#verse one. jaewon

[seosejun]

a chronically online kpop stan explains ENCORE!NG lore

Today we’re going to talk about ENCORE!NG, the first subunit of boy group Encore. Formed from the 2020 survival show Last Act, the seven members were among the best the initial sixty contestants had to offer. After promoting exclusively with the group for two and a half years following their November 2020 debut, the members were free to promote dually as part of their own agencies’ groups. In the year that followed, only three members—Lifeng, Kiwon, and Jihyun—went on to debut in other groups. Three out of the four of the remaining members—Jaewon, Yoonsung, and Hyunwoo—are now part of ENCORE!NG. The last member, Minjun, is in a different situation we’ll discuss later.

THE LINEUP — It is highly speculated that the ENCORE!NG members would not have made a second debut otherwise. Jaewon—best known for his Kyochon Chicken CF that went viral mere days after being announced as Encore’s center—is represented by a modeling agency run by his aunt, the chaeol Danyoung Group’s Ahn Yeonso. As far as we know, he’s their only idol trainee. Yoonsung is the only independent trainee in the group’s lineup, and has no agency other than Encore’s Wake One. Hyunwoo is rumoured to have declined a spot in Cravity in order to compete on Last Act.

THE ANNOUNCEMENT — ENCORE!NG was first announced through Encore’s various social media accounts on October 17, 2024. The first teaser had four silhouettes, who were assumed to be the four members who had yet to redebut, including Minjun. There was no mention of a feature at all. While no release date was announced, we all happily anticipated it coming soon. It had been five months since the last time we saw Jaewon. We were in a drought.

MINJUN'S HIATUS — In a quick detour to the elephant in the room, I want to talk about Minjun. Two days after ENCORE!NG’s first announcement, Dispatch released an article accusing Minjun of using a ghostwriter for all of his credited lyrics. The main source of these accusations was a former SM Entertainment and Mystic Story employee, who said they worked with Minjun both when he was an SM Entertainment trainee, and later at Mystic Story, his current agency. The employee revealed internal messages between Minjun and his mother, another SM Entertainment employee, where they discussed ways Minjun could make himself stand out from the other Last Act contestants. Among the various messages was a PDF of specific lines, imagery, and rhymes reminiscent of the lyrics he’d supposedly written for his Last Act performances. The Dispatch article also compared segments of the PDF to Minjun’s verses in different Encore songs, in a thorough takedown of all of his credibility. Although some of the comparisons were stretches, a few of them were so similar they may as well have been plagiarized.

Minjun released an apology letter the day after the allegations surfaced. He’s been on hiatus ever since. Minjun’s parents, in conjunction with Mystic Story, have announced legal actions against the employee who released the messages.

For a long time, it looked like ENCORE!NG was shelved. This was truly the darkest time to be a Medici, and we’ve been through some shit.

ANCHOR — The name of ENCORE!NG’s debut mini album was finally revealed on November 12, 2024. The first teaser has since been deleted, and this new teaser, toting ENCORE!NG featuring a bunch of question marks, is the official beginning of the era. Teasers for the Encore members rolled out as normal, until the day before the album’s release, when the question mark feature was finally revealed. In what’s probably the greatest plot twist in kpop since K Will’s “Please Don’t,” former 1V1 member Sejun was revealed as the special feature. 

Pretty much every Encore fan had a hit tweet that day. One of my personal favorites is a quote retweet of Sejun’s teasers that said, “for non-kpop stans, this is like if charli xcx and lorde released a song together—oh wait that happened too.”

SEJUN — There are tons of videos related to the rise and fall of 1V1, and even more thinkpieces on Sejun and his solo career—or lack thereof—following 1V1’s disbandment, so I won’t get into all of it here. The most important facts are these:

Despite losing Last Act, the fifteen months of 1V1’s activities placed them nearly on par with Encore. Until ZB1 in 2023, Encore didn’t have any temporary survival show group rivals except 1V1. 1V1, on the other hand, probably had beef with everyone. If this video gets 10k likes, I’ll put together “a chronically online kpop stan explains every group 1V1 supposedly had beef with.”

Instead of returning to Starship Entertainment to somehow debut with Hyunwoo, Sejun signed with the then-unknown C Entertainment and debuted as a soloist on January 15, 2023.

He released two mini albums in 2023, and has spent the entirety of this year modeling, playing Overwatch, and refusing to hire a PR specialist.

To say he’s just a feature on ENCORE!NG’s album would be an understatement. He was part of every track, except the Jaewon and Yoonsung duet. He wrote most of the lyrics. He’s promoting alongside them like he’s the eighth Encore member. 

FROM THE HORSE'S MOUTH — There are three constants in life: death, taxes, and Sejun talking about things he shouldn’t be talking about. If not for his YouTube livestream the day after Anchor released, we’d have a lot more speculation and a lot fewer facts. It’s probably better if I let him speak for himself. The relevant parts of his stream have all been cut and individually posted on YouTube with subtitles. 

“Everyone wants to know how I became a part of this,” Sejun says. “Can we watch the fucking music video first?” For a split second, his stream shows the recursive display of his OBS broadcast before he opens the music video for ENCORE!NG’s debut song. It plays for a few seconds, only enough time to hear the opening chords, before he pauses it. “You’ve all heard the song already? No shit. Aren’t music video reactions popular these days?” He falls silent to let his viewers respond as he leans forward in his seat. A 5000 won donation makes a soft chime, and Sejun reads the message out loud. “Everyone does reactions. No one shows the process.’” He laughs. “I'm not fucking buying that. You all like kpop. You know that's not true. I'll talk about it because I want to talk about it. “Hyunwoo-hyung invited me. I didn't know what I was getting into until I arrived at the fucking shoot for this fucking music video.” Sejun points at his computer screen, which looks a lot like he's pointing at his camera. “Jaewon-hyung taught me the important parts of the choreography in a few hours. I haven’t learned a dance that fast since Last Act. There’s not going to be a performance video on the same set because I didn’t fucking know the fucking dance.” “Hyunwoo-hyung told me later that I wasn’t their first choice for a feature. I wasn’t even their second fucking choice. Chan-hyung and I were both third choices, but I got it because I didn’t ask any fucking questions. I should’ve fucking asked. I can’t say who the first two choices were. If you like to watch survival shows, you definitely know who they were.” He pauses. “ZB1? No, but you’re not that far off.” Sejun covers his mouth, as if he can take his words back. “Shit. My manager is going to fucking kill me for that. He always tells me I'm not supposed to talk about other idols.” He keeps reading through the comments. “EVNNE? TIOT? Who the fuck is that? Let’s watch the music video now.” It plays for a blissfully uninterrupted forty seconds, until it reaches Sejun’s prechorus, and he pauses the video again. “I saw everyone wanted to know why I didn’t write any of my fucking lines in this song. If you weren’t paying attention, it’s because I became part of this at the fucking music video filming. “I wrote the other songs a few days after we filmed the music video. I know it’s a surprise for a lot of you, but my reputation isn’t that bad. Once I was confirmed to basically be part of ENCORE!NG, they let me rewrite as much of it as I fucking wanted to. I didn’t even have to win fucking Last Act.” He smiles at his own joke. “Honestly, I didn’t make too many changes. I could tell they removed all the shitty parts before I got there. I liked writing ‘Checkmate’ the most. Recently, I’ve been playing a shit-ton of chess with Alex. We’re both fucking terrible. We’ll play on stream one day once he learns how to make his fucking moves in less than fifteen fucking minutes.” He returns to the music video for only a few seconds before he gets another donation. “‘Do you know Minjun?’” he reads. “No offense, but that’s a stupid fucking question. I almost want to give you a fucking refund. Of course I know Minjun. He’s…” Sejun stops in the middle of his sentence, chewing his bottom lip. He shakes his head. “I’m not supposed to say anything else. It’s weird to see me think? Blink twice if I need help? Was I replaced with AI?” The left side of his mouth curves up in a smile. “I know how to fucking think before I speak. That doesn’t mean I do it all the fucking time. He was probably supposed to be in ENCORE!NG. I don’t know for sure because I’m not their fucking management.”

Shout out to Sejun for confirming a whole bunch of things. Like Minjun was supposed to be in ENCORE!NG. It checks out with the timeline between teasers and the official release. And why Sejun wasn’t part of the title track—because he didn’t know what he was going to be a part of.

He did almost start a witch-hunt for the other idols who were supposed to be the feature instead. The current most popular theory is that one of them was on Boys Planet, and maybe hasn’t debuted yet, especially considering Sejun’s casual dismissal of the show’s most popular groups. He offered no hints about the other second idol, other than that he was also part of a survival show. Until someone leaks Encore’s internal messages, we’ll never know. That was a joke, by the way. Please don’t hack Wake One unless you’re going to convince them to promote Kep1er better.

CONCLUSION — So there we have it. Everything we know or assume about ENCORE!NG so far. Since the album just released, I’m looking forward to everything else that goes down during this promotional period. Can someone please convince Sejun to live stream their waiting room at Inkigayo?

[syxjaewon]

exit wounds

@neosy

like a wind, like a torrent, like a storm, jaewon brings serenity up and out of the docks on persephone, the city and then the planet spreading out around them and then drifting off in their wake, the gold churning of the ship’s engine blazing hot and quick and angry, escaping from the planet’s gnawing grasp, its teeth like jagged knives that attempt to bite down on her heels. serenity has always been fast enough to flee any world’s clutches, fast enough to slip through the fingers of menacing organizations and governments alike, and her captain isn’t worried, isn’t bothered, isn’t troubled. he knows her capabilities and her speeds, he knows her twists and turns and curves like he knows his own skin, his own bones, his own strengths.

he brings the ship far enough out of persephone’s atmosphere that he finally allows himself to relax a bit, on the trail again towards the next caper, the next system, the next treasure hunt, assured by ares that his money isn’t locked on persephone, and that they’ll be paid well enough once they’re eating stardust. trusting ares doesn’t make a lick of sense to jaewon, but bothering him at this particular moment in time, after they’ve all just eluded death and the proto is doubtless dealing with his recovered prized possession, doesn’t seem like a smart idea either. he decides to give it at least an hour or two, if ares doesn’t approach him first.

they are fully in the clear, into true black space, when he lets the ship hold to autopilot, setting her on a steadier course and getting up from the bridge chair slowly, his limbs suddenly aching from the lack of adrenaline threading through him, joints rusted and furious at him now that he’s calmed down. he’ll need to sleep soon, pass out from the exhaustion of this mission, from the stress of the day before, his uncertainty with neo, the fact that he hasn’t slept a full night in at least a week. he gives himself a minute to check over all his surfaces; arms still intact, legs still sturdy, nothing bleeding or leaking anywhere, nothing hemorrhaging weakness or new scars.

his footfalls echo heavily down the corridor as he strides slowly through the neck of his ship, bypassing his bedroom in favor of the kitchen at the end, because even though sleep is the plan, it’s not the most immediately pressing problem, as evidenced by his stomach grumbling. he doesn’t hesitate steaming through the room towards the food, even as he notices neo sitting in one of the chairs, looking exhausted. “still alive?” it’s meant to be something light-hearted, even if yang jaewon isn’t necessarily known for his light-heartedness, even if yang jaewon isn’t known for his quips, the words just falling out of him like a gag-reflex, and he refocuses his efforts on gathering together what he wants to eat.

it isn’t until he nears the other male, stepping over to his seat at the end of the table, that he spots the blood dripping down his clothes, the red staining through them and pooling below him. “you got shot.” he says it like an accusation, like a condemnation, a criticism, remembering that ares and gael are in the infirmary and that’s not an area jaewon wants to visit right now. he sets down the food, forgotten, and frowns at his mercenary, taking a step towards him. “is it bad?”

[x-wearethefuture-x]

((I’m just gonna leave this here in case anyone is interested but...

Like this post for a short starter from one of my underused muses!))

[famedroleplayarchive]

As promised, here’s an admin update post. This addresses several topics you all probably knew were coming and might have been waiting for the answers on, as well as some other topics, additions, and changes! Please take your time to read this thoroughly, and thanks again for four years of Famed! There’s a lot here, so take your time reading it.

URL change

The main blog’s URL has changed to famedroleplay. Some links are still being updated, but if you notice anything still links back incorrectly after a week or so, please do let me know!

Faceclaims

After hearing out the opinion of everyone who shared theirs regarding banning faceclaims involved in bullying scandals and taking that into consideration, face claims will be banned if they are linked to outside crimes or severe such as sexual assault, molka, or bullying in connection to suicide / suicide attempts. This means the initial ban on actor Kim Jisoo and April members Kim Chaewon, Lee Naeun, Yang Yena, Lee Jinsol, and and ex-member Jeon Somin remain in tact.

Bullying allegations not linked to these outside factors will still be grounds for someone to be allowed to ask to change a faceclaim before their faceclaim change waiting period is up, though, if they are uncomfortable continuing to use a faceclaim because of bullying allegations. If a faceclaim leaves the industry and/or removes themselves from the public eye for the foreseeable future for any reason, they are also still unusable, but this rule was already in place.

As for how this will affect parts of the roleplay other than faceclaims, please see the section further down about Element. Two April songs (”Oh My Mistake!” and “Love Clock”) were previously used for the first season of base’s COLLA3ORATE. These will be retroactively replaced with Elris’s “Jackpot” and “Like I Do” respectively, but if you had a muse involved in “Oh My Mistake” and would prefer to remove them from COLLA3ORATE season one entirely, just message me and they will be removed. I assigned the lines trying to match the positions and line distributions up similarly, but if your muse was involved and you’d like to keep them in “Jackpot” but want to switch to an untaken position, you’re welcome to request that as well. Otherwise, any references to that can simply use those songs instead now.

Element update

Due to the recent allegations involving Somin, a major revamp of Element has had to be conducted. After discussing the situation with the current muns of the group, the past model discography of Element has been replaced using Checkmate, K-Tigers Zero, and Lucky J, and they will be making their final comeback on April 12. After those promotions end, Element will be disbanded and the members will re-debut later in the year in a boy group, Quicksilver, with model groups of Ateez and Treasure and a girl group, Marigold, with model groups of BVNDIT and Melody Day with two new members each. The Element spots have been reopened, but the new positions in the new groups won’t be opened until after Element have finished promoting. This will be a major plotline for the roleplay and Gold Star in particular so expect to see it brought up in schedules and in some articles on the Exclusive blog as the storyline unfolds.

The new debuts in Quicksilver and Marigold will be available on May 13.

Fuse’s model discography update

Thanks to everyone’s suggestions, I was able to find two groups to add to Fuse’s model discography that I felt could align with their sound, direction, storyline, and positions enough to be happy with for now. These groups are Cherry Bullet and Weki Meki. The updated line distribution can be found on Fuse’s page.

There are other groups I’m looking into adding onto the model discographies of, but Fuse was the most urgent, so they’re the only official update I have today!

Canon soloists

Ultimately, after the poll, more people voted to remove canon soloists than to keep them, and they are officially being removed from the roleplay.

Those discographies previously used for the soloists will begin to be open for points claims at midnight/12AM EDT on April 12.

With the removal of canon soloists, the plan is to allow a solo music career to become a more prominent claiming option, and there are plans for some additional claim options to become available in relation to such a career, but those will be added and addressed at a later time.

As for storylines linked to some of the soloists, this is how those will be retconned:

BC Soloist 1: Instead of BC signing and debuting a known Gold Star trainee, BC hired a high profile creative director from Gold Star known from working with Gold Star since their inception and had worked on some of their most defining comebacks and announced she would be taking over as one of the company’s main creative directors. She has since worked on conceptualizing several group’s comeback as well as most heavily on Chroma’s pre-debut project.

Dimensions Soloist 3: Instead of Dimensions buying out a small and brand new company created by a crew of popular music producers with one soloist who they transferred to their label, in early 2020, Dimensions bought out a music production company that was created by a top music production team with several rising producers signed with them and made the producers in-house producers for Dimensions. Since then, the new producers have helped to produce several hit Dimensions songs since.

While Gold Star Soloist 1 no longer exists as an IU stand-in, Gold Star still had an incredibly popular and loved NPC soloist as one of their first artists that helped give their name prominence. At the beginning of 2021, she announced her departure from the agency to create her own label, citing her reasoning as feeling she needed a more focused environment than Gold Star’s growth could provide. There are rumors she was alluding to dissatisfaction with Gold Star’s recent management and gossip that Gold Star was pushing for her to pursue activities in overseas markets she wasn’t interested in.

Anyone who had a feature or MV appearance claim on a soloist can contact me and let me know whether they’d like to just drop the claim (and, if a points claim, recollect those points), keep it as a claim in an unspecified work, or try to replace it with something else. The following muses had claims this applies to:

Features:

Cha Kyonghwa (Kami) (app claim) Kang Sunghee (app claim) Park Jaewon (points claim, 10 points) dropped! Choi Joosung (Sun) (points claim, 10 points) Moon Chaeyeon (Dita) (app claim) Park Duri (points claim, 10 points) kept as unspecified!

MV appearances:

Kim Kyongmin (Alice) (app claim) Ryu Jaein (points claim, 5 points) dropped! Seo Minjung (points claim, 10 points) points reclaimed! Moon Chaeyeon (Dita) (app claim)

Points shop updates

There have been a few updates to the points shop!

Firstly, the nation’s title claim checklist now requires a headcanon on the muse’s image and how it relates to their claims and career to be completed. This is just so I can see a mun’s own intentions for how everything ties in with their image. This headcanon shouldn’t focus on the title itself since that isn’t ever guaranteed for approval, but the muse’s general image as the mun has shaped it. The viral moment requirement for a nation’s title is now also specified to need to relate to the image involved in the desired title.

In the wake of canon soloists being removed, I’m planning on being a little more strict regarding music claims aligning well with positions.This applies to both individual songs and whole discographies. Still, the intent is to be reasonable. Chungha having a rap-like verse in “Bicycle” won’t require someone to have a rap position to claim it since it’s not a lot of the song and she’s not known as a rapper, but I also wouldn’t approve a muse whose most prominent position is main rapper or a main dancer making their entire discography IU releases since IU is primarily a singing-focused artist.

There used to be a rule requiring that muns seek admin approval before claiming songs written by deceased artists, but that rule has now been removed. Keep it respectful, though, please. If any issue arises with muns breaking the fourth wall in relation to these songs to be disrespectful about a real person’s passing, that claim may be revoked and the rule may be reinstated. Songs performed by deceased artists still cannot be claimed.

There’s also a new claim available — a YouTube variety show or talk show. Please see the variety page for examples and more information, but note that this is separate from both a reality show claim. I’ve tried to specify the difference, but if you’re ever unsure which one what you want to claim would fit into, feel free to ask! Both will now be uploaded in-’verse to base’s Youtube Channel. Likewise, there has been a small change so that future radio show claims are now through base Radio, a radio streaming application (think Naver Now). 

Company building pages + Pinterest

I’m currently working on pages that give more detail on the layout of the company headquarters. They aren’t quite finished yet, but I have created a Famed Pinterest account for those of you who find more muse visually or who are into visual worldbuilding! One of the sections on the boards there gives a rough idea of company building visuals. There are group concept boards as well, so if you’re struggling to decide where your muse might fit, looking at those might help you if you’re more of a visual person. No one is required to follow it and I won’t be answering messages or anything of the sort there, but I thought it might be a helpful way to visually convey locations and concepts! I’ll make a small post to let everyone know when the pages with in-depth information on the company buildings is available.

Activity rules updates

I mentioned there’d be a few more touch-ups to the activity rules to fill in loopholes that have been around a while, so here they are.

- There is now a formal hiatus request form that must be submitted to request a hiatus. Simply sending the main an IM that you want a hiatus will no longer qualify as a valid request and it will not be processed.

- There will no longer be a week-long grace period after a hiatus ends. You are responsible for being active for the next activity check after your hiatus ends.

- The maximum length of a hiatus is now three weeks (and the minimum one week). The initial hiatus request maximum is still two weeks with one week extensions, but extensions may not be stacked to exceed three weeks total without a passed activity check in between. If you can’t be around for a longer period of time, it might be best to rejoin at a later time when you’re more available! In total, a mun is allotted a maximum of four weeks of hiatus over any twelve week period.

- If a muse reaches three activity warnings in a month, they will be automatically moved to the unfollow list on their third warning instead. If a muse is removed and refollowed three times over the course of six months, they will not be able to be re-followed again and will have to re-apply.

New points opportunity

As of this post going up, muses may now collect one point for every first closed thread with a new muse after it has reached ten posts. This will no longer only apply during events and the ten post requirement is new. Members should be interacting with new muses all the time, not just during events, so it felt right to adjust this accordingly. This applies only to threads started after this post goes up.

Chroma

As schedules have been made quarterly, all remaining Chroma roles will be made available for reserves and applications in at midnight/12AM EDT on April 12.

Suggestions + Feedback

I want to end off this post by reminding everyone that I’m always taking suggestions for events, tasks, etc! I plan on opening an official suggestion submission blog at some point down the line, but I’m happy to take suggestions through the ask box or submit if you have any. I’m also open to feedback as well. If you do send in either of these things, please specify if you’d like a reply from me, since sometimes I might be naturally inclined to keep a message simply giving a suggestion or idea without any questions instead of responding to it.

Thanks for reading this very long update! There are more additions to the roleplay in the works, some I’ve hinted at here and some I’ve not, but I hope Famed’s fifth year is able to be its best one yet!

[fmdjaewonarchive]

008: jaewon vs. unity’s hoe anthems

mentions of: unity, @fmdyul​ wordcount: 960 words

good thing: in the grand scheme of things, good thing isn’t that extremely out there, which is probably a good indicator of how absolutely outrageous some later unity songs get. the song is everything but subtle, but at least the sound of it makes it a little less blatantly obvious what exactly they’re singing about at least to those who don’t speak the language or who are simply not paying attention. completely unsurprisingly most of the heavy innuendos are woven into jaewon’s verse, which he’ll later learn seems to be a common contender, something about the image dimensions still wants to push on him. still, jaewon doesn’t mind good thing to much, it’s on the tamer side of the songs he has writing credits on (yes, much to his dismay he still is partially responsible for the bulk of unity’s more questionable songs) and because it largely gets overshadowed by the next song on the list which was on the same album.

baby don’t like it: oh boy yeah, baby don’t like it is... a lot. much like good thing, jaewon is partially responsible for writing this one, only it’s worse, so so so much worse. jaewon can’t quite escape this one. his verse is huge, spanning probably a good 1/3rd of the song and it’s filled with questionable lyrics that truly, jaewon would never be able to get past his lips if it wasn’t for a performance, ranging from... bordering on obsessive behavior to the most blatant confession of having a degradation kink in the world. no, jaewon was more than okay letting this one fade away like early day b-sides usually do. except it didn’t and dimensions decided to make it so, so much worse. with unity’s first concert tour came the addition of baby don’t like it to the setlist and oh boy has jaewon not been the same since. from the sexily (???) descending a play jungle to the uncomfortable amounts of lustful close up camera shots topped off with a dance break near the closing of the song baby don’t like it has become a song fans have unequivocally dubbed jaewon’s and he truly wish it wasn’t the case.

whiplash: jaewon does in fact still have nightmare’s about the cherry bomb showcase where he was asked what exactly he meant by wanting to get whipped and being controlled and somehow having to give a safe for work answer, a deeply traumatic experience if nothing else. lyrically, whiplash is just as bad baby don’t like it, if not worse (rapping about his ‘otaku tendencies’ still has jaewon waking up in cold sweat, something that will probably haunt him for the rest of his life) but at least, the burden feels more even distributed on this one, like the other members on the song at least get the same amount of... attention from their fanbase. at this point though, jaewon has put one and one together on the fact that dimensions really wants to push this sex symbol image on him and he genuinely wonders why when he has the sex appeal of a piece of stale toast. it makes him deeply uncomfortable but at the very least, as long as dimensions pulls it on him they’re less likely to shove it onto another member as well.

baby don’t stop: somehow, in comparison, baby don’t stop isn’t even that outrageous. which just goes to attest how deeply unhinged some of their other songs are. baby don’t stop is pretty much dimensions looking at yul and jaewon and deciding those twinks needed a duo song together. bottoms all around the nation won that day truly. in the grand scheme of things, jaewon doesn’t mind baby don’t stop too much, sure it feeds into the image dimensions has established for him but it’s no big offense on that front and jaewon feels less awkward performing it than he does with some of the other songs on the list, a big part of that being thanks to yul, who radiates such a natural confidence that it can’t help but rub off on jaewon.

highway to heaven (english ver.):  ‘baby you’re a bad girl watch your mouth’. that’s it, that’s all jaewon has to say about the song. possibly, a contender for his worst line in all of unity’s discography. just that line alone has made jaewon absolutely despise the song, or the english version of it at least. it drives home two apparently very important things dimensions want jaewon to be known for 1) that he’s a heterosexual and 2) that he does in fact have sex appeal. those two are so far from the truth that the irony can’t help but leave a bad taste in his mouth, feeling more like a desperate attempt to appeal straight rather than anything else.

make a wish (english ver.): from this point onward, it seems like the cursed english version trend is here to stay and oh boy does jaewon hate it. make a wish by itself is a perfectly fine song, jaewon doesn’t mind it in the slightest but dear lord, the english version is an absolute nightmare. jaewon is no fan of speaking english, making him already less than enthusiastic about releasing song in english but dear lord could he possibly not hate it more because of unity’s track record. it truly makes him wonder if they can only appeal to the american market if their music is overwhelmingly horny. the only upside about to the english version of make a wish is truly that the bulk of the cringy, uncomfortable lines fall on other members for once and jaewon will enjoy that for as long as it lasts. knowing dimensions, next time it will be his turn again.

[404fmdhaon]

hot topick starter for @fmdjaewon

“this is pathetic — you had all that time to write your verses and this is what you guys bring? there’s no rhyme, flow’s flaccid. the gestures are all garbage.” a hand rubs against his jaw, a smack of his mouth inside the beat of silence (he’s never been one for image play). patience is running thin, and gyujeong has no more fucks to give when talent is baseless inside the show — why he’s here, he’s doesn’t know. (lost motivation in the first ten minutes, and now come the cue of tears from the faces.) “there’s no point in giving tips when there’s not even a morsel of talent to salvage. i give up — you all deserve to stay trainees. don’t debut, it’d be a disservice to the public who has to listen to whatever trash this is.” he bites back the curse words that line his tongues, the defenses lined when cameras are rolling. 

teeth pressed hard against his bottom lip, gyujeong waits. lets hesitation and the simmering tension filling the space between him and however many bodies of faceless trainees to make the notion clear: it’s a hopeless cause, lost and done. 

fuck his ignorance for trying to make something out of complete shit. 

it’s this blaring mantra that brings the echoes of his footsteps by the time he storms out of the room. mic still on — he’ll be plagued a villain in production editing, but he gives no fucks. not when the respect of his soul becomes severed in a mockery of laughs and lackluster passion.

gyujeong’s ready to berate whichever staff follows him through the door, but when the sight becomes one of jaewon, he holds his breath once more, mouth closed, tongue sliding past his teeth. “i give up — no way in hell i’m going back into that room.” he says, voice yanked down low in clear-cut gravity. “i’d be stupid to believe any of those kids know how to rap, or even care superficially about the role — low expectations to fill the role of ‘idol-rappers’ and they can’t even do that correctly. 

“they’re all beat-deaf, can’t even rap four bars to a cover song. how’re they expected to even make it to the final cut when they can’t do the bare minimum?”

[famedbasearchive]

OUR SONGS: EPISODES 5 & 6

Timeline: October 10, 2020, to November 7, 2020

On-Set Filming Dates: October 10, November 7

Deadline: November 5, 11:59PM KST

Those involved in the main cast of Our Songs this month may earn up to 10 points total for writing, by the end of November 5 KST:

Completions of the two interviews included in the in-character prompt. (1 point each, up to 2 points total)

Up to two solo paras of 400+ words based on filming for episodes 5 & 6. (2 points each, up to 4 points total). 

A thread of six posts (three per participant, including the starter) with another muse in the main cast based on the Our Songs episodes 5 and 6 schedule. This must be with a different muse than the thread you collected points for last month. (2 points)

A thread of six posts (three per participant, including the starter) with the guest muse your muse is writing for for this round based on the Our Songs episodes 4 and 5 schedule. (2 points). **Note: This should be the first priority and points may only be collected for the exact requirement listed. That said, should you have trouble completing this by the deadline with the guest muse, this requirement also be passed only for the sake of elimination consideration (not points) if you complete a second thread with another muse from the main cast by the deadline.

Please remember the number of the above tasks completed by each muse will factor into eliminations during blocks with eliminations.

Those guesting on Our Songs this month may earn up to 6 points total for writing, by the end of November 5 KST:

Completions of these interviews. (1 point each, up to 2 points total)

A solo para of 400+ words based on filming for episodes 5 & 6. (2 points).

A thread of six posts (three per participant, including the starter) with the muse your muse is paired with for Our Songs episodes 5 and 6 schedule. (2 points) 

These do not count toward monthly limits or toward normal schedule points. All posts for this task block should be tagged with #fmdos3.

IN-’VERSE INFO

Following the performances on October 8, the competitors will go backstage to their dressing rooms for a little under an hour while the audience is instructed to vote for two songwriters whose performances they liked the best. These votes will be calculated and combined with online track votes based on a weighted formula, and then the competitors are brought back out. They are first told the cast members that got the most votes in the live voting and the online voting as follows:

- Live audience vote: Youngjoo - Online vote: Taeyong

The final rankings are announced as follows to announce the safe competitors from fifth place to second:

5. Suji 4. Taeyong 3. Joohwan 2. Sun

Choi Jihoon congratulates the four safe competitors and dismisses them from the stage to bring the four remaining on stage (Youngjoo, Kami, Eunah, and Jaewon). The competitors currently on stage represent first place, sixth place, and the two competitors who will be eliminated and he reminds everyone of that. After building suspense, he announces Youngjoo as this round’s winner and announces she’s won a prize: she’ll be invited to perform a solo set on one night of the Topaz Music Festival, a popular music festival held at the venue they performed at this round that will take place in November. The festival is normally for non-idol singer-songwriter types, and this will be the first time an idol has been invited to perform. (admin note: If the mun would like to officially confirm this claim as a prize, please submit this form to the points shop blog to have it added to her career page! The mun may decide the exact date for the festival around their muse’s schedule). She’s individually congratulated and then dismissed from the stage.

This leaves three competitors (Kami, Eunah, and Jaewon) and only one will be safe. After building the tension, it is announced that Jaewon has placed sixth and will be safe to go onto the next episode. This means Kami and Eunah have unfortunately been eliminated from the competition and the final overall ranking for the latest round is ultimately as follows:

1. Youngjoo 2. Sun 3. Joohwan 4. Taeyong 5. Suji 6. Jaewon

On October 10, the idols will once again return to the “recording studio” set they first met at on their first day of filming. Competitors will once again be seated based on their rank (first place in seat one, second place in seat two, etc.). Basic pleasantries will be gone through on camera recounting the last round and reminding everyone of the rules and structure of the show before host Choi Jihoon will inform them of their third songwriting mission:

“After the first and second round, you should all have an idea of who you yourself are as a songwriter and who the rest of the cast are as songwriters. You’ve seen their versatility and the areas they excel in the most, both as a performer and songwriter, but a truly gifted songwriter can work for others as well as they can work for themselves, For this round, you will all be asked to write for another idol who will be performing a song you wrote. No one will be able to get through on an established image or popularity alone this round, as the songwriter behind each song will be kept anonymous until everyone has cast their final vote at the live performances. There will be no additional requirements this round, so put your all into shaping a song fitting of the artist who will be performing your song this round.”

The competitors are given time to react to the prompt before they are dismissed from the main set to their green rooms. In their individual green rooms, they’re once again approached by a camera crew and given a form provided by production with basic information on the idol they’ll be writing for, although the exact identity of the idol is not revealed yet (admin note: please keep in mind muses shouldn’t really be able to narrow down exactly who they’re paired with from information on the forms since the form will be re-typed to remove the element of handwriting recognition and they are not informed the idols are limited to the three in-’verse companies). They’ll react to the information and be expected to talk about their first thoughts. After this, each musician will film a talking head interview in a private room with a small team of cameras and producers where they are asked the following questions:

How are you feeling about the ranking you received last round? How do you feel about it in comparison to your rank for the first round?

What are your thoughts on the song you’ll write this round based on the information you’ve been given about the idol you’ll be writing for?

How will you approach writing a song for someone else differently than you’ve approached writing songs for yourself for the first two rounds?

What are your thoughts on your other competitors at this point in the competition?

From October 10 to October 17, all competitors are given time to begin to work on a song or potential songs based on the information they’ve been given. They will be filmed both through the stationary cameras installed in the studio in their company buildings and will also be instructed to continue to use their self-cam to record their creative process as well.

The guest cast members will be made aware at this time of their role in the show: having a song written for them by an assigned cast member to record and perform. They will not yet be made aware of which main cast member they are partnered with and are asked not to discuss their guesting with anyone.

On October 18, all pairs will meet through either a filmed meeting at a coffee shop or through a filmed video call depending on what schedules allow. This meeting will be the reveal of their partner’s identity and during this meeting, the main cast member should be prepared to show the song they’ve been working on and discuss together with their partner about the song and any changes that may need to be made to fit the idol’s voice, style, or preferences. It is up to the main cast member how much they change to accommodate their partner, although they will not be allowed to completely redo the song at this point.

The main cast member will have from October 18 through October 27 to finalize the song and get vocals recorded from the other idol on the track. The pairs may meet up over the course of this time as they wish to work on recording and finalizing, although each meeting should be filmed.

There will be no “demo” presentation for this episode in front of the other competitors due to the nature of the task. Final mastered versions of all songs are due to the production team by the end of October 27.

On November 1, the final version of each competitor’s song will be released onto the base TV website and voting will open for online audiences. They will be uploaded onto streaming sites a week later so as not to reveal the writers’ identities.

On November 7, all competitors and all of the special guests will go to the regular building with the performance set from first episode, where their songs will be performed and voted on. As with last episode, minor set and prop elements are permitted, but they should be easy for the staff to get on and off the stage. The respective companies will be responsible for the styling and performance preparation of the performer. 

Once filming begins, the competitors will be informed they will be performing in a randomly generated order in order to maintain anonymity of the writers. The audience is asked to vote more on how well-written a song is for the idol than how amazing the performance is since the songwriters are the ones being evaluated. The performing order is revealed to be:

Wei - “Pit-a-pet” (written by Jaewon)

Huiseon - “Baby Baby” (written by Sun)

Aera - “Diver” (written by Joohwan)

Duri - “Heaven” (written by Youngjoo)

Charlie - “Iljido” (written by Suji)

Minjung - “Girl, Interrupted” (written by Taeyong)

As each guest idol is performing, the six songwriters and all five other guest performers will sit backstage in their individual dressing rooms while their reactions are filmed. Since they are in private, songwriters may react appropriately to the song they wrote. At the conclusion of each stage, each competitor will be given time to talk about their thoughts on the performance and song. In the final airing of the episode, only some competitors’ comments will be aired per song.

During the break following all six song performances, each competitor will film another talking head interview (admin note: please wait to complete this interview until all songs have been chosen and listed above):

Talk about the song you wrote for this task. How do you feel it compares to the first two songs you wrote for the show?

How do you feel the idol you wrote for did in performing your song? In what ways do you feel the song benefited from not being performed by you?

Which of the other songs/performances caught your attention the most?

Which song do you expect got the most votes online and from the audience?

OUT OF ‘VERSE INFO

As usual, the rankings for the second round were determined by random generation for spots among who completed the most tasks. In this case, spots one through six were generated by those who had all tasks completed in the #fmdos2 tag on their muse’s blog by the deadline. Two muses did not complete all of the tasks, so they took the eliminated spots. The only exception here is that the admin’s muse will not be eligible for the overall first place ranking unless they are the only muse who completes the most number of tasks. Proof shots of the name picker can be found here (note: admin is in EDT, while the deadline was in KST, so the names were drawn after the deadline).

The winners for separate live voting and online voting were determined using weighted selection based on the randomly generated overall rankings. Rank one got eight submissions into the generator, rank two got seven, rank three got six, etc. and the two eliminated muses got one submission each, and then names were drawn. Proof shots of the name picker for the live audience vote and online vote winners can be found here. A proof shot of the randomizer for performance order this round can be found here. Pairs were made simply by pairing the order of the main cast by seniority directly with the guest cast submissions by order of submission from earliest to latest. Only one switch was made to ensure all muses would be writing for a muse with a skill set or song availability significantly different from their own.

For this task block you will need to submit the following information: the song you would like to claim for your muse to create for this round’s task (and a performance reference if one is available and agreed upon with the performing muse) and the creative claims on it. Please note that the song choice should ultimately be the decision of the mun of the main cast member. Muns may discuss what the performing muse is comfortable with, but the song choice should be based on what the muse would write with the information presented to them and not what the performing muse would necessarily want written for them.

The form link will be uploaded here at 12AM KST October 10/11AM EDT October 9, twenty-four hours after this post goes up. The form link can be found here. A reminder of the limits of creative claims on each muse for the show can be found here. If you think there is a mistake or if a song is released that leads to a necessary update, please contact the main.

Songs Claimed:

Heaven - Gaho

Iljido - Moonbyul

Girl, Interrupted - Miso (prod. 2xxx!)

Pit-a-pet - Yukika

Baby Baby - Suran

Diver - YooA

SONG LIMITATIONS/REQUIREMENTS

The simplified theme for this round is “Written By, Not For”. Please read the prompt in the in-’verse info for full details on what this means.

For all rounds, a song must fit all general rules of music claims (i.e. matches muse position, is not too explicit, must be by an artist in the Korean music industry, etc.) and must receive admin approval.

For this round, these are the additional limitations and requirements on songs that can be chosen:

The song must be solo. This means it cannot be a collab or have a feature.

The song must be performed by the muse assigned by the show and the muse performing cannot have creative claims on a song.

In real life, the song must not be a title track according to Melon and cannot have an official MV. Special clips, live clips, and minimal production lyric videos are acceptable, but the song will have to be re-released on an album in the future to claim such videos as canon to the universe.

In real life, the song cannot have charted higher than a rank of 75 on Gaon’s Weekly Digital Chart at any point.

You may claim songs with choreography, but choreography creative claims are not available. As usual, songs with more emphasis on complex choreography should be reserved for muses with dance positions.

[syxhenry]

back home

@syxjaewon

it’s not like he gave a heads-up, or any warning of any kind whatsoever. it’s not like he did the normal thing to do, contacted jaewon over the comms and asked to meet up again somewhere. no, somehow he got it into his head to just track down the serenity - and no one needs to know why or how he is capable of that - and show up exactly there where she takes to the ground for a day or two. what on earth jaewon decided to do on a backwater planet like this one, he doesn’t know, but it’s probably much of the same as usual. what on earth jaewon will think of his sudden reappearance, he doesn’t know either, but he does hope the man can use an engineer.

and perhaps also a doctor, if they’re lucky.

but let’s be real. let’s be absolutely, ruthlessly honest right now; he doesn’t go find the captain first. of course not. rather he beelines for the hunk of space metal, the most beautiful piece of flying debris ever created in the entire verse, and when he reaches her, he instantly puts his arms against her metal in a hug, cheek resting against the smooth line of her and his eyes close as a blissful smile appears on his face.

“hello baby,” he says warmly, so much affection and warmth in his voice that he’s certain it has his companion raising an eyebrow (or two). he doesn’t give a flying fuck, however, and gladly embraces the foot end of the ship like he’s somehow going to be hugged in return. whether or not he is clearly doesn’t even matter to him, and whether or not anyone might be giving him strange looks clearly doesn’t matter either.

“i’ve missed you so much,” he says with the same level of warmth in his voice as before. “you absolute beauty. have they treated you well while i was gone? audrey had better taken good care of you or she and i will have to have some serious words. did the captain not overload you too often? strain your engines too much? i bet he did, the asshole.”

he slides a hand up over the metal plate, stroking it once and then patting it gently, as if in fond reassurance.

“don’t worry,” he says easily. “you’ll not have to suffer like that anymore now that i’m here again, will you?”

all along, the young man at his back stands quietly, half turned away from him as if to keep an eye on their surroundings, though there’s goggles covering his eyes and a sort of scarf hiding his face from view, while it is at the same time hidden under a rather deep hood. despite that, though, henry is the one with the weapons strapped to his middle and back, two knives hidden against his legs, and all his companion carries is a small book and the little robot at his side.

[famedexclusivearchive]

2020 Melon Music Awards Nominations

The twelfth annual Melon Music Awards will be hosted at Gocheok Sky Dome on December 5.

Note: As usual, the list also includes points claims nominated where applicable. If a points claim was nominated for the award in real life in the year it was released, was released as a single in-’verse during this year’s eligibility period and was able to experience a somewhat similar performance in-character (involves certain considerations, such as a song that peaked at #1 and had a full year’s worth of chart performance before the deadline in real life vs. the song peaking at #50 and having two weeks of chart performance before the deadline in-’verse), it was added. If it wasn’t, it was either was not eligible following those specifications, the category was filled by nominees better fitting those specifications, or another song by the same muse was more qualified for the same category and was nominated. For solos (canon and points claims), a muse cannot be nominated for an award they do not have a matching position for (ex. a muse without a dance position cannot be nominated for best dance performance, a muse without a vocal position cannot be nominated for best vocal performance) and likewise, a song promoted as a solo cannot be nominated in a collaboration category and a song promoted as a collaboration cannot be nominated in a solo category.. If something seems to have somehow been overlooked, please bring it to the admin’s attention.

All categories should also be assumed to have at least one NPC nominee, so being the only nominee listed in a category does not mean an automatic win.

This is all for fun, so don’t take any of it too seriously! Nominations are based purely on Melons own nomination history and do not involve the admin’s subjective opinion. These are only posted to give nominated muses more ongoing content to write about, but no one is required to write about them or even care about them! All posts related to in-’verse award season nominations and winners will be tagged #excawards, so please feel free to blacklist the tag if you don’t want to see the posts related to awards season.

Best Dance Track (Female)

Fuse - “Psycho”

BC Soloist 1 - “Roller Coaster”

Lucid - “Rough”

Best Rap/Hip Hop

Origin - “On”

Femme Fatale - “Kill This Love”

Best R&B/Soul

Suji - “Square (2017)”

Jiah - “Holo”

NPC & Jaewon - “We Don’t Talk Together”

Eunah - “Maybe It’s Not Our Fault”

Best Rock

Dai - “Let’s Love”

Best Ballad

San - “Please Don’t...”

Dai - “Wild Flower”

Ruby - “Hopefully Sky”

Hyeju & Sun - “Don’t”

Minjung - “180°”

Best OST

Suji - “Give You My Heart”

Minjung - “I Knew I Love”

Taeyong - “Aloha”

Hot Trend Award

WISH - “Downpour”

Hyeju & Sun - “Don’t”

Netizen Popularity Award

Origin

Unity

Lucid

Artist of the Year (Daesang)

Origin

Lucid

Album of the Year (Daesang)

Origin - Map of the Soul: 7

Unity - Unity Zone

Fuse - The Fuse Festival: Finale

Lucid - Snowflake

Song of the Year (Daesang)

Fuse - “Psycho”

BC Soloist 1 - “Roller Coaster”

Lucid - “Rough”

Suji - “Square (2017)”

Dai - “Wild Flower”

Minjung - “180°”

[charliefmd]

creative claims verification: full collaborative lyrical claim and partial composing claim for i’m bad too. mentions of jaewon. // wc: 819

It starts with a simple chord progression on the guitar — b minor, a, b minor, a — a silly little tune played in the moment of brainstorming. They would not know it then, but the soft acoustic guitar would come to serve as the baseline of the song, a fun little piece with hints of piano and trumpet to make it complete (a lover of live instruments, she is content to be able to fit them in to enhance the song even more — it is the subtle details which makes the song, she thinks.) It became one of those songs she would have on repeat while driving down the highway in the middle of the night, blasting it on full volume from the radio of the car, or the kind of song to sing along to while home alone, tipsy and high on life.

The process of writing the song and recording it becomes a cathartic experience for her, one she would come to really treasure and look fondly back on when the making of the album wraps up; the end result is better than she could have imagined.

Going back to the basics when writing the lyrics, she leads pen to paper, and just lets the words flow out naturally. After writing for a while (it could have been an hour or two, or even more — she never really knew because time was always lost to her whenever she sat down to write and create) it becomes clear what kind of song this would be, and so she lets it run its course without the intention to stop.

(Why would she? It is her song, after all, and it would not be if she did not have any say in what to write about.)

When she can sit back and look at the words on the page, the strings of sentences coming together to weave a story to be told, she can smile to herself and be happy with what she has created so far. The song becomes a callout to the keyboard warriors of the internet who has become so comfortable ravaging behind the mask of an anonymous user without facing the consequences of their words and actions, yet simultaneously it serves as a pick-me-up song for the ones being targeted by needlessly malicious comments, knowing that regardless of what it is being said about her on the interwebs, they will never know her and what she has been through like she does.

Not everyone could stand to live a life she has led, and it goes to say the same for all her fellow idols out there as well.

Getting Jaewon to feature on the track served to be the right move to make — the addition of his rap verse takes the song up a notch and it becomes a conversation of two instead of one, and the dynamic between the two friends creates a more fun track to listen to (having someone she enjoyed the company of outside of work to participate in this track also elevates her love for the song.) Content with the song not turning out to become a typical love song just because she had a male feature on it, instead they draw the picture of two individuals coming together, sharing their experience of the lifestyle they both are a part of.

These are the times which reminds her she is not the only one in her experiences, and sharing her worries with others could actually relieve her of the burdens that come with it.

Comfort becomes the noun she uses to describe the song when she listens to it; it’s the feeling of coming home after a long day of work to finally bury yourself under the soft blankets, or the feeling of speeding down the highway with the windows down and the wind rushing through your hair. It’s the feeling of finally being able to let loose in the middle of the night, hair down, loose fitting, and with no one but the moon as your witness to the madness that is life.

The melody she hums along the lines are easy on the ears, and it translates to the actual composition of the song when she starts working on it, adding some meat to the bones. She doesn’t want to overwhelm the listeners, doesn’t really want the song to pack a punch in an in-your-face kind of way, but still wants it to be engaging enough for it to not be boring. The instrumentals are kept very minimal in her verse before it picks up during the chorus, and by the time the song round backs to the chorus for the second and last time, there’s an added flair of Jaewon’s adlibs joining her to give the song the one last hurrah before the song ending 45 seconds shy of the three minute mark.

[syharper]

softer at night

@syxjaewon​

it’s been a quite hectic time ever since the distress call came in and they rushed to the aid of one of jaewon’s (and apparently also henry’s) old friends. the absence of said friend on the remnants of the ship they found had clearly been a source of great emotion for both men, and so she’d decided the best she could do was try and be as helpful as possible while also staying out of the way as much as possible. and so she’d spent most of her time just making sure yala was well-cared for, spending time with their involuntary guest and somehow hanging around in jaewon’s vicinity as much as possible without getting in the way.

it’d been a little strange, admittedly, to wake up after their night spent together and have to figure out exactly what the kisses and the closeness had meant. then one day jaewon had simply grabbed hold of her as he passed her by in the hallway and kisses her hard, and though it didn’t necessarily clarify anything, at least it had given her the knowledge that further kissing was apparently alright as well, and so she’d started seeking him out every night before she’d go to bed, to share at least a kiss, a hug if she could sneak one in - she’s had a high success rate so far - and to make sure he wouldn’t feel like she was avoiding him.

but there’s only so long she can be satisfied with the few minor scraps of information captain yang jaewon tends to divulge, and so this time when she finds him before she’s off to sleep, she decides a conversation is probably not a bad idea. he’s seated in a chair this time, possibly contemplating the unfairness of the universe, probably doing something entirely different. she walks over to him, her footfall always soft now as she hasn’t put on a pair of heels since arriving on the ship, and comes to a stop behind his chair. leaning forward, she slowly slides her arms around his shoulders, letting her head come to a rest on his shoulder, her cheek a mere finger’s width apart from his.

“contemplating the vastness of the verse?” she asks him, voice soft as well, not wanting to be heard by anyone else. not that there’s anyone around, but so far endymion seems to be unaware of her relation to jaewon and she’d kind of like to keep it that way, since the two are clearly not on any good footing whatsoever for the time being. she turns her head just enough to be able to press a kiss to his cheek, then runs a hand up and down his stomach. “come to bed with me? i’m a little lonely.”

it’s not exactly what she planned on saying, but considering the words are coming out of her mouth they must be true, so she doesn’t try to correct them. yala has been asleep for a few hours by now - blissfully quiet hours that she’d made the best use of by taking a long shower and spending some time focused on no one but herself - but the sudden quiet has had a bigger impact than she expected, apparently.

“or are you thinking of very important things?”

[fmdtingarchive]

TING’S FAVORITE/LEAST FAVORITE UNITY ERAS

word count: 700+ (not counting numbered ratings and final ranking)

the 7th sense: one of ting’s favorite title tracks. the smooth, almost minimalistic beat is somehow intricate and extravagant at the same time. the vocals weren’t particularly difficult for guanting to learn, especially because the main vocalists handled most of the more vocally challenging parts of the song. however the choreography did challenge him quite a bit. he enjoyed the challenge though. one thing that he absolutely didn’t like about their debut era was the styling, but that’s a completely different story.

rating: 9.5/10 

without you: a song that ting doesn’t really mind. he thinks that the melody is decent and the lyrics are pretty nice as well, but it’s one of the songs that he doesn’t really connect with on a personal level, and it’s not a song that they perform often. if he’s being completely honest, sometimes he forgets the song exists. 

rating: 5/10

firetruck: if it was even possible, the styling was just as bad as the 7th sense era for guanting. he didn’t like the clothes that their stylists put them in. not one live stage outfit fit his tastes. despite all of that, he vibes with this song hard as hell. even though it’s not as minimalistic as the 7th sense, he still sees the similarities between the songs. they both give off the same kind of vibes. the choreography is one of his favorites too. 

rating: 8/10

limitless: this song would definitely belong in his top five. he finds the beat of the song to be addictive, and when unity first recorded it and were promoting it, he listened to it all the time. the chorus is probably his favorite part of the song, along with the bridge. he’s rather partial to jaewon’s rap verses too, even though those aren’t his lines. even though it wasn’t much of an improvement, he much rather prefers the styling from this era than any of the previous ones. 

rating: 9/10

cherry bomb: this is definitely ting’s favorite title track out of their entire discography. from the choreography to the actual song itself, it’s one that he never gets tired of performing or listening to. whenever he’s asked to give non fans a song that would best describe unity, he always suggest cherry bomb. surprisingly, he likes the styling of this era even though it’s one of their more ‘out there’ stylings. cherry bomb isn’t only his favorite title track, but it’s his favorite choreography out of all of their title tracks as well. 

rating: 10/10 

boss: yet another bop from unity that ting hasn’t gotten tired of. not only is it a fun song to perform, it’s one of their fan favorites, which means that it has a special place in ting’s heart. most of their fandom can agree that it’s one of their best songs, and even though they didn’t get any wins for it, he still considers it to be one of their title tracks that brought in a large hoard of fans. 

rating: 9/10

touch: guanting never thought that unity would do a cute or soft concept, so he was surprised when it was a song that dimensions had given them for their first full length album. even though he wasn’t used to performing softer songs, ting is an inherently soft person, so it was quite easy for him to meld into the concept change. he was also surprised that it was so well received by fans. it’s bright, poppy sound reminds him of the music that he used to listen to, which is why it places so high on his list of favorite title tracks. not quite top five, but definitely sixth or seventh. 

rating: 8/10 

regular: this song ranks pretty low on the list. he doesn’t think it’s a bad song, he just doesn’t particularly care for it. it’s not really anything special in his eyes, but he appreciates the fact that their fans like the song so much. whenever they perform this song, ting tends to go into autopilot and let his thoughts wander while he sings and dances basically using muscle memory and internal timing. he’s not really sure why they got four wins for this song, honestly.

rating: 6/10

simon says: okay, but what the fuck is this song? that was ting’s thought process when he heard the demo version of the song, and he was highly disappointed when dimensions told them that it would be their title track for that era. it’s not even the styling this time around, it’s the instrumental itself, as well as the lyrics that dimensions songwriters wrote. the only good thing about this era for him is that they really started to chart well on international charts.

rating: 3/10 

superhuman: guanting was literally obsessed with this song while they were recording it, filming the music video, and all throughout their promotional period. he still listens and sings to it to this day. he’s not sure why he likes it so much - maybe because of the lyrics, or maybe because it reminds him so much of a song that one of his favorite boy groups - decipher, would have put out a few years back. it’s also one of the songs they got to perform the most overseas, and ting loves promoting and touring overseas, so that makes it even more special to him. 

rating: 9.5/10

FINAL RANKING

10. simon says 9. without you 8. regular 7. touch 6. firetruck 5. limitless 4. boss 3. the 7th sense 2. superhuman 1. cherry bomb

[syxjaewon]

persephone’s pomegranates

@neosy

the trip between boros’s outter planetary rings and persephone’s atmosphere is tense to say the least, hollow and empty and driven by necessity only, careful planning of scheduled daily activities-- shower, breakfast, bridge check-- all with the intention of avoidance, all with the determination of keeping this trip as smooth and uncomplicated as jaewon can possibly make it, even given how badly he’s already fucked things over with his mercenary. things had been going well, sunlight in through the windows, job connections revitalizing, the verse unfurling in a myriad of new possibilities, for all of two days after jaewon’s mental instability episode, and now everything is back to eggshells and suspicion, carefully controlled evasion and dodging.

and he hates it, he hates this, he hates everything about the last couple of hours, every bone in his chest aching with the need to be on that gorram planet already and have his fingers delved into whatever opportunity neo managed to snake out for them. he hasn’t asked him about the specifics of it yet, he hasn’t asked neo about anything yet (hasn’t mentioned the hours he’s stayed up obsessing and half-dreaming about neo in his bed, neo with his arms around him, neo reaching for him in the dark); it doesn’t take a genius to figure out that neither of them are very good company at the moment. jaewon feels like a hurricane, like a sandstorm, a maelstrom out in the desert, spread too widely for survival, chaotic and impossible to weave through, he feels like his edges are fuzzed out and irregular, he feels like a wildfire out of control.

he needs to be on this planet already. he needs to be out from such a tight space with his mercenary, his lungs torn between wanting to be grateful for his help all throughout this past week and mortification at his handling of their encounter in the navigation room (and lust, and ache, and a craving so hot and roaring inside his body, he’s sure the metal around him melts slightly, bends slightly, he’s sure serenity is singed by it, his hunger so consuming he turns her grey metal to white and red). at least they have a point to focus on, a goal to cave into, something to strive towards that is in a dangerous enough place that jaewon might hopefully catch a bullet or a stray knife somewhere and finally have something to occupy his mind that isn’t the desperate need to see neo in that frazzled state again.

but finally persephone comes into view, and finally they connect to a port, and finally jaewon steps off his ship and into the putrid, decaying, foul atmosphere of one of the world’s worst cities, and jaewon inhales it like it’s a garden because it’s the first time he’s been off serenity in a month, and this time he doesn’t intend on grinding himself down into dust the first chance he has to get drunk enough. this time, he’s turned himself inside out, armed to the teeth with extra guns and blades underneath and over across his coat, his stride long and heavy through the streets, blonde hair alighting in the wind, gold eyes alive and searching. however angry neo may be at him or with him, so long as they’re here, they both have a job to do, and that can clear some paths up, that can cut away some distortion, give them both perspective.

at least, that’s the hope.

they follow the coordinates given to a little side shop, a ramshackle hut, barely a full building, with the sign above the doorway reading “weon parts and mechanics,” and jaewon slips inside, his eyes readjusting immediately to the shades of grey darkness, the whiffs of dust and shavings in the air, oil stains and spots of blood very discreetly on the floor. his hand rests over the pistol at his side, casual for now, but ready to unload into somebody at any moment, when there’s a clanging down behind the far wall, beyond a thin doorway. he frowns. “hello?”

“about damn time.” the face that peaks back into the room he and his mercenary have entered through is somehow not what he was expecting and also somehow everything he was expecting; dark eyes, dark hair, dark skin, a male with raised eyebrows and a quirk to his lips, his gaze pinning mostly on neo and then flickering over jaewon from head to foot like he’s scanning him. “one sec.” he disappears for a moment before stepping all the way through the door, his left forearm in his right hand completely unattached to his body, the end of it leaking wires and sparks-- none of this affecting his grin in the slightest, something crooked about it, something twisted. “you’re late, neo.”

“were we on a deadline?” jaewon’s hand doesn’t move from its perch on his gun.

there’s a desk standing in the middle of the room, a long workstation that the other male saunters over to and leans against while reattaching his arm with a few screws and a driver, seemingly not needing to look at his hand while he works. jaewon wonders how often he’s detached and reattached that arm. “and you must be this captain jaewon yang i’ve heard so many fabulous tales about.” the light in his eyes makes jaewon think he hasn’t appreciated all those times of hearing his name, the two of them taking a second to size each other up, jaewon remaining steadfast and unbreakable while the other smiles wider and runs the tip of his tongue across the edge of his teeth, before looking over at neo as if in confirmation. “he’s tall. do you follow him around because he’s tall?”

[docvelaw]

the past come to haunt

after finding the emerald dragon the med bay

he did not expect the flurry of movement and activity so soon, that’s a given. they did do a few jobs so far, and jaewon did say they were headed to a planet where there was usually work to be found, but then in the middle of what he thought was going to be an easy trip, suddenly the ship had jostled, he’d been nearly thrown to the floor and then they’d been flying at a much faster speed than before, breaking through the verse like there were reavers on their heels.

he’s not fully certain yet of what happened after, as he’d gone up to the deck only when they’d slowed down again, and had found harper there alone, jaewon and henry apparently off in a shuttle to go and try to rescue whatever survivors there were of the wreckage. he doesn’t know which wreckage, because in the heat of things people tend to forget that what is obvious to them isn’t always obvious to him, but he hasn’t tried to bother anyone with his questions so far, and he doesn’t think he will anytime soon.

what he does know is this; hours later brought jaewon and henry back to the ship, with three pods with supposed survivors. before jaewon had cracked open the first, his robot had already informed him that two might make it, but one would not, at least not with their limited supplies. he thinks he told jaewon as much, though not exactly in those words, but what went on with the girl did not matter as much in the light of what happened after her. he doesn’t know what transpired between the captain and their third rescue, only made it back to where the others were to check on said rescue about the time when a video was playing, some male voice he doesn’t know saying they were hunted by the alliance.

he hasn’t heard of them in a while, hasn’t been worried about them in a while, because henry and him have been keeping a very low profile, going from one insignificant planet to the next. he wasn’t prepared for the way the mere mention of them set his heart speeding, his breath rushing. he wasn’t prepared for the momentary jolt of fear going through him, born from an ever-growing worry that they’re bound to catch up some day; that like everything running, he is bound to be stopped one day.

luckily endymion had gone into hysterics, a foreboding of shock, and the steady warning voice of his robot in his ear had jolted him from his own stupor, to go over and take care of his third patient.

so here he is, with three new patients in his medbay and the means to take care of almost none of them. harper put the old man on a drip, and he’s added a few things to help him regain strength, he’s given endymion a calming sedative, so that when the young man wakes he’ll be less likely to instantly fly right into a second rage, and he’s done for the girl what he could, which is almost nothing. most importantly, however, his hood is back up, his goggles covering his eyes and the mask hiding his nose, mouth and chin. there is no way now for these people to know who he is, no way for them to ever tell the alliance hunting them who they’ve seen, and that is really the only thing he’s currently worried about.

so worried there might be many a sleepless night in his future, as there have been a few already in the past couple of days.

[rksakura]

🔊: movie star ( lyrics + lines ) | mnet global auditions, season 5 episode 6 group performance with joohyuk, vernon, daniel, & woojin! mentions: @rkxjinki, @rkjinwook, @junerk, @rkjoohyvk, @rkchwev, @rkpwj, @rkxkikwang​ & @danielxrk ! trigger warnings: food & anxiety!

the semi-finals, the biggest episode of all.

also the most anticipated as well as intimidating, some remnants are also outright scary due to the fact that eliminations may even be bigger in numbers in this episode. however, sakura can let that fear guide her or let it subside, but it can also push her to develop her abilities as she’s been instructed by her advisors, people who have won in the past that possess much more experience than her. the group is now in a large number, down to five and not three. she can work with this, with the right resources and present the essential skills that the judges sought in her effortlessly. if she chooses to listen to the words carefully, remaining on the confident lines than slipping up, right? 

she’s got this as long as she continues to put faith that everything will be okay.

the persistence resides within her, preserving so she can make it through with her team. she has to stay on top of her game, becoming a fierce lioness with loads of charisma! simply put, she doesn’t want to let anyone down or make them upset. overall, she’s a genuine soul willing to work with others, providing some support system as well by doing the best she can to show that she wants to help out the team in some way through long practise durations. 

it was a perfect idea to prepare cute bento boxes but just in case if any of the others had any allergies, sakura made sure to adjust the meals to their liking! she didn’t want anyone to have an upset stomach, but the dishes were filled with healthy options but also delicious goods. it might’ve not been the best idea to sneak in the occasional desserts, but she couldn’t resist! sakura loves mochi ice cream and dango too much to pass on. plus, she couldn’t just keep eating greens, she wanted to share her favourite delicacies with the team too. 

again, training takes most of her days when she’s not at the aquarium doing her volunteer work or at school. her routine is waking up, cooking breakfast and bentos for the team, making sure to leave some for jaewon and his little sister as well for later. as she wants to make sure to hold up to her promise, it was better than going out to eat and waste money or taking out some extra time during lunches when she wanted her friends to relax more than anything else! homemade meals are the absolute best, she didn’t make any excuses when it comes to a healthy lifestyle.

she doesn’t have as many lines compared to the other songs she’s performed, which is relieving in a sense that she doesn’t have to worry about her breath control. a specific technique  that she needs to work on when it comes to singing, but she’s learned a few tips from the pros like jinki and jinwook ( some of the best coaches, supportive all the way with her goals! ), their advice is something she takes to her core, letting it sink in and working through the days to concentrate on improving her singing. hojung is a supportive coach as well, someone she can ask questions to openly! the hangul isn’t as hard to memorise, she manages to nail it down within a couple of hours thanks to rereading all over and over again.

there are those days when she takes a break, pulling away from the practise room to sit down and talk to joohyuk, seeing the other as an older brother figure. serenity radiates throughout her bright smiles in the heart-to-heart talks, sharing lunches with him as they both talk about whatever’s on their mind. sakura isn’t the type to be a judgmental person, always remaining open-minded to the possibilities out there in the world, considering it’s a big big place. but, it still feels empty without kikwang next to them in their meetings. she can’t help it, but she feels that the trio should be completed. she’s gotten to closer to joohyuk with their constant hangouts! 

whether or not she’s gotten closer to the others, she’s surely afraid to lose them without a doubt. she doesn’t have the heart to pour out any more tears because she’d just be so damned devastated when she says goodbye to any one of her team members. she tries to replace any sad feelings by smiling through it, using that as a solution to relieve any symptoms of obvious pain. she can’t show frowns, that’s not like her to do so. only one more episode.

maybe she’ll pass or not. 

she muses silently to herself, mentally. there’s still that anxiety that doesn’t leave her at the thought of being eliminated but she’d rather herself be gone than anyone of her team. sacrifices are sometimes made but she doesn’t like that last resort. for the most part, everyone’s a dear soul to sakura and has been nothing but nice to her. so there’s no unfriendliness that runs around the bonds with her teammates. she’s not one to bite or start any drama, that’s one last thing she wants to start. a situation that she’ll do her best to evade, staying away from it at all times but it’s really nice to see a smile on everyone’s faces before they hit the stage!  

releasing a couple of deep breaths help her out, finding it a temporary method to ease her anxiety levels down so that she isn’t all over the place when she’s performing out there on the big stage. she takes the microphone in her hand, holding it tightly. once her name is called, she stands up from her assigned seat and makes her way over to the lights and camera! she bows politely with her team before the song starts playing. daniel’s the first one to come up, singing the first verse and starting off with a nice medley. she finds both daniel and woojin’s voice relaxing to her ears, holding a nice tone and she hums to the rhythm of the song softly once joohyuk’s turn is up. following through the formations of the dancing whilst holding her notes to not stay off-key isn’t exactly hard, it’s an easy choreography that she can move along with.

she’s a movie movie star 너와의 모든 게 꿈같아 이 순간 she wants it she wants it

she sings the lines smoothly, delivering a nice melody with her signature, soft and sweet voice that isn’t ( hopefully ) overshadowing the others. she tugs her lips into a bright smile and winks at the camera when it’s zoomed in on her face. charisma is critical when it comes to times like these, she might’ve not always been the best performer in the best but she’s doing the best she can to improve. she needs to believe in herself, put in that faith knowing that she’s made it this far, almost at the very last episode.

the truth is, she didn’t expect it to turn out this way, without some of her friends but once she comes back, she’ll thank everyone for getting her through those rough days of training to deliver precise performance. whether she wants to admit it or not, sakura strives for perfection in some moments but doesn’t like to show that upfront. then, woojin sings and it’s her turn again. 

take me high take me low 끝이 없는 이 시간 속 i don’t care 포기 못 해 가치를 뛰어 새롭게 더

while she may be better off rapping, sakura figures that it’s better to give off the lines to vernon, who’s a solid rapper with amazing potential! she’s actually asked him for advice as well, on behalf of what she can do with her dancing to stay consistent. not to mention, facial expressions and gestures are important to note on stage, she’d receive some nice feedback which she’s sure to do. sakura isn’t one to be forgetful, her dance moves are sharp and clean, but not stagnant enough that she looks like she’s slacking. sakura feels well when she’s around her team.

끝이 없는 터널 속 내게 비친 한 줄기 마치 맘이 술래가 된 듯해 나 상처 속을 걸어 매일

the pronunciation is clean, she’s worked with the others on how to enunciate and pronounce certain words so she doesn’t mess up the lyrics. sakura’s australian accent comes naturally upon the english word, finding that the easiest to say as she doesn’t struggle with her native language. she picks up her body, constantly dancing throughout the song and grinning widely, she’s having fun up on the stage! it’s not much until the song is coming to an end.

혼자 남아버린 밤 하늘 위로 꿈을 그려 상상보다 멀리 더 she wants it she wants it

her breath control has improved a bit with the practise sessions, from the sounds of it. she winks one more time, a cheeky smile on her face when she’s in the centre of the stage delivering her lines, holding the microphone closer as she did have a small voice. that was her last few lines until the boys take over singing. She’s learned a lot being on the mnet global auditions, something she’s truly grateful to have an opportunity like this. It doesn’t come around too often. 

once the song ends, sakura takes a courteous bow and makes sure to thank the viewers, contestants, and judges for their time.

almost there. one more.

[fmdjaewonarchive]

► agree.

date(s): july 2020 - february 2021 mentions of: champion members, unity members (samsoo, yul & sunghee mentioned by name but like... blink and you’ll miss it)  word count: +/- 2.3k words (870w lyrics/660 words composition/740 words production) warnings: mentions of anxiety, panic attacks and car accidents details: full lyrics and full composition verification for agree, 3/3 verifications for jaewon’s upcoming album escapism. jaewon doesn’t only know how to write sad boi music, he also writes angry boi music, the only two emotions he’s ever experienced rlly. (a/n: i lost my braincells within the first 100 words and still haven’t retrieved them, read at your own discretion)

the song is born out of frustration, anger blocking up his throat to the point it feels hard to breathe.

it’s the kick-off point of champion’s world tour, a concept that has jaewon disgruntled enough as it is, snatching him away from unity and dropping him in the states like he is supposed to care about this group, like he doesn’t have better things to worry about.

but alas that’s beside his point, as much as he detests the idea behind champion, it’s not his main source of frustration.

traveling out to the states, that part is hell. now jaewon has never been a huge fan of traveling, suffering from a crippling fear of flying ever since predebut that somehow has not gotten any less severe with the sheer amount of flying all over the place unity has been doing. jaewon also absolutely hates airports, they’re too crowded, too hectic and far too stressful to not immediately put him in a godawful mood.

the cameras shoved right into his face both prior to departure and directly after arrival definitely didn't help.

comparatively, champion’s trip to the states this time hadn’t been that bad. jaewon just happens to be in an extra foul mood today but rationally, he has to admit that he’s seen far worse throughout the years.

but maybe that’s exactly the problem, how common these things have become, that getting pushed and pulled at while trying to get on flight was considered to be mild.

jaewon’s frustration isn’t solely aimed at an isolated instance, it’s at the ridiculous standard that’s been set for idols, the things they have to accept like they are normal.

normally he would call soo to complain about whatever was bothering him but with the time difference, jaewon knew his boyfriend was ought to be asleep at this hour and he definitely wasn’t waking him up for something this minor.

he even humors the thought of perhaps finding sunghee or yul to complain to but with most of champion out for the night doing whatever (admittedly, jaewon didn’t listen when they were making plans, he wasn’t gonna tag along anyway) that isn’t really in the cards either. perhaps that’s for the best, jaewon isn’t the biggest fan of actually talking to the younger unity members about what was on his mind.

either way, jaewon is stuck in a hotelroom by himself, no one around to really vent his frustration too so instead, he might just as well write it all down.

and that’s exactly what he does, settling down at the desk in his hotelroom, scribbling on a notepad randomly found laying around.

on the plane the person in the seat next to me that’s not my fan apparently buying info off the airplane company

it’s not entirely relevant to what happened at the airport earlier but jaewon feels angry all over just thinking about it. unity has had it’s fair share of experiences with saesangs, seemingly only increasing the more popular they keep getting. sure, that makes sense but it doesn’t mean it’s okay, contrary to what dimensions seem to believe with how easily the company brushes it off under the pretense of it just being another part of the job.

at the airplane lounge there’s a war between the 200 mm guns privacy, panic disorder, they barter with one another...

in the first place, jaewon’s main concern is unity, it always is. he’s willing to put up with a lot if it means the younger members are left off the hook. but he has to admit, since the panic attacks have started to become more prevalent, it’s a lot harder to take that stance. it’s hard to take care of others when he fails to take care of himself.

jaewon tries not to think about what that means for his position as a leader.

from early morning put on a mask and fight on in short, call it being a puppet...

jaewon knows he’s not an ideal idol, he’s never been and he never will be. maybe in retrospect, he would have done things differently but there is no use in considering those what-ifs now. there is, however, no denying that all of it is just a bigger struggle with him, it will never go as easily as with people who were made to stand in front of the camera’s. why shouldn’t he get to be open and honest about that? he’s not the perfect idol they want him to be, he will never fit that mold.

i know, that’s right that’s right that’s right that’s right that’s right that’s right i know that’s right that’s right that’s right

written out, the chorus feels a bit silly, but jaewon feels justified in his creative choices. not that the song is ever going to be used for anything, it’s just an attest to his frustration. jaewon knows he’s ought to sit down and silently accept whatever is expected of him.

it’s been years since he’s been his own person. these days, he’s dimensions’ property first and that of the general public second, there is no use in fighting that, no space for his voice.

so sure, whatever, he agrees, what else can he do?

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

jaewon forgets about the lyrics he’s written down after that.

in the moment there had been no intention to turn them into a full-fledged song, a haphazard combination of lyrics that in their raw form, probably held very little meaning, too much filler between the few parts that he did properly think through.

so jaewon forgets all about it before he even sets foot back in korea again. unity is busy enough, the release of neo zone lurking around the corner and with multiple schedules of his own, jaewon can’t even think about the song if he wants to.

it only comes drifting back into his consciousness at least a month of two having passed since champion’s american tour dates.

the day in itself isn’t anything special, if there is anything remarkable about it it’s the fact jaewon isn’t working for once. he’s just hanging around his and samsoo’s apartment, scrolling through whatever app on his phone keeps his attention for long enough.

until an article pops up.

it’s a news post about a rookie group he’s never heard of from a company he doesn’t know the name of, it has nothing to do with him, but he finds himself reading through it anyway. apparently, they got into an accident on their way home from schedules as they were being followed by saesangs. no one got injured and truly, it’s not the first time jaewon has read news like this but it does fill him with the same sense of anger as what he had experienced that first day in the states with champion.

because this type of news shouldn’t be common, for how long are people gonna pretend it is?

maybe he should finish that damn song.

wait does he even still have the lyrics?

jaewon vaguely remembers at the very least putting the sheet of paper in his backpack after the concert as he had been packing up to move to the next city of their tour but after that, he can’t say he recalls having seen it lay around.

he’s really ought to get more orderly with his drafts.

luckily for him, jaewon does find the sheet of paper, not in his bag but shoved in between the pages of a notebook and with the draft of his lyrics obtained he makes a beeline for his home studio. normally he’d do this stuff at the company headquarters but truly, that sounds like far too much work in the moment.

obviously, the song is meant to have an angry undertone to it, supposed to convey the same anger and frustration that swallowed jaewon whole as he had written the lyrics.

the deep, resonating boom of low brass sounds for the opening of the song are a no brainer, the sound gives a bombastic, ominous vibe, immediately setting the song off on the right note. it’s supposed to sound grande and honestly a little bit intimidating, a dark feeling creeping around the corners.

of course, the sound is far too theatrical to be underlaying to the entire song so jaewon alternates it with a deep, booming bassline, the brass only reappearing right before the chorus other than in the opening section as if to give off a warning. to fill up the verses and the parts in between, jaewon adds rumbling, deep drums in the background, making them feel less empty.

what really makes the song however is the rapidly-cycling electronic stuttering a rhythmic pattern across almost all parts of the song. it feels a little distracting at first before jaewon decides that really, that’s exactly what he’s going for. the melody feels just a little too fast, uncomfortably so and in a song reflecting so much stress and strain, that only feels fair, reflectives of the way his chest tightens up when he can’t breathe, when his hands tremble and his heart beats so fast it might as well make him sick.

jaewon thinks it conveys his frustrations pretty damn well.

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

it doesn’t seem in the books for the song to ever be released until the process of selecting songs for escapism comes along. while jaewon regains some of his creative freedom, most of it had been under dimensions terms, leaving it up to them to shape the album in a way they prefer over his creative vision.

until somewhere near the end of completing the track list, the head producer asks jaewon if he has any songs laying around that could fit in with the rest of the album.

‘agree’ is the first thing to come to mind.

the head producer seems to like the songs, enough to approve it at least and jaewon can’t help but feel a flare of pride. the producer seems intent on leaving the creative process in his hands, letting him handle the production.

it makes ‘agree’ the first song ever that’s entirely his own that he gets to release, it feels like a milestone to jaewon.

he does get a little list of suggestions, mainly pertaining to the lyrics. the producer leaves a few remarks here and there about where lines could be stronger, what he would do differently but all of it are very loose recommendations, jaewon isn’t actually under an obligation to do anything with them.

in the end, he does anyway, shuffles some lyrics around, dares to be a bit more assertive in his wording, right onto the border of what he would consider too gloat-y for himself. but the producer is right, it gets to pack a punch, it gets to be a little bit self-important. somehow having the external confirmation makes it easier to write those lyrics without feeling like a fraud. it’s still his, his writing, his song.

with the last tweaks done they’re quick to get to recording. they’re still on a time crunch as jaewon’s manager reminds him (jaewon likes the man well enough but dear lord would he never let him forget). it's one of the last songs on the album to be recorded after all and at this point, they are cutting it close.

with everything else he needs done, all jaewon has left to do is fine tune the song, the last tweaks and sounds to be added like missing puzzle pieces now he has the bigger picture pretty much laid out in front of him, polishing and detailing it to elevate the song worth of something to be released on an album.

the instrumental is already pretty hectic, fully intentional of course, but with a proper, clear recording it’s easier to spot the empty gaps, spaces to add the last finishing touches. he adds more brass, less grande and dramatic than the ones in the pre-chorus, curling around the edges of the chorus to round them up neatly and as if to scale down again for the verses, still fast paced but somewhat a breath of fresh air between one chorus and the other.

he delays the part at the opening before the brass and bass kick in, a silence before the storm feels even if the hyperactive stuttering beat is already there, he considers taking that out at first too but the point kind of is that it is more or less omnipresent, it’s always there even when there is nothing else much, like the anxiety that feels permanently stuck to his head.

there is also the addition of an extra melodic line, lingering behind that main, slightly headache inducing electronic synth. it doesn’t really stand out, especially not compared to it’s main competitor but it does remain prevalent in the few parts the main instrumental motif is nowhere to be found, giving it small moments to shine. it serves a clear function, or to jaewon listening ear at least (maybe he’s overanalyzing at this point). the little bounces of the electronic beat all over the place keep up the pace of the song, making sure its explosive nature prevails over the dark dreary undertones of the bassline and brass sections, giving it an overall dynamic feel.

it takes some fiddling, jaewon pulls something close to an all-nighter to finish up the song with the sheer amount of detail he ends up focussing on but by the time he sends it in, he has a good feeling about it at least.

when he presents the final product to the head producer, there are no more suggestions. it’s good, and it’s all his own work.