#i owe my entire being to this album

[to-the-stars8]

The Waynes' Nanny

Batfamily and Reader/ Bruce Wayne x Reader Chapters Ao3 Originally, I was going to make this a half-chapter because I wrote this on my phone while at work, but I decided I'm a bitch who doesn't do half-chapters. Anyway, here's this one. Sorry for any mistakes, it was slightly rushed because I wanted to get something out there since I've been away from the keyboard for a good moment!

Nanny in The Attic

Alfred had asked you to get some spring decorations from the attic, and you were happy to oblige. You loved decorating, it brought a sense of wonderment to your life that was otherwise filled with the endless tasks of being a caretaker. So, you took to the attic like a moth to a flame. There were boxes upon boxes, old coats strewn about, a creepy-looking rocking horse in one corner, and copious amounts of dust.��

“The box is labeled but I couldn’t tell you where the damned thing is,” Alfred said as he flipped on the light. “If you like, you could wait until I return. It might be easier.” 

You waved him off as you ventured further into the room. “No, no. You’re a busy man, Alfred. Plus, the kids are at school, and this will give me something to do today.”

“Very well, then, have at it,” The old man said, heading towards the attic stairs. “Master Bruce is working from home today, and there’s an intercom on the wall over there if you want to call for help should you need it. I’m sure he wouldn’t mind lending a hand.”

You looked over to where the butler was pointing. “Just when I thought this place couldn’t get fancier. Thanks, Alfred. I’ll see you later.” 

With a wave, he left. You began to pull apart the attic in search of the alleged spring decor, and it seemed almost hopeless. There were just too many boxes. There was Christmas (which you couldn’t wait to see), Halloween, and just about every holiday decor that had ever existed. Some boxes were full of pictures and jewelry. You took a peek into some, just out of pure curiosity, and were amazed by just how old some of these things were.

Then, you stumbled onto one box that had photo albums from within the past thirty years and decided to look through them. It took you very little time to realize that these were albums of Mr. Wayne’s family.

You smiled, looking at a smaller version of your boss, as you realized just how much Damian looked like him. You also noted just how much Bruce looked like his father. Eerily so. That had to do something to his psyche. His mother was a beauty, too. You found her headshot sitting right under one of the photo albums. She had curly reddish brown hair and deep blue eyes that reminded you of Bruce’s. Mr. And Mrs. Wayne were a handsome couple with the world at their feet, but that was cut short the day they died. You were almost too young to remember but could recall some family member bursting into the kitchen to announce that the Wayne family had been murdered. It wasn’t entirely true, only Mr. And Mrs. Wayne had been killed— leaving behind a traumatized little boy. 

“Poor Mr. Wayne,” you said to yourself before putting the albums back. “Now, where in the hell is that box?” 

You looked around the room, eyes scanning when you saw it. The box was high up on a shelf labeled ‘spring’ in black Sharpie. After moving some more boxes out of the way, you began to make a path so it would be easier to move. It was going to be so easy and perfect, you thought. Once all the boxes were out of the way, you could grab the step ladder and get what you needed. 

Setting the ladder up, you climbed it, but the box was still just out of reach. You supposed that the shelf could support some of your weight, so you lifted your leg to step onto it. What you hadn’t seen was an old broken vase jutting out from one of the boxes. You felt the pain of it cutting into your leg before you knew what it was. With a cry, you fell back hard onto the floor. 

“Ow, ow,” you said, pushing yourself up. Looking down at your leg, blood was streaming from the wound. Alfred would not be happy about this, you thought. Putting your hand over the cut so not all the blood would drip onto the floor, you awkwardly made your way over to the intercom. 

You had no clue how to use it and began pressing buttons. 

“Mr. Wayne,” you would say when it sounded like you got through to a room. “Mr. Wayne, are you there?”

Finally, after about ten minutes, you got a voice coming through the other end, “Everything alright?”

“Aha! Mr. Wayne, I cut my leg pretty bad and think I need a first aid kit. Could I trouble you to bring me one?” 

“I’ll be right there,” he said. Before you could say anything back, the line went dead. 

Grumbling to yourself, you made your way to the attic stairs to sit and wait for your rescue. Blood was pooling between your fingers, and you could feel it slowly get closer to your socks. 

“I’m here, I’m here.” You looked up to see Mr. Wayne rushed up the attic steps with an aid kit in hand before stopping right in front of you. “Alright, let me see.” 

You moved your hand to the side, but couldn’t bring yourself to see just how bad it was. He put his hand on your knee to keep your leg steady, and you couldn’t help but notice just how big and warm his hand was. 

“Luckily, you don’t need stitches, just a clean-up and some bandages.” 

“What should I do?” You asked, hands already going for the kit. 

Bruce didn’t let you get close enough to grab it before he picked it up. He didn’t say anything as picked out the hydrogen peroxide, some ointment, and bandages. Pouring a little of the hydrogen peroxide onto a cotton ball, he slowly started to wipe at your leg. You yelped from the sudden sting and pushed his hand away. 

“Stop it, that hurts,” you said meekly. “Ow! Bruce, please.”

He stopped to look at you, eyes meeting yours and thumb starting to trace small circles on your knee, before speaking, “Sorry, just hold still. It won’t take much longer.” 

He began to dab the cotton ball back on the wound again, and this time you were prepared for the sting. As he worked on your wound, you stared at him. Mr. Wayne wasn’t just a handsome man, but he was pretty, too. He had the type of looks that befitted a character in a fantasy novel rather than a traumatized rich boy. His eyes, though, were such an intense blue that they were hard not to look at.

You thought out loud, “You have your mother’s eyes.” 

Bruce whipped his head up to look at you, eyes narrowing. “What?” 

You tried to not let the embarrassment show through. It was a fact that just so happened to slip from your mouth. “You have your mother’s eyes. I saw a picture of her earlier.” 

Bruce broke his gaze and continued working on your leg, now putting the bandage on. “Oh.” 

“Do you remember your parents?” You asked. 

“Yes,” He said after a minute. “Everyone said I looked like my father, but he saw more of my mother.” 

You giggled and took his hand when he offered to help you up. “She must have loved that.” 

“Oh, she did.” For the first time, you saw Bruce smile genuinely. A smile for himself instead of the kids or you. “That’s why she wanted a girl after me, but they never got around to it.” 

“Can’t picture you as an older brother,” you said as you wandered over to the shelf. 

Bruce didn’t say anything to that and changed the subject. He offered to get the box down for you, saying that you didn’t need to be reaching up or doing anything else on your leg. You weren’t going to complain and let him get the box. 

“Good thing you called me,” He said with a grunt. “It’s heavy. Now, where do you want it?” 

“The living room would be a good place to start,” you said before you checked the time. You still had a couple of hours before the kids got home, but thought that perhaps you could wait. “Maybe I should wait for the kids. They may want to help.” 

“Alfred would rather burn the manor down.” 

You could imagine it. Mr. Wayne brought the kids up in a way that they were very creative, and you could only imagine how that would transfer over in the decor. Alfred was too neat of a person for that. 

Mr. Wayne set the box down on the living room coffee table, making a cloud of dust come up from the box, before turning to you. You smiled kindly and thanked him. He nodded before heading towards the door, he stopped halfway before turning to you. 

“Make sure you clean your wound, you wouldn’t want it to get infected.” 

“Thank you, Mr. Wayne.” 

He nodded before finally leaving you. You looked back down at the decoration in your hands and huffed. It’d be a lot of work, but if you wouldn’t get it done. 

And, you did as such. By the time Alfred got home with the kids later that afternoon, he was shocked by just how well you did. The whole house was overflowing with spring delight to the point that he began to ask how you managed such a task. You only told him you had magic hands before you went to tend to the children. They were happy to see you, all of them clamoring about, and noted the bandage on your leg. 

“I got in a fight with a bear today,” you said. 

Dick rolled his eyes. “You’re such a liar.” 

Bruce suddenly popped into the kitchen where all of you were. “It’s true. I was there. I helped fight off the bear.” 

“Are there even bears in New Jersey?” Jason asked, curiously. 

Duke, on the other hand, looked horrified, “Why are there bears in the backyard, Dad?” 

You were quick to tell him that the two of you were only kidding, that the cut really just came from an accident. Duke seemed relieved, while the other kids were a bit disappointed. When they all ran off to do their own things, Bruce quickly stopped you from joining them. 

“Next time you decide to decorate, let me know in advance.” 

“You don’t like it?”

“On the contrary, actually. What I don’t like is anyone in my household getting hurt.”

You nodded, trying to reason with yourself as to why you had butterflies in your stomach. 

[absolutelynotsanebaby]

So I sat down the other day and went through the crane wives albums and some other songs to assign to Ninjago characters and I've finally sat down and decided to write the post out. The content are going to be under cut because this post will certainly be too long. I'm going to go album by album here starting with Coyote Stories and ending Here I Am: From The Listening Room.

(any and all "(X)" are simply links to the songs <3)

okay, here we go!

Coyote Stories

Keep You Safe: in some ways, I like to interpret part of this song as relating to Nya's perfectionism, especially within Possession. The bridge especially and lines "What if the steps I take turn out to be mistakes? How can someone like me learn to say "come what may"?" (X)

Allies or Enemies: this is Jay and Cole to me from Rebooted to ToE. Specifically, from Cole's perspective. The song has a lot of regret and bitterness in it that I just think fits so well. The first verse and second verse ("you owe me ears from dropping eaves"), and the bridge are all so clear to me. The bridge, "what happens now? do we have another go (oh) do we bow out and take our separate roads, I'll admit I've had my doubts (oh) but I want to be let in not out (oh) I want to be let in now out", reads to me like Cole's sudden giving in and desperation in their match in ToE. (X)

Hard Sell: this one's a little loser but it reminds me of Lloyd struggles to keep himself strong and straight with everything that gets thrown at him, all the stress. To be The Green Ninja (X).

Little Soldiers: Young Garmadon and Wu, I think. It's their doomed brotherhood, the way they loved each other clearly as impulsive youth ("on the broken backs of all the words we spared, like little soldiers in the trenches, it was a march we made through ruin and despair but we held hands all the while") but ultimately Wu couldn't keep his brother. The bridge reminds me of the war. (X)

Metaphor: Harumi, obviously. There's really no debate, it's her fake mask as the Jade Princess, it's her relationship to Lloyd even. "I've gotten good at leaning on metaphors, I've gotten good at leaning on someone else's page, I cut my teeth on second hand sentiments, you can't trust a single thing I say" -> princess era. It's a sweetly bitter song, chalk full of implications of trauma. The line "but I always dig up bones in your sympathy, I can't trust a single thing you say" is relevant to her relationship with Lloyd, I feel. (X)

Of Everlong: This is a lovely and very soulful song, short and sweet. It's reminiscent of Pixane, to me, specifically from Pixal's perspective. There's a certain connectiveness in being in someone's head. "and if my lover will not hear it take my voice and take my spirit leave weakened and dig my hole only my lover not I can keep my soul" vs "I do not know if there is anything after this life for beings such as you or I, but if there is, I will find you there. Goodbye my Zane." (X)

New Discovery: Fairly simple and not to deep, but this is a Misako song. Adventurer and explorer, and all (X).

The Moon Will Sing: I want to preface two things, A) this interpretation is very much looser and a little less connected t the full original meaning of the song and a little more based in reworking it to fit the characters and B) Wu haters will be stabbed by my mighty and large sword. This is Morro and Wu, on a level. "I shine only with the light you gave me", the light here i the green ninja prophecy,something Morro latched onto to prove his wroth, who is, who is to Wu. The entire song as an air of bitter grief I think fit's Morro and Wu's story. Morro could've grown up and been something more than a half baked angry ghost chasing a dream from 40 years ago, but he wasn't, "I could've been anyone, anyone." (X) (X) (<- an extra link to the demo of the song!! I find it rather lovely)

(Extra note on The Moon Will Sing, I could also see this being a song about Zane/The Ice Emperor and Vex.)

Rockslide: this is about to be very unsurprising, I associate this with Cole! There's obviously the title but generally I think the energy of the song is very Cole-like, in the fun sense. There's also the lines about feeling the "quakin honey I feel it deep" which is rather self explanatory. (X)

The Hand That Feeds: I'm shaky on this one simply because I don't remember or know her character very well, but Akita. Has a lot of mention of wolves and is a very angry song against systemic oppression (though, in the song it's anti-capitalism lol). (X)

Sleeping Giants: another Cole song, mostly based on the presence of mountains, and the 'calling' aspect of the song. I also tend to associate songs with strong drums like in this with Cole (like Drumming Song by Florence and the machine) (X).

Never Love An Anchor: I've seen this song go around actually, mostly with Misako. Which, I agree with! However, I consider it a dual song with her and Garmadon. Specifically, their season one selves. It's Misako leaving Lloyd at that boarding school, it's Garmadon being so absent even though he so clearly loves his son (and despite his evilness, he doesn't seem to wish Lloyd to follow in his footsteps). The first verse really resonates with me as being Misako, clumsy hands and trying her best, and all. The last verse however, is Garmadon ("I am selfish I am broken I am cruel") and so is the line "With this heart of mine that's guilty not remorseful." If you haven't heard this song, I truly, truly recommend it, it's gut wrenching imo. (X)

Okay! We've reached the end of Coyote Stories. That's 11/12 songs out of the albums, the best ratio we have on this listing I believe. Moving onto Foxlore now!

Foxlore:

Nothing At All: when I was looking at this song, trying to decide who to apply it to, I ended up getting kind of emotional. It's Zane, post Ice Emperor specifically. In his self-dehumanization. I'm just going to list out the lyrics that made me incredibly sad lol. "Happy is the man who wants for nothing happy is the lair happiness itself is desire", "heart broken men long to feel nothing to free themselves from strife handle pain, pain doesn't define a man it sure lends an hand getting measured in the sweeter parts of life". (X)

Down The River: Lloyd, post Garmadon revival and Crystallized. All his bitter feeling towards his father, and the angry abandonment issues. The first verse ("I've been wishig that you'd prove me wrong, that you'd come clean and rue the damage done, restore my faith in you, but you've got no reaosn to") and fifth ("Now, tell me, when you start again where will you house your skeletons? Or will they stay behind? Your settlement in kind?") especially. (X)

Can't Go Back: Zane, post Ice Emperor, again. It's that guilt man, I don't really have more to explain but know it makes me Sad. (X)

Turn Out The Lights: Jay, this is mostly about an anxiety head-canon lol, considering the song is about a racing mind. (X)

Ribs: this song is so Nya it hurts. It pretty strongly connects to her arc over the seasons about self independence, identity, and misogyny. It's her finding her place as who she is, and taking back things as her own ("It is mine, it is mine). Verse three I like to connect to her element being of Wojira's and how that is so symbolic of her place in the team (and why she reflect Morro so well in a lot of ways but I won't get into that), "time has changed the metaphor, now, dust is not the orgin of bone, little girl don't let them sell you any armor all your ribs are still your own". There's also the main chorus, which, god I got sad when I looked at it from the angle of Seabound. "The dark doesn't frighten me I chose to close my eyes, it is mine, it is mine, the night doesn't frighten me I chose to let it thrive, it is mine, it is mine." (X)

Not The Ghost: perhaps a little literal but, Cole in his Day Of The Departed era. Though, it connects to his feelings at the time more than his literal ghost-hood. It pretty strongly captures the depression, low self esteem, and growing urgency (around the Latter half of the song). You could also read some of the lyrics as paralleling the events of DOTD itself. (X)

And that's it for Foxlore, that is...6/10 I think, so not the worst either. Fun fact, this next section is my favorite album as a whole :)!

The Fool In Her Wedding Gown:

Icarus: now who else would this be about if not the doomed siblings of the series? Of course it's Wu and Garmadon. I think of this pretty strongly as paralleling their 'adventures' as young children, and then the war. "Oh my brother, oh my brother, oh my brother, who have you become in the wake of all that's happened here", yeah. The entire energy of the song has that weird sad, yet hopeful regret Wu seems to carry around with him in regards to Garmadon, it's a very loving song. (X)

Fangs: Nya, the entire song carries the desperate anger she has, the longing for independence and strength. It's bitter too, in a way that reminds me of her from Rebooted to Skybound. "I am not your highness, a damsel left helpless by fright, I am a lioness, fierce as I walk through the night", "a man will never know his bride"...and well, she was a bride once, wasn't she? (X)

That's it for TFIHWG actually, I know, sad sad ratio but I am also not suprised because a lot of the songs on this album are rather specific.

Safe Ship, Harbored:

New Colors: this one is really simple, Lloyd, and only because it reminds me about how consistently stressed he is lol. (X)

The Crooked, The Cradle: This is a Morro song, to me. The idea of were you doomed from the start (the cradle), or was this purely because of the choices you made? The line "can anyone hear me? The crooked are smiling, they know me the best" strongly reminds me of him and the Preeminent. (X)

(Additionally, this came to me as i was writing this section but I could also see this song being Garmadon coded.)

Caleb Trask: Oni Lloyd! The entire song is about the concept of having 'bad in your blood' and how you simply have to embrace it. That you cannot let it chain you, that love will bring you back. Reminds me of him. (X)

I Ain't Done: if you look at this from a purely conceptual level and energy wise, this song is very Morro. It's got his vengeful, jealous and vicious return from the dead to wreck havoc vibes lol, the lyrics in a literaly sense, however, do not fit. (X)

We're nearing the end now! kind of! 4/12 ratio.

Here I Am: Live From The Listening Room:

High Horse: Jaya, actually. From Rebooted to Skybound, from Nya's pov. Mostly, I connect it to that weird, unhealthy desperation Jay had for Nya and Nya's desire to be free of it, her own self. "You're a sweet heart, you're a curse, you're a passing grade on a low, low bar, you've got your eyes open, I know your worth, but I've got so many things in my hungry, hungry heart", sums it up pretty well. (X)

Here I Am: This one's Cole, but it's a bit of a mixture on why. First up, it's again DOTD era Cole with all his being forgotten angst and anxiety. Secondly, and maybe more painfully, it really reminds me of his and Lou's relationship early on. Neglected child core, and all that ("I promised myself I'd learn to be the one who leaves, with no more roots to tie me down, it's just a different kind of lonely"). The last verse is strongly reminiscent of his pure stubbornness, too. (X)

Queen Of Nothing: Solidly Harumi, a lot on vibes and mood. It's got a dark, sort of unsatisfied sound to it. The chorus screams her , "Isn't this what you wanted? Time sure feels like it's running out, just finish what you started, queen of nothing wearing such a heavy crown." (X)

Sowing Seeds: this one's a bit more general, it reminds me of Possession, the season. It's also a very moody song, having a tired, haunted sort of energy. It also fits nicely into the theme of consequences in Possession. The first verse ("still as a lake long after the wind is gone, in the face of a thief mashing ground to mud, still as a street long after the work is done, as he gnashes his teeth, as he cuts it up, cuts it up") heavily reminds me of Morro. (X)

Hollow Moon: fairly simple, Hollow Moon reminds me of Cole's fear on DOTD. It's got that spooky and paranoid sort of energy. (X)

The Wolf: this both a Harumi and Morro, bearing that bitter, self destructive energy. (X)

Now, that concludes all the albums thus far, and I know I sad we'd leave off on HIA:LFTLR, however, I am a lair. There's a couple songs that aren't on albums that's be a shame not to mention.

Margaret: this is Misako, in her loss of her husband, and her trails to find a way to fix things. "She's breaking her knuckles on truths that keep her awake, and she's tired but her jaw is set, she won't lose any more of the heart she still has left, so she says a prayer pulls the covers near and waits, Margaret won't sleep tonight." Lovely song. (X)

Scars: this is a newly released song! I believe it connects back to Never Love An Anchor, and as such, it fits Lloyd very well. Specifically in relation to Garmadon, post revival. It so so fits all that anger in him at his dad ("cause I was born with a whole in my heart, yeah, we were fucked from the start, tell me it's inevitable I'd end up with scars from falling down, down, we were always meant to fall apart"). (X) (X) (<- the second is a live audio recording that is personally my favorite!)

Okay, no we're done! Anyways, if you read all the way down here I hope any of this made sense. This is a little bit of a love letter to The Crane Wives and Ninjago, I spent hours doing this lol. If you haven't heard any or some of these songs, please do listen to them!! Every song mentioned should have an accompanying link. Anyways, time to end this stupidly long post, please share if you have any thoughts or connect songs differently!!!!!!!!

[steddieas-shegoes]

"can you read the letter for me?"

It’s been years.

Four years to be exact.

Eddie left and he didn’t come back, he didn’t even visit, he barely even called.

And he certainly never called Steve.

So the letter showing up with a return address in Chicago confused him.

Chicago wasn’t even that far away. Eddie could have come by, he could have stopped in for Christmas or something.

He kept the letter on his bedside table for days, glaring at it, ignoring it, picking it up and starting to open the envelope only to set it back down.

Robin wasn’t gonna let him keep doing it though, not when she saw the want in his eyes.

“Okay. You have to read it.”

“I don’t want to.”

“I don’t care.”

“Can you read the letter for me?”

Robin sighed, but reached for it.

She opened it quickly, didn’t want to give Steve time to back out.

Stevie,

Sorry it’s been a while. I’m not sure why I let it go this long without writing or calling or visiting, but it just felt easier.

I don’t know if you keep up with the band or anything, but we’re taking a break while I get my head on right. I worked myself too hard, ended up in the hospital. I’m okay. Or I will be. I’m trying to be.

Part of my break is supposed to be visiting Hawkins. Wayne insisted I stay for at least a few weeks so I didn’t want you to be surprised to see me around town.

I know things didn’t end well with us. I know I hurt you and that I kept hurting you by not talking to you. I know I owe you more than one apology and I owe you more than what’s written in this letter, but I hope this is a start.

I’m sorry for thinking that I couldn’t have you and the band at the same time. I’m sorry for not telling you how important you were and are and always will be to me. I’m sorry that I’ve written entire albums about you and haven’t bothered to call. I’m sorry that I put myself in this position and still hope for forgiveness.

I’m sorry for being too much and not enough at the same time.

I hope we get a chance to talk in person. I want to tell you I’m sorry in person, but I understand if you don’t want to. I want to be able to see you, but I know that’s not a right anymore.

Hopefully see you soon,

Eds

“Well, that’s certainly a letter,” Robin said.

“Yeah,” Steve choked out.

“You never told me what happened before he left,” she said softly, not pressuring him to talk, but curious.

“Not much to say. We were talking about a future. Getting an apartment. Telling everyone about us. Maybe someday trying to adopt kids! But then suddenly the next week he was telling me he had to move with the band and take a chance. I offered to come with him and he said no, so. Here we are.”

“Oh. Wow, I hate him.”

“I don’t. That’s the problem.”

“So you’re gonna try to talk to him when he’s here?”

Steve considered it.

He deserved answers at the very least. He deserved to know why he wasn’t worth more effort, why the band was more important, why everything they talked about went out the window.

“Yeah. I think I need to.”

[bisnes-socks]

talking about ready to go on this fine sunday evening

the very beginning of the song, before the guitars come in, and it's just like a synth sound, some backing vocals and bass, reminds me of kinda like old school hiphop. an opening like that could easily lead into a real rap beat, it's giving like early 90's and early 2000's hiphop. i was kind of expecting it to go the rap route when i first heard the song! but nope, in comes a siiiiick metal inspired guitar riff (jukka i owe you my life???) that's some chugging, i am also ready to go with a riff like this. hell of an opening.

his vocals come in one style, transition into another, then a new style for the chorus, and yet another for the second verse. FOUR vocal styles for one song. that's not so typical for pop music these days. i love how fearless he is with vocals in general, he's not afraid of sounding weird or funny. and even with the funny voices, he himself never becomes a joke, because he commits and puts his whole back into it. that is genuenly a skill, to be able to be so playful and still be for real.

and his singing in the chorus is good, very pleasing. i especially love his voice with the word"haluut" like he hits some soft vibrato in the second chorus right there, that is some good shit.

and guys. the way the chorus is built. it's incredible.

the long pauses in between words is so good and so... cunty lmao. it's like he is leaving room for the listener to jump to conclusions, only to call you and your mother and the whole country and culture out for being negative nellies who wish artists would fail (context for that can be read here)

so the first time hearing the chorus is like:

sä (who me?) haluut (oh? i do?) nähä (see what 🫣) ku mä (when you what 😳) flomaan taas ojaan kuraiseen (ooooh snap he said that part out loud)

and like i said it's so cunty, it's so deliciously arrogant to open the whole entire album this way, because there is so much space in the chorus to expect all sorts of things. because it could go anywhere. like...

1. sä -> oh he's talking to me now

2. haluut -> he is calling out something i want and desire. that's very disarming as a listener, makes you feel on edge because whatever he is going to claim that you want, you either have to come to terms with him being absolutely bang on the money correct, which means he sees right through you and you feel exposed, or he is going to say something you don't want, which will be a whole different journey, could be funny, could be offputting, could be anything!

3. nähä -> oop, what is it that he thinks i want to see, is this going a voyeristic route? is he going to expose everyone for being horny for him? whatever it is he is calling everyone voyers, basically.

4. ku mä -> it's so very deliciously arrogant to just straight up make a chorus that starts by him straight up telling you, that you, yes YOU, want to see me [do anything]. he's like. you're obsessed with me, aren't you. and he is RIGHT. makes the listener a bit red in the face, don't you think?

5. flomaan taas ojaan kuraiseen / mokaan ja maitojunaan meen -> aaand (finnish) people know exactly where this is going now. he is calling out the culture, he is calling out the haters, he is calling out the negativity and the vahingonilo (schadenfreude?) in this country. and we know exactly who he is talking to, we all know these people.

KING SHIT.

THE CUNT ON HIM to make this the opening track because we know it's aimed at, you know, like Pekka from Janakkala or whatever, who spent all of 2023 huffing and puffing because he thinks this Käärijä business is ridiculous and a waste of time and so he told everyone who was excited about CCC and ESC that ultimately Käärijä would fail and embarrass himself and the whole country. So Jere knows Pekka from Janakkala is still mad that "mikä lie Käärepaperi se nyt oli" actually succeeded and continues to succeed, so he calls that shit out in the first fucken song. It's like he's saying hi to all the haters who put the record on with every intention of trashing it and complaining about it. and it is them to whom he is being like "why are you so obsessed with me honey, why are you here to peep at me, hmm?"

the gaps in the chorus are like the audio equivalent of awkward eye contact you can't escape. he's saying i fucken see you.

and then the one time he modifies the chorus, he says "mä haluun ajaa tosi kovaa, vaik pelti kolisee, hei baby i'm ready to go" and that's him informing everyone that he's going to continue to do whatever he wants to do, he doesn't care if he gets a bit banged up or bruised on the way, because he is ready. and then it goes back to like "you want to see me fail, but i'm ready to go". the confidence in all that is genuenly admirable and something that this culture needs.

and i think the rest of the lyrics, in the verses, are about that too. he's going full speed ahead because he does not care if he stumbles. he's doing what he wants, what he always wanted, it's his passion, and he no longer has anything to lose. he's not afraid of failure. he knows there are people who want to see him fail, because it would confirm their own sad world view, but he does not give a flying fuck and he's not going to let that kind of mindset affect him. so he is fucking ready to go.

and musically, this song combines all of the käärijä elements really well! like i said, the opening sounds first like old school rap, then like metal, then going into more of a dance beat, the use of different vocal styles, a strong message, proper attitude sprinkled with a lot of humour and some twinkle in the eye. and the way he switches between pronouncing ready to go the finnish way and a more "proper english" way, is also a fun little international Käärijä detail.

a banger of a song with the cuntiest attitude we've seen in a while. incredible.

[swiftiedidsomethingbad]

Swifties, we need to do better. I’ve been a fan of Taylor since I was 10 years old and never in my life would I think it’s okay to put her in the situations we keep seeing unfold. Showing up outside her private dinner with Travis? Crowding outside Jack Antonoff’s wedding rehearsal? Treating her every public outing like a red carpet event? This is NOT what being a fan is about.

Taylor has given us so much—her music, her time, her energy, her emotions, her performances. She owes us nothing beyond that. She should be able to go out to dinner, attend a friend’s wedding or simply exist in public without being swarmed. She’s a person, not a spectacle. The fact that she literally cannot go anywhere without security should be a wake-up call. That’s not normal. That’s not okay.

If you truly love Taylor, show her respect. Support her from a distance. Go to her concerts, stream her music, buy her albums. But don’t track her movements, don’t show up uninvited and don’t act like you have a right to her private moments. She has spent her entire career fighting for boundaries and privacy—listen to her.

We are better than this. We should be the kind of fans who protect her, not the reason she needs protection. If you ever find yourself in a situation where you could join a crowd like this, DON'T. Be the fan who chooses respect. Be the fan who actually cares about Taylor as a person. It’s the least she deserves.

Stop justifying stalking as support. She is not a tourist attraction, she is a person who deserves privacy, peace and safety. If you wouldn’t want to be treated this way, why is it okay to do it to her? It’s time to reflect, take responsibility and be better.

[leahsgf]

hey!! i love your writing omg, could you please try write some relationship headcanons for jackie x reader? thanks <3

dating jackie taylor headcanons

pairings. jackie taylor x reader

finally writing for my favourite character!! to say i got carried away with this is an understatement…i’m apologising now! thank you so much for this request!

-

for the entirety of her life jackie had been battling with almost two versions of herself, who she truly is and who people perceive her as. it was drilled into her, the need and ‘importance’ to have an uphold a reputation, to be a leader, an example.

but she also has a huge heart and wanted nothing more than to give in to her deepest desires, and unlearn the way of thinking that her parents had pretty much birthed her with.

this would definitely be something that complicated and blurred the lines in her relationships in both platonic and romantic form. she fought off her feelings for you for the longest time, instead allowing herself to settle for any boy that looked in her direction - convinced that it was what was ‘normal’ and that nobody truly loved their boyfriends, they just put up with them. she distanced herself from you massively, which strained your once close bond and had a huge impact on everyone around you, including the dynamic of the team and the way you played.

the tension between the pair of you bubbled up to the point that it was uncomfortable to even be in the proximity of one another, and the team decided to take matters into their own hands, confronting you both and refusing to play until you smoothed out whatever feelings you both were experiencing.

which is what led to the confessions from both sides and the beginning of your relationship.

when you first started dating, jackie was still very much reserved and preferred to keep the fact you were dating private, and only have the team know at first.

(who’s only issue with it was that they now all owed each-other considerable lumps of money after way too many bets)

if you were on the team too, there would literally be a ban on you guys from being within eachother’s eyeline in practices because i mean there’s only so many times you can take a soccer ball to the face and brush it off as anything other than you were too busy staring at jackie to be paying attention to anything else.

jackie would also be incredibly protective over you on the field, in both practice and in games.

if you weren’t on the team, you may as well be. you’ll be sat in the stands for everything, even if it’s just them running over drills. you sit in the same place every time - jackie somehow had an exact seat reserved for you year round, you were almost too scared to ask exactly how - so every time she needed a little hope, or silent reassurance, she’d look your way, and you’d be there.

“my little good luck charm”

one thing about jackie is that she is quite literally the most loving being on the planet. and she will not hesitate to show you it. she loves to be held by you, clinging to you almost like a koala. to hold your hand as you drive together, and playing with your rings as you talk about anything and everything.

jackie loves to take pictures of you, and a lot of them at that. no matter how long you’ve been together, best believe she’ll be pointing her finger at you, insisting you stand still because “you look so pretty” and grinning behind the flash of the camera at any given moment. she’d always been that way, for as long as you’d known her. you guys literally had a physical documentation of practically your entire lives together, from the first day in daycare when you had paint smeared across your face and four year old jackie was half laughing, half trying to eat a crayon on the stool next to you, to each of your date nights when she would stop a passer by and ask them to snap your picture, whilst the pair of you posed, completely and utterly wrapped up in each other’s love.

one day, she would gift you a huge photo album, full to the brim with every single picture you’d ever taken together, and her little annotations of what she was thinking about you in them.

alongside her love for the physical, she loved to do lots of little things to show her love for you like this, whether that be picking up your favourite food whenever you were feeling down, or slipping little notes and doodles through the gaps of your locker for you to read in between classes.

simply being around jackie lifts your mood. she knows exactly how to make you smile and is incredibly sweet and affectionate. she knows you completely inside and out and is your biggest comfort without even realising it.

jackie would say she loves to share your clothes, you would say she loves to steal them. there are endless items of your wardrobe that you’re convinced are gone forever until she walks into the room wearing them randomly. you don’t mind it though, they look cuter on her.

she always buys you more to make up for it.

she also loves to match with you in any way possible, whether it be through matching necklaces, or even just the same sock colour.

she is the one who says ‘i love you’ for the first time. she blushed furiously and actually cried whilst doing so, even more when you said it back, and she still blushes like crazy every time you say it to her.

you heal and bring out a huge part of jackie that she had always repressed without even realising, and are literally ‘her missing piece’ as she calls you. you complete eachother, and balance each other out in ways that are completely indescribable. you also help her see what love is supposed to feel like, and what it has been all along.

over time, you slowly stop hiding your relationship, waiting until she was ready even though everyone could already tell you guys were together.

she’d wait for you after every class, and walk you to each one, her hand in yours.

she’d help you choose outfits for parties, and loved to show you off at any given opportunity.

jackie has your entire future planned out. she always has done, from your college dorm to your future apartment together. she could ramble for days about it and would even make boards if she could.

you wake up with her sprawled out flat on top of you every single morning without fail, no matter what position you fall asleep in. she is also an incredibly light sleeper, specifically when it comes to you touching her. you have to go to the bathroom or get water in the middle of the night so slightly shift her arms off of you? she will absolutely be sat wide awake waiting for you when you return, her eyes somehow even wider and an almost pout across her face.

her favourite thing in the world was to kiss you. to coat your face in her cherry flavoured lipgloss as she planted a trail of kisses from your forehead, down your cheeks to your jaw, leaving a couple on your neck before making her way back up again, pressing one final peck to the tip of your nose before eventually reaching your lips, as if it were a routine. which it was, she did the exact same every single time. one time, you thought it would be funny to turn away from the last kiss for just a second.

she sulked with you for WEEKS. you spent a stupid amount of money on ridiculously extravagant flower bouquets to make up for it.

[losergender]

you know what's timebomb coded? the entire home video album by lucy dacus released in 2021. (s2 act 3 spoilers ahead)

"you used to be so sweet, now you're a firecracker on a crowded street" -> from powder being a major sweetheart to jinx being (lovingly and not so lovingly) a pain in the ass that annoys everyone (and also literally carrying explosives around) | "led me to the floor even though i'm not a dancer" -> literally them dancing in ep7 | "how did i believe i had a hold on you? you were always stronger than people suspected, underestimated and overprotected" -> GUYS THIS IS LITERALLY EKKO TALKING ABOUT POWDER ISTG !!! "a hidden gem, my own goldmine, you had the wide and wild eyes" -> jinx eyes changing color and all "NOW YOU'RE THE BIGGEST BRIGHTEST FLAME, YOU ARE A FIRE THAT CAN'T BE TAMED, YOU'RE BETTER THAN EVER, BUT I KNEW YOU WHEN IT'S BITTERSWEET TO SEE YOU AGAIN" -> GUYS IS THIS NOT EXACTLY EKKO'S FEELINGS ABOUT JINX COME ON GUYS

the entire "first time" is peak "can we pretend like it's the first time?" | "YOU CAN'T FEEL IT FOR THE FIRST TIME A SECOND TIME" , "and how will i know if history repeats itself? how will I know when it's gonna come back around? how will i know? has my face changed, baby? how will I know?" this ekko after breaking free from the perfect dimension guys ,,, guys..

cartwheel guys. cartwheel. "FIREFLY juice on your skin / you're glowing like an ATOM BOMB" it's them it's them it's so them | "this natural thing that you've undone / outgrew older sister's clothes again / won't admit you're growing tall and thin" ekko watching her turn from powder to jinx from afar,,, | "i thought back to many years ago: a late-night promise on the telephone, we'd build a house of twigs and vines, grow old together just to pass the time // now there's only past and present day, i can't believe a word you say" EKKO WATCHING HER TURN EVIL FROM AFAR GUYS !!! WHILE STILL KEEPING FEELINGS !!!

thumbs it's ekko thinking about what silco has done to her. "i would kill him if you let me, i would kill him quick and easy, your nails are digging into my knee, i don't know how you keep smiling" / "you've been in his fist ever since you were a kid, but you don't owe him shit even if he said you did"

please stay. please stay is literally canon because he literally had to stop her from killing herself a good 5 times. "change your name, change your mind, change your ways, give them time [...] call me if you need a friend or never talk to me again, but please stay" like pleaseeee

and triple dog dare,,, "you're dancing in the aisle 'cause the radio Is singing you a song you know and the kid at the counter is gawking at your grace / i can tell what he's thinking by the look on his face, it's not his fault, I'm sure i look the same / it's what you do, but it's not you i blame" EP 7 TIMEBOMB GUYS | "you know i'll be seeking if you run and hide, if the door were to open, would you walk through the frame? if you're too afraid, it won't be you i blame" that's ekko trying to save her at some point | "i want you to tell me that you miss me, want you to hold and hurt and kiss me [...] it's a triple dog dare, you're a chicken if you don't" -> no explanation needed. | "i can fish for our food and you know how to start a flame, if you don't get out now, you'll only have yourself to blame" this is what he sounded like when he tried to save her from silco (bc i know he tried guys) "You said 'you have me there, if it's a triple dog dare'" bc tell me she is not the kind of person to do anything if it's a challenge. | "they put our faces on the milk jugs, missing children 'til they gave up [...] can't find the feeling of relief, nothing worse could happen now" -> ekko literally putting her face on the missing/dead poster, ekko disappearing in s2, jinx fleeing (she did not die guys trust me),,,

[meetmypointlessaddiction]

Joel Miller x f!reader: Drunk

Summary: Your boyfriend is being a work obsessed dick so you send him out to get drunk with his brother. Warnings: Alcohol consumption, allusion to smut (i think?), soft!joel, drunk!joel, kind of asshole!joel at the beginning, Please let me know if there is anything that I've forgot to put a warning for. This has not been proof read so any mistakes are completely my fault. Enjoy and don't forget to reblog and like so that the algorithm can do its thing. Words: 1,3k

Joel Miller was an asshole to most people. To his employees, to people he saw on the street, he came across as an asshole but that was simply the charm of him. In reality, he was a polite Texan gentleman who loved his girlfriend and family but just so happened to have a resting bitch face and a natural dickish tone. 

To you, Joel Miller was a teddy bear. You made each other breakfast and coffee on a morning, got ready for the day together and once you were both home from work, you relaxed together. But ever since Joel’s construction company had taken off, relaxing evenings turned into you begging Joel to stop looking a blueprints and just pay attention to the movie for once. Instead of both of you destressing, Joel never stopped and you got more worked up trying to get him to relax. 

Eventually, you had to bring in reinforcements in the form of Tommy Miller. Tommy had planned a night out for the boys from work and Joel had been invited but had not so politely turned it down with the excuse of not wanting his boys to have to spend their night with him. Contrary to what Joel believed, many of his boys wanted him there. His quick wit and dry humour made him popular amongst his employees as well as the fact that he didn’t take anyone’s shit. If you aren’t doing your job, you faced the consequences but if you did your job well, you would roll in the rewards. 

“I’m not going.” Joel grunted as he sat back down at the kitchen table, documents piling high and his reading glasses sat beside them. 

“Joel Miller I will drag you into your brother’s truck kicking and screaming if I have to.” You threatened and Joel, like a goddamn child, fucking pouted. 

“Why? I don’t want to spend my night with them and they don’t-.” 

“You’re going. You’re going to get some alcohol into your system, socialise with somebody who isn’t me and I hope to god you come back drunk and without this new workaholic asshole that has sprouted.” You yelled and Joel fell silent, flicking through the pages of his paperwork. “And if you pick up that pen once more, I’ll fucking jam it up your asshole.” 

Joel smirked and opened his mouth to come up with some snarky reply but you were quick to cut him off. “And it will be the only form of action you get for a helluva long time.” Your harsh words seemed to put his brain back into gear and he sighed. 

“What time’s Tommy getting here?” He asked and you grinned, mood doing a complete 360. 

“He’s on his way, you look great.” You smiled brightly, brushing a few of his stray locks back into place and pecking his lips. “Enjoy.” He walked to the door, scowl on his face and Tommy couldn’t hold back his laughter as he pulled up outside his brother’s home. 

“I owe your girl $30. Get in, we’re headed straight to the bar.” Tommy cheered as Joel pulled himself into the passenger seat with a low growl, not ready for the night ahead. 

Somehow, drunk Joel was so much worse than sober Joel. Instead of making quick remarks at everything anyone said to him, he stared wistfully at his phone screen, head resting on one hand as he stared at the photo of you from a few months ago, his favourite one of you to date. “C’mon big brother, lighten up a little. She’s set some kind of reverse curfew, doesn’t want you back any earlier than 11.” Joel hummed in agreement, now scrolling through his entire camera album dedicated to you. 

Once Tommy had managed to get a few more beers in him, he offered him a game of pool and Joel seemed to brighten up a little bit, missing the days when he and Tommy would go to their local bar every night and shoot pool for hours at a time. “I’m pretty sure I beat your ass last time.” Joel teased and Tommy rolled his eyes. 

“You got years on me old man.” Tommy snarked back and Joel barked a laugh, racking up the balls while Tommy chalked up the cues. 

After a few games with varying opponents and a concoction of different drinks, Joel was ready to go home, Tommy more than happy being the designated driver. “She’ll be proud, it’s almost 12.” He chuckled and Joel shrugged, ready to go home and see his girl. 

Climbing out of the truck, he stumbled to the front door, looking for his key before almost falling through the door when it opened. “Goddamn! There’s a fuckin’ angel in my house. Tommy there’s an angel in my house!” You nodded your thanks to Tommy before he drove off and then led your man into the kitchen. “Hi baby.” He drawled and you couldn’t help but smile. 

“Hey handsome. You have fun?” She asked and he shook his head. 

“Kicked all their asses.” He slurred, almost falling against the counter as you steadied him. 

“Oh yeah?” Joel nodded and you handed him a glass of water watching his face sour. 

“No more vodka. Have to go see my girlfriend.” You chuckled and pushed the pill into his hand and nodded. 

“Well your girlfriend said this pill is gonna make you feel better and you need to drink water before we go to bed.” Joel thought about it and you knew just what to say to convince him. 

“She even said you might get lucky tomorrow if you take the pill.” You hummed and he threw his head back, swallowing the pill and then downing the water, slamming the glass on the side for dramatic effect. “And now you need to brush your teeth because I’m not going to kiss you with the taste of whatever ‘Tommy special’ you’ve been drinking. 

“Thought you like my kisses?” He frowned, eyes wide and you smiled. 

“I do baby but I’ll probably get drunk from one kiss and we only need one drunk in this house.” You teased, taking his hand and dragging him towards the stairs, doing an awkward shuffle to drag and guide him up each step. Halfway to the bathroom Joel stopped moving and you looked at him with amusement sparkling in your eyes. “Everything ok?” 

“No.” Joel grabbed your wrist and stomped over to the bed, flopping on it and pulling you on top of him, quickly flipping your position and resting his head on your chest, looking up at you. “Missed you.” He hummed, reaching up to press a kiss to your chin, leaning up on his elbows and pressing a multitude of extremely delicate kisses across your face. “I like you.” 

You staved off a laugh and smiled. “I like you too. Can we go brush our teeth now?” He shook his head, his eyes holding some kind of childish innocence to them as he pecked each area of your face. 

“I love you.” He muttered against your nose and you giggled. 

“Joel, I can taste the vodka on your breath. Please can we go brush our teeth. We’ll come straight back to bed and we don’t have to leave until tomorrow afternoon.” You tried but he just shook his head. 

“Sorry for being an asshole. Shouldn’t be working so much.” He murmured and you smiled. 

“It’s been stressful for you but it’s ok. We’ll get through it. Thank you for apologising.” You whispered and he nodded, going back to pressing kissed along your hairline. 

“You didn’t say you love me.” He mumbled shyly and you chuckled. 

“I love you with every atom in my body, Joel Miller. I love your grumpy looking face and your scary voice and I can’t imagine my life with out you but for the love of us can we please go and brush your teeth. You smell like you brought the entire damn bar home.” 

“Fine but only because you love me.”

[celli-ohs]

If you are a HYBE supporter, MHJ anti, or NJS anti unfollow me right now. Block me even. My blog is not for you.

I've been collecting my thoughts about the MHJ/NJS v HYBE issue for quite some time now, but with the recent speech the girls made at KGMA, Belift filing a new complaint and demanding 2 billion won, and MHJ claiming Belift is using Illit as a shield, I cannot take the idiocracy any more.

The amount of misinformation being spread on basically all platforms, but exclusively on TikTok and X, is astounding. More than half of the time I'll see a tweet it's just straight up harassment towards the NJS girls. How can anyone with a sane mind read that and think "Yeah, this is appropriate to post onto the internet for the entire world to see, something that will be linked to me and my digital footprint forever". I'm not saying this only for NJS though, I've seen some nasty toxic Bunnies post heinous things about the Illit members, just because of something their company or CEO said/did. This issue has nothing to do with Illit, Le Sserafim, or any other group that was mentioned/involved, OTHER than NEWJEANS. All of this has to do with HYBE and specific staff, including the new ADOR staff.

I was a Bunny way before I was a Moa or an Engene. NewJeans was the first kpop group I'd bought an album for. I was listening to them not even really knowing they were a kpop group. They're so popular that at my old job they played their songs on the radio, which is how I discovered them. I owe it to them for introducing me to so many amazing groups, people, and cultures. Without knowing them, I wouldn't even know what HYBE and their other groups (besides BTS obvi) were. Currently, NJS is one of the few groups (both girls and boys) I fully stan. I'm proud to stan them too, they are an amazing group of girls who are talented, and full of hope and positivity. They're impact on not only South Korea, but the entire globe is and that is an incredible feat. And I don't want to dismiss any other groups achievements, as a fan of kpop it's exciting to me whenever there's positive news about any group, we should all be able to uplift and support one another, not tear each other down.

That is why I find it so heartbreaking to see toxic fans hating and harassing NJS and Bunnies. I always thought kpop fans held such a great community, no matter what groups you liked. We all share the same interest, same musical genre. To watch people who are so blinded by anger and rage, brainwashed by a greedy dictatorial company, and paint five young women/girls as the devil incarnate, it's sickening. I've seen people say that NJS are idiots, pretending to be victims, that they are actively looking to be groomed. How do you feel as a human being, to claim these things (and more bad things!) about five people you've never even met before? Have you heard them say this? From their own mouths? From their own will? I just don't understand why we as fans have to constantly fight each other over the menial things, when the larger and more concerning problem(s) are dismissed.

I've seen a lot of HYBE supporters recently site the hardships of their faves, attempting to use it against NJS in hopes of defaming them and discrediting/invalidating their mistreatment. This makes zero sense to me. Do these people not realize that they are essentially saying that idols/trainees must suffer in order to debut/be "good enough"?? You'd rather your faves struggle and just accept that their company is shitty and will treat them horribly than to see them have good treatment that they deserve?? "Enhypen had a broken A/C unit in their practice room, but they didn't complain" Be so fucking for real right now. "TXT used to practice in a moldy room, it was growing mushrooms but they never cried about it." And you sound like you want to keep them there with that statement. Idk about you, but if I had the power to help in any way for my faves to have an easier time pre/post-debut, I would do it in a heartbeat.

There's a lot of misogyny/sexism and racism linked to the hate train towards NewJeans. Antis are constantly claiming that only "old predatorial men" are their fans (when in reality most Bunnies are young women themselves!). I've seen many tweets where people are lying, saying that MHJ is prostituting the girls, and that whenever they are photographed within the vicinity of a man they are selling their bodies to gain popularity. There is no actual proof of any of this. The only "old men" who are seemingly sexualizing NJS are Belift. Separately, the racism towards Hanni for being Vietnamese is also disgusting. Not just antis on X, but that SNL Korea skit where they make fun of her accent, that was not okay. Racism has nothing to do with the issue of mistreatment within HYBE, and that is bullying. Anyone who believes they are allowed to hate on NewJeans because they are women or because a member isn't Korean needs to reevaluate their morals because that is an infringement of human rights.

TXT is my ult group, and Enhypen is my second favorite group. Both of them are under HYBE as well, which puts me in an odd spot as a fan of the three groups. But in all honesty, I do not like HYBE, I do not condone anything they've done that hurts any of their artists. And looking at their track record... they've hurt their artists a lot, and not just NJS. If we look at Belift specifically, the way they treat Enhypen is unfair. The release of their internal documents says it all: Belift as a company knows and understands that the Enhypen members are exhausted and overworked, yet they dismiss it and force them to continue pushing. Never-ending tours and comebacks, forced promotions of brands that support the genocide of Palestine, rejecting brand ambassadorships for Sunoo, I'm sure there's more that I missed. If Enhypen has been and still is being treated this way, I cannot imagine what they might do to Illit, as if they hadn't already set these girls up. Those girls don't deserve the hate either. All I can ask for is for both groups to be treated like human beings, and not pay pigs. It hurts me to see the members in so much pain and exhaustion.

With TXT I do admit I see more leniency towards them, and my guess is because they are under Bighit, and are directly BTS's juniors. But when I see stuff like them also being constantly overworked, using Yeonjun to belittle other idols who are his friends, favoring certain members over others, etc. I'm reminded that my ult group also suffers under the hand of HYBE. Even though TXT is successful and popular, that doesn't mean everyone (including their company) will treat them with respect. I've seen some people on X send hate/concern towards Soobin specifically, as he did speak on Weverse (I think) about how TXT focused on their comeback rather than the lawsuit/complaints against HYBE and MHJ. And to be honest, I can understand why some people felt a bit disappointed or hurt by him saying this because honestly, I was a little as well. But mainly I felt this way because I knew he would say something like this, he was probably told to say this to not start more drama. It's a safe option because it's a true fact, they all have been too busy to really be able to interject into this situation that does not technically involve them. As fans, we only know what we're shown, and as a Moa I just hope all the members are safe, healthy, and are treated with kindness.

Seventeen's Seungkwan's statement on his IG is such a beautifully written letter, and it shows and proves that even senior artists can and will be used by their companies for profit as if they aren't human beings. It's so dehumanizing, what these companies do to their groups. Because at the end of the day, not only is it HYBE (who is admittedly a very big perpetrator) it's the entire industry. You could name any company, and at some point, they'd mistreated their artist. This is why I support NewJeans and their endeavor to better the lives of idols and trainees. These five women/girls know and understand that what is happening to them is not humane. The amount of sabotage towards a successful group like them is so backward, it makes no sense. Whether or not you classify it as bullying, no one should hear others being told to ignore them, especially in a culture like Korea's where greetings are so significant. Stopping a comeback and surprise fansign from happening for an unknown reason is unfair. Documenting the plan and intention to get rid of the entire group as a whole and replace them with a junior group that needs more time to train is downright despicable.

To NewJeans: I'm so sorry for what you all have been through. Thank you for being the smart, strong, and brave young ladies you are. I will always support you and love you. Thank you for creating beautiful music, videos, and content. I'm so happy to be a fan of kpop, and so proud to be a Bunny! Wherever you go I will follow with much love!

To my followers: I still plan to write for TXT and Enhypen. I still love them very much, despite their shitty company. Personally, I've learned to separate my writing from the companies, because, at the end of the day, I'm writing about my own storylines and plots that I created. Besides, it's fiction and 99% of my works are fluff and crack which does not harm anyone. But if you have a problem with my opinions/views on this situation regarding HYBE and NJS, then my blog isn't for you.

[folkwhore1998]

If a man talks shit then I owe him nothing (I don't regret it one bit, 'cause he had it coming)

Let's try to think of something more iconic than Reputation... 1..2..3..

Reputations Taylor's Version. The anticipation is literally insane. Of course I'm excited for it to come out, but one of the things I am most looking forward to is connecting the dots on the easter eggs we missed, and the easter eggs we got right.

What colors do you guys associate with Rep? Green and black or black and red? It really could go either way. Some people lean more towards one.

My question that I want answered: WILL THERE BE A NEW REP BODY SUIT? There has to be one, right? What do you guys think?

Reputation is legendary and is quite honestly one of the most brilliant comebacks of all time. I can't imagine the things Taylor was going through during that period of time. I have a lot of thoughts on Kanye West and Kim Kardashian that I am just going to keep to myself- but let's just say, Kanye West is delusional and disgusting. reputation was the best fuck you in history, not even just to him, but to all the nasty reporters and cowards on the internet.

I personally adore reputation and the entire era was a serve. I love everything about it. Even if you enjoy other albums a bit more, there is no denying that it is ICONIC.

The scene in Miss Americana where she was snubbed grammy nominations for rep was very sad to watch. She said she just had to make a better record, when reputation IS an incredible record.

That is one thing about music that is so fascinating to me- is the way it all resonates with us. It wasn't that she had to make a better record, but rather reputation was too ahead of its time.

Personally, my biggest regret is not being able to go to the reputation tour. It is crazy to think that it was her last tour before COVID hit, but what an incredible note to leave off on.

Ratatatatatatata

Here are my REP RANKINGS:

Don't Blame Me

Call It What You Want

Getaway Car

King of My Heart

I Did Something Bad

...Ready For It?

Delicate

New Years Day

Look What You Made Me Do

Dress

End Game

Gorgeous

This Is Why We Can't Have Nice Things

So It Goes...

Dancing With Our Hands Tied

Honorable mentions:

i know this technically is not during the rep era, but it's still my favorite

Here is the link to a IDSB crewneck! I think its great for spooky season (and all year round ofc)

Here is the link to some snake shot glasses! You can take a shot every time you clown for rep TV:

@taylornation @taylorswift

[skepticalarrie]

Hi Allie! How are you? I used to be in the fandom since 2012 and have been a larrie since early stages however I found myself distancing myself a bit after the hiatus and remained a louie from the sides. For different reasons i feel like i fell into the rabbit hole again (bc i probs never really left lol) and I was wondering:

1) have you seen the new thing about jade from Little Mix saying she apparently had a date w harry when they were 16? What do u think about it? tbf i feel like there was no point to bring that up anyways??

2) I consider myself v open minded when it comes to harry and louis and tbf have thought for a while that Freddie is very obviously louis’ son but still that doesn’t prove that harry and louis had nothing? I don’t see many people thinking that’s possible and i think ppl forget people can break up, have other partners and then get back together, i mean different dynamics exist. I have scrolled through your tags a lot as i have found them v interesting after getting “back” in the fandom and have not really found anything about this possibility. I find it hard to figure out where I stand w them bc the songs are crazy obvious in my eyes especially after being on the sidelines for a while and going back to listening to the lyrics w a fresh pov.

Like it’s hard for me to think they are still together bc i see their albums as strongly painful in terms of break ups and no communication and still having deep feelings for an ex hence why I 100% think they did have something up until maybe 2015 for obvious reasons and then have been on and off? I’m kind of confused lol.

Either way I don’t expect anything from them bc at the end of the day they do not really owe anyone anything whether they have been together and are not anymore, they still are to this day or never been I don’t think at this point they’re going to share anything and I can see them staying private until they’re probably much older. Sorry for the super long ask and thank you for what you’ve done w the tags!! It’s v helpful <3 have a good one

Hi, anon! Wow, I'm still so impressed by how many people have come back to the rabbit hole recently…so many of you! Welcome back!

I have! I think it’s funny how people are focusing on the fact that they had a “date,” when the reality is, he didn’t even show up! And that really sums up how people view Harry's relationships and life in general. They ignore everything else and suddenly become blind to the fact that if he stands next to someone, they're automatically together. But HE DIDN'T GO. And that’s the point! It’s funny how people try to spin things like that. I think trying to create stunts around Little Mix and One Direction was kind of inevitable, hence Zayn and Perrie. Maybe they were starting to study this possibility, even because I think she was pretty authentic about it and didn’t even mean too much about it, it’s just a funny story. But I do wonder how many other public relationships Harry avoided like this one. He really didn’t deserve any of that while he was so young, it’s kind of brutal to think about, especially since he also ended up apologizing to her.

In that case, no, they couldn’t have broken up during that time. If you believe Harry and Louis were together back in the day, most of the evidence comes from exactly that period where they were supposedly “broken up”, okay? People can believe whatever they want and create all sorts of theories about when they broke up, I really don’t mind. But I won’t accept the excuse that they broke up during that period and that Freddie is actually his son. That would just be ignoring everything that happened in 2015, where a lot of larries still point to key moments and evidence. So, it’s one or the other. So any other theories, sure.. but not that one. I have a LOT of posts about that, anon. Here are a few, besides my entire 2015 LARRY tag:

[mouldymp3rotations]

1224-016

BIRTHDAYMONTHです!

I use this as an excuse to dump 10 songs on you instead of the usual five :D

Last year's Birthday Month 10 Favourites

As usual : Song titles link to individual mp3 file download

All 5 songs can also be downloaded together in a zip file from the link at the bottom

Let's go !!

BLOOD - Blood ft. Exo-chika

This is easily in my top 3 favourite BLOOD songs ! The old version is good too, but I saw this being released as both a BLOOD and an Aural Vampire fan, so i'm forever gonna be biased towards this one lol :)

This version of Blood was on the Dead-Hearted maxi-single, released in 2007 (this might or might not be my rip, but yeah, file is old lol)

Blutengel - Seelenschmerz

Is anyone shocked that my re-exploring the visual kei i was listening to 20 years ago made me want to also re-explore the rest of what I was listening, back then ? Of course, some of that meant Blutengel. I went to see what happened between now and then, and really, a lot of their stuff is forgettable and I always end up annoyed at Pohl's fake deep voice sdkjasfkhjfkhj. But I still fucking love Seelenschmerz aaaaaah !!!! And i still owe Blutengel for being my introduction to darkwave and it's entirely because/thanks to their influence that I fell for Schwarz Stein eheheheh

Seelenschmerz was the title track of the album released in 2001

Chanton L'amour - L'horloge

SONG OF ALL TIME.

SONG

OF

ALL.

TIME.

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Chanton L'amour was a short-lived side-project of Machi from Lareine ♥ And this one absolutely is my rip (look, i don't remember buying this either but I have it, therefore I definitely bought and ripped this :) )

L'horloge was the title track of the single single they released, in 2001

(pleeeeease let her diiie ok, she asks so nicely ;^; )

D'espairsRay - Squall

I got my partner into D'espa, this year, and this is the song that completed the conversion lol :D

Squall was a single released in 2007.

(seriously, what was it with early-mid 2000's vk and their PV taking place in derelict buildings....)

Dalida - Parle plus bas

Oups, here's Dalida again kjdjskdhjkndjkds. Yes, that's the Godfather's song. Actually, you might know this as Speak Softly Love. I'm of the opinion that this is the best version of that song to exist. I love her voice soooo much T^T/♥

Parle Plus Bas was a single from the album known as Il faut du temps, if you're French, but Dalida otherwise, all from 1972

HIM - The Sacrament

For real, i don't care much for Ville Valo, but that song has been sticking with me for about 20 years, now, so I guess it means something :3

The Sacrament is from the 2003 album, Love Metal.

(ftr, this is what i'm expecting Lestat IWTVAMC to generally look/act/sound like but blonde, if the promo vid/song is to be believed lol)

L'Âme Immortelle - 5 Jahre

L'Âme Immortelle was in a similar basket as Blutengel, to me. But when I caught up with them, I found that they had everything I liked about BlutEngel and then some ! So I've been getting more familiar with the more recent stuff, which means that I got to hear the album version of 5 Jahre ! I had only heard the shorter, single version !

5 Jahre was found on the 2004 album, Gezeiten.

The video is for the single version (i wanted the clip !), but the mp3 I'm sharing is the long version from the album :)

Nightwish - Edema Ruh

I feel like Nightwish has become a product more than a band, in the past 20 years (ngl nightwish with Floor Jansen is a huge disappointment, but that's another story and shall be told another time (all I want is a studio recording of storytime gothdamnit 😤)), but still, sometimes they still have songs that catch me. Edema Ruh is one of them, or at least the synth caught me lol.

Edema Ruh was found on Endless Forms Most Beautiful, released in 2015 (imo their last album maybe worth listening, especially if you fell off after Tarja was kicked out, but please don't hate on Anette Olzon though. We don't pit women against each other, here.)

Pierre Lapointe - Dans la forêt des mal-aimés

I think from now on, I will make a point to include at least one québécois song in my birthday month compilation, as a little personal challenge, but also because i'm from there lol.

This song, like for most of Québec, was my introduction to Pierre Lapointe. This album, at the time, gave me hope that being musically weird would be more acceptable, in the province's music scene. It didn't. Now dude's a fucking coach on our version of The Voice 💀💀💀

Dans La Forêt Des Mal-Aimés was a single off of La Forêt Des Mal-Aimés, released in 2006

Rentrer En Soi - PROTOPLASM

Oh no ! Another song of all time !

Not only is this my favourite Rentrer en Soi song, but I think this is one of the best visual kei song ever made ;w;/

Protoplasm was single released in 2006

So yeah, my favourite genre of music is still dramatic and happy birthday to me :D

↓ zippity zip ↓

♥ HERE ♥

[steddieas-shegoes]

just make the tik tok

for @corrodedcoffinfest prompt 'behind the scenes'

rated t | 880 words | no cw | tags: famous corroded coffin, modern au, frankie is anti-tik tok

📱📱📱📱📱📱📱📱📱📱📱📱📱

Joining Tik Tok was a mistake.

"I cannot believe you thought having a band Tik Tok would be a good idea," Frankie said to Jeff as they watched Eddie and Gareth doing some stupid dance. "Look at them. They're stupid. You made them more stupid."

"I just thought it was a good way for people to see behind the scenes of the tour. Everyone agreed!" Jeff shook his head as he saw Gareth lose his balance and grab onto Eddie's shoulder to stabilize himself.

"The last one got 300,000 likes. We gained followers who never listened to our stuff before. They may be stupid, but my plan isn't."

Frankie sighed, but didn't argue further. Jeff was right. He just hoped he never had to do any ridiculous dances or trends to keep people interested in their music.

****

"You guys have gained thousands of followers on all platforms since you started being active on Tik Tok. It may be wise for all of you to be on camera," one of the producers of their album suggested.

"Not happening." Frankie shook his head. "They get what they want from those two idiots."

"Hey!" Gareth and Eddie yelled in unison.

Jeff waved them off. "If Frankie doesn't wanna do them, he doesn't have to. We agreed that this was a voluntary thing."

"Yes, we did. But we're seeing growth and there's been a trend of comments asking where he is in some of the videos."

"I'm in some videos," Frankie crossed his arms. "That stage tour one. I was setting up my bass."

"But people wanna see you. They wanna get to know you, feel connected. That's the beauty of this era. We can make fans feel like they're truly a part of the band, which leads them to sharing and buying." One of the managers of the PR team said. "It's good for your brand if you're just as involved as they are."

"I didn't know we needed to have a brand beyond metal band." Frankie rolled his eyes and stood up from the couch he was sitting on. "I'm gonna head to the studio and work on music. Which is our job."

No one tried to stop him.

****

"There's a woman who keeps asking where you are." Eddie shakes his phone in front of Frankie's face. "She thinks you're leaving the band and is begging you to stay."

"Tell her I'm not leaving the band." Frankie sat down at the table on the tour bus with his bottle of beer and the shrimp leftover from catering at their show. "Though the urge is strong when Gareth keeps drinking my beers."

"She's hot," Eddie continued, seemingly ignoring Frankie's words. "You should make a video so she knows you're not going anywhere."

Frankie rolled his eyes. "I'm not doing a fuckin' Tik Tok."

Eddie held the phone out to him, showing him the woman's profile.

She was hot.

And apparently only ever really concerned with where Frankie was. She'd even sent a DM asking if he was okay.

"Fine. How do I make one?" Frankie asked with a sigh.

"Seriously? We beg you for two months to make one and it's a hard no, but one hot girl wants you to be in one and you're ready to become a social media influencer?" Eddie teased.

"As if you didn't make an entire series of videos rating new pop songs because Steve asked you to."

Frankie grabbed Eddie's phone, ignoring his flailing to try to grab it back.

The app was already open, and he found it surprisingly easy to start recording a video.

"Hey everyone. I'm not leaving the band. I just hate social media shit. I'm fine. I'm not mad at anyone. Except Gareth who owes me 83 beers from stealing mine over the last six years. Yes, I've counted." Frankie sees a timer counting down and decides to give an awkward wave with his other hand before stopping the video. "That should be fine, right?"

He didn't wait for Eddie's response before saving and posting it.

"Uh. Usually they look at them before we post." Eddie explained as he took his phone back.

"They can take it down later if they want."

'That's...not really how this shit works, dude."

Frankie shrugged and continued eating his shrimp for a few minutes until Jeff came to sit next to him, calm as ever.

"You made a video." He yawned, wiping the sleep from his eyes.

"Yeah."

"It's got 54,000 likes already."

"Can't help that I'm charming."

"It hasn't been that many beers!" Gareth yells from his bunk, half-asleep.

"Your girl messaged," Eddie handed Frankie the phone with a smirk.

Glad you're not going anywhere 💗

"You better get her number, dude." Jeff nudged his arm. "She wants you so bad."

****

Nearly a year later, and more Tik Toks than he ever hoped to be a part of, Frankie smiled down at the VIP section for their sold out show at Madison Square Garden.

Sasha stood there smiling back at him, singing along to all their songs.

After the show, he'd probably be pulled into a stupid video with Eddie or Gareth, but he didn't really complain anymore. Not when those stupid videos were responsible for bringing him his future wife.

[shockinglysubmissive]

The Video

Shigaraki needed some porn, and Dabi was willing to provide it, at a cost of course.

Warning: pseudo-incest (video of sibling), masturbation, degradation, unprotected sex, humiliation

Solo Shigaraki and Dabi x Karuna (OC)

Word Count: 1.3k

Tag list (let me know if you want to be added/removed): @dabislittlebeaniebaby @daniidil @dabislittlemouse

Being a villain means having to go deep into the shadows. That means, no internet for months at a time.

"Come on Dabi. You brag about all the sexy videos the mystery girl sends you. Share. I need something good to beat my cock to." Shigaraki practically whines, gloved hands reaching for Dabi's phone.

"Fine. But I'm warning you. You will regret this in the end." The devious smirk on Dabi's face doesn't deter the scrawny man. Scrolling through an album of photos and videos, he finally selects his favorite. It was the longest one in the collection. "I'll show it on one condition. You aren't allowed to cum until..." His finger drag across the screen, zooming through the video. "25 minutes 46 seconds."

"Whatever. Just give me it!" Shigaraki wets his lips with his tongue, hungrily waiting for the video.

"I'm not showing you until you swear. And trust me, I'll know of you lied to me." Dabi says firmly, holding the phone away from his boss.

"Fine fine. I promise. Now give me." He snatches the phone and runs off to his room. Moving so quickly, he didn't notice Dabi appearing amused, which would have given him his first clue to be concerned.

The preview of the video shows a stomach bulging out due to Dabi's cock buried deep inside them. Unable to wait any longer, he presses play, the video loading and suddenly spread legs fill the screen.

Black lace panties cling to a torturously wet pussy. "Go on. Told ya, bitch. You're not getting my cock today unless I get to film ya. Make it entertaining. You owe me for being a fucking brat." Dabi's voice growls from behind the camera. Eerily familiar manicured hands creep into the frame and slide the sticky panties off.

Shigaraki fights to take his belt and pants off with one hand, the other tightly gripping the phone, not wanting to miss a second of the twitching pussy showing on the screen. Growing frustrated with how long it is taking, he raises a gloved hand to his mouth, biting a finger to remove his hand from inside. With his lower clothing now nothing more than dust, he grips the base of his cock.

Turning his attention fully to the video, a grin spreads across his face as a dildo, too large for her tight hole, appears. Broken sobs, not even close to forming words fill his ears as inch by inch, the toy is sucked into her needy cunt. Only half of the toy was filling her, but babbles of "too much" and "gonna cum" are repeated over and over again.

"That thing is no bigger than me. Come on. You can take more." Shifting into frame slightly, a fully clothed Dabi leans over, gripping the suction cupped end of the toy, twisting and pumping it slowly. Heavenly whines, and desperate pleas to cum fall on Dabi's deaf ears. Ending his slow torture, he gives the toy one sharp thrust before burying it deep inside her. "Don't you dare fucking cum. I'll fucking cover your entire body with scorching hot cum if you even think about it. Now entertain me."

Shigaraki's eyes focus on the way her body tries to push the toy out, Dabi backing away to leave the frame again. Timing the jerk of his wrist with the shaky thrusts of the toy, he already feels himself nearing his release. Not wanting this to end, his fingers wrap tightly around his base. Feeling safe to release himself, he moves his hand down to roll his heavy balls.

His fingers massage his balls while the video plays, broken sobs ringing in his ears as she loses track of how long she's been fucking herself without release. Her legs started shaking minutes ago, and sweat glistened on her body before Dabi gave in.

"You want to cum bitch? Yeah, bet you do. But your only allowed to cum on my cock. So drop the toy." The sound of his belt being tossed aside is the only sound as her shaking hands toss the toy next to her on the bed, showing her puffy lips and clenching pussy. 

The camera moves, showing her full body, minus the fucked out face Shigaraki was desperate to see. Heavy breast bounce with each panting breath as Dabi settles himself between her legs. To his slight disbelief, Dabi hadn't been lying when he said the toy was about the same size as him. The biggest difference between the two were the lines of metal balls on each side of his shaft where his piercings were. 

The manicured hands trail gently over her chest, swirling mesmerizingly around the pert nipples. Shigaraki's mouth waters as he imaged how soft the skin would feel between his teeth, how pretty her pale skin would look with his teeth marks scattered around it. 

On the lower part of the video, the head of Dabi's cock disappears, a groan leaving his lips at what Shigaraki could only imagine was the softest walls pulling him deeper. A scarred hand grips one of her plush thighs as he bullies himself deeper, until every inch is nestled deep inside her. Judging by the way she squirms, the tip was pushing painfully against her cervix. 

"This must be where the thumbnail of the video came from…" Shigaraki thinks out loud, seeing the familiar stomach bulging once again. 

"I can feel you spasming. Don't fucking cum. You only cum when my seed is in your womb." Dabi growls, the hand previously on her thigh now gently smacking her clit. He gives no time for a response before fucking her the way her messy hole deserves. 

Covering the part of the video where Dabi was visible, Shigaraki fisted his cock in time with the wet slaps of skin, imagining he was the one causing the girl to fall apart and beg. He wanted to be the one who she was begging to fill with cum, not the burnt villain currently in that spot. He was getting dangerously close to the edge again, checking the time. 25 minutes 2 seconds. Just a bit longer and he will be able to cum. 

Dabi's thrusts became sloppy and rushed, the perfect cunt below him too irresistible to not breed. Smoke rises from his fingers, which had found their way back to her thighs. Shigaraki ignores the deep grunts as Dabi cums, choosing to focus on the soft whimpers as the girl realizes she's going to be allowed to cum now. 

The smoking fingers press against her clit, slowly teasing it just enough to push her over the edge. 25 minutes 43 seconds. Shigaraki pumps his cock faster hearing her riding out her high, coating his hand with his own cum. The camera pans up to the fucked out face of Karuna. Her black and blue hair fanned out on the pillow behind her head. 

A disgusted wail leaves his lips as he throws the phone to the foot of his bed. From behind the door, a deep laugh can be heard. Dabi walks in an grabs his phone from the bottom of the bed. 

"Thanks for that boss. Been needing a good laugh for a while. Now, I'm gonna go show this to your sister while I make her beg for my cock again." Waving the phone, Shigaraki finally notices the small red light indicating he had been filming himself the entire time. 

"Have any videos of her sucking dick? With all the shit she talks, bet you've fucked her face a few times. She look good covered in your cum?" Shigaraki asks. 

"You're a real pervert, boss. I'll send you the pictures later." Dabi winks before leaving the room to make Karuna deal with the throbbing erection he's been sporting since Shigaraki took his phone. 

[partiallypearl]

on the note of kendall’s music taste.

i am firm believer that he would be a noah kahan fan. probably finds him through false confidence and is like oh this slaps. fast forward a few years while he’s in quarantine, stick season drops.

he hears the line, and i’ll dream each night of some version of you that i might not have but i did not lose, and it’s like he’s in high school again shortly before la.

and when stick season the album comes out, he listens to the entire album top to bottom.

he cries to homesick while thinking about katie. she’s still in la. going to business school so she can become the talent manager she’s always wanted to be. and the lyrics, i got dreams but i can’t make myself believe them, for whatever reason make him think of his baby sister. and how she’s working on her dreams. has been since she was 8 years old.

halloween makes him think of lucy. they haven't spoken since her and james broke up in 2014. their friendship was never the same after he chose jo. sometimes, in the middle of the night, he wonders what life might have been like if he had chosen lucy. he hears the chorus, it's not halloween, but the ghost you're dressed up as, sure knows how to haunt, yeah, she knows how to haunt, every time he looks at lucy's instagram.

new perspective reminds him of carlos. he's a stunt double now. married to alexa, and they have three kids. every now and then, carlos jokes about putting his old hockey helmet back on. says he wants to show his kids that it's okay to be daredevils. the lyric, attention deficit kids in their gym clothes, paper bags drift wherever the wind blows, plays when he drives down the 405, and he considers driving up to santa barbara and seeing carlos and his family. he doesn't.

all my love is a james song. they’ve grown apart due to time and distance and james’ solo career taking him far away both physically and emotionally. he’s proud of him though, proud of the man he’s grown to become. he hears the lyrics, there ain't a drop of bad blood, it's all my love, you got all my love, and he watches james performing at the grammys and winning all the awards that kendall always thought his friend would, and he thinks yeah, he really does have all my love.

logan’s harder though. i think kendall would struggle to choose a song for him until stick season deluxe comes out and call your mom comes on. he thinks back to all the times that logan saved his ass, saved all of their asses truthfully, and the lyric, don’t let this darkness fool you, all lights turned off can be turned on, i’ll drive, i’ll drive all night, i’ll call your mom, i think that’s the lyric that gets him. reminds him of the toughest times while they were in la, and he wanted to leave so goddamn badly and logan reminded him that they were doing this for james. that they were doing this to help their friend, that they owed it to him. i think it also reminds him of the few short months where logan was doing his residency and kendall was playing for the minnesota wild and they got to hangout together occasionally and just that hopefulness of having someone who knows you so intimately being there for you.

and just yeah. kendall + noah kahan is kind of everything to me

[cruesuffix]

Ranking Crüe Albums

Because it’s their anniversary and I want to do something special for the band who’s currently keeping me sane!<3

(Warning: this is an extremely long post so… you’ve been warned!! For those choose to continue reading, I hope you enjoy this, and please don’t crucify me for my opinion!)

Today, I will be ranking the first five Crüe albums, because I can’t rank them all in one post… plus, maybe no one wants to know my thoughts on the later albums. To the Crüe, happy anniversary you old bastards!! sorry I couldn’t send a card or anything!!

Too Fast For Love

Too Fast For Love was the bands first studio album. The one that started it all, it would only take two more years after this was recorded to see the band hit superstardom. When listening to this album, I can automatically see why that was the case. Chock full of punk hits and gritty songs, this to me is quintessential Crüe. I know everyone pinpoints ‘Shout’ as the “Mötley Crüe sound,” but to me, this is it. Singles include: Live Wire and Stick To Your Guns. Anyways, here’s a play by play of my thoughts on each song:

Live Wire: This is what mostly everyone thinks when they think of the Crüe. This is the song that started it all, and boy what a great start it is! From the opening riff to Vince’s epic high note, this song is the best example of the band I can think of. What else can be said about such an iconic track? It’s timeless, unforgettable and guaranteed to make you stop everything to just listen to it the whole way through. A fast paced track that’s bound to get you jumping, at least it made me get hype the first time I listened to it! This to me is the perfect way to start an album. My ranking: 9.7/10

Come On And Dance: I might get flack for this one (and so soon in my ranking!) but… while this song is really good, it’s not one of my favourites on this album. Maybe it’s just me (it is!!) but I’m fine with it playing in the background but… I wouldn’t put it in my top ten… or my top twenty. Still, I can admit when it has its good moments, and it’s by no means a filler track (we’ll talk about that a bit more later). My ranking: 6/10

Public Enemy #1: Now this is a song I would put in my top twenty! It’s fun, fast and catchy: exactly what I like in a song. Oh! And also… cowbells. I am a complete sucker for a good cowbell moment. At least… when done correctly like Tommy does in this song. I know they played this song a lot in the early days, but you’ll see as we continue just how many songs off this album they stopped playing once they hit the end of the ‘Shout’ days into ‘Theatre of Pain.’ My ranking: 7.8/10

Merry Go Round: I am completely biased here. This is the song that really forced me to truly dig deep into Mötley Crüe’s discog. We’ve all heard the big hits, we all know what that’s like, but before last year, I hadn’t really dug that deep into their entire discography. Only the hits. So, when I heard this play towards the start of ‘The Dirt,’ I fell in love. What a melancholic and melodic song this one is. So beautiful, with lyrics that kind of pierce my heart. I owe this song my entire life actually and I will be selling my possessions to it (kidding…but still!). Also… that solo,,, absolutely spectacular!! Thanks for going crazy on this one Mick!! my ranking: 10/10

Take Me To The Top: Another classic track from this album. My go to song when I need to just dance it out, also a fun song to lip sync along to! This is a song that’s usually guaranteed to get stuck in my head all day, that’s how iconic it is to me. (I apologize from now I will be saying iconic a lot… that’s just how I feel about this band.) Also the solo is amazing, though it is said that this solo was used in ‘Running Wild in The Night’ and ‘Why’re You Killing Yourself?’ One being a song that was probably set to be used on the ‘Shout’ album, the other was an unreleased track from their early days, most likely repurposed into TMTTT. ‘Running Wild’ was never released so I guess we’ll never know how that song would have worked out. My ranking: 8/10

Piece Of Your Action: Another one of my favourites. For some reason I just think Vince’s voice suits the song so perfectly. The solo is also pretty top notch, but then again this album is full of memorable guitar solos so… I’m probably going to sound like a kiss ass throughout this review. If you haven’t noticed yet… this is my favourite album of theirs… but for a good reason! My ranking: 9.5/10

Starry Eyes: Now, if Merry Go Round kickstarted my obsession with this band, Starry Eyes cemented it. You can’t help but bop your head to this one! Oh, and another kick ass solo from Mick! I think this one is a bit under appreciated, and it deserves more hype in my opinion! Then again, there’s a lot more songs I feel we should be appreciating… some of which may be controversial?? You’ll see! My ranking: 10/10

Too Fast for Love: Surprisingly, this wasn’t a single. I would have put out a different single aside from ‘Stick To Your Guns’ to be honest with you, and ‘Too Fast for Love’ would have been a contender. Then again… when it comes to songs that should go on an album, the Crüe really fumble the bag sometimes. You’ll see. Either way, this is a really great track, well it’s the title track, it should be good! Not to toot Mick’s horn every single time but, they’re not lying when they call him the riff master. There’s so many examples of it on this album, but I just want it to be known from now. My ranking: 8.5/10

On With The Show: Honest to god, this song resonates with me so much. From the depths of my soul, I love this song in such a crazy way. It’s just this weirdly hopefully sad song. Sad as in wistful at least. Especially when they brought back during their Red, White, and Crüe tour after not playing it live for such a long time. That must have been a treat for the old crueheads! I view this as the quintessential Crüe track, like that’s a good introduction to the band if I ever heard one. If I ever have the honour of picking up an instrument and learning to play it, I want this song to be the first Crüe song I learn to play. My ranking: 9.8/10

Toast of The Town: A more upbeat and actual hopeful track, it’s not the worst song on this album (there is none!), but it’s also not one of my favourites. Still, it’s the cutesy upbeat tone that makes me unable to skip it whenever it comes on! My ranking: 7/10

Tonight: The bands first cover of a bunch more to come! And what a damn good one too! Sure, I’ve never actually listened to the original… but do I have to? I think the Crüe owns this song personally. I hate repeating this but there’s so much nostalgia in this album for me, like sure I wasn’t there when the band put this album out… but every time I listen to it I feel like I was. Ok… enough of the tangent. This is a great song, a great cover and I think for the most part… they used to eat with their cover songs! My ranking: 10/10

Stick To Your Guns: Funnily enough, the history with this song is weird. When TFFL first came out, Stick To Your Guns was on it. When they released it under their own label ‘Leathür Records,’ the song was on the original pressings for the album, but when they re-recorded it for Elektra Records, the song was omitted. If I remember correctly, from what I heard (from Mick), was that Nikki had sold the song to Rodney Bingenheimer. Of course, take that with a grain of salt cause I can’t remember exactly what he said about the song or why Nikki sold it… but it would explain why the song got removed from the album and why it took so long for them to recover it to put on the deluxe version of the album. Besides all that lore, the song is pretty good, and just the opening bit with the cowbell and guitar chord is killer. My ranking: 6/10

Honorable Mentions:

- Nobody Knows What It’s Like To Be Lonely (also known as I’ve Got The Power): So… I love this song. I understand why it didn’t make the album, but I recently heard a sped up version (aka a recreation of what it should sound like), and… god I love this song. This still would have been nice as a single. Mind you, the slowed down version is nearly seven minutes long, with the sped up version being just two minutes shorter than that.

- Why’re You Killing Yourself?: Another cute little track. Maybe this one could have made the album if they… changed all the lyrics and the name lmaoooo!! Oh… and that pesky guitar solo… well, we could fix that up too I guess. It’s weird cause sometimes I like their unreleased songs more than the ones that replaced them.

- Two Timer: Surprisingly I haven’t heard this one! I know they performed this one a lot in the early days, and it probably would have made it on the album hadn’t everyone clocked that it was a cover! Yes, apparently this song was a cover too. I’ll listen to it and figure out if I would have added it to the album.

My overall score for this album, out of twenty is: 20/20 (sorry, I am biased I love this album the most.)

Shout At The Devil

Shout At The Devil was the band’s second album, and a foray into heavy metal. This is the album that skyrocketed them into stardom. There was plenty of controversy behind this album, with all the satanic imagery starting a campaign against heavy metal as a whole. In a way, you can thank this album for the ‘parental advisory” stickers that plagued the cover of explicit albums beyond the years. Still, this album is chock full of the bands greatest hits, and other killer tracks. Singles include: Looks That Kill and Too Young To Fall In Love. Here’s my opinions on the tracks:

In The Beginning: Now, this is just an intro to the album. An atmospheric one, and it definitely sets the tone for the album, especially with the quick transition into the first song. Dark, with that message to rise up against whatever oppresses you. My ranking: 10/10 only because I like a good intro.

Shout At The Devil: The title track, and the most beloved song the Crüe has to offer. This, of course, is for good reason. This song, and album, was a great way to push back from detractors and scare the general public that refused to understand them. Aside from the controversy, this song just kicks the most epic of ass. Tommy’s pounding drums, the riff that just cuts right through you… everything about this track kills. It’s like a marching song for the masses, excited to rip everything apart. Also… when we talk about this song, let’s just forget the ‘97 remix doesn’t exist! My ranking. 10/10

Looks That Kill: Another fan favourite, and the first proper music video of theirs. I don’t really have much to say except that it’s a great song and there’s a reason it got its own music video. As I edit this (cause I’m finding a lot of mistakes as I read this), I think I should just add a bit more. I think this is a lot of fans introduction to the band. This song a perfect anthem for the band in my opinion, there sound was fully curated by this song, and while we’ll see plenty more fan favourites as we go on, this song is undoubtedly the band’s definitive sound. My ranking: 9.8/10

Bastard: This song has its own controversy to it. It was specifically targeted by the PMRC, due to its lyrics. This song is also very obviously about Alan Coffman their first manager, who they parted ways with as soon they signed with Elektra. No matter what happened behind the scenes, that situation gave us this absolute killer song and I’ll always be thankful of that. Maybe they should have been allowed to… ok nevermind. My ranking: 9.9/10

God Bless the Children of the Best: This is essentially a Mick solo track and how fucking beautiful it is!! The combination of acoustic guitar and electric guitar is quite pleasing to my ears. Also including the most beautifully haunting guitar solo I’ve ever heard. Personally I think they should have let Mick do this style of interlude for every album. you know me though, I’m Mick biased… so my wants are probably not shared by others. My ranking: 10/10

Helter Skelter: Another cover for the Crüe! As the band swiftly forayed into heavy metal, this song was ultimately a great idea to add to the album. Helter Skelter has been regarded as one of the songs to really popularize the growing metal movement (though some people go as far as to say it was the song that originated metal as a whole). So, it’s kinda obvious the Crüe would go on to cover it on their second album! Some people don’t like this cover but personally I love it. They do a great job at capturing that sort of chaotic energy of the original and cranking it to eleven. It also helps some of the members were already fans of the band. (Mick was very notably a fan of the band as a kid and even went as far as to start a Beatles cover band. Nikki, while being slightly critical of the band, named the ‘white album’ as one of his favourites) My ranking: 8.7/10

Red Hot: I would say this is one of, if not my favourite song off this album. I’ve always loved a good double bass moment, and Tommy’s double bass literally makes the whole song. I mean… it starts off the song! And the intro to this song is undeniably iconic. I also have to make mention of Mick’s solo in this one. It’s very memorable and… it’s just so beautiful to me, very melodic and just cuts through to my soul. My ranking: 10/10

Too Young to Fall in Love: Talk about another iconic intro! This is the second single off the album, and the second song on this album to have its own music video. Another fan favourite, unfortunately I’ve overplayed it a bit too much to really enjoy it much any more. I know this ranking is going to offend some! Don’t worry, one day I’ll revisit it! For now I need a good long break from hearing it in order to listen to it with fresh ears and a better perspective. My ranking: 6/10

Knock ‘Em Dead, Kid: Now, this one is a real kickass track. This song also has a part of the solo from Runnin’ Wild repurposed into this track. That is now two released songs that have taken things from Runnin.’ You’ll see as we go on that this song has some more connections to another released Crüe song. It makes sense though, as it feels like the Crüe were really trying their hardest to put that song out. I guess they just couldn’t remake it in a way they all liked. Overall, this song is just a real heavy, hard hitting song. My ranking: 8/10

Ten Seconds To Love: A real sleazy track that’s just one big innuendo. It leaves nothing to the imagination. The lyrics tell you enough, it’s extremely tongue in cheek. Other than that, this has one real good bass line, which is something I’ve always appreciated. Personally I think this is one of the only songs that really lets Nikki shine. It’s dirty, sleazy, and fun… all the things I love! My ranking: 7.5/10

Danger: I don’t think we talk about this song enough. The more I listen to it, the more I like it. It sort of grows on me. Of course, I get why it might not be a favourite, after listening to songs like ‘Red Hot,’ or ‘Looks To Kill,’ how could anyone remember this much slower and brooding track. To me, it feels like a song you listen to when you’re out on your balcony (one that overlooks the city btw) and smoke a cigarette while you look out at the scenery around you pensively. Yeah, it sounds weird but that’s just how I feel about it. My ranking: 8.5/10

Honourably Mentions:

- Runnin’ Wild In The Night: I’ve talked about this song almost extensively now. While it’s never been officially released, you can find this track on YouTube. Mind you the audio isn’t the best, though I have found versions that have tried to edit it the best they can. It’s a great track, and it would have been amazing to hear officially.

- Black Widow: A song a lot of older crueheads have probably already heard decades ago. The first time I’ve heard about it was during an interview with Mick and Nikki in the early 90’s. A fan asked a question about the track, and like usual, Nikki gave them a vague answer. This one was released on the 35th anniversary version of ‘Shout’ so, I guess that fan finally got what they wished for.

- I Will Survive: A pretty infamous track. This is another song I personally wish they would have released. The band talked about it in ‘The Dirt.’ This was the song where Nikki and Tommy (and possibly Vince as well) chanted “Jesus is Satan” backwards… which ended up sounding like “scrambled eggs and wine.” I’ve heard said track and I think it sounds more like gibberish! Fun fact: on the back of the album, there’s a warning message that mentions the album containing backwards messages. Not thinking anything of it, you might think that was probably just a ploy to get more people to buy the album because… well none of the songs on this album contain backwards messages. I can’t help but wonder if this was a song that nearly did make it on the album and that’s why that message was put onto the album. Just something I think about a bit.

Hotter Than Hell: If this sounds familiar, you’d be right. This was also supposed to be on this album, and luckily for us, we got to see it in another form on the next album. we’ll get into this one a bit more. I think you might get the gist of what I’m trying to say.

My overall score for this album: 19.8/20

Theatre of Pain

Theatre of Pain was the band’s third album, and the most contentious. There’s a lot to be said about the circumstances surrounding what happened before the album’s production and during it. Unfortunately, that is another story for another day. The album features two extremely successful singles, ones that still feature in commercials to this day. There is a lot of debate on this album, with it being panned by the band and most of their fans as their least favourite album. It’s seen now by many as, essentially, the bands collective mental breakdown. Now, if I may cut in here: I love this album. I absolutely love this album. Sure, there are certain songs that aren’t necessarily the best, but it’s an amazing album. I may lose some people here, and that’s totally ok. Just know, I’ll be trying to defend this album the best I can. Singles include: ‘Smokin’ In The Boys Room,’ ‘Home Sweet Home,’ and ‘Keep Your Eye On The Money.’ Let’s get into the tracks:

City Biy Blues: Out of the bat I feel I have to defend this song. Yes, I think this song is good. It’s a good song to start the album off with in my opinion. Sure, It’s obviously not as great as the other tracks on this album. Still…the cowbell makes up for it. If there’s one thing about me, it’s that I love a good cowbell moment. My ranking: 7/10

Smokin’ In The Boys Room: Another cover!! Yep, we’re still going here, and I’ll be the first to say it’s one that I’m more impartial to. This is a song that really got a really good reception. Its music video went platinum on MTV and the song topped the music charts. This song was actually supposed to be on TFFL, but when they tried to record it, they couldn’t get it together. Funnily enough, Nikki apparently hated the song, and especially hated playing it live, as opposed to Vince, who was the one who suggested they record the song again and loved playing it live. Personally, it’s not my cup of tea so I guess I have something in common with Nikki. My ranking: 5/10

Louder Than Hell: Remember what I said about Hotter Than Hell? Yep, it’s pretty much the same song, except they changed one singular word. Either way, this is a great song! It’s one of my favourites on the album. They played this song a lot for the TOP tour and I get why! This song is pretty groovy, and the solo?? Don’t get me started on that one! Not to kiss any ass here but I ascend every time I hear it. I don’t know why people shit on Mick’s playing when songs like this exist!! My ranking: 10/10

Keep Your Eye On The Money: The third single (yes there were three), though less successful than its predecessors. I noticed they performed this song a lot on the Girls’ tour. As someone who likes watching concerts from that era the most, I’ve been conditioned into liking this song because of that. It’s not even that bad! A nice bluesy groove, I can say I get down to this song regularly. I will thank Tacoma Dome ‘87 for influencing me into liking this one! My ranking: 8/10

Home Sweet Home: Now…who could ever forget this song? Probably the most notable Crüe song. A fan favourite to the max, this song went double platinum on MTV, became a staple at concerts, spawned covers (of course), and possibly overstayed on the charts a bit. But all of that is deserved. It’s just a nostalgic song about yearning to go back home after being away for so long. And also that iconic, soul stealing, awe inspiring solo deserves all the love and admiration. Thank you Mick, that solo never fails to make me shed a tear. My ranking: 10/10.

Tonight (We Need A Lover): I never cared for this song much until I listened to a radio interview with Tommy and Mick and this song played in between the breaks. Instead of just skipping through the song like I usually would, I decided to just listen to it. I know I need to have a more open minded approach to music, so I just sat there. There’s a great use of a keyboard synth thing in the background in the middle of the song. And then towards the end it speeds up and fades away. It’s great that I chose to give this song a second chance cause I ended up really liking it. My ranking: 8.8/10

Use It Or Lose It: Not that bad, like I said I love myself a good double bass moment! While it isn’t that bad, it also could be better. I will say it definitely sounds like a filler song. And that’s possibly the reason why so many people hate this album but… this is just one filler song so far, we’ve been hit with gold this entire time so far! My ranking: 7/10

Save Our Soul: Can I just say something: I LOVE THIS SONG!!!! Ok, thank you. I absolutely love this song! No one really talks about this song. I’ll be the first to say it’s the best song off this album hands down. “But Lily, what about ‘Home Sweet Home’???” SORRY I don’t care!! This is the best song off this album, no arguments! Now, you might remember when I talked about Runnin’ Wild In The Night, I said there was another song that took inspiration from that song. Well… surprise! This song is pretty much a rewrite of running wild in the night, well… at least the first verse is! Yep, they ripped off the first verse of Runnin,’ but that’s fine cause this song is killer either way! You know what it is? This song makes me feel like I’m walking down the streets of a barren dirty road, with violence and bloodshed all around me. And songs like that tend to make it to my playlist automatically. Weird imagery, but that’s just how I feel! My ranking: 10/10 (but if I could I’d give it an eleven.)

Raise Your Hands To Rock: A cute little ditty about… I don’t know, rock n roll?? Another one of my favourite cuts off this album. It feels like the perfect song for a rock road trip playlist. It’s even funnier when knowing this song caused Mick a bit of hell. He was stuck trying to figure out a good solo, so in his frustration he downed a bottle of wine and cranked out what you hear on the track. Suffice to say, I find it’s a pretty good solo so… wine 1 Mick 1! My ranking: 9.8/10

Fight For Your Rights: For me, this is a very… meh track. I was making fun of Use It for being a filler track, but at least it wasn’t a filler track that happens to be the last song on the album! I think that’s a no no in the world of rock (and music in general) Not the best way to end an album, but we take what we can get, right? My ranking: 5/10

Honourable Mention:

- Run For Your Life: Yes, this is actually a track made during the ‘Shout’ days, but it sounds like it could have been a ‘Theatre’ track… and I can name a bunch of songs they could have replaced with this one!

My overall score for this album: 17/20

Girls,’ Girls,’ Girls’

Girls,’ Girls,’ Girls was the bands fourth album. It spawned two very successful singles, one of which still plays in strip clubs to this day. This album managed to launch the group to number two spot on the billboard 200 chart. Their sound also changed drastically with this album, going for a more bluesy approach. Now, for the record… I think this was the band’s collective mental breakdown. The band was delving deeper into their own respective addictions and most of the time they were high/drunk during the recording of the songs. They weren’t exactly churning out the best songs, and even they had admitted that they weren’t putting out their best work and were only focused on writing two good singles for the album. Still, it’s not that bad of a record… but also it’s not one of my favourites. (Please put your pitchforks down!!) Let’s just get into the tracks now:

Wild Side: We start off exceptionally well with the hard hitting and blues ridden song ‘Wild Side.’ It’s so good I’ll forgive Nikki for getting inspiration for this song from his little catholic schoolgirl girlfriend… but remember, that’s only because this song kicks major ass. That completely sleazy guitar riff, the computerized beats and sounds… all of it is amazing. Won’t go as far as to say this is Nikki’s magnum opus, but it’s pretty damn close! My ranking: 10/10

Girls,’ Girls,’ Girls’: where would strip clubs be if the Crüe never made this song? Out of business of course! Sure, it’s purely objectifying and degrading to women but… if you let the feminism leave your body for a bit and just rock out, you’ll get the appeal of the song. It would have been even better if we had gotten to hear what that last little staccato riff would have sounded like if Mick didn’t fall out of his chair while recording it… alas, we didn’t so I’ll- no! I’m kidding I’m not taking points off for that!! My ranking: 10/10

Dancing On Glass: Just slight insight into the bands mindset during this time. Mainly inspired by Nikki’s own addictions, and his first overdose back in ‘84. It’s a great track, with a great vocal performance by Vince and background singer Brie Howard. I’ve also conditioned myself to like this song through various concert performances of the song. A very catchy song that occasionally gets stuck in my head at times. My ranking: 9.8/10

Bad Boy Boogie: And just like, we’ve hit a snag. It’s not a terrible song at all, but it’s definitely not a favourite of mine. I’ll say, looking back, I do think Mick’s bluesy riffs save this one. You can fully tell the blues bug had bitten Mick during this album, and no one was going to stop him this time! And thank god they didn’t. My ranking: 6/10

Nona: A beautiful, mainly instrumental track. The only lyrics to be heard are very self explanatory and to be honest, complete the track as is. This is a beautiful tribute to the woman who pretty much raised Nikki throughout his entire childhood. There’s a full instrumental version on the deluxe version of this album that’s just a bit longer and equally as good. My ranking: 9/10

Five Years Dead: Back to filler. The title comes from a book Nikki found at a used bookstore and read. The song has nothing to do with the book though, and I guess that’s a good thing. No other thoughts on this song… I told you this album was the band’s collective mental breakdown and all the filler we’ve already come across can tell you that. My ranking: 5/10

All In The Name Of…: Well… if you ignore the opening line, or that entire verse as a whole, it’s a pretty good song! Argue over the meaning of the song all you want, I only pay attention to the instrumental! Off the bat it’s fast paced and demands attention. There’s a good reason they started their Moscow peace festival set with this song! It gets the people going! (And by the people, I mean me!) my ranking: 9.9/10

Sumthin’ For Nuthin’: To end the album off… some more filler. This album isn’t my favourite… as you can probably tell, and this song is also my least favourite off this album. It’s got its good moments though, mainly the very bluesy slide guitar sort of solo from Mick and… yeah actually that’s it. It does sound good when you rediscover it after not listening to it for months! My ranking: 6.5/10

You’re All I Need: I have a love hate relationship with this song. I hate the lyrics, most of the song, the cheesy little piano in the background. But I love Mick’s solo for this song. His little riffs also happen to save the song for me. You can’t deny that ‘Home Sweet Home’ is the perfect rock ballad… but the rest of their ballads? Could have done without. The Crüe weren’t exceptionally great at writing ballads in my opinion but… there were so many other bands influenced to make shitty rock ballads so I guess they weren’t alone in that. My ranking: 6/10

Honourable Mention:

- Rodeo: If this song was on the album in the first place, I probably would give this album a greater score. This was the bonus track on the deluxe version of the album, and according to Mick’s daughter Stormy, it was between this song and You’re All I Need. In a just society, Rodeo made it onto the album and You’re All I Need faded off into obscurity. Ok… besides that though, this song is just incredible. A melancholic story of life on the road, feeling like you’re in a circus with no way of going home. My favourite part about this song is Mick making his guitar sing the chorus (“Rodeo! Rodeo!) along with Vince.

My overall score for this album: 16/20

Dr. Feelgood

Dr. Feelgood is the bands fifth album and the last one I’ll be reviewing today. This is their first album recorded after their brief hiatus and stints in rehab. It’s suffice to say they were pretty sober while recording this album. This album launched them to the top of the billboard 200 chart, their first (and only to do so). Producer Bob Rock had a very specific approach to producing that the band wasn’t used to, so there was a lot of tension in the studio. Along with the pressure of making an album that would top their last one. There’s five singles released for this album: title track ‘Dr. Feelgood,’ ‘Kickstart My Heart,’ ‘Without You,’ ‘Don’t Go Away Mad (Just Go Away),’ and Same Ol’ Situation (S.O.S.).’ Let’s just get right into it:

T.n.T (Terror ‘n Tinseltown): This is an introduction to the album, something that hadn’t been done since ‘Shout.’ Mainly atmospheric, with sirens and what sounds like a 911 call. This really sets the scene for the album, especially the first song. My ranking: 10/10

Dr. Feelgood: Of course, a quintessential song for the Crüe, everything about this song is amazing. Just the dark tone, purely hard hitting. The heavy groove of the bass and drums, the iconic guitar riff and solo. This was the perfect way to start an album that was supposed to be a clean slate for the band. My ranking: 10/10

Slice Of Your Pie: A very slow and mellow beginning before going straight to an extremely bluesy sounding song. This is to be expected, as Mick has his name written all over this album! I don’t really have much to say about this one actually, it’s a nice track. This would be the soundtrack for a beach trip for me. I can just imagine myself lazing in the sun as this blares out a little boombox. My ranking: 8/10

Rattlesnake Shake: Unfortunately I have to say I don’t like this song. It’s most likely due to the cheesy sounding horns on the song, as the riff is pretty good and the solo not that bad. Unfortunately the horns ruin whatever fun I would have had with that. The breakdown with just the drums and bass is also a good addition, but then we go right back to loud, obnoxious synths and it all just unravels. To me… this one’s a skip. Yep, that’ll ruffle feathers but, I can’t lie! My ranking: 4/10

Kickstart My Heart: With the Crüe, any song based on a real life experience is guaranteed to be a banger. ‘Kickstart’ is one of them. Another famous song of theirs, this one sounds like a machine kicking into gear. It’s fast paced chugging would get anyone’s heart pumping (ha!), it shows the band at their best. With all guns blazing and going out with a bang. This would be even better if the song that played after this one… didn’t play after this one. My ranking: 9.8/10

Without You: …Boring. Bland. Yawning. Yes, the meaning behind this song is cute, but if I was Tommy and Heather I would have asked Nikki to write a better song about us! There’s nothing saving this song, not even the cute slide guitar solo! And that’s saying a lot cause there’s plenty of songs Mick has saved with a good guitar solo. Reminder: this is the same band that put All In The Name Of.. on their last album. Do you really think I believe they can successfully record a beautiful sentimental ballad? NO!! My ranking: 4/10

Same Ol’ Situation: And we’re back to the good songs! This one’s extremely funny when you really pay attention to the lyrics. You’d never figure this band could hold some solidarity with the beautiful lesbians of this world. Cause… at the end of the day, we all go through the same thing with every sort of relationship! No matter what I’ll forgive them cause this song is a banger! My ranking: 10/10

Sticky Sweet: The opening riff is killer, I’ll admit it. Even if I don’t like this song that much, I will admit it’s pretty good. Notable guest backing vocals by Steven Tyler… this was compensation for Mick intruding on their recording of ‘Pump’ with his guitar. If you listen closely, you’ll hear him all over some of the tracks for that album. My ranking: 7/10

She Goes Down: A personal favourite of mine. Yes, the lyrics are questionable but… like I said, I don’t always pay attention to the lyrics! Do you really expect the band that put out such lovely ballads as ‘Girls,’ Girls,’ Girls’ to put out politically correct feminist lyrics?? Yeah… I just pretend Vince is singing gibberish and vibe. Anyways, the key change towards the end is also pretty gold to me. My ranking: 10/10

Don’t Go Away Mad (Just Go Away): There’s just so many good tracks on this album in my opinion. The breakdown towards the end where it just gets faster and louder… ugh I love it so much!! What really sold the deal for me was when I watched their performance at the 2008 pepsi music festival in Argentina. The crowd damn near lost it during this song, and when the breakdown started, they began jumping up and down like maggots. That’s the exact reaction I expect when I listen to this song. My ranking: 10/10

Time For Change: The bands ‘We Are The World.’ At least… in my mind it is! Question: does anyone else kinda hear the melody of 21 Guns when they listen to that last guitar riff thing at the end of the song?? Maybe it’s just me. Anyways, the song has a great message and it sounds great. A really good closer to the album in my opinion, just a nice little mellow feelgood song, something you can wave your lighters to. My ranking: 9.9/10

Honourable Mention:

- Get It For Free: anyone who’s been perusing this blog for a while now knows how I feel about this song. I briefly beefed with the band when this song got taken off Spotify for a while. Thankfully it was returned to me once the 35th anniversary for this album released. No more crash outs now that I can peacefully enjoy this song with no more interruptions. This should have been on the album and I can definitely name a song that could have been knocked off to make room for this one.

My overall score for this album: 20/20

AND THATS IT!! Thank you for coming on this journey with me. I know this was extremely long, but I just felt I had to do this, for both the bands 44th anniversary and for my 1 year anniversary of being a fan! I know it isn’t much, but I wanted to get my thoughts on their music out there, cause all I don’t really talk about it as much. I just needed to take the time to appreciate their music, and appreciate some of the songs I don’t always listen to. I have to thank the Crüe for their hard work and years of dedication to their fans and the music. No matter what, I love this band despite their transgressions and controversy. Like I said, I hope you enjoy this and I promise I’ll stop yapping soon!!