#love all the little ad libs and key changes

[wavesoutbeingtossed]

Omg Suburban Legends is gorgeous on piano 😭

[thesinglesjukebox]

REMI WOLF - "PRESCRIPTION"

Ask your doctor if Remi Wolf is right for you. Aaron, who brought "Prescription" to our attention, did...

[6.40]

Aaron Bergstrom: Boots Riley starts big. His new show I'm A Virgo comes with the contradictions pre-heightened, a masterful Afro-surrealist fun house with every absurdity stretched to its breaking point, amplifying a message that has never been more timely: real change doesn't come from painstakingly crafted anti-capitalist rhetoric or even aspiring revolutionaries with questionable superpowers, as convenient as that might be. It comes from community. It comes from solidarity. It comes from other people. Remi Wolf starts small. "Prescription," written at Riley's request for a very specific plot point in I'm A Virgo (I won't spoil it, but the episode is called "Balance Beam"), opens on spare drums and descending synths, Gen Z Prince working through some social anxiety issues. Wolf said that the song is about "being in love and being really, really scared about it," and it's that underlying fear that underpins the subsequent ascent into ecstasy, the horns and the key change and the climax that probably only works if you're just a little bit nostalgic for Macy Gray. It all hinges on giving up control. This isn't the kind of joy you can find on your own. It comes from connection. It comes from other people. Riley and Wolf arrive at the same place: whether your revolution is personal or political, you're going to have to let yourself be vulnerable. You're going to have to reach out. [9]

David Moore: Remi Wolf, the little pop engine that couldn't -- thanks to the peculiar vagaries of Spotify's algorithms and curated playlists, I think I've heard almost everything Remi Wolf has ever released, and every time I hear a song, I'm really into it for about 15 seconds before the pleasure slowly ebbs. (My favorite Remi Wolf song is this Little Dragon remix of "Disco Man," which must employ some kind of Energy Star plugin to keep things humming along consistently.) At the same time, I don't know that there's a single bad Remi Wolf song either -- there's something sort of captivating about Remi Wolf's oeuvre, all these little candles emitting a few dazzling flickers before inevitably snuffing themselves out. [6]

Peter Ryan: A smidge more narratively straight-ahead than the gnarly, motormouthed Juno or its predecessor EPs; here Wolf's sonic freak-out puts a point on the exhilaration of the lyric -- you couldn't really call it mellowed, but it's less wickedly hedonistic in sound than a lot of her work, more a snowballing sugar overload. In three-minute form it's a bit of a band showcase, a rich thicket of soul-pop horns punctuated by Wolf's increasingly enraptured vocal breaks and ad-libbing. I'll take the seven-minute version, of course, indulgent and luxuriating in the thrall of yearning while affording the arrangement more time to unfold and Wolf more space to settle into it, goofy jam-interlude and all. At any length it might sound like a stopover for one of pop's most chaotic, inventive voices, but that restless energy at the core of her work would enliven even the most dependable of tropes. [8]

John S. Quinn-Puerta: A sex jam with more than cursory shout outs to depression, "Prescription" pulls off one of my favorite tricks, layering instruments progressively with each chorus. Wolf's squeaky half shouts play nicely off a rich round bass guitar, which in turn plays off the bouncy, just buzzy enough acoustic. The layered vocals in the bridge feel earned, breaking through into a lush horn and piano-scape. [9]

Nortey Dowuona: The way this song opens up with flat demo synths and drums, with Remi's high voice catapulting over thin guitar, made me feel like we were not going to go anywhere. Then the bass slid in, the horns started stabbing and punctuating certain lyrics and sidewinding during the chorus and the piano riff appears at the tail end of the second verse, and I was hooked. The lush and muscular bass rumbles below the mix and girds an otherwise very thin song with a strength it needs. But the extended version, which has an extra verse and refrain and chorus, feels both less abrupt and more vivid, allowing the song space to become bigger and bigger and delightful, while Remi -- even in all the lushness -- is still visible at the roots, her thin keening voice which was allowed no space on the standard version spreading far and wide, at ease, excited, delighted to refill. [8]

Ian Mathers: "Effortful" is not necessarily a synonym for "bad." [7]

Leah Isobel: Surprised to not hate a Tones & I-style vocal affection in 2023, but I think it's because the production's vaporwave synth textures and aggressively contained snare hits aim at an equally unreal emotional tone. It's not soulful, but "soulful": aware of its own absurdity and desperation. [7]

Katherine St Asaph: An absolute vocal ordeal. [1]

Joshua Minsoo Kim: She's singing her damn heart out, maybe even literally. [3]

Alfred Soto: No way I'd listen to this indie playroom "Purple Rain" meets "Brownsville Girl" again, but the soupy mix in which a brass section and pattern bob and turn complements the deliberately unhinged vocal performance. If I'd watched it on a busy street corner I'd look over my shoulder once. [6]

Brad Shoup: On the one hand, isn't pumping your devotional funk ballad with enough vocal fuckery to induce hypoxia a perfect Prince tribute? Some of those hoots in the post-chorus made me rip my headphones off, not because they were bad (they were), but because I thought one of my kids woke up. In places it sounds like she's trying to triangulate the Troutman talkbox through sheer vocal layering. Still, as insistent as she is, the arrangement of oozy synth/banjo pluck/brass hits is easy as hell, even if it's hard to pick out. Like she says, it makes my skin crawl in the best way (Adderall). [7]

Will Adams: All those vocal pyrotechnics only for them to be shoved way down in the mix. Why? It's not like the instrumental's ~chill vibes~ are particularly attention-grabbing. [5]

Hannah Jocelyn: I love that Remi Wolf stretches her voice as far as it can go and she's never actively grating for most of the song. Maybe it's because Nathan Phillips places Wolf (and the choir of Remi Wolves) far back in the mix; I can't explain why, but the effect is less someone screaming in your face and more witnessing Ken barely step out of frame to yell "SUBLIME!" The outro goes too over-the-top and bright -- the situation calls for Brittany Howard, someone who Remi Wolf is decidedly not -- but until then, there's a lot to love.. [7]

Vikram Joseph: Turns out the difference between "classic-sounding" and "derivative" is largely just charm, which Remi Wolf has in buckets and which turns a song that could have been a rote gospel-pop exercise into a full-hearted, grin-inducing joy of a song. It has shades of "I Try", and while it's not quite as beautifully constructed it more than matches it in endearing vocal acrobatics and in exuberant dorkiness -- "Prescription" is a love song that's totally sincere but which doesn't take itself remotely seriously. It feels like walking through your city in the sun and being weightless; it feels like "climbing over the walls I made"; it feels like giving yourself completely to someone and it not hurting at all. [8]

Jacob Sujin Kuppermann: I do not believe that one's background inherently determines one's future but as a Californian I must call it as I see it: this is exactly the kind of song you make when you go to Palo Alto High School and then USC Thornton. [5]

[Read, comment and vote on The Singles Jukebox ]

[upalldown]

King Krule - Space Heavy

Fifth album under the King Krule moniker from Archy Marshall, the indie trip-hop singer-songwriter

7/13

A King Krule song tends to sound woozy, even slick, until you get close enough to smell the rot. Blue notes curdle in grimy pools of reverb. Hooks wilt in the muck. Then he sets loose that monstrous voice and it hulks through the swamp, holding each delicate line aloft like a swaddled newborn. It is the voice that protects the poetry, neither viable without the other. Each signals vulnerability and strength; each signals the pursuit of absolute authenticity. Since 2017’s The OOZ, Archy Marshall has cooled the fire in his lungs. But even his prettiest songs seem negotiated out of that old pact with rage.

Marshall is now 28, father to a four-year-old girl, and he wrote much of his fourth King Krule album in C major. But aside from naptime ballad “Seaforth,” Space Heavy subverts the key’s easy charms. His chords are arpeggiated as if by torture, drawn and quartered across wide, yawning bars. Any melodious pleasantries occur in spite of Marshall and Dilip Harris’ production—the clogged frequencies and sonic glop that make Krule’s dwellings so oppressively dank. The contradictory feeling of claustrophobia in vast spaces evokes the sound worlds of Arthur Russell and, lately, Mica Levi and Tirzah—expressionistically abstracted, gorgeously inhospitable. Even Space Heavy’s alt-rock songs sound twinned in spirit with Levi’s recent LPs, stirring the sonics of grime and dub into some listless form of ambient grunge.

Marshall seems pretty sad, as usual, and that seems to make him angry, as usual. But not angry like he was—perennially thwarted by the social system or romantically pummeled by whatever woman. “Flimsier” spins a gorgeous, creaking lament for a disintegrating relationship; “Hamburgerphobia” comically frames a lover’s jibes as “harsh” but “valid.” “From the Swamp,” a sunnier postcard from domesticity, describes a nagging temptation, a nostalgic throb, that he finally resists. “If it’s from the swamp,” he murmurs, flirting with the anthemic, “Then back it goes.”

As his melancholia comes up against the demands and rewards of fatherhood, Marshall experiences love in “a fugue state,” feeling himself “separate into the minutest minuscule gaps of time and space,” as he grumbles on “Hamburgerphobia.” His existential displacement manifests in a preoccupation with space: He sings of vacuums, pauses, in-betweens; empty heads, chests, and stomachs; the incomprehensible gap between one consciousness and another; the way parental love can close it.

The fixation on transitory states reflects Marshall’s long-held antipathy for rock and pop form, his shift from the primacy of hooks to vaporous transitions and antic ad-libs. On Space Heavy, his most straightforward, live-sounding production since 6 Feet Beneath the Moon yields mixed results. The barren feel suits uproarious highlight “Pink Shell,” with its James Chance-via-Big Black jitters, and Ignacio Salvadores’ sax contortions on the otherwise dreary “That Is My Life, That Is Yours.” By contrast, “If Only It Was Warmth,” a fierce plaint in live recordings, sounds pallid and defanged, though the similarly economical “Wednesday Overcast” gleams, closing the album with conspicuous neatness: “My head was empty/My life was discreet/A lot has changed/Now a lot means to me.”

What is haunting, and Krule-ian, about those lines’ delivery is their palpable anhedonia—he sounds, for all his resolute purpose, as fatalistic as ever. His supposedly fulfilled narrators are granted a fate little better than nihilism. Their burly melancholy emanates from a dysfunctional masculinity that muddles ego and love and self-loathing, that stokes paranoia and distorts beauty, but that can express vulnerability because it needs, above all, to not be fake. One interpretation of Space Heavy’s limited scope is that Marshall, knowing all this, has grown wary of masterpiece thinking and the macho ideal of tortured genius. His songs have always felt close to home, charcoal-smeared with London dusk and the nocturnal cadence of London jazz. On Space Heavy, for the first time, the great London singer-songwriter’s ambitions feel accordingly local, too.

https://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/king-krule-space-heavy/

[deadcactuswalking]

REVIEWING THE CHARTS: 04/02/2022 (KSI, The Kid LAROI, Sam Smith/Calvin Harris)

“Flowers” by Miley Cyrus tops the UK Singles Chart for the third week in a row, and it’s kind of a slow one but welcome back to REVIEWING THE CHARTS!

Rundown

As always, we start with the notable dropouts, and other than some recent entries, there aren’t that many, given that notable dropouts are songs exiting the UK Top 75 – which is what I cover – after five weeks in the region or a peak in the top 40. We say farewell to “Nobody Gets Me” by SZA – thanks to the three-song rule, which will pop up later, as well as “Lift Me Up” by Rihanna, “Ghost of You” by Mimi Webb and “Bad Habit” by Steve Lacy.

What’s filling up the gaps then? Well, we see some bizarre returns for “METAMORPHOSIS” by INTERWORLD at #71 and thanks to... a Fortnite event, “STAY” by The Kid LAROI and Justin Bieber is back once again at #37 after peaking at #2 in 2021, because... sure, I guess. More LAROI later on. As for our notable gains, we see “Just Wanna Rock” by Lil Uzi Vert at #51, “ceilings” by Lizzy McAlpine at #50 (looking good), “Shut up My Moms Calling” by Hotel Ugly at #47 (not anymore), “Here with Me” by d4vd at #51, “Never Not Gonna Dance Again” by P!nk at #40 (again, more on her later: it’s the week of the residuals), “The Color Violet” by Tory Lanez at #36, “Ready to Fly” by Sub Focus and Dimension at #35, “Lavender Haze” by Taylor Swift at #32 thanks to the video, and sadly, “Players” by Coi Leray at #19.

Welp, that was quick. Our top five once again consists of “messy in heaven” by venbee and goddard. at #5, “Anti-Hero” by Taylor Swift at #4, “Kill Bill” by SZA at #3, “Escapism.” by RAYE and 070 Shake at #2 (vying for #1 next week with the album release, I imagine) and of course, “Flowers” at #1. Now with that swept out of the way at rapid pace, let’s move onto our batch of new songs.

NEW ARRIVALS

#65 – “Us Against the World” – Strandz

Produced by Strandz and Blueboy

Strandz is a new UK rapper from South London who works closely with his producer Blueboy, with this new track being his breakout single, though he’s been putting out songs since 2017. I kind of had some hope for this given it starts with a chipmunk sample of the 1970 song “Who’s Gonna Take the Blame” by Smokey Robinson and the Miracles that sets up a great foundation for this kind of track as Robinson croons of youthful rebellion, which Strandz also raps about in his verse, specifically about his girlfriend that he puts over his friends and his money to face the world together. It helps that Blueboy is a great producer too, with a classic twinkling keys loop that sound straight out of Cam’ron’s back catalogue, and a solid, albeit stiff, groove to come with it. It’s not perfect though, mostly because of Strandz just sounding lacking in passion and not fully confident on this beat, to the point where his little ad-libs in the midst of the chorus sound kind of defeated and it really doesn’t work for this kind of content that needs a more fully formed and focused delivery. The beat doesn’t change that much either, which may be fine because it’s decently confrontational but the same piano twinkle and chipmunk vocal clip will only last a certain time before it gets a tad tiring, and I can see this souring on me more than growing on me... but for now, I suppose it’s got some potential. I’d like to see where both Strandz and Blueboy go from here.

#59 – “TRUSTFALL” – P!nk

Produced by Fred again.. and Johnny McDaid

Welp, I suppose P!nk is raring up for yet another album release and I honestly don’t know how she continues to chart as well as she does considering she hasn’t released anything particularly interesting in around a decade now. Regardless, she’s hired Ed Sheeran’s producers – smart choice – and went full synthpop on this one, wherein she expresses very familiar generic and motivational platitudes of love in a not-at-all compelling metaphor... what a surprise at this point. I remember when P!nk had some grit to her delivery at least, and any of that is stripped out when placed against the oddly confrontational synth beat, that has a really distractingly intense house beat driving it, which just seems like a complete mismatch, especially since the actual synthwork is somewhat minimal, or at least appears as such since it’s very basic and airy. More than anything, I just don’t see the point in this existing, and for someone who used to make some of the most cathartic pop rock in the 2000s, that’s sad, but also sadly expected.

#56 – “Snooze” – SZA

Produced by Babyface, Khristopher Riddick-Tynes, Leon Thomas III and BLK Beats

I stand by that you can tell an album has legs in the UK not by the albums chart but by if it debuts another song weeks after release that isn’t being promoted as a single. “Snooze” seems to be the fan favourite from SOS and it appears that of all producers in R&B, Babyface still has some of his magic touch because this is great. Sure, the drums may be a bit heavy-handed over this wavy blend of keys and guitars, but it’s hardly noticeable when SZA is practically rapping with as much effortless confidence as she can muster about... well, a mutually-loving relationship in which SZA will do anything for this guy. I will say that it doesn’t seem all that mutual, considering SZA goes way over-the-top – she seems to like murdering people but this time it’s for this partner instead of her own self-esteem. In fact, the cracks in this relationship which SZA seems initially lenient about particularly come through in that bridge, where the impulsive thoughts come in showing her insecurities about the relationship, particularly how the guy is putting too much pressure on her when he’s the one not putting the effort in within the relationship. The filtered, Auto-Tune bridge ironically has her most impassioned performance and really won me over with the song, considering that it never renders the rest of that genuine loving feeling a farce as much as it acknowledges that it’s not all peaches and daisies, and that same Auto-Tune filter is all over the backing vocals to show those thoughts come seeping in during and after that final chorus. Maybe I should listen to this album in full after all.

#23 – “I’m Not Here to Make Friends” – Sam Smith, Calvin Harris and Jessie Reyez

Produced by Sam Smith, Stargate and Calvin Harris

I haven’t listened to Smith’s most recent #1 album Gloria – I just don’t care about Sam Smith, and this song doesn’t really convince me on it. I mean, sure, it’s produced in part by Calvin Harris and apart from some backing vocals is essentially a solo cut, so it’s at least coherent unlike the other singles have been, but the disco groove feels particularly cheap, especially with the bass guitar and slightly obnoxious chorus which does not great in Smith’s falsetto and especially not in Reyez’s nasal intermissions which sound oddly mixed and unnecessary, like they plopped in a reference track. The content is fine enough, if not compelling, where Smith is looking for someone to pick up from the club and bring home... but like they say, they’re not the exception: it’s just a kind of dull track with not much to do with itself. I’ll admit that Smith’s harmonies sound great as always and it kind of picks up steam against the strings in the outro, but from that point it’s too little, too late. Also, RuPaul samples in the top 40? We’re at that point? I’m not sure whether to be happy or deeply disappointed.

#18 – “Love Again” – The Kid LAROI

Produced by Cirkut and Omer Fedi

Do you think now that The Kid LAROI is making more serious music and has grown fully out of the emo rap lane that they regret their stupid-looking stage name? The nod to his indigenous Australian heritage is cool and all but why is it Stylised Like THIS? Regardless, this is kind of his comeback single, relying on a frolicking acoustic guitar, almost folk-like, behind LAROI’s typical whining about toxic love-hate relationships, desperately wanting to find love in what clearly shouldn’t work... and yeah, it’s pretty good. I don’t know, maybe the songwriting has gotten tighter in the years since “WITHOUT YOU” – I think it really has, since there are so many hooks to this – or maybe his voice has just gotten less obnoxious, but he shows some restraint here, especially amidst the bass and uncertain backing vocals in the second verse which show a genuine attempt sound design-wise to create a dichotomy between the constant acoustics and the intensity of the relationship being described. Sure, it ends way too quickly, which is disappointing because it seemed like it was gearing up for a bridge, but the fragment that we have is pretty good, if not great. I wish there was more of it, though. It’s still weird to think that only two years ago if that I was calling this guy the white-passing version of Juice WRLD and he’s finally made the full-on Post Malone leap into not even trying to rap. Once again, like with Posty, it’s probably for the best here too.

#11 – “Voices” – KSI featuring Oliver Tree

Produced by Digital Farm Animals and Mojam

This really is a nightmare of a collaboration... you’d think with KSI’s growing efforts to be taken seriously in some regard, he’d make himself less of an easy target for novelty like with this collaboration with enigmatic nuisance Oliver Tree and “Christmas Drillings”, but realistically, he can have fun and do whatever he wants. It just seems like the shadow of him being a YouTuber will constantly ring into the music and often does so very obnoxiously. This is particularly true with this Godawful song, as KSI and Mr. Tree have to layer themselves with a disgusting degree of vocal takes to make them sound listenable, drowning out nearly everything in the mix except a weirdly mastered bass and a couple lone trap hi-hats that have been lost and found in this indie rock percussion. KSI is a better singer nowadays at least, and the lyrics are just generic post-breakup fluff, sure, but it’s so inoffensive to the point of aggravation, especially once the Tree pops up, because his smug pop-punk murmuring has no place on a song already this flat. I just can’t stand this in any way, but it’s still not nearly as bad as it could have been. Regardless, can we not make Oliver Tree a hit maker? Please?

Conclusion

Worst of the Week easily goes to KSI for “Voices” featuring Oliver Tree, mostly for the latter, but it wasn’t a particularly bad week even if it’s not worth comparing to the past few in terms of quality or quantity. I suppose P!NK gets the Dishonourable Mention for “TRUSTFALL” whilst Best of the Week easily goes to “Snooze” by SZA, with an Honourable Mention to “Us Against the World” by Strandz just because I want to see where it goes and I think the sound is onto something that could be big or at least have a semi-revival. Regardless, we’ll see what happens next time with RAYE and... God knows what else. For now, thank you for reading, and I’ll see you next week!

[superjumpintomyheart]

Deep Cut loves to change up how they sing their songs in concerts. They love not sticking to the same notes and keys all the time and they’ve kind of made it a competition to see who can do it the most and the best. (Hint: it’s mostly big man who does it best)

Shiver and Frye make this a little bit of a rivalry but they both enjoy it cause they swoon over how great the other does in changing up the song :)

Also side note I’m so happy they gave Big Man some bustin’ moves in the concert ESPECIALLY in the rocket 2/3 songs love them

DEEP CUT CONCERT!!!!!! Shiver is the literal ruler of not sticking to the same notes and keys all the time, that is their trademarked brand. Enka singing requires their voice to change sporadically! They are always singing the same song differently every time they perform. Big Man likes to mix up the beats to their songs, like a big man remix for special concerts and such, but he's also great at ad libs (is that how u spell that) which adds such a nice flavor to their songs bc big man has a lovely voice and his fun little additions are everyone's favorite.

i loved big man doing his lil dancey dance!!! he looked like he was having the time of his life im so glad he got some love from the crowd and whoever designed the concert models did a fantastic job <3

[the-iceni-bitch]

Puppy Love

Pairing: Jake Jensen/Fem-Reader

Words: 4684

Summary: You and Jake Jensen work together for the first time on a recon mission. You’re the consummate professional, while Jake is basically a man-child with a heart of gold. Will he be able to soften your cold demeanor?

Warnings: Explicit language, explicit sexual content, explicit descriptions of violence, SMUT, 18+

A/N: I ended up be a little later than I had planned with this one as I wanted to do some edits since the first draft didn’t seem quite right to me, but here it is, for day 5 of my birthday week. I actually watched “The Losers” for the first time today and I would highly recommend it. It’s a bit on the cheesy side but Jake Jensen really makes it worth it. I’m going to tag @stargazingfangirl18​ and @starlightcrystalline​, as I know they’re fans of Jake’s. Please enjoy!

“What’s he look like again?”

“Golden retriever in human form, blond buzz, goatee, Harry Potter glasses.” Aisha instructed you over your phone. “Probably stuffing his face at the buffet. He’ll have a comm for you. Thanks for stepping in for me at the last minute.”

“Well, you didn’t give me that much of a choice.” You said, no real malice behind it. You did owe her after all. “Found him. Talk to you in a sec.”

She had been right, you found your contact at the buffet, balancing two plates on one forearm and loading them with an obscene amount of h’ors douvres. He didn’t notice you walking up behind him, he was so engrossed in the spread.

“Jensen?”

The man nearly jumped out of his skin, just barely avoiding spilling foie gras on his tux.

“Shit.” He muttered under his breath as he set the plates down on a table and turned back to you. “Y/N? Hi! Call me Jake!” He wiped his hands on his pants leg before offering you one to shake in greeting.

You cocked one eyebrow at him as he gave you a slightly crooked grin and took his hand. “Right, you have a comm for me?”

“Crap, yes, here you go.” He handed the small earpiece and gave you a good look, eyes scanning up and down your body. You were wearing a long sleeve green satin gown. The bodice hugged you tightly down to your hips before flaring into a skirt that had a slit running all the way up your leg. The gown didn’t have a back, showing off the lean muscles moving beneath your skin.

Jensen cleared his throat and took what you thought was supposed to be a nonchalant pose; leaning back on one foot with his arms crossed, one eyebrow lifted in an expression you couldn’t identify. “So,” he said in an artificially deep voice. “Where, uh, where are you from?”

You rolled your eyes and ignored the question as you inserted the comm link into your ear. “Comm test, can you read me, Aisha?”

“I read you, I see you found Jensen.”

“Yeah, where are we heading?”

“Right down to business, I can respect that.” Jensen said, nodding his head as he shuffled his feet and crossed and uncrossed his arms repeatedly, trying to give off an air of confidence and failing miserably.

“There’s a hallway to your left that should lead to the north wing of the property where the entrance to the server room is. Security is pretty lax right now but they’re definitely still there so make sure you don’t look suspicious.”

“Got it.” You turned back to Jensen and put one arm through his, giving him a radiant smile as the two of you started to head down the hall.

“Hahaha, what’s happening?” Jensen laughed nervously at your sudden and extreme change in demeanor.

“Relax, Jensen. We’re just taking a stroll to look at the artwork. Nothing that should concern anyone.”

“Oh, ok. Are you acting right now? You’re really good at it.”

Your smile started to strain. Wasn’t this guy supposed to be a professional? “That’s part of the job.” You grabbed a glass of champagne from one of the waiters before you headed down the hallway. You nodded to Jensen to grab one as well, hoping that if he started drinking, he might stop talking.

You were wrong.

“I always feel so awkward when I have to act on a job, you know? Like, what’s my character’s story? His motivations?” He took a sip of champagne. “Mm, this is good.”

You chugged your glass in one gulp. Maybe if you got a buzz going, the constant chatter wouldn’t bother you as much.

“Wow. That was impressive.”

“Jensen, Y/N is too much of a pro to say so, but you need to shut the fuck up.” Aisha said through your comms, exasperated. You heard laughing from the rest of the team in the background and gave a small smirk.

“Right, sorry. I babble when I’m nervous.” He said, taking another sip of champagne.

You were getting close to the server room now and saw a security guard walking towards you. You pulled Jensen off to the side and stared at a beautiful replica of John William Waterhouse’s ‘The Soul of the Rose’.

“Tell me about this one, sweetie.” You said, your voice sickeningly sweet as you giggled breathlessly and looked at Jensen coquettishly, fluttering your eyelashes at him.

“Uhh, this is a painting of… a woman, um, smelling a rose. From…. Sometime in the past?” He said, painfully.

Fortunately, the guard didn’t stop to analyze the absolute stupidity that was coming out of this man’s mouth. He continued past the two of you and you started to head back towards your destination.

“Fascinating analysis, Jensen.” You said dryly.

“Listen, I can’t ad lib. I need time to prepare my lines.”

“How have you survived in this… fuck.” You drew him back sharply before he had a chance to round the corner. There were two guards posted at the door to the server room. “Aisha, we’ve got two bogies right where we need to be. Is there any other way in?”

“Shit, no. Vents are welded shut and the roof is crawling with security, so the sky light isn’t an option.”

You chewed your lips as you weighed the several different scenarios. “Is there a closet or other sort of storage nearby?”

“Yeah, there’s a janitor’s closet right across the hall.”

“Great.” Not trusting your partner to act the part believably, you figured startling him would get him into a convincing state.

You grabbed his ears and pulled his face to yours, kissing him hard. He gave a small yelp into your mouth as you pulled him backwards with you, into the view of the two waiting guards. You separated from him and he gave you a goofy grin trying to kiss you again as you turned away from him, pulling him by his wrist and giggling.

You staggered drunkenly towards the two guards and gave them a sloppy grin. “’Scuse me.“ You slurred at them. Jensen collided into your back clumsily, panting breathlessly. “We’re looking for the bathroom.”

“You need to move out of this area.” One of the guards scowled at you, his hand moving to the gun holstered on his hip.

“How… dare you?” You whined, stepping forward and poking him in the chest. “Do you even know who you’re talking to? Do you know who my daddy is?”

The guard looked past you at Jensen. “Sir, you need to take her out of here.”

“Don’t you talk over me!” You dug your hand in your purse. “I’m calling daddy right now, you are going to be so fired.”

He rolled his eyes and moved to grab your arm when you pulled the syringe out of your purse and plunged it into his neck. He let out a hiss and slumped against the wall. You pulled his gun out of the holster and whipped the other guard across the face with it before he had a chance to reach for his radio.

“Wait, was that not a real kiss?” Jensen asked with a confused look on his face. He stared at the two guards lying on the floor, his brain trying to catch up with everything that just happened.

“Oh my god, Jensen, get your head in the game.” Aisha scolded through the comms.

“Help me get them into the closet.” You hissed at him after you managed to gag and hogtie both of them.

“Right.” You shoved the guards into the tiny storage area and forced the door closed. Jensen moved to the key pad and connected it to his phone, a look of concentration coming over his face as he got to work.

You rolled your neck loosely as you waited and in less than a minute he made a small triumphant noise.

“Jensen comes in in the clutch and the crowd goes wild!” He made a noise like cheers in a stadium and put his hand up to give you a high five.

You opened the door to the server room and headed in, leaving him hanging. You heard him slap his own hand before he followed you. “So serious.” You heard him whisper over the comms. “ ‘Good job Jensen. And by the way that kiss was amazing, let’s do it again.’ “

“We can hear you, idiot.” Aisha said in your ears, her tone dripping with annoyance.

“Oops.”

“Where’s the server we want?” You asked him over your shoulder.

“This way.” He led you down an aisle to your right before arriving at the server you needed, pulling a small tablet out of his tux jacket and connecting it. “This should just take a few minutes.”

“Great.”

“So, um, how do you know Aisha?” he said, trying to fill the silence.

“High school.” You said flatly.

“Oh, really? That long?”

“No.”

“Of course not. She mentioned something about Finland?”

“Yep.”

“So, snowy there, huh?”

“Sure is.”

“Oook.” He felt horribly awkward. He knew he had no game, but dealing with women like you and Aisha really cemented that. He turned his concentration back to the algorithm that was running and started singing Bon Jovi to himself.

You rolled your eyes. You couldn’t believe Aisha worked with this man-child. He must be a genius with computers for her to put up with this bullshit. Granted, he filled out that tux real nice; his broad shoulders stretching the back of the jacket in a titillating way before his torso narrowed in an almost perfect V to his hips. The jacket covered it some, but you could tell he had a nice ass under the slacks as well. Maybe she kept him around for the eye candy.

“Wanted, wantehehed, dead or alive! And done!” He finished up, disconnecting from the server and turning to give you another goofy grin.

You smirked at him and started to head back out of the room.

“Was that an almost smile, Y/N?” he said teasingly behind you. “Are you warming up to me?”

“Please stop talking,” You told him half-heartedly, too mentally exhausted to really scold him.

You turned the corner and ran into three armed guards. You all stared at each other for a second before they drew their guns and brought them up to fire.

You shoved Jensen behind the servers and dove after him as bullets started ricocheting everywhere.

“We’re blown, Aisha! We need an exit.”

“Shit, hold them down while I work something out.”

“Got it. You armed, Jensen?” You looked at him as you slipped out of your heels.

“Fuck, no. I was worried a gun would ruin the lines of my tux.”

“That is so fucking stupid.” You hissed. Of course, you hadn’t brought a gun either, but that was because you knew the venue’s security measures would have gone into hyper drive if you had gotten caught with one. You shoved your shoes into Jensen’s arm along with your purse as you pulled out a ceramic blade from under your skirt.

“Where were you keeping that?” Jensen asked you, eyes bulging as he tried to imagine where you could have been storing the giant knife in your skintight dress.

You gave him a grunt as you edged your way between the servers slowly, moving closer to the gunman as they shuffled forward, continuing to fire at the two of you.

You reached the server next to the nearest gunman and shot your arm out to knock the gun out of his hand. You brought a knee up into his diaphragm and plunged your knife in between his shoulders and then his neck, slipping back between the servers as he dropped to the floor.

The other two guards seemed to remember suddenly that they were in a room full of delicate computer equipment and they stowed their weapons, dropping into fight ready stances as they tried to determine where you were.

You shot out like a whip, punching the first guard in the gut then the throat and grabbing him around the waist to tackle him. You used the momentum to carry you forward and delivered a scorpion kick to the other man’s face, making him stagger back into the servers, clutching his nose. The first man wasn’t going down, so you released him and sprung off one leg to push off a server wall and whip the opposite foot around to drive into his face hard, sending him sprawling as you landed on one knee beside him, plunging your knife into his chest.

“Jesus, Jensen what’s happening?” Aisha yelled over the comms.

“Uhh, Y/N is kicking some serious ass.” Jake watched you stand up slowly from the second body, spinning your knife through your fingers as you turned to face your final opponent.

“Well both of you need to get to the skylight ASAP for extraction, Pooch’ll be there with a chopper in exactly one minute.”

“Got it. You get that, Y/N?”

“Yeah, just a second.” You jumped up to grab one of the pipes running along the ceiling and wrapped your thighs around the guard’s neck, squeezing him hard enough to cut off blood and oxygen to his brain. You didn’t notice him draw a knife of his own from a sheath at his thigh.

Jake hissed when he saw and grabbed the gun the first guard had dropped, shooting your opponent three times in his chest before he had a chance to slash across your femoral artery. You landed on your feet as he dropped between your legs.

“Nice shot.” You told Jake, giving him an approving nod as the two of you started to jog to the extraction point.

“Aww, shucks.” Jake groaned internally at that, not wanting to think about how stupid he sounded.

“We’re here.” You told Aisha over the comm.  “How exactly is Pooch getting us out of here? There’s no room on the roof for a chopper.”

“He’s going to drop you a line.”

“Great.” The skylight was purely for show, there was no way to open it. You pushed Jake back and took the gun from him when you heard chopper blades, and shot the glass out of the window.

A rope dropped through the opening immediately and Jake wrapped his right leg and arm through it before holding you to him with his left arm.

“Hi.” He said sheepishly as he looked at you. “Wait, weren’t there guards on the roof?”

You didn’t get a chance to answer as the two of you were lifted into the air as the chopper took off. You heard gunfire and saw muzzle flashes before you were exposed to the open air.

A bullet ripped through the air less than 6 inches from your face and Jake swore. “Don’t drop me.” You told him as you started firing at the guards on the roof, making sure to pick your shots carefully so you didn’t waste any bullets.

Once you were safely out of gun range, someone in the chopper started pulling the two of you up. Jake gave a melodramatic sigh once the two of you were safely inside, laying back against the floor, still holding you to him, before he let out a whoop and sat up quickly, releasing you. He watched you with one of those ridiculous grins on his face as you settled yourself into one of the seats.

“That was exciting!” He said giddily. “Cougar, you should have seen it. Y/N took out three guys with guns with just a knife and, like, her legs.”

You couldn’t help it, that damn smile of his was too infectious. Your lips curled up slightly as he narrated the fight to a disinterested Cougar, leaning you head back against the chopper. The idiot had grown on you.

“And, hoo, when you kicked that one guy in the face, while you were tackling the other guy. Man, that was fucking ace!” He finished up his narration as you landed back at the warehouse.

Clay and Aisha greeted you when you landed. Aisha let out a deep breath once she saw to two of you step out of the chopper, tension leaving her body.

“You two get it done?” Clay asked.

“We sure did, boss! Backdoor is open for us anytime!” Jake said excitedly.

“Perfect, let’s all get some drinks.”

“Glad you’re ok, Y/N.” Aisha said, handing you a shot of tequila when you arrived at the basic bar set up.

“Well, we’re officially even now.” You told her around a grin before tossing back your shot and pouring another.

“Don’t worry, I won’t ask you for any more favors.” She said through a smile of her own.

“Aw, c’mon, Aisha. The two of us make a pretty killer team! I think she should maybe join our little loser club!” Jensen draped an arm around your shoulder. He had undone his bowtie and the top few buttons of his shirt, exposing a light dusting of dark hair at the top of his chest. He looked down at you and gave you a grin and a wink.

Well, fuck.

You slammed your second shot back, nodded to Aisha, and pulled Jake by his wrist to follow you to one of the side rooms of the warehouse as he gave you a look of confusion.

“Have fun, you two. Don’t break him, Y/N!” You heard Aisha call behind you.

“Um, what are we doing?” Jake asked as you pulled the door to one of the storage rooms closed behind you.

“Stop talking, before I change my mind.” You told him, placing a finger over his lips as you slid his tux jacket off his shoulders.

You stepped into him, your body pressing him into the door as you brought his face to yours for a kiss before he could start babbling again. You teased at his lips with your teeth before running your tongue around the cushion of his bottom lip and he opened himself to you, groaning into your mouth. He kneaded his hands into your hips, pulling you against him close. You felt him starting to harden through his pants and gave him a sigh before you started moving your mouth down his jaw to his neck as you started to unbutton his shirt.

“Shit.” He murmured as you lightly sucked against his pulse point, drawing a soft bruise against his skin as your hands finished their work on his buttons and he shrugged his shirt off. You stepped back to let him remove his undershirt too and gave a moan when his torso was fully exposed, running your fingers over his abs lightly before pressing your palms against the plain of his chest.

“Mmm, who knew you were packing all this under here sweetie.” You murmured before moving your mouth back to his neck before you started slowly traveling south.

“Um, Y/N? Is this just like, a post-mission type thing? Or what?” His voice cracked when your tongue ran over his nipple as you tweaked the other. You kept moving down his abs until you reached the top of his pants and started to undo his belt, kneeling in front of him. “Not that there’s any pressure, or anything, just curio-- mmph.”

You had slipped your panties off as he chattered away and shoved them in his mouth before you went back to undoing his fly.

“Seriously, Jake, you need to shut the fuck up.” You pulled his zipper down finally, and drew his pants and boxers down his legs so they pooled around his ankles.

You gave yourself a little hum as you examined his cock. His swollen head was already leaking pre-cum before you had even touched him. You spat in your hand before wrapping it around his impressive length, giving him a few pumps as you lapped soft kitten licks over his slit. He gave a groan from deep in his chest and leaned his head back against the door, thumping his fist against it at his side.

You took the head of his cock in your mouth and hummed around it, causing him to twitch before you moved him further in and slowly back out, repeating the process to take him a little further into your mouth with each bob of your head.

Jake was using all his concentration to keep from coming 30 seconds into a blowjob like a chump. The tangy taste of your arousal was on his tongue as he bit down on your panties, which wasn’t helping. When you started breathing through your nose and relaxed your throat to swallow around him though, he was lost.

He let out a muffled groan and pressed a hand to the back of your head when he bucked his hips and shot his release down your throat.

You let his softening dick slide out of your mouth as you wiped a small amount of drool from around your mouth with your fingertips. You drew yourself up to your feet and plucked your now saliva soaked panties from his mouth before pulling him in for another kiss.

“Was that good for you, honey?” You asked, giving him a wicked smile as he rested his forehead against yours, panting as he came down from his orgasm.

“Fuck, yeah, that was good.” He said, kissing you again as his big hands pressed into the small of your back before moving their way up to your shoulders.

He slid the shoulders of your gown down your arms slowly and then down your hips once your arms were free. You stepped out of it as it pooled on the ground and he turned you suddenly until he had you pinned against the wall.

Jake took a step back and drank you in. He ran his hand over your hips and up your abdomen until he was cupping your breasts, gently running his thumbs over your nipples until they were raised to sensitive peaks.

“Mmhm, pretty girl.” He murmured as he palmed your breasts, making you gasp. “I’m gonna make you feel good too, baby.”

He removed his glasses and set them on the table behind him before stepping into you and curling his thick fingers over your mound. You bit your lip and moaned as he teased his way between your soft folds, brushing his fingers through the arousal at your entrance as he sank to his knees.

He pushed your lips apart gently, then dragged his tongue over your slit heavily, causing your knees to buckle when he found your clit. He moved one of your legs over his shoulder to keep you from falling as he started licking small circles over the tiny bud.

He shook his head from side to side to press himself deeper into you before sucking gently, making you cry out. His tongue entered your canal and he started to alternate between fucking you with it, and sucking on your clit.

You felt your core tightening as your orgasm built and you ground yourself into Jake’s face, begging him for more. He wrapped his lips around you tightly and sucked hard, and you felt the coil in your belly snap as you screamed his name and your release gushed all over his mouth and chin. You kept grinding against him as you came down and once you had finally finished, he gave you a wicked grin from between your legs before rising back up to kiss you.

You felt your desire stirring again already when you tasted yourself on his tongue and you let out a heavy sigh. He pressed himself into your front and lifted you until you could wrap your legs around his waist. He pressed his face into the hollow of your throat and softly nipped at the skin there. You gave a soft whine and gripped the back of his neck.

“You good with me fucking you against the wall, sweetheart?” He asked against your neck.

“Oh, fuck, yes.” You said breathlessly as he continued nuzzling you softly.

He kept you propped against the wall as he moved a hand between the two of you to line up at your entrance. You felt his tip brush against your folds and let out a sigh, trying to grind yourself into him.

He pulled his head up and gave you one of those grins before lowering you slowly onto his length. You moaned as you stretched over him until he was fully seated in you.

Jake gave a grunt and braced one hand against the wall before he started moving his hips, fucking his cock up into you roughly. His breath was hot against your neck as he panted in time with his thrusts, making you whimper softly in his ear.

“God, sweetheart, you’re so tight. This pussy feels so good.”

He started to pick up the pace then. You screwed your eyes shut and tilted your head back with a low moan, loving the full feeling he was giving you in this position. Jake lifted his head to look at you and watch as you took his cock, your tits bouncing each time he drove up into you. He bent his face down to nuzzle against them and you gasped as he drew his tongue over your nipple.

His cock was hitting your sweet spot each time and the position you were in had him rubbing right against your clit. You could feel yourself building towards an orgasm fast and dug your nails into the muscles of his back.

He felt you starting to flutter and clench around him and picked up the pace, adjusting the hand he had holding you up so your hips tilted just a bit and that small change sent you over the edge.

“Fuck, baby, that’s it!” You cried as every muscle in your body tightened and vibrated while your pleasure released violently. Jake kept his relentless pace up as you rode it out and you sagged against him when you came down.

You felt his hips start to stutter and then his dick was twitching inside of you, his cum filling you up until it was leaking out around his cock.

“Fuck, sorry.” He murmured against your hair as he held you to him. “I meant to pull out.”

You lifted his head up and slowly unwrapped yourself from him, placing your feet on the floor gently and almost collapsing on your shaky legs.

“That’s ok baby.” You said, giving him a reassuring pat on the cheek. You gave him a hungry kiss, painting the inside of his mouth with your tongue before whispering in his ear, “I love feeling your cum leaking out of my cunt.”

He gave a laugh that was on the hysterical side as you started to slip your gown back on. He was sliding into his pants when you turned back to him, and he gave you a sheepish grin. He found your panties as he was drawing his shirt off the ground and tried to hand them to you.

“Oh, sweetie, you keep those.” You told him with a throaty chuckle. “They can be a little souvenir.”

Fuck, that’s hot. He thought to himself as he tucked them into his back pocket.

“So, should we do this again sometime?” He asked awkwardly, not knowing what to say to you now. He definitely wanted to do it again. He wanted to do it a lot. But he was worried this was just a quick fling for you, a release after a stressful mission.

“Aww, puppy.” You pouted playfully at him. “We’ll do it again. Those stupid grins of yours have grown on me. I don’t think I have it in me to break your heart.”

He gave you one of those signature grins now as he pressed himself into your back and nuzzled in your hair. You whipped the door open and held his hand as you led him out to a chorus of whistles and catcalls, and he wore that stupid grin all night.

Permanent Tags:

@drabblewithfrannybarnes​

[wuhwoahhh]

ok so ive been wanting to do an in depth review of Dimension: Answer by Enhypen for time and i guess today is the day, here are my thoughts on this I think KILLER sophomore album from a kpop boy band:

We open with Intro: Whiteout. I love this song because it doesnt make any sense. "My eyes are closed. No, wait, theyre open. But i cant see"??? It takes you on a journey right from the beginning, and Jake's Australian accent really delivers it. Plus the pulsing beat in the background feels like you're running to an undisclosed location. Ends with the words: "what do you think?" Its inviting and narrative and just a great opener.

Track 2: Tamed-Dash is next - song of the summer. They mention summer and in the choreo do a hand fan motion indicating hot weather. Great beat, fun lyrics, catchy chorus, good choreo as well with the music video. Jungwon really stands out in this one; overall a great single no flaw track.

Track 3: Upper Side Dreaming: UNDERRATED. This song is constantly stuck in my head and the beat is so good its just catchy, the little chorus "doo, doo doo doo, doo, doo doo, upper side dreaming like. YEAH no exactly. Also the interspersed English words are really fun. perfect transition from Tamed-Dashed.

Track 4: Just A Little Bit: Not a bad song by any means, but much lower key and more acoustic than the others, not my fave, a little boring but they have pretty good vocals. Plus its a good lead into...

Track 5: GO BIG OR GO HOME. This is my FAVOURITE song on the whole album and it just delivers EXACTLY what it is trying to do: pulsing beat, club early 2000s vibe (kind of usher-esque in the beat??), good mix of English and Korean and fun lines (don't get away, I need a diamond ring, im feeling lucky) and then the chorus hits, great buildup to extremely catchy chorus (we going going going we RIDE) like it just delivers so well. The bridge is really good too, good beat drop. Nothing excessive or innovative but i LOVE this song I think I've listened to it at least 50 times its just so well done

Jumping into Track 6: Blockbuster. Right off the bat we get "hop in, big bills" and you KNOW its gna be a banger with some shredding electric guitar in the back. Simple verse but chorus pulls thru with a beat change, Jay with good vocals, Yeonjun feature for the rap is so killer gives a grungier sound, he brings good ad libs "are...you...ready?" Just a fun song, again, does what it's supposed to do. This album overall just delivers a clean, upbeat, well produced pop album. Like yes the members probably had ZERO SAY in anything they did but i kind of don't care bcuz the production is so good.

Track 7: Attention, Please! is another solid track, good clean chorus, nothing innovative but great fun, the "panic, panic, here we go" in the chorus is fun. Well produced.

Track 8: Interlude: Question - this follows similar format to the intro but different background, more relaxed, same kind of narrative feel and arc though. My one critique is that the interlude is only two songs before the end, but to be fair i can't really think of where would be a better place to put it.

Track 9: Blessed-Cursed - solid single, i've heard it way too many times though and don't like it as much as the others. They were def going for an edgier feel, it is a solid track, good pre chorus, good choreo (easy to remember, learn, and representative). I think they definitely took this songs popularity as the inspo for their next album which sadly is not nearly as good. They do fun pop so well idk why they felt they had to go edgy and autotune but it seems a lot of the groups are doing that these days i guess.

Another note: this album is supposed to be in their vampire boarding school era (re: webtoon) but not enough vampire boarding school nrg. Like theyr really set up all this lore and having the other group be werewolves but very little delivery. I mean drunk dazed was VERY vampiric and slay and that whole mini album was but overall it was not as good an album imo and fever i don't like for them. They should have brought more in here.

Ok i am writing a lot because I am stalling talking about my least favourite track: Polaroid Love. Basic, classic, happy acoustic nothing song, repetitive chorus and verses, NOTHING innovative. I guess they wanted to show the kids actually had vocal ability because the audition show focused so heavily on dancing, but its not a good song imo even though one of the members Heesung says it's his favourite. But it kind of fits the theme, I don't like the transition from Blessed-Cursed bc it just softens out so fast and for what

Last is Outro: Day 2: Very similar to Intro and Interlude, the instrumentation on this one is very fun, reminds me vaguely of some kind of Lorde inspo (VAGUELY) and then builds up, he kind of rambles about "writing his day two", idk what plot they were going for honestly but it closes the album out well, fading out.

Ok wrote more than I thought but those are my thoughts. I need to give Day 2: Manifesto (their new mini album) another listen, but Im just not feeling it. It just doesn't have the same precise production and immaculate vibes as Dimension: Answer.

Overall this album is imo a pop masterpiece, and one of my favourite overall kpop albums, and maybe just albums in general. With one HARD skip and that's it, we are doing pretty well, plus the first half bangers make up for it. Its camp, its concept, its well produced and well delivered, and thematically very fun. Recommend to all :)

[fuck-you-i-am-spiderman]

Spidey songs tier list

The boppiest of bops -

Ways to be wicked - this is probably my ultimate favourite Descendants song. The vibes of it all are perfection. All of the looks, the little ad-libs into it, the way it opens and just radiates this chaotic energy. The Marlos moments, Evie's high kick, all of their voices blending together. It's my favourite song.

Rotten to the core - it's where it all began, it's the core essence of the core 4 and the films as a whole. I wish instead of GTBB we'd have gotten the Rotten to the core reprise

What's my name - what a fucking entrance. Uma slays every time, but this song is just so good and radiates such confidence. I love all of the moments where Harry is simping for Uma. Harry's part is so much fun and it's such a fun contrast to the main song. Love that we get to hear Uma's laughter in it too, it adds such a pure element to it - it's a detail I appreciate a lot.

Chillin like a villain - delicious. The way Evie, Jay and Carlos are all so in sync. Evie's vocals are so beautiful in this. The energy of this is so good and I love the way it changes and mixes talking and singing, it does it in such a smooth way.

You and Me - I really like this, it's such a soft and playful song. Evie and Carlos singing together, and then Jay and Mal coming to join them - it lives in my mind rent free. The Malvie moments in it are sooooo good. I love all the water work and the dancing. It's one of my fave songs to sing along to because it warms my heart.

Vibing (I appreciate them a lot, just not as much as the main bops) -

If only - I love the song but I really like my version, where it focuses more on the rotten four. I love a good solo ballad and I feel like this is a really emotional one. I will forever be bitter that they didn't put the reprise in D2, it did not deserve to be cut.

Space between - what a moment. The chemistry is so strong and it's so powerful and passionate. It's a love song. It's so emotional and raw. I just wish they'd have given the gays everything and put the extended cut into the movie instead of cutting away the second they held hands.

Queen of mean - I'm not an Audrey fan, however I really liked her looks in D3 and I love the power and the energy in this song. I just wish she'd have broken a bunch of shit in her room and really gave it more ooomph. But the song is a classic and I like it a lot.

Do what you gotta do - I really like this. The banter, the energy, the comedic timing. It's so much fun and I think their energies are veye evenly matched. I really enjoy this scene and this song a lot.

Night falls - this is a solid song in my opinion, I don't play it as often as the rest but I enjoy the beat and the different layers to this sign, it really shows the way the group come together with the harmonies and the build up.

They're okay (I low-key forget some of them exist and that's how they should stay) -

Good to be bad - eh, it's okay. I genuinely forget it's even a thing. I like it in theory and I like the aesthetic of it, but it isn't very memorable for me in comparison to msot of the other group songs.

Did I mention - it's Ben's only kind of moment so I feel like I appreciate it, like it's bop but it's not my favourite bop. I like the dancey elements of it a lot but I don't actively choose to listen to it either.

Break it down - I like this song, it's light and it radiates warmth. It has such a positive energy, I just have to be in the right mood for it. I think it's a solid ending song, but it's not one of my faves. It's just nice.

My once upon a time - again, I like ballads and I think Mal's voice is super powerful in this, but I don't like it as much as If Only.

I wish it wasn't Evie's solo / sorry but I usually skip -

One kiss - :( like if I picture it as being a gays only event it's great, but I really don't like that Evie's solo song is this one. It makes me so angry because she deserves better then this song.

Set it off - eh. It's alright, not my favourite, not my least favourite. To me, it's just there and I only really like the chorus of it - that's the only part that stays in my mind.

It's going down - I really like some aspects and the other parts make me cringe. I love Uma's parts but not enough for me to actively listen to this song a lot.

Spidey says: into the trash with you -

Evil like me - I really don't like this song. It feels so out of place to me. Like I love Kristin but she is not Maleficent, she's not who I picture and I feel like this was so campy and not something I vibe with when I'm listening to Descendants songs. It's so theatrical and I just don't like it. I'm sorry but no. It's not even in my playlist.

Be our guest (remix) - nope. It's a big fat no from me. I didn't ask for this sign, nor did I want it. The only part of it that's remotely interesting is just Ben being a bit of a dork but as far as song wise, it's just not something I vibe with or care for honestly.

[themadauthorshatter]

... I'm not apologizing.

I've been reading Descent into Perdition by @dreamsofspike-blog after Repossession, and after the utterly beautiful darkness of it all, I've decided tontake it upon myself to inject some hunorninto bothbof these stories so they're slightly easier to swallow.

If you haven't read either fanfics, first off TW for abuse and manipulation because both deal in those topics, along with non-con and kidnapping, so if you're sensitive to any of those, don't read them.

If you have read them, I hope you enjoy this because this is honestly me using my coping mechanism so I don't lose it from all the edge😅

With all that out of the way, ENJOY!!

So, right off the bat, this is something of an Actor AU where the characters are acting in a production like a film or movie.

In this universe, Repossession was filmed before DiP, so it was demanding for Crowley and Gabriel, who both had to lose weight for their roles, though Crowley did get to get those pounds back in DiP.

The three slept in different rooms, like hotel rooms, and Crowley ended up being the absolute devil because he had copies of their room keys and would wake up Gabriel and Aziraphale because he was the most energetic of the three.

Aziraphale wasn't a fan of wearing gloves because he kept dropping his props.

Gabriel remembered all his lines.

The transition from badass protector to pure villain for Aziraphale was harder than Gabriel's transition from bastard to victim. Crowley was just glad to not be in anymore rigs for hours at a time. And having short hair again.

There were a total of 24 doctors on stand by during both productions; 5 doctors, 3 psychologists, 4 physicians/physical therapists, 2 first responders that had tools in case the rigs broke, 7 psychiatrists, and 3 people who had access to a non-kill, purely cared for animal shelter that let the guys come and go as long as they didn't steal any of the animals.

Crowley only feared Gabriel when he was restrained to the point he couldn't move. Aside from that, Gabriel made him laugh more than scared.

To lose weight quickly in time for DiP, Gabriel ate nothing but apples, though Aziraphale did make him have "cheat days" where he ate three full meals.

Aziraphale had a surprising amount of fun as an antagonist, but would apologize to Crowley and Gabriel before and after scenes were filmed.

NO ONE GOT ANYTHING DONE WHEN THE THREE WERE IN A ROOM TOGETHER. Any time they filmed scenes together, a chain reaction would begin with Crowley being a mischief maker and making the other two laugh and it would lead Aziraphale and Gabriel to forgetting their lines and even ad-libbing to make up for it.

All three agreed that the DiP dinner scene was the easiest to film because they got it all in one take, as Gabriel had never had sushi before. When it came time for the wasabi, Aziraphale told Gabriel to tell him to stop as he carefully put little bits of wasabi on the sushi roll. Gabriel only stared at him and said, "Put on so much that I can't even see the fish inside of it."

Aziraphale did not like mistreating his friends, but Gabriel didn't really take it personally.

Gabriel, surprisingly, loved the kilt he was given, and had replicas made for varying states of the story. Nevermind the faux-degradation Aziraphale used, Gabriel would stand up and do a cute pose to make him laugh; "You wouldn't hit someone this cute, would you?"

Crowley eventually got himself a kilt and the two came up with some 'comeuppance' for Aziraphale: he doesn’t get a kilt until after the production is wrapped up.

The bookshop scene at the end of Repossession was Crowley's hardest scene to film because the set had been changed and he didn't know his way around very well. And because he was in heeled shoes that weren't very good for running.

The wings both were and were not CGI. The wings them selves were, but the damage dine to them wasn't.

Crowley kept the prop collar he wore as a momento, though he never really puts it on.

One outtake from the DiP dinner scene from Gabriel: "F[BEEP] you, I don't want your ravioli." It took everyone a good ten minutes to calm down.

Michael, in both productions, often forgot her lines and would need to do retakes. All three male leads did tease her on this in a very well-meaning way, but Gabriel helped in Repossession by holding giant cards behind Aziraphale for her to read.

Makeupband the writers did consider changing Aziraphale's hair for DiP, i.e. making it parted so it'd out of his face more, but let the changes to regulated in his eyes.

Crowley did not get blinded in Repossession. He was just blindfolded for a little bit.

During the DiP dinner scene, Gabriel actually had to fake the sour face because he enjoys lemons and sour things, even doing a lemon version of the orange smile thing people do with orange slices.

The slaps in the both weren't fake at all. Crowley and Gabriel got bruises from how many slaps they took, but they returned it at Aziraphale's request.

The rings Crowley wire in his wings were slip on cuffs that didn't hurt him at all.

Things the three kept from filming: Crowley kept the collar and rings, Gabriel kept the kilt and the heavenly suit, and Aziraphale melt the weapons and the watch, and he keeps them all on his mantle.

The bags and dark circles Crowley and Gabriel had were drawn on with eyeliner.

During the "stretching the wings" scene in Repossession, Crowley made Gabriel laugh because he kept remarking that his position would make a SICK album cover.

Aziraphale was nervous and excited at hearing the news of Ascent from Perdition, because he hated hurting Crowley and Gabriel. He also wasn't too keen on his costume change.

Go read Ascent from Perdition to get it😉

One person actually did try comforting Gabriel in one of the scenes of DiF. It was legitimately funny to see, but the cut did not make it into the final project.

Numerous people slipped on the floors of Heaven because they were polished and waxed ALL THE TIME.

Gabriel laughed the most during 'intimate' scenes.

At least 50 cuffs were broken

ALL of the weapons were real. Nothing was faked, though Gabriel and Aziraphale were beating on dead pigs as anolouges.

Michael calling Gabriel 'brother' made a lot of his days while filming

When filming wrapped up, the makes celebrated with a small get together, and then sleeping like the dead

[mayaliyah]

Sweet Melody || Self-Para

When: March 10th, 2021

Where: Vanessa’s apartment

Featuring: Trixie Belle, Vanessa Maldette, & Nova Kang

Warnings: Brief mentions of abuse, sexual assault, drugs, alcohol

Description: Who knew that the turbulent love life of one friend could inspire a break up song? 

Inspiration: Sweet Melody - Little Mix 

It was another fitting for La Playa costumes and rather than being at Vanessa’s studio, it was Maya and Trixie at Vanessa’s luxurious penthouse…both girls still couldn’t get enough of being in shock and awe as they were getting fitted for their outfits. Well, at least Trixie and Nova were. Maya, on the other hand, had a melody stuck in her head. This often happened, and she was on the verge of a breakthrough. Nova was too busy admiring herself in the luxurious mirror as she playfully beat boxed and then turned once she heard Trixie’s voice. 

“Uh oh, she’s spacey again,” Trixie pointed out with an eyebrow wiggle. 

“Another smash hit on the way, Maya?” Nessa added with a grin. 

She kept humming the melody as she adjusted her top a little as she looked in the mirror with a curious look. 

“Maya?” Nessa called out once more. 

“It looks amazing, Ness, sorry! The melody’s just trapped in my head,” She sighed, shaking her head. 

“Right, well, I need you three to head into the closet again and pick out one more outfit for fitting, I don’t know…both of you don’t look completely comfortable or satisfied with it,” The brunette called out. 

Both Trixie and Maya exchanged a look. She knew them far too well. Nova on the other hand...was a wild card. As the three of them wandered back to grab their outfits, a clear bag caught her eye. It was the most beautiful, dazzling white dress that she had ever seen, with sewn in crystals and…she was pretty sure the tulle and lace would last for days. 

“Nova,” Trixie called out with a warning look. 

“What?” 

“We don’t talk about it, okay?” Maya responded with a hushed voice. 

“Wait, why? Is that the infamous Queen V wedding dress?!” Maya whispered harshly, but Vanessa, had pretty good hearing and sighed, dramatically. Trixie groaned, shaking her head. 

“Oh, Trix, don’t fret. I’m not upset about that old thing, but I do need to pick out the diamonds and burn it…eventually,” She pointed out with a sigh. “But yes, it was the wedding dress that never came to fruition. Although, I’d have to say, I dodged a major bullet,” She chuckled. 

“Oh?” 

“Well, let’s just say, I’ve dodged…several. Most of my exes were just utter trash…maybe with the exception of one, but even then, it’s like…a repeating song that goes on and on, heartbreak, after heartbreak.” 

“Wait wait wait! Stop! Nessa, wait, this is going to sound outlandish, but…can you tell me this story?” Maya asked. 

Both Trixie and Nessa exchanged a bewildered look and Nessa sighed, taking a seat on the cushion as Trixie took a seat on the ground. Meanwhile, Maya fished her phone out from her cleavage and pulled up the notes app as did Nova. 

“Let’s see, first there was Nick. Sweet as could be, he was my first, in many things but our relationship was a secret because his twin sister, my best friend, forbade me to date him. But…I’d always get jealous when other girls looked his way and, I couldn’t help it. It also didn’t help in the beginning I had a crush on my best friend…let’s just say it ended tragically, then both of them moved back to London and I never saw them again.”

“Jeez…” Maya sighed. 

“Damn, why be a hater cause your sibling’s happy? I’m so glad I’m an only child, like dead ass.” 

“Then there was Alex. God, he was, gorgeous, another sweet guy, a bit timid, shy, but a glorious singer…although I was not a fan of his cover of whatever song he made, but the words were sweet…until I discovered he had a crush on one of my best friends, and then that was the end of that.” 

“God, Nessa, I’m so sorry,” Maya shook her head. 

“It gets worse,”  Both her and Trixie chimed in. 

“Steven, a rowdy, rebellious guy. Loved surfing, and all things Hawaiian, he grew up in Hawaii, actually, and I thought, wow, I could actually love this guy…but the partying and the abuse, and oh, did I mention he tried to knock me up? That was fun.” 

Maya was practically speechless at the time and continued jotting down what came to mind. 

“Then…came Lucian,” Nessa sighed. “He was supposed to be the one. He was there practically through the majority of my exes, with the exception of Nick. He was my best friend, we confided in each other. We dated for three bloody years and talked about our engagement to the point he even suggested I started designing my wedding dress. He spoke the sweetest words and did everything right, but d’you know what did him in? One of my friends, the night we got drunk, I told her that I was afraid he’d get bored of me and just walk away…and she told him and he got so bloody angry and broke up with me—ON MY FUCKING BIRTHDAY!” She practically shouted the last part out, her face was flushed with redness over her face. 

“Woo…” Nova whistled out. 

“Ness…maybe you should…” Trixie began. 

“It’s fine, Trixie. This actually feels quite cathartic,” She chuckled. “Did I mention he left me for my supposed best friend?” 

“I hope he rots,” Nova called out.

Maya sighed, shaking her head as she tried piecing together the puzzle, that were lyrics. Mostly bits and pieces that she had.

“At the end, came Scout, it was a short fling, but he spoke sweet nothing’s in my ear and made me feel like I was human…but the sweet nothings were just that, sweet, and nothing. Shelby…she was my first girlfriend, actually, but, a bit possessive and power hungry, so there’s that,” She shrugged. 

“Okay, I think I might have something from this,” Maya called out. “Nessa, by the way, I’ve heard you sing before and the melody you hummed to…that’s the melody stuck in my head,” She called out. 

“Which one?” Nessa asked curiously. 

“The do-do-do-do,” Maya said. “Can you try that out for me? 

Nessa chuckled, “That little thing? I dunno where it’s from!” 

“Just try it, please?” Maya pleaded. 

“Alright, um…Doo-doo, doo-doo-doo-doo

Doo-roo-doo-doo, doo-roo-doo-roo. Doo-doo, doo-doo-doo-doo

Doo-roo-doo-doo, doo-roo-doo-roo.” 

“So here’s what I got,” Maya began and then sang, “In a whole other life, there was this boy that I knew. He made me feel like a woman, we were young and silly fools,” 

Trixie giggled, knowing exactly who that was.

“Wait wait wait, I’m not done!” Maya chuckled and then sang, “Anyway he was in a band, wrote love songs about me. I wasn’t crazy ‘bout the words, but the melodies were sweet, went something like—“ She paused and then Nessa chimed in with 

“Doo-doo, doo-doo-doo-doo

Doo-roo-doo-doo, doo-roo-doo-roo. Doo-doo, doo-doo-doo-doo

Doo-roo-doo-doo, doo-roo-doo-roo.” 

“Alright, so then Nova, can you volunteer that velvety voice of yours for just these lines?” 

Nova laughed, shaking her head, “Damn, butter me up and call my voice velvety.” 

“I promise, just once,” She chuckled as she slid over her phone. “Same tempo as the first verse.” 

“Every time we’d go dancing, I’d see his straying eyes. Gave him too many chances, push my keys too many times. Anyway, he’d start acting up, and I’d be on my way to leave, but I stopped in my tracks, when I heard this melody and it went like,” 

Trixie then chimed in repeating Nessa’s previous verse with a smile, the two girls harmonizing over each other. 

“Okay, so then the next part is the chorus, and I was thinking like—“ Maya began to sing, “He used to sing me, sweet melodies. He played me, made me believe, it was real love. Sang me, sweet melodies, but the day he did me wrong, the song couldn’t go on and on—“

“Ooh, what if we repeat it as a unit?” Trixie offered. 

“Yes, perfect!” 

“He used to sing me, sweet melodies. He played me, made me believe, it was real life. Sang me, sweet melodies, but the day he did me wrong, the song couldn’t go on and on, and on,” The trio sang in unison, perfectly harmonizing with each other. 

“So the next verse, Trixie, I want you to do next,” Maya pointed out and Nessa handed her the phone. “Remember, same tempo as before.” 

“Let’s see…” Trixie took a look and then sang out, “He would lie, he would cheat, over syncopated beats. I was just his tiny dancer, he had control of my feet. Yes, when he came along, that’s when I lost a groove. There was no song in the world to sing along or make me move. Something-something like—“ 

Then Maya repeated the previous melody with Nessa randomly making an echoing sound and Trixie ad-libbing. 

“Okay, Nessa! I see you getting into it!” She teased. 

Nessa rolled her eyes and shook her head. “I’m doing this for a cause!” 

“The chorus goes again, but there’s one part that Nessa, you just did, and I want you to do that, Trixie, what I want you to do the melody.” 

Both girls nodded and did as they were told repeating the melody, with Nessa echoing Trixie’s voice as best as she could. 

“Now, Nessa…would you oppose singing that ad-lib again and continue to do so while Nova follows me into the next chorus?” 

Nessa looked over at Maya and shrugged. “Eh, I don’t see why not,” She grinned and followed Nova and Maya’s lead with Trixie chiming in to harmonize.

Nova did the next chorus with Maya running in right next to her and hit a rather impressive high note. To which Trixie playfully saw it as a challenge and hit her own high note as they continued the chorus together and ended the song. 

“Oh…I think we just made magic…OVER NESSA’S OWN RELATIONSHIP,” Trixie squealed excitedly. 

“Maya…Nova...Trixie…was I just set up?” Nessa added as she eyed at them suspiciously. 

“Maybe…but you don’t have to perform if you don’t want to…” Maya made a face. 

“I am not set out to be a performer, but you know, I would appreciate writing credits,” She winked. 

“Obviously, you inspired this amazing song!—Now we just have to clean up the vocals and we could actually record it on my laptop and then I could go to the studio and get it cleaned up a little further?” She suggested with a big grin. 

“I—let’s at least change out of our outfits first!” Trixie said, completely starry eyed and excited. 

“Seriously because I can’t be grooving in this for more than like two hours,” Nova teased. 

“I’m manifesting this as a number one hit, I’m saying this right now!” Maya called out as she ran to grab her laptop, rather than change her outfit.

[someday-becomes-somehow]

My fave bits from the Beetlejuice soundtrack, Pt 2:

Dead Mom:

Sophia has some really good riffs ughhh

“I need a little helphere”

oh gosh ever tried singing the key change with a backing track? bloomin’ impossible let me tell you

“and I’m your clone, your strange creation”

BELT BELT BELT

“a plague of mice, a lightning strike, or ḑ̵̺͍̿͆r̷̤̠̎̉ǫ̶͈͔͗̔̆p̷̳̲̊̑͘ ̵̟̯̓̑͑̕ā̸̬͛̈́̚ ̶̢̠̣̇̽n̷̟̾͌̐̇u̴͝��͙̗͑c̸͓͊͋̊̚l̶͍̗̥̃̆̾è̵͕̙ạ̸̧̻̩̌̒͌̀r̷̨͚̈́ ̷̞̳̥̕b̸͎̹̓̕õ̵̞̖̳̿ḿ̴̨̞̤̓͒ͅb̸̤̾̇̉͊” like whoa hold up there Lydia

Fright of Their Lives:

"right now you couldn’t frighten a fly, or scare a seagull off of a fry”

“except for the white part, obviously”

I enjoy that they used the word “vanilla”, because I feel like that’s more of an internet-used term

“Learn to throw your voice; Fool your friends; Fun at parties”

“raising the stakes by punching a baby” wait what

“ chefs who use too much sage when they make beurre noisette” same dude

THE GOSPEL BIT

"well, that was a soliloquy so you're the one who's being rude”

Ready Set - Reprise:

“let’s hAUNT THIS BITCH”

"oblivion calls, so we might as well walk through some walls”

No Reason:

I LOVE the melody of this one so much

“la la la la la”

“and the universe’ll be like “I knoOOOoooW!”“

"crystals speak to me” “what are they saying?” “buy more crystals”

“perception is reality, just LiStEn tO tHe MeLoDy-”

“that’s specific.”

“be prepared to take your eggs and freeze ‘em!” “is this still about me?”

Leslie’s gliss at the end <3

Invisible (Reprise) / On the Roof:

"hEY, somebody’s on the roof”

was that a peter griffin laugh? you ok Alex?

petition for Alex to do a version of all the songs with soul ad libbing

man, they should have left in the “yeah, you look like a bloated zebra that a lion ripped apart and then didn't eat 'cause something was obviously wrong with it so it just rotted in the hot African sun” “you CAN SEE MEEE!”

Part 1, Part 3, Part 4

[susanwardmegsunsetbeachfans]

Sunrise, Sunset

A Behind The Scenes Look At Sunset Beach

Soap Opera Weekly Magazine, 1998

There is a friendly feeling that permeates the Sunset Beach set, one that makes you feel at ease the moment you enter the NBC studio in Burbank,Calif.

"Sunset Beach" is one of the happiest sets I've ever worked on," Gordon Thompson (A.J.) concurs. "It's wonderful being back at the same studio with the same show initials, same dressing room, same crew for the most part (Thompson played Santa Barbara's Mason Capwell). The show itself has a wonderfully optimistic quality. So much so I think of it as The Little Engine that Could."

It's about 10 a.m., as the show's publicist, Jonathan Zaleski, guides this SOAP OPERA WEEKLY reporter through the hallways leading to the soundstage. A man in a hurry, Clive Robertson (Ben/ex-Derek Evans), with script in hand, sprints toward us heading to the set. "Hello," he says with a smile. Is he a good twin or a bad twin at the moment? "I'm not sure!" he jokes.

In the directors' team office, Barbara Roche, who shares stage manager duties with Shannon Mason, is hard at work. Roche arrived at the studio at about 6:15 on this particular day. "Shannon and I take turns with the early morning shift," Roche says. "We have to be in prior to the first makeup call. There are dressing rooms to be opened, prep work for that day's scripts, marking cues and checking things."

Around 7:30, the director (today it's Peter Brinckerhoff) "walks the stage" with the stage manager and members of other key departments. Dry blocking (when the specific camera moves for the actors are set) begins at 8.

"The stage managers share the day, relieving each other at certain points," Roche explains. "There are some scenes we can do on our own. That way, we're leapfrogging each other all day. If it's a scene at the disco or the hospital involving a lot of people, then we'll both probably be on the floor."

Tomorrow is a location day at Seal Beach, which doubles for Sunset Beach. "Because this show does so many remotes, we shoot simultaneously here in the studio," Roche adds. "Shannon will be down at the beach with another stage manager, and I'll be here with another person to work with me."

Stopping off in the hair and makeup department, I chat with head makeup artist Gail Katz, who's already been on the job for several hours. "We generally lose our actors between 8 and 9, so we pretty much have to have them ready by 8. Once they start dry blocking, the director has the option of keeping them there on the stage until they're set to tape at 9."

Sherri Saum (Vanessa) was the first customer of the day, which meant applying those hideous Martin's Syndrome lesions over half of her face as well as her arm. "Yeah, you missed 'lumpy-bumpy,' as we affectionately call her," Katz says with a laugh. "We had an early morning call - 6:45 - for Sherri to be camera-ready, including dry blocking. We had to schedule in that extra 45 minutes for the bumps - in additional to her regular makeup and hair - to give us some lead time."

Katz credits Academy Award-winning special effects artist Matthew Mungle with sculpting the actual prosthetics used to create the Martin's Syndrome look for Vanessa and her mother, Lena. "He's a fabulous artist, absolutely brilliant," she raves, "and a delightful man to work with."

Later, Saum tells us how it feels to be in that chair while the "bumps" are being applied to her face. "Usually, I try not to look in the mirror," she says. "But it's getting so commonplace, because I have to deal with it, every single day that I'm here. I try not to concentrate on it, though. I just like the time to go as quickly as possible."

What are the challenges this particular day for hairstylist Kimberly Spiteri? "Being interviewed," she teases. Spiteri's daily duties include "every-thing from cutting to coloring. We take care of all our actors' hair-care services. For us, it works out much better, because that way we can keep track of the continuity of their hair, as opposed to having them go out to a salon and coming back with something that might not be right for what we're working on at the time."

Most of the women spend about 45 minutes in Spiteri's chair. Sam Behrens (Gregory), though, doesn't even bother sitting down. "He actually takes care of his own hair," she notes. "He comes in and we hand him a brush and the products he likes right now - one is Bumble & Bumble Styling Creme, the other is a vanilla-scented hair spray by Cinema Secrets."

While Spiteri combs out the tresses of Cristi Ellen Harris (Emily), the young actress tells us she's a good friend of Richard Biggs (ex-Marcus Hunter, Days of Our Lives), whom she met while he was teaching acting classes. "He always told me that the one thing I needed was to get a soap," she says, "that it was the best training anybody could ever have." Did she call Biggs and tell him she got the job on Sunset? "The same day," she says. "He told me to be honest, be real, just do the work and have fun with it."

"My favorite part of the day is hair and makeup, because I love having my hair and face worked on," Shawn Batten (Sara) shares. "It relaxes me. I could sit there all day long!"

Batten had an 8 a.m. fitting with Sunset's costume designer Chic Gennarelli. "We're doing a change of look for Sara," he explains. "It's her character's transition from Washington to Sunset Beach, so the new emphasis will be on casual outfits."

According to Gennarelli, the show's costumes need to be "very colorful, sexy, featuring a lot of bareness. It's an Aaron Spelling show combined with a place called Sunset Beach, where the sun always shines and it never gets cold. We're doing a lot of beachy stuff now that El Nino's over and the warm weather is here."

Polaroids are taken of the 10 outfits Batten tries on and then presented to supervising producer Lisa Hesser in her second-floor office. "Out of those 10, we picked two because of the color considerations," Gennarelli says. "You have to look at what the other characters are wearing as well as the set decorations. So Lisa made a decision as to which outfits she liked best. Then I accessorize them for today's show and put Shawn into hair and makeup. The other eight outfits will be utilized for future episodes."

In an upstairs office, David Levinson, assistant to the executive producer, tacks an SPW clipping of Kathleen Noone's (Bette) Applause, Applause to the show's bulletin board. In an inner office, John Fritz, who doubles as assistant to associate producer Debbie Bachtell-O'Sullivan and director of Sunset's fan club, finishes up the club's first newsletter (to be issued quarterly).

Back downstairs, we pay a visit to "the clubhouse" - the dressing room of on- and offscreen best buds Timothy Adams and Jason George (Casey and Michael). Their highly publicized wall collage (featuring everything from pictures of themselves to a photo of Raquel Welch) is growing in size, thanks to contributions from viewers - mostly women. "It's very cool," says George. "It's about time we sent out another call to the fans for pictures, because we intend to fill this entire wall."

It's nonstop banter between these two. "We screw around a lot on the set, but our focus is always there when taping begins," George says. "We can be in the middle of a laugh and when the countdown starts, we'll go right into the scene."

Earlier, Adams had been razzing George about his impromptu tap dance to Shuffle Off to Buffalo on the set. "Actually, I prefer when he does the number in his construction boots," Adams quips. "The aesthetics of that are just incomparable."

Out in the hall, John Martin and Carol Potter (Hank and Joan) are winding their way toward the stage. They certainly are youthful-looking parents of grown children. "My dad watches the show, and he called me and asked, 'How did you get two such beautiful daughters?'" Martin explains with a laugh. "I don't know, but I'm also tempted to ad-lib a line to the girls like 'kiss Daddy."

Taping is proceeding at a steady clip under Brinckerhoff's direction. "It looks like we'll wrap at 6:30, which is an ideal time for us," reports stage manager Roche. "We like to have about a 12-hour day in the house."

Just another day at the Beach.

[404fmdhaon]

creative verification — meteor

summary: jiwon (npc) crashes at his place, and in comes a song slated to be the title of the next album — rare glimpses of optimism. (this song is Gyu’s Song, and nobody can take that away from him ♡ ) warnings: none wc: 1658

it’s the bean bag in the corner of his room he rarely frequents. but tonight, something hits different when its molded to the shape of his body, and his palms are pressed against his head with legs crossed tapping away to a mindless beat presented.

jiwon’s always been talented — gyujeong’s always given him the upper hand on that matter. and when free days become scarce, it’s the rare times he possesses in a quick flash of a text that brings jiwon back to his home studio. (in reality, bc building — third floor studio room feels more like home, crafts more of the creative freedom. but still, it’s a nice makeshift set when he’s at home). the beat possesses something like a homecoming. everything falling into full circle by the time the heavy bass and snares of the drum hit in the background (his input, not jiwon’s), and he dips his head in tandem with the steadiness of it all.

jiwon swirls around, a yawn escaping his lips. in comes the sudden greetings of tokki hopping into the lap as if he weren’t the owner himself — jiwon smirks, gives him the signature mocking grin with the flash of his teeth. “bc finally gives you an album, and you call me as the last hope to save the day — fucking dick.” 

it’s all good hearted jokes when gyujeong flicks him the middle finger, tongue in cheek with eyes too wide for the ungodly hour of the night. “yeah, so you can swim in royalties when it hits first on melon. how long do you even plan on living in that half-basement — it’s fucking gross.” 

“sorry, i’m not living in this luxury.” a quick spat back, and his arms motion out for the house of a sell-out. but gyujeong takes no offense, a narrowed focus on the beat looped in the background. something’s missing, he knows — just doesn’t know what, yet.

silence takes over, and it feels like they’re transported back to old times. homecoming, familiar. too eerie when they’re on opposite playing fields, and he wears the choker of knight’s bitch boy across his neck. but for now, he forgets. at least tries to, when he hears the electric keys and the simplicity engrained in each and every move puts them in a drunken nostalgia — half-mused smiles, and empty views. 

but he ends up breaking the silence anyways, when full circle means falling further back — back into familial ties. his throat looses, the dryness of the cough smoothening the sudden jumps mid-way through. “are you gonna call me a pussy if i suggest adding an orchestra?”

a pointed look, and he’s met with observation. “a full out orchestra? you got enough money for that?”

gyujeong shakes his head, denial — not the violin nor the sounds of a backing chorus he’d never imagine. instead, he wages his guess in one form: the dusty cello out of tune in the corner of the room, unboxed and poised for no use. “just the cello — add it in double stops by the time the ending chorus hits.” a pause, he forgets he hasn’t touched the cello in years. “use the apple keyboard — i’m not touching an actual cello. that shit’s way behind me.” 

the night ends as easy as it started — it doesn’t end, just continues through the paces back and forth, listening to a tune that clocks his own homecoming. a solo that he calls ‘home’.

—

he doesn’t ever get sappy.

at least, not in the context of music when he’s constituting his own words into frame. the lines of poetry no longer applicable, it’s his thoughts that rove over the subject of ‘homecoming’ and the aspect of outer space, which leave him fruitless. 

nine years in the making, and the solo comes as quick as the snap of the fingers. a song pushed inside a time limit, and he’s left in the barren ideas — drowned from post-love blues and now sitting empty handed, where his heart carves out something more. (for the first time, he thinks music. a love he’s forgotten long ago).

nostalgia comes when he writes down the first few lines of forgetting the man in the mirror. twenty-something, and he barely calls himself a man — still a boy stuck in the confines of bc entertainment, the independence he wanted now an abstract afterthought after too many years in. he waits, thinks to the first few steps into bc as a minor. a hapless stroke of luck, and fate that dragged him onto the life of perfect timing and mismatched encounters. 

they joked if he wanted to be a star — he told them, yes. yes for each instance of his parents’ disapprovals and each yank back to the states in lieu for another life to carry on the family name. it was the desperation in shaky palms and the history re-written when he decided to pave a life of his own past the tempest tides of uncertainty. (he’d think he was a fool by the time he waved off each sunbae telling him to sign his rights to the devil — he writes that down too.)

only, he knows far too well now: the devil would be kinder than any match of bc entertainment.

not when they buy into the public painting him a nightmare, a monster. the domino effect of scandals toppling one of after another. after the years, he’s become numb — a scandal a dime a dozen, and he’d been a martyr for all of bc’s lost causes.

perhaps, he’d only been a meteor all along.

a huge meteor, shattering the illusion of bc formalities. the perfect idol image that comes in cheap smiles and the act of family all painted on lasting nothing more than a few hours. 

but he tells himself, he’s the star in the first verse. and the second — the star centered around his own path he crafts for himself. the fairy tale dreamed of by the young boy at twelve in doe-eyed and a heart full of gold, now walking through a reality when dreams become granted in a flick of a switch. 

(dreams, an odd word when you’ve lost all notions of the definition.)

it only becomes secured in validity when he was a young boy, chasing the life beyond the nine to five of hakwons. the billowing imagination of a life outside of hannam, and into the life of the underground scene — years on end, day after day. hour after hours. 

maybe imagination changes, but some habits don’t change. not when songs come on the daily in a catchy hook jotted down in the screen of his phone, or a saying that peaks soul deep that scrawls away on the pages of his leather-bound journal. 

he wonders if it’d all been a dream. 

writes that down too when he feels an uneasy force encroach on his life — moving one position to the next, and whether that suits fantasy or reality, he doesn’t know. doesn’t have time to mine over when his mind’s inside tunnel-vision. maybe, it’s the force of nature that puts everything into fate.

(karma, he doesn’t believe in. god, he’s lost hope for. at this point, he believes in nothing but his last morsels of dignity).

he wants the words to come to life when he tells his own story. his story of a full-circle homecoming — but he knows, morbidity has never lied inside his past history. only the lighthearted warmth, fleeting feelings of optimism that exude when he faces the near future. bright lights ahead, gyujeong wants this feeling to last forever. never wants to stagger back to the past — positive affirmation, and he tells himself. writes away, he believes this can last forever.

—

the tables turned, it’s now jiwon busy. one club stint after another that leaves his schedule spread transparent, but gyujeong doesn’t mind. he falls into the role of a bystander, vicarious living when he watches from the backseat: a few videos sent, and the hash of youtube comments praising the newer beats of a friend now raising the public attention.

but by the time days pass, it’s another free day for them both. the same situation with jiwon in the seat of a producer, and gyujeong’s own body stationed nearby tethered to a mic dangling a few feet away. the headphones over his ears, it’s the first warm-ups in ad-lib form when the ‘ah yeahs’ become more for what they’re worth in the introduction — the playback, tells a different story when his brows knit together and his head tilts.

a groan, and he’s back to square one with frustration painted and a friend who deciphers each subtle look with a pop of his gum.

“look — i’m telling you. travis uses autotune, so does asap. so why’s your dick in a bunch, just fucking use it.”

the comment slowly lulls him outside of his reservations, a quirk of his brow upward and chuckles that burst when fatigue presses too close. “whatever. fuck it, put it on.” 

concession, full-out. no longer clashing with the faux pride he’s built up in the course of the night. gyujeong trades it in, when the first few bars come in a spoken shout marred by the filters of autotune — he clocks it as charming, finds the joy inside over-exaggerated filters faceted over his voice. 

the charm of rap, he supposes. all in its wide array, in constant fluctuation — he deems it art. and by the time he flashes a smile, genuine and honest past the mic when the second verse is done, he’s met with the claps of jiwon, loud and boisterous.

“i might buy my own masi now that i know this song’s bound for greatness — i have a good feeling chung gyujeong. so, stop being a pathetic little sad fuck.” 

[puffmamaa]

Rated E for Extra Petty.

Hey y’all! Here’s a random, little one-shot loosely based on this meme I saw a while back. Everytime I listen to Fantasia, it’s all I can think about lol.

Pairing: Erik ‘Killmonger’ Stevens x Black, Dark-Skin, Plus Size Reader. (Always💛)

Summary: No amount of 2K or Anime is a match for you when you’re on your bullshit.

Word Count: 1.6k

Warnings: Cussing. Use of N-word. Corny jokes. Reader being a major brat. Mention of smut. Erik being...a nigga lmao.

A/N: Song is “Free Yourself” by Fantasia, just in case someone doesn’t know it.

Also, I love me some Tasia so any shade towards her singing is all in jest. 😉

——

“IF YOU DON’T WANT ME, THEN DON’T TALK TO MEEE...”

Erik paused the TV and placed his elbows on his knees. His right leg bounced up and down aggressively. Sighing loudly, he threw down his PS4 controller and laid all the way back on the bed. You’d been blasting that same song for the last 20 minutes. Erik tried to tune it out but between Fantasia’s loud ass crooning and your off-key screeching, he couldn’t take it. He let out another breath as you continued to scream out ad-libs about how ain’t shit he was.

Let you tell it, this moment of supreme pettiness is what Erik deserved. You had come home late from work, tired and worn out from being around d’wights all day. All you wanted to do was curl up with your boyfriend and watch Love & Basketball. But Erik was in the middle of a game of NBA 2K19 and didn’t want to stop for your impromptu movie night.

EARLIER...

“What you mean not right now?” You asked with an attitude. You had changed out of your work clothes and into a black crop top t-shirt and black fitted shorts. Your big, kinky hair was pulled into a high puff.

“Baby, I’m trying to finish this game. We can watch the movie afterwards. Aight?”

“But I want to watch it now.”

“Well, I’m busy right now. Just watch it without me, if you can’t wait.”

“But we always watch Love & Basketball together, you whined as you poked your bottom lip out. “You don’t wanna hang out with me?”

“You know that’s not what I mean.”

You sauntered over to him and sat on his lap, straddling his legs. You wrapped your arms around his neck and gently played with the tail of his black du-rag.

“Then why not now?” You cooed into his ear.

Erik groaned lightly as you ran your nails against the back of his neck. “Look, I’ll only be like an hour. I’m sure you can find a way to entertain yourself until I’m done.”

You squinted your eyes at him. Usually, you had Erik wrapped around your finger. Your whine alone would have him rubbing on your booty all night. And a whole lot more. But this time, he wasn’t letting up. Your pout quickly turned into a frown. You hopped out of his lap and stood in front of the TV.

“So this dumb ass game is more important than me?”

“Y/N.“

“Nah, that’s basically what your saying. You rather play this shit than be with me. I can read between the lines, Erik.”

“Girl, you trippin’ right now. Chill out.”

“Fuck chill! All the times I’ve sat up and watched those stupid ass anime shows with you?

“Stupid?” He stood up, cocking his neck back in offense. His gray sweats hung low on his hips. “I thought you said you were starting to like anime.”

“I don’t even understand that shit! I watch it because its something you like to do. But, do you return the favor? Nooo. You rather sit in front of this fucking TV and play some wack ass game made for 14 year olds! Witcho cornball ass!”

Erik’s eyes bulged. He clenched his jaw and moved towards you.

“Watch ya mouth, princess. I don’t know who you think you talking to but I’m not sum nigga in the street. You need—“

“I need to what, Erik?” You cut him off, placing your hands on you hips and moving closer to him. His large frame towered over yours but you still managed to look him right in the eye.

“You know, maybe I should get me one of those other niggas. I’m sure they would love to do much more than watch a movie with me.”

Erik’s eye twitched. You knew the thought of you entertaining some one else would get under his skin.

“You better calm all that down before we have a fucking problem,” he lowered his face to yours. “I mean that shit.”

“Then turn the game off,” you whined again, crossing your arms over your chest.

“Hell no.” Erik mirrored your actions. Normally, he’d let you have your way by now, but you were being more of a brat than usually. Plus, you had disrespected his favorite genre and game. No fucks were given on his end at this point.

The two of you glared at each other for a minute.

Erik huffed and rolled his eyes, “I’m not finna do this with your bratty ass. Take that bullshit somewhere else, bruh.”

He sat down on the bed and grabbed his controller, starting his game back up.

You stood there, burning a hole in the side of his head as he continued to play like you weren’t in the room.

“Ok,” you hissed, “OH-Kay.”

You stomped out, slamming the bedroom door on purpose.

—

Erik heard the song start over again.

“If your unhappy then your free to go onnn. Cause I don’t want you stayin’ arounndd, if I make you so miseraablee,” you and Fantasia sang brashly.

“IF YOU DON’T WANT ME THEN DON’T TALK TO MEE,”

“That’s FUCKING it.” He said as he shot up from the bed.

He swung open the bedroom door and stomped down the hall.

“I swear to GOD...” he murmured to himself as he made his way to the living room.

You were sprawled out on the couch, one leg thrown over the back while you leaned your head on the arm and sang. An open bottle of wine and half filled wine glass sat on the coffee table. You eyes drifted to Erik as he barged into the room. He was silently fuming; his naked, scarred chest heaving in and out. You gave him a dry look and grabbed your glass, taking a long sip.

“This love thing is fuull of scandaaaals, so you’re WELCOME TO WAALK.”

“Yo. Kill all this fucking noise, ma.” Erik said, pulling on his sweats.

You gave a him a stank once over, rolled your eyes, and kept singing.

“If you don’t WANT me, then dont TALK to me.”

“I’m serious, Y/N. You being mad childish right now.”

You turned the volume up on your speaker.

“Then GO ahead AND free yourSEELF.”

Erik clenched his jaw, “All this over a damn movie?”

You glared at him and walked towards the kitchen. He was right behind you, huffing and puffing the whole way. You opened the pantry and grabbed a big bag of kettle popcorn. You strolled over to the kitchen island and sat down on one of the stools.

“Look, stop all this and I’ll watch the stupid movie with you.”

“Time and time again, I tried it over and over,” you sang between bites. “But the love I had inside, has died.”

“Come on now, this shit is ridiculous,” he moved to your side of the island and sat down, trying to grab at you. You pulled back and perched yourself up on your knees to sit over him.

“Go. Ahead. To. Someone. Else.” You chanted, tapping your index finger into his forehead with every word.

Erik grabbed your wrist, getting more agitated with you, “I’m warning you, Y/N. You better stop.”

You kissed your teeth and snatched your hand back. With all the dramatic energy you could muster, you threw your head back and your arms out, bellowing out with the screaming songstress.

“IF YOOUU DON’T WAANNT MEEE THEN DON’T TAALK TO MEEE. GOOO AHEAAD AND FREEEE YOURSEEELFFF!”

Erik winced at your screaching. You threw your hand up at him and shook your head side to side.

“I had to take it there, I had take it there. Cause I’m TIRED.“

He flared his nostrils at you. That right leg started bouncing again.

“IF YOU DON’T WANT ME, THEN DON’T TAALK TO M—.”

“Goddamnit, Y/N!” Erik yelled. He quickly scooped you up and walked you over to the couch. You yelped as he plopped both your bodies down and leaned over you, a scowl on his face.

You blinked up at him innocently. His eyes scanned over your chubby, brown face. He sighed, still sneering a little.

“Why do I even put up with your ass?”

Fantasia continued to croon in the background as you stared back at him, batting your eyelashes.

“Cause you love me...” You said with a shy smile.

Erik let out a soft chuckle and dropped his head. He was lowkey happy to hear you say something besides those damn song lyrics. Reaching around you, he turned the speaker off.

He shifted both of your bodies sideways and laid behind you. He snuggled his head in your neck, causing you to whimper a little.

“Cue the damn movie,” Erik said, wrapping an arm around your waist.

You giggled, grabbing the remote off the table and turning on the TV. The opening scene of Love & Basketball faded onto the screen. You moved your head to face his and smiled, running your nails through his beard.

“You are something the fuck else, I swear.” He mumbled as he peppered kisses up your neck and along your face. He captured your lips into a full kiss as he pressed himself against your backside. “Spoiled ass.”

“E...” you moaned, pushing back against him.

Erik pulled back and sent a hard smack to your ass, causing you to squeal.

“I’ma watch this shit with you now but I got something for that ass later on,” he said with a smirk while he rubbed the sting away. “You ain’t really start singing yet.”

“The neighbors gon learn my name today or whatever Trey Songz said.”

——

Alright, I hope y’all got a good little chuckle out of this.

Let me know what ya think! 😁

[buybeststrollergear-blog]

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[ninasaysmanythings]

To-y2 Album Review

To Yours : I actually found this song a bit disappointing at first, till I heard the chorus, it has such a melancholic melody to it. Then I was hooked. Still sounds like a Tegomass reject I'm sorry.

りあらぶ (Real Love) : This took me back to their Good Ikuze era! Like "Kimi to no Kiseki" and "Motettai Everyday" had a baby.

HANDS UP: I'll assume this was their obligatory "punch-y track" for the album. Kinda bummed that they made it a single first. The third track usually takes me by surprise.

Cannonball: The buildup was really nice... till the chorus happened. This was like Forza and Brand New World. Vocals-wise they were quite impressive! (Gaya, babe, that key was high) , I liked the line distribution. The RAP. YES. IT WAS NICE. I love how they're giving Senga the ad-libs.

Letting Go: OMG I HAVE SUCH MIXED FEELINGS WITH THIS SONG. I LOVE IT AND HATE IT SO MUCH BECAUSE ONCE THE BEAT DROPS IT WAS THE UGLIEST SOUND I'VE EVER HEARD. THEY SOUND LIKE CONSTIPATED DUCKS. I swear if they just changed the sound bite it could've saved everything, because Kitayama's bridge took me to places.

Positive Man: I'm not a fan of the genre, but they did a great job with the reggae, that's a first. They added some character to their singing to suit the playful tone (Gaya pls, I know he's having so much fun with it).

MAHARAJA: I'm gonna blame Gaya. Idk what you were even thinking. This sounded more like Indonesian Dangdut. I'm surprised how your producer managed to find the exact same synths used in Dangdut. I still enjoyed Senga and Kitayama's singing style, that was a treat.

Be Alright: This was fun! It was so nostalgic to listen to. The punk reggae rock really takes me back to those coming of age jdramas in the early 2000s (like Arashi's "Fight Song"). I've always wondered how they'd sound, so thanks for fulfilling that!

My Place: My golden track. This was absolutely gorgeous, such a heartfelt ballad, with strings a steady tempo and sentimental vocals. Also, the cute little game sound bites was such a nice touch. It really reminded me of Animal Crossing??

Edge of Days: It was a solid single. It really gave off that anime vibe considering how it was used for "Million Joe" jdrama. The bell tongs, trumpets, swirly guitar riffs and drum reverbs added such a dramatic urgency to the song.

Make you mine: The build up was amazing, I really thought we were getting some Martin Garrix quality edm... till the chorus happened. Man, it's like there were like two separate songs put into one. Nika's triplet beat rap followed by Tama's 'Clap-a-Holic' autotuned voice and THEN that stank face dance break interlude was *chef kiss*.

Sometime: Wow. Please do more sexy jazzy hotel lounge raps please. Y'all took turns. The chorus was cute, it's like "Saturday Life" had a sexy older (but like with a 7 year age gap) uncle. Idk why I pictured that.

Memento: Hello beautiful Mr.Children-esque ballad. I'm picturing them singing in a warm candle-lit cottage kitchen with a leaking roof. They're filmed together and then also separately with Kitayama on guitar, senga on keys and miyata on drums, nika on bass. (Yes they all could play instruments, so why won't Avex help release a musical band song)

COUNT 7EVEN: Our saving grace with the longest duration (5.01 mins) Another one of Kisumai's finest. We got strings, jazz drummer, trumpets, piano and that amaaazing bass and guitarist. My friends that countdown to the gunshot was godly. I wished this was a single. I want a DRAMATIC PERFORMANCE FOR THIS. BLACK AND WHITE SILHOUETTES GIVE IT TO ME. Don't @ me but it reminded me of Jojo okay.

Smilest: Meh. It was good enough for a cm. That's all.

Bonus Track, Seed: It's alright, kinda wished they didn't have the choir in the first bit. I liked LuLaLuLaLa much more.

Overall it's a decent album, they put great efforts into some of the tracks. But it's a stretch to say that it's surpassed FREE HUGS. I'm curious to know what other fans think of it!