (well, four) are extra ridiculous. I love when they start being menaces to each other, especially the short kings. They’re all my little cousin’s age, and I’m just so fond of them in the same way I am about her (the fact San had the audacity to be born on the same day as her, of course he’s the way he is).

Kingdom was so much fun fjelsjklejsk Changmin is my absolute favorite of all so I was on board even before the groups were announced and I spent the whole time like Changmin… look at him… he is you… One of my best friends on here became my bestie because we started writing reviews of Kingdom as a professional theater designer and a former semi-serious singer, and we spent the whole time like is it this serious? No. But also yes it very much is, here’s another eight hundred words about this three-minute stage. We tried to be objective but so much of it was "Did you HEAR San do that?!" And oh my god Hongjoong is SUCH a good physical actor, he was so good at the 2020 MAMAs, I love when he embraces it and takes center stage. I’m taking dance classes to improve my acting now and then he kicks me while I’m down by claiming he’s not good smh like Uta would love him.

I’ve been on Tumblr far too long, but not in this corner, I don’t know anyone lmao. A handful of users really ruined Ateez Tumblr for me (they were racist AND wrote rpf smut, like, pick a struggle) so I stayed away, but they’re probably a sliver of a minority so I’m trying again. So you can give me a little hint, I swear I won’t know haha.

This is the single greatest moment of all, he’s insane for this. He did all that for free for a face cam. EGOT when?!?! But I won’t lie, my heart absolutely melts every time Wooyoung gets someone to cuddle with him, and that video where Hongjoong goes to check on Wooyoung and San and then tells them to get a little more sleep and they immediately launch themselves at each other for more snuggles… your honor, those are brothers.

How about you? Or if you won’t share who your favorite members are, just a good moment?

Have a wonderfully restful weekend and enjoy the rest of your birthday celebrations!

[itrustmydiscoverweekly]

I wish I had more time with this album!!

This past week I listened to Metamorphosis Complete by Infinity Song

⭐️⭐️⭐️(3.5 out of 5 stars)(still unfortunately no half star emoji)

My only regret with this album is that I did not have nearly as much listening time as I would have liked to. Unfortunately, it is now Tuesday and far too late into the next week to keep listening to last week's album.

Take every opinion here basically as first impressions, if I had time to listen 10+ times, I am sure my opinions would shift.

Found these guys after hearing "Hater's Anthem" on the radio ad I fell in love with their vibe and was happy to find a full, genuine album behind the silly little song.

I love their instrumentation which is more rare to find nowadays in the alt scene with a group of singers with more normal indie-sounding backings.

Anyways, opinion time! (as always, not opinion order, just album order)

"Metamorphosis" I just found this song to be very relevant to my life this past week and I became attached. I love how the whole song goes through a metamorphosis of sound and builds and shifts. The timbre of their voices together works very well on songs like this. I love when songs have multiple sections and this song does that very well. I found the beginning section and the ending section both very catchy in their own way and I just love how the mood is able to shift. And wow that guitar solo at the end just works so beautifully within the song. also going from this song to "Hater's Anthem" is fuckin wild

"Sinking Boat" I mostly got addicted to this song's chorus. It is so catchy and I feel like it really evokes the whole thought behind this album "Why should I worry about rocking the sinking boat" The vocals here are also so gorgeous for each part of the song. this song feels chant-like and is so cool sounding.

"Slow Burn" This song is beautiful. It is kind of wild to hear slow burn in a professional context but it works and I'm not gonna say anything further. I love the guitar and drums once this song builds. It feels like the finale song of an amazing movie.

Honorable mentions!! 🥳🥳🥳

"Hater's Anthem" iconic, lovely, perfect. no notes. also, how I found this band.

"Dreams" completely different vibe than most of the album, almost country, I still love it, they execute the song beautifully. The chorus is beautiful.

"Pink Sky" has fun drums, cant explain it but the instrumentation feels like DS princess games for 5 year olds in the 2010s era in the best way (it feels nostalgic), and then it goes into a gorgeous chorus. performed by amazing vocalists.

I love this album a lot and I will definitely find a spot for it in my rotation to get to know it better!

[qnewsau]

Drag Race UK vs the World: Tom Daley, Kim Petras set to guest judge

New Post has been published on https://qnews.com.au/drag-race-uk-vs-the-world-tom-daley-kim-petras-set-to-guest-judge/

Drag Race UK vs the World: Tom Daley, Kim Petras set to guest judge

In anticipation of the series premiere of Drag Race UK vs the World, the guest judges set to join Mama Ru have been ru-vealed. 

The following celebrities and Drag Race super fans will join Michelle Visage, Alan Carr, Graham Norton at the judges’s table:

Actor and Fashion model, Adwoa Aboah

Comedian, writer and presenter, Katherine Ryan

Singer-songwriter, Kim Petras

Professional dancer and Strictly Come Dancing judge, Motsi Mabuse

Actor and presenter, Richard E Grant

Singer, musician and actor, Self Esteem

Team GB diver and Olympic gold medallist, Tom Daley OBE

When asked about her time at RuPaul’s Drag Race UK Adwoa Aboah says: “It was a privilege and joy to be a part of something so stunning! The judges, the Queens… it was by far one of my most glamorous and hysterical days yet!”

IN OTHER NEWS: RuPaul’s Drag Race queen trolls Emmys in green goblin drag

Tom Daley said: “I am the biggest Drag Race fan. It’s the most iconic show on TV with so many one liners that’ve made it into my daily dialogue. It’s been a long time coming, and I’m finally going to be a guest judge! After all, Drag Race is the Olympics of drag. But what shall I wear? Red wig and a silver dress? I don’t think.”

Katherine Ryan said: “Joining Ru and my fellow judges on the panel was everything I’d hoped for and more. I’m such a fan of the show and the queens were even more breath-taking in person. The show brings so much joy and I’d be back in a heartbeat!”

READ MORE: Every Drag Race franchise of 2023 ranked

Kim Petras said: “This is a pinch me moment, I love drag race and everything the show represents. The queens were even more beautiful in person. Thank you for having me Ru – I had so much fun.”

Additionally, singer and TV presenter Jane McDonald and TV personality Sinitta will be joining Ru for Snatch Game.

The latest season of Drag Race UK vs the World is particularly exciting for fans down under, with Hannah Conda set to represent Australia on the main stage.

The full list of Queens featuring in Drag Race UK vs the World are below:

International Queens

Arantxa Castilla-La Mancha – Spain

Hannah Conda – Australia

Keta Minaj – Holland

La Grande Dame – France

Marina Summers – Philippines

Mayhem Miller – United States of America

Scarlet Envy – United States of America

And they will be competing against Drag Race UK Queens;

From luscious Leicester Gothy Kendoll – series 1

This Queen of Clapham is far from common its Tia Kofi – series 2

It’s the spicy Angel of the North, representing Newcastle Choriza May – series 3

And finally the Belfast belle Jonbers Blonde – series 4.

RuPaul’s Drag Race UK vs the World season 2 is streaming in Australia on Stan from February 10.

For the latest LGBTIQA+ Sister Girl and Brother Boy news, entertainment, community stories in Australia, visit qnews.com.au. Check out our latest magazines or find us on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and YouTube.

[allthemusic]

Week ending: 4 March 1954

Well, I like the look of this next song, not least because it looks like it might be by a band? We don't seem to see many bands at this point, or not in the way you'd have today. There are "X and His Band" type swing ensembles galore, and backing singers are sometimes credited with a name that makes them sound like a band, but again it's usually "X and the Singing Lads", or something of that ilk. Or a solo singer / a duet. Which makes me all the more intrigued about this next track which actually reached No. 1! The first band to hit the top spot?

I See the Moon - The Stargazers (peaked at No. 1)

Well, we being with a janky pub piano. It's a sound I would have written off as a one-off novelty if I hadn't been doing this project. Since I am, I can fairly confidently say that this is just the logical development of what Winifred Atwell is doing, a sort of deliberately out-of-tune, rowdy style.

The Stargazers, of course, take it one further by featuring a duff-sounding tambourine, a depressed-sounding trumpet and a drunk-sounding mixed chorus. The Stargazers themselves? They don't sound a very professional outfit, if so - you could have told me you pulled this lot out of a gutter at 2 am on New Year's Day and I wouldn't not believe you.

The overall effect should be bad, and I think it is bad? Only it's also somehow quite fun - a rowdy, nursery-rhyme sort of knees-up that you can't help but get behind as it lurches back and forth. It's got the sort of simple nonsense lyrics that you could legitimately sing while drunk: "Over the mountain / Over the sea / Back where my heart is longing to be / Please let the light that shines on me / Shine on the one I love." Repeat ad nauseam, possibly literally if you've had as many pints as these folks sound like they have.

Actually, when I said nursery-rhyme, I wasn't wrong. The "I see the moon / The moon sees me" line comes straight from a nursery rhyme attested as far back at 1784, in the wonderfully named compendium Gammer Gurton's Garland: or, The Nursery Parnassus which is also the first attested source for such notables as Goosey Goosey Gander, Roses are Red and There Was an Old Woman Who Lived in a Shoe. So that's something - a song with heritage.

Then we slip into a bit with lots of people passing the lyrics round, with a bunch of spoken "uh huh" bits. There seems to be a real range of unrealistic comedy accents, including a lot of Cockney and some cod-Italian? The overall effect, somehow, is Muppets. I can't explain why. Just listen, and you'll get the idea. In fact, the whole song could very convincingly be performed by the Muppets.

We get one really annoying bit as a man patronisingly commands the hordes to "let the little lady with the tambourine sing", following by an actually infuriating giggle, and then a repeated gag about her being rubbish at singing. First she tries to come in too soon, then she misses her cue, then the man has to tell her to sing louder, then to sing quieter. It's desperately unfunny.

Still, it's mostly back to likable, especially as she pipes down and contents herself with the odd, rather field-marshall-esque cries of "Everybody all together" and "Everybody once again". Which - and this might be a reach - actually feels like a rather Beatles-like "all together now" moment. It's straight from that most British institution, the music hall. And you know what, I like it! I don't know why anyone committed this to vinyl, or why anyone bought it. But I enjoy that it exists.

That was a journey. I can't wholeheartedly recommend that you listen to this. At the same time, if you do, I really hope you enjoy it. It's a journey, for sure!

Favourite pick of the ambiguously-drunk bunch: I See the Moon

[ahiddenpath]

IRL, is it possible to learn to sing at the same level as Eimi/Amy without the help of a singing teacher or coach?

I'm tossing this one beneath a cut because it's long and rambly, and I am not even sure if I answered exactly what you are asking. I apologize if I missed the mark.

But I love music and I love personal growth and learning, so I'm so happy you're thinking about it and asking these qs! I wish I were better equipped to answer, but I will try my best :D

I'm not sure... Eimi usually has formal and/or informal training. She takes formal university vocal training in Four Years and Seeking Resonance, and she did a lot of singing at school/theater club in high school in FY, plus practicing/working on singing and guitar by herself and with Matt since middle school. In Puits d'Amour, she got her knowledge from a kindly neighbor who shared her instruction and music resources, and then went on to formal training in university via scholarship. In the Growing Up with You line, she does a lot of singing in school/clubs from early elementary school, so she has the least formal training there. But every time I write Eimi, music is a big part of her life, even if it's just a hobby she practices alone or with choirs.

I'm not involved in the music industry or formal music/vocal performance criticism, so I'm not sure how much I can really comment without just... reaching/guessing? I imagine that the musicians we know have a broad range of formal training/backgrounds. Some probably went to a ton of formal schooling, some probably learned from family or taught themselves. Some maybe made a YouTube channel and blew up.

I do know that I took some formal singing training in college, and it was far less helpful than my casual, once-a-week coaching in high school. Were the college classes bad? Was my high school music teacher just a really great teacher? No idea! I do know my old guitar teacher told me that most guitarists can't read music, and being able to can help you land performance gigs, which to me implies a range of education.

While I do agree that there are probably folks out there born into wealthy and/or musical families who trained them since they could sing/hold an instrument... I think it's kind of sad to assume someone will never be an outstanding performer without that kind of background. But I don't think that's really what you're saying/asking, either.

Traditionally, music lessons, instruments, and travel for performances cost a lot of $$$. I'm not trying to downplay that. But the good news is that we are in an unprecedented time where there are lessons for free online, plus online classes available for a monthly subscription, which is a lot cheaper than music school. It's an incredible time to be learning music/an instrument/how to sing! There are also local performance choirs and groups, I belonged to one in college and it was a blast! If you're looking to improve (and please forgive me if I misunderstood you), then there are options, and some of them are low cost/free, and some of them are so much fun and will give you a community and people to learn from/grow with!

Basically, I think anything is possible if you work at it daily, take advantage of every resource you can find, and actively go for it and find a community. For me, personally, I have so much fun singing that it's never a waste, even if I'm not making huge improvement strides. But I also think the end goal matters, too. Like, are you looking for a fun hobby that provides a sense of growth? Or are you looking to become a famous/professional singer? For the first, anything is possible and it's so achievable! The second presents a lot more obstacles and requires luck/chance and the ability to market yourself, on top of everything else.

I have no idea if that was helpful, or if I really answered your q, but I'm wishing you fun and happiness in your musical journey! Thanks for the ask <3

[knowlessman]

doo doo DOO dooo, doo doo dootdoot doo, doo doo DOO doo, doo doo DOOTDOOTDOO dootdoo (bnha s2e21-25)(it's the FI-NAL EX-AM…)

(excuses re quirks and skimpy costumes, midnight and mt lady catfight) why

okay this OP might slap actually, the higher voice gives some idfk contrast or whatnot, makes it interesting. that and the generally more… introspective (?) tone of voice of the main singer? idfk I like this one

I hear tell we start getting less mineta at some point, when's that? ( :

bakugo studies?

…idk what I think about momo tbh. mid, I guess. kind of a Captain Carrot almost, except not OP; she doesn't even get to, like, win. the competence and likability are there, but Carrot's acknowledged overpoweredness and impossibly-perfect benevolence give him a compelling weirdness that momo doesn't have. momo doesn't stand out any more than kyoka does, but kyoka has a "cool teenager" personality and a rad costume.

don't try to make me relate to laserguts (he apparently got the 18th-highest score out of 20, also tho who in the entire fuck grades midterms by ranking the students what the shit is that)

…this blonde guy from B is the most forgettable little shit who ever lived, is he the guy with the Ditto ability from the horseplay event, that I wanted to not have to hate? : / -- k, Ninja Misty's name is Kendo and also she does have a name, she could turn out cool even if she doesn't seem to get a lot of screentime outside of hitting whatshisname

yaoyorozu. yaoyorozu. is it just because they're less common letters? is that why that one's harder to remember than uraraka? idfk

"I'm gonna do better than you, deku, whether you like it or not! you too, guy who only lost to me because he couldn't decide whether to tie one arm behind his back and was eminently unbothered about the result anyway!" vegeta gonna vegeet

"this time, you'll be fighting against the teachers!" … fun? this show has too many fun bits wtf it's almost just jojo but with a plot, no, more than one plot at a time, that actually have enjoyable writing in them -- curious if we'll see what Tonka Tough and… I can't even think of a joke for this one, but like, new surprises, this show is a neverending fucking birthday it's unreal

"deku and vegeta are a te my fucking gawd this is gonna be hell on a stick icanteven -- "oh and they're fighting jesus" vince mcmahon with laser eyes

obviously they would put the pervert against the other pervert smh

…wanna figure out whether they meant "if one escapes you win" or "if BOTH escape you win" but trying to understand what the rules are in this show has not proven fruitful so far so wever

so sato is basically choji from naruto then. meh -- 'XD almost surprised they could get the rights for the oraora but then I forgot Japan is a bit less Scrooge McDuck about copyright

(froppy and tokoyami) ah k so mr grin does clones… of some kind -- …I was not expecting Team Ice Climbers to be a thing, but I'm not NOT here for it -- (froppy doing...?) uh. -- 0_0 oh! oh, she can just regurgitate stuff, phew 'XD I misremembered what she said her other power was and thought the bird was gonna throw her stomach across the finish line

(iida and ojiro) "FUSION!" facepalm -- "you're going to have to toss me" counter is at 2. not complaining, I just think it's funny that that might end up being a common tactic here -- facepalm while looking back over the notes again iida is yoshi

(yaoyorozu and todoroki) "unless you've got a rudder and a lot of sails hidden in that bodice…" at least they paired her with another professional -- if we could just stop putting the 15-yo's chest in center screen that'd be great -- more to the point tho she Got To Do Things and had them work so good on that. and even when she wasn't sure of her own plan, she made the matryoshkas as flashbangs to begin with. you love to see it

(uraraka and laserguts) "do you like deku?" "WAAAA :O" lets go and flies backward then turns into a flying kick on sheer instinct mission failed successfully 'XD

(mina and kaminari) "I wonder how the principal will fight" this is gonna be REAL stupid, can't wait -- eh. 's good. no notes.

fuck yeah, been wondering what Korg's quirk is. also jiro's here too, happy bout that too -- oh, animals -- aye, mic's a hard counter to both. hm -- "these puny little ants outnumber him a hundred to" I mean yeah you get it -- 'XD koda doesn't like them either tho. Gonta Gokuhara, he is not

(hagukure and shoji) hagukure continues to mostly only be there for perv jokes -_-

(worst character and the tape guy) yeah this one's gonna be annoying. maybe they'll just skip it and do a cutaway thing saying they lost because mineta's worthless -- goddammit this fucker gets half a whole episode -- whoop de doo. she isn't attached to her whip tho… -- why'd that work? she fucking let him go for no reason. she wasn't even stuck to the ground herself, I don't think.

…I don't think I have anything going on tomorrow and my sleep pattern's already fucked, hell with it, might as well finish out the season here

"god explosion murder: origins" we know his origins, he has an inferiority complex because he was the king bully in a small town and thought he was the only kid who was gonna get into a big-name school, and he's just now being confronted with the fact that bluster and ego stop getting you anywhere past a point (when you aren't born a zillionaire) -- gonna be hard to talk vegeta out of flunking himself; best-case for deku is all might knocks him out and deku somehow pulls a win out of nowhere. I just really don't see bakugo getting nearly enough character development in nearly enough time to pass this, he's solidified too dense -- "you've been saying the greatest hero always wins since we were kids." yeah and he just stopped forming memories after that -- toss counter at 3 'XD -- JEEZUS, all might pulling the pro Smash player moves with that recoil tackle

-- well, I was sort of right about bakugo being knocked out. tbh tho I'm amazed that he let deku even touch one of his gauntlets, let alone fire one. he makes it hard not to underestimate and think the worst of him, but he keeps being scarily capable of cramming tactics into his head along with the piles and piles and piles of violence and hatred and self-hype

does it count as bakugo learning something from deku if what he learned was how to break himself in a bloodyminded grasp, not even for the moon, just to pass an exam, so that somebody has to fix him?

"some moved toward a new goal…" (shows uraraka) some got through on pure and unadulterated luck you mean

oh yeah, Handface and The Darkness are things. forgot about them. -- THE DANCING BOY HE'S HERE -- and, uh, Stab-Girl

I guess this one sets up the next season? we'll see

okay so I was understanding right that handface still doesn't like anything about stain and his "ideals," at least we're right side up on that. -- The Darkness is a good manager. spookily good.

uh. so. mr everything-i-touch-i-break has an arm around deku. did he just, like, win? -- …tea. frankly I dint know he wanted anyth - I'm sorry?

-- i -- …um. moving on? I think?

stain masks. freedom of merch, I guess : / getting weird with it this episode, I guess

"he yammered on about why he was doing what he was doing and got all over the news. I attacked a school for no explicit reason at all and everybody forgot about me. what's his secret, why are his ratings so much better than mine?"

uraraka could have wandered in from, it feels like, 60% of all the anime in existence. however, she does sometimes - well… the one time she really had her own plan was against bakugo and it didn't work, I dunno whether I can confidently say that she Gets To Do Things significantly more often than Sakura so far. : /

huh. not even an outro, then. but, uh, yeah, plot and things. quarter to five.

[uncle-fruity]

i saw your post abt t and singing and something i have been nervous about is how my singing voice will change. would you be willing to share more of what that was like?

Sure! Happy to share my experience so far! Sorry it took so long for me to respond, anon. Heads up, I'm probably gonna use musical roles as a reference point, because it's all I know lol

I've been on T for about a year and a half. I was an alto for most of my choir experience (which I did for about 8 or 9 years between school & college). I had a decent range -- though, I don't have the specifics -- and a strong voice. For a frame of reference, I was pretty comfortable singing along to the likes of Eponine & Fantine (Les Mis), Mrs. Lovett (Sweeney Todd), Millie (Thoroughly Modern Millie), Tracy Chapman, Janice Joplin, and others in that sort of ballpark. That said I could bust out a few high notes when I was all warmed up & actively singing all the time.

So, that's some context to explain the shift I've experienced. I'll say that so far I haven't had much trouble singing! I've had to shift some of my muscle memory, especially when I want to get those deeper & richer tones. There's a small part of my range where my voice just can't handle it right now & will crack or squeak, right around the shift between my chest & my head voice. Though, I had trouble with that shift even before starting T, so 🤷🏻‍♂️ could just be a gap in my skillset exacerbated by the changing vocal chords. I probably need to get an actual voice coach to help me with it or something.

The way my voice dropped has been steady. I'm not sure if it's at the lowest it's gonna be now or not, but it's decently lower than it was before. It was a gradual process. I'd take my shot, and sometimes I'd get a small sore throat for a few days (usually accompanied by some acne 😒), and then suddenly my voice would be capable of lower notes than before. And that's happened a couple times over the year & a half. More frequently in the beginning of my treatment.

In terms of depth, right now I can achieve most of Javert's (Les Mis) notes except for one or two of the lowest in his songs that I might be able to reach with more training. I'm very comfortable with all of Valjean's (Les Mis) parts, with pretty much no major gaps in terms of range. As long as I'm singing with the right muscles!

Can you tell I've been singing a lot of Les Mis recently? Lol

But actually? I feel that my voice is quite versatile. Like, I'm certainly not the most skilled singer in all the land, and I have some pretty obvious issues I'd need to fix if I wanted to be an Actual Professional, but I have some real range, that I feel is even better now that I can go lower. I sacrificed some of the higher notes, but I was barely using them anyway. I can still sing tons of songs from my old range (though, my tone is different & the notes aren't as strong as they used to be), which is pretty nice. I'm wondering if I'm #blessed or if that ability's gonna go away at some point.

What I will say is that my voice doesn't seem to have fully settled. I still have fluctuations in my voice that can be difficult to control. Sometimes, after a sore throat bc of the vocal chords changing, my voice will be tired & weaker bc I guess it gets worn out doing all that work! I think if a person whose main profession was their voice wants to go on T, they should expect to have to take it slower & maybe take a small hiatus up front until their voice settles a little & they get the hang of using it.

But yeah! I feel like I've rambled on here (as usual). I guess my main feeling is that I was never going to stop singing no matter what happened to my voice, and while it was the change I was probably most actively concerned about pre-t, I am absolutely over the moon that I can sing something like "Stars" in the intended octave now! I have so much more fun with singing now! I feel so much more comfortable with myself, and more confident in general, and so I just let loose and my voice is starting to come into its own.

I still have lots of learning & practice ahead of me, but so far it's been a satisfying journey! I'll have to report back in another year & see what changes I've undergone at that point!

All that said, I'm just one guy. Our bodies & our voices may be wildly different from one another & I wouldn't be able to tell you. I honestly feel pretty lucky to have the voice that I do. I don't know if other people are especially insecure or if I'm especially capable as a vocalist, but I feel like I see trans dudes who talk about having a harder time adjusting than I have, so I can't even tell you if my experience is standard or lucky or whatever.

Not that you asked for my advice, but I think you probably don't have to be too nervous (in my unprofessional opinion). The brain is very good at concocting up worst case scenarios for you & it's pretty much never that bad.

I think that as long as you love to sing, you'll always find a way to use your voice no matter how it shapes up. It's not so much what you have as it is how you use it, in my opinion.

But, as always when it comes to taking T, I think you should take your time and come to terms with your anxieties about it before starting it. T *will* change you in all sorts of ways, and it's okay to take your time sorting all your feelings out before diving in.

Hope that helps, anon! Hope you do what makes you happiest!

[greynatomy]

Restart

Florence Pugh x Fem!Reader, Hailee Steinfeld x Fem!Reader

Part two of Memories, so if you want some backstory, read Memories first. Give me some feedback on what you guys think.

Driving away from the house, Y/N realized that she really has nowhere to go. She was still new to Los Angeles, only moving here from England because of Florence’s career in acting that’s been growing. 

With no destination in mind whatsoever, she just wants to get as far away from the home she shared with her ex-fiancé, parking in the first hotel she saw, booking a room for quite a while. 

Meanwhile, with Florence, Zach tried to comfort her in any way that he can, but she ultimately kicked him out. He was her living guilt and didn’t even want to be in the same vicinity as him, even though she knew she was at fault. 

Florence was lost. Her and Y/N grew up together, practically attached at the hip. They were friends before lovers, and now she knew they would become strangers.

~~~

One Year Later

After a couple months of sulking, Y/N decided to get her shit together. She sobered up, started working out, and changed her whole look. She buzzed all of her hair off, bleached it and dyed it platinum. She even got a couple tattoos on her arms. She stoped feeling sorry for herself and wanted to start over. 

Weeks after the incident happened, Raffie, Florence’s younger sister, did reach out to Y/N, catching up and making sure she was doing fine, same with her brother Toby. Y/N had been closest with them. They informed Y/N with how disappointed their parents had been at their sister because they saw Y/N as part of their family since they could remember.

Y/N did, however, stop her career in being a singer and just decided to become a full time writer and producer where she’s met many people who she can even call family. One of them being an amazing woman named Hailee Steinfeld. 

~~~

Y/N has been in contact with someone who had a client that wanted to record and release an EP. She didn’t know who, but was just excited that this person picked her instead of any other producers out there who’s worked with more artists.

The person she talked to is currently on his way to Y/N’s studio to meet for the first time. To say that Y/N is nervous is quite the understatement. She has no idea who she’ll be working with, just that she’s a woman who wants to release her first EP. 

She was broken out of her thoughts by her phone’s chime, stating that they were at the door. She goes to open it, being greeted by two people. A man dressed a bit professionally and a woman dressed in jeans, a sweater, and a cap. 

“Hey, guys. Come in. Make yourselves comfortable.”

“Hi.” Michael, the manager, said, reaching for a handshake. “We’ve been speaking on the phone. It’s so nice to actually meet in person. This is Hailee and it will be her first time releasing an EP if everything goes well.”

“Yeah, hi Hailee. I’m Y/N and I am very excited for you and to work on this with you.”

“Nice to meet you.” Hailee said, shaking her hand.

“Well, I actually have elsewhere to be so it’ll just be the two of you, which I think will be best to give you guys space to get to know each other and just be yourself without someone creeping in the corner of the room. Alright, bye and have fun.”

“Alright, let’s get started.” Y/N takes a seat on her chair in front of her mixing desk, pulling out her notebook and a pen. “Do you have any ideas of what you want this EP to sound and look like?”

“Yeah, actually. Firstly, I want the EP to be self-named or at least to HAIZ. Secondly, I have some ideas and lyrics for a couple songs, but that’s about it.” Hailee said, also pulling out her own notebook.

“Would you mind if I took a look?”

“No, no. Go ahead.”

Looking through Hailee’s notebook, she was very impressed. “Hailee… this is amazing. I could definitely work with this.”

“Really? Thank you!”

“Okay. Let’s get to it.”

~~~

Six Months Later

The EP has been finished for a month now and has been released for a couple of hours. Y/N, however, is freaking out. Not because of anything really that serious, but she decided to not chicken out and ask Hailee out on a date tomorrow.

In the six months that they have known and worked on this EP together, Y/N and Hailee had grown very close together and even met Hailee’s parents as brother, who she’s also grown close with, Griffin becoming like an older brother for her too. 

It was very obvious that they both liked each other in everyone’s eyes except their own and just didn’t want to ruin the friendship they had by admitting their feelings for one another, but Y/N didn’t want to beat around the bush anymore.

Hailee is having an EP release party at her place so that’s where Y/N is. Only a couple friends and family are invited. It’s been a couple hours since the party started and Y/N’s social battery is running low so she decided to stand out on the balcony, just staring at the view.

“I knew I’d find you here.”

Turning around, she sees Hailee in a short red dress, looking beautiful as ever. 

“Hey. Still looking a beautiful as ever even a couple drinks down and some very rough dancing.”

“You calling me a crazy drunk dancer?”

“Oh, I would never, but you said it yourself.”

“You’re an ass.”

“I also do remember calling you beautiful.”

Heat creeps up onto Hailee’s face, turning away to hind the blush. 

“Thank you. You look very handsomely.”

“Thanks.” After a couple moments is silence, Y/N spoke up again. “Hey, so, I’ve been wanting to get this out for a while, but I’ve just been very scared and nervous to do so. Um, would you like to go out on a date with me sometime?” She said, rubbing the back of her head, looking down. “You don’t have to accept of course. This has just been weighing me down and I needed to tell you and with a couple drinks in me and this being a special day for you, I thought why not just do it now ri—”

“I would love to go on a date with you.” Hailee said, stopping Y/N’s nervous rambling.

“Really?” Y/N asked, eyes going wide, voice full of surprise.

“Of course.”

~~~

One and a Half Years Later

Feeling soft kisses being pressed all over her face, Y/N groans, pushing her face into the pillows more.

“Honey, wake up.” She hears the beautiful voice of her girlfriend. “I made breakfast.

“Breakfast?” She asked, slightly lifting her head from the pillow.

“Yeah, Hon. Let’s go downstairs before it gets cold.”

After freshening up a bit together, they go down to the kitchen where breakfast is played.

“Happy anniversary darling.”

“Happy anniversary honey.”

A few hours later, Y/N said she had to go to the studio really quick and Hailee would be accompanying her. Walking in, Hailee sees rose petals scattered on the floor, hears a soft melody playing, wondering what was happening.

“What’s all this?”

“Well, this is where we first met. Basically where my whole life changed. I told you about my how my last relationship went and how scared I was to let anyone else in romantically. How much she broke me, but you were able to patch me back up. You, Hailee Steinfeld, changed my whole life and I’d be the dumbest person in the world to let go of you. Who knew that in this very studio, I would meet the person who makes me whole. So…” Y/N grabs a small box from her pocket, opening it, then going down on one knee. “Hailee Caribe Steinfeld, will you marry me?”

~~~

Six Months Later

“Do you, Y/N, take Hailee, to be your lawfully wedded wife, to have and to hold, in sickness and in health, till death do you part?”

“I do.”

“Do you, Hailee, take Y/N, to be your lawfully wedded wife, to have and to hold, in sickness and in health, till death do you part?”

“I do.”

“Well, with the power vested in me, I now pronounce you wife and wife. You may now kiss.”

Without wasting anymore time, the newlyweds smash their lips together in a bruising kiss.

During the reception, four people walk towards Y/N.

“Congratulations!”

“We are so happy for you.”

“Thank you guys for coming. I wouldn’t have been mad if you didn’t want to show up.”

“Just because my sister fucked up big time did not mean that we had to stop being there for each other.” Raffie said.

“Yeah, you’re family” Toby added.

“You’ve been family ever since we met you at just five years old.” Their mother said.

“We thought that when you got married we’d be in laws, but nope, you’re still my best friend slash big sister.”

“Raffie?!”

“What? Too soon?”

“That was actually pretty funny.” They all laughed. “Alright I gotta go to my wife, but have fun.”

“Hey, Mrs. Steinfeld.” Hailee said, wrapping her arms around Y/N’s neck.

“Hey, Mrs. Steinfeld. Wow, you’re actually my wife. Life is great.”

“I love you.”

“I love you more.”

“Not possible.”

“Oh, it’s very possible.”

~~~

Three Months Later

“BABE!” Hailee shouts.

“What?! What happened?!”

“We’re getting her?”

“What?”

“We got approved. We’re getting her next week!”

“Are you serious?”

“I am!”

“WOOOO!”

~~~

One Week Later

A knock on the door snaps the couple out of their trance, quickly walking over to the front door and opening it.

“Hi, please come in.”

Settling on the couch, the social worker gave us a little rundown about the three year old girl.

Cautiously, Y/N and Hailee crouch near the small child sitting next to her social worker.

“Hi. My name is Y/N and this is my wife Hailee. What’s your name?”

“Aurora.”

“Nice to meet you Aurora. Would you like to see your room?” 

Aurora perks up, hearing how she would get her own room. She gets off the couch and reaches for Hailee’s hand, being led to her own room upstairs, which is close to the couple’s bedroom.

A while later, after being acquainted, the social worker leaves. The three of them are sitting on the front of Aurora’s room playing with all the toys they bought.

Y/N looks over at the two, seeing her wife interact with Aurora, something she will never get tired of. She’s got her her wife and her daughter. What more could she ask for?

———

“Darling? Could you grab Rory from the car please. She fell asleep on the way home.” Y/N said, finally talking her attention away from Florence.

*****

Tags:

@jeyramarie @kassies-take

[mountswhore]

hey! see u were taking requests so i wanted one with mason related to "london boy" by taylor swift? maybe reader is a singer or something like that?

one of the best taylor swift songs imo, so of course!

𝐥𝐨𝐧𝐝𝐨𝐧 𝐛𝐨𝐲 — mason mount

summary: mason shows you around london during your break, and now you don't think you can ever go back

notes: requests are open again! my asks are open.

Leaving your hometown in New York to visit the world was one of the hardest things you had to do. But you had your dream job, now it was time to follow it. Your recent album was a success, pouring your heart into it as you recovered from your breakup. Your fans had watched your relationship build, and then break apart. Hearing your side of things through 14 songs. Awards, interviews, and traction had come from it, earning you a world tour. It was a scary thing to do, considering it was your first international tour.

“I just want to come back to New York already, I’ve not been on this tour long.” You complained to your sister, curled up in a hotel bed in London. Your first destination was the UK, and there was nothing worse than being homesick.

“Quit being a baby, the UK is so nice.” Your sister replied, chuckling shortly afterwards. “Me and dad visited Manchester, I think? Very nice looking, at least where we stayed.” You sighed, knowing that didn’t make it any easier. You loved your cosy apartment in New York, you were even starting to miss the constant traffic sounds and arguing in the early hours of the morning.

“I guess, and I know London is nice, at least. I think I’m gonna interact with some fans,” you decided, pulling the duvet further up your body, “speak tomorrow at sound check.” You ended the call, liking some tweets and replying to a few things, eventually tweeting something of your own.

“Happy to see a lot of my UK fans tomorrow, can’t wait to scream my feelings out with you,” Declan read out, giving Mason a cheeky look. The pair of them were in Mason’s living room, enjoying their evening of FIFA. The boys had spoken about you plenty of times, in interviews too, Mason declaring you as his celebrity crush.

“Shut up already, she probably doesn’t even know who I am.” Mason stated, resting his arm over his eyes to conceal the blush on his face. Him, Declan and a few other boys were going to your concert tomorrow night, some of the WAGs suggested it as they loved your music.

“You think she’s not going to notice a blue tick in her dm’s? It’s worth a shot.” Declan encouraged his friend to shoot his shot, close to grabbing his phone and doing it himself, but instead he was watching Mason bashfully scroll through your twitter replies. “Do it, or I will.”

Mason sighed, clicking the reply button and typing out a reply, handing the phone to Declan to review. ‘Can’t wait, wanna see you.’

“Perfect,” Declan mumbled, pressing the reply button for him. He knew Mason never would, he just saved him 20 minutes of back and forth debate. Handing Mason his phone back, Declan smirked as he watched his friend's face change from fairly embarrassed, to shocked.

“There’s no fucking way you sent that.” Mason remarked, refreshing his phone to see his tweet attract likes. “You dick.”

Declan just laughed as Mason had turned completely red, watching the likes and replies collect under his tweet. Moments later, you’d appeared in his dm’s.

‘I recognise you.’

It was an ominous message from you, one that had you pacing and replaying the creepy message over and over again. But Mason smiled at the message, all ounces of worry leaving his body as he replied to you.

‘Oh yeah? From where?’

‘Actually, I think I recognise your teammate, Pulisic. He’s all my brother talks about sometimes. But all I know is that he plays for a soccer team.’

He laughed at your reply, Declan watching over in pure disbelief.

‘You have a lot to learn about the UK, and luckily I know all about it.’

‘I’ll hold you to that, come backstage after the show, bring whoever you’re with. I’m in London for the next few days before my next show, maybe you can show me around.’

“There’s no way you’re flirting with Y/N Y/L/N within two minutes of replying to her tweet.” Declan stated, Mason smirking at his best friend before sending another reply.

‘Bet.'

Your show was now over and you were anxiously waiting for the boys to be escorted back stage. You didn't know much about football, especially over here, but you knew the boys that were coming back stage were professionals. You'd learnt their names, Declan, Jack, and Mason. Jack and Declan brought their girlfriends along, but Mason was 'painfully single', as he put it.

Finally, as you sat down in your chair to relax, you heard a knock at the door. It was them. They had all filed in, the two girls in shock that they were meeting you. You'd given them all a hug, and gotten to Mason. He looked down at you as you pulled him in, squeezing you tightly before letting you go again.

"Did you guys enjoy it?" You asked, ushering them to the couch for them to sit down. You wanted them to feel as comfortable as possible, rushing over to your dressing room fridge and pulling out some drinks.

"It was amazing," Sasha gawked, still in awe over seeing you for the first time, "we saw you have one in Birmingham in a few weeks, so we're going to that one too." You blushed, returning to your seat opposite the couch.

"That's so sweet! I'm sure I can get you some good tickets, I'll dm you on Instagram or something." You suggested to her, Sasha eagerly nodding her head. You conversed with the group of five, Mason giving you a particular look that you had mirrored back to him. You planned on getting his number, and making sure he showed you around London.

Soon enough, the group was heading back to wherever they were staying, as it was beginning to get quite late. "Thank you guys for coming, and I'm so glad I met you."

Mason stayed behind, folding his arms and sharing a smirk with you as his friends voices trailed down the hallway. "So, about this bet."

"Yeah," you replied casually, grabbing your water bottle from the table and taking a sip, being in the presence of an attractive man again was giving you quite the nerves, "I'll take your number, because I'd love to get to know London." He nodded, grabbing his phone from his jacket pocket and handing it to you.

"Perfect. See you."

You and Mason had planned your first meeting in a pub. It wasn't the classiest of places, but your plan was to get to know the UK. Mason had ordered you both a drink, guessing what you like and nailing it when you went in for a second sip and shoved a thumb up.

"So," he began, fiddling with the coaster his beer sat on, "how long are you in London for?"

"Just until Thursday, Friday morning I'm heading to Manchester." You stated, realising you only had four days with Mason, including today.

"Well, we better make the days count then." Mason declared. The pair of you spoke about his career as well as yours, talking about how different school was for the pair of you. Mason had stood up, holding his hand out for you to take, and you'd accepted it without complaint. He led you out of the pub and through the town center, gazing at the stalls set up around you. The weather wasn't so different to New York, both constantly dreary, but you were liking London so far.

On your second day together, you'd taken a cab to another town, this time to just experience the busy streets. To Mason, this was normal. For you, it was only familiar. New York was one of the busiest cities in the world, but London was different, better in every other way. You'd finished your day together, stomachs full of pub food, and in the back of a cab, rain pattering on the windows. You'd shuffled closer to Mason, placing your hand on his and squeezing. He looked at you briefly, smiling his usual smile, before quickly looking out at the street in an effort to hide his tinged cheeks.

Day three, the weather was too bad to do anything. But Mason kept you company in your hotel room. He'd taught you a bunch of British slang, laughing as your accent completely butchered them all. You'd shown him a snippet of your new song before room service had arrived. And the night ended with the pair of you collapsed in your bed, tv playing in the back ground, but your eyes on each other. It was like pure magic, the long-awaited feeling of his lips on yours. You'd been thinking about it all day, missing every opportunity until now.

Your final day was the worst. You both knew it was coming, you wouldn't see him until you had a break, and he had one too. You both had stupidly busy schedules, as well as living in different countries. Maybe one day you could bring him to New York, show him your side of life. And maybe one day you'll branch out and move here.

Mason had helped you carry your things out of your hotel room, which was taking you to Manchester. Your manager had texted you to be in the car before 3, which meant you had just 10 minutes until you had to say goodbye to Mason for a while.

You were stood in the foyer of the hotel, waiting for the car to arrive. You'd secretly hoped it didn't, you wanted to stay with Mason for a while longer, but you couldn't. Duty called.

"Thank you for showing me around London," you spoke, looking up at Mason, who was hiding his deflated feelings, "I really enjoyed it, I might even prefer it to New York."

"That's a given. I'm here." He joked, in an obvious attempt to lighten the mood. These four days had been immense fun for him, different to how he usually spent his days. Different than night at home alone, different than a night on the town. Was it too soon to say he missed you?

Mason looked down at you as you clung to his side, hoping he felt the same way you did. And he did, you just didn’t know that. His fingers slid across your jaw slowly, pulling your chin up to look at him. It was an intense moment, so many different emotions. He’d leaned in and kissed you, it was his parting gift. To say that he’d see you soon enough.

“Enjoy Manchester, I’m sure I can fit another show in somehow.” Mason spoke, his voice barely above a whisper. “I’ll miss you.”

“I’ll miss you too.” You spoke, the car pulling up outside. He’d dragged your suitcases out to the car, popping them in the boot for you. Finally, he stared at you through the window, which you quickly rolled down. “I fancy you, is that the right term?”

Mason laughed, head tipping back slightly. “Yeah, it is. And I fancy you too.”

[wowitsel]

a little bit of me on you

tattoo shop! calum hood x gn! reader

summary: tattoo artist calum hood lets the reader give him a tattoo

word count: 1.3k

Leaning back in your chair, you admired your boyfriend as he sat at his desk sketching a tattoo idea. A late night at the tattoo shop had led you to go hang out with your boyfriend, Calum, at his work. It was often routine for you to hang around the shop while Calum finished up. It gave you time to hang out, even with both of your hectic schedules. It was always nice to hang out there after hours, it was oddly calm.

Sneaking up behind Calum, you got a better look at what he was drawing. Peeking at his work, you enquired, “So… whatcha working on?”

Stopping his sketching to talk to you, he responds, “Ahh just a floral piece for a client. You like it so far?” As he sees you nod, he continues, “You really should let me tattoo you again.”

Calum had given you several tattoos. With the two of you dating, it felt silly for you to get one from anyone else. He always gave you them free of charge (despite the argument from you), and it didn’t hurt that he was an insanely talented tattoo artist.

It was no secret that Calum didn’t contemplate much with his tattoos. With the sheer amount of them, he really couldn’t have. Add in him being a tattoo artist, and you have a man who gets tattoos in a very rash manner.

With this knowledge, staring at the man in front of you, a lightbulb lit up in your brain as you came up with an idea. You walk up behind the man, and hug him from behind, staring up at him. “Hey Cal, I have an idea…” Intrigued, Calum nodded to encourage you to keep speaking, “What if I give you a tattoo… I mean it could just be a small lil thing, and I know I’m not the best artist but I thought it could be fun.”

Calum surprised you, and he promptly responded, “I’m down” with a smile on his face.

“For real?”

“For real.”

Now, smiling like a maniac, you quickly ran your hand through Calum’s hair, while asking him; “So, what do you want for a tattoo? Try and go a little easy on me. You are the professional here.”

Calum sighed dramatically, “Well, you could do a smiley face or a heart, it’s really up to you, I’m down for anything, my love.”

“I have a scary amount of power in my hands don’t you think?”, you said in a disney villain-esque voice.

Calum gives you a look, while teasingly saying, “well, maybe not anything”

“Can’t take it back now, darling” you reply.

You then grabbed his hand to pull him away from his desk; “Now, c’mon let’s go!”

Pulling him toward his tattooing station, and gently shoved him down onto the chair.

“So you’re just gonna free-hand this?” you hear Calum say to you.

“Umm yes?” you answered unsure of how he would respond.

Calum just shrugged it off and nonchalantly replied, “Ok”.

Now, you had watched and received enough tattoos to generally know what you were doing, so you weren’t too nervous. That being said, you were going to be putting something on his body permanently, so it was a bit of a big deal. Walking over to the table with all the equipment, you stood there standing in front of it, just wondering where to even start.

Calum seemed to have read your mind at the moment. Getting up from the chair, and asking you, “You want me to set it all up for you?”

“Yes please,” you said, giving him a small smile and taking his place sitting on the chair.

Fidgeting with the loose thread hanging off the chair, you tell Calum, I think I’m gonna do a smiley face like you said. I don’t really trust myself enough to do much else”

Calum smiled at your little quip at your tattooing skills and replied, “Sounds good baby.”

Finishing up everything he needed to do to set up, Calum brought the tattoo gun, and everything else needed over to you and took a seat again once you stood up.

“So how much will you hate me if I mess up?” you said in a jokingly curious tone.

“You’re not giving me much confidence in your tattoo skills, my love” you hear him say as you situate yourself above his arm where he wanted the tattoo.

“I’m sure it’ll be fine” you sigh as you pat him on the arm. “You ready?”

“As ready as I’ll ever be”

As you press the tattoo gun down onto Calum’s skin, he barely shows any signs of discomfort. “Is this really not hurting? Cause you seem to just be chillaxin’ or something, babe, I don't really get it. Every time I get a tattoo I wince and whine like a little baby. Am I a wimp for pain or something?”

Calum just replies to you by saying, “Baby, I've gotten a lot of tattoos, calm down, and pay more attention to the tattoo, it's gonna be on my body forever!”

You decided to listen to Calum’s advice and focus on the task at hand. Granted, it wasn’t a very big tattoo, so theoretically it shouldn’t have taken long, but you were being extra careful and slow, because of the whole “permanent” thing.

Getting into a grove, there was a nice silence and calm feeling in the air. Getting comfortable in the chair, and used to the feeling of the tattoo, Calum started to half-sing, half-hum some random tune he had thought of.

Smiling, and listening to him, you told him, “You sound good, you should become a singer or something”

“Ha! Imagine that; Calum Hood, rockstar. I could never.” Calum says to you, and you both chuckle at the thought. Calum leans his head over to check on the progress of the tattoo as you finish the last line in his tattoo.

“I’m done!” you say to him with a big smile on your face.

Calum gives you a look of admiration while telling you, “You did amazing, I’m so proud of you baby”

“I’m glad you think so. Now, I’m gonna go get the bandages and all that other shit so it doesn’t get infected or something,” you say getting up.

“Look at you being all professional, huh?” Calum says with a teasing smile.

“Yup!” you start to walk away when you realize that you have no idea where any of that stuff is; “So… ummm, the thing is…”

“You need me to get it for you?” Calum slyly says.

“Yes,” you squeak out meekly.

“I got you, baby,” Calum says while walking toward the supplies drawer.

After making his way back, Calum starts to put on the petroleum jelly on the fresh tattoo, and tries to put the bandage on himself, but struggles because of the position of the tattoo on his arm.

“Here, let me help you,” you said, grabbing the bandage out of his hand.

Wrapping it around his arm, you kiss the fully wrapped tattoo, and then kiss Calum on the lips. “Thank you for letting me do this Cal” you whisper against his lips.

“Thank you for not messing up,” he says, making you laugh.

“Now come on, let’s go cuddle on the couch”

After making your way to the waiting area of the tattoo shop, Calum plops down onto the couch, so he’s laying down on it, and pats the space next to him signaling for you to lay next to him, which you do.

As you lay down on the couch, Calum wraps his arm around you and kisses you on the forehead.

“This was fun,” you whisper to him.

“Yeah, it was.” you hear Calum whisper back as you see him start to yawn.

“You tired baby?” you say as you snuggle into him more.

“Yeah” Calum says weakly as you see him slowly fall asleep.

You smile at him as you begin to fall asleep yourself, so happy.