#that said i do like most of that album a lot and the only ranking i was certain of was woke up in japan last place sorry boys

[my5hiningstars]

5sos youngblood album + 10, 16, 28, 30 for the music ask~

thank u nonnie, i put the album ranking under a cut since it's kinda long ^^;

10) a song that brings back bad memories

Gang of Youths - The Deepest Sighs, the Frankest Shadows

16) a song that's better acoustic

5 Seconds of Summer - Best Years

28) a song you want to see live

5 Seconds of Summer - Jet Black Heart

30) a song you recommend

Billie Eilish - WILDFLOWER (Amazon Music's Songline performance)

send me some numbers or an album to rank ✨

Youngblood (Deluxe):

Talk Fast

Ghost of You

More

Youngblood

If Walls Could Talk

Babylon

Valentine

Moving Along

Meet You There

Empty Wallets

Want You Back

Lie to Me

Better Man

Monster Among Men

Why Won't You Love Me

Woke Up in Japan

[brailsthesmolgurl]

“Do you have games on your phone?”

Preview: A look into the guilty-pleasure games the boys would have on their phones and what they would generally what is in their phone.

XAVIER

“Yeah I play them every once in a while.” The blond boy lifted his phone screen up, directing it to your face and it revealed the home page. Of course he would have your FACE ID registered into his phone. He is a man of privacy most of the time so having his phone to be locked is mostly to restrict strangers from accessing his phone. His phone applications are neatly arranged into folders, he has a lot of them, separated and boxed away according to their usage. Useless Apps, Useful Apps, Socials and Games. These are about the amount of folders he would have on his home page, featuring a silhouette picture of you staring off into the dark of the night, admiring the moon and basking under its silvery light. That picture of you is one of his favourites out of the other pictures he has of you in his photo album. “You can try playing this.” He pretty much has all of the classic games one could think of in his Games folder. Subway surfers, Temple Run, Angry Birds, Minecraft and many other classics.

You were stunned at the amount of games that the folder holds. It took your around five swipes to reach the end of the folder. When asked with why he has so much games that it filled up more than half of his storage, he flashes you an amused grin. “I spend a lot of my time on my phone if I am alone or not sleeping. So I like to keep myself entertained.” He is the type to watch you play the games on his phone, seemingly entertained by how hard you were trying to beat his score when he himself has worldwide rank of #1 across all games. You are definitely in shock and low-key wondered how long does he actually spend on playing all of these games in order to gain such a rank. When you lost within the first few rounds, you realised you flashing him a frown was a mistake when he said. “It’s hard to gain my score right? My advice is that you can stop trying to beat me and just enjoy the game.”

RAFAYEL

“Oh, finally you want to see if I have any secret contacts of girls stashed away in my phone? It’s gonna be disappointing for you my love.” The artist teases, lips curled into a smirk when he hands you his phone and you familiarly typed in the passcode. The phone clicked and it brought you to the home page, featuring a picture of you and him taken during one of his most recent exhibitions. The both of you stood next to one another, his arms around your waist and posed in front of the huge canvas of abstract art. His phone applications however, are not organised, just like his house most of the time when things gets too busy on his end. As an artist, he always calls it ‘beauty apparent within a mess’. He only owns one game on his phone and it is an RPG dating game. He is so down bad at missing you some times that he had to result to games to suffice his own needs of needing to be around you. The RPG dating game is the typical choice making game that affects the results of the game and he puts in an insane amount of money to make his character look as similar to himself and the crush in the game to be as ornamented as you.

Teasing him about his game choice drives him into a blushing frenzy. Denial at first but eventually succumbing to his own guilty pleasure when you started asking about the character models he had spent an insane amount of time to sculpt in game. “I just wanted to play this game whenever I do not get to spend time with you either it’d be in a different time zone or you’re just busy. A man has his own needs and I see this being a healthy way of missing you without bothering you on a daily basis.” His bashfulness reply made you smiled, for he is a genuine man afterall and he expresses his love to you in the weirdest yet most caring method. “If you see any clothes in the store, you can just buy it so I can get the in-game you to wear it. If they said that I do not have enough gems for the transaction just reload it for me yeah?”

ZAYNE

“Here. You can try and play it if you’d like.” He unlocked his phone with his fingerprint and handed it over to you. He has your fingerprint and Face ID registered into his phone’s security system but since you asked out of the blue, he might as well just do you the favour to unlock the phone for you, as he is a proclaimed gentleman. You asking for what games he has on his phone makes the all-time serious man cracked a thin smile on his lips, fancy seeing you embracing your childlike image. His wallpaper is a picture of you and only you, sat in the middle of a flower field with a smile as bright as the sun that hung above in the clear skies. You remembered this image, it was one of those days where a planned trip was interrupted and so the both of you ended up with spontaneous plans. This specific flower field being one of the result of the spontaneity. His home page is ridiculously minimal, with each page dedicated to specific apps. He has only two games on his phone; Tetris and Sudoku.

You were even surprised he has any games on his phone. When asked for the reason, the doctor who was focused on his paperwork paused for a moment and looked at you with bewildered forest-like orbs. “Such games are researched to be stimulating to one’s brain, it aids in relieving boredom and also exercise it. Statistics has shown that it helps in improving one’s logic sense, problem solving skills and pattern spotting skills. You should try it as you always seemingly can’t use your brain whenever you’re caught up in a situation that requires you to use one. It might teach you that brute force may not be the answer to all.” His strict tone made your gaze narrowed at him, taking his words towards the side of offence. But he does make a point as you are the one that is always going into his office with physical injuries. Furthermore, him spitting facts for educative purposes effectively diminishes your will to rebut him. “I have already taken the liberty to download the games I had mentioned into your phone, perhaps you can play them whenever you are free.”

[kanmom51]

JM #1 Billboard achievement

Congrats JM for #1 Billboard Global and Billboard Global 200!!!

Not a surprise, like at all.

All of the new released Muse songs ranked within the Global 200 chart as well!!!

And Muse as an album raking #2 in Billboard World Album chart.

Amazing achievement for JM who not only is tucked away in a remote base doing his army service, but also barely actively participated in any of the promotions for this album and songs.

Yes, there was promotional content pre-recorded, but other than that his presence was close to zero.

Look at the stark difference between his lack of activity and RM's with his album and online presence or Tae just being constantly online and also actively promoting his book.

This is the strength of JM, his talent, his creation, but also the strength of his fan base, those who love him. I have said this before and I will say this again. JM gets a hell of a lot of hate thrown his way. But he is also one of the, if not the most loved members of BTS. Haters are loud and vile and we see their presence because of that. But this here is proof of how much JM is loved, adored. And his fans, some louder and some quieter, their purchase power, the lengths they will go to for JM is immeasurable.

Proven!!!

And be assured that JM knows it. He knows he's hated (just like JK knows he is and let us know that he does), but he also knows just how much he is loved!!!

One last thing I wanted to add here, and that is regarding the stark difference between the global charts and the US exclusive Billboard 100 chart...

But I guess that was to be expected now with the changes made to their rules after JM shocked the bejeebers out of them reaching #1 Billboard 100 with Like crazy.

I will be totally honest here with you guys.

Unlike RM, Face is my favourite album. It being so so personal, him showing us his vulnerability, his struggles was a big part of it. Perhaps also being his solo debut and just being a bad ass album was another part of it.

Don't get me wrong, I do love Muse, have it on repeat in my Spotify playlist. Rebirth being my favourite song (see, RM and I do agree on something, lol), but out of the two, it's Face for me. Nothing will beat Like crazy for me. 🤷🏼

Either way, JM is an amazing artist and deserves this success.

I'm so happy for him!!!

[oakdll]

things i desperately want for persona 6

- Femc

I know this is not an unpopular opinion, but I don’t even need a full femc route. It would be nice, but I think it would probably take up too much budget. All I want is a girl model of the protagonist that you can choose and some pronoun changes. It would be so easy to do, I’m begging for this

- Let people be gay

If they are doing a femc route like that, there will probably be romance options for male social links, so just keep that for the boy protagonist route. You literally don’t have to change anything except maybe a few voice lines, but you could also have the VA’s only use gender neutral pronouns. Just let you date every social link (as long as they aren’t like your dad or teacher or something) regardless of their gender.

- Keep the rewind feature from Reload

This is self explanatory, it’s maybe the single best quality of life feature in any Persona game, I NEED it for P6.

- Keep the palace system for the dungeons

The order of Persona games was me playing P5R, then P4G, then P3R. Going from P5’s palaces to the mediocre dungeons in P4 was super jarring. Tartarus in P3R is definitely an improvement, and I might even like it more than Mementos, but palaces are by far the best addition to the Persona series ever. Having unique levels for each arc was a stroke of genius, and if they don’t carry it over to P6 it will almost certainly be underwhelming compared to P5. I do like the randomly generated dungeons, but I think they work best as accompaniment to palaces. Something like Mementos would be great for P6 in accompaniment to Palaces.

- Have a better spawning method for The Reaper

I like to farm The Reaper a lot, and especially in P4, it was TORTURE. Having to open 21 chests and then requiring the 22nd to randomly spawn an enemy just to fight The Reaper was awful. Even the time based ones in P5 and P3 are not perfect. Literally just anything but the tedium of P4. Requiring RNG was awful, you could spend 20 minutes opening chests just to not get an enemy chest on the 22nd and have to restart.

- Have a post game

Sometimes I want to play Persona but I don’t want to have to start a 100 hour new playthrough. Persona genuinely has a great combat system, and I would love to be able to explore Mementos or rematch bosses after beating the game. Maybe bring back the Thieves Den (or something similar) but allow you to re-enter palaces and Mementos after getting the true ending. Something like being able to rematch bosses in the Mushroom Kingdom from Super Mario Odyssey. Maybe also bring the album thing on the couch in Persona 4 back. If you don’t remember, if you went to sit on your reading couch, you could view all of your maxed social links and replay each rank. You could even go to the social links you didn’t romance and see what their romance path was like, or vice versa. It was super cool!

- Keep confidant perks

Having the ranks of non-party member social links grant perks is one of my favorite additions to P5. It can really help incentivize you to prioritize them and go for all max social links. I think the main flaw with Persona 5 was that Atlus underestimates how powerful the perks would be. That’s why the game was so easy, not because of the gameplay, but because Atlus couldn’t balance some players having unlocked broken confidant perks and others having not. It would be difficult, but they need to be able to balance the perks more. Definitely keep them, but don’t let people just blitz through palaces if they have Ryuji’s confidant at rank 7.

- Bring over a rebalanced version of Ryuji’s instakill

Speaking of Ryuji’s rank 7 confidant ability, I want it to come back. It is by far the most broken ability in P5, but it also made grinding SO much more bearable. That said, it needs a rebalance. Make it so it doesn’t work in palaces, only P6’s version of mementos. Make it much harder to get than rank 7, maybe a late game social link’s rank 10 ability. It would still be a broken ability, but it is an ingenious solution to fixing tedious late game grinding. More games should have versions of this ability.

- Keep the completionist difficulty of P5R

I think Persona 5 Royal has the best balance in terms of how difficult it should be to max out all of your social links on a first playthrough. I got all achievements on my first playthrough, but not 100% on social links. I was rank 5 in Strength and rank 9 in Lovers. It was very close, but it had just the right amount of generosity. I think if someone tries hard, they should be able to 100% it on a first playthrough.

- Make it so hanging out with Velvet Room attendants doesn’t take up time

Unless it’s a social link like Marie, I think having it take up time just prevents people from actually doing it. With how valuable time is in Persona, wasting time slots on hanging out with a non-social link character isn’t super viable. In P5R, I almost never hung out with The Twins because it took up a time slot when it didn’t need to. In P3R, I always hang out with Elizabeth because you don’t need to take up a precious time slot to do it. Please keep this!!

- Keep the story based character progression

In P5, most of the character progression happens through confidants. Obviously confidants should have character progression, but it also means that without doing those confidants, the characters are super stagnant. In P3R, almost all of the characters develop over the course of the game without requiring you to do their social link. Junpei develops a bond with Chidori, Yukari has personal drama with Mitsuru, etc. In P5, the only time this happened was Morgana leaving the Phantom Thieves, which is by far the worst part of the game. If they can write the story to be more similar to P3, I think it would be an improvement.

- Battle mechanics

I think Theurgy (or something similar) should be brought over to Persona 6. Theurgy in Reload was very unbalanced, being able to charge Theurgy's before big battles and end it in 1 turn was way too broken. I think Theurgy's should only be able to be charged and used in the span of one battle. You wouldn't be able to pre-charge your Theurgy and Armageddon all the bosses away, as all of your charge would go away after finishing a battle. This way it can only really be used if the battle goes on for a while, making it feel more like an ultimate attack and less like a win condition.

I also want Baton Passes and Technicals to be brought over as well. It can have different names and slightly different functions, but I think they are great mechanics, they just need some balance. Baton Passes and Technicals are also super broken in P5R, especially with merciless difficulty making them do 1.5x damage. Baton Passes were absolutely overpowered. I think this might be a pretty severe nerf, but I think the best solution might be limiting Baton Passes to only work once in a row. Having Baton Pass chains where you hit a weakness, Baton Pass to an ally to hit another weakness, and keep chaining it to shred every battle was unreasonable.

- Have a good challenge difficulty

Persona games (Mostly P5R and P3R) are far too easy. I actually like having the option to make them easy, safe difficulty is a genuinely good addition to the game, however merciless leaves a lot to be desired. I think P4G's option to freely change difficulty settings was pretty perfect, but even then I think having an even more challenging difficulty would be nice for veterans. Give the option to have a TRUELY merciless difficulty, something like Terraria's for the worthy seed, or CHIMPS difficulty in Bloons TD6. I always view those modes as some of the best challenge difficulties in gaming history. They have a perfect amount of challenge for veterans, and having something of similar difficulty in P6 would be amazing. I’m thinking like super boss level difficulty for every boss fight, obviously scaled to the player level though. I want to have to prepare in advance instead of just grinding slightly and shredding every boss.

- STOP ADDING FUCKING PEDOPHILES TO THESE GAMES

KAMOSHIDA WAS GOOD BECAUSE HE WAS ACTUALLY A VILLAIN, YOU DIDN'T NEED TO MAKE KAWAKAMI, UEHARA, AND MS. TORIUMI PEDOPHILES TOO PLEASE STOP LETTING THE MC DATE THEIR TEACHER

[gerrystamour]

because no one can break my heart like i can

Rated E | Steddie | 2400 Words | Complete

Related B-Side to i could be honest, i could be human

Usually, he could get away with changing the music without too much fuss, as long as Eddie wasn’t in one of his moods. Eddie would go through periods of absolute obsession, where something he liked became something he needed for survival, like air or food. Eddie got that way with music, and at the moment he was that way specifically about Dio. CW: This is PWP, and features rough sex in the back of Eddie's van. It's also part of my switch!Eddie & switch!Steve agenda, where Eddie does bottom.

May 1987

The thing about Eddie and Steve was that they would say they would do something in bed, and then never actually do it.

A lot of it came down to them just forgetting. Well, all of it did. They always just got swept up in each other when they had the time and privacy to be intimate, so their grand plans and fantasies always fell by the wayside.

Unfortunately, that didn’t mean they were completely forgotten. Naturally, they were also never remembered at convenient times for Steve.

One such fantasy that was haunting him nearly daily was the one that Eddie had mentioned on his birthday, about how much he wanted to be fucked while they listened to Dio.

It was silly, stupid honestly, because Eddie hadn’t even gone into explicit detail about this fantasy like he did with others.

That didn’t stop Steve from imagining fucking Eddie on or against the nearest available surface every time Dio came on. Which meant he would usually be half-hard by the end of the song, which was annoying.

But it was avoidable for the most part, even if Dio had risen in the ranks of Steve’s personal favourite bands.

The only place he couldn’t avoid it was of course when Steve was in Eddie’s van. Usually, he could get away with changing the music without too much fuss, as long as Eddie wasn’t in one of his moods.

Eddie would go through periods of absolute obsession, where something he liked became something he needed for survival, like air or food. Eddie got that way with music, and at the moment he was that way specifically about Dio.

It didn’t help that Dio was releasing an album in a couple months. That only made Eddie’s obsession stronger which Steve honestly never thought possible.

Everything came to a head when they were driving around the outside of Hawkins, just taking in the countryside a bit while they had the afternoon free. They had spent the morning helping Claudia with groceries and cleaning the house, and then they had picked the kids up from school and dropped them all off at the Wheeler’s place.

They didn’t feel like just going back home, either to Steve’s or Eddie’s, but they also had nowhere else to go. So Eddie just kept driving. Eventually they had to switch because Eddie’s leg was getting tired after the busy morning on top of driving the van.

The entire time, Dio was playing and slowly driving Steve insane, his cock staying half-hard because all he could think about was fucking Eddie.

“Eds, can we listen to something else?” Steve asked, even though he knew the answer.

Eddie scoffed. “Nope,” he said, just as Steve predicted, and just reached over to turn the song up. It was one of Steve’s favourites, and if Eddie hadn’t apparently tied Dio to Steve’s libido permanently, he would be happily singing along with him.

Steve frowned as his cock throbbed in his jeans, but the expression eased as he saw a familiar turn-off up ahead.

“How’s your leg?” he asked, and he knew the somewhat hoarse quality to his voice would probably give him away. If Eddie was in pain, it wouldn’t be fun for him to fool around, but if his leg was just tired…

“My leg’s fine, Stevie. You’re worrying too much,” Eddie snorted, completely missing that his boyfriend was getting desperately hard in the seat next to him. Leaning forward, Eddie turned the music up louder and began yelling along with the lyrics.

Steve grit his teeth and carefully turned off onto the dirt road which followed a tree line before it went into the trees.

“Wait, where are we going?” Eddie asked, turning down the music as he glanced around.

“Taking you to a special little spot I know,” Steve replied shortly, taking a deep breath in, hoping Eddie didn’t ask something dumb.

“… Why?”

Steve rolled his eyes and reached over to grab Eddie’s wrist, yanking his hand over to rest directly over his aching hard-on. “You tell me, Eds,” he challenged with a side-long look, and he smirked at Eddie’s stunned expression.

When Steve reached a break in the trees, he carefully backed the van into the space, getting them off the road and out of sight unless someone looked directly at them. When Eddie seemed about to crawl across the bench, Steve held his hand up with a shake of his head.

“Back of the van,” he said, reaching under the driver’s seat to get Eddie’s cane for him. “Don’t climb over the benches, walk around. The ground’s pretty even here, so you should be okay.”

Eddie blinked and nodded. “Okay, yeah, sure,” he said as he opened his door and carefully got out of the van. Steve waited until Eddie shut the door before switching the cassette to Holy Diver and turning the music up a bit.

Steve met Eddie at the back of the van and opened one of the doors for Eddie to scramble inside. Following him, Steve shut the door and grabbed Eddie before he could pounce on him.

“Stevie,” Eddie whined before realizing the music was still on. “Wait, what—oh.”

The blush that came to Eddie’s cheeks was perfect as he connected the dots. Where they were, Steve’s favourite Dio album playing, the fantasy Eddie mentioned months ago…

“Oh, shit,” Eddie added eloquently, and Steve grinned wolfishly as he leaned in to kiss Eddie’s throat just below his ear.

“Tell me about that fantasy of yours,” Steve said in a low growl against Eddie’s ear, and Eddie shook.

“I mean, I just want you to fuck me while we listen—” Eddie started, but hissed when Steve pinched his nipple through his shirt.

“I want the details, Eds. I want to know exactly how you want this,” Steve groaned, pushing Eddie’s coat and battle vest off his shoulders.

Eddie shuddered. “Wanna be bent over while you fuck me, with your hand in my hair, using it for fuckin’ leverage,” Eddie gasped out, his eyes dark with his blown pupils when Steve pulled back to meet his eyes.

“What else?” Steve asked, and Eddie let out a frustrated groan.

“Stevie, I don’t know, all the blood in my body is pooling in my cock, you can’t expect me to narrate my biggest fantasy I’m about to fucking realize,” he complained, and Steve sucked his teeth.

“I can expect whatever I want from you, Eds,” Steve sighed, and Eddie stilled at his tone. Taking some pity, Steve asked, “Are we naked, or—”

“I’m naked, you keep your clothes on. Just open your fly to get your cock out and fuck me,” Eddie immediately blurted, the blush on his cheeks darkening, and Steve rewarded Eddie with a small kiss below his earlobe.

“How long do I prepare your tight little ass?” he asked, tugging Eddie’s shirt off over his shoulders.

“You don’t,” he confessed, and Steve pulled back. Eddie wouldn’t even look at him.

“What?” Steve asked, eyebrows quirked at his boyfriend.

“You don’t prepare me. Just… lots of lube and shove it in. Fuck me while I’m crying, while I’m still getting used to it,” Eddie elaborated, and Steve felt his stomach swoop and his cock throb at that.

“Condom or—”

“No condom,” Eddie immediately supplied, his voice going breathy. “Wanna feel your cum dripping down my thigh after you pull out. Wanna feel you paint my guts after you fucking rearrange them, Stevie.”

Steve groaned and hauled Eddie in for a deep, filthy kiss that had them both panting. Reaching down, Steve began undoing Eddie’s pants, and with some fumbling they managed to get them off. With one last searing kiss, Steve grabbed Eddie and spun him around to hold onto the back of the bench while he opened one of the many tackle boxes along the one side of the mattress to grab the lube.

“You want me to finger you a bit?” Steve asked, and Eddie immediately shook his head with a whine.

“No, I want—fuck, Stevie, I want it to hurt,” Eddie whined, looking over his shoulder to watch Steve slick his cock.

Smirking, Steve rubbed some of the excess lube on and around Eddie’s hole, massaging the ring of muscle and threatening to push inside but never actually following through. With a smirk, Steve pressed against Eddie’s taint and pulled a cry from his throat.

“Steve, please,” Eddie begged, and Steve couldn’t deny him anything.

Pouring more lube onto his hand and spreading it over his cock, Steve lifted onto his knees to line himself up.

“How fast?” Steve asked, gently pressing against Eddie’s hole.

Eddie shook and swallowed audibly. “Not slow. Just… get your cock inside me and start fucking me,” he insisted, and Steve didn’t ask again.

Steve pushed, Eddie’s tight hole stretching tightly around his cock while he sunk into his hot core. Eddie sucked in a sharp breath through his teeth, his whole body shaking at the punishing slide of Steve’s thick cock into his ass, and normally that sound meant he would stop and go back to fingering Eddie open.

This time, Steve just pressed in harder, sighing happily as he bottomed out. Eddie’s hands gripped the back of the bench in front of him in a white-knuckled grip. His forehead was dropped forward as well, hiding his face from Steve which wasn’t allowed.

Grabbing a fistful of curly brown hair, Steve forcibly turned Eddie’s head so he could watch his tear-stained face.

Pulling out, Steve watched with fascination as Eddie’s eyes widened, his mouth turning down in a small frown with a pained whimper, and yet he rocked back to meet Steve’s next thrust back in. Eddie screamed, the sound a mixture of pain and pleasure, and the way his hole clenched around Steve was absolutely sinful.

With a growl, Steve refocused his grip on Eddie’s hair while his other hand wrapped around the front of his hip. With another hungry sound, Steve picked up the pace to match the song that was playing now, dragging Eddie back onto his cock with the grip in his hair. It was Steve’s favourite on the whole album, one he thought about fucking Eddie to constantly and now he finally got to.

Eddie was sobbing as Steve pounded into him, choking when Steve timed five powerful thrusts against his ass with the drums of the song. Then the song went into the guitar solo, and Steve twisted Eddie’s hair around his hand and wrist before dropping forward to grip the bench as well.

His hips sped up against Eddie’s ass, keeping time with the guitar solo and punching little, hiccupping cries out of Eddie. Pulling Eddie’s hair and forcing his head back, Steve gazed down at Eddie's tear-streaked face, his dark eyes hazily meeting his own.

“Stevie,” Eddie sobbed through another shudder, his hole clenching around Steve’s girth.

“Gonna feel me for days, huh, Eds?” Steve cooed, and Eddie sobbed and tried to nod, but Steve’s hold on his hair didn’t allow for it.

“Yes, fuck, yes, Stevie. Make me feel it,” Eddie gasped out, practically screaming when Steve returned to the short, powerful bursts of thrusts as the song was getting closer to ending. There was a moment where the angle changed and then Eddie was screaming, his hole becoming impossibly tight around Steve.

There was something about Eddie coming untouched, his orgasm ripping through him despite only being fucked. There were no hands on his cock, just Steve’s dick pounding into him and just barely catching his prostate on the slide inward.

Steve went to pull out when Eddie reached back to stop him.

“Don’t stop!” Eddie begged, shaking so hard Steve almost ignored his plea. “Please, Steve, need you to come inside me, need it, need it, need it—”

Steve stopped Eddie’s frantic chanting with a quick snap of his hips, driving into Eddie with his selfish desire to come. He wasn’t sure just how long it took Steve to chase his release, fucking Eddie’s tight hole with abandon and spurred on by his boyfriend’s shattered little noises.

Finally, Steve felt the coil in his gut go taut, ready to snap. With a grunt, Steve thrust into Eddie four more times, the way his hips met Eddie’s brutal and unforgiving. When his balls pulled tight, Steve dragged Eddie back to sit on his lap and lean against his chest, driving his cock as deep as possible as it began to shoot hot, thick ropes of cum inside him.

In his lap, Eddie shook helplessly, his head falling back to rest on Steve’s shoulder. Curiously, Steve could see that Eddie was still hard, so he reached around and grabbed his cock. The sound Eddie made was absolutely wounded as he bucked between Steve’s hand and the dick in his ass.

Steve did not waste time before he was pumping his fist up-and-down in a quick, determined pace, curious to see if Eddie would come again so quickly. Just when it seemed doubtful, Eddie arched and writhed through another orgasm, his voice breaking around his cry.

They sat there panting for several moments in the now-quiet van, the tape having already ended.

“How was that?” Steve asked knowingly, and kissed Eddie’s throat.

Eddie mumbled something, the words slurring together a bit, before he cleared his throat. “You know how that was,” he managed eventually, his breath leaving him again as he shifted his ass on Steve’s lap, the softening cock inside him allowing a slow trickle of cum to come out around it.

“Still wanna hear you say it,” Steve sighed, lifting Eddie off of him and propping him back up against the bench to look at his hole.

It was red, a bit puffy and stretched out, but ultimately okay. Being a little mean, Steve probed the abused pucker with his fingers, shivering a bit at the wet sticky mess he left there with his release. Eddie was whimpering against the bench as Steve worked one and then two fingers in and out of him.

“Steve, I can’t—no more,” Eddie finally gasped out, and Steve immediately withdrew, groaning as a thick drop of cum came out of Eddie’s ass with his fingers. “Holy fucking shit, Stevie, that was—fuck, how am I supposed to fucking sit now?”

Steve just grinned and leaned over to kiss the back of Eddie’s shoulder. “Happy?” he asked instead of answering Eddie’s question.

Eddie shuffled until he was cuddling up to Steve comfortably. “Yeah, Stevie, I’m happy,” he sighed, gazing lovingly at Steve as he shifted so they were laying down together. “I love you.”

Steve grinned and kissed Eddie sweetly. “Love you too, Eds,” he replied, deepening the kiss and squeezing Eddie tight against his chest.

FIN

[ AO3 LINK ]

Taglist!

@scarcrossdlvrs, @patchworkgargoyle, @indigohightide, @steddieas-shegoes, @mylilplanet, @amerikanskaya-krassavitsa, @afewproblems

Please consider reblogging if you enjoyed this!! Also visiting on AO3 to give it a kudo ;p

[chongoblog]

I wannna make a ranking of the songs in my own albums. So I’m gonna start with the most recent one: Lakitu’s Mixtape Volume 1 (give it a listen if you haven’t already)

From worst to best

36. Go Baby Go Stupid

35. Feeling Good

34. Gold!

33. What The Frappe?

32. Beach That Makes You Breakdance

31. Slick And Twisted

30. Peach That Makes You Old

29. Call Me Shirley

28. Skydance

27. Look At The Time

26. I Love Mondays

25. Metro Mushroom

24. Wrench Discourse

23. Arcade Mention

22. Boing!

21. That’s A Space Station

20. Intense Night Drive

19. Battle Mention

18. Road Where You Go

17. 78 Years Later

16. Maple Leaf Momentum

15. Triforce Jam

14. Multiball

13. Rainbow Rock

12. Plant Gang

11. Maple Leaf Melody

10. Amp’d Up

9. Across the Cosmos

8. wah.wav

7. Tonight

6. Sugar Headache

5. Yes, Capes!

4. OSHA Non-Compliant

3. Prismatic Path

2 Pleasant Day Drive

1. Greetings

So a few notes on this ranking. First of all, Go Baby Go Stupid is only at the bottom because I feel like I made it too long and repetitive, and I was going to say it’s the only miss of the album, but a lot of people still really love it and even said its their fave, so I guess this was the most consistently rad album. Another thing of note is that if you’d told me on launch day that Amp’d Up would eventually grow to be in the Top Ten I would’ve called you a liar.

Anyway hope you enjoyed. Might do this for more of my albums.

[daily-hanamura]

I was wondering if you had any analyses on yosuke's dances in P4D, especially his partner dances wrt his character/personality... or even just generally what you thought of his moves. I think atlus/p-studio enjoy putting more than meets the eye into the choreography for the dances, but i wondered what the account that does really good yosuke analyses thinks. >:) Cheers

Oh wow you're very kind!! but this is also a very high level ask as I am not at all a dance expert and I'm still working my way through all of the dances, but I will do my best! o7

Long post incoming!

I remember reading an interview which said that Yosuke's dance style is very much inspired by male idols with a hip-hop flair, and I can definitely see it in his dance? iirc there was a pretty strong influence of hip-hop in jpop of that era - I'm thinking about Johnny's entertainment boybands which I think pretty much dominated the jpop male idol scene around 2010 - just look at Arashi's Monster dance routine, which imo is a super quintessential dance of that time. Like Jun's breakdance around 0:45, but also more generally, the sort of precise, rapid-pace footwork and moves that is also very evident in both Backside of the TV and Your Affection. I think it really suits him for a few reasons

Yosuke generally has the highest agility stat and tends to be the fastest char (for me at least? but i've also seen enough fics that reference how quick he moves), so it makes sense that this sort of high-pace dance suits him. Obviously Yosuke has a very good sense of beat listening to music all the time in combat and moving with it, so despite his real world clumsiness, he's well equipped to take on the kind of rigorous idol dance style that's typically very demanding to learn and perfect.

At the same time, it also matches his narrative - Yosuke in canon is very familiar with idol culture, both with Risette and Kanamin Kitchen, so it's not too surprising? But what I thought was kind of interesting was that there aren't really any references to male idol groups in world, and even his bedroom in p4au only shows female idol posters and some mainstream American albums. However, in the interview scene at the end of p4d, he mentions to Yukiko that he's tried to copy moves from stuff he's seen. But his dance style is more similar to boy idol bands - with the hip hop influence especially - as opposed to being similar to female idol bands - which tend to be preppier in dance style (see AKB48 for example). (Or just compare Rise's dance with Yosuke's.) So idk if this is a random oversight on Atlus/P-Studio's part, or if Yosuke is a closet male idol enjoyer (which would be very funny but also on brand for him, especially if he's still in the closet).

The other thing about idol music and group idol dance styles more generally is how much emphasis there is on harmony. If you look at the Arashi video again, there's kind of the expectation that all members are dancing in sync with each other. The thing about that sort of group dance is that you don't really have "leads" and "backup" dances, because no one member is really supposed to stand out or take centre stage since they're all equals. And I think that's a fun thing to think about because, you know, Yosuke Rank 10. But it's also in his partner dances with the others - I feel like Yosuke tends to harmonise with the others and their dance styles the most, maybe he's second to Yu? But Yosuke tends to match his dancing to the style of the other person when he joins them in Fever, like in Naoto's or Chie's (caveat, maybe I'm just Yosuke-biased LMAO). I think there's a lot to say about it because on the one hand, his captain ressentiment attitude means he sees his friends as better but he also wants to catch up to them and be their equals! but also, on the other hand, Yosuke doesn't want to stand out? And him keeping his head down is very much in character for him throughout most of the game, so :')

(but also souyo lens time his partner dances with yu is SO GOOD they mirror one another so well and it makes me so weak)

I think my final point is on how idol dancing is kind of on brand for him as well? Yosuke is kind of a vain person - he likes fashionable clothes! He likes to look cool! (and we love him for it!!) - and I think one thing that kind of marks idol dancing compared to, idk, interpretive dancing as an extreme example, is how idol dances tend to emphasize... looking good? The whole point of idols is to sell them on their aesthetics, after all, and good looks are kind of a minimum criteria to being in an idol group. The dances are choreographed to maximise the dancer's appeal, so it's all smooth moves that present them in the best light.

Those are my extremely long thoughts!! but yeah tldr I think his dance style really suits him on every level I can't imagine anything better for him ngl. Anyone with more expert knowledge feel free to pitch in though

[moons-epiphany]

clancy album review

i have finally listened to clancy and watched all the music videos so i thought it'd give a little album review

okay first i'll give each song a star rating out of 5 which will mean:

1 star = i didn't like it

2 stars = it was okay

3 stars = i liked it

4 stars = i really liked it

5 stars = i loved it

(also disclaimer in case anyone tries to come for me lmao - i've been a clikkie since 2016 back when i was a young cringefail teen so just bc i'm not a massive fan of all of their songs does not mean that i hate the band or that i'm not a true fan or anything. fans can be critical of the bands/media they like and in fact i encourage it. okay anyway, let's go.)

album rankings

and, because why not, here's my ranking of all of the top albums so far:

trench (5 stars): you can take this album from my cold dead hands. i firmly believe that this was top's best album music wise. (also the bandito tour was an overwordly experience that i'm grateful i saw twice so i'm very biased towards this album).

vessel (5 stars): my favourite album (despite being second). it's very nostalgic for me. when i think of twenty one pilots i usually think of guns for hands first as both the song and music video are peak.

blurryface (5 stars): i love every song from this album :) also tear in my heart was the first ever twenty one pilots song that i listened to <3

self-titled (5 stars): every song is a banger. ate no crumbs.

regional at best (5 stars): again every song is a banger.

clancy (4 stars): some songs will have to grow on me but i largely like most of it.

scaled and icy (4 stars): i did really like this album and i did like the sound but only after listening to it a few times (and the live stream experience really helped me to like it even more because that slapped).

track rankings

alrighty now for the actual songs themselves. also another disclaimer, i'm not a musician, i don't know a lot of the terms lmao i'm just a sensory seeking autistic and listen to music a lot. also i listened to all the songs first and then watched the music videos (not including the singles - overcompensate, next semester and backslide - though) if that adds anything at all.

1. overcompensate (4.9 stars): okay the reason why i put my album ranking is because you need to know how much i love trench lmao. the bandito sample at the start was the peak of the album for me. the rest of the song is why it's a 4.9 (i'm being kinda petty with this lmao) and not a 5 star song but i have listened to it a bunch of times and it is a banger. also the muscial video created the perfect level of hype for the album, it made me very excited for the rest. a strong opener indeed!

2. midwest indigo (5 stars): now i know it might be silly to have a 5 star song below a 4.9 star song but listen this is my ranking list and i can do what i want ;3*. when this song first played it reminded me of what i call my "don't stop believeing" song. essentially, songs like these make me react like how every white person, like myself, reacts to don't stop believing when it comes on. that song for me is magnolia by gang of youths. as soon as the first note is heard, i am up. midwest indigo is a close second to magnolia. this is the highest praise i can ever give to a song lmao. also the music video is very twenty one pilots to me seen by tyler tweaking on the ice and dancing - remember when i said that guns for hands is the first thing i think of when i think of twenty one pilots and have you seen how weird he dances in that music video? /pos (dw this is a compliment) [*it's second and not first because overcompensate is a certified twenty one pilots song, if you don't know what that means, i can't help you just trust me on this.]

3. at the risk of feeling dumb (5 stars): okay so this song just makes me want to cry because 1) it hits close to home and 2) i'm going through some shit right now and this song just perfectly describes it. i also love the music video, it may be simple** but i really like it. the way that at the end it gives like classic band vibes? like i can think of a lot bands that have had that same shot of very close up to the camera stood on top of a building lmao. [**in comparison to some of their higher production music videos with the special effects and what not]

4. vignette (5 stars): as soon as this song started i liked it. it gave me gang of youths vibes (one of my fav bands, listen to magnolia linked above!!) tyler's vocals in the chorus come throughhh (this means that i loved them). such a groovy and cool song, how can you not like it is the real question. i also love the shouted (or at least in top terms just a slight volume rise lmao) "where do i go from here?". and don't get me started on that little music break oooooh so stimmy. the "(denial)" part after "no-no, not me, it's for a friend" is also hilarious in a way i can't describe. the music video: what was that red piece of paper??? that's a lovely portrait of josh, but tyler, what is that paper????

5. navigating (5 stars): loved this song as soon as it started, i loved the groovy retro almost 80s vibes to it?? and in typical top fashion i thought "oh this song sounds groovy the lyrics must be really sad" and then bro started saying "disassociate" in the chorus lmao. but anyway yes, i instantly adored this song. the song is just so stimmy, i was stimming pretty much the whole time this song was playing. obsessed with the music playing in the background of the verses. also obsessed with the way tyler sings "navigating" idk he just says it in a way that's fun. further, obsessed with the bridge and the bass. so the music video. first of all, why did the aspect ratio change, was that just me? secondly i'm welsh so i loved the daffodil cameo <3 thirdly, WHAT??? WHY IS MY BLOOD HERE? WHAT'S WITH THE MY BLOOD SAMPLE? WHAT DO YOU MEAN BY THE MY BLOOD SAMPLE??? WHAT DOES THIS MEAN???? HUH???

6. the craving (both versions): listen i'm not rating this, it's a cute wholesome sweet love song for his wife. it would be evil to say anything bad about this and it doesn't really feel like my place to say anything about it in the first place, yk? the song isn't for me. however, the music video... what? there was me thinking they were making a cute music box for their family or something only for it be a box for a bullet??? huh???

7. backslide (4 stars): we now enter the songs that i didn't instantly love, but i'm sure they'll grow on me. i really like backslide but what's stopping me from giving it 5 stars is the chorus, which is complicated. i love the sound paired with the vocals but i just feel weird about it??? idk how to explain it. the music video also doesn't help bc i don't really like the part where he rides his bike through the wind and rain. i get it. i get why. but i just don't really vibe with it??? i'm being really petty about this but i just can't get over it. apart from all that i really liked it. i loved the references in the music video but justice for that meat patty damn.

8. next semester (4 stars): okay not an instant hit for me. it sounded very pop punnky 5sos-y??? which isn't a bad thing but it's not my usual taste. however, i loved the chorus. the vocals and the sound are peak, i love it. also the ukulele part, love love love. also the "oh-whoa-oh" part is amazing too, i'm a massive fan of "oh-whoa-ohs" and i also love it when vocals overlap. i alsoooo love it when there's a group of people singing together :) it's also so catchy? i find myself humming and singing it a lot. the music video was very sweet, having members of the clique there singing along was a lovely detail. the bow at the end too :')

9. lavish (4 stars): this song took me by surprise. it still sounds like the classic top sound but in a way i never expected they'd go, yk? and i think it worked! honestly, there's no reason why this is a 4 star rather than a 5 star, i just feel like the 5 stars are in a different catergory if that makes sense? i loved those better. also the music video for lavish is my favourite out of all of them. it's so fun. the suits and sunglasses. the weird ass dancing from tyler and josh just being there. it's groofy, it's got charm. i love it so much.

10. routines in the night (3 stars): okay i know a three doesn't look great but this song isn't my usual taste in music, nothing necessarily bad on the song or anything. i loved the vocals on this track and i find it catchy because i will sing along to it. i also found it was too cool for top if that makes sense?? like it's very different from the ukulele emo band yk? again, not a bad thing, just not *my* thing though i can see this growing on me for sure. also i see those references in the music video.

11. paladin strait (3 stars): this song is confusing. i like it but there are parts where i don't like it so i averaged it to a 3. i feel like those vocals don't really match the song? i'm not sure. i know i just talked about the good old emo ukulele days but i feel like the ukulele doesn't really fit here?? i did like the "here's my chance" bit, though i still felt like something was wrong about it?? idk. i also really liked the lyrics, they were very sweet and encouraging :) i've listened to this song a bunch of times and still the random ukulele that starts playing jumpscares me T^T it happens so suddenly lmaooo but that part is nice :) then the rest... the fpe???? hello clancy??????? hello???? clancy is still in the thick of it, huh? finally showdown vibes, i'm ready let's go. i've also seen theories about how this relates to the isle of flightless birds which is very interesting and i mean they did play it recently sooooo.

12. oldies station (3 stars): okay when this first started playing it gave me children's song vibes, you know? like it was a kids song or even a song in the background of youtube videos or something. that is to say, i didn't really like it. however, the lyrics were sweet and i liked the line "your favourite song was on the oldies station" :') yeah that hits oof. i also liked the "you don't quite mind" part! it saved the song for me i won't lie. it was very sweet and nice :) nothing really bad to say about it. also the lyric "you're in the crowd at her first dance recital" was very sweet :') as for the music video: yo homies you just killed someone. anyone gonna comment on that at all? and the white pole things moving was really trippy T^T i hated it, it hurt my eyes.

13. snap back (2.5 stars): honestly when this first started playing it gave me like txt / kpop vibes??? not a bad thing as such but just surprised me. however... i gave it a 2 so i wasn't really a fan of this song. though i did like the "i've been praying for my elasticity..." part. that was really vibey :) if we wanna get personal real quick then i'm someone who becomes quite angry and quick to irritation when i'm not doing well mentally and can lash out at people as a result so normally i relate a lot to lyrics like the ones in this but something just felt off about them??? it kinda felt like 'oh i hurt people when i was mentally unwell the other day but why haven't they forgiven me?' type of vibes??? (i got this largely from the lyric "blacklisted from forgiveness") essentially it sounds like an excuse for doing something shitty to someone when you're mentally unwell which doesn't sit right with me.* which i know is referenced in the song itself -> "i have seemed to run out of excuses of why i am this way" which yeah i relate to that because i have said those exact words to myself before, so i get it. i have first hand experience. it's something that i have done before but deeply regretted and don't really want to be reminded by a song. in short, "i am in this and i don't like it." the music video itself was fine i guess but didn't really change my opinion of the song at all. [*also remember that music is up to interpretation, so just bc this is how i see it does not mean that this is the actual meaning, reasoning or the thought process behind tyler's writing. art is subjective and we're all allowed our own opinions and all that jazz. i mean no hate or disrespect when i voice my opinions and only ask for mature responses that contribute to a healthy discussion.]

anyway we got deep at the end there but please don't jump on me bc my opinion is different from yours i beg T^T i left twitter to avoid that, please don't disappoint me tumblr clique :') but i was being serious innit, feel free to add your own opinions onto this :) i'd love to know what everyone else thought!

[certifiedmaidenlessblog]

Okay literally nobody asked but since I am procrastinating AND restless:

My final thoughts/ranking of the Eternal mini:

(warning this is a full on yap sesh and I have next to no knowledge of music except for the very basics feel very very free to ignore)

1. Deja vu: I have feelings for this song. So gorgeous, dreamy and ethereal. Smiling so big because this song exists blah blah. Anyway the way I thought this song would be #chillvibes from the album preview snippet but then it turned out to be #nochill kajskajsj even tho there is definitely a lethargic quality to the song. I was so gagged but despite the tables turning on me I loved it immediately. Also the very random (but very well incorporated) tabla in the bridge? Slay. Initially I was mad that this wasn't the tt but with all the melodrama and orchestral arrangement, it has a similar vibe to guilty so I get it. But this song is ten fold of what guilty wanted to be (to me, that is). And I think this song remaining as a b-side to be occasionally performed instead of it being dragged through the promotional cycle and losing all the weight and impact of the song is a good choice too (the song itself is not very promotion cycle friendly either). I can't wait to see what the choreo looks like.

2. Horizon: Very kibumcore as a lot of people have also said, I think so too!! A very unexpected sound for a taemin song but he delivered sooo well. I do wish the song was longer tho. Don't know what being the second title track on this album means as of now but it's worthy of the position I'm sure.

3. Crush: Extremely shineecore! A cute and funky little number! Got me moving! The layers in the instrumentals are neat. I got exactly what was promised on the album preview. Well executed. No other notes. Other than the funky vibe there isn't really any standout element so I might get bored of it quickly tho.

Can't decide between ranks 4 and 5 so I'm calling it a tie.

4/5. Sexy in the air: I definitely should have let my brain soak this in a bit more before complaining about it cause now I literally can't stop listening to it helpppaksnakms cause Damn... This is crazy. What am I gonna do now?? Jaksjksks My first ranking for this song was literally second last (in a derogatory way) and now here we are. Also I held off from watching the mv first because I'm a very visual creature and I get easily swayed that way so I was trying to be #unbiased or whatever. I still think that the second verse is a bit meh, specially because of the English lyrics (i don't even know why I was so pissed off by the "turn me down" that was obviously supposed to be "turn me on", it wasn't even that serious 😭) but I was definitely being too harsh and it's not even as bad as I made it out to be and it doesn't stick out enough to get in the way of me enjoying the rest of the song. The switch up after the beat change is soooo good I've been obsessed with that part (the horny choreo definitely helps :D).

The good things about this song being the title track are: it's produced by dem jointz (the production is interesting and immaculate), the mastering of this song is better than most tracks on this album, it is performance oriented/friendly, both halves of the song are tied together so neatly that honestly the beat change doesn't even seem that unnatural even if it's shocking, tm devoured this track in a way that only he can, tm freak lore continues!!!! but most importantly it's bold!!! and it's a statement!!! (instead of playing it safe like he did with guilty imo lol, musically i mean). My only real grievance with this song is probably the fact that it wasn't allowed to go full freak nasty the way it was originally envisioned to be because we live in a society or whatever. Tm was moaning and groaning and saying fuck in the studio only for it to be muffled and be barely audible on the track. The dem jointz trademark of an addictive repeated word/phrase being distorted because otherwise tm would be put in horny jail fr (horny gay jail even because its so crazy that they had another man moaning on the track like skdkksksjdkd). Some of the lyrics being altered hastily (like "turn me down" ksjsjsks).This song being called sexy in the air instead of sex is in the air kajskaksksks. Sad. Because if anyone can pull off something like this without being cringe, it's tm. But it's okay I get it. Also notably this song has one of the veeery few ethical uses of that infamous bed creak sample (by ethical i mean relevant to the song at hand in a way that maximizes the slay of the song).

4/5. Say Less: Very pretty, short and sweet, could have been longer. A solid closer for this album and definitely stands it's own ground despite being on the track list after Deja vu. Which is lowkey a feat of its own. The instrumentals are infact drowning out his voice a bit but I don't think it bothers me as much as I had feared. Reminds me of Truth a bit.

6. The Unknown Sea: I don't have particularly strong opinions on ballads but I do generally only listen to ballads if I'm already super into the idol. And I do like most of the other ballads from tm. However. He's singing his ass off here but the vocal processing.... specially in the chorus his voice sounds very tinny. When I first heard the song I thought it wasn't that big of a deal but now it is definitely getting in the way of me enjoying this song. Beautiful bridge tho, definitely the highlight of the song for me.

7. G.O.A.T.: This instrumental is so fucking nasty I'm obsessedddd. Unfortunately the instrumental might just be the saving grace of this song. I went into this track thinking I was not even gonna be able to listen to this but thankfully it's not thaaaaaat bad. But we definitely need to get tm off his rapping agenda. Even after listening to this a bunch of times it's not sitting that well with me. (Which is crazy because after first listen I thought his voice was more well suited to GOAT than SITA???) I do understand that this song was meant to be a bit tongue in cheek like yeah the goat bleating sounds are hilarious in a good way but tm is Not giving the hardass aura that he thought he was going for and um. that's enough for me to be like :/ which is such a shame cause even the arrangement of this song is so interesting. But yeah whatever this track needed vocally is not in tm's strengths so. I'll wait for someone to upload the instrumental tho so that I can download it and play it with the rest of the album jksjsksksjsjs

I think it's a good choice to drop an album that's just him coming out swinging after such a drastic career altering decision. There's no more room for regrets or dilly dallying and he's confident. Which is a good thing. Because it definitely makes the statement he wants to make. The album as a whole is interesting, all the tracks differ from each other but that doesn't take away from the cohesiveness of the soundscape of the album. There is a clear logic in the way the tracklisting was done, the transition from one song to the next makes sense (even if I can't explain it properly).

That being said, yes the production and the mixing is a bit lacking (along with the other downsides of a low budget) but I don't think sm has songs like this in their vault anymore so... You win some you lose some idk.

Overall I do see this as a win. Yapping over and out.

[day6source]

Welcome to the DAY6

"DAY6" returned to fans who had been waiting for the long-awaited performance after discharge. From the moment when they came up with the song to the moment when they all sang along on stage, they revealed the whole process of their new album with excitement and deeper sincerity. It's time to just trust, listen, and enjoy.

Q. It's the first album in three years since all the members came back after their military service. All the work you've done so far is precious, but I think it must have been more meaningful during the preparation process.

Sungjin: Since it's been a long time since I released an album, I wanted to do well, but as a result, I prepared as much as I could now. Young K: I think it's a moment we've been waiting for a long time too. While preparing for it, I felt like I wanted to play good music quickly and I was very excited. Wonpil : When I work on the DAY6 album, I'm the most sensitive and attentive, but I'm still the happiest. I think this album will be one of my most cherished albums. Dowoon: I've been waiting and preparing for this album for a long time, so I think it's half-excited and half-frightened.

Q. Also, "You Were Beautiful" released in early 2017 and the song "Time of Our Life" released in mid-2019 have been on the charts, what was it like to watch this phenomenon?

Sungjin: I'm just thankful that so many people sympathize with and cherish our songs. I hope one day, DAY6's other songs will be loved. Young K: It's such an honor and I'm so happy. It's been a long time since the release, but I think we've been doing well because we've been loved like this. On the other hand, no one knows when we'll be loved, so I thought we just had to keep doing good music. Wonpil: I've been working on music since my debut without paying attention to the ranking or the results, and I just wanted to do music that doesn't age. We've always focused on making albums that we can be satisfied with, and we've always worked on them, but we're just grateful and so amazed that more and more people like our music. Dowoon: I was sure. Rather than saying, "This song is definitely going to be released," I was sure that it was as good as we liked it, and now I'm just thankful that so many people besides us liked it.

Q. The title of the new album is 'Forever', and the spelling of Four is not Forever, what does it mean?

Sungjin: It is true that it melted the desire to be loved for a close time to eternity. Young K: It's the 4th generation of the fandom My Day that supports us, and the four of us borrowed "Four" with the hope of eternity and put good music into it. Wonpil: We came back after a long period of blank space, and now it's going to be forever without falling.

Q. How did you work on the title track "Welcome to the Show"?

Sungjin: I made it in an hour or two with a song that I would run around with my fans at the concert, and I really liked the feeling. It feels a little different from the title songs of the existing DAY6 album, but I'm satisfied with it. Young K: It started by saying let's make a song that everyone can sing and run with. If it doesn't come out soon, I said let's go home and started working on it, but fortunately, it worked out. Wonpil: It was the last song that I came to work on. In the situation where we had to make one more song, we actually worked on the song freely saying that it would be nice to have a song that we all sing together while running in the concert hall.

Q. What is the part that you put the most effort into working on the new album, and the part that you think you like the most in a specific section, lyrics, or performance for each member?

Sungjin: I paid a lot of attention to the guitar tone. I tried my best to create a mood not only when I hit the lead line, but also in the section where I played the chord. Young K : I think the part that I put the most effort into is the lyrics of the title song. It went through the most revision process ever and I tried to write it so that everyone could relate to it. Wonpil: It's been a while since we came back with DAY6 album, so we paid a lot of attention not to lose our color. Personally, I really like the part where all the members sing along in the title track, "Welcome to the Show." I want to see you sing together as soon as possible with My Day and the audience. Dowoon: I like the group singing part of the title song, Welcome to the Show, the most. If we sing together at the concert, I think it will feel like we are truly completing the stage together.

Q. There are seven songs including "HAPPY," "The Power of Love," "Get The Hell Out," "Sad Ending," "Let Me Love," and "I Didn't Know That's Your Love." Can you explain the songs in the album other than the title track?

Sungjin: I worked on it thinking that it would be the title of each track. All the songs are about situations that can happen in life, so I'm curious about what each of the listeners think rather than explaining the song. "HAPPY" is a song that keeps asking the fundamental question, "Can I be happy?" to explain one by one. I don't give you the answer, but by asking this question, I think I can comfort you that you are not the only one who has had such anxiety and agony. "The Power of Love" is about talking about and spreading the power of love. "Get the Hell Out" is a song about a world that someone you want to forget can no longer think of. "Sad Ending" is a song that tells you to end with pain to the person who has already left your heart. "Let Me Love You" is a song that appeals to you that you can give true love. "didn't know" is a song that says that it was love, looking back on the past relationship. Please show a lot of love! Wonpil: It's the same with the title track, but I think the songs in this album contain all the music we're pursuing in terms of sound. It's an album that contains all the songs that represent DAY6's musical sensibility, so I think it'll be fun to listen to it from track 1 to 7! "Ididn't know was a bit of a fresh shock when I first heard it. The chorus line that feels like a bounce was very thick, but it was amazing because it matched well with the melody that the older members played.

Q. What the members learned musically throughout the hiatus, or what they naturally became interested in these days, I wonder how the members' changes were reflected in DAY6's music and this album.

Sungjin: After a hiatus as DAY6, I've become more interested in sound. I'm still learning, but when I was working on the sound for this album, I also used my knowledge. Young K: My yearning for the band sound that DAY6 can give has grown and I'm excited to have it on this album. Wonpil: I don't think much has changed, but at the same time, I think the part that hasn't changed is that I always think about what My Day will like the most, who are waiting for us and always supporting us. So this album is also familiar to those who are looking forward to our music, but we wanted to play richer music. Dowoon: I became more interested in composing. I wanted to know more and more about music.

Q. Since you're about to make an official comeback in a long time, it must be overwhelming and special. Is there a message you want to send to your fans before promoting your new album?

Sungjin: Thank you for consistently trusting and supporting us! I hope you won't forget that we also trust and support you. Here we go again. Let's run together!!! Young K : DAY6 is back everyone. Thank you for letting us sing and play. Let's be happy! Wonpil: Thank you so much, My Day, for waiting and supporting us during this long blank period. To repay you, I thought I'd like to come back with an album as soon as possible. There will be nothing more to make us wait! Let's walk slowly and for a long time with us. We love you so much. We've worked hard on this album, so please listen to our songs and look forward to it! Let's play together!

[thisselflovecamebacktome]

TTPD thoughts (under a read more because it's long)

There are no bad songs on this album (reread this point every time you want to scream at me while reading this), but I will be starting with my most "negative" (because none are like truly hateful, just "not for me" category of negative if that makes sense) thoughts and working my way to positive.

I think this is an album that is very Taylor and, in a lot of the songs on the standard edition, in a way that is not personally relatable to me. Like despite being a "I can fix him" girl (in general, not the song lmao) it is in a very different way than is on the album and the way that is on the album (the whole "you're all just haters so fuck off" at anyone who criticises you or your partner aspect mostly lmao) grates me at times, I won't lie. And as someone who listens and picks her fave music based on relatability, the standard edition of this album is quite low on my rankings because of that. Like it has high highs for me and I will talk about that, but the lows for me are arguably the lowest lows of any album from her and songs that realistically idk if I'm going to listen to unless I have all my music on shuffle and they come on. Like the standard album is very clearly into songs I love and songs that I find meh and could have done without, even if I understand why others love them.

"I wanna snarl and show you just how disturbed this has made me" Girl please make this album one day. I know you love your mainstream success but I promise I will find a way to stream it enough to keep it up. Like I know a lot of people feel that this is that album, and I recognise (and appreciate) that that is because of the bluntness on certain topics, but as I have said about people who call this album weird (affectionate), mainstream disturbed/weird and regular disturbed/weird are two different things and I truly live to see the day that Taylor goes all out ngl.

I won't talk too deeply about who each song is about because again, I mostly listen to music for relatability so don't really care, but I will say that I think that far less of the songs on the album are about Matty as what people are making out. I think a mixture of stereotyping, PR over the years and the deliberate vagueness of the album has some of ya'll automatically assuming that drug mention = Matty. Realistically I genuinely only think that (from the standard version) fresh out the slammer and i can fix him are about fully about Matty with but daddy I love him being a mix of an idea rather than a person (first half) and Travis (second half), the alchemy being about Travis and the rest being about Joe in a way that is deliberately vague/obscured to make it sound like it could be about Matty.

As a related note to that, I think that the two most interesting things about the standard edition is the way that she consistently refers to her longest relationship as a short time and the way that she deliberately muddies the songs so that it's difficult to tell if they're about Joe or Matty as a way to show 1. that you can't really tell one story without telling the other and 2. If everyone is being honest, both the beginning and end of both of those relationships were very similar, and not in good ways at that. And I say that without judgement because people are people and no one is perfect you know? But these two aspects really make me want to like the standard edition more than I do because 1. I think her referring to her time with Joe as a short but impactful time in the grand scheme of things is among the most mature things she's said about a relationship and particularly stands out among the deliberate childishness spoken about and shown in certain songs and 2. without giving tmi, the idea of not being able to tell one love story without another because they are so intertwined, even if they don't seem related on the surface, is something I relate to deeply with two past encounters of mine. But the differences that are there just aren't for me.

I have seen others say that they wish that we got the story of Joe and Taylor's last two years together rather than what happened over last year, and in many ways (and obviously in the most "I know I'm not entitled to it, it's just my preference way") I agree but this is what we got so I'm going to focus on that without the expectation of something else. Like I will not let "what I wanted more" ruin what we've got because what we got is still good and I've fallen down that rabbit hole before and just made myself miserable.

Taylor implying or otherwise rolling with the thought that there were no gel pen songs in the standard album is so goofy (affectionate) because girl, I can do it with a broken heart is right there lmao.

I feel something, but I'm not sure what, about her use of 'manic phase' in the prologue, 'asylum' in who's afraid of little of me and seemingly (we will circle back to this when the music video comes out but given the other stuff I think it's safe to assume) asylum imagery in the music video as a response to people's criticism. It is a very mixed feeling and I am still trying to figure out how much of the bad comes down to this fandom as opposed to it objectively (because like it's clear that mental health is a main theme on this album and I don't want to discredit that) because as I have spoken about before, this fandom cannot be normal about sensitive topics to the point that I'm not scrolling until hype for this album goes down.

Ironically enough given the history of jokes/comments I and others have made, I do think Florence got the better feature and wish Post Malone got a more upbeat song and larger part lmao.

Much like how I liked the 3am edition of Midnights more than the standard version, the bonus 15 songs are the stronger part of this album for me this time too. Where the standard felt like a mixed bag of meh and amazing with no in between, the bonus tracks all felt good to amazing and with the exceptions of maybe I look in people's windows and so high school, are all songs I could see myself listening to consistently. I also don't think it's a coincidence that most of these songs are Dessner songs because out of her consistent producers lately, he has definitely been my preferred one lmao.

It also makes me very excited for debut and reputation's rerecordings because it's clear that they're on her mind.

I'm likely going to make a separate post about the songs individually, but a friend who brought a different edition told me today that the manuscript feels like the actual end of the album and I agree completely and so was glad to see that despite not putting all the previously known about bonus songs back to back (which is a super interesting choice and while I don't think we'll get it, I'd love an explanation for that and why these songs were specifically chosen for physical media!), Taylor still chose that as the closer. It also sets my heart on fire as a RED girlie lmao.

As per always, as a physical media girlie, I do hope that we get a cd/cd set with all the songs at some point lmao.

As of right now my favourites (no psychoanalysing me given I said that I listen to music based off of relatability tho lmao) are the title track, my boy only breaks his favourite toys, so long London, who's afraid of little old me, loml, I can do it with a broken heart, the smallest man who ever lived, the black dog, imgonnagetyouback, the albatross, Chloe or Sam or Sophia or Marcus, I hate it here, Cassandra, Peter and the manuscript. And like I said, at least most of the rest of the bonus tracks are ones that I could see myself listening to frequently as well so that's like 2 albums worth of music for most artists nowadays and I am definitely not complaining at all despite any other feelings I have towards this album lmao.

Anyway I'm sure more will come to me in time, but right now that's where I'm at, especially because it's almost midnight here lmao.

[derangedforrocknroll]

okay i heard from zero about an hour ago and these are my thoughts

(like actually spoilers for the whole thing below alert alert don't click if you don't want that okk here it is)

yeah it's really good of course i liked it lmao.

i'll probably get deeper into it once i've heard it more than a single time standing vaguely near a wall-mounted speaker that kept panning in and out BUT first impression ramblings: the chemistry is real and obvious and it's very much a vibe. energy is the thing that stood out - surprisingly light-hearted without ever feeling surface level, a real joy and excitement to it. mike's recent influences in particular really shine through- turnstile, gel, jean dawson, brakence, you can totally hear all of that. it's new, it's of the moment, but still feels undefinably LP; the pain and anger and regret is still there, but it feels like we've processed it and made it out the other side.

~song-by-song notes~ :

casualty! we've heard it so i don't have to describe it. live/studio differences, the guitars sounded more present and dynamic on the record + i thought mike's vocals were more wild and aggressive on stage but other than that very familiar. real punch in the face i love it.

two faced is the most likely to be a fan favorite bc it sounds so clearly ht/meteora and also bc it's really good. will absolutely slay live and imo be as permanent in the setlist going forward as faint or papercut. love the spooky intro, love the riffs, love em's vox. really really fun.

(two faced also significant for being the only song on the record that struck me as a specific callback to past albums? everything else felt very unique to this era. i've heard different takes on that point but there's mine.)

stained and cut the bridge different sides of the same coin - i'm guessing more people will compare stained to OEO because they're structured very similarly but w/e. both really fun, high energy, just super tight polished complete songs. stained is the everyone belt along one, cut the bridge is the everyone jump up and down one. both could easily have been singles.

overflow and good things go are sisters and will probably end up a lot of people's least favorites but mostly bc those people are boring. they're weird and cool and space-y and mike does a migos flow in one of them. overflow is a rollercoaster first listen i wrote down 'huh' like three separate times but the build is crazy and the second/last (?) chorus + breakdown goes hard as shit.

igyeih is my personal favorite but to be fair i already decided it would be like a month ago and only had to have my priors confirmed so that's not news. that being said the outro to this song is the single best part of the entire album and i will stand on that. i am enchanted.

anyway there you go. more than anything i'm excited for the future, whatever it is they're going to make now that the reset button has been pushed and they've had a solidified lineup for longer than 'in the middle of actively recording the album'. this thing works, and i want more of it, and it feels like they do too. i love my family!

(also my new personal rankings bc that's fun: mtm > ats > meteora > fz > ht > thp > lt > oml. BAM top 4 subject to change over the course of however many dozens of times i'm going to listen to it when it's actually out we shall see. [fwiw fz vs. meteora was kind of a hard decision for me but oop])

anyway THE END until the next billion posts i make about it :)

[shit-talk-turner]

feel free to share your theories. The only alternative we personally buy into is that it’s about Scooter 😅

// Call me naive, but I've always thought the Ultracheese was A Certain Romance for the TBHC era. I'm not dismissing the fact that all of Alex's emotional turmoil at the time (including relationship issues with Taylor) likely fed into his feelings of alienation, but I think it's mostly about what it says on the tin. He's looking around and realizing that the thing that used to be the most important in his life, his friendships, has changed. (In early interviews he did actually rank his friendships higher than his music).

Is the Steinway and sons bit about sitting at the piano with Scooter? Could be, but what would it mean to be writing with a dog and a Tascam as your only company when you used to write with your friends? When half of them are across the ocean with families of their own, when you spot a photo of Andy on the wall. When all of TLSP went to record together without you after the EYCTE tour.

The last line, but I haven't stopped loving you once could definitely include Taylor as one of the people he's hurt and still cares about, and I do think his TBHC era performances of the Ultracheese drew on that situation and the raw emotions around the cheating and breakup.

But for me, the Ultracheese stands out as one of the most heartbreaking songs because it isn't about Alex's girlfriends, who have come and gone over the years. It's so much worse. It's the end of the band of brothers that was started with the first album, back when it was them against the world and they could do anything because they were together.

Whether it was actually true or just depression talking, going from what can I say I've known them for a long time, you just cannot get angry in the same way, you won't get me to go anywhere, to maybe I shouldn't ever have called that thing friendly at all is fucking devastating.

That said, I have no idea what he's doing playing Ultracheese now. I love the song and I'm glad we've got another recording from this era, but I don't think he's in the best shape emotionally and it feels sort of like he wants to indulge in beating himself up a bit a la Bourne Identity. Strange situation all round.

Goddamn, we feel like we should PAY you for that thesis. That was very well-articulated and I could totally see what you mean. It makes a lot of sense. And about him beating himself up now, that makes A LOT of sense to. Thanks for chiming in!!!!!

[vintagepresley]

I’ve only seen a few Elvis movies so far, but I was curious how you would rank them? From best to worst. :)

Oooh.. Which ones have you seen? Also, I'd love to rank his movies! This will be fun. 😂

These are how I rank them personally. But I'd love to hear everyone else's rankings! I will be ranking the movies from the 50's first and then do the 60's, because his movies in the 50's are honestly my favorite because the stories actually made sense and weren't rushed and you can tell he actually cared.

The 50's - From best to worst

King Creole (Baby acted his ass off in this and the story was great!)

Jailhouse Rock (I really loved this because I could hope that he would've taken charge of his career the way Vince did without the asshole part. Another where the story was great.)

Loving you (He was just too darn cute in this movie with his little stuttering and I love that his parents were in it. Deke has my heart.)

Love Me Tender (Spoiler: this gets worst because he dies 😭)

The 60's - From best to worst

1. Follow That Dream (Does this even need an explanation? You guys know how much I love this movie and not even for the story. It's my comfort movie)

2. Girls! Girls! Girls! (This was the very first Elvis movie I saw and I hold it dear to my heart. I would play Return to Sender on repeat, lol)

3. Wild in the Country (I know this is like 50/50 for people but I really loved this movie. The story was great and his acting was amazing.)

4. G.I Blues (God.. This movie.. He.. Yeah, he looked fine as hell. Story was okay. The songs are my fave.)

5. Live a Little, Love a Little (This was the second Elvis movie I saw and honestly is a favorite!! Bernice is insane BUT I STAN. Greg Nolan is my baby.)

6. It Happened at the World's Fair (This movie was so cute and funny. I always love him in movies with kids! 😭)

7. The Trouble with Girls (DO I EVEN NEED TO EXPLAIN?!!? HIS EYES WERE SPARKLING. THE SUITS)

8. Change of Habit (Okay, I feel like this movie is incredibly underrated and AE made it seem like it was so terrible. But I personally loved this movie because of its serious story and plot. It was also a different character we've seen Elvis play. I think had there been no songs at all, this would've been taken more seriously. He also looked good af.)

9. Flaming Star (Despite the stereotypes and well everything else that would get this movie canceled.. I actually enjoyed it a lot. It was certainly different for Elvis. If I remember correctly, Tarantino said this was his favorite Elvis western because it was the most violent.)

10. Kid Galahad (This movie was good and another different character for him. But I'm not into boxing so it was kind of boring to me)

11. Blue Hawaii (I really enjoyed this movie, but I don't love it as much as everyone does. I don't get the hype and I also think Can't Help Falling In Love is overplayed and overrated. He's got so many better love songs. But that's just my opinion! This movie still gets a good ranking though.)

12. Viva Las Vegas (I enjoyed this movie! But much like Blue Hawaii I don't get the hype. It's not my favorite but definitely not the worst)

Now let's get into the movies that in my personal opinion were the worst. Now that doesn't mean I didn't enjoy them. Even with the stories not being great; some of them were funny!

13. Fun in Acapulco (This movie was enjoyable but the story could've been better and I didn't really like a lot of the songs.)

14. Roustabout (I just found this movie so boring and I'm not surprised the colonel loved it. But Elvis looked HOT.)

15. Girl Happy (I really enjoyed this but again the story wasn't great and his character wasn't anything special. But if you want a few laughs this is a good one. ALSO ELVIS IN A DRESS!!!) 16. Tickle Me (this movie was so funny and Elvis always has perfect comedic timing. It reminded me of Scooby Doo. But unfortunately the story was meh they also used songs from one of his old albums because they had nothing written for the film)

17. Spinout (This movie was okay, a few laughs. But nothing too special besides him threatening to spank someone, lol. Basic Elvis character.)

18. Speedway (A few good songs, but kinda boring to me)

19. Frankie and Johnny (I really liked the aesthetic of this film and some of the songs, but it certainly wasn't the best. He looked horrid in that yellow sweater lmfao)

20. Paradise, Hawaiian Style (I enjoyed the songs and his interaction with the little girl. It was too cute! A few good laughs, but nothing to rave about)

21. Stay Away, Joe (This movie was so ridiculous and stupid, but also funny as hell to me because of how ridiculous it was. Another one that would be cancelled. But Elvis looked so good lol)

22. Clambake (SNOOZE FEST. Stupid story also Elvis tried to get out of making this movie. So much drama behind the scenes of this, lol. He was fat shamed. His character.. I don't even know.)

23. Charro! (This movie could've been great since they weren't really any songs, Elvis' acting was great and he looked good with a beard. But the story was just so boring.)

24. Double Trouble (This movie was funny but that's about it. Story was eh)

25. Kissin' Cousins (Jesus Christ.. Where do I even begin with this movie? We should not be hooking up with our cousins first off, LMFAO. The only good thing was Jodie. 😂)

26. Harum Scrum (I DONT EVEN NEED TO EXPLAIN THIS DUMPSTER FIRE. I hate this movie, lol. 2.99 WASTED. Like wtf was this?? It was so bad Elvis gave up acting in the middle of it lol.)

Now let's rank the concert docs for funsies!

Elvis on Tour (THIS IS MY BABY. The amount of times I watch this is unhealthy. He's so fucking sexy in it and just watching him at all these shows doing what he loves. Ugh. The shot of him staring out the window and kind of just lost in thought.. It just makes me want to hold him.)

That's The Way It Is (The first concert doc I watched. This is just amazing. The album alone is my favorite. But seeing him up on that stage giving it his all and having so much fun doing it warms my heart.)

Aloha From Hawaii via Satellite (I know this technically isn't a concert doc but it belongs on this list. Do I even need to say how amazing this was??? How good he looked?? This certainly is underrated.)

Honorable mention

Elvis In Concert - (I wish they would release this because it only aired once I believe on October 3rd, 1977. But that was it. You can watch it on YouTube because someone remastered it and fixed the audio as best as they could. But It'd be nice if EPE would just release the actual footage and have CBS or RCA remaster it. Despite how ill he was he still put on a performance no matter what. He still wanted to make the fans happy. But I understand why they don't really want it out there.)

Sorry this was so long and I don't know if you wanted my actual opinions on them. But I felt I might as well give them, lol. Thanks for the question, bestie!

[strawberryblondebutch]

Back by unpopular demand, it's my top albums of 2023! While 2022 suffered a dearth of good artists that made it impossible to cobble together a top 10, I struggled this year to whittle my 50(!!)-album shortlist down to my top.

Same rules as always: everything on this list is a full-length album (no EPs) of largely previously unreleased material (no reissues, no cover albums, no Taylor's Version) arranged in an intentional manner (no B-sides or rarities albums). Now, behold!

10. DOG PARK DISSIDENTS - THE PINK AND BLACK ALBUM

I hope I'm not the only punk frustrated with the decline of queer rage in the music scene. Everyone's sad and no one is angry. If you're sick of being well-behaved, this is the album for you. I've been a Dog Park Dissidents fan for years now, and I'm thrilled to see them put out an LP, especially one as great as this one.

9. SINCERE ENGINEER - CHEAP GRILLS

Something everyone needs to know about me: I love a girlflop. There is nothing more endearing than an absolute disaster of a woman, and no one is flopping through life quite like Deanna Belos. Her third album brings her scratchy-voiced brashness into her early 30s, and as much as I hope for an end to her crisis, at least she has a good soundtrack going.

8. ALL GET OUT - ALL GET OUT

Wouldn't it be easy if I didn't listen to any albums? If I just put my favorite bands in the top ten and said "that's enough hard work, I think"? Well, I don't, because sometimes there's a surprise. All Get Out has frustrated me for a while, as their Southern-fried brand of rock and roll is something I should like, but they never seemed to put it all together... until now.

7. BLONDSHELL - BLONDSHELL

Sabrina Mae Teitelbaum showed up at the eleventh hour to wreck my rankings. I was unaware of Blondshell until they opened for Liz Phair a month ago, and I was intrigued enough to follow up and listen to her debut. Her stage presence needs some work -- unlike, say, Foxing's latest album, which I learned to love once I heard it live, I think Blondshell is better recorded -- but if this is her first effort, I can't wait to see what she does next.

6. ZZ WARD - DIRTY SHINE

2023 was the year of blues rock artists going independent, and their music was all the better for it. The Record Company was a late cut for my honorable mentions, but ZZ takes the sixth spot here. There was a lot riding on Dirty Shine: she was independent and had been mostly silent since the pandemic. With some of the tightest production I've seen this year, she hasn't missed a step.

5. QUEENS OF THE STONE AGE - IN TIMES NEW ROMAN...

Talk about someone who's been through the wringer since their last album. Josh Homme battled cancer, alcoholism, and a bitter divorce, and his band's latest release is one of pent-up rage. It bears strong shades of 2007's Era Vulgaris, which was divisive in its own time, and as a result, some might hate In Times New Roman... for its looser, crunchier sound. For me? It's exactly what I like to hear.

4. SPANISH LOVE SONGS - NO JOY

I have a confession: I'm a terrible album reviewer. It takes me weeks or months to listen to something new, even for my favorite artists, like Spanish Love Songs. I didn't get around to No Joy until just before I went to see SPL open for Hot Mulligan, at which point I felt like the time had come. This album was an acquired taste, smoother and more polished than 2020's Brave Faces, Everyone, but like Frightened Rabbit's 2016 Painting of a Panic Attack, the sparser sound lets you focus on what Dylan et al. are trying to say, and you can soon tell No Joy is an album that needed to come out for his own sake.

3. HEART ATTACK MAN - FREAK OF NATURE

Speaking of "late on the draw," behold Heart Attack Man, a band I should have loved... if I ever got around to listening to them. They hang around all the same scenes my other favorite bands do (in fact, Hot Mulligan also brought them along on their most recent tour), and yet I never got around to exploring them until this June, when they played in Philly for $20 tickets. Good thing my impulses won out, because this album is what punk should be (and something it's been sorely missing).

2. HOT MULLIGAN - WHY WOULD I WATCH?

After shouting them out in the last two entries, I have to give Hot Mulligan their flowers. They're a strange band, having more in common with Dance Gavin Dance than, say, The Wonder Years. It's progressive post-hardcore for Midwest emos, and although the individual songs on Why Would I Watch? are on par with any individual song from a previous release, they do something here that elevates them above their other work: put out an album, rather than a collection of songs.

1. FIREWORKS - HIGHER LONELY POWER

It was always going to be Fireworks. They released this album on January 1 after a long hiatus, giving me an entire year to have this LP rattle in my brain and linger in my bones. Higher Lonely Power combines several trends found on the rest of this list -- a new sound that needed to grow on me, a need to shake off the rust of a hiatus, a band I took far too long to get to know. They're my favorite band's favorite band for a reason, and Higher Lonely Power is a gorgeous mediation on love, death, and aging. A worthy album of the year if ever there were one.

[ordinaryschmuck]

Bob's Burgers Christmas Specials Ranked (So Far)

(Because, screw it. I already did the first two big holidays, might as well do the third)

#13. Yachty or Nice: I just don't vibe with this one. Jimmy being nice doesn't feel right, Bob helping him doesn't feel much better, and the kids trying to steal gifts doesn't seem like the brand of chaos they would do in Season Eleven. Maybe in the early seasons, but they moved past that nonsense. It'd be better if there were good jokes to carry the episode, but there's really not much there. Not a great episode OR special for me.

#12. Nice-Capades: I just don't vibe with this one either. The idea of the kids trying to get on the good side of a Mall Santa is funny on paper, but them doing an ice-capades show for him feels like a stretch and there's a lot of things that just HAPPEN to work out for them. And the jokes aren't really all that great either...Except for Bob buying calendars for the Mall Santa's nephew. That got a good laugh out of me. Everything else just kind of left me waiting for the episode to be over. But I did like the ending, both for the conclusion that Louise comes to on her own and the words Mall Santa gives her. It's warm, but not warm enough for this Christmas.

#11. Bob Rest Ye Merry Gentle-Mannequins: I am more on Bob's side than Linda's. She has a good heart for wanting to help Chet, but Bob's right. The guy's loonier than a Looney Tune and I would have sent him out the door the second he said, "Oh, I used to be a mannequin." He does need help, but feeding into his mental illness isn't it. Though, I do like how the resolution the kids come to on their own without any nudges from Bob or Linda. And, yeah, that final punchline is hilarious. Came through in the end, but Chet's not a character I'm missing and it makes me glad that the Holiday specials are MOSTLY not canon.

#10. Better Off Sled: This one's more of a WINTER special instead of a Christmas one, but the vibe's definitely better than in "Nice-Capades" and "Yachty or Nice." I love Louise battling Logan, Rudy's cousin Mandy is one of the more enjoyable one-off characters, and Teddy's trauma over getting snowballed by a charitable Eagle Scout gets some good laughs. Even Linda's subplot of making scarfs, while not all that funny, does have a great payoff. So while the Christmas side of this special is an afterthought, it's enjoyable where it counts.

#9. The Last Gingerbread House on the Left: I love episodes where Mr. Fischoeder talks Bob into doing something for him. It always feels like Bob's making a deal with the Devil, with this incident being one of the tamer experiences Bob was more or less backed into. The cost is that the jokes aren't as strong, but the chaotic energy met with the colorful characters that are Mr. Fischoeder's "friends" lead to great entertainment and a beautifully chaotic ending. Even the subplot has a sweet twist ending that's full of Christmas cheer. How can you not love it?

#8. Die Card, or Card Trying: It's still about Christmas, sort of. It's in the window. It counts.

But seriously? This one has a few good jokes, a warm ending, and it's a highlight of Linda's best and worst qualities. She wants to show how much her family means to her and will go to great lengths for it. Only for the episode to show how those great lengths annoyed most of the family, but in a more realistic way. I'm pretty sure we've ALL had one moment when our moms pushed us to do something out of love and we just went along with it to avoid the headache of her complaining about it...No offense to Linda. Overall, it's a decent episode, and one with a good punchline in the end.

(Also, that montage of Belcher Christmas photos was adorable)

#7. Gene's Christmas Break: I just love the family working together to do something nice for Gene. They don't like his album, but they know it makes him happy so they go out of their way to help the best they can. Even the message about how music lives on even if the original version dies is kind of beautiful in a way, bringing a good vibe to a decent special. The Secret Santa subplot definitely screams filler, though, but it ends on a great note between Teddy and Mort, so I'm not complaining.

#6. Have Yourself a Maily Linda Christmas: A wonderful episode that shows just how caring Linda is and how willing she is to go the extra mile, even for someone she doesn't know. And while something like "Bob Rest Ye Merry Gentle-Mannequins" can show how that's a bad thing, this shows the best side of Linda and her good will. Speaking of good will, how sweet is it that Louise and Gene stressed over their sister giving them GOOD gifts while they half-assed it? That's actually a pretty sweet conflict that shows how much these siblings care about each other. So, a lot of sweetness all around...Except for Linda's family showing up and being their worst selves. Thankfully there's some humor from Bob trying to avoid them that carries it.

#5. The Nightmare 2 Days Before Christmas: Okay, I guess we ARE having a Christmas special this year. Gosh dang it. Anyways, this one is pretty standard. Solid jokes, some good moments with the family, and John Roberts sounding the most Linda he's ever been. Linda talking to herself as she struggles to carry a Christmas tree is equal parts empathetic and hilarious, all of it carried (Ha-ha) by Roberts' performance. I also like how this one ends on a decent compromise that's bittersweet but still leaves everyone happy. It's good and cute.

#4. The Bleakening: What hurts this special are the songs, primarily in Part One. "The Bleakening" sets out to be a musical, but each song in Part One feels forced and too short, as if the writers cared more about making jokes instead of music. Which is fine, music isn't Bob's Burgers' strong suit as they're all mostly short yet full of charm anyway. But for a musical two-parter, nothing really stands out enough. That is until Part Two, where we get a decent reprise, a chilling song from Teddy, and "Twinkly Lights," which might be the biggest, LGBTQA+ friendly Christmas song I've ever heard. Honestly, give it a listen. And know that while Part One is slow as it builds up to this big conclusion, Part Two satisfies beyond expectations with a decent twist that delivers all it sets out to do. So while the first half was rough, at least it ended on a high note (Ha-ha-ha).

#3. Christmas in the Car: Lot of great jokes in this one, especially the subplot of Teddy being stuck in the fridge. There's also some slight intensity of the family being chased by a candy cane truck, making the situation tense AND funny because...it's a candy cane truck. And the ending's also equally warm and hilarious, which tends to be this show's specialty. A solid special and episode, probably one to show to friends and family if you want them to get into the series.

#2. Father of the Bob: Gosh dang it, this one is perfect. It's the one special I want to be considered canon because the story of Bob and Big Bob's relationship opens so many layers of Bob's passion and why he fights so hard to be interested in his kids' passions...even if they sometimes drive HIM crazy. And the resolution Bob and Big Bob come to really cuts deep, showing that while their relationship is still kind of strained, they love each other with Big Bob being proud of his son. I can't help but love it, even if there are SOME issues like the kids screwing around in the basement until they accidentally found the thing to help Bob's relationship with his father. There's not much good jokes there, but the story between Bob and Big Bob carries things anyway.

#1. The Plight Before Christmas: You all knew this was going to be #1. This special...gosh dang it. I love that the main conflict of it is Bob and Linda struggling to be there for ALL of their kids' things. It's effective because, unlike the Griffins, the Smiths, and any other adult cartoon family that isn't The Simpsons, the Belchers all CARE and LOVE each other no matter how crazy one or two members of the family can be. There can be annoyances and brief moments of conflict, but this family loves one another and will do everything they can for each other while feeling disappointed that they couldn't. And then there's that ending. It is the warmest, kindest, tear-jerkingest ending the show ever did, making this episode not only the best Christmas special, but quite possibly the best episode of the entire series.

And that's it. Merry Christmas to those who celebrate. May your holidays be as warm and caring with your family as it is with The Belchers.