#noir calls Johnny darling and Johnny calls noir my love

[incorrect-spideytorch]

@spideytorchweek Day 1: Across the Multiverse

~ Spider-Noir & Johnny Storm ~

“Peter?”

“Yes, Miles?”

“Do you really think Spider-Man can only be with his MJ? I mean couldn’t he ever end up with someone else?”

“Of course.”

“But Miguel says-“

“Miguel is wrong.”

“How do you know?”

“Because I’m not with MJ.”

“Really?”

“Yes. I have a husband.”

“What’s his name?”

“Johnny Storm.”

[beansnsoup]

Jaelyn's fic recs!

Fluff- 🧡

Smut - 💛

Part One! -> Part Two!

Alastor-

☆ Deer Dolly - Series by @ohproserpine 🧡

☆ for valentines day, i thought i'd buy a gun. By @ohproserpine

synopsis: you make your husband mad on purpose. 🧡💛?

☆ Alastor x Wife!Reader by @altruisticalastor

Summary: Lucifer gets a little too brazen with Alastor's darling wife. Guess the Ruler of Hell would just have to learn a lesson about who you belong to 💛

☆ my wife, my wife, my wife, my wife by @iicarused

synopsis:reader is vox’s ex and he’s not too keen of the separation — you were supposed to come back to him! not run around with his rival and get rid of his only access of looking after you (removing any/all electronics from your life) 🧡?

☆ come back to me by @iicarused

synopsis: you’re getting tired of the radio demon (part ii) 🧡?

☆ alastor + cunnilingus by @vmpyria 💛

☆ heaven knows your name by @iicarused

synopsis: heartaches after yearning for each other after decades of being apart 🧡

☆ alastor x married!reader by @bigfatbimbo 🧡

☆ DANCE WITH THE DEVIL by @popamolly

summary. Amidst the vibrant 1920s in New Orleans, a forbidden love unfolds in the lively jazz-filled atmosphere, evolving from an intoxicating romance to a twisted tale of heartbreak and murder, serving as a reminder to never dance with the devil. (SERIES) 🧡💛

Johnnie Guilbert-

☆ New Set by @corrodedcoffins-blog

summary: Giving boyfriend!Johnnie head scratches after getting new acrylics 🧡

☆ Collab by @teapartyprincess4two

summary: You and Johnnie pretend to date, faking it for so long that it became real. 🧡

☆ Run Your Mouth by @samandcolby-ownme

Prompt: Johnnie and reader get into an argument which leads to make up sex. 💛

☆ vampire!Johnnie x reader by @caeunot

summary- you find out your bf is a vampire 🧡💛?

☆ johnnie guilbert x reader by @caeunot

summary- johnnie writing zombie about you 🧡

☆ You by @sturnsreader 💛

☆ you know i’ll keep you in my locket by @stardustloserdoll 🧡

JSchlatt-

☆ "sit on my face." by @ghostkidabs 💛

☆ Jack & Coke part one by @d444zed 🧡💛?

☆ Jack & Coke part two by @d444zed 💛

☆ Mutual breakup headcanon/oneshot by @ohbabydollie 🧡

☆ Mutual breakup oneshot by @ohbabydollie 💛

Ellie Williams-

☆ no room for the holy spirit by @moncherellie 💛

☆ Roommate Trouble by @justkindalivin

summary: Your roommate Jesse and his girlfriend Dina fuck..a lot. loudly. When you finally get fed up after being woken up by their nightly “activities”, you go to Dina’s dorm for some peace and quiet only to run into her roommate, Ellie. 🧡💛

☆ hands to herself by @elliesbarbie

summary: ellie thinks you look a little too good in that bikini you chose to wear for the annual best friend vacay and can’t keep her hands off you 💛

☆ Getting caught with ellie by @me-and-your-husband 💛

☆ Body Ink by @me-and-your-husband

summary: you tattoo ellie's thigh. it's a bit of a compromising position, and it leads you down an unexpected road. female reader. 🧡💛

Alex Turner-

☆ Pillow Talk by @ohladymoon-blog

summary: what the title says, just pillow talk and soft cuddles after sex. ends in cockwarming. 🧡💛

☆ strawberry lace by @lilmisssweetdreams 🧡💛

☆ Test Drive by @savorypink 💛

Spiderman-

☆ Wingman (Hobie Brown) by @love-bitesx 🧡

☆ Crybaby (Hobie Brown) by @merowkittie 🧡

☆ "Thank You, Mrs. Parker." (Spider Noir) by @sabcandoit

Summary: After your wedding, you and Peter go home and have sex for the first time. 🧡💛

☆ Miss Your Face (TASM! Peter Parker) by @dontsaypetertingle

Summary: When you have to go out of town for work Peter gets lonely and a bit needy. An innocent call home to check on him becomes a lot more intense than originally planned. (Has a pt 2) 💛

☆ Break It In (Tom! Peter Parker) by @simplyparker

Summary: Peter gets his first car, and you want to have some fun 💛

☆ Please, Don't Stop Now by @echos-newlegs

Summary: you are in an established relationship with Peter, and he very much wants baby. 🧡💛

Fred Weasley-

☆ Facetime by @albertdabuttler

summary: !!MODERN AU!! Fred calls you in the middle of the night because he can’t sleep, but you look so pretty and he starts getting a little heated up. (Has 3 parts) 🧡💛

☆ Sweet Sugar Candyman by @keykeep 💛

☆ Sleeping In by @screamingoverfiction 💛

☆ Slipping Through My Fingers by @midnightmoonytales

Summary: Watching his little girl grow up had to one of his favorite things to see, but also one of the saddest. Every pivotal moment of her life flashing through his mind, even to this one now. (Wolfstar!daughter reader) 🧡

☆ Electric Pull by @apparentlytheproblem 🧡

Steve Harrington-

☆ I'll Be The Judge (Ft. Robin x Reader) by @luvfae

summary: steve and robin get into an argument about which one of them can give a girl a better orgasm, you come up with an idea to settle the argument once and for all. 💛

☆ Cowboy Hat Rule by @taintedcigs

summary: helping out mr. harrington in his ranch was supposed to be fun, but steve harrington was an asshole. an absolute pain in your ass that teased you, and you gave him the same energy back, always. so when you unknowingly wear his cowboy hat, he decides to teach you what exactly the cowboy hat rule is. 💛

☆ Marriage Pact by @fantasylandloser

summary: besties that plan to get married 🧡💛

Eddie Roundtree-

☆ Blind Date by @luvfae

Summary: The reader and Eddie get setup on a blind date 🧡💛

☆ Lead Singers Are Overrated by @luvfae

summary: working at the whiskey has it perks and that includes getting railed backstage by a certain bassist in a band. 💛

Extras-

☆ Not In On The Joke (Brian Quinn) by @joe--bro

Summary: The Jokers have to do certain tasks to win in the park, and a certain task given by the rest of the Jokers leads Q to talk to you. 🧡

☆ Flavored Kisses (Xavier Thorpe) by @cosmicpearlz

summary: in which you wear a different flavored chapstick everyday and your boyfriend xavier loves it. 🧡

☆ Babysitting (Judd Birch) by @just-another-author-i-guess

Summary: you and Judd are the designated babysitters for the night. 🧡💛

☆ Don't Fake It (Peter Quill) by @professorrw

Request/Summary: peter starts getting frisky with the reader but shes tired and isn’t really in the mood. He would never pressure her or anything but she wants to make him happy and feels bad saying no, so she does it and fakes her orgasm just to get it over with. Later, he somehow finds out (or knew all along, you decide) that she faked it and of course his ego is bruised and he’s kinda annoyed, but also feels guilty she didn’t tell him how she felt. So the next night, she starts coming onto him and he makes damn sure she never fakes it again. 💛

☆ So Beautiful (Loki Laufeyson) by @lokiisdaddyblog

Summary: Reader is feeling insecure and Loki proves to her that she's perfect. 🧡💛

[gingrrfrog]

hi love, it’s been quite a while yea? i hope you’ve been doing well and taking care of yourself! i’m one of your very loyal anons who have always proclaimed my love for noir, ivoire, and these nights au 🤍

it took me awhile to finally send this message because the whole situation is a little devasting..but i think i was mostly heartbroken from knowing my favourite aus -which i’ve once mentioned were my roman empires, if you remember- were being discontinued. i know it must have been a very difficult decision on your end too since they’ve been your babies for so long 🫂

i don’t know if we’ll ever get to hear if jaeji and their little girls got their happy ending, along with the other long-loved characters (jaem, jen, johnny etc); however i’d like to think everything worked out well in the end 🥹 if you ever feel like sharing the overall plot you had in mind, please dooo! i’ll be here waiting and the current stories will always hold a very special place in my heart ❤️‍🩹

since the year is coming to an end, i want to wish you nothing but the best for the new year to come. may happiness wash over you always 🍀

hello my darling! thank you so very much for the well wishes for the new year--i hope this year is kind and good to you!

i'm sorry that I left abruptly and that I left you all without a real ending to my saga. it does eat at me most nights, and to say that I hadn't thought about it everyday since would be a lie. some nights I sit and I try to write the way I used to, but something stops me and I wish I knew what.

to say that my story wasn't planned would be a lie, but it's not like I had a hard outline of outcomes either. Part of me has toyed with the idea of giving you snippets or ideas into what could've been, but the method would escape me. Writing is strange in the sense that I'm not writing plot points that I think would work out logically. When I write, I am there, watching events happen as I hastily write them down for you all to read.

For the most part, the images don't come and the characters don't speak to me even if I knock on their door. No one lives there anymore, no matter how much I force myself to call. I'll try my best to scrounge around in the memories of my drafts and scribblings, but I...wouldn't...hope too much.

Thank you thank you thank you for being such a consistent reader and I really hope that one day I'll be able to write about my beloved characters again. Even if they've left me, I'll try to find them--I know they're there, after all.

thank you so much for sending your message and i'm sorry it took so long to reply too. i wanted to make sure i gave your letter justice!

[filmista]

Gilda (1946): An uncoventional femme fatale

-Isn't it wonderful? Nobody has to apologize, because we were both stinkers, weren't we? Isn't it wonderful? -Wonderful.

Gilda could be the ultimate example of a film in which a single scene transcends the entire film, making the viewer forget about everything. Some may not have even seen it yet, but they do know of that iconic striptease.

What is film noir without the relationship between the protagonists? What is left in a film noir when we strip it of this element, of those murky and sickly as well as fascinating relationships?

Make no mistake: the sophistication that characterizes film noir would be meaningless without the protagonists. And in this sense, Gilda has its own characteristics, something of a film noir, but with a development in its characters very different from the genre.

Here, the femme fatale doesn’t need a man to lead "to perdition." Her reason for being isn’t that, far from it. Therefore, Gilda breaks with that film noir rule; here the protagonists drag each other in that whirlpool that only brings misfortunes, which is resolved in a totally different way in this film. 

One of the characteristics of film noir is that of the love triangle although, in this case, we could speak of two love triangles, one of them very particular. At the beginning of the film, we see Ballin rescue Farrell from the street, from the underworld of Buenos Aires.

He has saved his life; one feels indebted and the other responsible for the act. Next we see the third component of this triangle, the cane. A cane that hides a  a deadly weapon.

Ballin: It is a most faithful and obedient friend: it is silent when I want it to be silent, but talks when I want it to talk.

Farrell: Is that your idea of a friend?

Ballin: That is my idea of a friend.

It’s not trivial to consider that cane as another member of the relationship between the two men; in fact, when Ballin introduces Gilda, Farrell says: "I thought we were three already”, referring to the cane. 

That strange triangle is agreed upon and closed with the following words by Ballin: “This I must be sure of, that there is no woman anywhere. Gambling and women do not mix.” Farrell becomes Ballin's right-hand, his best friend and confidant. 

And there it is, the second triangle, and this time, the real one. Ballin appears with his new wife, Gilda, Farrell's old love. As they walk up the stairs, guided by Gilda's siren song, Farrell mumbles an "I hope everything is as before", which sounds more like a wish that he knows won’t be fullfiled; his relationship with Ballin isn’t going to be the same as before. He stands at the bedroom door while we see on his face that he recognises the voice, that voice that he has heard sing so many times in the past.

Ballin tells him that "he seems stunned" listening from the doorway. When Farrell reminds him of the "no women" pact, Ballin replies "my wife is not a woman.” And it is then when Ballin asks Gilda the question:

-Ballin: Are you decent? -Gilda: Sure I’m decent.

The tension between Gilda and Farrell is evident. We don't know what happened between them (that could be another movie), but the wound there is palpable; Ballin is no stranger to that, he realises it perfectly. The Casino workers notice too, in fact they joke about it. When Ballin asks Gilda not to call him "Mr. Farrell", but Johnny, she says "Johnny is a very difficult name to remember and very easy to forget."

And here that obsessive triangle unfolds, so obsessive that, despite Ballin's suspicions that Johnny and his wife knew each other from before, he asks him to stay near her, to take care of her. It seems to be a game that Ballin enjoy. That macabre game reaches its height during a dinner in which the three share a table, in which they toast the misfortune of the woman who made Johnny suffer:

Ballin Mundson : Now then, before we were interrupted, I believe we were about to drink a toast. So: disaster to the wench who did wrong by our Johnny. No, Gilda? You won't drink to that?

Gilda : Why not? Disaster to the wench!

When Farrell admits to Ballin that they knew each other from before, he says, "I taught her what she knows." Up to that point we can imagine what Johnny has meant in Gilda's life. Thinking that Ballin is dead, Gilda and Johnny get married in a wedding that could predict what comes next: we only see her through a window, through the rain that falls outside.

Johnny begins to punish her by leaving her alone, humiliating her, to such an extent that she has to go see him at the office: “Hello. Do you remember me? I am Gilda, your wife ”. Farrell enjoys humiliating her; He lights her cigarette by placing the lighter at waist height, so she has to "bow" to light the cigarette.

She married Ballin out of revenge on Johnny, and he marries her to humiliate her. So much so, that their new home is dominated by a huge portrait of Ballin. She is a prey to her past. She tries to run away from Johnny, but wherever she tries to go, he torments her.

When everything is over, Gilda surrenders and decides to leave the country; He returns to ask her to leave together, while apologizing for his behavior: “We were both scoundrels. Isn’t it wounderful". That obsessive triangle becomes a couple of neurotics, in which with their strange relationship of emotional dependence., they feed each other until they reach the point of recognising that it’s wonderful that they don’t have to ask for forgiveness or that anyone is guilty of anything, the two have been just as awful.

But Ballin returns from the shadows to claim what is his: his wife.

But prophetically it’s a member of the previous triangle, the knife hidden in the cane, that is going to solve this triangle, and this time forever. Ballin dies at the hand of his best friend, 

The tagline for the film announced that "there is no woman like Gilda". There may not be a more iconic female character in film history. She has such strength on  screen that perhaps because of that the viewer may not have been able to judge her in depth. She has nothing to do with the rebellious woman we all thought her to, nor is she a man-eater; Gilda is simply different. She is a woman with an apparent happiness, that hides an immense sadness and melancholia. 

A woman who complains about "so many people and so much loneliness.” Her need for attention and love is palpable. From the moment she meets Johnny Farrell, The expression on her face changes: the past has returned. When Johnny first goes to the ballroom run by Ballin, he meets a beautiful woman and, when he asks about her they tell him: she is a harpy.

Harpies, fantastic beings with the face of a woman and the body of a bird of prey. In Greek mythology, they were the beings in charge to enforce the punishment of Zeus to Fineo, stealing his food. Later on, various traditions gave them malevolent connotations, carriers of catastrophes. 

When Ballin appears to be dead, Farrell finds himself between two harpies reading Ballin's will and instructions.

Gilda can’t be considered the classic film noir femme fatale. She seeks to torment Johnny, but in order to make him  jealous, her end goal is not money, as is often the case with the film noir woman; She is in love with him, she marries Ballin for money, yes, but it’s a question that Ballin was not oblivious to when he married her; for him she is a beautiful and hungry little girl. 

He feels like a man, he realises himself as such by feeding her. But Gilda's wound is very deep; referring to Farrell, she says: "I was once loyal to a man, and look what happened." Ballin justifies her marriage to him: “She said she was born the day she met me. The three of us have no past, only future. Interesting, right?". Those same words are the ones Johnny used when he met Ballin, who had been born the day he met him.

There are two very important themes in Gilda: hatred, hatred that’s been shaped by Gilda’s pain. She reiterates many times how much she hates Johnny, but it’s a simple excuse; She loves him so much that she has had to turn the feeling into hate as a barrier against pain: “Hate can be a very intense emotion (…). Hate is the only thing that warms me. ”

And Farrell in turn thinks about her: “I hated her so much that I couldn't forget her. I was in the air I breathed.” The reunion with Johnny makes her want to plunge into a self-destructive spiral that, that would destroy everything she knows.  Her words to Johnny are very significant: "I hate you so much that I would destroy myself to drag you down with me."

But the love game she plays with Johnny reveals something else: She doesn’t hesitate to be seen with other men to arouse his jealousy, a game into which she falls very easily. At the Carnival, with another identity, with a mask, they dance as it seems they did before. She’s mischievous: “I can help you regain practice. I mean dancing. "

He asks her to throw her hat back. He shoves her away violently while she laughs amused. The love-hate game between them is very powerful. We can’t forget the famous slap that he gives her ... although he doesn’t escape a few himself. The game of erotic power play and violence often present in film noir is very noticeable here. 

When he takes Gilda home, she does’t hesitate to stress again and again that they are alone. He can’t avoid the temptation and goes up to the bedroom. She has removed her disguise, she is Gilda again, a Gilda in the shadows. They hesitate whether to approach each other or not: "I hate you so much that I think I'm going to die from it ... darling." Their neurotic behaviour could be summed up in this phrase, in that kiss during which the two explode when they say that they hate each other to death.

Gilda’s death drive leads her to an obsessive superstition, another important theme in this film, in which she leaves her life and actions in the hands of that belief, she sees signs everywhere and subjects her life to that destiny. The night the three of them toast to the misfortune that Johnny suffered (herself), she is afraid to drink the glass, as if consuming the champagne closes a pact with the devil.

But after a moment of doubt, she drinks without hesitation, as if that liquid were a poison and she wanted to die right there. She doesn’t care that she’s toasting to her own misfortunes. She’s so superstitious that when she tells the maid, she asks her not to repeat it. Whilst being in luck at roulette someone says "lucky in the game, unlucky in love", and she stops playing to avoid tempting luck. On her wedding day with Johnny, a lonely, sad and glamorousness wedding, a wedding that we as spectators only see through a window, she says: “The rain has stopped. Maybe it means something. ”

Of course Gilda is not the typical film noir woman. She is a tremendously sad woman, sadness caused by love, and who seeks to flee from herself, from everything inside herself.

A woman afraid of her husband and destiny, fearful of life, in a word. In the end, feeling cornered by everyone, the only thing left for her to do is a farewell worthy of her, an iconic dance: She knows she’s being observed by everyone, especially by Johnny. A song in which she asks to blame someone else, "Put the blame on me."

Don't blame Gilda; she’s already fleeing Buenos Aires. But Johnny asks her to go with her. What was Gilda looking for? To be loved. Nothing more, nothing less. Gilda represents the “whore” who wants to emancipate herself to become a mother. Almost no woman in film noir is a mother, a femme fatale is not a mother, she’s a temporary distraction and obstacle to the hero. 

But Gilda wants to escape such a condition, and we could really see her as a loving mother and living together with Johnny. In Gilda the woman could be seen as a symptom of the man, Gilda comes to substitute those other symptoms that these men have (sadistic in the case of Ballin, vengeful in the case of Farrell), and take them out on her. 

Film noir always plays with appearances: nothing is what it seems to be. But in Gilda, this premise turns to "but in the end everything was what it seemed to be." That game of appearances, like at the Carnival, ends when the participants remove their mask, this time, in a violent way. Neither is Ballin the good Samaritan who saves lives altruistically, nor is his Casino his main activity, not even his death is true. We are shown his shadow on different occasions, in profile; we never see him fully.

Gilda and Johnny’s life is also a lie, to bear their pain. The Casino is itself a lie, a place that Ballin uses to hide his work, and that he has arranged to be able to  see without being seen. His office is upstairs, from where, thanks to a set of lights, blinds and windows, he can see everything, like an omniscient God.

It’s the only way out of the suffocating atmosphere of the game room. Gilda is no stranger to what that game of points of view can provide to her, on two occasions she knows she’s being observed by Johnny, she seeks to be observed by him, but she doesn’t see him watching her, as if he doesn't want to see her face and guess what she’s thinking at the moment. The final moment, Gilda’s iconic dance, seems meticulously prepared for him to observe her, but also for him to see how others look at her. What does Farrell do? He stops her.  He can’t stand what’s happening.

Doesn't that moment remind us of this one from Paris, Texas?

Or this one?

Two absolutely different women, but in a sense mirrors of each Gilda is the whore who wants to emancipate herself to become a mother; Jane is the mother who emancipates herself and becomes a whore, once Travis appears, she takes the path back to that role of mother. Could that moment that game of points of view, be the beginning of that emancipation, of that path?

That claustrophobic environment and that game of viewpoints is exemplified in Gilda and Johnny's wedding: We only see her through a window, through a rain curtain, we don't even hear what is being said inside the room. We are spectators. But aren’t we during the entire film?

Gilda’s iconic phrase: If I'd been a ranch, they would have named me "The Bar Nothing.", is now more ironic than ever. No, she is not the free woman we were made to believe; she has an owner, Johnny. The mare is back with the stallion.

@purecinema​ @idasessions​ @missdubois​ @mad-prophet-of-the-airwaves​ 

[originofjaehyun]

Interlude: No More Drama & Prelude: After Story – Omake

Omake’s primary meaning is general and widespread. It is used as an anime and manga fandom term to mean extra or bonus.

Hi!

Because I wasn’t able to update the next chapter this week (stares directly at my other deadlines) – so I thought of updating you guys with something that is rather different instead! :D

Whenever I write, sometimes I would reach roadblocks, and ideas just wouldn’t come out. Usually by then, I would start to imagine things that most of the time are totally unrelated to the main story (haha).

Anyway! Long story short, these are the character profiles that I imagined when I designed them on my head (lol?)

Friendly reminder that this is a complete fiction!

P.S.: I imagined them during their Neo Zone era, so I wouldn’t talk that much about them physically? Also, you can search on Twitter on their actual perfumes, but I think these brands would suit them very well too (there are some that I took from that reference as well lol).

Read Interlude & Prelude

Jaehyun

Scent: Maison Margiela – Jazz Club, Jo Malone – Myrrh and Tonka

Cigarette brand: Marlboro Red

Carpool karaoke pick: (At first) Lauv – I Like Me Better, Cigarette After Sex, and such, but later he would play Spotify’s This Is Adele playlist

Cocktail pick: Ballatine’s Scotch Whiskey

Food delivery choices: Anything within reach (does not have any preference)

Kinks: This tickles him by a lot, but he likes it when you teased him by playing with his happy trail

Yuta

Scent: Diptyque – Tam Dao, Armani – Code Colonia

Cigarette brand: He used to smoke Camel, but changed to IQOS

Carpool karaoke pick: Depeche Mode, Post Malone, RADWIMPS, sometimes Arashi

Cocktail pick: Cassis Orange, beer

Food delivery choices: Fried chicken (let’s not make him obviously Japanese by making him ordering Ramen every time lol)

Kinks: He loves the sound of skin slapping each other, so expect a lot of spanking

Johnny

Scent: BYREDO – Mojave Ghost (for daily), LE LABO – Santal 33 (for the evening), Tom Ford – Fucking Fabulous (for the special occasions)

Cigarette brand: Dunhill Blonde Blend

Carpool karaoke pick: Daft Punk (for sure), Disclosure, and such

Cocktail pick: Negroni

Food delivery choices: Fast food, preferably burgers

Kinks: He’s sensitive behind his ears, and would go wild whenever you whisper directly to his ears

Doyoung

Scent: Le Labo – Another 13, Chanel – Bleu De Chanel

Cigarette brand: None

Carpool karaoke pick: Park Hyo Shin, Daniel Caesar, Celine Dion

Cocktail pick: Gin & Tonic

Food delivery choices: Jajjangmyeon

Kinks: He likes it when you explore his neck, and whenever you kiss his adam’s apple

Mark

Scent: Dior – Eau Savage

Cigarette brand: None

Carpool karaoke pick: 2Pac, Kendrick Lamar

Cocktail pick: He prefers dark beer, but would take soju anytime with his hyungs

Food delivery choices: Anything carbs

Kinks: He bites a lot

Taeyong

Scent: Penhaligon – Endymion

Cigarette brand: Raison

Carpool karaoke pick: Jhené Aiko, Kehlani, Justin Bieber

Cocktail pick: Jagerbomb, but he would be the one who suggested Tequila shots

Food delivery choices: Bubble tea

Kinks: He likes the feeling of your nail piercing onto his skin (lol did I just make him slightly masochist)

Haechan

Scent: Jean Paul Gaultier – Le Male

Cigarette brand: Lucky Strike Menthol

Carpool karaoke pick: Michael Jackson, Queen, Jason Mraz

Cocktail pick: Soju

Food delivery choices: Fast food, but he would join anyone who’s ordering any food

Kinks: He prefers the room to be bright so he can see you

Jungwoo

Scent: Roses – Chloe

Cigarette brand: None

Carpool karaoke pick: Frank Ocean, Dean, NCT (a-ha)

Cocktail pick: He would take a sip of anything tbh

Food delivery choices: Anything but he would often craves for kimbab

Kinks: Jungwoo you’re not allowed to have a kink

Taeil

Scent: Tom Ford – Noir Extreme

Cigarette brand: Camel Filter

Carpool karaoke pick: He owns a playlist called; “Wedding Day Songs”

Cocktail pick: Old Fashioned

Food delivery choices: Ramen (the legit ramen and not the instant ones)

Kinks: He breathes you in, a lot

Winwin

Scent: Aqcua Di Parma – Blu Mediterraneo Mandorlo Di Sicilia

Cigarette brand: Mevius One

Carpool karaoke pick: The 1975, Vampire Weekend

Cocktail pick: Ume Highball

Food delivery choices: Jokbal

Kinks: Surprisingly he’s into role play (he loves it when you call him by his code name)

Random Trivia

All Interlude chapters’ quotes are from Jaehyun’s parts on Neo Zone album

Same goes for Prelude, except for Make Your Day (since Yuta wasn’t a part of that song, I replaced it with Jaehyun’s)

You might or might not notice, but I also put Jaehyun’s part(s) on the actual chapter (either on the conversations or the narrations)

Yuta’s yakuza friend, Taka (mentioned briefly), is taken from MIYAVI’s real name (Takamasa Ishihara) – I borrowed his name because Yuta listened to MIYAVI alot (he also followed him on Instagram!)

The music that they listen to on the car ride during Pandora’s Box was Cigarette After Sex’s Apocalypse (because Jaehyun listens to Cigarettes After Sex before going to bed)

The music during the first car ride with Yuta was No Replacing You by Pink Sweat$ (it’s a part of Jaehyun’s playlist – which he revealed on one of his vlive)

The movie that Jaehyun and [Y/N] watched during the rainy day on White Night, The Notebook, is based on Jaehyun’s recommendation on NCT Night Night

I also mentioned this on Pandora’s Box, but the repeated quote between [Y/N] and Jaehyun, “What is the first twenty-four hours if we’re looking back at the past seventy years?” is highly inspired from Ed Sheeran’s Thinking Out Loud (And darling I will be loving you 'til we're 70) –because Jaehyun is a fan of Ed.

Also, [Y/N] and Jaehyun met when they’re on their mid 20s. The average human lifespan is 79 years —hopefully our [Y/N] and Jaehyun would have a wonderful long life together. That phrase itself means that both of them are willing to spend the rest of their lives together. Though, I don’t know how that becomes their own love language, it just happened as I write the story haha

[Y/N]’s body gel inspiration is actually a body cleanser by Aesop, A Rose By Any Other Name

Jaehyun’s engagement ring pick was Étincelle de Cartier Ring by Cartier

Jaehyun and [Y/N]’s favorite Ghibli movie pick is Howl’s Moving Castle – Jaehyun mentioned on NCT Night Night that he watched Howl’s Moving Castle a lot when he was at school

After the wedding, dark crimson rose was spotted on Nakamoto’s residence. This symbolizes grief and sadness.

On Make Your Day, the flower language meaning for Buttercup is “Your charm dazzles me”. This is why Yuta knows ___ is attracted to her. If you didn’t notice, Yuta already know that she’s the florist during their first encounter at Nonstop. That is because Yuta remembers their first encounter, too

The tune that ___ listen to at the end of Make Your Day is Always With Me (Spirited Away theme song). I personally feel the scene (on my head) fits the song perfectly! If you want to give it a listen, I recommend the piano version

At the end, ___ gave Yuta anthurium, which means hospitality and happiness. Note how I never really specify their relationship status, since I want the readers to have their own interpretation on the continuation of their relationship

Yuta’s haircut was actually not planned, but it fits the transition since he did cut his hair haha

The hardest chapters to write was Pandora’s Box and Not Alone – purely because they’re mostly transition chapters

Out of all chapters, my personal favorite from Interlude would be White Night and Nonstop for Prelude.

In fact, Nonstop would be my favorite chapter. I think I was so immersed with Jaehyun and [Y/N]’s wedding so I kept including TONS of details hahaha (I hope you don’t mind lol)

[secretradiobrooklyn]

SECRET RADIO | 10.19.20

Secret Radio | 10.19.20 |  Hear it here.

1. Melome Clement & Tout Puissant Poly-Rythmo de Cotonou - “Gnon Nu To Min Lin”

One thing that consistently amazes me about this TP music is that it’s like listening to classic oldies

I just read that Melome Clement died right at the end of 2012. I hope that means he lived a long life. 

2. Fela Ransome Kuti & His Koola Lobitos - “Wa Dele”

Absolutely awesome footage of Fela Kuti, some from before and after the period of this song. Hell, it opens with a shot of him hugging Ginger Baker. He’s clearly a massively charismatic guy. There’s great footage of the horn players too, and tons of amazing dancing, both onstage and (I think?) backstage. There is also one very bad moment in the footage that is super jarring… but I think on balance the footage gives a huge dose of color to an already colorful song — I know I fell in love with this song long before I saw these shots!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FVYqMQ5PKXM

3. Panbers - “Haai”

One side effect of running a music magazine was that music would be sent to us, solicited, unsolicited or otherwise — and I loved it. Part of why I started writing about music was that I loved getting CDs in my literal mailbox. One set that arrived at Eleven before I got there was a beautifully made collection called “Those Shocking Shaking Days: Indonesian Hard, Psychedelic, Progressive Rock and Funk 1970-1978.” It wasn’t the kind of thing I was listening to, or for, at the time, but it made a certain impression. Now I’m amazed at how Indonesia, Turkey, Nigeria, France and Benin were pumping out great music in 1978 that all seems like they were part of the same scene… but they couldn’t have been. Right? Italians, Vietnamese, Cambodians, Estonians, Peruvians — just great music being made all over the planet at the same time. Wow.  

4. La Femme - “Welcome America”

This band seems to me like a more modern version of the band Little Rabbits from the ‘90s-‘00s, whose music I totally love. I really like the spoken style of some French pop — like the lyrics aren’t being sung, they’re being announced. I get the impression that this is an indie sort of band in modern French music but not crossed over into the French pop stratosphere.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KomjRIqlF7g

A Town Called Panic! soundtrack

If you haven’t seen this movie, we highly recommend it. Don’t even look it up, just pop it in at the top of your queue. It’s really weird and completely rewarding.

5. Serge Gainsbourg & Brigitte Bardot - “Initials B.B.”

This is one of the foxiest songs ever recorded, in my opinion. I mean, she’s beautiful and he’s beautiful for SURE, but also it’s written into the chords and arrangements. It’s so royal.

For the eye makeup if nothing else:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VPOYtC1n5bE

Paige adds:

I should note, Chris and Christine when I dedicated this to Bridget, I was only thinking of the chorus “initials, initials, initials, B. B.” Immediately when it started playing, I realized I’d completely forgotten there were verses and that I have no idea what they’re saying. But considering it’s Serge and Bardot, there’s a high chance it might be a song for grown ups. So just the B.B. part is for Bridget.

6. Betti-Betti - “Guikolo” 

From Bridget to Brigitte Bardot to another B.B.: Betti-Betti. I love the character and timbre of her voice, and the way the horn hits anticipate the beat — everything seems to be out ahead of the beat, it’s amazing. And this is only a hunch, but I think she does the amazing mouth drumming in the middle of the song. If anyone knows whether that’s actually her doing it, I would love to know. I feel like it happens in several of her songs. It just knocks me out every time.

7. Guided By Voices - “Hot Freaks”

This song will always be deep in the heart of my Seattle self. I feel like this is the moment that Guided By Voices became ineluctable. 

8. Techniques Band - “And I Love Her”

So languid, so strangely refracted. 

9. L’Oeil - “Bernadette”

 This song comes from a collection called “Wizzz: French Psychorama (1966-1971), Vol. 1.” Everyone sounds so locked in together on the groove, the vocals can go off on their own TV comedy scene. I want to know more about this band. 

10. William Onyeabor - “Tomorrow” 

The rhythm of this song grows so gradually that you don’t even feel it growing ever more complex until the backing vocals start to wind around each other in an ascending ladder of harmony. Meanwhile, the lead vocal just keeps expressing an absolute truth about life: No one knows tomorrow.

11. Marie Lafôret - “A Demain My Darling”

Lijadu Sisters - “Sunshine”

This is such a pretty song in the verses… but then it opens up into an extended instrumental passage built around this perfect little guitar phrase. I assume great hip hop songs have been built around this sample, but I haven’t heard em yet. In headphones the instruments are being slowly panned around the room in different directions, which is pretty great as well.

12. T P Orchestre Poly Rythmo - “A O O Ida”

When I’m digging around for T.P. tracks I haven’t heard, sometimes a song really lands. I make a note, come back to it a few times, realize I’m into it, cue it up and realize that I should have recognized the song from its place on a comp or something I’ve already heard. But they sound so different from copy to copy! The version of “A O O Ida” here is from a recording of the 1976 original pressing. The version I knew but didn’t even recognize is on Analog Africa’s excellent “The Skeletal Essences of Afro Funk.” At first I thought they were entirely different takes, but they’re not — just really different EQs and mastering. I love all of Analog Africa’s remasters on all of their amazing, amazing compilations, but in this case I prefer the version here. It sounds so sharp and wild. 

13. Teddy Afro - “Mar eske Tuwaf (Fikir Eske Meqabir)”

Teddy Afro must be the biggest entertainer in all of Ethiopia, and he is internationally revered as well. I first heard his music as background music in Ethiopian restaurants, but as I’ve come to explore more music around the world, I find his songs’ production to be really fascinating. He kind of floats over the top of a giant cumulus cloud of orchestral music and telling stories. In this case, he’s relating the story of Seble and Bezabih, the heroes of a famous Ethiopian story called “Love Until the Grave” that I gather doesn’t end well.

14. Salah Ragab - “Black Butterfly”

Josh Weinstein told us about Salah Ragab, and this song makes me feel like I’m living in a cartoon. 

15. Giant Sand - “Temptation of Egg”

In Seattle I went to see Grandaddy at the Crocodile, opening for a band I’d heard of but never seen so figured I’d check out. Giant Sand was touring on this album, “Chore of Enchantment,” and I’d never seen anyone play both keys and maracas AND guitar while singing and somehow seem like he was barely doing anything at all. I got the CD but it didn’t seem like the same thing… until the day after I met Paige, when we found ourselves at my place and I pulled out this album. It unfurled like a genie from a bottle.

16. Blonde Redhead - “En Particuleur”

Blonde Redhead was for a long time my absolute favorite band to see live. I think the first time was at Under the Rail, and literally the second she first screamed I burst into surprised tears. The twins looked like one angel and one devil. John Goodmanson worked with them before he worked with Harvey Danger and I was honestly in awe of them. They were also my path into Serge Gainsbourg, for which I will always be thankful.

17. Michel Polnareff - “La Tribù (Hippy Jeeeh!)”

It’s amazing how many layers of reverb this recording is soaking in, which helps keep it super spaced out, along with that synth sound firing straight up out of the atmosphere.

18. Fabio - “Lindo Sonho Delirante”

Another find via Now/Again Records. The original cover for the single featured a photo of Fabio with his arms outstretched, enwrapped in text. The breathless, almost torn quality of the backing vocals is trés classique. Also, another great example of mouth drumming.

19. Os Bongos - “Lena”

*A great find own my quest to find Muxima! I love the guitar tone on this.

20. Avolonto Honore et l’Orchestre Poly-Rythmo - “Avi Yaman Houé”

Avolonto Honore belongs to that first group of four — plus of course T.P. Orchestre — from the original “Legends of Benin” that basically makes him a saint in our book. He’s definitely one of the most amazing-looking players among them. This track they’re working is a super deep groove… and then when the horns come in, they sound surprisingly like Adriano Celentano’s “Prisencolinensinainciusol.” I believe that is Papillon on the guitar as well, another top favorite musician ever.

21. Yuri Morozov - “Neizyasnimoe”

Johnny Fantastic is probably the person we know who knows the most about Russian history and culture. Also American presidents. He is who I want to talk Russian psych and underground music with. So far, I’ve mainly found cool stuff from Estonia, which is plenty exciting, but I feel like there must be a whole Muscovite weird-rock scene that we just haven’t met yet. What do you think, Johnny?

22. Flavien Berger - “La Fête Noire”

Via roundabout paths, this one gets totted up in Julian’s column. Thanks, Julian. This was one of the first batches of songs that Paige heard of French music made after the ’70s, and it clearly stuck. Sometimes she sings along with the ending, which is my favorite. One translated lyric that sticks out is “I leave the comings and goings of the souls / On the other side of the diving board”

Hailu Mergia - “Embuwa Bey Lamitu”

We have been so glad to have “Wede Harer Guzo” in our collection. Every track is a pleasure. Great for working creatively alongside.

23. Ram Jong Vak - “Twist (Dance Twist)”

More Cambodian pop wizardry.

24. Rocky Horror International - “Alltid Lys Hos Frankenstein”

I tried to convince Paige, when we were leaving our art castle on Cherokee, that we couldn’t have Halloween that year, because we were going to be way too busy. She agreed — and then got us tickets for “The Rocky Horror Picture Show,” the weekend before, which isn’t technically Halloween… and thank god! It was my first live Rocky, and I may not’ve ever done it if I didn’t do it then. Truly a singular experience, there’s nothing like it no matter how hard people try.

Paige adds: The church of Rocky! 

25.  Arsenal - “Bolero”

Still just reading about this track. One guy wrote in on a track, asking, “Is there any place in Russia where I can still buy this music? I have been searching all over the western planets, but no success so far.” Which made my whole existence feel different. The western planets? How far do you have to go to find a copy of this record?!