#i would do anything to see all 6 solo tracks live
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indigomovn · 2 years ago
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I’m gonna be so jealous of the american lyons who get to see onlyoneof perform their solo songs live.
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fyeah-chanyeol · 4 months ago
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Chanyeol, a member of EXO under SM Entertainment, is set to reveal his first solo album ‘Black Out’ today, August 28, at 6 PM KST on various music platforms. The music video for the title track ‘Black Out’ will also be released simultaneously on SM’s official YouTube channel.
The album includes six tracks: the title song ‘Black Out,’ ‘I’m on Your Side Too’ and ‘Clover’—both of which Chanyeol contributed to as a lyricist—along with ‘Hasta La Vista,’ ‘Ease Up,’ and ‘Back Again.’ This album promises a mix of new genres and familiar emotional tones unique to Chanyeol.
In an interview accompanying the album release, Chanyeol shared his thoughts and experiences:
Q1. How does it feel to release your first solo album after 12 years of debuting? Chanyeol: It feels refreshing and joyful. It’s been 12 years since I debuted with EXO, and I’m excited to show a new side of myself. I’m thrilled to finally present my solo album to EXO-L (EXO’s official fan club), who have been waiting for so long.
Q2. How would you describe your first mini-album ‘Black Out’ in one word? Chanyeol: I’d describe it as ‘beginning.’ Since this is my first solo album, I see it as the start of something new. I wanted to create music that I’ve always wanted to make, showcase concepts I’ve wanted to share with fans, and present a variety of charms. Please look forward to it!
Q3. Can you tell us more about the title track ‘Black Out’? What should we pay attention to? Chanyeol: The charm of ‘Black Out’ lies in the combination of melody, lyrics, and emotions. It’s a pop-rock track with a fast tempo, minimal acoustic guitar, and a lyrical synth melody. The lyrics compare the post-breakup experience to a ‘Black Out’—a time when everything feels like a mess, much like a phone screen that’s turned off without any notifications.
Q4. You participated in writing some of the lyrics for this album. Did you try anything new this time? Chanyeol: I usually combine my experiences with imagination when writing lyrics, but for this album, I focused more on my cherished memories. Since this is a solo album, I wanted to share more personal stories. For example, I wrote ‘I’m on Your Side Too’ while recalling the happiness I felt looking at EXO-L during performances, and ‘Clover’ was inspired by spending time with my dog, Jjaru.
Q5. You explored various genres for this album. Which one do you like the most? Chanyeol: It’s hard to choose just one (laughs), but I really like ‘Back Again.’ It’s an old-school hip-hop track with a strong rock base, and I think it shows off a new side of me. It was the first song I recorded for the album, and although it was challenging, it made me want to push myself even further.
Q6. You filmed the album jacket and music video entirely on location in Hong Kong. How was that experience? Chanyeol: It was a lot of fun (laughs). I fell in love with Hong Kong’s beauty all over again. We filmed mostly outdoors, exploring everything from the city center to lesser-known alleyways. I especially enjoyed shooting on a double-decker bus, taking in the city views as we went along.
Q7. You’ll be holding a live tour next week after the album release. Can you give us a sneak peek? Chanyeol: You’ll see both the sides of me that you’re familiar with and many new aspects as well. I’ve been preparing hard every day, so I hope you’ll love the album and the performances.
Q8. What did your fellow EXO members think of the album? Did they offer any support? Chanyeol: I played the songs for Suho, and he said he could tell how much effort and thought went into it. He told me he’s looking forward to it and cheered me on (laughs). We often talk about music, and his support always motivates me to work even harder.
Q9. Is there a moment in your life that you never want to ‘Black Out’? Chanyeol: All the moments I’ve spent with EXO-L during our concerts. Those are precious memories I never want to forget.
Q10. Lastly, any message for the fans? Chanyeol: First of all, thank you for waiting so long. I’m so grateful for your constant support and love. Preparing this album was a joyful experience, and I’m excited to finally share it with you. Without you, this album wouldn’t have been possible. This is just the beginning, and I hope we can continue to share happiness together for a long time. I love you all so much!
Translation by Allkpop.
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bmcblr-remake · 2 years ago
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AUDITIONS INFO
if you want to be like mentally prepared on whats to be expected or something idk
---- all auditions here ----
actors/auditions FAQs
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what you will be doing:
if you get a conducting video: you will be asked to sing along to a video of someone conducting. we are using conducting videos to make sure everyone is in sync, and i need to be sure you can follow conducting. it shouldnt be hard its sort of like a metronome you just need to be able to keep tempo, and understand when to start singing after a pause. there will be an example video (conducting along to the og soundtrack) and the actual backing track (conducting along to instrumental). please be sure the backing track is playing in the background and audible
if you do not get a conducting video: there will just be a backing track. if you dont get a conducting video dont stress about starting at the right time after a pause, just be sure you can keep tempo. we will still be using conducting videos for the actual remake, you'll just have to learn along the way if you get cast. please be sure the backing track is playing in the background and audible
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what im mainly looking for:
your own portrayals of your character. im giving you complete creative freedom. say your line a different way, or faster or slower if you want. take a breath in the middle of the verse. make reaction noises. pitch your notes higher or lower if you have to go the troy iwata rich route. pretend youre actually doing the show live, some minor changes can be made here and there
you can keep tempo. of course if we have conducting videos it would be easier but if we dont, try your best and dont stress about starting at the right time after a pause. just be sure you can keep tempo while youre singing
not mic quality lmao. you dont need a professional mic or anything as long as whatever youre using is decent quality it should be fine. BUT please use whatever you will be using if you get cast. phone mic, singing recorder app, voice notes app, whatever
----
what you will need to submit:
MAJOR CHARACTER
REQUIRED:
an approximately 1 - 1:30 minute audio clip of a song from bmc. the required song for each character will be listed below
an approximately 1 minute audio clip of spoken lines of choice, recommended from bmc. i know there arent a lot of continuous spoken lines so you can just say your lines and pause when the other character is speaking if you pick a scene like that
OPTIONAL:
any song that makes you look good! give me anything you did best in, it can be from bmc but it doesnt have to. can be as long as you want. please be sure the video is fairly recent i need to see what you can do now, not what you could do 6 months ago
(edit we most likely will not be adding lgw)
-- REMEMBER I WILL BE ALLOWING A COUPLE MONTHS OF WIGGLE ROOM FOR AGES. you will just have to specify in the audition form
jeremy: required song: more than survive/voices in my head. take your pick age limit: at least 16 and up
squip: required song: the pitiful children age limit: at least 16 and up
christine: required song: i love play rehearsal age limit: at least 15 and up
michael: required song: michael in the bathroom age limit: at least 15 and up
rich: required song: the squip song. will NOT be required to screlt please dont kill your voice age limit: at least 15 and up
jake: required song: halloween. specifically his solo age limit: at least 15 and up
chloe: required song: do you wanna hang age limit: at least 16 and up
brooke: required song: do you wanna ride age limit: at least 15 and up
jenna: required song: the smartphone hour. will not be required to hit her high ass notes age limit: at least 15 and up
--
MINOR CHARACTERS:
REQUIRED:
a 30 seconds - 1:30 minute audio clip of a song from bmc. the required song for each character will be listed below
a 30 seconds - 1 minute audio clip of spoken lines of choice from bmc. recommended spoken lines for each character will be listed below
-- you guys are a little more relaxed lmao you wont have to do 1 minute clips. a little shorter is fine
mr heere: required song: the pants song. 1 - 1:30 minutes long recommended spoken lines: your choice but i recommend the argument with jeremy
creepy stock guy: required song: "it's from japan..." literally the only bit he sings. not sure if backing track will be provided yet recommended spoken lines: again literally the only bit he says
mr reyes: recommended spoken lines: idk anything he says take your pick. i dont think he sings
note: it is very highly recommended you are close to the og range of your character, so the sheet music writers dont have to transpose stuff and do more work. dont worry if you cant hit every single note! remember im being very lax with creative choices. this is from the concord records website so im assuming its accurate
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you will be emailing your auditions files to [email protected] and then filling out a form to verify your age.
JEREMY AUDITIONS: opens 29th may
EVERYONE ELSE: opens LATEST 10th june
----
IMPORTANT:
i WILL be asking for your age unfortunately. please dont lie about it, some actors are uncomfortable with certain ages and we have to respect that. also ill be able to tell when you start singing i promise you i wont share or remember it afterwards and i promise you i dont care lmao
speaking of remember there ARE age limits to all major characters. i might allow 2-3 months of wiggle room, 4 if we're pushing it, but you'll have to specify in the actual audition and ill have to check if your potential co-stars (wow CO-STARS we're getting serious huh) are comfortable with that
feminine and masculine voices wont matter! if you have a fem voice and want to audition for michael go ahead. if you have a masc voice and want to audition for brooke im not stopping you. as long as you can hit the notes well you should be good. if anything this makes bmc more gay and thats very on track with tumblr
there is a chance i will do callbacks and you might be casted as another character if i (or future casting crew) think you fit! but that being said please dont try to cheat the auditions and audition for one with the other in mind
there will be a "main" actor and an understudy who will also act as the characters squip in the play. the squip might have a main and then two additional others for the robot effect instead of just three mains, cause of different portrayals and whatnot. i might open additional auditions if there arent enough people interested in a character like jake and chloe, but AFTER the others are casted for the sake of fairness and all. if i dont, then the two other voices from the squip will step in
EDIT: we're not doing any of that lol
most importantly have fun with it! remember this is not a serious project we are just making our silly little remake
auditions will open a couple weeks later depending on the conducting videos cause lemme tell you end of school year is not the best time to do this
(this post will be edited if needed)
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jmdbjk · 2 years ago
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More Legos...
(if you must, Jimin...)
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After obsessing over whether the camera was straight enough, or were the lights too bright, whether the distance he was from the camera was good (obsessive perfectionist) he finally gave us the big news that his album is coming in MARCH!
Here are my preliminary notes and thoughts on the upcoming and very anticipated PJM1:
Track 1: shook and light-headed
Track 2: shook and drooling
Track 3: shook and finally taking a breath
Track 4: shook and uwu-ing
Track 5: shook and drooling again
Track 6: shook and picking myself up off the floor
Track 7: shook and sobbing because it’s the last song.
But of course, in my delulu mind there will be 13 tracks but let’s not get greedy...
Prediction: Jimin’s next live will have him building the LEGO BTS Dynamite set... 
Off-topic...look, Namjoon posted a recent pic of Jungkook on his Instagram stories:
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Joon’s also deleted or archived all his Instagram posts except 13 that have to do with Indigo... WHAT’S UP WITH THAT???
Back to the main event: Jimin talked about straightening his teeth again. The best option for him is probably the Invisalign that you can remove when necessary. I wonder if the process is something he can be doing while he’s enlisted. 
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He laughed and said “what do we have to fight about?” when someone asked him if he and Tae still fight a lot. As he continued reading the comments he said “Marriage!... one day. I’m too busy right now to get married.” I don’t know if the comment was “marriage one day” or if “one day” was part of his own response. He spoke a little about Jin. It’s clear that Jimin looks up to Jin. 
It was so cute when he was making fun of himself being so shy when he was recording Vibe with Taeyang.
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My man with some plastic flowers he made with his own two hands:
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Losing track of what day it is, having to figure out Valentine’s day is almost here... same babe, same...
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I know some people sort of made a big deal over his comments about this. First of all, Jimin, no one said anything about White Day... second of all, he said “it’s fun” ...isn’t that enough to show that he acknowledges them? You guys with the hardcore ideas that certain things MUST be considered in a certain way ... GET OUT OF YOUR CLOSED BOX! He acknowledged they are special days that are fun. Why isn’t that enough? 
Then he talks about showing us his moon tattoos and letting us know there will be an opportunity to do so...he’ll have a chance to show us. Because whipping off his shirt on a live would probably get him scolded worse than JK drinking while doing a live.
He also commented about Namjoon being “truly like a gift” in his songwriting skills.
Then mentions Suchwita...and gives us a spoiler:
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Yoongi and Jimin drinking and talking about Jimin’s solo album... YES! PLEASE MAKE THIS HAPPEN UNIVERSE! DON’T TEASE ME AND THEN LEAVE ME SHATTERED IF IT DOES NOT HAPPEN!
You know... occasionally a comment that seems odd could very well hold a considerable amount of meaning:
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Tears from working himself to the bone because of his passion to give his best to us... tears because of how moved he was from seeing all of us while performing... tears because when you are filled with fear and insecurity and see the outpouring of love... tears from the words he sees being said about him online... he says if he has to find a reason as to why (he’s not as emotional any more) he says it’s like as time has gone on, he’s not seen us in person, that his emotions have subsided. He is removed from personal appearances but still the fact they’ve achieved a certain level of success enables him to feel secure in his position and they can see we, Army, are not going to leave them. He’s also removed himself from social media.
He can be so unserious too... clocked out... hahahahaha... and that’s 12:30 a.m., 1:00 a.m. 
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When Unholy comes on he laughs, smirks, and he skips the song BECAUSE HE KNOWS ITS UNHOLY...(keeping it PG for Armys). We know Jimin was at work but now we know he continued watching JK’s live because he knows that Jungkook sung this.... okayyyyy. 
We also had the pleasure of listening to Jimin hum/sing along to The Astronaut, Rush Hour, That That, Better Than This by Lauv, Safe Zone, Yet to Come, Closer, Empty Road by Taeyang, Wildflower, Telepathy, Euphoria (which he admitted he loves and he let it play twice and then continued to sing it), Filter to which he commented that he was really bummed out when he never got to perform this for us live and that HE MAY ONE DAY DO THAT ASDAFWTFOMFG!!! 
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Someone in comments said they needed Jimin to motivate them and that they hated themselves... those were serious words and Jimin paused to consider his response... he said “you should still know how to cherish and like yourself. I think it actually isn’t easy to accept this usually. I think you should know why you are thinking in that manner (you should figure out what is causing you to think that way) and I think I need to hear you out in order to say something to you (I need to know more about the situation in order to offer constructive advice). Even so, you only have yourself. I hope you don’t hate yourself too much.” Words from a man who has perhaps had his own dealings with this sort of thing.
He wrapped it up by saying he’ll talk about the making of PJM1 after it’s release for us to stay safe and stay well. 
The thought occurred to me: is it just me or has the number of times that the idea of the members dating increased exponentially these last few months? 
Namjoon flippantly(?) saying "kind of like a girlfriend for me" during Big Brain/Useless Knowledge TV Show. (What is the title of that show? I keep forgetting...)
Both Jimin and Jungkook teasing Armys who comment "let's date for a few seconds" while doing their live broadcasts. 
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And the big rumor of Tae’s that I won’t mention because people are irrational and I don’t have time for that.
Jimin even said there’s more comments about marriage these days than ever before. Beyond “Marry Me Yoongi,” the topic of marriage just seems to pop up more frequently. 
Are they attempting to normalize Tannies dating? Just like they've normalized (sorta) showing more skin? and normalized their inevitable enlistment. Are they are making us take baby steps for everything?
Is this part of Chapter 2/more mature Bangtan agenda? Please feel free to discuss below...
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xbadgerbearx · 3 years ago
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bird
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word count: 1.6k
Can’t Sleep: [4] … [6]
Not too long later, Gaius Grieves revealed himself. Your little trio watched as Robert discreetly put a gun to his back and started talking. You weren't close enough to decipher what he said. Once he started moving your team got the cue to follow. However, everyone stopped in their tracks once soldiers were spotted.
"I thought Milton was supposed to be our lookout," you muttered as the soldiers started speaking Spanish to the patrons in the club.
As the soldiers got more aggressive in their search for Americans, Robert turned to Cleo.
"All right," Robert motioned to Grieves. "Take him out through the back, all right? Find my coordinates in the pad and meet me in half an hour," he ordered while handing Abner a gun.
"What?"
"Hey, did you hear what I said?"
"Yes, but-"
"Go."
Cleo hesitated before grabbing Grieves.
"Let's go."
As you were leading your small group to the back entrance, you heard Robert yell out, "Hey, calm down! There's no need to disturb everyone's night."
You could faintly hear Flag speak up as you found a door marked Solo Empleados.
"This way."
Unfortunately the door you opened was the dressing room for the dancers. You heard Abner say, "Oh, God," before a stumbling sound and a gun being handled. You briefly looked back to see Abner holding Grieves at gun pointing and ordering him to "Move it!"
Damn. That was a little hot.
Pushing your way through the dancers and out the door, you let out a small gasp at the soldier standing in front of you. Cleo, ever the quick thinker, used her device to have a rat crawl down his throat.
"Remind me not to get on your bad side."
You eventually made your way outside in an alley. Milton jogged over once he caught sight of you four.
"Your equipment manipulates animal behavior, clever," Grieves spoke out. "I'm working on something similar with humans."
"Be quiet, please."
"You are perceivably panicked. I'm guessing that you are not the alphas of this battalion."
"Do you want a dozen angry rodents crawling up your ass?" Cleo snapped.
"My answer might not be what you expect."
"Disgusting," you commented as Abner ushered Grieves to move.
You quickly made your way into the van. Milton took the driver's seat, Abner sat in the middle across from Grieves who still had a gun pointed at him, and you and Cleo took a seat in the back by Nanaue.
"Hello, friends!"
"Hi, yes, hello to you too, Nanaue," you said before pointing at Grieves. "Nom nom this man if I give the word."
"Okay!"
Cleo rummaged through DuBois bag before handing you the coordinate pad he spoke of earlier. Was that a picture of his daughter you saw? You couldn't get a good look since Cleo zipped up the bag. Coordinates in hand, you made your way back up the front to give Milton directions.
"Oh ho ho, what's this?" Grieves smuggly declared. You were too busy paying attention to the road to hear him.
"What's what?"
"I saw that little look you gave to your teammate."
"There was no look," Abner denied.
"Ah, but there was. How are you going to pretend you weren't just looking at their ass as they passed? You seem to have a school boy crush."
"Abner has a crush?" Cleo entered the conversation.
"No!"
Grieves laughed before answering Cleo. "You seem to have forgotten that I study people for a living, and I am very good at my job."
"Pet pet and Polky?" Nanaue piped up from the back.
"No! No Pet pet and Polky," Abner said with exasperation. However, upon looking at you and seeing how captivating you looked under the flashing lights of the street lamps, he followed it up with defeated, "Okay, maybe Pet pet and Polky."
"Dios mío!" Cleo exclaimed before she was hurriedly shushed. They both looked over to see if you heard.
"Okay, now take a right onto this street."
You did not.
"I'm happy for you, Abner."
"You seem to have forgotten you are on a mission. This isn't some little girl's slumber party."
Cleo slapped Grieves over the back of the head as Abner seemed to remember that he had a gun in his hand.
"Be quiet."
"Is- is that them?"
The team all looked at you as they looked out the window. Following your gaze, it landed on an upside down armored vehicle in a ditch.
"Of course it is, who else would be dumb enough," you sighed.
Milton slowly approached the area and parked the van. As soon as it stopped you jumped out to see if they were still there. Turns out you didn't have to wait long; the back door unlocked to reveal your three teammates scuffed but otherwise unharmed.
You wouldn't admit it but you felt relieved.
"All right," Robert grunted. "Let's go to Jotunheim."
"Nope. There's somethin' we gotta take care of first."
"What?"
Rick sighed out, "As much as it pains me to say, we gotta get Harley Quinn."
"Harley who?"
"Quinn. She was on Team 1 with me. Now that I know where she is, we gotta go get her."
"Fuck no."
"Come on, man." They made their way back into the van after you. "She's a valuable asset."
"I said no."
"Don't make me get Waller into this."
Robert thought for a moment. "Fuck, fine, alright. We'll go get 'er."
Everyone eventually got seated. This time you actually sat in a seat since you weren't planning on taking an impromptu nap—although that did sound nice. Flag filled Milton out on the details and directed him on where to go as you all got cozy. Robert and Chris were going at it again, Cleo was asleep, Nanaue was trying to get you to sit in his lap, and Abner was watching in amusement.
"No."
"Yes."
"I said no."
"Pet pet?"
"No, Nanaue."
Nanaue put on his best pout, "Please?"
You should not have turned around to look at him. Sighing, you stood up and made your way over to him.
"Hahaha!" He sounded like a giddy kid in a candy store. He gently picked you up and placed you on his lap. Immediately he started petting you again and hummed. Your legs were cramped and you felt like you were about to fall off his lap. Without saying anything, you sprawled your legs across Abner's lap. He just looked at you with a smile before adjusting himself to accommodate you. Resting his arms over your legs, he continued looking out the window.
"How fascinating."
"Hmm?" You looked at Grieves.
"You don't happen to also control animal behavior, do you?"
"Why would I tell you that?"
"Fair."
You heard a loud sigh from Chris. "Is this going to become a regular occurance?"
"What, you jealous? I'm calling it now, if we have another night during this mission I'm using him as my cuddle buddy."
"Whatever."
Although you said you wouldn't, you were almost asleep before Robert made the call for everyone to gear up. While everyone was rushing to get their gear on, you just yawned and leaned over to handcuff Grieves to a seat before making yourself at home on Nanaue again. You weren't exactly trained to fight with weapons, although you did grab a nearby combat knife to carry.
"You gotta be kiddin' me. You're gonna risk the entire mission for a mental defective dressed as a court jester."
"This is coming from a guy that wears a toilet seat on his head."
"We don't leave our own behind," Rick reminded.
"You're okay with this?"
"No, but I've been around Flag when he's got a rag in his mouth. Best not to tug it."
"Motherfucker!"
Just as everyone seemed almost ready, you hopped off Nanaue and gently nudged Cleo.
"Come on, gotta wake up."
"All right, let's go."
Everyone—besides Grieves—exited the vehicle before Flag announced his plan.
"All right, we'll enter through the third floor, go to the inner staircase, and then down to the cellar where they usually keep their detainees. Hopefully, Harley's still alive."
Still butthurt about what Robert said, Chris stubbornly muttered, "It's not a toilet seat, it's a beacon of freedom!"
Everyone got into position; Peacemaker somehow scaled a building to get a vantage point, Abner was down the street looking for traffic, Rick and Robert were beside one of the walls ready to climb to the third floor, you turned into a bird (much to the amazement of your team) so you could quickly enter the window Robert would open, and Nanaue—who forgot you turned into a bird—stared at you.
"Ratatouille, what do you got?"
"Third floor hallway's clear. Abner?"
"There doesn't seem to be any incoming traffic."
"Bird."
"Nanaue, that's Mimic you meathead- and stay off the comm!"
"Colonel, I got a clean shot on the only one in the office. Just give the word."
"Fire on three, two..."
"What're you guys doing?"
Rick looked at Harley, then DuBois, then back to Harley. "I... you- we're here to save you."
"You were gonna... save me?" Harley visibly looked touched.
"It was a really good plan, too."
"Well I can go back inside and you can still do it."
"That's patronizing," Bloodsport commented.
You saw Harley drag a big stick thing over to Flag and hug him.
"Uh, what's with the javelin?"
"I'm waiting for God to tell me."
"Jesus Christ..."
"Yeah, or Him. Or any of them, really."
You and Nanaue watched as Harley and Bloodsport had an awkward introduction.
"Never mind everyone, Harley is secure."
"What?"
"Meet me in the van so we can leave as quickly as possible."
Sighing, you morphed back into your original form. Nanaue made an audible gasp as he saw you sitting on the railing.
"Pet pet?
"Yes, Nanaue, it's me, Pet pet."
King Shark laughed as he started petting you immediately. Resisting the urge to roll your eyes, you swatted his hand away and motioned for him to follow you.
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superhero--imagines · 4 years ago
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Part 1 Here! / Part 2 Here! / Part 3 Here! / Part 4 Here! / Part 5 Here! / Part 6 Here! / Part 7 Here! / Part 8 Here! / Part 9 Here! / Part 10 Here! / Part 11 Here! / Part 12 Here!
A/N: Shout out to @ideas-for-you-to-adopt​ for inspiring/writing a lot of the headcanons used for the “Bella Suspicion” part of this chapter!
I’m posting this a day early, because, well I’m flakey like that
* You spear another piece of pineapple, your teeth grinding together
* “I think that sounds perfect!” Lauren squeals lightly grasping Bella’s shoulder, Bella gives a small smile in return.
* You know what isn’t perfect?
* The fact that nothing is going according to plan.
* It’s already a month in and NOTHING has happened. You stab another piece of pineapple, sticking it into your mouth
* You’ve hung back in the school parking lot everyday for a MONTH, you were even late to cheer practice once, just to see if the “Tyler Van Accident”  happened.
* Only it never did, and you didn’t know why until Lauren confided that she and Tyler had been hooking up lately.
* As in hooking up at her house after school before her parents came home.
* Of course it’s not going to happen when Tyler’s ditching his last period to drive to her house
* What a mess
* You chew the pineapple carefully, just like a human would. Because even though Bella knows LITERALLY NOTHING. She somehow suspects everything.
* You watch her from the corner of your eye, making polite conversation with Angela about biology next period.
* The amount of questions she has about you is ridiculous
* How did you meet Edward? How does your family know the Cullen’s? Where are you adoptive parents now? If they’re back in the states why haven’t you gone to live with them?
* It’s literally never ending. And that’s just her trying to poke holes in your story.
* You’re not even going to start with all the stuff she’s commented on your physical appearance
* “Hey don’t you think it’s weird they all have gold eyes?” You had heard Bella quietly ask Jessica when she thought you couldn’t hear
* “Not really, they’ve got like six kids, so when one kid needs something more of them do too. (Y/N) told me Alice wanted color contacts so Dr. Cullen just bought some for all of them.”
* And then the week before that, while you were doing a stunt at a basketball game Bella said:
* “Aren’t they like, too strong?” You were lifting up a girl all on your own.
* “Oh yeah- I guess you never saw the video, apparently they’re jacked.” Conner says, with a shrug.
* “Yeah they heard working out helps with stress when they were like 12 and just never stopped.” Mike adds absentmindedly
* And if that wasn’t enough she’s even said this a few weeks before that:
* “Don’t you think it’s weird how beautiful they all are?” Lauren wrinkles her nose, at the time she had gotten used to Bella but she still doesn’t seem to like her very much
* “Not really, I remember (Y/N) wasn’t all that pretty freshman year, they used to wear these really dorky glasses.”
* You had almost started to forget how good you had it, after you did all the leg work in the last two years to establish that you were normal -just kinda quirky- you had just started to enjoy the pay off. A little more lax with your appearance, wearing clothes you liked, doing more solo routines in cheer.
* Only for little Miss.Curious to show up
* Now you have to try extra hard to look human again. And not just you, the entire coven does, because when one of you falls under suspicion you all do.
* Rosalie’s been making her hair look messy every so often to give the illusion that she’s having a bad hair day, Alice wears a retainer every so often, even Emmett pretends to need the bathroom more than he usually does.
* This morning you even had Rosalie do a fake pimple on your jaw.
* If Bella wasn’t going to be your best friends’ future wife, you think you might just hate her.
* You kind of sympathize with Rosalie in the book now.
* “Hey (Y/N) are you in?” Conner asks nudging his elbow against yours.
* “In for what?” You mumble, spearing another piece of pineapple. Another downside is now you have to eat at lunch. Otherwise Bella starts asking why you never eat and everyone gets really concerned and starts force feeding you
* God, all those years of establish you have low blood sugar and acid reflux induced nausea for nothing
* “La Push beach, we’re all going this weekend.” You perk up at the mention
* Finally, something’s getting back on track
* “Can’t, cheer stuff.” You mumble, shoving your food around your plate with your fork.
* You don’t miss Bella’s meaningful glance on your mostly full plate.
* Oh great, you can practically see the question “don’t you think it’s weird how they never eat anything?” Forming in the inner corners of her mind
* “What about you Edward?” Lauren flutters her eyelashes and you have to stop yourself from rolling your eyes.
* Lauren’s still annoyed that even though they’re hooking up, Tyler hasn’t made anything official yet
* Alice told her flirting with another guy might help.
* “He’s not going either.” You say before Edward can even open his mouth. He doesn’t say anything just gives you a questioning look and a smile.
* Looks like he’s finding everyone else’s thoughts more interesting
* “Are you guys going on a date?” Jessica waggles her eyebrows and on the other side of the table Bella sputters.
* You roll your eyes
* “No Jessica, but if I can’t go have fun neither can he.” Technically you both are forbidden to go on tribal land but whatever. “Best friend code.”
* Also you’re pretty sure Edward and Emmett are going to Yellowstone to eat bears or something, like a couple of heathens
* The thought of eating straight out of bear, no idea what they’ve eaten or where they’ve been doing their business, makes you shudder. 
* You did mention to them both that if they happen to find an orphaned bear cub somewhere to bring it back. You’ve been wanting to experiment with bear blood. 
* “Best friend code.” Edward repeats slowly, and the look he gives you makes your stomach flutter. And it’s not because you just ate half a salad.
* You’re knocked out of the look when Conner bumps his knee against yours
* “Well that’s a shame, I was looking forward to seeing you in a swimsuit.”
* So Conner’s been flirting a lot with you lately. Kind of weird, your best guess is that he was hoping to date Lauren, but now that she’s kinda seeing Tyler, you’re starting to look good.
* “Maybe you should have a pool party at that fancy house of yours then.” The group laughs but Conner just smirks
* “Whatever you want babe but-“ the bell cuts him off and you give him a consolatory pat on the arm.
* You move to throw away the leftover food on your plate, walking with Edward
* “We’re ditching right?” You ask him as you toss the plate into the trash.
* “Yeah Mr. Barnes is doing his blood type experiment today.” Like he even needs an excuse to skip school. “Do you want to go to the bookstore or something?”
* You shake your head, that won’t do, when Bella faints Edward needs to be there so they can fall in love
* “Wanna just hang out in my car? We can listen to that new Debussy CD I got.”
* Edward gives you a small smile, like he’s not really happy
* “Whatever you want.”
* Wait what’s up with that.
* “Hey, (Y/N)!” Bella calls out for you and Edward grimaces.
* “I’ll meet you at your car” wait he’s not going to stay here? If this was a dating video game he’d be the kind of player that wasted all the capture flags and then complains when they end up all alone.
* He leaves just as Bella gets to you. She spares a fleeting glance in Edward’s direction, almost looking sad as she watches him walk away before she looks to you
* “Are you heading over to biology?” She really is cute, like a puppy. She must have been hoping to get a little closer to Edward. 
* You almost feel bad for not warning her what with her issues on blood.
* “Nah I’ve got to finish my trig homework so I’m going to skip.” You fake a yawn.
* Oh, before you forget
* “I actually got you something.”
* You hand her a carefully wrapped gift bag, compliments of Rosalie of course
* “Vitamins?” Bella asks, her eyebrows threading together
* “Yeah, it’s like a vitamin powder, you just add it to water. We bought a big family pack so I thought I would share some with you.”
* Also because you’re 100% sure she’s anemic.
* Part of the reason you like the way she smells so much is because of her anemia, if it’s just the peach scent you can probably contain yourself. 
* You wave goodbye and Bella looks down at the package in her hands with a goofy expression. She hugs it to her chest before her expression pinches.
* “I should have offered to let them copy my notes” Bella murmurs to herself. Smacking her forehead and walking to biology.
* When you manage to sneak out to the parking lot through the gym doors, you see Edward leaning against your car, looking bored as he looks to the tree line
* “Why didn’t you sit inside? You look like a douchebag.”
* “I would have if someone had given me the keys”
* Like that’s stopped him before
* You unlock the car, letting it start with a hum before you pull out your trig homework
* You weren’t entirely lying to Bella, you really hadn’t finished you homework
* Edward pulls out a book from his bag, you’re not ashamed to say you’ve gotten him super into “The City of Ember” series
* “Hey why did you walk away when Bella came over?” you’re only half curious, mostly just trying to make conversation. “You don’t hate her do you?” You add with a laugh.
* The mere thought of Edward Cullen hating Bella Swan is laughable.
* “Yeah I do.” 
* You find yourself coughing from the sheer shock. 
* “You mean she frustrates you because you can’t read her mind.” Edward has spared you a concerned glance when you started coughing, but has turned his attention back to his book
*” No I mean I don’t like her, and I don’t like being around her.” He doesn’t look up from his book as he says it. 
* “But why?” Yeah she’s a little plain, and she’s still pretty shy even though you’ve been hanging out for a month and all those damn questions
* But she’s got good taste in books, and she’s pretty straightforward.
* She’s not the type of person to go behind your back, if you did something to upset her she’ll tell you straight to your face.
* Honestly she’s a lot like Angela, minus the hidden cunning nature.
* Edward eyes narrow and a heavy sigh escapes him. His head tilts back to rest against the passenger seat headrest.
* His neck is so long and white. The color of freshly fallen snow. You can’t help but think of how pretty it would look covered in hickeys.
* Like poppy’s blossoming in the snow. 
* Can vampires get hickeys? Would it just be like black instead of red since none of you really have blood anymore. 
* “I just don’t like-” He cuts himself off when his eyes meet yours, they seem to shine brighter for a moment, and you tilt your head. This feels like a meaningful look. 
* Edward sighs and looks away.
* “I just don’t like her vibe.” 
*”Vibe? Are you an Edward shaped imposter?” you see him mouth ‘Edward Shaped Imposter’ as you both laugh. 
* “Where did you learn to say these things?” He asks between laughs. You mock gasp.
* “The real Edward would never ask me that because he’s too afraid to know! Who are you really? What planet are you from?” Your hands move to his face, his face is as smooth as marble, lingering warmth. You leaned in without thinking about it, only a few inches away from him. 
* You’re so close you can smell him. He always smells good, like something ancient and profound. Rosemary and argon oil. 
* Your hands are still on his face and he’s grinning. 
* You gulp
* You’re trying to think of another ridiculous imposter joke you can make wen you catch a familiar head of blond hair through the window.
* “Is that Mike and ... Bella?”  
* This is a lot sooner than you thought, it hasn’t even been ten minutes yet.
* Edward looks almost bored as he follows your gaze. 
* “Yeah, looks like she made herself sick, she’s - what’s that word for when people are afraid of blood?” 
* “Hemophobia?”
* “Yeah, that’s what she has.”
* You wait for a second, releasing his face from your hands, but instead of moving to open the door he slumps back into his seat, eyes focused on his book. 
* “Don’t you think we should go help them?” He shrugs. 
* The f*cking criminal just shrugs. 
* WHAT THE F*CK IS GOING ON?!?!
* Human or not, there’s no world Edward wouldn’t at least think about helping someone who’s in trouble. 
* You’re starting to think this really is an Edward imposter. 
* You watch Bella lean on Mike, stumbling down the crosswalk to the nurse’s office in the next building. 
* You can’t watch anymore 
* ‘You know you-” You words finally get Edward’s attention as he looks up from his book. “You are wasting all the capture flags!” You shout before sliding out of your car and jogging over to Mike and Bella
* “Mike! What happened?” He’s so surprised to see you his grip on Bella goes slack and she falls out of his side hold.
* “Oh crap!” 
* You rush to catch her, swinging her into a princess hold.
* What was Mike struggling with so much? She’s not very hea - oh right you’re a vampire.
* “Are you alright, I know she’s kinda heavy.” Well that’s not very nice to say about a girl, besides she’s pretty skinny. Can’t be more than 120 pounds. 
* “It’s no problem, I do it for cheer are all the time.” You do a fake grunt as you pretend to get a better hold on her. 
* The movement jostle her awake, her eyes fluttering open. She’s still in a dreamy state, her eyes are unfocused. 
* “(Y/N)?” 
* “Hey buddy, looks like ya fainted, squeamish around blood huh?”
* “How do you know we were doing the blood type experiment?” Mike asks.
* Oh crap. You were skipping, you weren’t supposed to know that. Even worse you brain can’t seem to come up with a valid excuse.
* “Alice told us about it, (Y/N) used to be squeamish around blood when we were kids, didn’t want to take any chances” You let out a sigh of relief when you see Edward walking towards you. At least he’s not completely heartless. 
*”Then why were you skipping?” Mike asks scratching his head. Edward shrugs
* “They can’t go to class, then I won’t go either.” And then the criminal looks you straight in the eye and says with the cheekiest smile imaginable:
*“It’s the best friend code”
* Oh f*ck off Edward. 
* You almost want to scoff when he takes Bella from your arms and into his.
* SO now he wants to care about the capture flag. 
* You let him take her though, You swear you see her stiffen and frown when he holds her.
* That can’t be right, she seemed super relaxed when you were carrying her.
* “I-I’m fine I can walk.”
* “No you can’t.” Edward bluntly says.
* Even when he gets to capture event, he says all the wrong things. You sigh as you walk behind him. Only to notice another set of footsteps by you. 
* “You can go back if you want Mike, Edward won’t kidnap her or anything.” He might throw her into the lake though.
* Mike shakes his head. “No it just seems wrong to not make sure she at least gets to the nurses office.” 
*You smile, he really is a kind boy. 
* “Also I’ll be damned if Bella gives Edward all the credit.” Well mostly kind.
* You get to the nurses office, who seems incredibly flustered with both you and Edward in such a small space.
* She seems so preoccupied keeping her wits about her as she checks out Bella and deals with your presence that she never asks why three people had to escort one person to the nurses office.
* “Well your blood pressure is a little low, since you fainted I would suggest you go home. If you want you can take a nap in here until school’s out.” Wow, where was a nurse this generous when you were in school.
* Bella, the beautiful moron, shakes her head.
* “No it’s okay I’ll go back to class, I don’t want to take a zero for the assignment” Well that’s noble and responsible and all. But what does she think is going to happen when she goes back to class?
* She’s going to see some blood again and faint. Not that you can be mad, you would probably have to go the the nurse too if Bella ever managed to prick her own finger
* “Bella you really shouldn’t,” You settle your hand on her shoulder pushing her back onto the chair. “You just fainted you should lie down, or go home or something.”
* Her eyebrows thread together, mouth pulled in protest. 
* “I don’t want to impose on any-”
* “It’s not an imposition, I want to!” Her mouth parts, then closes, stretching into a fine line. You look to Edward who’s avoiding your gaze and seems very irritated.
* Enemies to lovers trope it is.(Though you’re not sure if this counts as enemies if only one person dislikes the other)
* “I’m going to drop you off home, come on.” You pull Bella up by her hand, leading her to the parking lot. 
* “Wait what about my car?” 
* Oh you hadn’t thought about that. 
*Hmmm in the original book Alice drove her home. But Alice doesn’t really do anything unless there’s something in it for her, or if she wants to.
* Also you’re pretty sure when she ditched today when she found out that people were pricking there finger on campus. She claimed it was for Jasper, but you’re pretty sure there’s a sale in the Nordstrom in Seattle.
* Edward would rather get the flu than drive Bella’s ancient truck.
* Which leaves only one option.
* You toss your keys to Edward who catches them with one hand.
* “Edward will drive you home in my car, and I’ll drive your car behind him.” 
* “What about Rosalie?” He grumbles.
*“What about Rosalie?” Why is he being so difficult right now? Doesn’t he realize you’re doing this all for him!
* “You’re driving her home since Emmett and I are leaving for Yellow Stone as soon as school lets out.” Oh right the bears. Cr*p.
* “It’s not a big deal, I’ll drive back to school after we’re done and you can go your way and I’ll go mine.”
* You can tell Edward doesn’t like it, but he just sigh’s climbing into your car and then promptly getting out of the passenger side and sitting in the driver’s side.
* The dork forgot he had to drive the car.
* You’re dying laughing as Bella leads you to her car.
* “It’s the blue one.”
* Her truck isn’t all that bad. It’s old, but in a kind of retro way. It’s powder blue, with only two doors and no backseat. 
* You climb in, turning the engine and hearing it purr. Well it’s more of a roar, but it’s not terrible.
* You’re surprised when Bella climbs through the passenger side door. 
* “Um, you’re not going to drive with Edward?” She looks at you like you just asked her to recite the Fibonacci sequence. 
* “Why would I go with him when you’re the one driving my car?” Okay, that’s fair.
* You sigh, why does nothing ever go according to plan.
* Maybe it’s for the best, Edward doesn’t seem to be in the best mood. Not that this is good either, she’s sitting so close to you, her peachy scent fills the small space of the truck and you feel lightheaded.
* It’s less than a ten minute trip, no need to get dramatic. You’re pretty sure you won’t kill her just because she smells nice.
* “Soooooo... what do you want to talk about?” You ask as you turn out of the school, this car is super slow compared to yours, you’re pretty sure it won’t go over 50 mph.
* Bella fidgets beside you, playing with the ends of her hair. 
* “So are you and Edward...dating?”
* You laugh so loud you actually start coughing. And then you laugh again. 
* “No-pfff- no We’re uh- we’re not dating.” You finally manage. 
* “Why is that so funny to you?” She asks, genuinely confused.
* “Well it’s just outrageous you know?” How would that even work? You can’t even picture it. Edward getting all hot and bothered because you’re wearing an oversized sweater and glasses. You flirting with him all over the house in front of Carlisle and Esme. Edward signing up for a sport just so he can see you in his letterman.
* It’s all...impossible.
* And yet, there is one thing you can picture. 
* Edward by your side, he’s almost golden brown, his eyes bright green. He points to the living room, and in there are Alec and Jane, both of their eyes blue as they argue over who’s turn it is to watch TV. 
* Maybe if you were human, if you had met in a different world or a different time, that would be something you could have. 
* But it is what it is
* “Edward and I have been friends for a really long time, we’ve just seen too much of each other to find each other attractive like that.” 
* Bella looks like she doesn’t believe you but she doesn’t say anything.
* Wait what are you doing? This is the perfect chance to talk Edward up!
* “But you know Edward is a real stand up guy!” It leaves a little too forcefully, a little inauthentic.
* “Oh is he?” She doesn’t sound too excited to be talking about this.
* “I know he’s got one of those face-”
* “Obnoxiously handsome?” She spats 
* “Like he thinks existence is a curse, and the world is evil and everything is terrible -” Wait you’re getting off track. “B-but he really is a good guy!”
* You bite your lip, as Bella tells you to turn into a subdivision. 
* “You know after- after I was adopted,” After your parents died. “I was really lonely, I had a family that loved me and anything I asked for but I didn’t really have anyone to talk to” Oh god, why did you choose this story to pick? “Edward was probably the only friend my age I had for years.”
* She straightens up a little bit, a curious glint in her eyes.
* “Really?” You nod.
* “Yeah he would come by every Monday and Wednesday,” You still remember the crunch of the snow under your feet as you both walked to the barn. He always asked why you didn’t just run, and you always told him because you liked the way you could see your breath hang in the air,
* “He could have been out that time, hanging out with other people,” More well adjusted vampires, who hunted instead of harvesting small amounts from animals they raised. “or chasing girls and playing sports, but he stayed with me.”
* “He always made me feel safe, and I’m sure whoever is lucky enough to end up with him will feel that way too.” 
* “I think you’re giving him too much credit” Bella finally says, you smile at her
* “what do you mean?” 
* “Well, who wouldn’t drop everything to hang out with you?” You can’t tell if she’s being genuine or if she’s bitter. Your eyes meet hers and there’s a twinkle in them. ”My house is the one on the left, the one with the magnolia tree.”
* You come to a stop in front of the house she mentioned, shifting it into park, and handing her the keys. 
* You don’t say anything as you climb out of her car. You see Edward stopped a few dozen feet behind her truck, your jeep still on. 
* “Thanks for driving me home” She smiles at you, a real smile that reaches her eyes. It’s nice.
* “No problem, it gave me an excuse to ditch school too haha.” You both stand in awkward silence. Neither of you moving. 
* Well damn what are you supposed to do now?
* “Oh, hey do you want me to bring you your homework or anything?” 
* She perks up at that, reaching into her pocket
*  “If you don’t mind, could you text me what page he homework is on for trig today?” 
* “ Oh for sure! No problem at all” You take her cell phone in your hand. It’s a white sidekick, with a picture of a cactus on the back. She must have gotten it when she moved.
* You can’t help but wonder if she has any friends she misses. She spent her entire life in one community, sure Phoenix is a pretty big place, but she must have had friends, people she sat with at lunch everyday, girls she had known since childhood, sleepovers where they whispered about boys they had crushes on.
* As you hand her phone back, your contact information saved in it, you can’t help but wonder who this person in front of you is. You know her, but at the same time, you know absolutely nothing about her. 
* “See you Monday!” You wave goodbye as you get into the passenger side of your car, and Bella waits on the porch until you and Edward leave.
* Edward’s got that look on his face.
* “Edward why are you mad?” 
* “I’m not mad.” He grumbles and you raise an eyebrow. He sighs.
* “You’re going out of your way an awful lot for that human.” He says as he turns back onto the highway.
* “It’s just the right thing to do Eddie.” 
* He shakes his head, his mouth pinched into a frown
* “Just be careful, I don’t know what that one’s thinking, she could be planning to burn our entire coven for all I know.”
* You roll your eyes, yeah you bet Bella who weights exactly 115 pounds, and has anemia is single handedly planning to bring down the entire vampire race. 
* “How about we make a deal, I’ll promise not to rock the boat while you and Emmett are gone-”
* “Why do I feel like I’m going to regret not covering my ears?”
*” If you promise to bring me back a bear cub - an orphaned one.” He gives you a look you don’t quite care for.
* “You want me to kill a mother bear so you can have a bear cub?” 
* “No of course not! I’m just saying- Emmett doesn’t really look before he kills  so if he kills a mother bear, just make sure you bring me the cubs.” 
* “Why do you even want a bear? How are you planning to take care of it with all those deer around, they need a lot-”
* “Yes Dad I know it’s a big responsibility, don’t worry I won’t make you take it on walks or anything.” 
* Edward gulps hard, one hand detaching from the steering wheel to cover his mouth. 
* Wouldn’t it be positively sinful for you to be underneath him, whining ‘daddy, please’ in that breathy voice of yours and-
* Edward.exe is broken. 
* “Dude you really need to get your shit together before you go on your trip, we’ve been parked for fifteen minutes and your foot is still on the brake.” You say as you get out of the car
* He hits his head against the steering wheel.
* “Yeah, I really do need to get my shit together.” 
Tags:  @moonlights27 @thebluetint @the100thtwilight @awesomebooklover17 @oneofthepotterheads @smileygirl08 @imdoingathingmom @iconicgguk @yrawn @alyciaswhore @little-horror-show @wicked-watering-can @lazydreamers @ xxxmuxxx  @ideas-for-you-to-adopt​​ @poisoinedhope @maryleigh8796​ @moose-squirrel-asstiel​ @hotmessgoodness​
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songmingisthighs · 4 years ago
Text
[15.08] badboy!seonghwa × reader
⇀ had you known that's why he confessed, would you have accepted him ? Or smack his annoyingly perfect face with your laptop ?
⇁ part 1 / 2
⇁ prologue part 1 / 2 / 3
Things had gone great between you and Seonghwa. You and he would often meet at your dorm or at the diner at least three times a week.
You'd ask him why you both never hung at his dorm but his answer was that he doesn't want the boys to disturb your 'quality time'.
Normally you'd question answers like that, but the way he looks at you and holds your hand made you forget why you even wanna ask that in the first place.
But like all things, everything dissipates with time.
Nearing the end of the semester, group projects lessen and solo assignments accumulate which put a strain between your and Seonghwa's hangout time. You've tried convincing him that you both can hang out whilst doing your solo assignments but you remembered how his eyes trailed after a girl as you spoke at one of your last hangouts at the diner.
Seems like he's lost interest in you too.
Which, it sure hurts, but you both were never official and neither had verbally confirmed to the other about their feelings. It sucks.
But you power through.
You pretend that his silence during class's group discussion didn't affect you, you pretend that when he immediately pack up his stuff to leave the class and only throwing you a polite smile didn't make your heart wrench, you pretend that him ghosting you didn't make you feel both embarrassed and angry at the same time.
You're light and breezy.
Heck, you're so light and breezy, you still go to that diner every Friday all alone. And it's not because you had hoped to see one particular man.
Even though you did.
When he was on a date with some girl who's obviously very pretty.
On the booth you both had 'claimed' as 'your booth' without ever verbally saying it.
"Hi, excuse me," a voice broke your train of thoughts.
You look up from your book to see a really handsome man standing in front of you with a smile on his face. He looks very handsome, definitely mixed-race, and he has this chill aura on him that is honestly refreshing to you.
"Sorry to bother you, but can I sit here?" He asked. You look around to see that there are a lot of other places left in the library where he could've sat.
Sensing your apprehension, the man raised both of his hands, "I'm not a creep or a weirdo, I'm just very particular about where I work,"
He's got a point. So you just nodded, "sure, it's not my table or anything anyways, you could've just taken a seat without asking my permission," he shrugged as he put his things across you, "I mean sure, but you seemed like you don't wanna be bothered and this particular spot has the best walking distance to anywhere at all and plus the secret charging port? Genius," he said, grinning proudly.
You raised your eyebrows at him, "you seem to know your way around the table, mister..." you trailed off to which he immediately caught on, "Hansol, Choi Hansol, but my friends calls me Vernon," he held his hand out for you to shake, "(Y/N), (Y/N) (Y/L/N), and why Vernon?" "My english name, I'm half American,"
And with that, you got yourself a new friend.
Vernon is a computer science major, and the other thing major about him is his nerdiness. And his hotness. Which is a ridiculous combination.
Ever since that day in the library, you both somehow find the other popping up everywhere. Just a day after your first meeting in the library, he came into the café you part-timed at. He came in to order 13 drinks and several pastries, shocking you at first but then he told you he lives in a frat house with 12 other guys and that he's not a caffeine addict.
Then you both bonded over the many sessions in the library which eventually venture out to sitting together during lunch, and then suddenly you both started meeting outside campus.
And this did not go unnoticed by Seonghwa.
"Hey, Seonghwa, how well do you know (Y/N)?" Hongjoong asked, breaking Seonghwa's glare on you and Vernon from all the way across the cafeteria.
Seonghwa raised an eyebrow at him, "(Y/N) from my statistics class?" As if he hadn't considered you as something more at some point, "I'd say well enough as a groupmate, why?" He asked back.
Hongjoong nodded towards you and Vernon with his chin, "Vernon there saw you both working together and he wants to make sure he won't be stepping on anyone's toes when he's making a move on her,"
At that moment, Seonghwa almost choked on his fries. Too surprised with the fact that you've possibly moved on from him so quickly.
It's only been a month and a half since you both stopped hanging out outside of obligation.
Hearing that made his blood boil and he's pretty sure it's not jealousy. Most likely territorialism. HE took interest in you first waaaaay before Vernon did.
The smile and laugh you give Vernon was supposed to be for him. He used to make you laugh so hard at any stupid pun he concocted in his head. No matter how stupid it is nor how much it doesn't make any sense.
To be completely honest, he didn't know why he pulled away from you in the first place. He had been so comfortable with you, never once had he ever let his guard down and just be carefree, not even with his closest friends.
He needs to get you back to him.
No matter what.
So he made his move the next time you both had statistics again.
Unlucky for him though, the professor decided to not have any group discussion that day which threw Seonghwa's plan out the window. But thankfully he still remembered your schedule, you don't have any class after statistics which means you'd be grabbing a simple lunch before your part-time job starts until 8 pm.
So he waited patiently for the bell to ring.
Legs bouncing in anticipation as his eyes flit towards the clock every five minutes.
When the professor finally dismissed the class (10 minutes later than he's supposed to, as per usual), he immediately put all his belongings back in his bag and ran after you. Somehow you've mastered the art of cleaning up quickly over the month and a half without him.
"(Y/N)! Wait!" Seonghwa called.
You stopped in your tracks and turn your head to see Seonghwa jogging towards you with that stupid, charming smile on his face.
Damn his good looks.
"Yeah? Is there something wrong?" you asked him when he caught up to you. He raised an eyebrow at you, confused as to why you'd think there'd be anything wrong.
"Ah!" you suddenly exclaimed, "Is this about my part of the presentation? Don't worry, I'm close to finishing it, I should be able to compile it in the PPT tonight by... 9.30-ish? I have to finish my shift at the café," you explained.
He chuckled at you, deep voice that you oh so missed ringing in your ears, "wha- no, (Y/N), I'm not here to talk about our project, I just wanna... talk with you," he said, tilting his head to the side slightly. It somehow made him look both hot and cute at the same time. Which doesn't make sense.
Now it was your turn to raise an eyebrow at him while crossing your arms, "why? No offence, Seonghwa, but you've kinda been blowing me off for the past month and a half now, what makes you think I'd have anything to talk with you about?"
Those words coming out of your mouth shocked him. It's not like he didn't expect some apprehension from you, but hostility? Boy, you must've been really affected by his shitty doings.
"I-I- no, (Y/N), I haven't been blowing you off," bullshit, even he knows that, "I've just been really-" "really... what? Absent? Ghosty? Hot and cold? Whatever it is, Seonghwa, you don't owe me any explanation," you tried your best to not roll your eyes at him because honestly, how dare he blew you off and now acting like he didn't whilst hoping you don't notice what he has been doing.
What did he take you for? One of his brainless bimbos?
Surprised at your words, Seonghwa was left stunned. You waited for a solid 10 seconds for him to say something. Anything.
Literally, how hard is it to say sorry?
Realizing he wouldn't realize what he's supposed to do, you just shook your head at him, "I'll finish inputting and editing my part by tonight, I'll see you in class next week, Seonghwa," you said before walking away.
You would've thought that he'd take the hint and go back to ignoring you.
But now, of course not. He's stubborn and he plays by his own rules. It's an understatement to say that you were shocked when you saw him entering the café nearing the end of your shift.
Despite the shock of seeing him, you pretended like nothing's wrong and do what you're supposed to do to any other customer as per usual.
Heck, you'd give yourself a pat on the back, head, and butt for being so calm whilst handling Seonghwa. You managed to keep that "strictly professional" smile on your face as you take his orders, you didn't fumble when he made small talks as you typed in his orders into the computer (like really, who the heck said "good thing tonight's not cloudly, love the moonlight," ??), and you didn't flinch when your hands accidently touch as you hand him his strawberry frappucino.
Yes, the badboy strictly and secretly drink sweet, fruity drinks.
You'd thought that his presence was merely a coincidence. As he waited in his table, you had assumed that he's waiting for some girl (who isn't you, sadly) so all you wanna do is run out of there as soon as you can.
"Hey, Jaemin," you called your co-worker who's in the middle of sipping his 6 shot americano at 8 pm, "I'm gonna head out, okay? Think you can hold the fort until Yena's here? She said she has to turn in an assignment, that's why she's late,"
Jaemin just rolled his eyes at you, "(Y/N), I'm drinking coffee that's powerful enough to paralyze a horse, I can definitely handle the slow Wednesday night crowd," he said sarcastically to which you laugh.
After getting your things from your locker in the back room, you proceed to go out through the front door.
Unbeknownst to you, Seonghwa had followed behind.
You were only several steps away from the café when suddenly Seonghwa caught up to you and grab your hand.
Knowing that it's quite late and it's dark, Seonghwa should've known better. You honestly only feel slightly bad for punching his chest.
Slightly.
Like 2%.
"Jesus fucking Christ, Seonghwa you scared the devil out of me!" You exclaimed after realizing that it was just him, pulling your hand away from his grip. He coughed, trying to ease oxygen back to his lungs after you had brutally knocked them out.
"Guess I deserved that," he coughed out, but he was smirking as if he's amused by your attack, "sorry, I was just- I need to talk to you," he said, looking at you pleadingly.
"Well, it doesn't seem like that for the past month and a half, Seonghwa, you seemed just about done with me," you said while crossing your arms, your expression showing nothing but disdain at him. He seems to feel remorse after seeing how you looked at him. Never once did you showed any negativity nor hostility to him during the time you both spent together.
Seonghwa didn't really know what made him pull away from you. All he was sure of is that he felt something so strongly about you to the point that it scared him so much. He never felt the need to be with someone as much as when he was with you. He found himself thinking about you when you're both not together, he found himself only focusing on you and nothing else when you both are together, and he found his vulnerabilities open for you to access.
It scared him to hell and back when he realizes that there is a possibility of him wanting something more from you.
With you.
The man before you sighed, "I... Have no excuse for how I acted recently but believe me when I said that I regret pulling myself away from you because I'm scared, you're too good to and for someone like me, you deserve the best and I wanna be the best for you," he stepped closer to take both your hands in his, his eyes were genuine which rendered you incapable of being too mad at him, "I wish I could rewind the time and take back what I did, I never should have pulled away from you, I should have just told you the truth," he said.
For a second, he forgot about his image and he just let whatever he was feeling out, he wanted to make sure that you understand how he truly feels.
Both of you stood in silence, just staring at each other as he rubs his thumb on the back of your hand. With the way you're staring at him now, he was sure that your initial resolve had completely melted.
But suddenly from his peripheral vision, he saw Vernon coming out of a bookstore across the road and was looking around.
Remembering what prompted him to get closer to you again, he pulled you in close into his arms, a hand to your cheek and lips just centimetres away from his.
"So? Would you please give me another chance to show you how much you mean to me? Not as just some guy from your statistics class," his words made you chuckle and roll your eyes, "but as your boyfriend," he said before he could stop himself.
Your eyes widened, "m-me? With y-you? Boyfriend and girlfriend?" you choked out, not believing your ears in the first place. You wanted to make sure that he's not kidding, making a joke or making a fool out of you.
Instead of answering, however, he simply leaned in and places his lips softly on yours. The kiss was sweet, it conveyed how much he wants and misses you. For some reason it made you feel comforted, he feels like home and his arms makes you feel safe.
So then and there, you kiss him back as a form of an answer to him.
When you both finally pull away, you both could see dumb smiles decorating the other's face, proof of happiness over what just happen.
Remembering that you're in the middle of the road and there are people around you, you pulled away from his arms first but reached to tangle your hand in his.
"Come on, I believe I owed my groupmate my part of the presentation," you started as you walk, pulling him with you.
But as you walk, you turn your head at him to throw a flirty smirk, "boyfriend" you said, making him grin so wide, it could rival a Cheshire cat.
Maybe you and he isn't a bad idea at all.
All you can do now is hope that he won't break you.
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nothoughtsonlynat · 3 years ago
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Human (Natasha Romanoff)
Human: Chapter 1
A/N: Troyes, France is 6 hours ahead of NYC so 7pm there is 1pm in NYC. For the sake of this fic we’re going to pretend that the Battle of New York lasted quite a few hours.
*This is my first ever fic and I wrote it at 3am so bear with me
WARNINGS: swearing; mentions of weapons; violence; panic attack; anxiety; my crappy writing; and I think that’s it (lmk if there’s anything I should add)
Barcelona, Spain; January, 2012:
The repetitive ticking of the clock registered in my brain before my eyes even opened. I didn’t need that clock to know what time it was, of course. It was 4:30 am— the same time I've woken up everyday for the past twenty-five years of my life. I no longer need to wake up this early, yet it’s a habit so deeply engrained in my framework that it’s seemingly unbreakable. I roll out of bed and make my way into the dingy kitchen with light footsteps. With some quick math I figured that I got barely two hours of sleep last night, but that’s more than usual. I started the coffee machine and asked with a sigh, “Would you like some coffee or are you just going to lurk in the corner?”
The leather-clad stranger with an eyepatch stepped up to the kitchen island opposite of me and responded, “I wouldn’t mind a cup. I suppose I shouldn’t be surprised that you knew I was here.”
“Well, you know what they say about old habits. You got a name?”
“You can call me Fury. We have a lot to talk about, Eight.” I slid him a mug of cheap coffee and gestured for him to take a seat. 
“Then we’d better get started so you can get the hell out of my apartment.” He simply chuckled in response and I could already feel my patience wavering.
Two Hours Later:
“Strategic Homeland Intervention, Enforcement and Logistics Division? Really, dude?”
“Yeah, it’s a mouthful. Trust me I know.”
“I’m sorry that you came all this way for nothing, Fury, but there’s no way in hell I'm working for some government spy circus.”
“It’s technically an extra-governmental spy agency-“
“Doesn’t matter. I’m not joining,” I said, cutting him off.
“So, you’re just gonna hop from one shitty apartment to the next until you die? That doesn’t seem like a great life.”
“Better than the one I lived before.”
“You aren’t the person to live in hiding. You’re the person who thrives in the action and lives to kick ass, and we both know it.” When I didn’t respond he continued, “I’ll leave you my card. When you change your mind, which you will, you’ll know where to find me. You don’t have to be the bad guy anymore, Eight.” With that he slid off the stool and left my apartment, leaving me with nothing but my rapidly spiraling thoughts and a black business card.
Troyes, France; May, 2012:
It had been four months since Director Fury came to my apartment in Barcelona. We’d kept in contact and he hasn’t given up on me joining S.H.I.E.L.D.. I'm living in my third apartment since then. Wow…those landlords must really hate me. I was watching the seven o’clock news when I saw something that made me choke on my Cheerios. “An alien invasion?! What the fu-” My Cheerio-muffled exclamation was interrupted by the ring of my burner phone. “Hello?”
“Eight, you watched the news recently?”
“Uh yeah, I'm watching it now. You fighting aliens now, Nicky?”
“Okay first of all, I told you to stop calling me that. Second, yes… aliens. I’m forming a team of…extraordinary people to help protect against these threats and they could really use a hand to finish off this fight.”
“I may be weird as hell but I ain't ‘extraordinary’, Fury. I don’t wanna join your band of misfits.”
“Alright, how about a compromise? You fly your fancy jet here right now and help them out and if you still don’t wanna join once the battle is over, you can go right back to France and I’ll stop bothering you about joining.” After a few seconds of silence I agreed. 
“Fine, but I’m not gonna change my mind. Wait, how do you know about my jet?”
He gave a hearty laugh and said “I know everything, Eight. You should know that by now.”
New York, New York; 96 Minutes Later: 
I flew my jet into the city, making sure to take out a few flying Chitauri in the process. We don’t need to talk about how I got my hands on a German jet that can fly 2100mph. I saw a few interesting characters standing in a circle fighting off an endless sea of aliens. I maneuvered the jet and— wait…is that guy wearing blue tights? Is this what Fury meant by extraordinary? Whatever. I landed in the street about 20 yards away and killed the engines. I hopped out and started jogging towards the group. A couple of them turned around, probably wondering who the hell the chick in the black uniform is and— whoa that’s a beautiful woman. After realizing my steps had literally faltered in a mini gay panic, I slowed to a walk and said “Y’all need a hand?”
“Depends on whose hand it is,” replied the redheaded source of my panic.
“I’m a friend of Fury’s. He practically begged me to come save your asses.”
“Fury doesn’t beg,” she said in a doubtful tone.
“Not typically, but I'm just that awesome. If you don’t believe me then call him up but I’m gonna go kill some aliens.” With that I took off down another street where there was a group of the repulsive bastards. After unloading all of my magazines into Chitauri bodies, I switched to my swords and daggers. After another hour or so of fighting, there were no more aliens in sight. I started jogging toward the rich dude’s tower when I saw said rich dude falling through the rapidly-closing portal. I stopped next to Mr. Blue Tights and the buff blonde guy with the hammer when the big green dude grabbed Mr. Rich Dude from the sky and landed next to us. The green guy yelled, waking Mr. Rich Dude up with a start. “What the hell? What happened? Please tell me nobody kissed me. Except for her, she’s pretty hot,” he said nodding toward me. Just then the redhead jogged over to us and eyed my blood-soaked form from head to toe. 
“See something you like, Red?”
“No. I’m pretty sure I'd be classified as a sadist if I liked the sight of that much blood,” she said with a raise of her eyebrow.
“Yeah that’s fair.” She shook her head at me with a small smirk. There was barely a second of silence when Mr. Rich Dude spoke up. 
“Anybody want shawarma?”
Three Hours Later:
I had gone to the Triskelion after the band of misfits apprehended Loki. Agent Hill showed me where to park my jet and directed me to a room so I could shower and stay the night if I wanted to. I had put on black jeans, a white tee, and a black jean jacket, all of which had been in a to-go bag in my jet. I was toweling off my hair when someone knocked on the door. I opened the door to see none other than the one-eyed-wonder standing there. “What can I do for you, Nicky?”
“The Avengers are being debriefed in Conference Room 6B in ten minutes. You should come.”
“The Avengers? Is that what you’re calling them? That’s cute. But I'm not an Avenger and I don’t want to be an Avenger, so no thanks.”
“You should come anyway.”
“I don’t actually have a choice, do I?”
“You know me so well, Eight,” he said with an amused grin.
I walked into the conference room and the Avengers were already there. Steve Rogers, Clint Barton, Tony Stark, Bruce Banner, Thor, and Natasha Romanoff—whose names I learned from Hill— were scattered around a large table, along with Fury. Romanoff eyed me from where she was standing and arched a perfectly sculpted eyebrow at me. I squinted my eyes and wiggled my eyebrows in response, and I could see her stifle a laugh. “What’s your name?” She accompanied the question with a blank expression, which made me feel oh-so-special. 
“That’s a very personal question, Miss Romanoff. Let’s slow the pace, please.”
“You know my name but I can’t know yours? That doesn’t seem fair.”
“The world isn’t fair, Miss Romanoff, and I love a good mystery.”
“If you two are done flirting, we have business to attend to,” interjected Fury.
“Right, my apologies, Nicky.”
“Don’t call me that, Eight.”
After an excruciating 43 minutes and 27 seconds, Fury finally let us leave. I was so close to freedom when that unbelievably sexy voice called to me. “Eight!” Romanoff hastily walked towards me in an effort to catch up.
“Yeah?”
“Is your name actually Eight?”
“If you want it to be.”
“Why are you so damn stubborn?”
“It amuses me, Red.” There was a brief silence during which both of us were trying to figure out if the conversation was over. 
I was about to leave when she continued, “So that’s it? You’re just gonna leave?”
“Well, no. I’m going to stay the night, steal some really expensive jet fuel, and then leave in the morning before Fury can get up my ass about joining his little team.”
She rolled her eyes and responded, “Why won’t you join the Avengers? And why won’t you tell me your real name?”
“It’s just not my style. I’d rather fly solo.”
“You ignored my second question.”
“Then maybe you should take the hint and stop asking.” With that I turned around and started walking away, but a hand on my arm stopped me dead in my tracks. Alarms started going off in my head, and I'm pretty sure Romanoff was saying something to me but I was too caught up in the memories of beatings, punishments, and psychological conditioning to register it. After a few of the longest seconds of my life, the white of my vision cleared up and the voice telling me ‘physical contact is strictly forbidden’ faded into the background. My heart was still hammering in my chest and I was trying to keep my breathing steady despite the inevitable panic attack trying to drag me under, I regained my neutral expression and said. “Sorry, did you say something?”
“Are you okay?” She had a concerned expression and if I wasn’t so blinded with anxiety, I would’ve appreciated how cute the furrow of her eyebrows was.
“Yeah, I’m fine. I’m just gonna turn in. It’s been a long day.” I turned around and walked back to my temporary room at a brutal pace. As soon as the door closed behind me, hot tears raced down my cheeks and I lost the ability to breathe. It was gonna be a long night.
3:21 am:
I finally managed to calm myself down and stop the panic attack after almost four hours. Well, I passed out because I couldn’t breathe but it did calm me down. Trying to sleep would be pointless, so I decided to leave before anyone woke up. I didn’t really have much to pack so I grabbed my duffel bag and left the room. I made it to the corridor attached to the landing pads and ran into the one person I really didn’t want to see. “What are you doing out and about, Red?”
“I’ve got places to be and things to do. Were you just going to sneak out in the middle of the night like a teenager with a rebellious streak?”
“Yes, that’s exactly what I’m doing, actually. Do you need a ride? Where are you going?”
“Madrid. Fury said I could hitch a ride on another plane that’s headed for Germany.”
“Well I’m going to France if you wanna ride with me. My jet will get you there a lot faster.” She studied me for what felt like way too long, probably debating if I would try to kill her or not. You know how spies are with their trust issues.
“What the hell, why not?”
And that is how I ended up in a jet with “Candy Shop” playing over the speakers and Natasha Romanoff in the copilot seat yelling at me to, and I quote, ‘slow the fuck down.’ “Why would I slow down, you psycho?! That’s the whole damn point of this thing!”
“Where did you even get a German jet this fast?”
“Germany.”
“No shit Sherlock. How did you get it?”
“I went to Germany, stopped in at the local speedy-jet dealership, and walked out with this beauty.”
“Sarcasm is a defense mechanism, you know? You’re only being like this to keep me from seeing the real you. You built walls. You want everyone to think you’re fine when in reality, you’re falling apart.”
“Okay…um…there was no need for that, Dr. Romanoff. I can find my own therapist, thank you very much. And don’t go pretending you’re all healthy in the head, Miss Assassin.” It was quiet for all of five seconds before we both burst into laughter.
Madrid, Spain:
I landed the jet at the local S.H.I.E.L.D. base and killed the engines. Romanoff and I removed our headsets and I stood to help her get her bags. “Welp, I’ll see you around I guess.” I really wasn’t good at this type of thing. Or any social interactions, really. Twenty-four years in a cell will do that to you.
“Will I? See you around, I mean?”
“Um, I don’t really know, honestly. I’m not part of S.H.I.E.L.D. so we won’t just run into each other or anything but…”
“Why won’t you join S.H.I.E.L.D.? I mean what else are you doing?”
“Ohhh, I see. You just love me so much that you don’t want me to leave. You’re gonna miss me so much-” I was cut off when she threw her backpack at my head. “Hey! You’re lucky I caught that! Freaking crazy woman.”
When our laughter died down she said, “Well I should probably go. Thank you for the ride.”
“Of course. Hitchhikers are always welcome aboard my beloved jet.” A small smile appeared on her face and she stepped forward to give me a hug but she must’ve seen my body go rigid because she stepped back. She might’ve said something but the voice in my head was too loud for me to understand her. I don’t know how long it was before I unfroze but when I did, she was gone. I walked to the front of the jet and started the journey to France.
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indestructibleheart · 3 years ago
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It’s my favorite time of year! I missed out on this incredible fest when I first joined the fandom last January, but you bet I was thrilled to join @scfrozenover this year. After all, I’m a winter bitch stuck in the tropics. So, I wrote over 30K in winter fic. Surprise! As my pal Taylor Swift would say, ‘tis the damn season.
Huge, huge shoutout to the mods for organizing this fest (and for also being patient with me when I needed a second extension for one of them). Love ya’ll! Happy Holidays. ⛄❄️
Day 3:
Yule Shoot Your Eye Out
[Stevie & David, David/Patrick, Stevie/Ruth - T - 1,563]
Stevie and David, much like the snow, thaw over time.
---
Day 5:
and we’d swear to remember it (all too well)
[David/Patrick, Stevie & David, Alexis/Ted - E - 9,650]
“Come with me,” he’d said, hands tracing along Patrick’s shoulders. “We can go to New York together. My family has money now — we can do whatever we want, go wherever we want.” He’d moved his hands to cup his face, thumbs gently brushing against his cheeks. “You’re too good for this town.”
Patrick had recoiled at David’s words like they’d been some kind of heavy accusation, rather than a compliment. And that’d been it: the beginning of the end. Though David never would’ve guessed that’s where the conversation had been headed at the time. If David had known, he would’ve slammed on the brakes before they’d careened off the track. He would’ve pulled the lever to change course. He would’ve done anything, if he’d known then what he does now.
When David returns to his hometown for the holidays, he reminisces about his first love and where things went wrong. He doesn’t expect to, y'know, hook up with that ex, be mistaken as ‘back together’ by that ex’s mother, and end up faking a relationship for Christmas Eve. That wasn’t really the plan, but 'tis the season, amirite?
---
Day 6:
Making Spirits Bright
[David/Patrick, Patrick & Rachel - M - 6,137]
“Okay, here’s the thing,” she explains. “The only thing that determines your future is your actions, which means nothing is set in stone. Not yet.“ She gestures to the scene in front of them."If you wake up, go back to your life, and don’t change anything you’re doing, this is your future. This is where you’re headed. But that doesn’t mean it’s the only future available to you.”
Patrick Brewer has resigned himself to a life he doesn’t actually want, but on Christmas Eve, a ghost visits his dreams to show him what the past says about his present… and an even better future.
Yep — it’s basically 'A Christmas Carol’ for Patrick.
---
Day 8:
lights like you (glow all year long) w/ @lilythesilly
[David/Patrick, Stevie/Ruth - E - 18,840]
Shakespeare said, “Journeys end in lovers meeting,” which is an extraordinary thought. To think that we all spend our lives on a quest to be loved, and we can rest like the hero victorious once we find it — well, it’s a nice idea, isn’t it? It may even be true… for some people.
For people like David Rose and Ruth Clancy, however, love has always been a little bit complicated… It hasn’t been freely given or simply found; it’s something that’s always been earned or bought.
See, because Shakespeare also said that “love is blind,” — and, with that, they can agree.
They’ve certainly never felt like it looked at them twice.
OR: After discovering that his parents have secretly funded (ahem, bribed) his way to success, David Rose turns to one of his favorite romantic comedies for comfort… and advice. He ends up swapping homes with a similarly career-minded Canadian named Ruth for a much-needed solo vacation. While Ruth navigates bustling New York City, David settles in a cozy small-town cottage in Nowhere, Ontario. As it turns out, they may have been looking for happiness in all the wrong places all along.
with mischief in sight, we’re all merry and bright w/ @anniemurphys, @nerdframed, @sarahlevys, & @turningtimeinthetardis
[Alexis/Twyla, Stevie/Ruth - T - 7,510]
It’s easier for Stevie to avoid sharing details about her dating life with Mr. Rose at first, but the endless questions about why she’s single have worn her down enough that by the time December rolls around, she chooses to ask for a favour from her oldest friend.
‘Dating’ Twyla is a tiny white lie… It’s small, well-calculated. A tiny white lie. One that only has to hold up for a few hours during David and Patrick’s holiday party.
What harm could it do?
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lucienballard · 3 years ago
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The Velvet Underground’s 30 greatest songs – ranked!
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30. Ride Into the Sun (1969)The Velvets recorded two versions of Ride Into the Sun: a fabulous 1969 instrumental laden with fuzz guitar and a hushed 1970 vocal take backed by organ. Somewhere between the two lies one of their great lost songs; Lou Reed’s disappointingly flat 1972 solo version doesn’t do it justice at all.
29. Run Run Run (1967)For all the shock engendered by the lyrics of Heroin and I’m Waiting for My Man, the most malevolent-sounding track on the debut album might be Run Run Run, a powerful R&B groove lent a gripping darkness by Reed’s noisy guitar playing and the screw-you-I-take-drugs sneer of his vocals.
28. Beginning to See the Light (1969)The title suggests awakening, the melody is bright, but the lyrics are dark and bitter. They may have been directed at John Cale, who played on an initial version of the song, which was subsequently re-recorded after Reed sacked him, against the wishes of his bandmates. A ferocious 1969 live version amps up the tension.
27. Foggy Notion (1969)Reed was a lifelong doo-wop fan. His passion usually found its expression when the Velvet Underground recorded backing vocals for their ballads – as on Candy Says – but the tough, rocking Foggy Notion went a stage further, gleefully stealing a chunk of the Solitaires’ 1955 single Later for You Baby.
26. The Gift (1968)In which the band set a two-chord grind that may, or may not, have been based on their instrumental Booker T in one channel and a blackly comic Reed short story read by Cale in the other. “If you’re a mad fiend like we are, you’ll listen to them both together,” offered the producer, Tom Wilson.
25. Guess I’m Falling in Love (1967)Recorded at the White Light/White Heat sessions, but never completed, the April 1967 live recording of Guess I’m Falling in Love – taped at the Gymnasium in New York – will more than suffice. It boasts three chords, a distinct rhythm and blues influence, Reed in streetwise, so-what punk mode and explosive guitar solos somehow potentiated by the rough sound quality.
24. Temptation Inside Your Heart (1968)“It was not Mein Kampf – my struggle,” the guitarist Sterling Morrison once reflected of the Velvet Underground’s career. “It was fun.” A delightful late Cale-era outtake that inadvertently captured Morrison, Cale and Reed’s giggly backchat as they recorded the backing vocals, Temptation Inside Your Heart bears that assessment out.
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23. New Age (1970)New Age comes in two varieties. Take your pick from the world-weary, small-hours rumination found on 1969: The Velvet Underground Live, or the more epic studio version that the Velvets biographer Victor Bockris suggested was “an attempt to present some encouraging statements to a confused audience as the 70s began”. Both are superb.
22. After Hours (1969)The Velvets’ eponymous 1969 album ends, improbably, with the drummer, Moe Tucker, singing a song that could have dated from the pre-rock era. The twist is that her childlike voice and the cute melody conceals an almost unbearably sad song, ostensibly a celebration of small-hours boozing, but filled with longing and regret.
21. I Can’t Stand It (1969)Amid the Velvets’ songs about drugs and drag queens lurked the plaintive sound of Reed pining for his college sweetheart, Shelley Albin, the subject of Pale Blue Eyes, I Found a Reason and I Can’t Stand It. The latter’s cocky strut is disrupted by a desperate lyrical plea: “If Shelley would just come back, it’d be all right.”
20. The Black Angel’s Death Song (1967)There is something folky and vaguely Dylan-esque at the heart of The Black Angel’s Death Song, but by the time Cale had finished with it – alternately strafing it with screeching, insistent viola and hissing into the microphone in lieu of a chorus – it sounded, and still sounds, unique.
19. I Found a Reason (1970)It is one of the ironies of the Velvet Underground that the most forward-thinking, groundbreaking band of their era could occasionally sound like old-fashioned rock’n’roll revivalists. Buried on side two of Loaded was one of the loveliest of Lou Reed’s loving homages to doo-wop, complete with spoken-word section.
18. Some Kinda Love (1969)Musically straightforward, sensual in tone, Some Kinda Love is a complex business, part seduction soundtrack, part refusal to be hemmed in by standard categories of sexuality – “no kinds of love are better than others … the possibilities are endless / and for me to miss one / would seem to be groundless”. Killer line: “Between thought and expression lies a lifetime.”
17. European Son (1967)European Son isn’t a song so much as an eruption. It sounds like a band overturning the established order of rock’n’roll, almost literally: after two brief verses, it bursts into thrilling frantic chaos with a verbatim crash, like the contents of an upended table hitting the floor.
16. Rock & Roll (1970)It is hard to see Loaded’s driving, joyous hymn to music’s redemptive power – “her life was saved by rock and roll” – as anything other than disguised autobiography on the part of Reed. The suggestion that music will endure “despite all the amputations”, meanwhile, seems to look forward to his departure from the Velvet Underground.
15. Candy Says (1969)No one else in 1969 was writing songs remotely like Candy Says, a stunning, tender pen portrait of the transgender Warhol superstar Candy Darling set to a gentle doo-wop inspired backing. Its melancholy seems to presage the note Darling wrote on her deathbed in 1974: “I had no desire for life left … I am just so bored by everything.”
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14. Sunday Morning (1967)Sunday Morning was written at the behest of Wilson. He wanted a single that might conceivably get on the radio; he got a haunting, melancholy sigh of a song, its battered wistfulness and undercurrent of paranoia – “watch out, the world’s behind you” – the perfect encapsulation of morning-after regret.
13. What Goes On (1969)Morrison maintained that the studio incarnation of What Goes On wasn’t a patch on the live versions the band performed with Cale on organ. Maybe, but the studio incarnation featuring Cale’s replacement, Doug Yule, is great. It prickles with nervous energy, Reed’s guitar playing is amazing, its churning coda takes up half the song and it still feels too short.
12. Femme Fatale (1967)Apparently provoked by the damaged, doomed Warhol superstar Edie Sedgwick – with whom Cale had a brief affair – Femme Fatale is as beautiful and fragile as its inspiration. The story of a wary, ruined former suitor warning others off the titular anti-heroine is lent a chilly edge by Nico’s delivery.
11. I Heard Her Call My Name (1968)In the Velvets’ early days, Reed purported to be “the fastest guitarist alive”. A berserk claim, but his Ornette Coleman-inspired solos on I Heard Her Call My Name are some of the most extraordinary and viscerally exciting in rock history, frequently atonal, spiked with ear-splitting feedback and pregnant pauses.
10. Ocean (1969)The Velvet Underground recorded Ocean several times – one version is supposed to feature the return of Cale on organ – but never released it in their lifetime, which seems extraordinary. It is among the greatest of their later songs, its atmosphere beautiful, the epic ebb and flow of its sound completely immersive.
9. I’m Waiting for the Man (1967)An unvarnished lyrical depiction of scoring drugs tied to music on which Reed’s rock’n’roll smarts and Cale’s background in minimalist classical music – the pounding, one-chord piano part – meld in a kind of relentless perfection. Amusingly, there is now a pharmacy at the song’s fabled location of Lexington 125.
8. I’ll Be Your Mirror (1967)A song about Reed’s affair with Nico that could just as easily be about Andy Warhol’s approach to art, I’ll Be Your Mirror is one of those Velvet Underground tracks that makes their initial commercial failure seem baffling. How could a pop song as wonderful as this fail to attract attention? Nico and Morrison on stage at the New York Society for Clinical Psychiatry annual dinner in 1966.
7. White Light/White Heat (1968)A delirious paean to amphetamine, its subject reflected in the lyrics – “I surely do love to watch that stuff tip itself in” – and the turbulent, distorted rush of its sound. The band appear to be barely in control as it careers along; the chaotic finale, where Cale finally loses his grip on the bass line, is just fantastic.
6. Heroin (1967)Heroin was the deal-breaker at early Velvets gigs, provoking a “howl of bewilderment and outrage”. The shock of its subject matter has dulled with time, but its surges from folky lament to sonic riot still sound breathtaking. Oddly sweet moment: Reed’s chuckle as Tucker loses her place amid the maelstrom and suddenly stops playing.
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5. Pale Blue Eyes (1969)“High energy does not necessarily mean fast,” Reed once argued. “High energy has to do with heart.” Hushed, limpidly beautiful and almost unbearably sad, Pale Blue Eyes’ depiction of a strained, adulterous relationship proves his point. In its own vulnerable way, it is as powerful as anything the Velvet Underground recorded.
4. Sweet Jane (1970)Sweet Jane started life as a ballad – see the versions recorded live at the Matrix in San Francisco in 1969 – but, sped and toughened up, it became as succinct and perfect a rock’n’roll song as has ever been written, based around one of the greatest riffs of all time.
3. Venus in Furs (1967)For a band who inspired so much other music, the Velvet Underground’s catalogue is remarkably rich with songs that still sound like nothing else; they were as inimitable as they were influential. Venus in Furs is a case in point: umpteen artists were galvanised by its dark, austere atmosphere; none succeeded in replicating it.
2. Sister Ray (1968)A monumental journey into hitherto-uncharted musical territory, where a primitive garage-rock riff meets Hubert Selby-inspired lyrics and improvisation that sounds like a psychological drama playing out between Reed and Cale, all at skull-splitting volume. Fifty-three years later, it is without peer for white-knuckle intensity.
1. All Tomorrow’s Parties (1967)Ninety per cent of the Velvet Underground’s oeuvre consists of no-further-questions classics. The astonishingly high standard of almost everything they did makes picking their “best” song a matter of personal preference, rather than qualitative judgment. So let’s go for Warhol’s favourite, on which the sour and sweet aspects of their debut album entwine faultlessly. The melody is exquisite; the music monolithic and unrelenting, powered by Cale’s hammering piano and Tucker’s stately drums; Nico’s performance perfectly inhabits the lyrics, which turn a depiction of a woman choosing what dress to wear into a meditation on emptiness and regret. It is original and utterly masterly: the Velvet Underground in a nutshell.
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amygdalagustd · 3 years ago
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Kim Namjoon on Identity
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Namjoon explores the concept of identity time and time again in his life and in his music. He tends to focus on how different parts of himself might be in conflict with each other, and the tensions and confusion that goes with that experience. People are filled with duality, sometimes to the point that it tears us apart. The question of “who am I?” seems a simple one, but underneath it lies a lot of complexity. Who do I want to be? Who do other people want me to be? How much of my identity is formed by my past? Can I change who I am? Can I be multiple things at the same time? Who is the real me? What does it even mean to be the real me?
The question of “who am I?” seems to both fascinate and terrify Namjoon. In this essay we will tackle the question together as I explore all the different ways that Namjoon contemplates identity in lyrics and interviews.
From his decision to become a rapper in the first place to the struggle of taking care of himself as a world famous idol to the questioning of what having an identity actually means, we will travel through Namjoon’s career and highlight all the moments that he asks himself:
“Who the hell am I?”
It’s no secret that Namjoon was a very intelligent and driven student who got good grades in school. In his earlier lyrics he often writes about the pressure that was put on him to succeed and follow a certain path in life. As someone who was good at studying it was expected of him to prioritize his education above all else. Namjoon fit into that role well, but behind the scenes his heart was longing for music. He discovered rap and decided that he wanted a different path for his life. BTS’s early work is filled with messages of following your dreams and not letting other people decide what type of life you want to live. Namjoon often talked about the struggles of living in between the expectations of those around him and his own desires for his future. Some of those conflicting feelings are expressed in Voice, the intro song to his 2015 mixtape RM:
Straight A student and underground rapper
I occupied myself all day with being graded with meaningless numbers like beef gets graded
I just wanted to succeed
because that’s the only thing I was told by others so much that I almost got sick of it
The mirage called happiness- I thought it would be held there
But, sitting at my desk, I was never happy, not for a single moment
I secretly hid a blank sheet of paper between the pages of my study book without my mom’s knowing
My identity that I wrote down along the sound of drums and bass
The feeling of breathing that is different from that of receiving grade reports
Even when I was the top of my class, my mind was never at ease
Is it absolutely necessary to want something that others want?
I secretly raise the volume of my voice
so that you can know, so that it can reach you
I again raise the volume of my voice
so that you can know, so that it can reach you
He also touches on the subject in Born Singer, which was released in 2013:
To be honest, I was scared that I was to prove myself after talking big
that I, who used to know only pen and book, was then to surprise the world
I dunno, that I and the world’s expectations are too asymmetric,
I was scared that I might betray everyone who trusted me
I stretch my burdened shoulders and step onto the very first stage
BTS and Namjoon will continue to talk about the pressure of society's expectations and the difficulty of following your own path in songs like No More Dream, N.O and School of Tears. Fighting back against the oppressive school system is a huge part of their message and mission in their early career. They ask their fans and themselves to look at the person that they are expected to become and question if that image is in line with their own dreams and desires. Namjoon wrestled with this question himself, and therefore has the experience and passion to guide others who might be struggling with their identity and the identity that is put on them.
Idol and artist
The concept of being an idol vs being an artist is one that comes back often in BTS lyrics. Namjoon is an underground rapper who ended up in a boyband, and the identity of being an idol is one that he has wrestled with quite a bit. Can you be both an idol and an artist? Does becoming an idol mean that you have to give up on being an artist? Does it matter if you call yourself an idol or an artist? Does it matter what other people say about it?
Namjoon mentions this conflicting identity in Awakening on his 2015 mixtape RM:
Every night I fight myself inside me
My heart pounds, and my colleagues stab me in the back
saying I became a cripple after going into a company
Yeah fuck you I’m an idol, yeah yeah i’m an idol
I hated it at one time but now I love to get that title
Unlike some keep denying [their identity] to the end on television,
I now fully accept myself, and I just do me
Whether I’m an idol or an artist- it actually never mattered
The way you guys look at me was what defined me
I was obsessed over titles and hung up on how people described me
Listen to the rap of the guy who became a bit smarter as time passed
Namjoon gets shit for being an idol from the underground rap scene and gets shit for being an artist from the idol scene. He is hovering in between, writing his rap lyrics with the power and authenticity of a hip hop artist while simultaneously dancing and looking like a full fledged boyband member. He responds to this dilemma with unwavering pride, the drive to prove himself and a fuck you attitude. This energy dominates a lot of early BTS music. They are still trying to find their place in the industry while not really knowing where exactly they belong. Songs like the Cyphers and Mic Drop highlight the anger they feel about the mistreatment they face from both sides of the industry while boasting about their accomplishments and pride in who they are. Just like Namjoon in Awakening, Yoongi also often mentions his struggles with the identity of being an idol in his solo work. In Idol, the title track of the 2018 album Love Yourself: Answer, BTS face the subject head on:
You can call me artist
You can call me idol
Or you can call me anything else
I don’t care
I’m proud of it
I’m free
No more irony
Because I’ve been me all the time
You can point your fingers at me, I don’t care at all
Whatever reason you have to denigrate me,
I know what I am
I know what I want
I never gon’ change
I never gon’ trade
Why do you talk loud “blah blah”
I do what I do, so mind your own business
You can’t stop me loving’ myself
Idol is a proud, joyful, wonderfully weird and confident self love anthem. It’s a celebration of who BTS are at their core. In the song, they have accepted all the different aspects of their identity and they don’t feel the need to fit in with just one label. In the future, they will go on to say that BTS’s genre is just BTS, and they see no point in categorizing themselves.
RM and Namjoon
In 2018, BTS released a documentary series called Burn The Stage. The series followed them throughout the Wings tour and was supposed to show a more raw version of them.
In episode 6, Namjoon said:
Being an idol star, you don’t have a choice but to have two identities. I invested a lot in my identity as BTS and RM, and this is really a dilemma. We need to find ways to overcome this, and I’m trying different things. I study, I read books. I need time to be wholly me, the original me that I know.
Everyone in BTS has a stage name, a person they become when they present themselves in front of their fans. On stage Namjoon is RM, a fierce and confident rapper, a powerful and charming performer, a dependable leader and someone who lives a fiery and intense life.
Behind the scenes, Namjoon is Namjoon, a man in his twenties who is trying to figure out how to be an adult just like everyone else. He likes to go on bike rides, take care of plants, go to museums, read books and spend time in nature. He gets lazy and reads webtunes for 5 hours straight and sometimes argues with the people around him because they annoy him.
Namjoon spends the years of his youth as part of BTS, in the public eye, and sometimes that causes tension between these different parts of himself; the stage persona and the private person. In Break The Silence: The Movie which came out in 2020, there was a lot of talk about identity. During one of Namjoon’s segments he said:
There is also the fear of how well I’m taking care of myself, the Kim Namjoon as a person. Aside from money, fame, and a sense of calling, what do I really have? When you have those things all other things start to feel really valuable. Those who don’t have them would find them really special. I think it’s a repetition of that, so for me, there is a fear about whether I’m faithfully living the story of my life to the fullest.
He also mentions this dilemma in Airplane pt.2 on the 2018 album Love Yourself: Tear where the lyrics go:
Who should I live as today, Kim Namjoon or RM?
25, I still don’t know how to live well
For Namjoon and anyone in BTS, there is no simple answer to this question, as the nature of their job puts them in a position that makes it hard for them to develop a sense of self outside of the work they are doing. Even though Namjoon is part of an incredibly successful band, that doesn't mean he got it all figured out. As he has poured his youth and his energy into becoming the best performer he can be, he now feels like the Kim Namjoon behind the scenes deserves some energy and space to exist too.
Rap Monster and RM
Before Namjoon was RM, Namjoon was Rap Monster, a stage name that he used until November of 2017. The name Rap Monster fits the fierce and somewhat angst-ridden style of music that Namjoon was making in the beginning of his career. He decided to move on from the name in 2017 because it was no longer representative of him and the music that he was making.
In an interview with Entertainment Tonight Namjoon said that RM could stand for many things. He mentioned Real Me as one of the possibilities, but seems to prefer not to pin one specific meaning to the name.
In another interview with J-14 Magazine when asked what kind of advice he would give to himself in 2013, he said:
Hey Namjoon, Don’t name yourself Rap Monster. You’re a human. You’re not a monster. You’re a beautiful human.
Namjoon has often said that one of his missions in life is to love himself. This struggle to love himself often reflects in his lyrics, and now also in his decision to change his stage name, as the old one had some negative connotations to it. Perhaps Namjoons struggle with self acceptance, self worth and self love is one of the reasons that identity is such a big theme for him, as he is trying to figure out how to be a Namjoon that he can love. RM is a stage name that is more aligned with that goal as it leaves more room for flexibility and change.
Map of the Soul
The subject of identity is explored to the fullest in the Map of the Soul era that started with Map of the Soul: Persona in 2019, followed up by Map of the Soul: 7 in 2020.
Map of the Soul is inspired by the ideas of psychiatrist and psychoanalyst Carl Gustav Jung. The words persona, shadow and ego that are used in Map of the Soul come directly from his theory. BTS uses these concepts to examine different parts of themselves and their career over time. A lot of this era feels like a final examination of the question that Namjoon has been asking himself in different ways throughout his entire career: Who am I?
In Intro: Persona, the opener to both albums, Namjoon writes about his journey with identity in the first few lines of the song:
“Who am I,” a question that I’ve been asking myself for my whole life
A question that I will probably never be able to find the right answer for
If I were answerable with only a few words,
God wouldn’t have created all those many beauties
Namjoon realizes that he will probably never have a clear answer to the question of “who am I?” and he accepts that. He recognizes that his identity can’t be summed up by a few words or traits and that this isn’t a bad thing. Sometimes it can feel more secure to build our entire sense of identity around one aspect of ourselves (I am a straight A student, I am an underground rapper) but that puts us in a position without flexibility and without space for growth. As different parts of ourselves clash with each other we end up feeling scattered, unsure of who we are, and angry at ourselves. It’s only when those different parts of ourselves are allowed to co-exist that we can find peace and a true sense of self.
BTS will talk about this idea in other songs too, like in Idol, where Taehyung sings:
There are tens and hundreds of myself within me
Today, I greet my another self
They are all me after all,
so I just run rather than worrying
The notion also comes back in the speech that BTS held for the United Nations in 2018. The final message of that speech was to find your name and find your voice by speaking yourself. There was a lot of talk about losing your identity as a young child in favor of fitting in, and Namjoon encouraged everyone to be their own person and to find their own voice back. Throughout the speech he mentions how he is both an idol and artist, Kim Namjoon and RM, and also just an ordinary 24 year old guy. He is saying that he can be many things at once and strives to love all those different parts of himself at the same time.
In the final verses of Intro: Persona, Namjoon boldly and confidently claims that he is no longer ashamed of the different parts inside of him, writing:
Yeah my name is R
The ‘me’ who I remember and who people know
The ‘me’ who I created by myself to speak my mind
Yeah, I might have been deceiving myself, I might have been lying
But, I’m not ashamed of it, this is the map of my soul
The lyrics continue, focusing on duality, complexity and balance within his identity, accepting the different parts of himself that coexist together even if they clash:
Dear myself
You must never lose your temperature
because you don’t need to be warm or cold
Though I might sometimes pretend I’m good and sometimes pretend I’m evil,
this is the barometer of my direction that I want to set
The ‘me’ who I want to be
The ‘me’ who people want
The ‘me’ who you love
And the ‘me’ who I craft
The ‘me’ who’s smiling
The ‘me’ who’s crying sometimes
Living and breathing every second, every moment, even now
Within these lyrics there is a tone of direction and intent rather than one of being lost and questioning. This tone is very strong throughout the entire Map of the Soul concept, especially in ON, suggesting that maybe “finding” your identity isn’t about anxiously defining every single part of your personality, it’s more about choosing who you want to be and boldly pursuing the world as an incomplete human being. In the end, there is no simple answer to the question of “who am I?” and that’s okay.
All lyrics translations come from Doolset. Visit the website for additional notes and interpretations of BTS lyrics.
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cyberloops · 4 years ago
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I think it’s not just pandemic fatigue that’s been making it hard for me to work lately. I think I’ve been feeling disconnected from my music. I keep sitting down with a guitar or at my keyboard and noodling around. Lately I just haven’t been able to sit down and open up Acid or any other DAW and start fiddling around in there.
I was thinking about using my stimulus money to finally take the plunge and actually buy some equipment. Up until now the only real equipment I’ve bought are things like keyboards that plug into computers that I already own, and software to do things with it. But there’s a disconnect. There’s a layer of abstraction between me and the sounds I’m making.
I tried to see if I could solve that by making my own digital synths, so I downloaded Synthedit and played around with it a while back... but all it really did was make me want to get into making actual modular synths, not just emulating them. And in the long run, that’s a hell of a deep rabbit hole for me to fall into, both in terms of time, space in my house, and money.
I’ve spent most of my life on the edge of poverty, so the idea of just... spending money on something that I want is completely foreign to me. I know in my head that I have the money. It’s there to be spent. I can afford it. I can’t afford actual vintage synths, of course, those are way too *&%ing expensive. I also don’t have much space in the house, since both my spouse and I had to set up an office in the house during the pandemic. The space on my desk next to my computer keyboard where I was going to put my small MIDI keyboard is now taken up by my work computer. The room that was supposed to become half art studio for my spouse and half recording studio for me is now half office, and the drawing table and the spare desk that were supposed to be for our personal use are shoved in the corners. So whatever I buy will have to be small.
But the last couple of days I’ve been looking at what’s there. Looking at what’s within my price range. I don’t expect to spend thousands on a modular synth right off the bat, hell, I’d barely know what to do with it. But I think I can afford a small setup. Something that I don’t have to boot up and start a program and fight with audio drivers to use. Something that I don’t have to stop playing, go back, listen to the track, and click with a mouse to add points where I want to raise or lower one single attribute at a time.
I think if I start with a couple of cheap Behringer analog clones, I can at least get some bass and drums for pretty cheap, then figure out what else I want from there. It looks like the TR-3 and RD-6 are coming out in new colors, so I can even get them in purple. (which is generally the first question I have when I’m deciding whether to get something. Does it come in purple?) A decent synth that can do polyphony for chords will be a little difficult to find in my price range, I might have to settle for something like the Yamaha CS or DX Reface for that. (Yes, I know that the Korg Volca FM is half the price, and is a great imitation of the DX... but it only has 3 note polyphony. I like having the option to make richer chords, or to have a solo or bass line in the same instrument going while I do chords with the other hand.) And I definitely want at least one decent analog synth, but anything within my price range is only going to be monophonic, or like the Korg Volca line, they won’t have enough polyphony to do more than three note chords. The only decent ones that are polyphonic are generally over 300 dollars, and even with the stimulus money, I’m not sure I can justify spending that much on something that will likely not earn me any real money. And on top of everything else, just getting a decent multi-track recorder will probably cost as much, if not more, than a small synth. Most of the ones that are under 300 dollars will only record two tracks at a time, which won’t work well if I’m trying to hook up 3-4 synths and maybe a microphone. I’ve got a few spare speakers around the house that I could probably use as a monitor, so at least I’ve got that covered. (I hope. I haven’t actually plugged any of those speakers into anything in years, who knows what condition they’re in?)
On top of all of that, my spouse is trying to find an excuse to actually use the art table, and so we’re thinking about also using their half of our stimulus money to get a couple of webcams to stream video of them doing art. So if I do set up a small live synth studio in the desk in that room, we can stream together, with me making music on one screen, and my spouse drawing on another.
Over the last decade or so, I’ve been so afraid to actually spend any money. And for probably 8 out of those last 10 years, for good reason. I genuinely couldn't afford to. I only have an electric guitar because it went on sale and was incredibly cheap. I only have an effects pedal for it because I got lucky and found a halfway decent one that had multiple functions on sale used. I only have a full sized MIDI keyboard because my spouse gave it to me as a combined birthday/christmas present. But not being able to spend money just to survive meant that I couldn’t afford to get the things that I need in order to really live, and not just survive. I need musical instruments that I can touch and feel and use. But I think right now I also need to set up a spreadsheet and figure out what I can actually afford.
... anyway, I realized I got to the end of this huge rant and never mentioned anything about the piece I just uploaded. Short version - I was trying to use digital instruments similar to the sort of things I was looking at buying, and seeing what kind of music I could make by just quickly working up a sound and  a couple simple loops for them. So one of the basses is just a pretty generic synth that happens to have a sequencer that is similar to some of the analog synths I was looking at. The other is a digital clone of the TB-303, which is also similar to one of the synths I was looking at. I only used one drum machine synth on this one, since I can’t justify buying more than one when I start this physical setup. And the solo, chords, and arpeggios were all using similar sorts of synths to the real ones I’ve been looking at and researching online lately. All of the loops that I would have put into a sequencer while using a physical synth setup were the ones that I went into the MIDI files and manually quantized everything to match exactly what I would have done with a sequencer. For the solo lines and a few other sections I only fiddled with the MIDI timing enough to fix any errors due to input lag. And I tried to throw in a few tweaks to the synth settings on the fly like playing with the filter or whatnot, y’know, the kind of thing that I’d literally be able to do with one hand while I’m playing with the other if these synths were actually sitting on the desk in front of me. But of course I had to actually do those afterward with the mouse, since I didn’t have the actual synths in front of me, with actual knobs and sliders that I could touch.
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piratewithvigor · 4 years ago
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My first thought in regard to every band that gets played on my radio station
ACDC: Every dad’s favourite band
Adams, Bryan: Every mom’s favourite singer until Michael Buble came along
Aerosmith: haha they thought Vince Neil was a lady
Alice Cooper: he’s a Game Of Thrones fanboy and I have proof
Alice In Chains: my sister doesn’t like them because she decided AC were Alice Cooper’s initials ONLY
Allman Brothers Band: good music for dropping acid to
Allman, Gregg: That’s too many Gs for one name
Animals: House Of The Rising Sun, or who even cares
Argent: Sometimes Hold Your Head Up is really catchy
Asia: Tuesdays
Autograph: one of the members went on to be a pharmacist
Bachman-Turner Overdrive: There are just so many pop culture jokes about Taking Care Of Business that whatever I say won’t be as funny
Bad Company: with their song; Bad Company, off their album; Bad Company
Benatar, Pat: Always getting her confused with Patti Smith
Black Crowes: I like them for Lickin, but it doesn’t seem to exist outside of one shoddy video on youtube and my old CD
Blackfoot: this band name feels kind of racy
Black Sabbath: Dio was not better or worse than Ozzy; just different
Blondie: I like Call Me, but Blondie confuses me stylistically
Blue Oyster Cult: MORE COWBELL
Bon Jovi: Hello, childhood trauma, I missed you
Boston: ONE GUY. ONE GUY DID IT ALL AND NO ONE KNOWS
Bowie, David: Don’t let your children watch The Man Who Fell To Earth, or David Bowie’s will end up being the third penis they see in life
Browne, Jackson: Another musician ruined by Supernatural
Buffalo Springfield: Jack Nicholson was at the riot they sing about
Burdon, Eric: no ideas, brain empty
Bush: ditto
Candlebox: ditto once more. Who are these people?
Cars: This band feels so gay and so straight at the same time, I can only assume they’re the poster children of bisexual panic
Cheap Trick: I played Dream Police on Guitar Hero so fucking much because it was the only song anyone who played with me could keep up with
Chicago: Chicago 30 exists, but they do not have 30 albums. Fucking riddle me that
Clapton, Eric: 6 discs in one Greatest Hits is too many. That’s called “re releasing your discography”
Cochrane, Tom: For some reason, everyone thinks Rascal Flats did it better
Cocker, Joe: Belushi did it right
Collective Soul: who?
Collins, Phil: If his biggest hits were done by MCR, they would be emo anthems, but because he’s 5′6″ and from the 80s, they’re not
Cream: *Vietnam flashbacks on the hippie side*
CCR: *Vietnam flashbacks on the war side*
CSNY: David Crosby; meh
Deep Purple: THEY’RE SO MUCH MORE THAN SMOKE ON THE WATER
Def Leppard: the only music for when you’re a heartbroken bitch but also a sexy one
Derek And The Dominos: Clapton and ‘Layla’ broke up
Derringer, Rick: Tom Petty if he was from the midwest
Dio: You thought it was an anime reference, but it was me, Dio
Dire Straits: You can tell how bigoted a radio station is based on how much of Money For Nothing they censor
Doobie Brothers: I have yet to smoke weed, but I listen to the Doobies, and I think that’s pretty close
Dylan, Bob: I take back everything I said about him in my youth
Eagles: Hotel California isn’t their best song, but the memes that come from it are second to none
Edgar Winter Group: @the--blackdahlia
Electric Light Orchestra: Actually an orchestra and sound a fuckton like George Harrison
ELO: I really hesitate to ask what happens with the 7 virgins and a mule
Essex, David: no prominent memories of him
Fabulous Thunderbirds: cannot spell
Faces: Who on earth thought that was a good album name?
Faith No More: I got nothing
Fixx: One Thing Leads To Another is a damn bop
Fleetwood Mac: I ain’t straight, but I’m simply not enough of a witch to enjoy them to full potential
Fogerty, John: He got sued cause he sounded like himself
Foghat: Slow Ride slowly becoming less coherent feels like a drug trip
Foo Fighters: He was just excited to buy a grill
Ford, Lita: deserved better
Foreigner: dramatically overplayed
Frampton, Peter: a masterful user of the talk box
Free: dramatically underplayed
Gabriel, Peter: leaving Genesis changed him a lot
Genesis: if someone likes Genesis, clarify the era, because yes, it does matter
Georgia Satellites: sing like you have a cactus in your ass
Golden Earring: Twilight Zone slaps, but it doesn’t slap as hard as this station thinks it does
Grand Funk Railroad: Funk
Grateful Dead: I like their aesthetic more than their music
Great White: there are so many fucking shark jokes
Greenbaum, Norman: makes me think of Subway for some reason
Green Day: the first of the emo revolution
Greg Kihn Band: RocKihnRoll is literally the most clever album name I’ve ever seen
Guns N Roses: They have more than three good songs, but radio stations never recognize that
Hagar, Sammy: I’m still trying to figure out where he lived to take 16 hours to get to LA driving 55 and how fucking fast was he driving beforehand?
Harrison, George: He went from religious to rock, and if he had continued rocking, he would have gotten too cool 
Head East: I respect people who use breakfast foods as album names
Heart: Magic Man and Barracuda are played at least once every goddamn day. They’re not even the best songs!
Hendrix, Jimi: I have both a cousin and a sibling named after Hendrix references
Henley, Don: Dirty Laundry gives me too much inspiration
Hollies: Somehow sound like they’re both from the 60s and the 80s at the same time
Idol, Billy: he’s doing well for himself
INXS: Terminator vibes
Iris, Donnie: knockoff Roy Orbison
James Gang: too many funks
Jane’s Addiction: if TMNT had a grunge band representative
Jefferson Airplane: *assorted cheers*
Jefferson Starship: *assorted boos*
Jethro Tull: The only band to make you feel not cool enough to play the flute
Jett, Joan: icon
J. Geils Band: I requested them on the radio once and it got played
Joel, Billy: he really did just air everybody’s business like that
John Cafferty And The Beaver Brown Band: literally wtf is that name
John, Elton: yarn Elton sits in my basement, unstaring. Please someone take him from me
Joplin, Janis: Queen
Journey: Stop overplaying Don’t Stop Believing. It takes away from the rest of the repetoire
Judas Priest: literally started the gay leather aesthetic
Kansas: another fucking band Supernatural stole
Kenny Wayne Shepherd: the man confuses me to the point where he isn’t in the right place alphabetically
Kiss: Mick Mars and I will simply have to disagree on the subject
Kravitz, Lenny: runaway vibes
Led Zeppelin: Fucking fight me if you don’t think they’re the most talented band (maybe not the most talented individually, but collectively, no one comes close)
Lennon, John: My least favourite Beatle for reasons
Live: I got nothin
Living Colour: slap a decent amount
Loverboy: do you not get TURNT the fuck up to the big Loverboy hits? Who hurt you??
Lynyrd Skynyrd: Sweet Home Alabama is a Neil Young diss track
Marshall Tucker Band: no opinion
Manfred Mann’s Earth Band: VERY STRONG OPINIONS THAT THEY AREN’T GOOD
McCartney, Paul/Wings: Power couple
Meatloaf: I have nothing but respect for a man who willingly named himself Meatloaf
Mellencamp, John: voted cutest lesbian of 1987
Metallica: I liked their appearance on Jimmy Fallon
Midnight Oil: I get them confused for Talking Heads a lot
Modern English: who?
Molly Hatchet: Hollies vibes, but also Georgia Satellites vibes
Money, Eddie: DAN AVIDAN, IF YOU SEE THIS, COVER TAKE ME HOME TONIGHT
Motley Crue: Stan Mick Mars and John Corabi. They’re the only ones who deserve it
Mott The Hoople: no one loves them except for David Bowie
Mountain: props for naming an album ‘Climbing’
Nazareth: I want to make a John Mulaney joke here, but I can never come up with one
Nicks, Stevie: witch queen
Night Ranger: I get them confused with Urge Overkill
Nirvana: Kurt Cobain was the ally grunge needed
Nova, Aldo: he’s Canadian, at least
Nugent, Ted: *serves a ghost as jerky*
Offspring: nothing here
Osbourne, Ozzy: this bitch crazy
Outfield: Your Love is kind of a sketchy song, but it slaps hard
Palmer, Robert: low quality Eddie Money
Pearl Jam: *grunts in Eddie Vedder*
Petty, Tom: I have so many feelings about Tom Petty and they are all good
Pink Floyd: which one is Pink?
Plant, Robert: solo career is a crapshoot, but his voice is unparalleled
Poison: I want them to write a song called ‘Alice Cooper’
Pretenders: I want to say good things, but I have nothing to say
Queen: A doctor of astrophysics, a screaming girl, a disco queen and a diva walk into a bar. It’s Queen; they’re there to play a gig
Queensryche: neutral opinion
Quiet Riot: they got big because of a song they hated. I love that
Rafferty, Gerry: the second-sexiest sax opening in all of music
Rainbow: Ritchie Blackmore created something very magnificent
Ram Jam: one good song and they didn’t even write it
Ratt: I’m sure they have more than Round And Round, but I don’t know it
RHCP: funky, but if you have paid money to hear them, you’re going to The Bad Place (I don’t make the rules)
Red Rider: basically Golden Earring
Reed, Lou: Walk On The Wild Side would be such a cool song if it wasn’t so dull
REM: American Tragically Hip
REO Speedwagon: Props for having a dad joke as an album title
Rolling Stones: Never in my life could I imagine the drummer being named anything but Charlie
Rush: How to make being uncool the coolest fucking shit
Santana: The world needs more Santana
Scandal: There’s something really funny about The Warrior being my brother’s “song” with his girlfriend
Scorpions: Was Wind Of Change written by the CIA? Only the spotify podcast I got an ad for once could say
Seger, Bob: A different variety of Eric Clapton (frankly a better variety, but that’s just me)
Simple Minds: we ALL forgot about you
Skid Row: Sebastian Bach is prettier than all of us
Soundgarden: music that makes you feel like you dunked your head underwater
Springsteen, Bruce: my arch-nemesis. Maybe someday, he’ll find out about it
Squeeze: according to my friends, the stupidest band name ever, but they’re theatre kids, so you know
Squier, Billy: If he can make it through 1984 alive, you can make it through whatever bad day you’re having
Stealers Wheel: Yet another band who I always mistake for George Harrison
Steely Dan: my house’s nickname for the Robber in Settlers Of Catan
Steppenwolf: Either makes me think of Jay & Silent Bob, Jack Nicholson, or that time I had to cut 6lbs of onions
Steve Miller Band: when you’re in the right mood, they slap hard
Stewart, Rod: my soundtrack to summer 2015
Stills, Stephen: Love The One You’re With Is Catchy, but the lyrics are questionable
Stone Temple Pilots: the only band to write a song about goo you smear on yourself
Stray Cats: an obscene amount of merch is available for them
Styx: Supernatural would have ruined them for me too if I hadn’t been into them previously. 
Supertramp: I hunted for Breakfast In America for two years and it was worth every hunt
Sweet: I will never understand my two-month obsession with Ballroom Blitz when I was 15, but it was legit all I listened to
Talking Heads: you may find yourself in a pizza hut. And you may find yourself in a taco bell. And you may find yourself at the combination pizza hut and taco bell. And you may ask yourself; ‘how did I get here?’
Temple Of The Dog: I keep confusing them for Nazareth
Ten Years After: somehow still relevant
Tesla: not the car or the dude
The Beatles: Evokes a lot of opinions from people. Mine is that I love them
The Clash: I showed my sister the ‘Lock The Taskbar’ vine ONCE and it still kills her
The Doors: evokes teenage terror from deep within my soul
The Guess Who: Canada’s answer to confusing question-themed band names
The Kinks: kinky
The Police: wrote the theme of 2020 and everyone somehow forgot it was about a teacher resisting becoming a pedophile
The Ramones: playing all of their songs in a row wouldn’t take more than 2 hours
The Romantics: you don’t think you know them, but if you’ve seen Shrek 2, you have
The Who: If someone can explain Tommy to me, I’d be glad to hear it
The Zombies: I think they happened because of the 60s
Thin Lizzy: Could the boys maybe leave town?
Thorogood, George: blues, but make it modern
Toto: the most memed song behind All Star
Townshend, Pete: just makes me think of the end of Mr. Deeds
T-Rex: Mark Bolan is an icon
Triumph: The no-name brand of Rush
Tubes: like the yogurt
Twisted Sister: they did a christmas album and my mom does NOT hate it
U2: U2 Movers; we move in mysterious ways
Van Halen: RIP Eddie
Van Morrison: honestly, who’s named Van?
Vaughn, Stevie Ray: Steamy Ray Vaughn
Walsh, Joe: The Smoker You Drink The Player You Get
War: Foghat, but even groovier
Whitesnake: the most successful band to be named after a penis
Wright, Gary: the 90s thanks him for writing the song every movie used for the “guy sees cute girl and it’s love at first sight” scene
Yes: To Be Continued
Young, Neil: The best part of CSNY
Zevon, Warren: the album cover of Excitable Boy makes me deeply uncomfortable for reasons I don’t understand
ZZ Top: has been the same three guys since 1969. Lineup unchanged. 
3 Doors Down: They feel a little modern to be on a classic rock station, but whatever
38 Special: Why 38?
334 notes · View notes
btsandvmin · 4 years ago
Text
Ask: Reply - 2021.04.16
Time to answer some more of your questions. I have a lot this time, and still a lot left I’ll have to save to another post. You are all very good at being curious and asking interesting questions. There are also some asks that are replies to old asks, and then I’ll include the link to the referenced post.
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This time the topics will be:
Ask 1 - About KTH1 and expectations Ask 2 - KTH1 spoiler with “Oh lady” Ask 3 - Vminies getting superiority complex Ask 4 - Not dismissing the bond between Vmin and the other boys Ask 5 - Other people’s words can influence your thoughts Ask 6 - Vmin not sharing rooms in Bon Voyage Malta Ask 7 - Has being a Vmin shipper always been so overwhelming with all the content? Ask 8 - “Just a friend” interview Ask 9 - The garnet necklace Ask 10 - Vmin in CMs Ask 11 - Taehyung uncomfortable about shipping/tae*kook? Ask 12 - What did Jimin write on his shirt in Run ep. 53? Ask 13 - Gina Maeng ask follow up Ask 14 - Vmin’s love is beautiful (and so much nice praise omg)
Today’s post is a long one... Enjoy!
Ask 1 - About KTH1 and expectations
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Ok, so I did write a shit post about this... (I mean… This is literally all Vmin’s songs so far ), but I still think your questions are worth a proper answer.
Honestly I think speculating about KTH1 is kind of hard, and as seen in the shit post I am quite torn with my expectations... In general I am the type who doesn’t like to expect too much in fear of being disappointed. I rather be pleasantly surprised. That being said Vmin does have a track record of getting involved in each other’s songs. I mean a lot is just speculation of course, but we do have confirmed cases as well, enough to not be too surprised if they would keep it up and do something for Tae’s solo album as well. (Tae saying his mixtape would be named Jimin back in 2016 still haunts me.)
On the other hand, they have already given us a lot of collabs. Adding more would feel more like a statement, at least if it would be only Jimin out of the members on that album. The thing is that if Vmin would have something “real” or at least if they are a bit careful with how they come across... I am not sure they would do something too “obvious”. But where such a line would be drawn is impossible to know. I mean clearly they managed to write and sing Friends and it worked fine, even if they did get more attention as a ship.
We also know Tae has been quite loud about Jimin in ways that single him out, so maybe they would really dare push the boundaries as far as actually including Jimin in the album somehow. It’s also very possible there could be other members, and honestly we probably shouldn’t hyper focus too much on it and that it has to mean something no matter if anyone is on it or not.
I think one of the rappers being on it is probably more likely out of the members, but it seems Tae has shown an interest in collabs with people outside of BTS, so that’s kind of what I am expecting the most. No matter who in the group is on it I am sure fans will make a big deal out of it, and maybe Tae would rather have his own thing for his first album. I really don’t know how his thoughts would go.
But again, looking at how Tae and Jimin has talked about working together, and have had moments like Tae promising Jimin a song or Tae saying they will work together again... It’s definitely not impossible to get another Vmin song. I do feel it’s more likely for any connections to be vague and not instantly noticeable though (at least not anything romantic looking because we know what happened to the Christmas song). Especially considering how they have only recently revealed things like 4 clock’s inspiration more openly and had Friends followed by Sweet Night. My main stance for any possible real ship is still that they have reason to be careful, and yet another Vmin collab, on Taehyung’s first personal album would probably raise some eyebrows considering everything else we already have. But it could also be me over analyzing them, and maybe they just really like and want to work together. Tae for sure has after all been vocal about this preference and want to work with Jimin.
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So yeah, on one hand they have a track record that is hard to ignore... But on the other I wonder if they might want to add another “point” for ARMY to look at them and their songs. I also don’t want to assume that if there are songs on there that sound romantic that they automatically will be about Jimin. There will have to be legit possible connections for me to acknowledge them.
It’s tricky. I guess we will have to wait and see. I am kind of scared both that there won’t be anything or that there will be SOMETHING. Thank you for the ask, and I hope I shed some light on my thoughts on this subject. Either way I am very excited and looking forward to an album full of Taehyung’s own songs and the stories he wants to tell.
Ask 2 - KTH1 spoiler with “Oh lady”
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I am not sure it is “lady”, since it’s a bit unclear in general. He also has a part that just seems to go “do be do” and I don’t know if the lyrics are even finished or if he worked with someone else etc. We basically lack a lot of information. But even so using lady/her/she etc. in a song doesn’t have to mean it is about a specific person or that the person is a she or that it is Taehyung’s own feelings (I know he said he usually sings about things he have felt, but just saying it doesn’t always have to be). 
Of course I don’t want to downplay it and say it doesn’t mean anything, but considering their fanbase is majority women, they live in a homophobic country and he has even been denied to sing a romantic song with a man before, it’s not impossible to add that to make it more “relatable” or less “gay”. God, that sounds terrible. I don’t want to start discussions where we don’t take their words for what they are, so I hope you might understand my point of view. That being said of course it could just as easily be to or about a specific woman in his life that we don’t know about. Or as you say, he isn’t actually in love but is simply writing love songs that could be inspired by non-romantic relationships or movies etc. as was the case for his inspiration for Winter Bear.
Tae also used “she” in Winter Bear, and that seems a bit forgotten. Or people try to say it has to be about his grandmother... Which we obviously don’t know, it’s just the woman people jump to since he used “she” and many people don’t like the idea of him dating a woman or writing about a woman we don’t know. Either way I think we need to remember that anything is possible and we don’t know them personally and how they think or why they choose to do what they do.
I think we need to remember that there is always going to be the possibility that ships aren’t real, that the romantic songs aren’t about Jimin and that either one of them could be in a relationship with someone else (all genders included).
Ask 3 - Vminies getting superiority complex
Hello! I want to address something that has been bothering me for a while now. I have been seeing some vminnies have a superiority complex just bcoz they ship vmin. Its very rampant among new vminnies and twt vminnies. I get that we all feel validated and happy when out OTP claim to be soulmates and bff. I feel that way too. But people have to remember that vmin are real people and their relationship is dynamic. Like they did grow from bff who used to tease e/o and fight alot to soulmates who are gentle and caring. Who is to say that one day they wont drift apart (i hope not and dont think thats gonna happen but for argument sake) so there is no reason to feel superior or look down on other shippers. 
If people think vminnies are superior bcoz they are not toxic they probably know they are lying. Lbr i have seen my share of toxic vminnies though may be a lesser number but they are there and its not the ship but its that particular person who is at fault. While i agree that some ship theories cultivate hate and toxicity there may be people among those ships who are just as sane and good as we claim to be. I just wanted to address this bcoz seeing some vminnies on twt saying locals thinking vmin were tgt after coway add is a validation kind of triggered me. I m sure there would have been similar responses to any other ship bcoz they all have been tgt for a decade and are very comfortable with e/o. I just wanted to talk to someone about this and i know you have discussed similar topics in the past. So yeah this was very long.
First of all, on request I won’t show your name, but thank you for sending me this and letting me know who you are. It’s always nice to know who is behind the question. But that being said I don’t mind people asking on anon, I totally get it being a lot easier to ask or question things when you don’t have to reveal yourself. Either way I am just glad to get interesting and important topics and I do think the things you bring up are worth talking about.
As you say, there is this thing when people start to feel and act superior for various reasons, and I too have seen some Vminies do this. Getting a lot of moments is sure nice. But honestly, just imagine if another ship came and mocked Vmin or gloated every time they got more moments. It has surely happened too, and I am sure it doesn’t feel very nice when on the negative end. Just be a decent human, ship moments will always vary and it’s great to be happy about getting moments, but there is no need to compare or look down on other ships. I say it again, shipping is not a competition, just enjoy your own ship and let others enjoy theirs.
As for feelings superior based on group behavior I think we really need to stop looking at groups and start looking at individuals, both when it comes to groups we are part of and groups we consider “bad”. I have said it many times, but individuals of other groups we don’t agree with won’t all be bad, or all stupid or young etc. We might want to tell ourselves they are worse, but it really doesn’t change much. 
Being “less bad” it not a merit and it shouldn’t be a competition. We all have our own selves to answer to and we should judge other people based on their actions and not based on what group they might belong to.
I think size and the toxicity of a narrative can lead to more people in certain groups behaving in toxic ways... But I think any person could happen to fall into these behaviors if not careful and aware. Often the change is gradual too, or you feel attacked by the other “rival group” and thus feel it’s justified to attack back, and so it escalates.
Vminies are at the moment as a group smaller, and thus have less “bad apples”. We likely also have a narrative for Vmin that doesn’t require as toxic mindsets, for example extreme jealousy or Vmin being forced to hide. But there for sure are still toxic Vminies, and there are also a lot of non-toxic shippers in all groups. Usually the louder ones are also the worst ones while the chill and nice will remain in their own lane and ship more peacefully. But being part of a smaller group doesn’t make you superior, your actions is what is important.
As for small moments getting noticed or other types of “validation” for your ship, of course it’s going to feel nice. However, what people see and think of any relationship in BTS is still just an outsider view and literally has no meaning for their actual relationship beyond it being a cute moment. That’s why size and popularity also doesn’t matter as any kind of “proof”. Interpretation will always just be interpretation, good or bad, if you like it or not.
Sadly I think we will get more and more toxic behavior from more ships as the fandom grows and as some things get more normalized within those ships’ communities. It’s about certain behaviors growing into a community culture... The more toxicity that is allowed the more others will follow. That’s why bringing up the problems is important, but trying to do so without shunning people so that they don’t go and create their own space where everyone else is the enemy. After all, being open and welcoming and understanding is much more likely to make someone listen and even change their mind than by attacking them.
I answer for my own actions. So does every person. I don’t want to be judged for everything every Vminie or ARMY or Multi K-pop fan etc. has done. Generalization is a huge problem in general, not just in fandoms or ship wars. I do try to be a positive influence, to not judge too harshly and to remember that being hostile won’t help any situation. But that’s about it. I am glad you brought up this topic, because talking about it is important, but sadly I don’t think there is a lot that can be done about it. Just try to be nice and open minded.
Thank you for the ask, I hope you all understood what I wanted to say.
Ask 4 - Not dismissing the bond between Vmin and the other boys
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Thank you. I really see no need for it. It’s clear as day that they all love each other, and even if one pair would happen to be romantic instead of platonic that won’t change. We don’t have to compare and we definitely don’t have to downplay the moments they share with each other. All shippers should at the very least accept the the things they do and say as mostly genuine. I trust BTS and what they show us, it’s that easy.
I know some also get influenced by toxic fans, but we really need to remember that no narratives by fans matter when it comes to reality and what bonds BTS share with each other. They are all great people and seem to have such love and respect for each other I frankly don’t understand how you can be a fan if you think any of it is played up to the point some claim.
Likely no ship in BTS is real, but if any is, to me I am sure the ones involved would be happy and supported by the rest of the members. That’s why it doesn’t really matter what ship would be real or not real as long as they are happy. We shouldn’t let our own views and sometimes want or hopes affect the way be judge their reality. This applies for things outside shipping as well.
Thank you for your kind words. :)
Ask 5 - Other people’s words can influence your thoughts
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Indeed. The brain is a powerful thing. This is very obvious if you are a multi-shipper or a general fan, but BTS truly has a lot of questionable moments between all kinds of pairs. Focus is a interesting thing. If you like something you will notice it more, and you will also remember it more while you forget other moments. Likewise if something is “negative” like a rival ship you are likely to notice them more as well. This happens even if you just watch the general content and get your own bias. Imagine then how it might influence you when others keep repeating either your happy interpretations or things you worry about? You’ll get it stuck in your head and remember it more than other things.
Like isn’t it funny how we might gush about Vmin sharing beds, or worry about ji/kook or tae/kook cuddling while hope/kook literally sleep wrapped around each other in both Bon Voyage 3 and 4? Sometimes it’s all about perspective.
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By now we need to realize that fan perspective will influence us a lot. And in particular if a lot of people say it or if it is presented in a way that makes it sound logical and intelligent. Words have power. 
I still think using “Vmin is dead” or spreading worry often in itself leads to people thinking it and it being somehow accepted as fact. In similar fashion getting to hear about certain ships or certain narratives will make us notice things in relation to that. My own words and posts too will have influence on some people that read them. That’s why I try to be so careful, and why I try to avoid using strong words or claims that might cement themselves in someone’s mind. (I’ll actually talk more about the power of language in my big analysis as well)
Thank you for your input, it’s definitely an interesting thing to consider and another aspect of why shipping mentality is so complicated. 
Ask 6 - Vmin not sharing rooms in Bon Voyage Malta
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Hi and yes, I have answered this before HERE, but it’s ok. I know it’s not easy finding old topics amongst my collection posts.
Collection of asks - BTSandVMIN Collection of asks 2 - BTSandVMIN Collection of asks 3 - BTSandVMIN
In short I think Vmin wanted to share rooms but that Taehyung got fooled when Jimin stopped him from checking the upper room. Because it seemed like Jimin stopped him from walking into that room by saying he couldn’t peak Tae probably assumed it wasn’t Jimin’s room and that when Jimin said it was his room he was joking (his face was definitely something). So yeah, I think he just got fooled by Jimin’s statement about not being allowed to look inside the room before picking. There are other interesting things about this whole moment, but the one thing we should take away from it is how it is one out of now many examples that seem to show that Vmin have a preference to share rooms/beds. Thank you for the ask. :)
Ask 7 - Has being a Vmin shipper always been so overwhelming with all the content?
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I wouldn’t say it’s something recent. I say it often, but we really do get very intense periods from time to time with many of the ships. For example in February 2017 with ISAC, fan signs and everything else we got a lot of Vmin too. I remember being overwhelmed myself, and that was coming out of BST era Vmin. We got many moments every day and that’s just one specific period I can remember. 
 Over the years sometimes we do get these very intense days or weeks with a lot of moments at once. Usually I get asks like “do you think something is up with Vmin lately” or “wow I can’t believe how much Vmin we have gotten lately” but really, it’s hard to tell, because it really does happen from time to time. I also still say we always get Vmin moments regularly as long as we get BTS content, but sometimes a bit more and sometimes less. I am sure there will be more times when we also get “Vmin is dead“ and worried people because we get less moments than they expect. It just happens, up and down and around it goes.
As for what ships are big I will definitely say Ji/kook and Tae/kook are the biggest, but that all BTS ships are big by now. Meaning as soon as we do get moments it will be seen online. Especially if you follow people who talk about it of course. I also think what platform you are on can result in some ships being seen more than others. For example I know ji/kook is by far the biggest BTS ship here on Tumblr while Youtube seems to have more tae/kookers.
Thank you for the ask. Let’s hope Vmin keeps overwhelming us. (But let’s not start to worry if they don’t) ;)
Ask 8 - “Just a friend” interview
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Ah yes, I have a bit of a soft spot for this interview myself. I am not sure, but I think it might be from 2017 (since Tae wrote a birthday letter to Jimin in 2016), or at least that’s when I found it and saved it down. I haven’t actually tracked the original source. You can find the translation in the link shared HERE, credits to @95z​.
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Seeing this close after the chaos of Let’s BTS and other letter confessions it really does seem very cringe for them to express sincere thoughts in these more formal ways. I can’t blame them. 
I do think this interview is yet another example of how much Vmin has tried to adapt to each other, learn and be more open with expressing how they feel. They literally inspire and learn from each other in how to express themselves. Isn’t it completely endearing? 
I also love how they get each other to feel strong emotions and how they are there for each other when in need. On a slightly more analytical note I also can’t help but note the “just a friend” vs “soulmate” descriptions and how they seem to have a hard time putting it into proper words. We already know this of course, but yeah... They really don’t have an easy time describing their relationship.
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Thank you so much for sharing this moment. I was going to talk about it in my big analysis anyways, but honestly I can’t save everything for it, and you mentioned it so who am I to keep it to myself.
Ask 9 - The garnet necklace
Oh yeah, I know that JK wore it once and that the talk was that a fan gave it to all of maknae line. Not much was ever confirmed from what I know, but regardless it doesn’t change why I think it’s a Vmin/soulmate necklace and why I see it as special.
Here is the thing, when I use “Vmin thing” it really doesn’t have to be exclusive. To me it’s the context around it and how they have used it and even reacted to it that makes the garnet necklace something special for Vmin. In the case of the soulmate necklace Vmin wore it a lot. Almost constantly during a big part of 2017 and even a bit into 2018. They also wore it at the same time a lot. I find this very cute, and we all know “couple items” is something all fans enjoy even if it would just be a platonic relationship behind it. But if both of them wearing it was all there was, as a lot of Vmin sharing clothes (or BTS in general sharing clothes) I wouldn’t really think too much about it beyond it being cute. It could still be just a cute thing that Vmin did, but I personally see it as something beyond the normal clothes/jewelry sharing.
(At the very least you can remember Vmin did this while people thought their relationship was dead, which doesn’t make much sense to do if you hate or dislike someone.)
The things I find more noteworthy about this necklace is the fact that the fandom picked up on it and because they wore it so much and so often at the same time it was dubbed the “soulmate necklace”. Possibly knowing this Tae also brought specific attention to the necklace at two times, as if wanting to show it off. Interestingly enough, in one of these times Jimin seemed to ignore Taehyung who was bringing attention to it on purpose. For me it came across as another thing Taehyung wanted to show off and that Jimin was a bit more careful about. 
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Of course I could have read it wrong, maybe Jimin just misunderstood. But even so, Tae did bring attention to it in specific relation to Jimin. You can watch the clip HERE. (BTS Tell Us What They Love About Each Other & An Update On Tony & Nate From America Hustle Life) 
The other time was in Run ep. 39, right after Vmin talked about being in school together and showing off their school uniforms. If Tae is the one to try and highlight something, I feel it likely has some meaning to him at least.
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Either way the necklace is basically a symbol of Vmin’s relationship and the fact that they liked it so much and wore it together during a long period I think they liked wearing it not only because they both happened to like the design but because they both had it. If JK also had one and didn’t use it of course it could include him, but I will still say it remains significant for Vmin’s bond with each other.
As for buying a necklace together they haven’t talked about this one in particular, but Tae did mention he bought his tiger necklace with Jimin in NY, so maybe you are mixing the two things up?
Ask 10 - Vmin in CMs
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Thank you for loving my blog and for the ask! :) I am not sure if you perhaps meant in a lot of BTS own photoshoots/units as well, but I’ll focus on CMs in this post since that was your direct example. I might go a bit beyond here, but I saw it as a good chance to revisit some Vmin ad moments.
I wouldn’t personally say we have gotten “way more” but I do think because of their Friends unit they got to do some more interviews together and some CM stuff too. I also think we have gotten more BTS commercials in general now, likely because it’s an income alternative to touring during the pandemic. So that obviously means more CMs, and more chances for them to be paired up. They also have gotten paired with others of course (like in the Bodyfriend CM or Baskin Robbins), but most commonly they aren’t divided in smaller groups at all.
We also have gotten Vmin paired up before, both in photoshoots and in CMs. Of course we saw some great ones in 2016 with Puma and NUGU, but I don’t think we got that much more in 2016 and before than in 2017-2019. I think what we can see is BTS having more endorsements after Covid.
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Like honestly, the Puma adds are iconic. Of course the original one, but also the revisits from 2018. Puma definitely seemed to like to pair Vmin in particular. (There are so many good examples from Puma that I’m not including)
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We also got a snippet in the Hyundai one, also from 2018.
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Another snippet from the Coconut Chicken ad from 2017.
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I mean, I don’t know if I should count the snippets at all, like from BTS x VT cosmetics in 2019, but I feel sometimes just being seen in the same frame seems to get attention as being paired up so. (I decided to not include being together when it’s at least a third member in the frame)
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And guys... Have you ever watched BTS and the milk song?
What did we get so far more recently? In 2020 we had the Hyundai interview.
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And the hyundai #PositiveEnergyChallenge
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Fila provided a nice one, also from 2020.
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Samsung gave us a snippet recently.
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Coway was basically couple goals and like the best one in my own opinion (besides Puma because it is going to take a lot to beat Puma).
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But other than that? I don’t think we have seen it that much, have we? I am not complaining or anything, like I am happy with what we got, but I don’t know if it’s that much. I might forget some obvious ones, but these were the ones I had top of mind. Feel free to add ads if you can think of more recent ones that I left out.
So I think we have gotten more BTS ads in general, also more where they are not all of them or single focus, and that we have seen maybe Vmin getting paired a little more after Friends. But to me there is such a small difference I can’t really say if it is anything particular to Vmin or just BTS doing more CMs.
I mean, I don’t have a sheet of who has been paired with who and how many times over the years. But either way I don’t think we should look too deeply into things like CMs or even photoshoots units. Thanks for the ask though, I hope you enjoyed this mini collection. :)
Ask 11 - Taehyung uncomfortable about shipping/tae*kook?
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So this is a thought sent in after THIS ASK though it really brings up a new subject, which is that of Tae possibly being uncomfortable with shipping. As for Tae saying that to a tae/kooker in particular I think we have to remember it could very easily just have been in the moment and we can’t know why he decided to reply to that person in particular.
The Vmin post was not invasive and it wasn’t romantic. I mean, I do think Tae keeps showing again and again that if there is any person in BTS that is special to him it’s Jimin. But the difference in the posts also likely matters, but we can’t know how much. We don’t know if Tae would feel annoyed if a Vminie wrote the same thing as the tae/kooker did, and we don’t know if it was just in that moment that he got fed up with the shipping discourse in general, or if it was because it was tae/kook.
Honestly any shipper, regardless if a ship would eventually prove to be real or not, should not go and invade spaces where the boys get exposed to it. We don’t know if Taehyung would have reacted in a similar way if it happened to be another ship.
Personally I don’t think tae/kook drifted apart as a result of shipping, because honestly they still kept being pretty intimate physically and engaged in fanservice on stage etc. If they truly were uncomfortable with the idea I just don’t think they would “feed it” much at all. I think as they said in ITS they just, kind of changed and it became harder to talk. I’ve talked more about tae/kook and my views on their bond in THIS POST and a little in THIS POST as well as about BTS possible stance on shipping HERE.
I also think all of BTS has a pretty good distance from hate and fandom speculations in general. I think that because they know about shipping and partly also feed into it they probably expect crazy people to some degree as well, even if they probably don’t like it. Hetero shippers as well, or solo stans etc. have very toxic behaviors at times, but I think BTS can recognize that it is kind of “bound to happen” with their popularity, no matter what they do about it. Not saying they would like it, and they could definitely feel awkward or annoyed because of it, but it doesn’t seem to bother them too much as I think they can detach themselves from it pretty well.
I also think “fan opinions” in form of rival shipping wouldn’t really harm a hidden couple as it first would likely be a sort of “shield” and second because they have their relationships and are likely comfortable with them on their own terms. What fans think is probably secondary.
It is possible that they could get annoyed or frustrated at times, but again, if they truly felt bothered by it they probably wouldn’t do a lot of the things they do. Because I am sure they are aware to some degree that fans scrutinize their every move and ship moments. Both Tae and Jimin are some of the most physical out of the members, and also some of the members that seem to like to initiate fanservice moments... So I doubt they would have much problem and can feel secure enough in their relationship no matter what fans think.
Ask 12 - What did Jimin write on his shirt in Run ep. 53?
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Hi, I guess you got curious after I talked about this episode recently in my post Ask: Reply - 2021.03.30 (Ask 8 - Going down the rabbit hole, micromoments and shipping vs believing).
I don’t know hangul, but I do know what “Jimin” looks like. On Jimin’s shirt from behind the scenes of Run ep. 53 you can see he’s written his own name “지민” Jimin followed by what looks to be “ 님 “ which is nim. So basically the text on the container in the picture says Sir Jimin.
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Jimin seemed very keen on writing his name on both his own shirt and on Tae’s and even tried on JK’s. He failed of course, but he sure did try. 
Thank you for the ask, and isn’t Tae cute?
Ask 13 - Gina Maeng ask follow up
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Glad you liked my reply. :) (From Ask: Reply - 2021.03.30  Ask 4 - Idols dating members of the same group). Yeah I get what you mean, talking about it openly I suppose isn’t so normal. But since it seems to be more and more fans who assume it happens to some degree maybe it’s not so strange if it starts getting more talked about as well. I’ll take it as a good sign, even if the information is nothing new in itself, being more open is going to make it easier for fans to realize it’s possible for their idols to be LGBT+ or have hidden relationships.
As for K-Population it doesn’t seem to be too well known, but it’s one of few actual examples to be found. So yeah, interesting that we know it has happened, and also that it shows what risks it could mean to get involved with a group member. I think the risk of a falling out is something a lot of shippers tend to forget. Anyways, thank you for your reply. ^_^
Ask 14 - Vmin’s love is beautiful (and so much nice praise omg)
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Oh my... I am not sure I have ever been called sweetheart by anyone ever before. Thank you! You are making me blush with all the praise.  💜💜💜
But really, we can all just watch Vmin in awe and be happy they have each other and feel such immense love for each other, no matter what that love is. It’s kind of amazing. Like even if they are platonic their relationship is so wholesome and they put so much love and effort into it that it’s truly inspirational. I love when we get bombed with moments like this with a very intense period of great Vmin interactions. As you, me too never fail to feel all soft watching them together.
95z is love and what a love they share. Truly wonderful. 💜
You take care too, and really, thank you so much for this lovely message. it means a lot and is very heartwarming.
And with that sweet ask I’ll end the post. There was a lot of very different questions and I feel I could have written more about many of them, but alas I need to remember I can’t write full essays on everything or I would never get anything posted. Thank you all for reading and I hope you found my thoughts and speculations interesting. ^-^
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sluggishtin · 4 years ago
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New music asks!
(I understand a few numbers are missing but I took some questions out and decided not to renumber everything)
Thanks to @baby-dall for the help!
1. A band you used to dislike but love now?
2. A band you used to like but dislike now?
3. Bands you think are overrated?
4. Bands you think are underrated?
5. A band(s) you don’t listen to often, but when you do it hits home?
6. Bands you wish more people talked about.
7. A band(s) from another country that you love.
8. A band that sings in a different language than you but you still love.
9. Band or musician with the best fashion?
10. Band with the best name? How about worst?
11. A band a friend got you into?
12. A band that no one knows you like?
13. Best music video ever?
14. A band you think should come back? (In popularity or should get back together)
15. The band you would most love to see live?
16. If you would join any band right now, who would you pick?
17. What’s the best album in your opinion?
18. What’s the best new(er) band in your opinion? (nothing before the early 2000s)
19. What song(s) has the best guitar solo, drum solo, and/or bass?
20. A musician who should NOT have short hair?😝
22. Worst music video? Or most overrated music video?
23. A band that you like because of how the members look, but don’t really listen to their music?
24. A band whose music you enjoy but don’t really find the members attractive?
26. Two bands or musicians you think should collab?
27. Musicians who should NOT have collaborated?
28. What band do you have the most records by?
29. Just rant about a band or musician (after all it’s slutty Saturday)
30. Another rant question but this time rant about a band/musician in a negative way.
31. A record/album you want more than anything?
32. Your favorite album that you own?
33. Do you own any 8-tracks or do you know what those are at all?
34. Do you have any band pinups or posters?
35. Show off your room if you like to display your merch/music stuff around your room!
36. Brag about yourself! Do you have any rare albums or cool instruments?
37. How many records OR CDs do you have? (Whichever you have more of)
38. A band you got into just because you saw a member and thought they were attractive?
39. A band you remember listening to or hearing as a child and got (back) into as a teen/adult?
40. What song or musician do you quote daily?
41. A song you are unhealthily obsessed with?
42. A song you like but it makes you sad listening to it.
43. A band or musician you miss?
44. Would you go to another country to see a band? Who?
45. Do you have any vintage band merch? (Like shirts or backstage passes)
47. Do you have any soundtracks on cassette or vinyl?
48. Something a musician got you into? (Other than a band)
50. If you could one night to spend with a musician but you could never see them again afterwards, who would you pick and what would you do?
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katoktm6 · 3 years ago
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June 19. The lost hours
Last night, Hostal clean, no AC and a small non oscillating fan that would only circulate for 60 minutes at a time…people out on the street talking, yelling all night. Elyse barely slept, and I woke up every hour to restart the fan…I woke at 4:30 with a new idea and waited until 5:00 alarm…sat on side of bed and told Elyse, “I have an idea”. What if we leave our bags at the hotel, hike our coastal hike with our small packs, just bring water, sunscreen, and food ( no water or towns until the end of hike) then we could get a taxi back to our hotel, get bags, and taxi back to our new Hostal..excitedly we prepared for the day…22 kilometer hike and lots of climbing…how expensive can the taxi be? It was only $15 dollars yesterday…while we were deciding, Elyse opened her Polarsteps blog and found a message from Andy, my brother…that said something like open your wallets, enjoy where you are, live life! So, we left the bags and lightened our load and headed out happy and healthy…tons of water, a big sandwich to split between breakfast and lunch, cherries, a peach, and survival food…still heavy, but not as…for what we figured would be a 5-6 hour hike…signs say 3-4 hours.
Up and out at 5:45.. to the marina and then up up up up we were following the green and white striped signs today rather than the red and white because the coastal walk, the local walk was supposed to be gorgeous…it was spectacular. BUT …we soon learned, but not soon enough that many trails are green and white…we hiked to cove…down down down…took a million photos, then hiked up up up…but maybe too up..unclear where we went wrong, but we were at the top of a cliff, then the top of a trail, the bottom of a canyon, back up, out, up, around and back and up and back and a runner flies by…but we were so disoriented on the green and white, that we gathered ourselves, grit, perseverance, resilience, everything we expect from our students we put into use today…all day…3 hours later we were back to where we should have been after 30 minutes. Some great photos though…see terrain photos…
Back on track, time to hike to another cove… but behind on the steep descent..yelling, music, etc…probably 50 high schoolers headed to the same tiny beach cove. Ugh..on we go, legs tired. Get to cove, but just kept going up and over that cliff cove to the next which was “28 minutes” away…it is now around 11:00…an hour later we opt to bypass the next cove I order to beat the sun…but our new path was only sun…stop in shade to eat the other half of our sandwich and sip water, as we are still conserving as we have PTSD from the other day…only 2:45 hours left til we are done for the day…I will stop describing the hike here…it got a bit sketchy…when we decided we could not go any further and called a taxi, we were still “1:50 “ from our final point on the trail..it was 4:00. 10 hours of hiking.
The rest of this story…which takes place in the blazing sun, cliff sides,and steep ascents and descents, Elyse and I agree, is best to tell in person.. we keep looking at each other amazed at what our bodies are capable of doing.
Called taxi from yesterday…to drive back to hotel and get bags, and back to new hostel was $88! Ugh! But it would have been physically impossible to do this hike with our packs. No possible way…taxi driver talked non stop entir time while Elyse and I switched off nodding and agreeing with him while the other closed eyes..Mr. Chirp Chirp.
Hostal clean and owners charming. Showered (had to use my sock as a washcloth to clean the dirt and sunscreen off my ankles) laundry, booked Hostel for me for the rest of the way..but this trail is soooo difficult, I don’t think it safe for solo travel. I may get to the towns and day hike…I don’t need to prove anything or be a hero…although…
Dinner at the local bar..tapas. We let our waiter order typical tapas from the region…because, as always, no meals served after 3:00. This town has an anchovies museum and is famous for them. So we have delicious anchovies in vinegar on bread, grilled calamari,prawns, cannelloni, and potatoes with garlic mayonnaise…waiters choice. Plus I am drinking local red wine delicious…dragonfly in Spanish
Day was sooooo long unplanned. Tomorrow we will hike a portion of the 20 MILE route and taxi to Roses, Spain…spend the afternoon exploring town and Citidal. What to do about bags, we cannot decide….but we do know the route is the only flat day!
If you followed me on the Camino de Santiago…I loved every second, villages, people, food, wine, lifelong friends…this is different…the most beautiful hikes I have ever taken…amazing. But so technically difficult we don’t have the time or strength for more at the end of the day…and no other thru hikers..we think people know to transfer bags and day hike each section..we are in our final few days together and opting for possible plan Bs.. proud of what our bodies cans do, but not the Vibe of the Camino…having an adventure for sure!
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