#the album being released after 9 months from their last one

[sukumii]

Some Sukuna brainrot cuz I have nothing better to do

NSFW | MINORS DNI

Sukuna who's uterly obsessed with you, everything about you screams perfection to him. How could he not obsess over you when you look at him with those oh so innocent eyes?

Sukuna who finds himself collecting every little trinket of yours that he could get ahold of. Be it your old notebook, a paper you doodled on, even your favourite panties that mysteriously went missing after your gym classes.

Sukuna who needs to be touching you one way or another. He swears he can't go on with his day without having his hand dangerously high up on your thigh at least a couple of times throughout the day.

Sukuna who watches as you get wasted in a bar where a party was hosted by a graduating senior. He has decided that he was watching you long enough and he now needs to feel your skin against his once more.

Sukuna who can no longer keep his throbbing dick in his pants. No, of course he can't. Not when you're humping him like a bunny. Oh you're just so fucking cute, aren't ya? Under the influence or not, you're definitely doing something to him.

One thing led to another, and you both ended up tangled in the sheets, with Sukuna burried deep inside your needy cunt. He was in could 9, finally being able to breed your cute pussy after months of relentless pinning.

Sukuna who has one goal and one goal in mind that night—it was to breed you so hard that you'd be round with his child the next time he sees you. He came so hard to the point of sensitivity that night, but he was adamant about putting a baby inside you, whether you liked it or not. He was spent, he passed out after a couple more shallow thrust in your leaking pussy.

Sukuna woke up with a headache, and a throbbing dick that was currently burried deep inside your pussy. To say that he was confused was understatement, but he would he lying if he said that he didn't enjoy what you're doing.

Sukuna whose breath hitches at the sight of your perverted grin. There was a sinister glint in your eyes that tells him that there's more to you than what he had initially thought.

"I'm glad that you're finally awake, 'Kuna~" He moans at the sudden clench of your insides. "I've always been guilty about my obsession over you, buuut..."

You wave his phone that was opened to reveal his carefully compiled album of you doing a variety of tasks—cooking, studying with friends, grocery shopping, taking a bath, even fingering yourself in the comfort of your own bed.

"You seem to have a little obsession with me." His breath hitched at your warm breath against his ear, "I didn't expect this, to be honest with you. But seing as you have almost half of the amount of images I have with you, I'm assuming that you're just as obsessed as I am."

With a one last thrust, you both came. Fluids overflows from your pussy and drips down his balls and onto the sheets. Fuck, since when are you this hot? This bold?

Turns out, Sukuna's cute little bunny was a naughty fox in disguise, eager to hump his dick and take his release anytime.♡

[its-vannah]

Another Love | Graham Dunne x Reader

Request from anonymous: more graham and reader with probs the inspo being the weezer song (I just threw out the love of my dreams)/ an unrequited love

A/N: This was so hard to write. It drained me, but I'm happy with the end product. There's no happy ending in this one, really onlt angst. Hope you guys enjoy and please feel free to request more. I write for Graham, Eddie, and Warren.

Warnings: Mentions of drugs (mescaline), unrequited love, implied sex, blood, profanities

Daisy Jones and The Six Masterlist

Part One | Part Two| Part Three

Unrequited love. The leading cause of heartbreak not only in America, but in the rest of the world, too. It's that feeling in the pit of your stomach that sits there and never really goes away, no matter how many times you try to stop thinking about it. It plagues you, haunting every memory you have. You're left to wonder what could have been if, how things could have been different if. It's always an "if", always ending in a question mark and not a period.

You're love for Graham Dunne had never wavered in the twenty two years you had been in love with him. Not when he took your hand and guided you around the neighborhood because he was your fiercest, if not smallest, protector. It only grew when the two of you kissed each other under the bleachers at a high school football game, getting it out of the way with "no strings attached" before you opened yourselves up for dating. It didn't stop when he got his first girlfriend and you were left thirdwheeling. It didn't even begin to fade when he moved out to LA to pursue music while you stayed behind in Pittsburgh, destined for a typical 9-5 job.

Graham had his fair share of girlfriends, especially after The Dunne Brothers was formed. His role in the band, while not as popular as Billy, was prominent. He was cute, naive. But apparently so were you.

When you had heard the news that the band was on tour, set to stop in Pittsburgh, you reached out to Camila to confirm if it was really them. Of course, you had every album they had released, including 7,8,9—their newest.

"Camila," You had said into your phone, twisting the cord around your fingers, "Have they changed any since I last saw them? It's been, what, a couple years now, hasn't it?"

She sighed into the phone, "Other than Billy and I being parents? No, I don't think so. Warren is the same as ever, Eddie's a little more irritiable though. You'll meet Karen, she's got a no bullshit attitude. You'll love her. Your Graham still looks like a deer in headlights anytime he sees a pretty girl."

"Got it. And you? Are you coming?" You asked, hopeful you'd be able to see her again after so long.

"I'm going to try. I'll have to take Julia with me, though. It won't be easy, I'm a few months pregnant, Y/N."

Eyes widening, you smiled, "Oh, Cami, congratulations."

"Thank you, really, it's been hard being away from family. But I've got Billy and the boys, Karen, too, so it's not all bad. They're excited to see you, Y/N. Especially Graham. He hadn't stopped telling everyone about you since they scheduled Pittsburgh on the tour."

"He's been talking about me?"

She laughed on the other end of the phone, "Everyone already knows you, except for Daisy. But he can't help himself. He's like a kid on Christmas, dying to see you."

Trying to steady your breathing, you took a deeo breath, "Well, I'll see you guys in a few weeks, then. Keep me posted on how you're doing, though. Being pregnant on the road can't be easy."

"I will, Y/N," She said, "We'll see you soon. Julia, can you say bye to Y/N?"

"Bye bye!" A smile voice said on the other end of the phone.

Your heart melted a bit, "Bye Cami, bye Julia. See you soon."

With that, you hung up, your heart beating out of your chest.

You only had to wait a few more weeks before you saw him. It shouldn't be that hard.

-----------------

You met with the band at the concert venue, holding a bouquet of flowers in one hand and a bix of Graham's favorite chocolates in the other.

As soon as the van doors opened, Eddie opened the passenger door, sliding out onto the pavement. The two of you had known each other since middle school, but it was hard to believe it was him. He had changed. He had grown into his body, looking more confident than he had in the eighth grade.

He gave you a warm smile, pulling you into a side hug, "How are you, Y/N?"

"I'm doing good, just glad to see you guys. And you, you're doing good?"

"Couldn't be happier," He said, his smile faltering slightly as he spoke. Something had happened, you just weren't sure what it was.

Billy was the next out, helping a pregnant Camilla out of the van with one hand, his other supporting Julia.

Camilla waddled towards you, arms out before you could even say hello. Taking her daughter from her husband, she introduced her to you with a big smile.

Kneeling down, you handed Julia the small bouquet of flowers, "These are for you and your mama, Julia."

The girl gasped, hugging them to her chest as she looked up at her mother, jumping excitedly.

Camila mouthed a "thank you" and then looked back at Graham, who stood still, his eyes locked on yours.

Giving you a wink, she picked Julia up and followed Billy to scout out the venue.

As soon as she stepped to the side, you were being scooped up by Graham. He twirled you around, squeezing you so tight you found it hard to breathe.

When he finally set you down, you grabbed his arms for support, laughing at his straight-forwardness.

"It's good to see you, too, Graham," You said, pulling him in for another hug, "It's been too long. Pittsburgh isn't the same without it's favorite Dunne."

"I don't think I'm the favorite Dunne," He said, sheepishly scratching the back of his neck.

You shrugged, "Maybe not, but you're my favorite."

"Then that's all that matters."

From the side of the van, a woman cleared her throat, looking expectantly at Graham to introduce her.

"Oh! Y/N, this is Karen, our keyboardist. She's British."

Karen stepped forward, nodding to you with a smile before looking at the younger Dunne, "Are those the only words you could think of to describe me?"

"I was put on the spot."

"And how would you describe her?"

Graham smiled, "Karen, this is my best friend in the whole world. We've known each other since we were in diapers."

Coming from the driver's side of the van, Warren walked towards you with outstretched arms, "Pears!"

"Pears?" Karen asked, looking at the drummer.

"Peaches and pears," Warren explained, nodding towards you and Graham, "Had to find some way to embarrass them, Karen Karen."

"Alright," She laughed, "How much mescaline have you had today, Rojas?"

He shrugged, "Enough to make the drive fun."

----------------

At dinner that night, you were seated next to Graham, and across from Eddie and Camila.

"So, Y/N/N, what have you been up to? Still in school?"

"No, I graduated in May, actually. I start my new job next week."

He clapped your back, "No way! Congrats, Y/N/N. I wish I could've been there to see your graduation."

"It's all good. I've been busy, anyway. What about you guys? Anything planned for after the tour?"

Graham nodded, taking a bite of his food, "Something big that Billy would kill me for talking about. Let's just say you'll have to buy our next record."

You released a breathy laugh, shaking your head, "I've still got your first two in my apartment."

"So, you seeing anyone?" He asked.

Was this some sort of code? Was this his way of preparing to ask you out? You had already waited twenty two years for this.

"No, I'm not. How about you?"

Before he could answer, Julia's cries filled the room. Camila looked around, apologizing as she began rocking her slowly, trying to calm the toddler down. Another tantrum, you guessed. Every bit as fiery as her father.

The conversation continued for another hour without you ever getting an answer to whether he was seeing anyone. You felt wrong bringing it back up since he had already moved on to telling you about the concerts they had been playing the past few weeks.

By the time the check came, you weren't ready to end the night. But they had an early morning tomorrow, with rehearsals and the concert. You understood and bid your goodbyes.

As they drove off, you walked to your car. But you didn't have your purse on you.

Walking back in the restaurant, you went back to your table, finding your purse hanging on the back of a wooden chair, along with Graham's wallet on the table.

Deciding to drop it off at their hotel, you got in your car and started driving.

-------

When you got out of your car, the first person you saw was Eddie, leaning against a pillar while taking a drag of his cigarette.

He straightened when he saw you, a smile on his face, "Y/N, I didn't know you were coming over."

"Me neither," You laughed, "But Graham forgot his wallet."

"I'll walk you in. They won't let you go in without one of us," Eddie said, putting out the flame of his cigarette in an ashtray.

You thanked him, following him inside the hotel and to the elevator.

Making small talk on the way up, you were reminded of how kind Eddie was. He was the most sensible of the group. Not blunt like Karen, not naive like Graham. He wasn't as tough as Billy or as laid-back as Warren. Camila had always been the voice of reason, but Eddie was outspoken.

He led you to Graham's door, knocking on it a few times.

When the door swung open, Graham was standing on the other side, less than half dressed.

Eddie stepped to the side, revealing you behind him.

A surprised expression settled over the youngest Dunne brother, "Y/N, what're you doing here?"

You dug his wallet out of your pocket, "You left this at the restaurant. Can't really go anywhere without it."

He smiled, taking it from you, "Thanks, I appreciate it. You have—"

From inside the room, a woman's voice rang out, "Graham, get the fuck back inside and finish what you started."

It wasn't just any woman, though. It was Karen.

You saw her shoes in the middle of the room from where you were standing, clothes strewn on the floor and dresser.

"I'll leave you to it," You said, swallowing the bile that rose in your throat.

Did he know your heart was breaking? You wouldn't wish that feeling on anyone. It was the worst feeling in the world.

Turning on your heel, Graham didn't bother calling out behind you. He just closed his door, going back to what he hadn't finished.

God, you hated saying that.

Eddie walked beside you, taking notes of your expression. But he waited to say anything until he got in the elevator, "I'm sorry, Y/N. I didn't... I didn't know they were together. Not just in there, but at all."

You stayed silent, unable to look at him. It wasn't his fault, but you were about to crumble.

"Y/N? Are you okay?"

That's what broke you. Falling into his side, Graham leaned forward to catch you, his arms wrapping around your waist to support you as tears came rolling down your cheeks.

The elevator was filled with your sobs. You weren't the only one who's heart was breaking. Eddie had always hated seeing you like this.

When the doors opened, Warren appeared on the other side.

Eddie mouthed, "Go get him. Car."

He led you out to the car, a hand pressed on your back as he led you outside.

You slipped in the backseat with him, head resting on his shoulder.

"I thought... I thought he'd..." Your chest heaved, your hands frantically wiping your tears away, "I didn't... Eddie..."

"Shhh," He soothed, "You're going to be alright. I'm here, okay? I'm not going to leave you."

You nodded, clinging to his shirt as you tried to calm yourself.

That's when you heard a knock at your window.

Eddie reached over to open the door, Warren smiling down sympathetically at you.

"Pears, I've got somebody here to see you," He said softly, turning to his friend beside him, hissing, "Jesus Christ, zip it up, asshole."

That stung.

Graham poked his head through, "Y/N/N, what's wrong?"

Eddie glared at him. Another Dunne brother to add to his growing list of people he couldn't give two fucks about.

"Warren, are we interrupting something? I feel like we are."

"Get your head out of your ass, Dunne." Eddie snapped, gesturing towards you.

You pulled away from Eddie, "Can you give us a minute. Please?"

"I'll be right outside if you need me, okay?"

Nodding, you watched as he slid out of the car while Graham slid in, the doors shutting. You had never felt so alone.

"Y/N/N? What's wrong?"

"You, Graham. You're what's fucking wrong."

"I don't, I don't understand..."

You shook your head, "How long have we known each other?"

"Twenty two years."

"Do you love me?"

He nodded, "Of course I do."

"No, Graham, are you in love with me."

"Like—love love?" He asked, quite literally twiddling his thumbs.

"Y/N..." He trailed off.

Your head fell into your hands, inhaling sharply, "You may not be in love with me, Graham."

Sitting back up, you looked him in the eyes, "But I've been in love with you since we were in diapers. That hasn't changed. And it hurts, Graham, it hurts so much to see you with someone else. Because I love you. I always have."

He was silent, unsure of what to say.

"Um, Y/N... I... I'm sorry, I just... I don't think..."

"You didn't think anything of us being each other's first kiss? Nothing of us going to prom together two years straight? Me coming to all of your concerts? You coming to my recitals? Nothing? Absolutely nothing? I was so excited to see you, so excited. I was finally going to tell you how I felt. But I found you with another woman. You told me you had a long day and an early morning and that you couldn't hang out tonight. But you were just fucking your keyboardist."

"Y/N, she's not just my keyboardist."

Your nails dug into your hands, "Get out."

"What?"

"Get out, Graham. Out of my car."

"I'm sorry, I really am."

You pushed him away from you, screaming, "Get out!"

He didn't budge, trying to talk you down.

"I'll always love you, Y/N/N. But you're like my sister."

"I never want to see you again. Ever. I never want to have to look you in the eyes. I'm done, Graham. I'm done always being in second place.

He put a hand on your shoulder.

"So help me Graham, if you don't get out of my fucking car."

He got the message that time, his head bowed as he grasped the door handle.

Before he could leave, you muttered one final sentence, "I'm happy you found someone you love, Graham."

He didn't say anything, slamming the door and walking back inside the hotel.

You slammed your fists against the leather seats of your car, the thread hitting your knuckles just right so that they split open, oozing blood.

It burned, the blood on your hands as you tried to apply pressure.

The car door opened a few minutes later, Eddie sliding back in beside you. Taking note of your bloody hands, he slipped out of his shirt, leaving himself in a white undershirt.

He wrapped the sleeve around your bloody knuckles, pressing down on the wound.

Tears began spilling down your cheeks again and you leaned into him, your head in his chest as he stroked your hair, promising that you'd be okay.

Like you, Eddie had his handful of unrequited love. First Camila, then you. But like Graham, you were to blind to see that.

[venusvity]

‧₊ ᵎᵎ 🍒 ⋅ ˚✮  WELCOME TO THE WORLD VENUS !

It's 2018. Angelico hasn't had an active girl group in four years. The boy group checks are getting smaller every month; their newest boy group just flopped. The bank is calling about overdue payments, and they're desperate for a hit. With what was left in their ever-shrinking business bank account, they debuted their saving grace: VENUS.

The five-member piece comprised popular trainees from their Angellies program and former I.O.I member Chloe Lee. Baebi, Bliss, and Jiah consistently ranked in the top four during the Angellies' weekly rankings alongside Chloe. The only outsider was Sena Kim, who ranked reasonably well but consistently ranked in the top ten instead of the top five like the other girls.

VENUS IN 2018 AT THEIR DEBUT SHOWCASE: Bliss (20), Baebi (19), Chloe (18), Sena (16), and Jiah (15).

SHE DEVIL, originally a digital single that later became a physical single, was a commercial success in South Korea. The song entered the Gaon Digital Chart at number five the week of its release. 

It was certified platinum by the Korea Music Content Association (KMCA) for 100 million streams just two months after its release. "She Devil" ranked 11th on the year-end Gaon Digital Chart, making it the best-performing girl group song and second-best-performing group song of 2018 in South Korea.

"She Devil" amassed the top spot on various music programs; it achieved 9 wins, including a "triple crown" (or three wins) on Inkigayo.

Next would come KISSENUS, the group's first mini-album, and come back, "Kisseus," pronounced "KISS-EE-US," which was a move to establish the Venus branding. There were so many "-eus" gimmicks during this time. Some landed, some didn't, but Kissenus landed!

Know what didn't land? Their outfits. Oh my god, it was clear Angelico was broke! Truly, one of the last groups to debut looking like losers, they had these girls looking a mess on music shows! Fans still bring up the wardrobe choices when discussing Kissenus.

Kissenus would receive 7 music show awards across various music programs, including another "triple crown" on Inkigayo.

Their final comeback of the year would be another mini album titled "Tasteus" and a title track of the same name. While the song was a banger and performed well on the charts and at music shows, securing 6 wins and retaining their "triple crowned" winner status at Inkigayo, fans began to worry if the girls were being overworked due to their constant promotion of a new release.

Their run at the 2018 MAMA Awards caused mass discourse amongst K-pop fans. The barely-year-old group won Best Female Group, Best New Artist—Female, and Best Dance Performance—Female Group for She-Devil.

Venus saw undeniable and unheard-of success for Angelico in 2018, skyrocketing their company's stocks, becoming the faces of "Monster Rookies," and being the blueprint for what a good debut year should look like.

[silentglassbreak]

Fragmented

Noah Sebastian x OFC

Alright, back to our regularly scheduled programming. Thank you all for being patient with me. We need to develop this plot, so let's all buckle up.

Warnings: Nothing wild here. Testosterone being tossed around.

+It goes without saying. This is a work of fiction. My words are mine. Plagiarism is a crime.

Taglist: @flowery-mess @lma1986 @myownthoughts12 @poisongirl616 @missduffsblog @reidsblessing @malerieee @jilliemiw86 @thisbicc @xx-like-a-villian-xx @diabolicdiatonics

Part 9 - First Time

One Month Later

Normal is a relative term, isn’t it? By definition, it means conforming to a standard. Therefore, my life was getting into a sense of normalcy, as I was forcing it to.

I couldn’t handle the heartbreak anymore. It was too painful to allow myself to continue to sulk. Every time she left, anytime we said goodbye, my soul folded in on itself more and more. Is it going to stop hurting just because I want it to? No. Can I allow myself to move on? I think so.

One hundred and eighteen days since she ended things. My world fell apart, but I only have to wait so long before I start trying to put it back together. I’m encouraged to move forward. I’m told to let myself heal. And I think maybe it’s time.

Thirty-six days since Mileena and I recovered from the stomach flu, and our safe bubble was burst. We haven’t kissed, fucked, or had any above mildly flirtatious contact since.

We’re still close, and we still talk every day - sometimes for hours, but I’ve put up a silent barrier between us. Continuing to allow the physical affection was only making it harder for both of us. And I’ve learned, through months of dealing with this, that she has little to no control.

She’s still seeing Justin, which stings in ways I can’t even begin to explain, but I’ve swallowed it. Leena seems to have taken to him, which makes me happy. Although I never expected to feel that way, I do. Seeing her smile, and seeing her joy has brought a sense of calm to my soul, even if I’m not the person lighting that fire inside her.

Maybe I’m moving on.

Today, I was awake early, driving to the guys’ place, anxious and excited all at once.

Today was album completion day. After hours on hours of sitting with Jolly in the studio, rewriting lyrics, re-recording vocals, and reworking the instrumentals, it was finally ready.

Today, at 9AM, the album was due to Sumerian. We were going to send it at 8AM, the email already drafted and all of the files attached. It was a big moment, and we were ecstatic. The amount of work that had gone into this album made Death of Peace of Mind look like child’s play. We were all so ready to be moving to the next stage - preparing for release.

I pulled into the driveway, and noticed the amount of vehicles. I, clearly, wasn’t the only one there.

Just inside the front door, I kicked my boots off and made my way toward the living room, already hearing many conversations ongoing. Just inside the foyer, I could see Nick and Laura, enthralled in whatever conversation they were having. Jolly was sitting on the couch, eyes glued to the screen of his laptop, surely checking the email again to make sure all of the attachments were sound, and nothing had been forgotten.

In the back corner of the room, Folio stood by the fireplace, mid-conversation with Leena, who was holding Addison on her hip.

“Well, hello family!”

Everyone’s eyes flashed to me, smiles breaking out on everyone’s faces.

“There he is!” Nick walked over and clapped my shoulder. “Cant believe you’re the last one here!”

I shook my head. “Traffic was rough this morning.”

I gave him and Laura welcoming hugs, and made my way over to Leena and Addison.

“There’s my girls.” I gave Mileena a one-armed hug, and took Addie from her, squeezing her tight.

“Are you excited?” Leena was beaming at me, something like pride on her face.

“Excited and anxious. I’ll be glad once it’s out of our hands.”

Folio snorted next to me. “Yeah, so you can’t fuck with it anymore.”

Rolling my eyes, I shook my head. “It’s not fucking with it. It’s perfecting.”

He reached over, slipping Addie from my arms. “Well, go check on Jolly. He hasn’t spoken in twenty minutes.”

I padded over to the couch and flopped down. “All good here?”

He nodded, reopening the email. “I think so. Everything’s working. Cover art and back art is there. Lyric docs are attached. I think we’re all set. Bryan is going to forward in the pictures for the social media announcements. And Matt’s working on the details for the release party already.”

I nodded. “We don’t know how long?”

Jolly shrugged. “Three months, maybe? Slaughter is releasing their album next month, but then Alec told me it’s pretty clear until November. We’re likely shooting for a fall release.”

“Oh sweet. We can start touring in spring, maybe?”

Jolly smiled and leaned back. “I fucking hope so man. We’ve been getting a lot of heat for not hitting Australia on the last tour. Or Asia.”

“Maybe we start there?”

I could feel eyes burning into the side of my head, Mileena standing close enough to hear our conversation, but I ignored them.

“Festival season is in the spring and summer, so maybe we start with that? And work our way out?”

I huffed, and let my eyes drift over to Leena, who had a sad expression on her face that she wasn’t hiding well. “We’ll let Matt and Lana work it out.”

“Two minutes, guys.” Nick called from across the coffee table.

Folio came and plopped next to me. Nick sat next to Jolly, Laura perched on one of his knees. Leena sat, Addie in her lap, on the arm of the couch.

Jolly’s finger hovered over the ‘Send’ button, and we all held our breath.

“As always, I would like to just say, you guys are the best. We have worked our asses off for this, and if we receive even half of the success as Death of Peace of Mind, we’re lucky. We’re lucky to do what we love, and do it well.” I spoke to the entire room. To my brothers.

“Let’s fucking do this!” Folio announced, and the clock struck 8:30, Jolly clicking the mouse.

A second of silence fell over us, until the confirmation that it was sent popped on the screen.

We all broke out in celebratory hollers and clapping.

“Fuck yeah! We fucking did it!” Nick exclaimed, patting Jolly’s shoulder.

“You guys are awesome, you know that?” Laura smiled at us all.

“We need to celebrate!” Folio stood up suddenly, all of our eyes snapping up to him. “Let’s call Matt, Bryan, Lana, and Davis, and let’s go fucking celebrate!”

“Uh, dude…it’s not even 9AM…” I was smirking at him.

“It doesn’t have to be a party.” He stopped, thinking for a moment. “Let’s go ride fucking roller coasters!”

Nick, Jolly, and myself all stood up, affirming our excitement at once.

“That’s fucking awesome! Let’s do it!” Nick was still holding onto Laura. “You’ll come?”

She smiled wide. “Blocked my whole day for you, babe. I’m down.”

Nick glanced at Leena. “You too?”

She seemed to hesitate, her eyes looking over to me. “I, uh, might need to pass.” She chewed her lip. “Addie and I had plans today.”

“So…cancel them?” Jolly interjected.

“We were supposed to meet with Justin.”

I scoffed. “So bring him?” Her eyes widened in surprise at me. Valid, given I was mildly surprised at myself as well. “Unless, of course, he’s too scared…”

-

The drive to Knott's Berry Farm was quicker than I expected. Folio and I rode in my truck with Addison, Nick and Laura were in her car, Bryan and Matt were picking up Davis and Lana, and Mileena would be meeting us in about an hour after she picked up Justin. As we turned right off of La Palma onto Beach Boulevard, the traffic came to a dead stop. The turn-in to Knott's toward the parking lot was packed.

"Is something going on today?"

I shrugged. "No idea. We got here early, so I didn't think it would be too packed for a Thursday." I glanced at the dash. "It's only noon."

He rolled his window down, leaning his body out of the window, and waving at a security guard who was directing traffic.

"Hey," The guard walked over to my car. "is there a reason it's so busy?"

The guard stood with his hands on his belt, and glanced down to the line of cars.

"The concert today. It doesn't start until 6, but folks want to get in early."

Folio raised an eyebrow, dropping back into the vehicle. "Concert?" He pulled his phone out and opened his browser. After a moment of searching, he smiled. "Oh dope, dude! There's three bands playing today!"

I was pulling toward the parking lot now, waiting for my turn to pay at the stall. "Which ones?"

"Skillet, Daughtry, and Lifehouse."

I nodded in surprise. "That's fucking cool, man. We picked a good day to come."

Once we had all parked, I was pushing the stroller with Addison squealing excitedly. We all talked about which rides we were hitting first.

"Dude, we can't just start with the biggest ones. We've got to warm up." Nick was trying to reason with Folio, who looked as though he was crawling right out of his skin.

"Bro, I am riding the Xcelerator first, and you can't fucking stop me."

I chuckled. "I'm so in on that, man."

Laura reached for the stroller, taking it from me easily. "That's fine. You and Folio go get your adrenaline rush. Addie and I will be waiting for Leena in Camp Snoopy."

I bent down to kiss Addie's nose as she munched on her cotton candy, making an absolute mess. "You be good for Auntie, baby girl."

She blew a bubble in response.

Folio and I practically sprinted to the line for the roller coaster, only being a few dozen people back. He immediately hopped up onto the railing, smiling wide.

"So excited. I haven't been here since I was a kid."

I nodded. "Leena and I came like...three months after we met? She likes to act like she loves roller coasters, but in reality, she only rides the mellow ones."

He giggled. "She always talks such a big game, dude."

"Fucking honestly. She's as human as the rest of us, contrary to popular belief."

He nodded, jumping down to move with the line. "You going to be good with her bringing Justin?"

I perused this a moment. "I think so. I've had some time to adjust."

He looked at me suspiciously. "Have you been adjusting? You and Leena seem to be pretty...I don't know...weird?"

Leaning against the rail, I crossed my arms and looked at him. "Weird like how?"

"Well, let's see," Folio turned to face his body toward me. "you break up, when clearly neither of you wanted to do that. You both get majorly depressed for a while. Then you have an outburst at the 4th party, where you both disappear for half an hour." He raised his eyebrow suspiciously. "Then you flirt all the time, and both get sick at the same time, hiding out for three days together, where neither of you will talk about what happened." I chewed on my bottom lip. "Now you guys just stare longingly at each other from across rooms, and act like everything's okay." We moved forward with the line.

"Oh, and not to mention that she has a boyfriend."

Thanks for that, Folio.

"Doesn't seem very adjusted."

I scoffed. "Well, I didn't realize I came today to get attacked, but alright."

He chuckled at me, smacking my shoulder. "I'm just asking. I'm not sure any of us really get why you two aren't just...together...."

I shrugged, then. "That was her decision."

He cocked his head. "But why?"

I sighed hard, arms still crossed. "She can't handle it, dude. The," I waved my hand around us. "Bad Omens, rock and roll, touring thing."

Folio looked interested. "No?"

Shaking my head, I noticed we were getting closer to the front. "Nope. And that's my life."

"Can't her and Addison come on tour?"

"Man, I wish. I've even tried to convince her too, but having a toddler on a tour bus wouldn't work, and even I know that."

He looked disappointed. "Fuck, man."

"Yeah, I know." Huffing out a weak laugh, I rubbed the back of my neck. "I even offered to quit. Just write and produce so I wouldn't have to tour."

"You couldn't do that, dude. You love this shit."

I nodded, and looked directly at him. "I know, but I love them more."

Folio and I were walking over to Camp Snoopy, where everyone had convened after riding their respective rides. I caught a glimpse of Mileena sat at a picnic table, surrounded by everyone, feeding Addison in the stroller. Before I even reached the group, I noticed it.

Everyone was speaking, laughing together. Justin was stood talking to Davis, talking about something with his hands, and Davis was definitely into the story. The entire group was engaged in some form of conversation, looking excited and lighthearted. Everyone, except Mileena.

She was handing Addison her snacks, back turned to the group, and a look of frustration on her face.

We approached them, everyone turning their attention to us.

"How was it?" Nick chirped up from behind Laura.

"Fucking rush. So much fun." Folio responded, coming to sit next to Leena, and grabbing the snacks from her. Leena smiled at him as he started talking to Addie, handing her the puffs from the bag. If anyone bonded with the baby the most, to everyone's surprise, it was Folio.

I stepped over to stand in front of Leena, staring down at her. I lowered my eyes so I was looking directly at her. I gave her the look; the one that she knew asked if she was alright. She just pursed her lips, and nodded curtly.

I glanced back over to where Justin was still talking to Davis, Jolly now having joined the conversation.

I smiled down at Leena. "Want to come with me to grab a soda?"

Her eyes drifted over to Justin, who was paying her no mind, and stood up.

"You okay with her for a minute?" Folio just nodded to her in response.

She followed behind me as I made my way toward the Calico Ghost Town, and the snack shops they had nearby. We joined the long line, and I turned to look at her.

"What's going on?"

She sighed. "Nothing, just wanted to be here a lot sooner."

"Everything okay with you two?"

She looked at me, her eyes hesitant, but I could see that she wanted to tell me.

I held my hands up. "Safe space, here."

Leaning her head back, she groaned. "He's irritating me."

"How so?"

"He's pissed that I wanted to come here. We had plans to get lunch, and take Addie to the park. I explained that today was a big deal, but he told me he didn't see why I had to come."

I raised an eyebrow. "Ah, okay. Makes sense."

"No, it doesn't. He knows that I'm close with all of the guys, not just you. But he still gets so fucking weird about it." Her voice was full of annoyance, which amused me.

"I mean..." I calculated my words. "Can you blame the guy?"

Her head snapped toward me. "What?"

Laughing, I took a step away from her. "Leena, I am your ex. We spend an awful lot of time together."

She narrowed her eyes at me. "We have a kid together, Noah."

I nodded. "I get that. I'm just saying, he probably has pretty good reason to be skeptical."

She huffed, and pinched the bridge of her nose. "I know. I just," Taking a slow breath, she calmed herself. "if him and I are going to make it work, he's going to have to understand. You guys are my family."

I let my arms reach for her, pulling her into a comfortable hug. "I know. And if he really likes you, he'll figure it out."

The day passed comfortably, the warm sun baking us while we waited in lines, played games, and ate funnel cakes. Mileena passed on the bigger coasters, as I had expected. Laura and I rode the Jaguar six times in a row, nearly toppling over from lightheadedness after the last ride.

Justin and I didn't speak much, only in passing comments and niceties. It was easier that way.

By 5PM, we started to see the signs go up for the concert, so we decided to head over to the stage area, tucked behind the Ghost Rider, in an attempt to get decent seats. We found a table big enough for everyone - with the exception of Matt and Lana, who insisted they be at the front - and got comfortable.

Addison had been sleeping for about an hour, and I had pulled her from the stroller, cradling her to my chest against my sweatshirt, so I could try and shield her ears some from the music. I stood at the end of the table, swaying her back and forth, Mileena sitting next to where I stood, chatting idly with Laura about the day.

I felt a bump to my elbow, and looked to my right, seeing Justin standing next to me, large beer in his hand.

I nodded toward him. "What's up, man?"

My hand was rubbing circles on Addison's back, my knees bouncing gently.

"Could I borrow you for a minute?"

Looking at him curiously, I tried to gauge his intentions. I had kept a good enough distance from Leena for the day, in an attempt to not stir any drama.

"Uh, one sec." I turned, motioning with my chin for Folio to come over. "Can you take her for a minute?"

He just peeled her off of me, repositioning her on his chest. This caught Mileena's attention, who had a concerned look on her face as I began following Justin to where he stood a few feet away. I flashed her a small smile for reassurance.

The opening riffs to Skillet's first song caught my attention for a split second before I turned my attention back to Justin.

"What's going on?"

He took a long pull from his beer, and I noted that it wasn't the first he had that night. "I just wanted to chat with you. Hadn't had much chance to talk today." He snorted then. "Or...ever, really."

I laughed, putting my hands in my sweater pocket. "Yeah, I guess you're right."

"Congrats on finishing the album, man."

I nodded. "Thank you, I appreciate that."

We both looked over to the stage, taking a second to listen to the song. Comatose. A good one.

"So, can I ask you something? Man to man?"

I turned back to look at him, shrugging. "Go for it."

"Are you fucking Mileena?"

This caught me wildly off guard, making me lean back on my heels, eyes blown wide.

"Excuse me?"

"Cause you two seem a little more comfortable than typical exes."

My mouth was hanging open, my brain scrambled. "Dude..."

"If you are, I guess it's whatever. We never made anything exclusive." His words didn't match his tone at all, which told me if I didn't give the right answer, he would probably put a fist straight into my mouth.

As tempting as that was...

"No, man, we're not sleeping together." I waved a hand in between us, shaking my head. "We're not like that."

"Anymore." He added on.

"Well," I glanced back at Leena, who was watching the concert from her seat. "clearly. We do have a kid together."

He smiled at me then, his eyes darkening. The look made my stomach turn.

"She's great in bed, isn't she?"

My blood turned to ice, and my spine involuntarily straightened. I may be moving on, but I'm still a human being. I can only tolerate so much, and he was testing my fucking limit.

Before I could respond, he decided to continue. "I can't imagine how you ever let go of that, brother. She's fucking wild."

I ground my teeth together, jaw clicking in the process. My hands were balled into fists at my side.

"Let's not." Was all I could get out.

He scoffed. "Oh come on, it's not like we haven't both been there."

The eyes staring back at me were malicious. I couldn't believe what I was hearing. A hot, angry fire lit in my chest, screaming at me to rip this jackass' tongue straight out of his mouth, but I didn't. Instead, I returned his smile with my own, venomous and rage-induced.

"I mean, I guess you have a point." He raised his eyebrows, clearly not expecting my response. "There is a small difference, though."

He took another chug from his cup, wiping his mouth. "What's that?"

I licked my lips, glancing around to ensure no one was around.

"You get to fuck her, right?" He just nodded in response. "She begged me to fuck her."

I watched his smile fall, his eyes squinting and chest puffing out. "Oh yeah?"

I let my shoulders roll back easily. "Yeah. So," I leaned in, making sure he could hear me clearly. "that girl over there, regardless of if she's riding your cock, or any other douchebag's, belongs to me."

I could see his jaw tighten. I turned my body to walk away, leaving him with one last comment.

"And I'll just warn you now," I looked him up and down. "you're just temporary. May want to wrap your head around that."

With that, I walked away. It wasn't my proudest moment, I'll admit, but I didn't care. I held my head high as I walked back to the table, and took my daughter from Folio, bobbing to the music while she slept soundly in my arms.

Mileena and Justin had disappeared shortly after our talk, which didn't surprise me. I didn't see them through the rest of Skillet's set, and Lifehouse was due to come out after the intermission. I had handed Addie to Laura, taking a few minutes to run to the restrooms and grab a pretzel. I waited in line at the snack stand, scrolling through the photos I had taken on my phone that day, when I felt a hard slap come across my left shoulder.

I looked over, seeing a tearful Leena, face red with anger. "What the fuck did you say to him?!"

My eyes panned around, seeing all of the eyes staring at us.

"C'mon." I grabbed her arm, pulling her away from the line, but as soon as we were alone, she squirmed out of my grip.

"Seriously, Noah! What did you say?! He fucking left!"

I rolled my eyes at that. "I didn't say anything he didn't need to hear."

She deadpanned at me. "Which was what?"

Sighing, I adjusted my hat, turning it backwards on my head. "The guy's a dick, Leena. He wanted to talk about how you are in bed with me."

Her eyebrows shot up. "What?"

"I just made it clear that wasn't a good idea."

She narrowed her eyes. "He told me you said we were still sleeping together."

I shook my head. "Nope. I actually told him that we weren't."

"Noah, what did you say?"

After several attempts of trying to give her the cliffnotes version, she finally snapped and demanded to know what I said, verbatim.

Once I told her, I thought the big vein in her neck was going to explode all over both of us.

"What the fuck, Noah?!"

I kept my voice even. "I love how you're only mad at me, when he wanted to antagonize me, while also being halfway drunk." I threw my hands up. "On a day that's about my band, to begin with." I smirked, annoyed, and put my hands in my pockets. "Guy's got some fucking balls, I'll give him that."

Leena shook her head. "I am mad at him. But I'm more mad at you."

My face held an amused, bewildered look. "Make it make sense?"

She rolled her eyes. "Noah, you were the one who reasoned that he had a right to be uncomfortable."

"Oh, well let me be clear - I hereby retract that statement. Guy's a douche." I nodded at her to emphasize each word.

She groaned, and rubbed a hand over her face.

"The fuck am I going to do?"

I snorted. "That's on you, dude." She glared at me. "But my two cents? Break it off. He's an ass." And with that, I walked away from her, leaving her to stare after me with an exasperated look on her face.

Lifehouse finished, but my mood was dead. I had no interest in staying for Daughtry. I was so beyond annoyed by this entire situation, that I elected to leave early.

I offered to take Addison, but Mileena assured that she would take her until my regular day. Rather than argue, I just said my goodbyes to everyone, and headed for the entrance of the park.

My irritation grew the further out I got, and was at a full blown rage by the time I reached my truck, my fist landing on the door.

How could she? This muscled-up dirtbag comes in, pisses her off, and then has the audacity to try and talk shop with me, about her, and she's mad at me? Where is the fucking math on that? What did I fucking miss?

I had been so God damn tolerant. So patient. I had taken the mixed fucking signals, the back and forth emotions, the wanting me one second, and treating me like the outlier the next. I had taken it all on the chin. I'd sat there and watched her be in a new relationship, ignoring how painful that is. Moving on before my very eyes.

And all for...what? For going on tour? For leaving her alone? For admitting that I'm a human fucking being and pictured another woman naked? That for a split fucking second, I considered sleeping with her? For which I then beat myself up and felt guilty as fuck afterwards?!

I was done. Done being patient. Done being the bigger person. I got the fucked end of the stick this entire time, and now she's mad at me?

I sped down the highway, no regard for the limit, zooming toward my house so I could be alone. She ruined this day, and I was fucking over it.

It only took me twenty-five minutes before I was pulled up to my gate, noticing a sedan parked on the street outside of it with it's headlights on. This caught my attention, as it was a vehicle I didn't recognize.

I swiped in, and saw the sedan following me through the gate. This had me on guard, my eyes watching my rearview mirror as the car stopped behind my truck. I was too keyed up, willing to fuck up anyone who tried me at this moment.

Jumping out of my struck, I slammed the door behind me and walked toward the vehicle. The driver's door opened, and a small man, slightly hunched over, stepped out. He wore a lanyard around his neck with some form of ID, and held a manila envelope in his hands.

"This is private property." Was all I said before he walked up to me, a kind smile on his face.

"Noah Davis?"

I scrunched my nose. "Who's asking?"

He looked down at his papers and back up to me. "My name is Leonard James. Are you Noah Davis?"

I crossed my arms. "Sebastian."

He adjusted his glasses. "Oh, I apologize sir. I see that here. Noah Sebastian Davis?"

I rolled my eyes. "My government name, sure. Who are you?"

He handed me the envelope, still smiling at me.

"You've been served."

[roo-bastmoon]

The Long Game

First, let's acknowledge some major mismanagement by BigHit. Then, let's talk about what I think *might possibly* be their long game.

These are just guesses I have right now--I'm not stating facts and my opinions are subject to change as new info becomes available. But come with me for a few minutes...

In early 2022, Jimin's mail was "omitted" four times by BigHit employees, which lead to late insurance premium payments, which led to an on-paper "seizure" of his apartment. The press sat on that news for three months until the day his With You OST dropped and the scandal overshadowed his release. Jimin went to ground, avoided all social media for months. At this time, Jimin's personal information was leaked on the internet, and that was the last time we saw Jikook hang out alone that we know of.

Now in 2023, since Jimin's album FACE dropped, we already know about the sabotaged sales and streams by Hanteo, Billboard, YouTube, and Spotify. There was the issue with his in-ears not working properly during an encore. On top of all that drama, BigHit didn't get all the physicals shipped in time, they didn't playlist his songs for several days, they never sent his songs to radio (that we can see), they made one tweet to acknowledge Jimin's #1 on Hot100 but nothing else--not even a cake like the other solo albums got, they didn't let him film more than two music videos when they did that for their new groups, the press releases about their stocks going up after Hot100 also credited their new groups, and Jimin only had 9 days of uninterrupted promo between other members' works.

Now I am not a conspiracy theorist. I well understand that the military enlistment compressed schedules, and that each member had say in their creative works and promotions. I'm not a manti. But none of the above is a good look. Add up all those fumbles together, and you could make a solid case for mismanagement.

And now today, we see PD Bang on the cover of Billboard (which, OF COURSE, mentioned Blackpink in the same breath).

JUST LOOK AT THE WAY THE STORY IS BEING SHAPED FOR AMERICAN READERS. You see what's happening here? You think SM is gonna get a cover story for their side of the corporate shakedown?

And then there's this little gem:

"If your question is about the possibility of creating an artist like BTS again, the answer is no. However, if you were to ask whether there would be a K-pop artist from HYBE that tops the Billboard Hot 100 chart, my answer would be yes. [Jimin became the first BTS member to achieve this as a solo act on April 3 when his single “Like Crazy” debuted at No. 1.] The experience of managing BTS and operating different labels gave us access to powerful networks, infrastructures and experiences. With these, HYBE can repeat its remarkable results with the help of talented artists.

Okay so before everyone starts rioting online, take a moment, pause, reflect, think about what all might be going on here, behind the scenes, in this very political world of the music business.

Do I think Bang PD screwed Jimin over to score points with Billboard? No, I do not. But neither do I think Jimin's solo effort is anyone's priority but Jimin's.

"HYBE is primarily focusing on leveraging its accumulated expertise in managing and producing acts that consist of multiple members, rather than solo artists or mixed-gender groups in K-pop."

I think no one ever expected Jimin to make it to #1 on Hot100 and industry insiders felt pretty sure the West wouldn't let him stay in the top 10 the next week. Why? Well, partially racism. But mostly it's bad for their bottom line.

If your entire business model is that people pay for radio play and that gets them on your private chart and the private chart leads to more advertisers and awards... and then someone comes along and DOESN'T pay to play and gets to the top of your chart? Nobody needs you. So you HAVE to sabotage them. You absolutely have to change your rules. (I'm just sitting here waiting for Jimin to release his other songs so that Billboard can change their rules to say you can't be on Hot100 if your name starts with J- and ends with -imin.)

Now, it might have been satisfying for us as fans to see BigHit come out swinging and put Billboard on blast for his sake and ours. But they have ZERO. LEGAL. RECOURSE.

Billboard is privately owned and they can make whatever rules they want. They are part of a larger media company that has connections to every media outlet; no one is gonna publish an exposé any time soon, I promise you. We got exactly ONE English-speaking website to write about it and that was it. Everyone in the industry knows what is going on, and no one has the power to do anything much about it.

So what does that mean for the future?

Well... Bang PD just recently paid a HUGE mark up of $26 million to buy Trevor Noah's home out in LA.

And now he's on the cover of Billboard. WHY? Neither of these things will result in any immediate payout for him.

It's a long game.

And frankly, a very old and honored way of doing business. It's how they went up against the big three and it's how they are gonna go up against the West, I feel it in my gut.

Bang PD is getting a home on US soil. He will be paying US taxes. He's making in-roads by being nice with Billboard folks. He's making contacts; he's already had phone calls with Pharrell and Bieber and Grande and Laroi. Some of those are already shaping into collabs. We already know Hybe has set up shop in the US with Scooter at the helm.

Meanwhile, BigHit is adjusting in real time to the new rules around the charts (culling is happening to Yoongi too, so they changed up the check-out process of the BTS US Store). Suddenly there's plenty of focus on promoting via TikTok and other viral social media. They are dipping their toe into AI. They are discussing their own in-house ticketing option. This company is looking toward the future and hedging its bets.

Do I know with any certainty what's up their sleeve?

Absolutely not.

Do I trust any corporation very much?

Nope.

Do I have faith in BTS?

Probably more than anything else in my life, at this point.

So while I have no insider info, I just feel like the company is making very intentional and methodic footholds into the West. They are not complaining or screaming or suing or threatening anyone. They are not badmouthing competitors or whining about unfair deals. They are laying ground on complicated, political in-roads, one step at a time.

The Expo is in 2030. I'd wager by that time, BTS will have conquered the West and have some radio play.

And I think the company believes that in order to do that, they have to make their new groups profitable while BTS serves. They have to survive for the next two years.

When BTS is back, and their dues have been paid, I think they will be unstoppable. I hope they get to work on solo projects AND group projects. I think they will take over every corner of the world, if managed properly.

They just need to do it in a way that also assuages the Western music industry. The American Powers That Be have a chokehold on music and they will demand their pound of flesh somehow.

I strongly suspect BTS will never pay to play. But they will build relationships and find a way to become so interwoven in the cultural fabric that to deny them a place in Western spaces is to be left behind. And they will do it politely, and gently, and come out smelling like a rose.

So before you go off on social media and scream the walls down about neglect (and there WAS some, in my opinion) and abuse (we don't really know that), just take a moment to consider--if they had no legal recourse against Billboard, how can they beat them at their own game?

The best way to defeat an enemy is to make them a friend.

I'm just guessing here, but I think if fans stay loyal, BTS just might have the last laugh, here. I think they got radio scared as hell.

It sucks that Jimin didn't get fair treatment at this time. He is my bias and I feel it like a knife to my own heart. But he DID make history with his #1 and they can never take it away.

So I say give it time. All the people sniggering at him and BTS right now are going to sing a different tune in the future.

My best guess is that this is a long game, and it will require sacrifices that are totally unfair, but in the end... well, as long as BTS has ARMY, they cannot be denied.

Apobangpo.

[undead-supernova]

This Love is a Shrouded Mystery / Masterlist

Chapter 8 / Chapter 9 / Chapter 10

plot: welcome to your well-anticipated album release party! you couldn't be happier...right?

Pairings: modernrockstar!Eddie x fem!popstar!Reader (curvy!reader, bisexual!reader)

Warnings: bro there's so much angst I'm sorry, mention of smoking & alcohol

wc: 5k

note: I made the album cover/tracklist and wrote all of the lyrics mentioned in this chapter and I'm super proud of it! Thank you for reading my hard work hehhehehehee

ALSO DO NOT REPOST THESE LYRICS ANYWHERE ! Thank yew

He hated all the tiny things.

The way you crinkled your nose every time The Beatles came on. How you held your acoustic guitar like it was a delicate creature. The nights he would be up late practicing, only to find you passed out with your mouth slightly ajar and snoring. The mornings he spent listening to you making little sounds in your sleep, as if you were so close to saying something but didn’t know how. Your poetry and your music and your scent and your stupid smile you got whenever you looked at him and how grateful he’d been when he first noticed. 

And he really didn’t hate it at all.

He just missed you.

It was fucking torture, being away from you. He sat up, night after night, wondering what you were doing. How you felt now. If you wanted him back. If he was better off without you. If you could ever speak cordially and what that would cost.

As if he truly cared about the answer or the consequences.

Eddie just missed you.

You stared at yourself in the floor-length mirror, looking over your outfit for tonight. Trying not to suck in your stomach, trying to let yourself be the person that you wanted to be. 

A spaghetti-strapped crop top with Madonna-Whore Complex stitched in white across the breasts. Short shorts just to say Fuck You. Block-heeled boots laced up to your knees. All dolled up with a diamond necklace and thin rings. A velvet choker with a broken heart pendant in the middle.

There you were, a vision in pink. 

There you were, a shell of the person you used to be.

Maybe it would be better to play a role tonight.

But nothing was able to halt the worry, halt the anxiety that coursed through your veins. 

That last night, with your eyes glistening with grief, you’d told him you had to go into hiding. That you needed to get away from the public eye. That he couldn’t come with you. But he’d seen pictures of you since, albeit a bit blurry, running in and out of the recording studio in New York City.

There was an edge to your outfits now, with a touch more lipstick and heavier eye shadow. Changed your hair and painted your nails anything but your usual pink. Your face, the one that once held a permanent smile for the press, now hardened. Blank expressions. No smile, no feigned light in your eyes.

It was like you were wearing some kind of armor.

It was like watching someone trying to adapt to their surroundings.

Flailing, slipping.

Trying to prove to everyone else they can do it without thinking about the consequences of their actions.

Eddie could only hope you wouldn’t let yourself drown in the process.

“Yeah, I’m good,” you said for the third time in the last ten minutes.

If anyone had a goddamn braincell, they could see that you weren’t good. But this had been the last few months for you. Doing whatever anyone asked. Staying busy. In and out of the studio so often that it became your second home. You honestly couldn’t count how many times you’d fallen asleep—you got more there than when you were home anyways.

How could you when the only thing you saw behind your eyes were crashing waves, the roar of the boat as it pulled you further and further away from the life you desperately wished you were still living? You wrote and wrote and wrote, trying to make sense of it all. Trying to figure out how to apologize. How to profess your love. How to feel any semblance of desire to say goodbye.

Your label had been shocked when you’d gotten the album done so quickly after months of producing nothing—especially calling around and getting Halsey, Lucy Dacus, and Janelle Monaé to feature. Not to mention Maisie Peters who’d actually reached out to you. It was a match made in heaven, an album stitched and woven together by the bitterest fate. 

The label gladly rolled everything into production, insisting that you do as much promotion as you could. So, you were a little money machine, doing bland Instagram reels and Tiktoks, practicing your smile in between takes. You were fine to be a puppet. You’d done everything they wanted you to, right? What’s a little bit more?

What’s better than tightening the collar on your losing dog?

            “Can you get that done for me, sweetie?”

            “It would be so nice if you could just do this one thing.”

            “You know, the fans would love it if…”

            “We’d be grateful if you just…”

“You look tired.”

You turned to Este, noticing her raised eyebrow and crossed arms. The past few minutes had been spent zoning out, trying to keep yourself from thinking too hard. But it only made things worse because all you could do was remember why you were trying so hard not to think. Your friends knew better, but you hated admitting to it. 

“Just trying to wake up the excitement,” you lied.

“For yourself or for the label?” Becky asked.

You glanced over at the door before back at her. “Yes.”

“You got this, okay?” Mary encouraged, rubbing your back. “You’ll feel better once you get there. You know you will.”

“Yeah, you’re right. At least you guys are here.”

“We’d never miss it.”

A pang of grief washed through you at the reminder of someone who would most definitely miss tonight.

Eddie knew what tonight was—and he could’ve sworn it was going to kill him. Nothing hurt him more than not celebrating your album release with you. He was planning to show up and support you the best he could. Show you off. Make sure you felt as celebrated as you could be because you were so amazing.

But here he was, back in Wayne’s house for the weekend. Laying low, talking to the walls as if Wayne could hear him. Screaming at the ceiling for someone to give him a reason to make sense as to why his wounds were still bleeding. Even after five months.

Bouncing his knees on the edge of the guest bed, growing more and more anxious as the night fell. Going in and out of the back porch, cigarette after cigarette. Hoping and praying that Wayne was a ghost and was able to talk to him through the windchimes hanging by the front door. Feeling sick when they hadn’t moved. Not even once.

Fuck, Eddie should be there with you. He should be by your side.

Instead, he was ashing another cigarette and reaching for the Garfield mug hanging on the wall. Poured the last few sips of Jack Daniels left on the kitchen counter. Trudged back into the guest room.

Tried not to cry.

You were trying not to cry.

The party was spectacular, with all your favorite foods laid out and cake and your favorite music and your friends and, and, and…

It was everything you could ask for from tonight, but nothing you’d actually asked for. Clara had been sneaky, making sure that you assumed the livestream started two hours before it actually did. Brought you to this fancy restaurant, all decked out in themed balloons and pictures of you. A Congratulations banner and a big bottle of champagne for you to pop.

And you were happy, you really were. But there was just something that overwhelmed you about it all, something weighing on you. Something eating at your stomach, making it nearly impossible to eat or even talk correctly.

Scott kept you grounded the most, always giving you a word or two of encouragement. For the last five months, he’d been cautious of you. You knew it even if he never said it. Him and his wife, Rebecca, made sure to offer you a place to stay when New York started to feel like a stranger. And hiding out in Tennessee was never a bad idea, ending up getting a third home near him, just outside of Nashville.  

Tonight was no different. It was in the way he offered you food, asked if you needed some more water. If you looked even remotely uncomfortable, Scott was there to direct you somewhere else. Kept whispering that you were doing great. Kept reassuring you that your album was amazing. That you were amazing. That it was all going to be okay.

And it was a daydream, a surreal experience you were still getting used to after five years slowly rising into the public eye. Now here you were releasing your third album, knowing in your bones that this was your best work yet. 

And everyone was being so nice.

And the party was beautiful.

And you looked beautiful.

And…

And Eddie wasn’t there. 

He wasn’t anywhere these days, actually. It was like he had vanished entirely. There were no paparazzi pictures, no fan sightings. Even People Magazine had him on the front cover literally saying, “Bad Boy Eddie Munson Mysteriously Disappears from Public Eye.” You were uncertain if he’d ever be seen again. And you knew it was your fault. All of it was.

What felt the strangest was how the internet was still speculating whether or not you and Eddie broke up. It had been five months and you hadn’t told your publicist to confirm it. Didn’t even speak of it. 

The most peculiar thing was…neither had Eddie. There was nothing for anyone to do but question why the two of you hadn’t been spotted in public together even once.

Maybe one day you’d feel strong enough to bury this relationship.

Today definitely wasn’t that day.

And tonight definitely wasn’t it either.

But your album was all was about Eddie.

Everyone would know it.

And you just had to hope that one person out there would listen to it for the music and not for your real-life experiences.

But you guessed that was just how things would have to be.

So, you put on a smile and told yourself to get over it.

Smile for the cameras.

Come up with every way to deflect.

Since you’d broken up, it seemed that your label had set up a livestream for the fans to listen to the album with you at the same time. Experience it together. Get to send in questions. Get to connect. Eddie thought that was sweet, knowing how much you enjoyed talking to your fans. 

And he knew he shouldn’t, but he really considered hopping on.

Was it a little weird for him to tune into the listening party? 

Maybe.

But he wanted to hear the album, wanted to hear the songs you’d barely shown him when you were together. You were always so shy with your music you wrote for him—which was fair. He did the same thing, keeping any and all projects about you a secret. Hell, the new record set to drop next month was done in the last five, his fingers unable to do anything other than race up and down the neck. Stuffing his pick between his lips as he wrote and wrote and wrote. Tried to write himself out of whatever this black hole was that was starting to swallow him. 

And now here he was, ready to hear what you had to say.

Sighing, he grabbed his laptop.

But maybe you were better off without him.

Maybe this was all for a reason and everything just had to happen this way. It would be a nice thought, right? A nice explanation for the twisting of your gut as you set up for the livestream. Standing on a pink stage, practicing your smile one last time before the cameras got the shot juuust right. Took a step to the right to show off a poster with the album cover on it.

All you could think as they counted down from five was, I hope Eddie is watching.

When Eddie saw you, he knew he’d fucked up already.

You were radiant, always a vision in pink. Always a vision, period.

The album cover had the name “Madonna-Whore Complex” with a picture in the center of bunched up silk—pink, of course. The same color you were wearing. The same color Eddie had yearned to wrap in his arms and make breakfast for. 

And when Eddie heard your voice, his stomach flipped.

“So,” you started. “Before we even get to the tracks, I wanted to kinda explain the album title. I know people got a little weird about it, which is fair.”

Eddie could tell that you absolutely did not find that fair.

“But I think that we live in a society that is so obsessed with a woman’s place. If she’s happy with herself and comfortable with her sexuality, she must be seen as a villain or a whore. There’s no room for her to be a good person or even able to truly be in love.”

Something tugged at Eddie’s chest at the sound of you mentioning being in love. If only you’d said that to him five months ago. If only those words had left your lips, he’d have gotten on his hands and knees to make you stay.

But you hadn’t.

“It seems that you cannot be one or the other. Either you’re this harlot who runs through people like it’s nothing or you must be this chaste woman who is only allowed to be idle in the corner. I think that I’ve always been put in this position, and, with the content of this album, I feel like I’m able to both be satirical about those accusations and show the vulnerability of, um.” He watched your eyes dart away nervously before coming back. “The vulnerability of how that has affected my personal life and my personal relationships.”

“Oh, and I really love the back cover,” you said with a wide grin, shifting the subject. “Especially the track list and the font and, oh my god, the people I collaborated with? Incredible artists, right? I just feel really excited for you guys to hear it in a few minutes.”

It was then that he remembered he hadn’t looked at the track list, too anxious at the thought of you referencing anything about him on there. But of course, you did. What else would this album be about? Some other guy? He knew better than to speculate anything like that.

His heart began to race as he found it all laid out for him already, his words being spat back out at him. Something True. Could You Say the Same? Acceptance Speech. Trade You for the World. Could’ve Fooled Me.

Eddie’s stomach twisted, queasy with the exact anxiety that he’d spent the last few months trying to prevent. But he couldn’t run away from this. He was already here, watching you nearly trip over your heels in real time. Reading the titles out, each one feeling like a prison cell built just for him.

Shakily, you stated, “Okay, everyone. Let’s start the album.”

Took a deep breath.

Closed your eyes.

Eddie took a deep breath.

Closed his eyes.

And listened.

         “Okay, my pretty boy…now move!”

Eddie felt like he was losing his ability to breathe. Track after track, jumbled with lyrics all meant for him. All written for him. Words upon words of poetry that told him how much you missed him and how guilty you fucking felt and how you just went ahead and chose the world over him and, dear god, it was all too much for him.

Grief settled in his chest at every line that he called his favorite.

Okay, Now Stop!

          “Okay, now stop!

         We're dancing dirty to The Beatles and the Stones.

         Okay, now stop!

         You're dancing pretty asking me to lead you home."

The Bisexual Slut (featuring Halsey)

         “This one boy whimpers on his knees

         Twenty girls beg to finally taste me 

         If I’m so greedy, so damn needy

         Then why does their love come so easy?”

My Body, Your Choice

         “Should I base my worth off your fickle insecurities?

         Take a scalpel to my skin to justify your animosity? 

         If I’d known my body was stained with impurity

          I would’ve begged my mother to deliver me with modesty

         But I wouldn’t change a goddamn thing

         Fuck you, I’ll never change a thing.”

Something True

         “Tell me a story, one where love always dies

         Say it with finality in your glassy brown eyes

         Thread the needle to weave through our fate

         Knowing the outcome, you still beg me to stay.”

Madonna-Whore Complex

         “My halo slipped, and my limbs are sore

         But his head seems to stay in between my legs

         I’m wrapped around his fingers as they choke my neck

         I’m his sweetheart, his princess, his saccharine whore.”

The Mess (You Once Called Yours)

         “And your fingerprints stain this house

         Baby, I’m haunted by your phantom touch

         Oh, now I’m screaming and pleading, growling and howling,

         ‘Please end this agony, my love, it’s all too much.’”

Your Residential Coward

         “Guess she’ll never really let me live that down

         Throwing daggers at my portrait now that I’m gone 

         And now that I finally see my tilted crown 

         It turns out I was the jester all along.”

Could You Say the Same?

         “Simple questions come with simple answers

         That’s why I sew my mouth shut

         The moment I saw you, wild necromancer

         Devotion gnawed at my gut.”

Synonymous (featuring Lucy Dacus)

         “Sucking in my stomach in attempt to survive

         It’s like I’m fifteen again

         All crooked teeth, low self-esteem, and love-deprived

         Only coping with a wilted pen.”

My Gentleman

         “You’ll never let me look away, that is the cerulean dream

         Could be your future wife if we let our consciousness stream

         And I confess I don’t think that would be too much to hope for

         So keep talking like that, let the wine pour, pour, pour.”

Acceptance Speech (featuring Janelle Monáe)

         “In the modern age, a sacrifice is already made

         The moment that you’ve made a choice

         But, baby, the problem always chooses herself

         And suddenly she has lost her voice.”

Trade You for the World

         “I stood in sepia tones while you bled electric crimson 

         Built the motivation before I built the scene

         Led the poets astray, bathed them in patient indecision

         Now I sit in vignettes of truth, desire what was in between.”

Back to the Beginning

         “City after city, glazed in momentary dignity, 

         I chased the prophecy of my becoming

         And, dear god, if I could tuck my tail between my legs

         I’d run us right back to the beginning.”

Could’ve Fooled Me (featuring Maisie Peters)

         “And we’re dancing around each other tonight

         Elevators built like confessionals

         Desperate to blanket myself in transparency

         I wanna say, ‘Pretty boy, you’re sensational.

         We weren’t the only freaks anyhow

         But how could anyone not love you then?

         And how could they not love you now?’”

Eddie watched you dance and party. Vaguely answer the questions about what certain lyrics meant. Focused on the sound more than the overall meanings. Thanked everyone for giving you this celebration and how you were very grateful for this opportunity.

And, peculiarly, you were handed a new acoustic guitar, soft pink and sparkling. Your name written in calligraphy down the neck.

“Um, so since this is a special night,” you said while trying to move your white capo down to the third fret. “I wanted to play a special song that didn’t make the album. It just didn’t fit the rest of the album’s vibe, so I cut it.” 

You laughed and Eddie knew he was the only one who could notice it was out of nerves. You tested the strings, making sure everything was in tune. 

“But I wanted to play it for you guys if that’s okay?” Laughing again, you shook your head. “I hope everyone said yes, otherwise this would be so embarrassing.”

You leaned into the microphone, glancing up at the camera as if you were making direct eye contact with Eddie and Eddie alone.

“It’s called Questionnaire.”

The chords were simple. 

C, Em, Am.

F, G, C.

It rang out soft, sweet. Albeit a bit sad.

         He noticed the way you chewed on your lip before you started, finding your groove.

         “Do you think about the way we live without sanctuary?

         How the fates wrap their hands around our throats, cutting off our breath?

         Do you think about the way we live without sanctuary?

         How there’s no guarantee when it’s over there’ll be anything left?”

Eddie felt a sickness wash over him as he heard you sing directly to him. You were right. It was different from the rest of the album.

He tried to gauge how you were feeling, knowing damn well the only way he could was through the music itself. How the change in chords matched the change in your emotions. 

G, Am, F.

         “Oh, oh, oh.”

Am, G, F.

         “Oh, oh, oh.”

The camera pulled in closer to your face, as if they knew that Eddie was watching. Waiting. Pathetically desperate to hear what you had to say to him. 

         “Do you wonder if there’s any chance that this was all just a dream?

         But there’s no fucking way you can’t hear me calling your name.

         Do you wonder if there’s any chance we could wipe ourselves clean?

         But there’s no fucking way to explain the way I’ve been claimed.”

You repeated the Ohs, belting out the last set before you changed the sound completely. 

New chord patterns. New set of emotions. Harsh strumming, the sound growing louder and louder as frustration filled your voice.

         “Do you know the clouds darken whenever you’re away?

         Convinced myself that my storm would worsen if I’d stayed.

         God, I need you now to answer my revelation.

         Is there any dignity in self-preservation?”

You repeated the line again, sounding angrier than before.

         “Is there any dignity in self-preservation?”

The buildup faded away, the rough strumming turning light again as the chords of the verses returned. There was a small instrumental as the camera pulled out to show you on your pink throne, surrounded by the pink balloons and holographic streamers.

You were alone.

Eddie could just barely make out the tears trickling down your face as you began to strum each chord once.

         “Do you think about the way we lived without sanctuary?

         How we fought and you fought for me until I gave it all up?

         I think about the way I live without your sanctuary.

         How there’s no guarantee I’ll ever fall in love again.”

You sighed and sniffled softly before repeating it. 

         “How there’s no guarantee I’ll ever fall in love again.”

Despite no one being in the shot, he could hear applause coming from around the room. He could even hear Becky, Este, and Mary individually, all cheering you on.

He watched you stand, laughing off the emotions as you blotted the wetness around your eyes. “Okay, Now Stop!” started playing over the screen as people scrambled to disassemble the makeshift stage. 

It occurred to Eddie then that there…had been no chorus. No hook. It was just a list of questions for him and statements for yourself. A bout of self-loathing and the guilt that he was only now starting to grasp.

And he realized that he too was crying, trying desperately to cease them with the back of his hand. And then his sleeve. And then the tissues he scrambled around the bedroom to find. 

As soon as the livestream ended, Eddie pulled out his phone.

“You’re so brave for doing that,” Becky said, crushing you in a hug. “I’m so proud of you.”

A broken smile met your lips. “God, everyone’s going to talk about it.”

“Let them,” Mary said with a scoff. “Who cares?”

“Yeah,” you whispered, knowing full well who you really wanted to talk about it. To hear it. To think about it.

Your phone began to vibrate in your pocket. As you pulled it out, something resembling belief in fate rushed through you.

Eddie.

You couldn’t suppress an audible gasp, taking a step back from the conversation.

“I’m sorry, I have to take this,” you mumbled before walking away quickly. Pressed that green button. Whispered, “Hello?”

“Oh, hey.”

His voice crawled over you in a rush of relief, an ease that had been missing for so fucking long. “Eddie, hey,” you said nervously, shocked by your own ability to say his name out loud.

“Hey, is this an okay time?”

“Yeah, yeah. You’re good. What’s up?”

“Nothing,” he lied, fiddling with blanket. “I just wanted to congratulate you on the album. It’s really incredible. Your best work yet.”

“Oh, thank you, Eddie. Um, you think?”

“Hm?”

“That it’s my best work?”

“Of course it is,” he answered with a breathy chuckle. “Are you kidding me? You took your individual sound and expanded on it and made it into a high-quality concept album. And the lyrics are incredible. It’s beautiful.”

“That’s really kind of you to say. I’m really proud of it.”

“You should be.”

“Are you working on anything new?”

“Yeah, we’re actually finishing up the album now. Should be out next month if everything goes right.”

“I bet, um. I bet it’s incredible.”

Eddie’s chest tightened at your hesitation. “Each song transitions into one another. You’d think it was cool.”

“I’ll have to listen to it. If, um, if you think I should.”

Swallowing a sigh, Eddie closed his eyes and tried to focus on keeping his voice level. Keep from cracking. Keep from begging for you to come back.

“It’s only if you want to,” he replied, trying to stay neutral before moving on. “Are you doing okay? I know you get really anxious after being, like, out in the open for a while.”

“Yeah, sure I am.” He knew you were lying. “It’s just work.”

“I just wanted to make sure you were okay in case you weren’t,” he admitted.

“You know…” you trailed, pausing.

You took a deep breath, trying to calm your racing heart. “You didn’t have to call if you didn’t want to…”

“Ah, come on,” he said with a chuckle. “I wanted to call you, so I called. Promise.”

Anxiety began to wash over you as you bit the bullet. 

“Is that everything you wanted to say?”

Why hasn’t your publicist confirmed the breakup?

Is this killing you like it’s killing me?

“Well, uh, I don’t know.”

Did you really mean what you said about never falling in love again?

Does that mean there’s a chance?

“What does that mean?” you asked. “I’m confused.”

Is this over?

Are we over?

“I think… I think that’s all I had to say.”

And there was the disappointment.

“Oh, okay.”

“Yeah, I hope you have a good night.”

“Yeah, you too.”

“Oh, hey, one last thing.”

You couldn’t help that ugly surge of hope. “Yeah?” 

“Remember to take care of yourself. You matter more than anyone else does.”

“Oh,” you responded, deflating. “Yeah, I’ll try, Eddie. Take care.”

“Bye.”

“Bye,” you whispered before ending the call.

There’s nothing to say once the phone call ends. No one mentioned the breakup. No one mentioned how the album he called incredible was about him. About the love. The crash and burn. How your love still glowed inside you, bright enough for him to touch if he’d just stretch his fingertips a little further.

And yet, neither of you said a thing.

And neither of you admitted to what you knew was coming in his own album.

You found yourself mute as you shuffled into the back of the black SUV and got out of the city. Left your buzzing phone next to you, knowing that Eddie wouldn’t call you again. Knowing that everything must be over now.

If this was closure, it sure didn’t feel like it.

When you walked into your house, still empty and swirling with dust, you let the grating silence whisk you towards the wine cabinet. Got yourself the shiniest glass you had, poured the cheapest bottle you found. Sat on the back porch and looked out at the moon. 

If things were different, Eddie would be here right now instead of a voice in a fucking phone. His voice, a tiny shard of glass that was surely going to rip you open and never mend itself again. 

He’d sit next to you with his own glass. Comment on how nice it was to just drink the cheap stuff. Roll you a celebratory joint with dried rose petals, the way you liked it. Ask if it was okay if you spent the night out here, just looking up at the moon together.

It’d been a full year since you’d met. Five months since you last spoke. And now you were starting to fold, starting to maneuver yourselves into strangers. Even if that was the last thing Eddie wanted. Even if the mere thought of never talking again made nausea pool in his stomach.

Eddie desperately wished you were looking at the moon together.

And maybe you would feel different than you did tonight. Maybe you would’ve had a perfect night with all your accomplishments and the perfect man beside you to experience it all with.

But he wasn’t there. 

And you felt so alone.

So fucking alone.

Tears streamed down your face, a burning in your chest growing with each What If that you conjured. 

You were not better off without him. 

He knew it the moment you told him goodbye on the island. He knew it the moment he returned to California, shutting himself off from the world. He knew it the second he called you and the second he heard you say goodbye one last time.

Eddie was not better off without you.

once again thanks to the lovely @strangergraphics for making beautiful dividers for me. it is an honor!

[tryingtodotheright-thing]

Hello, Sunset - 9

AN: It ended up being a long wait so thank you to everyone who waited patiently. I think I'll be slowing my posting to one chapter a month. It was a lot of pressure to get a chapter written for every week (I put it on myself). I think this is more realistic and hopefully I'll enjoy the process more. I'm still trying to get into the flow of writing and none of this is proof read so please excuse mistakes. PAIRING: Seungcheol x fem!reader GENRE: exes to lovers, idol verse, angst WORD COUNT: 3,697 WARNINGS: reader has anxiety and depression, swearing, mentions of alcohol Text in blue is spoken/written in Korean. PREVIOUS / NEXT

The next three weeks in Japan fly by in the blink of an eye. Y/N made the most of her week’s rest in Kyoto before she moved to Tokyo for rehearsals. To her relief, the six nights of concerts across Japan went well. In fact, she was still buzzing from the last performance in Japan, when Fuji Kaze joined her as a surprise guest. She’s been rotating her discography, reworking songs to be duets based on who was joining her on stage as well as singing songs of the guest artist as a duet as well. She was enjoying learning from the experienced and talented musicians around her, not just the ones joining as guests but also the band who were playing live for her concerts. Y/N sometimes regretted not studying music as a subject in university. There was so much she didn’t know about music theory and often felt like she was making things up as she was going. The reassurance she received from the world-class musicians she worked with for the concerts boosted her confidence as an artist tremendously.

Y/N had just finished rehearsals for her first concert in Seoul tomorrow night. Out of all the famous celebrities she’s met since fame came into her life, the special guest for Seoul had been the person she had been most nervous yet desperate to meet. Y/N had been introduced to Kpop as a genre in 2007 when she was 11 years old by Eun Ji and one of the first bands she’d fallen in love with was BIGBANG. Everything about them had been cool to put it simply. The fact that she would be standing on stage and singing with Taeyang, the singer she’d admired for so long, is something Y/N still couldn’t get her head around.

The man was humble. Meeting him for the first time in person earlier today, Y/N couldn’t immediately connect that the person in front of her was the same one who’d put on a fearless performance in front of thousands. He’d walked in quietly in simple clothes and bowed politely to everyone in greeting and shook hands with all those who were involved in the production of the concert. He had asked if Y/N would be more comfortable speaking in English and foregoing honorifics but Y/N was too uncomfortable to refer to him as just Taeyang or Youngbae, remembering how he ruled the music scene in South Korea. 

“Taeyang sunbaenim, it’s such an honour to meet you! I can’t believe this is real,” Y/N had gushed.

“I really enjoyed listening to your latest album. I think it embodies why people say music feeds the soul.” 

He had blushed and thanked her before returning the compliments. The rehearsal that had followed still brought goosebumps to Y/N as she reminisced. Taeyang is Taeyang for a reason. 

Hearing a knock on her hotel room, Y/N got up from the sofa in her hotel suite. The boys were here. Knowing she’d be exhausted and would be flying out immediately after the second concert night, she had arranged to meet Joshua, Vernon and Seungkwan tonight for a meal instead. It was nothing elaborate, she’d ordered some food for them all to enjoy in her hotel suite. The boys had initially invited her to their dorm but she’d declined using rehearsal timings as an excuse. In reality, she’d said that as she didn’t want to take any chances. An article had been released when she was in Japan that Seungcheol would be using his outstanding holiday days and as a result, he would be discharged on 16 March 2026. The date was 19 March 2026 and whilst it was extremely unlikely Seungcheol would be anywhere near the dorms and was most definitely catching up with family in Daegu, Y/N was not going to try her luck. 

Opening the door, she was greeted with a blonde haired Joshua who immediately wrapped his arms around Y/N whilst Seungkwan and Vernon waved at her with occupied hands that carried more food. She ushered them in whilst Joshua still clung onto her like a koala and closed the door behind Vernon once they were all in.

“Hyung, get off. It’s our turn to hug, Noona.” 

Seungkwan pried Joshua’s claws off Y/N and was successful only because Joshua relented. Y/N was able to take a breath of freedom before she was engulfed in Seungkwan’s arms. She rubbed his back as he murmured his complaints of not seeing her for so long. Vernon peered over them hesitantly before shrugging and hugging her from the side. 

“Group hug!” 

Y/N groaned at the extra weight as Joshua joined in. Y/N took it all in, grateful that despite her disappearing act, they still cared for her and missed her. They eventually let go one by one, with Seungkwan the last to let go. She ruffled his fluffy brown hair in affection before patting his cheek as if to say she understood. If Joshua was the annoying elder brother, Seungkwan and Vernon were the adorable younger brothers she doted on. Y/N slung an arm around the shoulders of each 98 liner and guided them to the table where a delectable spread of Korean street food had been laid out for them to gorge on. Seungkwan and Vernon added to the feast some fried chicken and pizza as well as some soft drinks. Y/N was surprised the table didn’t give out under the weight of all of this food. She gestured for the boys to start eating and that she’d be right back. She ran to her room to grab the birthday presents she’d purchased for the three boys. When she returned to the living room of the suite, the boys stopped their conversation and turned to her. Deciding it was better off not knowing, Y/N ignored their suspicious act and passed each parcel to the correct member. She told them to open it later when they got home and they agreed, thanking her.

Slowly, the lingering awkwardness dissipated as the dynamics of their relationship came into play naturally. The target of their jokes was Joshua most of the time. Y/N would side with Seungkwan whilst Vernon would judge their antics as always. However, when Vernon joined in on the banter, the teasing was almost always aimed at Y/N. They joked about Y/N falling for Vernon’s tricks yet again as they munched on the food on offer. Y/N threw a rolled up tissue at the laughing men only to miss all three men, making them laugh harder. She caught up on what they’ve been up to, making sure they knew she’d done her best to keep up as she referenced Seungkwan’s latest appearance on a variety show. They updated her on their upcoming activities, from the maknae line’s album release to Joshua’s front page on the next Vogue issue. They spoke about Y/N’s tour, how this time was so different to her last tour due to its scale and how she envied the boys getting to tour together since it got lonely for her at times. She’d be flying to Hong Kong the morning after the second concert night. Joshua commented that it was a shame she won’t be spending much time in Seoul. Y/N suggested that they all come to her final show at the end of May in London and she promised to host them and play tour guide. 

“Yes, yes! I want to go to London! I can’t believe we still haven’t completed a Europe tour.” Seungkwan voiced with excitement.

“I always thought Seungcheol hyung would beat us to visiting you in London though.” 

Joshua slapped the back of Seungkwan’s head but it was too late; the words had already been spoken. It was as if someone had taken a big, sharp needle to a balloon. The safe space their camaraderie had built burst immediately. Joshua hesitated whether to acknowledge He Who Must Be Not Named. As much as Seungkwan had brought the male up with no warning and definitely no tact, Joshua had wanted to broach the subject. He’d spoken to Coups upon his discharge and as soon as the pleasantries had been spoken, his friend had brought up Y/N. Joshua had just told him she’s doing well and moved the conversation along but he knew Coups wasn’t satisfied.  

“Actually, Y/N-yah, a couple of days ago, I got a call from Cou-”

“Oh, look at the time! I really need to go to bed so I can make it to rehearsals in the morning.”

Joshua sighed at the avoidance and accepted that his friends would need to figure things out themselves. They said their goodbyes not long after wishing Y/N good luck for her performance the next day. Y/N refused to linger in the remorseful atmosphere and went straight to bed.

The moon gave way to the sunrise quickly. Y/N ate a light breakfast after freshening up, whilst pulling together a mental checklist of everything she would need to complete that day before the concert kicked off at 6pm. Soon, she was back at the concert venue for soundcheck. The next few hours passed in a flash as Y/N completed soundcheck, freshened up before putting herself under the care of her make up artist. The KSPO Dome was vast but cold, with spring not quite blooming in Seoul as the frost of winter still lingered in the air. Once Y/N was dressed in her first outfit for the concert, she’d sent a quick message of thanks to Joshua and the others with a picture of the flowers that rested in a tall vase of water in front of her. Cute, she’d called them. She hadn’t expected and was pleasantly surprised. 

When the trio had confirmed their attendance for her Seoul stop, Y/N had asked if they were sure. It had only been six months since the fiasco during the summer. She didn’t want to stir the pot again or start new fires. They had reassured her that there would be no problems; in fact, they’d encouraged her to recognise and mention during the concert if she felt comfortable to do so. The secrecy sometimes just blew things out of proportions. Maybe if they’d been open about their friendship from the beginning, it wouldn’t have been so easy for the narrative to turn against her. Y/N shook her head, as if the action would shake the thoughts out of her mind. She needed to focus on the present.

The next 30 minutes was a blur as she greeted Taeyang who had just arrived, got her mic set up and completed her last set of vocal warm ups. Then, she was on stage, almost blasted on to it actually. She loved it. Every second of it. Y/N had been content enough with her life before, satisfied enough to get by with a few loyal fans (most of whom were friends) and some comments on her YouTube channel. Now that she had experienced the adrenaline, the exhilaration of performing on stage, she knew that she could not give it up. It was like a drug. When others had explained it as such, she’d scoffed at them. She knew better now. It was pure ecstasy. The thrill that washes her from head to toe as she performed to thousands, who were all there to listen to her sing - there was nothing like it. She was sure that if pharma companies could come up with a way to bottle it up and sell it, they would make millions. Humans were greedy and she was human after all. Y/N wanted to be adored. She wanted to be treasured. She wanted to be needed. Being on stage filled gapes within her that she didn’t know existed. 

Soon, Y/N was singing her song ‘Honey’ and watched in amusement as she saw the jaws drop and the silent gasps from her audience as the stage door opened to reveal Taeyang as he sang along with her. It was the first time she’d rearranged this song as a duet and it came across much more playful as a duet. It was also fitting to sing a song called ‘Honey’ with the man whose voice melted hearts. After introducing Taeyang, Y/N had run off for an outfit change whilst he sang his latest release. People who had ever experienced performing would know that time flows differently during a show, of any kind. The moments on stage slowed down almost to the point as if you were watching a recording on your old VCR player, with the video rolling on 0.5 speed. As soon as your part was done and you moved backstage into the darkness, time sped up as if someone was pressing the control buttons, pressing the fast forward button again and again until you were back on stage. It’s how it felt to Y/N as she walked back on stage cheering Taeyang after he’d finished singing two songs on his own. After a small chat between them on stage, they’d moved to sing one last song together. 

“Please raise your hands together for the one and only Taeyang everyone!” 

Taeyang waved to the audience before walking off stage with a salute. Then, it was back to the program. Three songs later, Y/N was giving her final thanks to the audience before she sang the last song. She thanked the live band, the tour production team, the W Music staff and of course, the audience who had made the effort to come and see her perform. Emma had asked if she wanted to recognise any celebrities in the audience and Y/N had said no. She didn’t want to make a faux pas or miss anyone. She’d not done it before at her shows and she didn’t want it to seem as if she was deliberately calling attention to the SEVENTEEN members in the audience to validate her friendship. However, as she was finishing thanking her two best friends, Rachel and Eun Ji, who were in the audience, the spotlight and camera flicked to land on Joshua, Seungkwan and Vernon. The audience began to scream in excitement, and that’s when Y/N turned to face the screen and saw the trio on the screen. Y/N was grateful her back was to the audience and hoped people were distracted enough to not notice the panic on her face. 

“So SEVENTEEN is in the house today!”

Y/N remained standing with her back to the audience as if she was admiring them on the screen but in reality was avoiding hundreds of fancams of her reaction being filmed and uploaded to Twitter (nobody calls it X) and Instagram. She watched as they waved to the camera before Seungkwan raised his finger to the camera, gesturing to ask for a second. Confused, she turned back to look at them directly as if she could figure out what was going on better that way. She kept turning her head between the giant screen and there friends who were now standing up from their seats, even Vernon, who was in the middle. Joshua unravelled something in his hands and Seungkwan seemed to be helping him and then they were holding up a banner between the three of them that read, “Our Y/N is so cool!” 

Y/N giggled at their antics as Vernon threw his hands up in the air in jazz hands as Joshua and Seungkwan looked pleased that they could show off their banner. 

“Ah yes, thank you! Thank you!”

Joshua and Seungkwan rustled the banner as if they weren’t quite convinced they had gotten the message across. 

“Thank you, SEVENTEEN. SEVENTEEN is also cool!”

Joshua and Seungkwan looked to be relaxing and Y/N laughed at the relief on Vernon’s face at the thought of being able to lower his arms that must now be aching but then Joshua and Seungkwan nodded at each other and held up the banner higher with a flourish and Vernon tipped his head back and sighed before putting up his jazz hands again.

“I get it. I’m cool. Now stop it. Stop it!”

Joshua gestured as if to ask her if she saw the sign. 

“Yes, I saw it and I appreciate it. Now sit down and let me continue with the show. This isn’t GOING SEVENTEEN.”

Seungkwan showed the okay sign and the trio sat back down. The audience’s laughter slowly teetered to an end. 

“I promise I didn’t bribe them to do that.”

The audience gave a short chuckle at that. The tour producer told her to wrap up and move to the last song in her in-ear. Y/N walked to the chair and the stand mic that was set up in the middle of the stage. She picked up the acoustic guitar that was seated on the chair and sat down. 

“Thank you for joining the Shining tour in Seoul and this is Stripes.” 

Y/N strummed the guitar to play the instrumental opening of the song that started it all. A costume change and a 20-minute encore later, Y/N was in the green room of Taeyang, who’d stayed to watch the rest of the show. She was bowing and thanking him for the nth time for his guest appearance. He wouldn’t be joining her tomorrow as he could only commit to tonight’s show. Y/N gave her final thanks and asked him to let her know if he ever needed her to return the favour and of course if he would like tickets for any of her upcoming shows. 

“I’ll definitely take you up on that offer!”

“Please do, sunbaenim! Just let me know when and where, I would be happy to -”

“Noona! Noona! Where are you?”

Seungkwan’s calls from the corridor caught their ears. Taeyang chuckled and said he would leave her with her guests. Y/N followed Taeyang and his team out of the room and saw Seungkwan a few yards away peeking into her own dressing room. Y/N rushed towards Seungkwan and saw Joshua and Vernon had now also arrived backstage. The boys greeted Taeyang and they spoke briefly before he left to go home. Then, it was just the four of them if you ignored all the staff who were rushing to finish the last of tidying up for the next night so they could get back for some sleep. 

“Wow, you were so cool! So amazing! How do you sing like that?!” 

All three of them said a variation of compliments, exclaiming how much they had enjoyed the show and were blown by the performance. They didn’t linger for long as they could see Y/N was scared. They promised they’ll be back for tomorrow’s performance as well and hugged her goodbye. Joshua hesitated to follow the others and leave. He asked the 98 line to head back first and that he would be there soon. 

“Y/N?” 

She was busy packing up her personal items into her tote bag and looked up briefly to acknowledge she was listening before returning to the task.

“Coups messaged me tonight. He saw that we were at the concert.”

Y/N stilled for a second before forcing herself to keep moving, and continued packing. She knew Joshua had more to say. 

“He knows you’ve got the concert tomorrow night and that you’re flying straight after.”

Y/N put the now packed bag to the side and gave her full attention to Joshua. He looked nervous and uncomfortable. Whatever message he was passing on, Y/N could tell he was worried about her reaction. She could tell where this was going.

“I tried to mention this last night but you … anyways, uhmm, he asked me again if I could pass on a message for him.” Joshua paused when he saw Y/N take a deep breath. She nodded for him to carry on.

“I know it might be too late but I wonder if you too are hoping if we can talk. I know I’m being selfish but whether it’s new beginnings or goodbyes, I think you deserve an apology and I deserve to share my side too … uhm that’s what he said.”

As if to prove it, Joshua held up his KakaoTalk messages for Y/N to read. Y/N saw that he had also asked if he could come to tomorrow night’s concert instead of one of the others, which Joshua hadn’t mentioned, probably assuming she wouldn’t agree to that idea. 

“It’s getting late, you should go home, Josh.”

Joshua nodded but didn’t make a move. He didn’t know whether to push for an answer so he could update his bandmate or leave his friend so she can gather her thoughts and sleep on it. Deciding he had already pushed his luck and it was unfair to ask for more right now, Joshua nodded to himself that leaving now was the right decision. He hugged Y/N from the side since she was facing the mirror and taking off her makeup.

“I’m sorry for springing this on you. I just didn’t want either of you to regret missing the chance. I won’t say anything more on this, okay? Goodnight Y/N, make sure you get home soon, okay.”

He let go of her and walked away. Vernon had closed the door to her dressing room earlier so Joshua twisted the handle and pulled the door open. He saw Vernon and Seungkwan hovering just in the periphery, waiting for him. They were probably guessing about their discussion and most likely had been correct on the topic. 

“Bye, Y/N. I’ll see you tomorrow.”

“Josh?” 

He pivoted to face her again with the door still open. 

“I’ll ask for an extra ticket to be left at the door. Good night.” 

Joshua wished his friend goodnight and closed the door behind him. He really hoped that tomorrow would bring a happier outcome for all of them. 

[pinkheart22]

Taylor Swift and her terrible 2's and 12's

Taylor Swift has just been Nominated for 2 more VMA's

1 for song of the summer (fortnight) and the 2nd is for her performance in 2009 - the same year as the incident on stage. This gives her a total of 12 nominations

2 days after the incident Taylor says "he who must not be named" Apologized to her on ABC Radio

Taylor Nation said "Double Days" in their newest VMA voting post. Double is 2

This weeks TikTok bead for Self-Titled you watched Taylor on the Eras Tour sing, I Can Do It With A Broken Heart (where she says And Nobody Even Knows) (in the video you watch she is doing the same lift as the I did Something Bad lift during rep tour. Every other dance in ICDIWABH performance at the eras tour matches other eras tour dances except the lift) the same video you watch for last weeks bead for Fearless Taylors Version. Thats 2 times we watch the same clip. (The clip was posted on 5/26 5+2+6=13) It's strange because she didn't have a sound for reputation bead, or a name on the profile frame just a snake, and there is no offical frame for Self-Titled, just certified swiftie (this could be because taylor nation is giving away tickets and they wanted a sound, but nothing is not on purpose for them) Is there no self-titled frame because a Taylors Version one could be coming?

And she sang I did something bad N6 in London, she laughed and smiled when she sings "they never see it coming what I do next"

The Self-Titled Bead lasts for 2 weeks instead of 1 like the others. And Ends on September 12th (day after the VMA's)

It takes a snake 2 weeks (14 days) (or a fortnight) to shed its skin.

In the ME! music video the snake bursts into butterflies

There is 2 Self-Titled Eras Albums (Taylor Swift and Beautiful Eyes)

She has 2 unreleased Taylor's Version Main Albums (not including Beautiful Eyes and Taylor Swift The Holiday Collection)

Taylor has been holding up a lot of 2's (even after TTPD was released) on the Eras Tour

On the Taylor Swift Store Self-Titled and Reputation T-shirts are listed next to each other. *during the august summer sale* The 2 unreleased taylors versions albums. Both priced 33.75 3+3=6 7+5=12. A couple things 6 is reputation. 12 is December, the month of Taylor's birthday. Then 6 upside down is 9. That is 9/12. Same day the Self-Titled Bead Ends.

Only 2 other shirts are that price (33.75) on Taylor Swift .com. Midnights and Karma. Midnights is the album she announced on August 28 2022 at the VMA's. Karma is thought to be the "Lost Album" Thats 4 shirts. 4 is divisible by 2. Taylor Nation is known to use prices as hints, or referencing something like when the tickets to the Eras Tour film were 19.89 like her birth year / album.

Taylor / Taylor Nation / TikTok changed the bead's name from Debut to Self-Titled on August 28, the same day Taylor Announced Midnights 2 years ago. (They changed it to self-titled after it had been called Debut since the start of Tiktok Beads in June, which is strange why they didnt start it with Self-Titled)

Taylor Nation posted on Twiter that their sleep schedule still hasnt recovered when talking about the VMA's this year. They also said that twice in January. And sleep schedules being messed up all started at the VMA's when Midnights was announced.

The Midnights Room is right next to The Tortured Poets Department where all the clocks are set to 2, there are 2 desks etc. (The tortured poets department seems to be a mirror dimension, that Taylor shatters when she hits the 2 way mirror towards the end. Otherwise she walks the other way in the mirror dimension to sit in the department.)

The Time Table only had 2 days set for announcements, with the rest covered by a picture of Taylor Swift announcing variant's on the Eras Tour. She uses 2 exclamation points where she says "8PM ET Music Video Release!!"

There is 2 closed doors. Midnights and Tortured Poets Department. The Tortured Poets department room is NOT opened. We went through the key hole.

Meredith is on the cork board in there.

The photo of Taylor and Meredith is reversed. The date of release of TTPD is 4/19. If you flip the date (or read it backwards on the timetable) it is 914 or September 14. 2 days after the beads end on TikTok.

Taylor Nation made a post where they show they might have a secret account called not Meredith grey swift. With I can do it with a broken heart playing with the tag 'WHERE'S MEREDITH" which was probably the reference to the i can do it with a broken heart music video, you find her in the TTPD room.

There were 2 Doors on the Eras Tour. 1 Orange door would drop down during Karma. Then a 2nd one would drop down that was bright pink rectangle. It would drop down during the end of Karma when the dancers and Taylor Bow. Some of the dancers would walk through the pink "door" to backstage while it was glowing. Taylor would take her final bow and descend. The glowing door would move across like an elevator door and reveal the Orange Door again. And then disintegrate into sparkling dust (like the Karma music video, there is sparkling dust that comes out of the record player, that plays Self-Titled with butterflies and the dust she blows across when shes on the yellow brick road towards the hourglass, that looks like the infinity symbol. The same infinity symbol with the sparkling dust thats created on the Eras tour stage of the TTPD set when she sings Down Bad). The 2 doors only lasted for what I can find, 12 days of the Eras Tour. TS12. Her next album is 12. The door turns 3 dimensional and moves with the colors of all her albums/ the Lover Rooms Colors. Specifically the look of the blurry lights when you first enter through the peep hole to the lover house, that is closed off to the rest of the house.(we enter through the lover house by peep hole and to the ttpd room by keyhole)

The line the door comes down is the colors purple blue and white. the door is orange. Blue and white is 1989 tv. Purple and Orange are the Lost Album? (or the original colors of reputation) She posted in her fortnight video purple nails sewing something orange with pink flowers. She also has lilac skirt and orange feathers for rehearsal of I can do it with a broken heart.

The Line also reminds me of the bright Blue T that is during repuration when all the other taylors are trying to pull her down.

Taylor announces and then releases an album 2 months later. eg. Speak Now in May, released in July. If the VMA's were an option and still the original date of September 10 2 months later would be November 10. November 10 2017 rep was released. The VMA's changed from September 10th to the 11th on August 12th. Which means Taylor may have planned an announcement at the VMA's. Will she do something on September 11th or not is not known.

That would have had the beads end 2 days later, on the 12th. TS12, and then moving into the 13th week where she could have something on the 13th and 14th?

She was also wearing THIS IS NOT TAYLORS VERSION shirt on night 7. Holding up 55 - 55 is an angel number meaning Change. she also made 3 0's which could be and ellipsis. so shes Saying Change..., like ...Ready for it?.

Change x Long Live were played night 7 in London (SAME AS 55 during 22, which could mean CHANGE). Change is the 13th track and Long Live the 14th. The 13th and 14th could be possible dates if she does the 2 days later. The lights on the bracelets in the stadium started to glow green during Change. Green = reputation / her debut album according to how she lights her bracelets on the tour. Could a Change be coming? A change to the album Line Up? A Change to her announcement because of the date change of VMA's? A Change of albums to Taylors Version? "It was the night things changed"

Then she sang The Archer x You're on Your Own Kid. 2 track 5's or 55. Change.

You're On Your Own Kid talks about her life of era's, starting out in the music industry (Self-Titled Era). The Archer talks about contemplating her identity (or herself, named TAYLOR SWIFT) The Archer is also the symbol of Sagittarius. Taylors birth sign.

There are 12 Zodiac Signs. Sagittarius is the 9th. (Septembers month is 9) And Taylor wore a dress to her birthday last year that Looked Like Stars and moons like the Zodiac. She also debuted a new Midnights Body suit was stars and a crescent moon night 6 in London.( Her nails were painted light purple with stars in her Midnights stars body suit. She had 3 stars on thumb, 2 on index and looks like 1 on the others. Midnights was 3AM, TTPD was 2AM, TS12 1AM. Stars on here nails is Just like her nails were painted with stars in the Paris video on spotify.) It resembles the stars and moons outfit she wore to the afterparty of the VMA's. And she has the Sagittarius Constellation in the Karma Music Video (along with others like Lavender Haze on the vinyl album, Anti-Hero a bow and arrow, bejeweled archer statue on the castle)

She had a Sagittarius purse not to long ago too & her birthday outfit.(but this is probably because it's just her sign)

2 days after the VMA's now is the 13th.

Also in the Karma Music video Taylor Swift and Reputation are the first 2 albums (other than midnights which is karmas album) shown in the video.

In Fortnight she mentions Mondays and February. Monday is the 2nd day of the week and February is the 2nd month of the year and a Fortnight is 2 weeks

Taylor releases an album every 2 years. The cycle was broken when she was supposed to release an album in 2016, but then it became 3 years and that was 2017's reputation

Bonus info related to TTPD:

When announcing the variants of the tortured poets department she did it on night 1's. Sydney Night 1, Melbourne Night 1. But, for the black dog variant Taylor Sang on her instagram live in Singapore Night 1, I don't wanna live forever x dress. And didn't announce anything. Then Night 2, March 2, She announced The Black Dog.

That Night 1 in Singapore she Used a Black Heart when on the Live Starting the meeting. But, every other time she used White. The only thing I can think is that because the next album, Black Dog, was ink black and the anthology color. BUT, she sang Reputation Songs, with that Black Heart. hmmm...

Also, in the TTPD CD case there is Stevie Nicks poem with the date September 13th. 8:50pm 8+5=13.

I wonder if it's a Clara Bow release music video? and a reference to Taylor Swift (taylors version) since she sings "You look like Taylor Swift" And the 2's are just something as an advanced hint that she said she does years in advance, that we won't know about yet.

Florida!!! was also added to the set last night in London. The colors in the lights for the set were orange, green and white the same colors as Miami's flag. She was hinting to going to Florida!!! next. In the trailer for Fortnight's music video she uses the Florida!!! beat and there is a similar synth/beat of Florida!!! in the Black Dog, when she says old habits die SCREAMING.

Let me know what you think in the comments.

Edit: The 2nd color combo she wore during the European leg for 1989 and was purple top and orange skirt

and the 12th combo she wore was orange and orange

posted Sept 10 2024

please credit me if you use or share this theory. thank you.

sorry, i'll try and come back and add photos, but it was too hard right now.

@taylorswift @taylornation

[ladykailitha]

Star Child Part 10

We finally get the last two of the nuggets introduced in the story and some pretty heavy backstory for Steve. It ends in a weird place because I didn’t know how to end this chapter and the next part is fairly long. 

Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4 Part 5 Part 6 Part 7 Part 8 Part 9

***

A couple of beefy looking guys were trying muscle their way through to get to the stage. One of the roadies stood up. He was wiry thin with dark hair and even darker eyes. The two men towered over him, but his expression was bland, almost bored as he crossed his arms in from on his chest.

“Oi!” he sneered. “Where the fuck do you think you’re going?”

“We’re security for the venue,” the one on the right said, flashing his badge.

“Did Juan send you?” the roadie asked.

The second man leaned forward to read the roadie’s shirt. “Well, Mike, there isn’t a Juan working here. You can’t fool us.”

Mike smirked and jerked his thumb behind him to a large Latino man with arms like barrels and a chest like a tank.

“That’s Juan,” he said as if he was talking to an infant. “And he’s the one that manages the security with the venue.”

The two guys looked at each other and gulped.

“Now get the fuck out of here,” Mike said with a wave of his hand, “Before I have Juan break your legs.”

The two men scrambled away, grabbing and tripping over each other as they booked it for the door.

“Mike, Mike!” Juan said, coming up to him with his cell phone. “Kitten manuls! Aren’t they so cute!”

Mike peered at the phone and cooed. “They are so fluffy.”  

Juan wandered off to show the other roadies the picture as Mike shook his head. He pulled out his phone and hunted down the picture Juan showed him. Then he sent it to his boyfriend.

-Holy crap! They’re even cuter as kittens!

Mike grinned and typed out his reply.

-Ikr? You find out if you got the job?

Mike chewed on his lip nervously as he watching the ellipsis appear and disappear a few times before he got a response.

-I did But there’s some trouble with the studio and it might end up being an indie album. And if that happens...

Mike swore and sat down hard on an amp. He ran his fingers through his hair a few times before he wrote back.  

-Then you won’t get paid to do the album art. Shit. I told you working with that asshole was a mistake.

-We’ve been over this. If I want people to see my regular work, I need a big job. And if that means doing the album cover art for Steve Harrington, babe. Then I’m going to do it.

-Wills...

Mike wanted to just call him, but he was supposed to be working and he didn’t want to get into any more trouble. It had been a couple of minutes before Will replied.

-I’ll call you after the show. Okay?

Mike sighed.

-Yeah. I can’t wait to hear all about it I mean it okay?

-Love you.

Mike looked around and then pressed his lips to his phone.

-Love you, too.

Fuck Henry Creel. Fuck his goons. And fuck Steve Harrington.

*

Steve was looking at the offers he had been holding on to for the last six months. Which was when he started looking for a new label. In hindsight that was probably what prompted his label to be nasty, if he was honest.

But he didn’t care. He had mouths to feed and techs to pay. He wasn’t going to let his current label continue to pigeonhole him. He was also meeting with his PR firm today to release a statement about his sexuality before his label could weaponize it against him.

They were going to draw up statements for if they got it out first, the label, or some news outlet.

Steve glanced at his watch and Robin should be arriving with the new PR rep any minute now. And as sure as if his thoughts summoned them, there was the sound of his doorbell. He jogged out to the front door and opened it.

He gave them his most sincere smile. “Hello there, ladies.”

Robin giggled and her companion merely gave a serene smile. He led them into his office and offered them drinks.

“I’ve got bottled water, Coke, lemon-aid...” he said. “What can I get you?”

“A bottled water for me,” Robin said with her goofy smile.

“And for me as well,” the PR rep said.

“Two bottled waters coming right up,” Steve replied with a grin. He was gone and back in flash with the two bottles. He handed each of the women a bottle and grabbed the offers from his desk.

“You wanted to look over the offers, yeah?” he asked Robin as he held out the folder to her.

She made grabby hands at it and clutched it to her chest. She loved going over contracts and looking for loopholes to exploit. She turned in her chair, until her legs were over one arm and greedily began to read them.

The rep looked over at her with a raised eyebrow. “Will she be okay?”

Steve waved it off. “Yeah, she’ll be fine. She’s more here for you anyway. I know I can come off as...”

“Intense,” Robin finished.

Steve snapped his fingers. “Yes! Exactly. You’re Jane Hopper, yes?”

She nodded. “It’s a small world, but I’m from Indiana as well.”

Steve grinned. “Fantastic. Nothing like having someone who understands that Indiana is sooo far from California, not only geographically, but culturally, too.”

She smiled back. “Yes, my bosses feel the same, which is why they sent me.”

“So what have you got for me?” he asked.

She started going over the different options for each scenario before he found an approach that he liked for all three.

“Fantastic,” Jane said. “Now, I’ve read the file from my bosses but I would like to hear it from you, if you don’t mind.”

Steve and Robin shared a glance and then Robin nodded.

Steve sighed. “Right, when I was seventeen my dad found out I was bisexual when he caught a boy half naked in my room the night of my farewell party.”

Jane raised an eyebrow. “I’m guessing that didn’t go well?”

Steve barked out a bitter laugh. “Hell no. He threw the boy out and managed to suppress every video ever of the boy and me together.”

Jane pressed her lips together. “I see. Do you know if he has copies of these videos?”

Steve shrugged. “No idea, if I’m honest. But probably. You’ll want to know, the other boy is famous now, too.”

“Any of your former bandmates?” Jane asked.

Steve shook his head and wrote the name down on a piece of paper. He handed it to her. “You’ll probably want to get in contact with his PR firm to do damage control if it comes out.”

She read the paper and quietly slipped in it into her purse. “I believe he is one of ours.”

Steve nodded. “Yeah. He doesn’t remember it. So it may come as a shock to him.”

“You should tell him first,” Jane said gently, but firmly. “I know it’s hard. And a very bad memory for you. But you need to get out ahead of this before the shit hits the fan and it will. Soon. Sooner then you think.”

Steve sighed. “I will.”

Jane nodded and then got up to shake his hand. “This will be absolute hell for you for the next few weeks, but we’ll do everything in our power to minimize whatever we can. Okay?”

Steve let out a shuddering breath. “I worry he’ll hate me afterwards.”

Jane’s expression softened. “Then he was never worth it to begin with.” She turned to Robin.

“You’ll need to be his rock in this,” Jane warned her. “You cannot be the one freaking out. Do you understand? If you think you can’t be that person, find someone who can.”

Robin sputtered angrily.

“I’m not saying this be rude or to devalue your friendship,” Jane said sternly. “But what he’s about to go through will be actual, honest to God hell. Do. You. Understand?”

Robin nodded, scrambling to sit properly in there chair like a scolded child.

Jane looked between them and nodded back. She left them sitting there in shock.

*

They were in Denver the next night and Croup and Vandemar were back at again.

Mike rolled his eyes as he spotted them trying to get past one of the other roadies, a badass chick named Olivia. She was tiny but fierce. As he neared her he heard her telling them off.

“Get the fuck out of here,” she snarled at them. “Juan stayed in Santa Fe because his wife went into labor there.”

The two men looked at each other and winced dramatically. Mike sighed and Nancy said he was dramatic. He stepped up behind Olivia and folded his arms.

“Well if it isn’t the same jackasses that tried to get on stage last night...” Mike said with a grin. “Is your boss stupid or does he only have two minions to do his bidding?”

The two men looked at each other and just slowly turned away, trying to walk away all, nonchalant.

Olivia turned to Mike with a raised eyebrow. “They really tried a second time?”

Mike smirked. “Dumber than a box of rocks.” He shook his head and went back to work.

***

Part 11  Part 12  Part 13  Part 14 Part 15  Part 16

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[newmusickarl]

5-9’s Album of the Month Podcast – latest episode out now!

The latest episode of the 5-9 Album of the Month Podcast is here and it’s a big clash of rock giants both old and new! As ever, I take a seat alongside 5-9 Editor Andrew Belt and Mama Mañana Records’ Kiley Larsen to review five high profile album releases from the past month in music, ultimately naming one as our Album of the Month at the end of the discussion.

For our July 2024 episode, it was Hot Chip’s Joe Goddard who took home the coveted Album of the Month title, wowing us with his feature-heavy second solo album, Harmonics. For our latest episode, we look back at five big releases from August and the albums vying for recognition this time around are:

Romance by Fontaines D.C.

Champion by Pom Poko

Aghori Mhori Mei by The Smashing Pumpkins

Infinite Health by Tycho (Poll winner, thanks for voting!)

Midas by Wunderhorse

If you want to listen to this or any previous episodes simply follow the links below, but also be sure to follow 5-9 Blog on Instagram, Twitter and YouTube for more news and polls relating to the podcast.

Listen on Spotify here

Watch, like and subscribe to our YouTube channel here

Album & EP Recommendations

Ness by Hayden Thorpe

“When going on a sonic journey into the wild, who better to chaperone than former Wild Beasts frontman, Hayden Thorpe. Six years after the disbandment of the acclaimed art-rock quartet, the singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist has since firmly established himself as a solo artist, thanks to the stark balladry of ‘Diviner’ and the synth-soaked majesty of ‘Moondust For My Diamond’. Now back with his third solo album Ness, an adaptation of author Robert Macfarlane’s book of the same name, Hayden has successfully crafted his most magical and ambitious project yet. Hayden Thorpe’s Ness ends up being more than just another album. Where Macfarlane’s book was part-novella, part-prose and part-poem, Hayden too has crafted a piece of art that blurs the lines between music, audiobook, spoken-word and classical composition. It’s simply a one-of-a-kind auditory experience, one that whisks you away to a place full of historical dread and natural wonder, which feels all too relevant for today’s world. Through Hayden, Ness Speaks – and it’s quite unlike anything else you’ll hear all year.”

Listen to the album here

Read the full 9/10 album review for Clash here

Watch or listen to our exclusive interview with Hayden on the making of the record here

Someday, Now by Katy J Pearson

The evolution of British singer-songwriter Katy J Pearson has been quite something to witness. From her solid debut Return back in 2020 to her ultra-impressive follow-up Sound of the Morning in 2022, Katy has taken sizeable steps forward and matured her songwriting with each new release. So, it is no surprise then that not only is ‘Someday, Now’ her best record to date, but it’s also one of the year’s best too.

Filled wall-to-wall with soaring, string-tinged indie-pop anthems, this is without a doubt her boldest collection yet, where the production throughout is exquisite and the vocal performances remain as sublime as ever. The orchestrated delights of Save Me and It’s Mine Now dazzle early doors, before the jittering riffs of Grand Final and the stripped-back majesty of Someday light-up the back half. However, Pearson arguably saves the two best songs for last, from the melancholic sway of Siren Song to the triumphant, bluegrass finale, Sky.

Overall, this is another all killer, no filler release from Pearson, one that perfectly fits the Autumnal weather, to the point that I can’t seem to stop playing it. A magnificent record that sees Pearson continue to go from strength-to-strength.

Listen here

Cascade by Floating Points

We have been spoilt for incredible electronic records in 2024, but this new one from Samuel Shepherd, AKA Floating Points, is right up there with the year’s best.

After his much-acclaimed collab album with Pharoah Sanders (a record I personally found quite underwhelming) I’m pleased to say Shepherd has returned to the club for his latest album. ‘Cascade’ is a fitting title too as listeners are treated to an avalanche of sonic splendour, beginning with the dizzying Vocoder club mix and pulsating Key103, before the vibrant euphoria of Fast Forward and throbbing, distorted beats of tracks like Afflecks Palace and Tilt Shift. That said, the pick of the bunch is the enchanting, near 9-minute sonic journey Ocotillo, which begins as an understated dash of ambient electronica before morphing into a racing barrage of static synths.

All in all, one of the year’s best from the genre and an incredible listening experience that will pull you back in for repeat spins.

Listen here

Dance, No-One’s Watching by Ezra Collective

When your last album not only wins the Mercury Music Prize but also makes history by being the first jazz record to do so, you better believe there’s going to be some pressure on the follow-up. However seemingly not phased at all, the quintet that make up Ezra Collective have returned a year to the month with their joyous third album ‘Dance, No-One’s Watching’, which I’m pleased to say is every bit as dazzling as its award-winning predecessor.

A celebration of music that makes you dance inspired by their triumphant 2023 world tour, the mosaic of global influences is condensed into this incredibly satisfying, groove-tastic concept album, set around a liberating night out. From the West African rhythms of Palm Wine, the gospel guided duo of Hear Me Cry and Everybody, to the cherry on top features from the likes of Olivia Dean, Yazmin Lacey and Moonchild Sanelly, it’s another captivating work from Ezra Collective that will just put the biggest smile on your face.

Listen here

HOPECORE by Rahim C Redcar

You may not recognise the name Rahim C Redcar, but you may be familiar with his former musical pseudonym, Christine & The Queens. Now officially releasing music under his chosen name, ‘HOPECORE’ is a debut album of sorts for this new identity, after it was first introduced on Christine & The Queens’ projects, Redcar les adorables étoiles (prologue) and Paranoïa, Angels, True Love.

Sonically this new release isn’t a million miles away from those projects, boasting a hypnotic collection of synth-soaked sonnets enriched by theatrical, live-sounding production. This rawness of the production is the big fascination point, helping to supercharge these songs so that the impassioned vocal performances and aching lyrics pour out of each bar.

Like it was on Paranoïa, Angels, True Love, at times it also sounds like Rahim Redcar just riffing in the studio, giving these tracks a magical, improvised nature. None more so than on the album’s phenomenal 20-minute centrepiece, OPERA – I UNDERSTAND, which will certainly test the patience of some, but also blow the minds of others. Add in other sensual sensations like ELEVATE, DEEP HOLES and RED BIRDMAN EMERGENCY, and what you have is another towering work of art from one of alt-pop’s true visionaries.

Listen here

Stream of Life by Maxïmo Park

For more than 20 years, Geordie heroes Maxïmo Park have been one of the UK’s best manufacturers of certified indie bops and, as a result, one of my sentimental favourites. While not all their records have completely hit the mark, their output has generally been solid over that period and their last outing, Nature Always Wins, was one of their best yet.

Now back with their eighth studio album ‘Stream of Life’, the band are looking to build on their creative purple patch with a new record that digs into the complexities of the modern world and human existence. Now, what was special about listening to this record for the first time is that I got to experience it first in a live setting, as the band played the new album in full at their recent show at Metronome, here in Nottingham.

It was a revelation, making me wish more bands would do a pre-release album launch show, rather than a post-release album launch show (although I appreciate this helps more with the chart battles). So rather than reviewing the album here (which in short, is fantastic!), I thought I would share my review of that night at Metronome and experiencing the album for the first time.

Read my review of the Stream of Life album launch show here

Listen to the album here

A Modern Day Distraction by Jake Bugg

“After his revelatory self-titled debut made Bugg a star, earning him a Mercury Prize nomination, critical acclaim and legions of fans the world over in the process, his subsequent efforts have admittedly been more of a mixed bag. While each of his four albums since have had their fair share of moments, none have had the consistency of his brilliant first outing. Seemingly recognising this, Bugg has gone back to basics on his new album ‘A Modern Day Distraction’, abandoning the more pop-influenced sounds of his previous outing ‘Saturday Night, Sunday Morning’, to instead return to the blues-inspired indie rock & roll that brought him to the dance. While it may ultimately be a solid rather than sensational listen, this is an enjoyable sixth outing from Jake Bugg that marks a reasonable return to form, while also providing more than a few strong highlights. By getting back to what he does best, this is a sizeable step in the right direction, with ‘A Modern Day Distraction’ easily his most well-rounded project since his beloved debut.”

Listen here

Read the full review for Clash here

Idiot EP by Bored Marsh

“Bored Marsh, made up of Joe Need (Vocals), Brad Westby (Guitar & backing vocals), Jade Bowman (Bass guitar) and Paul Mason-Smith (Drums), formed during the height of lockdown. At a time when the music industry was facing an uncertain future, these four friends were sharing demos and bonding over a shared love of Oasis’ ‘Be Here Now’. While it may have started out as just a hobby, once Bored Marsh were able to get out and start playing their music live in front of crowds in late-2022, their popularity in their home city of Nottingham quickly blossomed. Fast-forward to today and their reach is now expanding well beyond the NG postcode, playing industry showcases in different cities, festivals further afield and getting their name on national lists of the country’s best unsigned bands. Now with this their debut EP, they are ready to officially make their introduction to rock fans across the UK and beyond. Everything that has gotten Bored Marsh attention so far is laid out tightly on this EP. From Joe Need’s passionate vocals to the dynamic and stylistically varied guitars, the appeal of Bored Marsh’s sound is evidently clear from this first collection. Reflected in Broadmarsh’s recent rejuvenation, Bored Marsh have ascended from the bleakness of lockdown to present the confident and assured band found playing on this EP. While the music itself often remains dwelling in the darkness, the hopefulness is carried in their massive, soon to be realised, potential.”

Listen here

Read the full review for Clash here

Also well worth checking out:

Manning Fireworks by MJ Lenderman

Same Mistake Twice by The Howl & The Hum

The Greatest Love by London Grammar

Ten days by Fred Again…

WOOF. by Fat Dog

Hysterical Strength by DEADLETTER

Gary by Blossoms

INTRO by Kaeto

Emita Ox by Hello Mary

It's Nothing by Dolores Forever

Song Recommendations

Alone by The Cure

Autumn has arrived and after 16 long years, the gothic kings are back with new music. Their much-anticipated new record ‘Songs Of A Lost World’ drops on the 1st of November and our first taste is the album’s near 7-minute opener. Typically dreamy yet aching with melancholia, it’s an outstanding return from one of music’s true greats.

Listen here

The Lighthouse by Stevie Nicks

Speaking of musical greats with new music, rock icon Steve Nicks has also recently returned with her important new single, The Lighthouse. Written in the wake of Roe v. Wade being overturned, it’s a hopeful and inspirational track centred on women’s rights. Powerful and hard-hitting in every sense, it shows Stevie still has the gift of shaking the earth when needed.

Listen here

SPEYSIDE by Bon Iver

Announcing a new EP for mid-October, Justin Vernon and Co. have also returned with this utterly stunning new single. As beautifully moving as even their best work, SPEYSIDE marks a return to the understated and stripped-back sound that made their early work so special, with Vernon’s vocal performance as goosebump-inducing as ever.

Listen here

Living A Lie by The Amazons

Watching Reading-based trio The Amazons grow from promising indie upstarts to one of the best rock bands in the country has been one of my biggest musical pleasures over the last decade. Now back with a seismic new single that marks the start of their new era, Living A Lie may be their most accomplished track to date. With outstanding guest vocals from Ella McRobb, a rumble of stomping drums and typically scintillating / jaw-dropping guitar work from Chris Alderton, it’s just an absolute triumph.

Listen here

The Silence That Remains by The Horrors

After ending their last album with Something To Remember Me By and then giving us nothing but radio silence for the past eight years, I had come to terms with the fact that psych-rock outfit The Horrors may be no more. So you can imagine my joy this week when the band finally returned with news of a new album, ‘Night Life’, due for release in March next year. This first taste is vintage The Horrors too, showing that despite the time away and changes in the line-up, they can still deliver the goods that fans expect.

Listen here

Otherside by Maribou State & Holly Walker

A group that has been away almost as long as The Horrors, electronic duo Maribou State also finally made their return this week. With Chris Davids thankfully recovering from the brain surgery that forced shows to be cancelled and their new album to be postponed, the vibrant and joyous rhythms of Otherside are an early sign that new record ‘Hallucinating Love’ will be well worth the wait, as regular collaborator Holly Walker also once again lends her sweet vocals to the track.

Listen here

Oh Boy by Oscar & The Wolf

With his new album ‘TASTE’ only a few weeks away, Belgian superstar Oscar & The Wolf has been ramping up the single releases in the build-up to the 25th October. The standout has been Oh Boy, the devastating closing track on the album which, based on the singles so far, seems to deal with a tough break-up from a toxic relationship. This song is only made more impactful by the striking music video that accompanies it, featuring home footage of singer Max Colombie in a stirring dedication to his mother.

Watch the video here

Human Frailty by One True Pairing

Another artist continuing the build to his new album is Tom Fleming, former member of Wild Beasts and the genius behind One True Pairing. This latest single continues the sonic shift from the soaring stadium rock that made up his solo debut to a more stripped-back and folk-inspired sound. This latest single is one of the best yet of the pre-released singles, featuring stirring acoustics and a tender, self-aware message of acceptance.

Listen here

All My Freaks by Divorce

For folks of Nottingham like myself, one of the most exciting album announcements of recent times. In March next year, fast-rising local quartet Divorce will finally release their debut album, ‘Drive to Goldenhammer’. The first track to be revealed from the debut is All My Freaks, with the country-inspired indie-pop track representing everything that is so wonderfully captivating about this band. Get ready for a Nottingham takeover of UK Music in 2025!

Listen here

Nightcall by Kavinsky, Angèle & Phoenix

And finally this month, while I don’t have a cover for you all this time around, I do have a fun reimagining of a classic. You may know French producer Kavinsky’s iconic single from either Nicolas Winding Refn’s film Drive, or possibly London Grammar’s atmospheric cover. Well now, as first heard at the Paris Olympics back in the summer, the new version with the addition of French indie rockers Phoenix has officially been released, bringing a fun new spin to this old favourite.

Listen here

Also worth checking out:

Eusexua by FKA Twigs

A Hole In The Ground by Porridge Radio

Love Second Music First by Self Esteem

In My Dreams by Four Tet & Ellie Goulding

Timeless by The Weeknd & Playboi Carti

Still Riding by Barry Can’t Swim

Can’t Pretend To Know by The Murder Capital

Mistake / Better Man by Katie Keddie

REMINDER: If you use Apple Music, you can also keep up-to-date with all my favourite 2024 tracks through my Best of 2024 playlist. Constantly updated throughout the year with songs I enjoy, it is then finalised into a Top 100 Songs of the Year in December.

Add the Best of 2024 playlist to your library here

[littlequeenies]

May Fung Yee Pang (龐鳳儀, 庞凤仪) (born October 24, 1950) is an American former music executive. She worked for John Lennon and Yoko Ono as a personal assistant and production coordinator. When Lennon and Ono separated in 1973, Pang and Lennon began a relationship that lasted more than 18 months. Lennon later referred to this time as his “Lost Weekend”.

Early Years and Education

Pang was born in Manhattan. She is the daughter of Chinese immigrants and grew up in the Spanish Harlem section of New York City with an elder sister and an adopted brother, both of whom were born in China. Pang’s mother owned and operated a laundry business in the area. The Pang family left Spanish Harlem when the tenements where they lived were scheduled to be razed, moving to an apartment near 97th Street and 3rd Avenue in Manhattan.

After graduating from Saint Michael Academy, Pang attended New York City Community College. She aspired to be a model, but modelling agencies reportedly told her she was too “ethnic”.

Pang’s early jobs included being a song-plugger, which meant encouraging artists to record songs written by songwriters. In 1970, she began work in New York as a receptionist at ABKCO Records, Allen Klein’s management office, which at that time represented Apple Records and three former Beatles: Lennon, George Harrison, and Ringo Starr.

Relationship with John Lennon and Yoko Ono

Pang was asked to help Lennon and Ono with their avant-garde film projects, Up Your Legs Forever and Fly, in December 1970.

Pang was then asked to be Lennon and Ono’s secretary and factotum (domestic worker) and gofer (employee who specializes in the delivery of special items to their superior(s)) in New York City and Britain, which led to a permanent position as their personal assistant when the Lennons moved from London to Manhattan in 1971.

Pang coordinated an art exhibition in Syracuse, New York, on October 9, 1971, for Ono’s This Is Not Here art show at the Everson Museum. Ono’s show coincided with Lennon’s 31st birthday, and a party was held at the Hotel Syracuse, which was attended by Ringo Starr, Phil Spector, and Elliot Mintz.

“Lost Weekend”

In mid-1973, Pang was working on the recording of Lennon’s Mind Games album. Lennon and Ono were having marital problems, and Ono suggested to Pang that she become Lennon’s companion. Ono explained that she and Lennon were not getting along, they had been arguing and were growing apart, and that Lennon would start seeing other women. She pointed out that Lennon had said he found Pang sexually attractive. Pang replied that she could never start a relationship with Lennon as he was her employer and married. Ono ignored Pang’s protests and said that she would arrange everything. Ono later confirmed this conversation in an interview.

In October 1973, Lennon and Pang left New York for Los Angeles to promote Mind Games, and decided to stay for a while, living at lawyer Harold Seider’s apartment for a couple of days and then Lou Adler’s house. While there, Lennon was inspired to embark on two recording projects: to make an album of the old rock ‘n’ roll songs that inspired him to become a musician, and to produce another artist. In December 1973, Lennon collaborated with Phil Spector to record the oldies album Rock ‘n’ Roll. Lennon’s drinking and Spector’s erratic behavior (which included his firing a gun in the studio control room) caused the sessions to break down. Then Spector, who claimed to have been in a car accident, took the session tapes and became unreachable.

In March 1974, Lennon began producing Harry Nilsson’s Pussy Cats album, thus named to counter the “bad boy” image the pair had earned in the media with two drinking incidents at the Troubadour. The first was when Lennon placed a Kotex on his forehead and scuffled with a waitress at a concert given by Ann Peebles, who had released “I Can’t Stand the Rain”, one of Lennon’s current favorite records; and the second, two weeks later when Lennon and Nilsson were ejected from the same club after heckling the Smothers Brothers. Lennon thought it would be a good idea for the musicians to live under one roof to ensure they would get to the studio on time, so Pang rented a beach house in Santa Monica for her, Lennon, Nilsson, Ringo Starr and Keith Moon to live. At this time, Pang encouraged Lennon to reach out to family and friends. He and Paul McCartney mended fences and played together for the first and only time after the breakup of the Beatles. Pang also arranged for Julian Lennon to visit his father for the first time in almost four years.

Julian began to see his father more regularly. Lennon bought Julian a Gibson Les Paul copy guitar and a drum machine for Christmas in 1973, and encouraged Julian’s interest in music by showing him some chords. “Dad and I got on a great deal better then,” recalls Julian. “We had a lot of fun, laughed a lot and had a great time in general when he was with May Pang. My memories of that time with Dad and May are very clear—they were the happiest time I can remember with them” The cover of Julian’s seventh album, Jude, features a childhood photo of him taken by Pang.

In June 1974, Lennon and Pang returned to live in Manhattan. Lennon stopped drinking and concentrated on recording. Lennon previously had cats while he lived at his Aunt Mimi’s house in Liverpool; he and Pang adopted two cats that they named Major and Minor.

In the early summer, Lennon was working on his Walls and Bridges album when the couple moved into a penthouse apartment at 434 East 52nd Street. On August 23, Lennon and Pang claimed to have seen a UFO from their terrace, which had a panoramic view of Queens. To gain access to the deck, Lennon and Pang had to climb out of their kitchen window. On the night in question, a naked Lennon excitedly called Pang to join him on the deck outside and they both watched a circular object silently floating less than 100 feet away. Lennon called Bob Gruen—Lennon’s “official” photographer—and told him what had happened. Gruen suggested Lennon should call the police, but Lennon laughed it off, saying, “I’m not going to call up the newspaper and say ‘This is John Lennon and I saw a flying saucer last night.’” Gruen called the local police precinct which confirmed that three other people had reported a sighting, and the Daily News wrote that five people had reported a sighting in the same area of New York where Lennon and Pang lived. Lennon references the incident in the song “Nobody Told Me”.

Walls and Bridges rose to the top spot on the album charts. Lennon achieved his only number-one solo US single in his lifetime with “Whatever Gets You thru the Night”. Pang’s is the voice whispering Lennon’s name on “#9 Dream”. “Surprise, Surprise (Sweet Bird of Paradox)” was written about her. Julian played drums on the album’s last track, “Ya Ya”. While recording Walls and Bridges, Al Coury, vice president of promotion for Capitol Records, got possession of the chaotic Spector session tapes and brought them to New York. Lennon completed his oldies album, which was titled Rock 'n’ Roll, with the same musicians he used on Walls and Bridges. Pang received an RIAA gold record award for her work on Walls and Bridges and continued her work as production coordinator of Lennon’s Rock 'n’ Roll album, where she was credited as “Mother Superior”. Pang also worked on albums by Nilsson, Starr, Elton John and David Bowie.

While visiting Mick Jagger at Andy Warhol’s compound in Montauk, New York, Lennon and Pang saw a Scottish-style cottage for sale close to the Montauk Point Lighthouse. Lennon asked a real estate broker to put in an offer for it in February 1975.

In the same month, Lennon and Pang were also planning on visiting Paul and Linda McCartney in New Orleans, where their band Wings were recording the Venus and Mars album, but Lennon reconciled with Ono the day before the planned visit, after Ono said she had a new cure for Lennon’s smoking habit. After the meeting, he failed to return home or call Pang. When Pang telephoned the next day, Ono told her that Lennon was unavailable because he was exhausted after a hypnotherapy session. Two days later, Lennon reappeared at a joint dental appointment; he was stupefied and confused to such an extent that Pang believed he had been brainwashed. Lennon told Pang he had reconciled with Ono and their relationship was over. Over the coming years, Pang quietly met Lennon a few times but their relationship was never rekindled.

Lennon lamented this period publicly but not in private. Journalist Larry Kane, who befriended Lennon in 1964, wrote a comprehensive biography of Lennon which detailed the “Lost Weekend” period. In the interview with Kane, Lennon explained his feelings about his time with Pang; “You know Larry, I may have been the happiest I’ve ever been… I loved this woman (Pang), I made some beautiful music and I got so fucked up with booze and shit and whatever.”

At the time Lennon had his 18-month relationship with Pang, he was in a period of his life that he later referred to as his “Lost Weekend”, in reference to Charles R. Jackson’s 1944 novel with the same title.

The 1980s and Beyond

After Lennon returned to Ono, Pang started working for United Artists Records and Island Records as a public relations manager, working on albums by Bob Marley and Robert Palmer.

Pang published her memoir Loving John in 1983. The original 500-page book focused mainly on Pang’s role on Lennon’s albums and sessions. It was updated and renamed John Lennon: The Lost Weekend and was edited down to 300 pages, concentrating mostly on the sensational aspects of their relationship. It also included postcards that Lennon had written to Pang during his travels throughout the world in the late 1970s. Pang claims that she and Lennon remained lovers until 1977, and stayed in contact until his death.

Pang married record producer Tony Visconti in 1989; the couple divorced in 2000. They had two children, Sebastian and Lara.

Pang remains in touch with some of the people from her time with Lennon, and Paul McCartney invited her to Linda McCartney’s memorial service after she died in 1998. She was an invited guest at The Concert for George in 2002 and remained close to Cynthia Lennon and Lennon’s first son, Julian.

Although having had no contact for 30 years, on October 9, 2006, Pang accidentally met Ono in Iceland, on what would have been Lennon’s 66th birthday. Ono was in Iceland to unveil a sculpture in Reykjavík and was staying in the same hotel.

Pang’s book of photographs Instamatic Karma was published in 2008. Besides the candid personal portraits, the book contains some historically important photographs, such as Lennon signing the official dissolution of the Beatles’ partnership, and one of the last known photographs of Lennon and Paul McCartney together. John’s first wife Cynthia Lennon also provided a back cover endorsement, acknowledging Pang’s role in reuniting Lennon with his estranged first son, Julian.

Around 2010, Pang started her own jewelry business. She designs stainless-steel feng shui jewelry.

Recent Years

Around 2020, Pang started her own jewelry business. She designs stainless-steel feng shui jewelry.

The Tribeca Film Festival announced the 2022 premiere of The Lost Weekend: A Love Story, a 97-minute documentary about Pang’s life and relationship with Lennon, on June 10 via virtual home viewing. The film was produced and directed by Eve Brandstein, Richard Kaufman and Stuart Samuels. The Lost Weekend appeared in theaters internationally for a limited run April 13th and 14th 2023 and became available via streaming and on BluRay in October 2023.

Coinciding with the release of the 2022 documentary, Pang published a collection of her photographs of Lennon which were made available for sale in an touring exhibition called The Lost Weekend: The Photography of May Pang.

Pang still resides in New York City. She volunteers with an animal shelter called Animal Haven in New York and owned a dog that was rescued after Hurricane Katrina. She also co-hosts an Internet talk radio show, Dinner Specials with Cynthia and May Pang, at blogtalkradio.com, with on-air partner Cynthia Neilson.

*CHECK OUR MAY PANG PHOTO ALBUM HOSTED AT GOOGLE PHOTOS*

[7grandmel]

Todays rip: 27/12/2023

Mr. Rental [B Side] ~ Out of Options

Season 1 No Album Release (Read More) Options - Mr Rental: The Video Game

Ripped by NBGMusic

Yeah, I missed yesterday's post. My bad - you're getting two posts today instead. For such an occasion, I wanted to feature two rips of vastly different sides of the SiIvaGunner spectrum. And, well, I feel like it's been a while since we've covered something truly deranged and out-there, hasn't it? Excluding Your Rip's Shit, Mr. Grinch, which arguably does count, the last time we truly went into the trenches of SiIvaGunner's absurdity was, like...waterwraith pokos from a month ago? Regardless, its time we drop all this Christmas spirit for just a second and reminisce upon the true best SiIvaGunner story arc - the Mashup Crusaders arc.

The strange name of today's rip, Mr. Rental [B Side] ~ Out of Options, is one that I promise does make sense in the storyline's context. Though Season 1 is many things good and bad, one thing it will always have over the channel's later years is that air of surprise and experimentation, with tons of independent ripper-driven passion projects and shitposts coexisting with few things actually planned for the channel's long-term future. That's part of how I've been able to feature so many memorable rips from the Season despite its short 9-month run and often underwhelming rip quality, how we got excellent rips like Collision Chaos Good Future JP [CD Beta Mix] and Can't Say Goodbye to Yesterday - as performed by Bob Dylan, and indeed how we eventually arrived at the Mashup Crusaders arc. Born from the mind of one NBGMusic and based loosely on the meme-happy qualities of the Mr. Rental Facebook page of 2016, it was a series of rips follow two different incarnations of the aforementioned character across two different games. And while one was a lighthearted spoof of the Looney Tunes series, of what I'm going to unofficially label the "A-Side" of the story, it was the B-Side that immediately grabbed people's attention.

Indeed, though the Mr. Rental seen within the A-Side story was a kind soul, with his rips depicting him helping SiIvaGunner's memes good form and aids in ripping, the B-Side depicted a destructive, chaotic force of nature, in a fully animated and "voice acted" MS Paint-drawn world. Mind, this was long before the Christmas Comeback Crisis, and just after The Reboot had ended - the "Mr. Rental: The Video Game" rips were some of the only times we'd be seeing full-on animated depictions on what we presumed was the continuing story of the SiIvaGunner channel.

In the end, the Mashup Crusaders arc was moreso just NBGMusic's little playground to express his opinions and sense of humor as a ripper more than an actual continuation of the core storyline of the channel. But the popularity of the character he'd created was undeniable - through the sheer force of repeated shitposting, Mr. Rental had become a somewhat core cast member of the SiIvaGunner story. And I feel like Mr. Rental [B Side] ~ Out of Options was the moment where that status was wholly cemented - the episode where, after hearing one too many low-effort mashups (Snowball Park - Super Mario 3D World, anyone?), Mr. Rental goes on a killing spree and declares his intentions to wholly eradicate mashups from existence.

Beyond being just a genuinely really funny series of rips, it was with this episode that things really began to get interesting. Because from time to time, this crazed Mr. Rental would begin appearing in other rips on the channel, proudly declaring his intentions - most famously in a simple mashup of Super Mario 3D Land's theme and Chip tha Ripper, with him literally shooting the rip to death eleven seconds in. From this silly side project, the community suddenly had a sort of villain character present within the channel's inner workings - and this was long before the concept of Figments and the in-canon inner workings of SiIvaGunner would become clarified within the lore later in Season 2 and Season 3.

Though the Mashup Crusaders arc sadly didn't get the proper wrap-up it deserved, all of the excitement and surprise that surrounded it will forever be some of my fondest memories with Season 1 of SiIvaGunner. Before the Christmas Comeback Crisis, before Wood Man, before Haltmann, before the King for a Day and King for Another Day Tournaments, and before the SiIva AI - when all we had was SiIvaGunner, Chad Warden and The Voice Inside Your Head, it was such an exciting time to learn that the wheels inside of the SiIvaGunner storyline might still be spinning. Even if it took the form of an Australian rental service mascot declaring war upon low-quality rips.

[hotarutranslations]

Also There Is An Album Announcement!

Evening

Streamed today, Harami-chan no Haramifan Radio♪

Ishida Ayumi and Sakurai Rio, Visited as guests🤍

We'll be visiting this time and on next weeks stream too! Happy

Have you already listened to it.. Its amazingggg.. I was actually really shouting about this, Within the radio show, I got to sing, Alongside Harami-chan's live piano playing..😭😭

Eeehhhhh man, it was so cool..

Although I was singing, I was thinking, Nah, I'd like to just hear the piano, Really, thank you very much

You can express so much with just the piano..! I was really, really, moved so, Everyone please definitely listen to it😭🫶🏻

74th Single Commemorative Release Mini Live & Farewell Meet

It was today Thank you very much

.💿💿✨️

Yesterday and today, We've continuously been #1 on the Oricon for 2 days🏅 Thank you very much, for that!

The event was really over in the blink of an eye, Thank you very much enjoying it☝🏻☝🏻

Speaking of, during the event, Like, talking about the single… We didn't do that in particular but ⚠️lol

Magazine, Shows and Radio, We've spoken with varous medias so, (Further, we talked about it on Harami-chan Radio) Please search and look for them!

Nanadaka Sentimental na Toki no Uta..

SaiKIYOU..

Its interesting how the color is so different in one piece, Everyone who got their hands on the 74th single, Again, really, thank you🤍

Its the day after the single release but..

There was a big announcement today🌻

In the autumn, it was decided we'll release an album

This album finally, will be Ishida's last work💿💿✨️

Its an album so there will be lots of new songs, right, There are many songs that I can call my last work, I can imagine it even more~🤍

I'm really, looking forward to it🤍

The release of yesterdays single, We didn't say anything special with the release of it, I thought about it a lot in my own way

When I was writing the Tokyo Sports note Series, I may have whispered about it here and there~

I wonder if its difficult to be open about it~

Its not just that I couldn't give the announcement, There were many who didn't know it was being produced in the first place, There wasn't much to chew on either like, this is my..

Saying, its the first single of the 13 member system! I felt like that fit these songs that were aggressive,🔥 That's really the truth,

I was surprised to see myself on the thumbnail, of the Nandaka Sentimental na Toki no Uta.. MV, Partly because I had no intention of it being that way🙃🙃

I thought, huh~? Its like that~? lol

When asked about it suddenly, I couldn't really speak about it well with words like "last single", I ended up unintentionally using it, …There may be more like this in the future😕😕

Eeh, its like, I'm saving "last" for the album? I wonder if that's how I was feeling? I don't really get it myself?

I conveyed this with my graduation announcement as well but, Everything related to the graduation, will my last first experience of it so,

Its a problem, although I'm thankful😂😂 lol

There is a lot moving around in my heart, Isn't it becoming autumn, I'm excited🤤

Its less than a month until our first day of the autumn tour

Lets definitely have a fun autumn together😌🤍

Play▶️List

Graduation Announcement Blog🐣🪽

Hello! Station #531 I also talk about my graduation in this video

📺Otoboke POPS

TokyoMX August 17th (Sat) 9:30~10:00PM Ishida, Sakurai, Yumigeta are appearing💙🤎❤️

📺Hello Pro Dance Every other Thursday at 11:30PM~

📺Sendai Broadcast "Ara Ara Kashiko" Ishida Ayumi Goes~! I appear once a month as part of the AraKashi Family

The previous shows, and makings, are on OX VIDEO STORE!

Thank you for following.. Instagram💙🩵

💿 August 14th new single✨ "Nandaka Sentimental na Toki no Uta/saiKIYOU"

🪩Hello! Project 2024 Summer ALL OF US "Vega" "Altair" From July 13th~September 1st Traveling To 7 Cities Nationwide All Hello! Project groups are performing🔥

⚾️Rakuten Mobile Park Miyagi August 30th (Fri) Orix Match I will be making the ceremonial pitch

🪩"Morning Musume '24 Concert Tour Autumn WE CAN DANCE!"

Its Ishida Ayumi's last tour💙 I'm looking forward to seeing you

🪩"ROCK IN JAPAN FESTIVAL 2024 in HITACHINAKA" September 22nd GRASS STAGE 10:30AM~

→Tickets are on general sale

📻Morning Musume '24 Morning Jogakuin ~Houkago Meeting~

Airs Every Saturday, On Radio Nihon at 12:00AM~

Past Broadcast Episodes Are Available →Program Details

I visited as a guest🪽 "Sayashi Riho and The Time From Now On" presented by Meiji Bulgarian Yogurt

Can I ask this!

With singles and albums, What is the mindset, how is it different, I'd like to know if you can put it in writing🙊🙊

see you ayumin <3

[thats-the-teen-spirit]

Top 10 songs of 2023, reviewed by yours truly

As per tradition when Spotify Wrapped comes out I write short reviews of the best songs of the year so here we go:

10. One More Time by blink-182

The biggest reveal from the world of pop punk last year was that blink-182 is back... again. First I was a little sceptical especially after hearing Edging but this song, and its video made me listen. The lyrics are about the long lost friendship between Travis, Mark and Tom, and to be completely honest I shed a couple teardrops the first few times I gave it a listen. Amazing song from an amazing record.

9. Homicide by Magnolia Park

I'm completely new to this band, I found this song randomly in an Instagram reel that caught my attention. It's super catchy, almost Linkin Park-ish vibes that is a little "Octanecore" little pop punk, but nevertheless an absolute banger.

8. Jaded by Spiritbox

Spiritbox is the new shit in the scene, everyone and their mom knows about it. But just a little less than a month ago they put out an EP consisting of 6 melodic and heavy bangers called The Fear of Fear. This song stands out from the EP because of the insanely catchy chorus, the breakdown with the clean guitar melody and just the overall feeling of the song. Courtney has always been open about her influences (even and especially the pop ones) and this song is a great example to it.

7. Lost by Linkin Park

On the 20th anniversary of Meteora, Linkin Park released a bunch of unreleased material from the recording session of the legendary album and this was the first single off of it. What more can I say about it? If you haven't heard it despite liking Linkin Park then shame of you.

6. Without A Whisper by Invent, Animate

Another surprise as I've never been a big fan of the band. Not being so into the Deftones-y spacey vibes before, this band always has been a hit or miss. Until Heavener. It's blended so seemlessly that first I didn't even notice that there's now screaming instead of singing with a bunch of reverb. I still almost never skip this song despite Heavener being released earlier this year.

5. Fake Out by Fall Out Boy

This one is probably the only song on the list that is not a single, not even the top 3 from their album So Much (for) Stardust. The boys are officially back and this song proves it, The falsetto hook in the chorus got stuck in my head after the first few listens. I'm really really glad they are back to playing instrumental music because that's what they do best.

4. Might Love Myself by Beartooth

For me this year was about healing. Healing from a past breakup, losing my previous job, and just in general the depressing reality of adulthood. After hearing the first singles from the latest Beartooth album it was obvious that Caleb, the singer for the band had been through a similar journey prior to writing this record. This song stands out for me because of the overwhelmingly positive self-loving lyrics that are a must-listen when you have been through a lot of shit. I also like the little "whoo" before the second chorus, it really makes it sound like Caleb had a lot of fun recording it.

3. Haunted by Spanish Love Songs

The most underrated band on the list by a landmile. Also probably the most depressing band I've ever listened to, which says something. The whole new record No Joy has some really interesting musical changes from the previous ones, there's less screaming, less distorted guitars, it has more of a The Killers vibe than something off tumblr's 2015 pop punk hardcore best of (looking at you The Story So Far). Haunted is a bittersweet tune about being nostalgically sad about the old days, and for an old fart that is closer to 30 than to 20 it's a comforting thing that I'm not alone with this feeling.

2. LosT by Bring Me The Horizon

What do you get when you mix 'I'm not Okay' and current era Bring Me The Horizon? That's right, this fucking banger. I think throughout the year this song was the only one that I've never skipped. The pop punk-emo feeling is in every note, the breakdown is easily my most favorite of the year, the callout for it is even. "I think i'm gonna break down". Fucking genius by the most dynamic songwriting duo of the music scene, Oli and Jordan. The powerpop elements are also fun to listen to, it just blends really well. 10/10 banger, looking forward to the EP.

Ascensionism/Take Me Back To Eden by Sleep Token

The biggest band of the year was 100% Sleep Token. My Spotify was POSSESSED by their music this year, so obviously it was a tough choice to pick a song from their latest album so I cheated a little with the longest, most progressive songs of the record. Their music feels like a religious experience for me and the best example to this is Ascensionism, the "YOU MAKE ME WISH I COULD DISAPPEAR" line hits, the rap part fits perfectly, the guitars are heavy as balls, the piano intro is the perfect introduction, it's a 12/10 song, it's that good

And honestly I have the same feelings about Take Me Back to Eden. The titular song and its callbacks to Chokehold made me feel like I'm in a chokehold myself. The epitome of great songwriting was when from the nature sounds through rapping we got to the heaviest, low tuned breakdown of the last couple years

So there you have it, my personal top 10+1 list. If you read my review this far, thank you.

[fuckyeahvanhalen86-95]

Sammy Hagar plans to revitalize some Van Halen vibes on his upcoming summer tour.

For The Best of All Worlds Tour, Hagar and his bandmates in The Circle – bassist Michael Anthony, a founding member of Van Halen, and drummer Jason Bonham – will be joined by guitarist virtuoso Joe Satriani, who has recorded and performed with Hagar and Anthony in the band Chickenfoot.

The itinerary kicks off on July 13 in West Palm Beach, Florida, and the tour hits a total of 28 cities, concluding August 31 in St. Louis, Missouri. Loverboy will serve as the opening act.

Pre-sales begin on Wednesday, Nov. 15, at 10 a.m., with general on-sale starting Friday, Nov. 17 at 10 a.m. local. For more information go to RedRocker.com.

Hagar, 76, joined Van Halen as vocalist in 1985 after David Lee Roth left. Hagar also left the band in 1996, but returned for a 2004 tour. Recently, Hagar says he and Anthony decided to perform songs from their days playing in Van Halen at Hagar's annual Birthday Bash last month in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico.

"We pulled out a couple of them and it was an instant lovefest with the fans from our first riffs," Hagar said in a statement with the tour announcement. "The music we created is going to outlive us all. They deserve to be heard so it's time we go out and serve the fans that music, while we still can."

The four albums of the "Van Hagar" era of the band – 5150 (1986), OU812 (1988), For Unlawful Carnal Knowledge (1991), and Balance (1995) – were recently re-released in newly remastered editions.

“It’s crazy to think that it’ll be 20 years since Mikey and I played these songs with Van Halen on the 04’ Best of Both Worlds Tour,” said Hagar. “With Joe on board, we can take a deeper dive into those years. We’re going to touch on some hits from my entire career but seeing fans old and new really embrace the new collection set off something in Mikey and I."

Joining the band on keyboards and backing vocals is Australian musician Rai Thistlethwayte.

WHAT SONGS MAY SAMMY HAGAR AND THE BAND PLAY IN THE 2024 TOUR?

On a poster for The Best of All Worlds tour, there's a list of songs including:

• Songs Hagar recorded with Van Halen: 5150, When It's Love, Best of Both Worlds, Finish What Ya Started, Poundcake, Humans Being, Right Now, Good Enough, Eagles Fly • Van Halen songs recorded with Roth: Panama, Running' With the Devil, Ain't Talkin' 'Bout Love • Hagar solo songs: Your Love is Driving Me Crazy, Heavy Metal, Little White Lie, One Way to Rock, Mas Tequila • Hagar songs from his days with Montrose: Rock Candy • Chickenfoot songs: Oh Yeah

Here are Sammy Hagar's Best of All Worlds tour dates: • July 13     West Palm Beach, FL     iTHINK Financial Amphitheatre • July 14      Tampa, FL                     MIDFLORIDA Credit Union Amphitheatre • July 16 Alpharetta, GA Ameris Bank Amphitheatre • July 19 Charlotte, NC PNC Music Pavilion • July 20 Bristow, VA Jiffy Lube Live • July 22 Saratoga Springs, NY Broadview Stage at SPAC • July 24 Bridgeport, CT Hartford HealthCare Amphitheater • July 26 Mansfield, MA Xfinity Center • July 27 Holmdel, NJ PNC Bank Arts Center • July 29 Cuyahoga Falls, OH Blossom Music Center • July 31 Toronto, ON Budweiser Stage • Aug. 2 Clarkston, MI Pine Knob Music Theatre • Aug. 3 Tinley Park, IL Credit Union 1 Amphitheatre • Aug. 9 Las Vegas, NV MGM Grand Garden Arena • Aug. 11 Morrison, CO Red Rocks Amphitheatre • Aug. 13 Airway Heights, WA BECU Live at Northern Quest • Aug. 14 Ridgefield, WA RV Inn Style Resort Amphitheater • Aug. 16 Wheatland, CA Toyota Amphitheatre • Aug. 17 Concord, CA Toyota Pavilion at Concord • Aug. 19 Los Angeles, CA Kia Forum • Aug. 20 Phoenix, AZ Talking Stick Resorts Amphitheatre • Aug. 22 Dallas, TX Dos Equis Pavilion • Aug. 23 Houston, TX Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion • Aug. 25 Rogers, AR Walmart AMP • Aug. 27 Cincinnati, OH Riverbend Music Center • Aug. 28 Nashville, TN Bridgestone Arena • Aug. 30 Noblesville, IN Ruoff Music Center • Aug. 31 St. Louis, MO Hollywood Casino Amphitheatre

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[afrobeatsindacity]

ASAKE - WORK OF ART REVIEW

“But una know I no dey waste time” is Asake's pre-written answer to questions bordering around why his sophomore album is out barely 9 months after his scintillating debut. Not that anyone is less than thrilled to see him back so soon, mind, but we are all too familiar with the  compromises to the production process that may aid an artist to achieve these hurried release schedules. Asake, however, does not sacrifice quality on the altar of speed, so that what is traditionally a sticky point for establishing artists—the second album slump—is turned into a flamboyant, braggadocious display of his extent of pliability of his Fuji-Amapiano creation, and then some.

Doubts have persisted for nearly as long as he has been mainstream of his ability and/or willingness (or lack thereof) to explore music styles outside his patented scope, but Asake does not intend Work Of Art to be a definitive end to this conversation. So while he does push even further from the conventional in a bid to conquer sonic territory, he plants his base firmly in the music that has brought him thus far—the rhythmic familiarity of log drums and shakers, the ethereal resonance of crowd backup vocals and his own euphonic, Fuji-recalling delivery.

For “Yoga”, his 2023 opener which now closes the album, he sets himself sonically somewhere between Indigenous Egun music of Badagry, Lagos and the Sega genre of Mauritius, weaving together diverse cultures. His message here is clear; he is in his own lane and it would be pointless to try and catch him—but this time he goes for sombre self-identity over overarching superiority. Not to say he does not have some of the latter in his toolbox. On “Lonely At The Top”, the track from which this article’s opening quote was carved, he may appear to get ahead of himself—this is, afterall, only the second year since his proper breakout single, and there are others who have secured and maintained a top-flight status for much longer—but Asake’s time has always run a little faster. 

That is the reason why, still struggling to find a footing in music and life in general, he announced himself “Mr Money” in his 2020 single of the same name. On Work Of Art, boastful predictions for his future can carry the extra backing of his conquests from last year, and he knows it. On “I believe”, the optimistically upbeat joint which Magicsticks reworks from Amapiano’s log drums, Asake proclaims “Nitty-gritty of ‘22, I’m the one”, casting back to a year ago when he thrilled the country with a conveyor belt of hit singles before his debut album landed the final blow. He rewords and translates this on “Awodi”, stating “2022 mo gbe wan trabaye”, another claim that can be self-promoting without being exaggerative. On this chiefly Yoruba song, his honours Pasuma both in words and in the Fuji-ogling framework the track is crafted on.

Whether Asake’s outsized self-image is primarily a function of belief in himself or trust in a higher power is debatable, but it certainly is some combination of both. He definitely has the spiritual strength to justify the latter, as he embraces, in the popular Yoruba polytheist ideology, both Christianity and Islam, and delves into African Traditional Religion when the situation requires it, when there is need to tie ese ile bo. But where Mr. Money With The Vibe regarded these religions, like most people do, as a means of covering all bases in the search for material upliftment, Work Of Art has Asake transcend beyond this and ponder on the afterlife. 

He weighs in turn a Christian (“Mr. Money with the vibe ‘til the devil say my name”) and then a Muslim (“Koni wa le lai lai till we reach Al Jannah”) aftermath, but reaches a consensus in either case that he will live to the full until that moment arrives. And while these musings might seem somewhat premature for a 28 year old man in apparent robust health, Asake has never faltered in his preference of an impactful existence over a lengthy one. So today he will drown in a variety of substances from alcohol to colorado, before burying his head in the thighs of the woman he loves. “Let’s stay all night looking as the star shines/ Make love till the sunrise” he sings on the now-decadent, now-affecting “Mogbe”. 

Romance flickers brightly in other corners, even if it is a rare sight on the album and is often easily contorted into lust. “Remember” has a chorus that wants to negotiate affection with money, not an uncommon love language in a country with so little of it. “I wanna love you forever, baby o/ I just want to spend all my chеddar on you”, he says at first, but what comes next unmasks his carnal intentions. “Sunshine” shares all of this blissful radiance, but, without its romantic overtones, Asake intends it to be a pat on the back to the weary soul, equal parts motivating and reassuring. “Sun’s gon’ shine on everything you do”, he says, and if those words appear familiar it is because they were borrowed from Lighthouse Family’s “Ocean Drive” of 1995, and Asake transports this iconic line across time and genre without losing any bit of its eupeptic essence.

Asake uses himself and his incredible journey, as successful people often do, as a guiding light to those still stuck on the lowest rungs of the ladder, but material success is only a small contributor to his euphoria. For Asake, the process is just as important as the result, and like every true artist he prides himself even more in the art that has brought him thus far. 

“Basquiat” throws down the gauntlet with the arrogance of a man that knows it won’t be taken up, and while he is aware of similarly sounding artists that the media will try to force into comparisons with him,— “Studying me is an honour jeun lor/ I get many pages like songs of Solomon”—he will superciliously point out the futility in reading a master’s textbook to try and be better than him. “What's the chances, what's the probability/ To see a bеtter version of me with agility”, he asks on the spunky Blaisebeatz-produced “2:30”, but it is only rhetorical. He has his answer.

If he is any worried about deposition, he hardly shows it, and more importantly, he will not let it bog down his brilliant new creation. “Basquiat” is also the closest thing to a titular track on the album, whose cover art is depiction of Jean-Michel Basquiat by Nigerian artist, Ayanfe Olarinde. While Asake sees similarities between himself and the talented, troubled, visual artist, he has long established to have no greater weapon in his arsenal than his individuality and sense of self. A few fans may clamour to see him try on new trends and sounds, but Asake insists that he is the template, the “work of art” that should be studied. And he probably is right. Supreme ability and a unshaking confidence in it are always a devastating match, and his blend of indigenous cultures from fifty years ago and trendsetting house music of the future makes him one of the easiest bets for the next great Nigerian star.    

This article was written by Afrobeats City Contributor Ezema Patrick - @ezemapatrick (Twitter)

Afrobeats City doesn’t own the right to the images - image source: Instagram - @Asakemusic