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clementine-writes-things · 2 months

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Safe With Me - E.N

Summary: Edward Nygma gets protective when he sees a coworker flirting with you. He knows you would never cheat on him, he trusts you. But, he doesn't trust the coworker.

Content Warning: Riddler comes out, explicit language, Possessive!Edward, Protective!Edward, hinting of sexual assault (NOT FROM EDWARD), reader goes by they/them, gn reader. EDWARD DID NOT KILL KIRSTIN, HE'S JUST STRUGGLING WITH HIS ALTER EGO. KIRSTIN IS NOT IN THIS STORY.

(I hope I didn't make this oneshot too 'SHE'S MIIIIINE! STAY AWAY FROM HERRRR' coded. I really tried hard not to LMAO. I worked so hard on this pls don't let it flop. Sorry if there are any typos its 1 in the morning ya'll don't come at me mother is tired.)

REQUESTED BY: @i-smoke-chapstick

Songs for inspiration:

Freak Show - Punkinloveee (this song just suits Edward so well I can't explain it)

Murder In My Mind - Kordhell

Billy Knows Jamie - 100 Gecs

Stray Bullet - KMFDM

(notice how they are all hyperpop songs...almost as if the genre fits him well..) (p.s. it does.)

READ BELOW CUT

Y/n had been dating Edward for around 6 months now, the two of them falling more in love with each other every day. They had met in a library, y/n had thought Edward worked there because of the way he dressed. Both of them had found it to be hilarious and decided to keep in touch, getting lunch together the day after. Immediately the two of them hit it off, dating the day after their lunch. Edward still had a hard time believing that they were really dating him. They were so attractive and breathtaking, and he was a nerdy forensics examiner. But, he counted his blessings and felt extremely lucky. He knew that they weren't dating him for money, for he didn't have much. He knew that they loved him, but it still boggled his mind. One day, y/n decided that they would go to Edward's job and eat lunch with him on his break. A nice little surprise for him. They even packed two sandwiches and their favorite fruits/veggies.

-----

Y/n walked into the GCPD, shivering upon entering the building. How Edward focused in these freezing conditions they would never know. To be fair, it was winter, so that might have had something to do with it. Either that or y/n was just a big baby.

"Um, excuse me?" Y/n asked the nearest detective.

He looked up from his files, smiling in their direction. They had their dirty blonde nearly brunette hair gelled back. He had kind eyes. He seemed like a very honest man.

"What can I do for you?" He asked.

"Do you know where Edward Nygma is?" They asked.

He looked towards the detective across from him, raising an eyebrow. The both of them looked surprised, shocked really. Y/n was confused but decided to pay no attention to it.

"Yeah, I can show you the way if you'd like..." He said, pausing to give you time to state your name.

"Y/n. That would be nice Detective..."

"Gordon. Jim Gordon. Here let me show you." He said, standing up.

He escorted her out of the main area, going down to a hallway. The whole building was very gothic, it was honestly quite beautiful. You could tell the building was old, amazing how it was still in such pristine condition. For the most part at least.

"He's just down this hallway. Are you a friend of his?" He asked, obviously curious.

Y/n chuckled.

"I'm his partner."

Gordon nodded, surprise still evident on his face.

"Well, here it is." He said.

Knocking on the door he waited a few seconds before opening it. The creaking of the door revealed just how old this building really was. Y/n smiled as they saw their boyfriend in the room wearing latex gloves, a mask, and an apron. He looked absolutely dorky and they loved it. That's one of the reasons they fell in love with him in the first place.

"Ed, you've got a visitor." Gordon said.

Edward looked up, his eyes widening as he saw them. Hurriedly he pulled off his gloves, grunting when the latex snapped back on his skin. Anyone could tell that he was surprised with how frantic he was. It was honestly the cutest and most purest thing ever.

"Y-Y/n! What are you doing here?" He asked, taking his mask off.

Before they could answer Edward leaned forward and enveloped them in a hug. He couldn't stop smiling, giggling to himself with his dorky little laugh. Gordon gave Ed a thumbs up out of y/n's view before he left the room which caused Ed smile even more.

"Well, I thought I'd bring lunch over and we could eat together on our break." They said.

Edward nodded his head repeatedly.

"Th-that's a great idea!" He exclaimed.

"Let me just finish up this thing real quick, then I can show you around and we can eat lunch."

Y/n nodded, sitting in a chair in the room, watching him get back to work. They loved when his hair got curly. He gelled it back for work, but it never lasted long. He had a habit of running his hands through his hair while he was thinking, which rubbed the gel out. It was obvious that he had been doing it today because a few strands hung in small loose curls. His eyes were focused behind his glasses, looking down at the microscope before him.

"Look at you, all focused on your job. Mr. Professional over here." Y/n teased playfully.

Edward blushed, flashing her a quick toothy smile. His smile was one of their favorite features about him, aside from his hair and eyes. They watched as his eye twitched slightly, his neck twitching ever so subtly. Y/n brushed it off as a nervous tic of his.

----

'I can't believe they came to have lunch with me. It was unexpected but still a pleasant surprise.'

'They're really in love with us, huh? Us being the two of us of course. Hello! Remember me?'

Edward groaned quiet enough for y/n not to hear.

'What the hell are you doing here?' He thought to himself, looking at him out of the corner of his eye.

'Relax. I'm not gonna hurt them or anything. I share the same feelings for them as you do. After all, I am you. And you are me.' He chuckled.

'Then what do you want?'

'Are you really that dense? I shouldn't have to spell it out. You know everything I know.'

'You saw Detective Gordon's reaction and based off of it you think that everyone finds y/n attractive .That's the only logical conclusion. Everyone thinks they're way out of my league.'

'Exactly. And they're absolutely correct. I mean, I could easily land them, but you are way too awkward. You're lucky you even got to talk to them.'

'Do you have a point to make or are you simply rambling?'

'Easy, easy. Just let me hang out the whole time they're here. You know I'm able to take charge easily. You're a pushover. You know it's true. I'll take a backseat. I'll be ready if something happens.'

'Do you really think that's necessary?'

'Eddie boy, better to be safe than sorry, no?'

'I suppose you make a valid point. Fine. But if I decide against it then you need to leave. Deal?'

'Deal.'

"Eddie? You done yet? You've been staring at that microscope for a while." Y/n asked politely.

Edward shook his head, looking up from the sample he was observing. Or, at least trying to observe. Looking at them he smiled sheepishly, hoping he didn't say anything out loud.

"Yeah, I'm done. I can just finish this after we eat."

Y/n tilted their head to the side.

"You sure Ed? I don't wanna get you in trouble. You're not one to like trouble."

'Oh you have no idea...'

'Shut up.'

"Yes, it's ok dear. I have plenty of time to finish it later." He reassured.

"Ok then, well, care to give me a grand tour of the place? I'm eager to meet your friends!" Y/n said cheerfully.

Edward chuckled awkwardly.

"Ah, yes, well that would be nice if I had friends here. I guess the people I get along the most with are Jim Gordon and Harvey Bullock...mainly Jim." He said.

Y/n frowned, upset that no one wanted to be Edward's friend, but they decided to push that aside. They did like Jim Gordon, at least, he made a good first impression. Very polite and gentleman-like.

"Alright, well introduce me to them!"

Edward smiled, taking off his apron and hanging it up on the coat rack. He removed his gloves and mask, tossing them in the trash bin.

'Guide them around with your hand on the small of their back.'

Edward shook his head slightly but did as instructed. He walked towards y/n and placed his hand on the small of their back, feeling them tense underneath him. He grinned.

"Let me show you the way."

Y/n giggled as Edward opened the door, allowing them to step out first. Once he closed it behind him he walked with them down the hallway. The hustle and bustle of the main room got louder as they drew nearer. People were either at their desks looking over papers and making calls or walking around going to different departments of the GCPD.

"Busy in here." Y/n commented.

Edward nodded.

"It is Gotham after all."

Pointing towards the two detectives near the Captain's office, Edward leaned down into y/n's ear, letting them know that those were the two people they were going to see. As they continued to walk towards them, Edward took this time to look around and lo and behold, his 'other half' was right. Everyone was looking at the two of them. Some of them just staring, some of them mouth agape, and some of them just staring at y/n in general.

'Told you.'

Edward moved his hand from the small of their back to their hip, holding it firmly but not rough. He wanted to make sure they were close to him. He knew how the people in the GCPD could get. Especially that Dougherty. He didn't want them anywhere near that vile man.

"Detectives. What has no hands but can knock on your door and you better open up if it does?" He asked.

"An opportunity." Jim said, a small grin on his face.

"Correct. And I have been given the opportunity to introduce you to my partner, y/n." He smirked.

'Nice one. Honestly.'

"Hi, I'm y/n. It's really nice to meet you." They said holding out their hand.

Jim shook theirs first, Harvey doing the same after. Jim had already gotten a chance to find out that they were dating, but Harvey was surprised. He looked at y/n, then to Edward, then back to y/n and then once more to Edward. He cleared his throat.

"Let me get this straight. You. Are dating him?" He asked, pointing at Ed.

Y/n smiled and nodded, their eyes widening slightly as Edward tightened his grip on them. Y/n was surprised, he never got this touchy in public places.

"Wow. Well, congrats Nygma. You're a lucky man." He said, smiling genuinely.

"We really must get going. Perhaps we'll get more time in the future to talk with you two fully. But, we're in a bit of a rush. I only have so long of a lunch." He explained before heading off.

'See how surprised they were?'

'Yes. I saw.'

"Where to now Ed?" Y/n asked.

Edward looked down at his watch, wanting to check on the time. He had about 20 minutes left of his lunch break.

"Oh gosh, I didn't realize how much time went by already. I'm afraid I'll have to show you around the GCPD another time my love. I want to have enough time to eat lunch with you."

Y/n smiled and nodded.

"I understand babe. Let's go."

The two of them turned around, going to walk back around towards the forensics room. Feeling like he was missing something he patted his chest. He stopped, feeling his pockets. Y/n looked at him, confused.

"What's wrong Ed?"

"I think I dropped the pen you gave me. Let me go back and check."

Y/n chuckled and waited where they stood for him to come back. They had given him that pen the day they first met, it was just a dumb old pen they had given him to write their number down but he insisted that it was worth keeping. It was like a memento. It was very sweet of him. Edward always was a romantic.

Y/n was broken out of their thoughts when they felt someone tap on their shoulder. Turning around, they faced the person behind them. It was a man with a police officer uniform on, a cocky grin plastered on his face.

"Well hello there..." He said huskily.

Y/n raised an eyebrow.

"Um, hi?"

"Who are you and what's a good lookin' thing like you doing here? You lost, hm?"

Y/n grimaced.

"No. I'm waiting on my boyfriend."

"Uh huh, yeah sure you are. Listen hot stuff, why don't you meet me in the back in a few minutes. We can have a little fun." He winked.

"Excuse me?"

"What are you, deaf? Cmon, you know you wanna."

He dragged a finger down their shoulder, threatening to go down toward their collarbone. Y/n's eyes widened, frozen in place from the shock of what was happening right in front of them.

"A cute thing like you needs to have some fun every once in a while, huh? As an officer, I can tell you I'm packing in two different ways." He said, lifting their chin up with his finger.

Edward came back down the steps, holding the pen in his hand, a smile plastered on his face. Looking up, ready to tell y/n where he found it, he immediately frowned. His eyes widened and his fists clenched after putting the pen in his pocket.

'That fucker Dougherty is touching what's ours. He's laying his hands on them. I told you this would happen.'

He marched over there, grabbing y/n by the shoulder and yanking them behind him. His curly hair hung in his face slightly, eyes narrowed and sharp, glaring at the monster before him.

"What the hell do you think you're doing?" He asked angrily, loud enough to catch the attention of the people in the room.

Dougherty laughed lightly.

"Riddle man? I think the question is what are you doing?"

Edward stepped closer towards him, straightening his posture, looking him dead in the eyes. Dougherty glanced around the room, noticing the eyes of all the detectives watching them. He laughed it off nervously.

"What I'm doing is stopping you from laying another finger on my lover." He stated, his voice gravely and challenging.

"Yours? No fucking way." He looked back towards y/n.

"You're dating this creep? You must be some desperate whore." He laughed.

Edward clenched his fists, his knuckles turning white. He knew everyone was watching but he didn't care. His chest was heaving and he felt the blood rush through his body.

"What the fuck did you just call them?"

Jim and Harvey stood up behind their desks and walked over to where the argument was happening. Gordon gently took hold of y/n's shoulders, guiding them away from what was happening, keeping a safe distance. Jim and Harvey had never seen Edward stand up like this, let alone use such strong language. Neither did anyone else in the GCPD. They didn't know what was going to happen, but they knew they were already on Ed's side. They would back up whatever he did. The two detectives heard the final bits of what Dougherty said to y/n. Absolutely disgusting.

"A desperate whore. You as deaf as you are pathetic? Your bitch has got no taste in men. Otherwise we'd be in the back doing it right...now."

That was the final straw, Edward didn't want to hear anymore. He had seen and heard enough. He stepped back and leaned forward, slamming his fist into the lower jaw of his mouth. The force knocked Dougherty back, blood dripping from his mouth and lip. He spat on the floor.

"Oh, you're fucking dead Riddle Man."

Dougherty launched himself onto Ed, punching him in the gut. Edward groaned, clenching his stomach. Harvey and Jim along with a few other officers sprung into action, grabbing Dougherty by the arms, pulling him away from Edward. Scoffing, Ed spat on his shoes.

"Lay a hand on them again and I'll do a lot more than break your jaw. That's a promise." He scowled.

Jim and Harvey took Ed by the shoulder and led him to their desks along with y/n. Without another moment wasted y/n threw themselves into Edward, wrapping their arms around his neck and crying softly. Jim and Harvey looked angry and upset, disappointed that a fellow officer of theirs could be so vile. Edward rubbed their back, mumbling to them to calm them down. His breathing still heavy from the violent interaction.

"Ed, Harv and I saw the whole thing. We'll let Captain Essen know immediately. Alright? Do you need anything? He punched you pretty hard."

Edward shook his head, focusing on calming y/n down who was still sobbing into his neck. The two detectives headed into the captains office to debrief her on what had just happened. Edward smiled as he saw Dougherty in the holding cells of the bullpen.

"It's ok, he's locked up in the holding cell. He can't touch you again. He won't touch you ever again." He reassured them.

"I'm s-sorry Eddie, I didn't mean for you to get hurt." They cried softly.

"Hey, don't apologize for what just happened. It was not your fault. I wasn't going to let him...do that to you. I chose to interject. I wouldn't change my decision." He soothed, rubbing their back.

"I'm gonna go home early today. I think they'll give it to me after this debacle. Let's go home and eat our lunch there ok? We can have a movie night, eat popcorn, I'll even order some pizza for dinner. How's that sound?" He asked.

Y/n sniffled, nodding their head, not letting go of him. They weren't ready to let go of him. They felt safe in his arms. Like nothing or no one could hurt them. And even though Edward's stomach hurt from the punch, he continued to hold them close to his chest, pushing through the pain to comfort the one he loved.

He looked back up towards the holding cell.

"You're safe with me."

#writers #fanfic writer #writers of tumblr #fanfic #gotham #the riddler #edward nygma #dc universe

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repurposedmeatlocker · 10 days

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🔥🔥🔥 abt beavising butthead...share as many hot takes as you want i'd looooove to hear your thoughts and feelings :3

OH BOY OH BOY *cracks knuckles*

Obsession with which character has the "highest moral ground" is tired and unnecessary. Especially for a program like Beavis and Butt-Head. I've noticed a lot in cartoon fandoms there seems to be a focus some people have on which character is "evil and bad" and which is "pure and good". I don't know where this concern stems from, but it doesn't interest or make sense to me. Real people, and therefore fictional characters, are more complex than that. The fact that this argument surrounds young/child characters is even weirder for me, because I find that age is rife with bad behavior. Back to Beavis and Butt-Head though, while I do think a lot of fans are unfairly harsh in their perspective of him. I don't think Beavis is "morally higher" by any standard. They are both horrible teenage boys that find beating the shit out of each other entertaining because there is nothing else to do.

(speaking about the original series here, since I haven't completed the 2011 and 2022 revival yet) While I think the writing got way better and funnier in the later seasons, I kind of miss the "natural edginess" of the earlier "crude era". It has this messiness that I find super endearing. I can really see how the show got popular with teenagers/young adults back in the day since it really did feel like the script was written by some degenerate boys rather than adults trying to figure out how high schoolers act. There is a lot of horrible topics in the earlier season related to intoxication, animal abuse, and general illegal activity. A lot of it is 100% shock value. I'm glad it moved away from that, but also I admire the...grungey realism, I guess.

A lot of older fans complain about Beavis and Butt-Head reacting to clips of TV shows in the 2011 season and Youtube videos in the 2022 revival. I personally love it. I think they should react to everything possible. Some of their best lines come from their impressions of this stuff. I don't care if it is just being used as a way to "promote" that content. The music video reactions are doing the same thing. It is all promotion. Just very creative and based on hating which is inherently more entertaining. On that note, I've also seen the complaint by OG fans going around about how Beavis and Butt-Head feel like they aren't "metal-heads" anymore? Or it is just not as overt in their characters anymore since they don't react to metal music as much as they did in the original run. Personally, I...don't think they are any less metal-heads now than they were before. Maybe they aren't exclusively defined by it like they were in the first episodes. I think the question of "why is there less metal music in the show" has more to do with music culture when the show airs than it does with the actual writing. Which is kind of interesting. Generally, metal and rock doesn't make up popular music spheres the same way it did in the 80s and 90s. There is still rock music, but I don't find a lot of popular stuff being extremely "heavy" starting around the mid 2000s when the 2011 series was airing. If you'll allow me to get deep for a sec. The choices of what Beavis and Butt-Head react to during the show's entire run is a pretty interesting picture of popular US culture, actually. Anyway...I do think they could hit a bit heavier and varied in their music choices in the new season. Have them listen to hyperpop or something. I think they would love 100 gecs.

#sorry this got so LONG I have lots of thoughts about these dumbasses #beavis and butthead #asks

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spadecentral · 2 years

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If you don't mind or if you're requests are open can I request for a GEN Z MC?

🧒 Gen Z!MC in the Devildom | Obey Me

>> requested: yes >> a/n: none

>> masterlist: pact maker >> summary: just gen z bullshit >> reader prns: they/them >> warning(s): none

This is so funny to me

Probably wouldn’t be surprised

“Huh, so the Karen’s were right.”

The demons would probably be extremely confused why you’re addressing a group of people with the name ’Karen’

You were pretty tame before learning that Lucifer picked you on an off-chance

That’s when you decided to make their lives hellish

Or well…

YOU GET THE POINT

Expect a lot of AC/DC and loud music to be blasting in your room

And then Mitski turns on because your playlist is a rollercoaster and you roll on the floor crying 🗿

And then it goes to hyperpop 💀

No one in that house will be getting any decent sleep

Don’t play uno

It wasn’t banned at one point

That was until you told Mammon about it

Why would you do that 😭

Broski made betting pools

Don’t do that again

Anywho

You walk into the dining room in the morning Most of the demon brothers are already there You had stayed up most of the night watching TikTok’s on your smuggled human-world phone You half yawning say, “So someone tried to bring back eating tide pods… like puhlease that was so 2015.” You’re most definitely getting bombarded with questions “MC… WHAT?!?” ⁃ “Tide… pods?”

Gen Z MC is just the strangest person to be around but they love you anyway 💪

#obey me teen mc #obey me #obey me mc #obey me shall we date #obey me brothers #obey me lucifer #obey me mammon #obey me belphegor #obey me satan #omswd #obey me beelzebub #obey me asmodeus #obey me gen z mc #@.obey.me.works

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jiminsass-istant · 3 months

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https://www.tumblr.com/jiminsass-istant/740934106304626688/bye-bye-old-bts?source=share

There’s a lot of assumptions here I don’t agree with. The west is embracing new jeans and they haven’t had physical promo like bts did. The reason why bts is not getting really embraced by the gp is cos the music they promote to the west is generic meaningless boy band music which is very unrelatable. And authenticity is a big thing in the west. If they gave Mots7 or any of their albums before that the level of promo dynamite or butter had, they would have gotten more of the gp appreciation.

Hybe is not just only promoting jk, but they were also hampering other members promo. Look at how lackadaisical they were with shipping jh, Jin & RM albums. How poorly they scheduled Face, the many issues we faced during Face era that jk never experienced. We had to tag them for basic things that a label should already know about. How they shaded jm in their own article and are several times refusing to acknowledge his no1. It goes beyond promoting one member and more into trying to stifle the rest to present an image the label has the power to make a pop star. And is probably also why they give this promo to songs the label premade and not the artist’s authentic music that the artists makes

Thanks for the ask, anon. I'll share my thoughts to your ask in parts: (and sorry for the long essay in advance, kindly read, i swear i get to a point lol)

Western GP (New Jeans vs BTS): Can I be very very honest? New Jeans music is extremely catchy and has that hyperpop element that western audiences eat up. With rise of artists like PinkPantheress, hyperpop is gaining even more popularity, and Y2K aesthetic is back. NewJeans are all that- the music and aesthetic both. I'm not sure what were their digital promo methods, but perhaps playlisting on streaming platforms? And the collab with Apple was very strategic too. Let's also not forget they have english chorus in their songs and went viral on tiktok. New Jeans are in top 5 kpop groups in tiktok. I cannot speak for NewJeans much, because I have only listened to their songs, and do not follow them.

Let's talk about OT7 songs promoted in the US first- as in Dynamite, Butter and PTD. Let's take Dynamite - a very well crafted product, basically a completely American song with American references and MJ inspired choreo. It was meant to catch western attention and did its job. But the problem was- it was a single, not an album and it didn't really showcase the range of their artistry. Yet it did the job of exponentially increasing the fanbase. It was pandemic time, people were in their rooms, with internet and Youtube. Those who were meant to find BTs, found them.

Could BTS have achieved long lasting attention with MOTS 7 promotion? Honestly, it's hard to say. BTS's music is not conventional. You will never hear a BTS song and think- 'oh! i've heard something similar', in fact, sometimes it is even difficult to comprehend what genre their songs are. A different language, a different genre, 7 different voices, with no two albums that sound similar, no viral tiktok songs. Do you know how difficult it is to crack the western market? It is a lot of information to feed. I will come back to the MOTS 7 issue later.

How does one build a fanbase for a band like BTS?

BTS's popularity and long lasting fanbase has always been formed by the story they sell. Bang PD, right from the start, wanted to show the world 7 authentic, real boys who wanted to share their original thoughts, happiness, feelings and struggles. Added to this, their underdog story. Yes, their struggles from older days are all real and valid, but knowing that story makes you relate to them. Because, aren't we all some type of underdog before we achieve something big? People have often been drawn to BTS via word of mouth, friends, 'i just wanted to know their names' and ending up watching the Taylor Guide, 'my wife took me to their concert and now all my friends love BTS', 'they taught me how to love myself' etc etc. BTS has always inducted fans who were searching for something in their lives, or are curious, or are 'willing to learn'. You cannot sit an American down and show them a BTS US interview and ask them to listen to the album and make them a forever fan. Do you know how people in the west don't watch an international film just because they refuse to read subtitles? The language barrier might be easy for armies to overlook because we are invested, but it's not easy to convince a monolingual westerner to start reading subtitles to get into an entirely different fandom.

To sum up my points above:

BTS sell their story and relatability and group dynamics, which is not possible just through basic promotion. One has to dive into BTS voluntarily and go through the plethora of content, one by one.

BTS songs are usually not tiktok viral for some reason, considering how big of an act they are. Barely any bts tracks have gone viral- BST remix, black swan instrumental (maybe), PTD dance challenge to name a few. I don't know the reason why because I have barely ever used tiktok. Because armies only interact with each other on that app and even then, they don't use bts songs as audio.

The pre-requisite is to be backed by a western label for radio, playlist, western ads etc. Because the US won't allow an outsider label to make money off their GP, simple. It just takes away the money that could have stayed with western labels.

Coming to individual member (JK) promoted in the US: I did mention in the post of mine you have linked- that Golden lacked depth. Quoting my own words directly - " While they paid attention to heavy promo, charts and playlisting for Golden, they failed to create a connection with the music- which seems highly non-personal and lacking in depth and has a non-interesting concept. The promo did do the work of making jk a common name, showcasing his talents and introducing him to the industry. But for a lasting impact, they have to create better stories with the music. Idc, army are acting too defensive when people are disappointed that he didn't write his songs. It's okay to not write, but the very least singers can do is connect to song meanings and relate to personal experiences during the promos."

And anon, you are right, to have a lasting impression in the west, one needs authenticity. Actually let me list down the non-compromisable parameters required for success in the US-

Affiliation to US based label/Connection to industry mammoths. (Give money to US/US based part of the company)

English song/ lots of english lyrics + recognizable genre

Character/ brand of the artist (which the audience calls 'authenticity', but is actually the 'brand' of the artist created by the label. People hear the artist's name and know what to expect. You hear Olivia Rodrigo and you know you will get teenage, angsty, heartbreak tracks.)

Last but not the least- tiktok push. (somehow extremely essential today)

Hybe gave JK 1,2 and 4 from above list. They tried to build up on his character, but it is incomplete and lacks depth. The character they have built for him is- Korean hearthrob who can sing and dance, inspired by Michael Jackson, the ONE member to look out from the massive band BTS (Justin Timberlake trajectory). They gave him catchy songs directed at het women, dressed him up in clothes fitting that image and made him perform live at TSX. Thanks to the massive ads and promo, people know him now. But unless he shows the true depth of his character and brand to the GP, a lot of people (non-army) won't look forward to his future works. And whether we like it or not, him not being being able to interact freely and share his thoughts in english in the interviews is still a drawback for him. (personally, i wish that was not true).

Even when some celebrities of colour get the limelight in US pop culture, it's because they are connected to the US. They emerge as this messiah for their 3rd world country, can speak english and work for US labels and production companies. The US gets to keep the money and awards, and also gets to flaunt 'diversity'. It has always worked like that when the west opened the doors for a POC.

MOTS 7 would not get GP acceptance without being backed by a US label. And would a US label ever accept a full Korean album with all Korean artists? Why would they invest in an artist of a foreign language? Can Bang PD's assistant call up US radio and get them to play Dionysus? No. But if Scooter does it, they will pay attention.

An English speaking artist can convey their feelings through words on a radio, but how will a Korean artist do that on the radio with no subtitles, to an audience who refuses to read subs in the first place? You know how the US GP reacted when Parasite movie won an Oscar, right?

Ever since 2017, BTS have tried for that hot 100, did everything they could, backed by their Korean company, tons of US interviews and what not. But at the end of the day, they had to compromise with meaning and depth and churn out an all english, MJ inspired, disco pop track which finally gave them their #1. I am not downplaying the significance of Dynamite, or saying that it's a bad song. But I simply mean that only a marked shift in genre and strategy gave them that #1.

Anon's words: "Hybe is not just only promoting jk, but they were also hampering other members promo."

You are absolutely right. The only properly done solo work was that of Yoongi I feel. He knows his priorities and influence on the company, and has always had a very strong connection to both inside and outside the company. I'm not sure if D-Day was mismanaged, though am sure some yoongi biased army will have things to point out. All the other members have faced mismanagement. Jimin the most, I feel. Even recently, there's a Weverse article where they wrote that "jhope led the contemporary dance with Jimin", in spring day. All respect to Jhope where he deserves because he is the dance leader indeed, but he did not lead the contemporary dance in spring day, as amazing as he is, respectfully.

Anon's words: "It goes beyond promoting one member and more into trying to stifle the rest to present an image the label has the power to make a pop star."

I felt the same thing. I share the same sentiment with you here. The way they downplayed Like Crazy's achievements was disappointing and hurtful. That day it became crystal clear to me that Bighit did NOT see that achievement coming. None of the member's releases was meant to make this much noise, not before their Scooter backed project. They grossly underestimated the extent army can go even for 1 member (arguably the 2 most popular members in US are Jimin and Jungkook). Honestly the type of promotions JK got would never be given to other members because the other members would NOT agree to singing english songs that have zero depth and zero connection to their own feelings. JK was willing to take up that offer because.. well it's his choice. It was a golden platter, why not take it up? His image is moldable, he can sing whatever he is given and has the talent to pull it off. No matter whom we bias, JK has been the center of almost all BTS songs, a non-replaceable voice. But at the end of the day, the reason he was the one member who Bighit wanted to stand-out from the group was, it was his consent and agreement to everything the company planned for him.

I do wonder what it would have been like if all members received that kind of promo with their own artistry. But the entire premise of them being backed by Scooter/US collapses because they refuse to sing songs written by Scooter's writers. So I also agree with anon when they said "And is probably also why they give this promo to songs the label premade and not the artist’s authentic music that the artists makes."

Instead, Hybe is focusing on the other kpop groups under them. It's like the 6 members were just given their own individual management teams to manage their solo works lol. At least, let's be glad that the 6 members are getting full creative freedom for their work. I just want their solo works to be better managed. And I hope their managers, and planners, especially those on Jimin's side have learnt their lesson and come up with a foolproof promo for their next projects. I don't expect anything from BangPD, that man has been showing a certain pattern I don't want to discuss. (solely because i refuse to think what goes on in his mind).

As fans, all we can do is support the solo works we feel connected to and support BTS as a whole in future OT7 projects.

#bts analysis #bts chapter 2

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thesinglesjukebox · 2 months

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PORTER ROBINSON - "CHEERLEADER"

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April Fool's Day is over, now time for some SINCERITY...

[5.92]

Taylor Alatorre: This song sounds embarrassing. It sounds excessive. It sounds like something you might regret putting into the world five seconds after hitting "publish." It sounds, in other words, like high school. Porter Robinson's post-brostep career has been an extended treatise on escapism -- from the appealingly plaintive paracosms of 2014's Worlds to the soothing self-inventory of 2021's Nurture, with his Virtual Self side project managing to be both esoteric and stupidly self-explanatory. He's crafted a series of immersive alternatives to analog messiness, allowing the listener to check out of the everyday and place themselves for a moment in a softer-edged realm, with more explicable rules and a more poetic set of problems. "Cheerleader," though, offers the listener no assistance in either sidestepping or reconfiguring the uncomfortable reality into which they were born; music video aside, it's not really a song about fanbases gone wild either. Instead it's about the girl in your school's Anime Club who gave out her deviantART username before her phone number and taught you against your will what the word yaoi meant. The fujoshi representation, besides filling a glaring gap in the TSJ search index, makes it clear that this is about a real person and not an avatar, and it's that awkward flesh-and-blood realness which is precisely at issue here. Maybe she's as real as him, and maybe he couldn't live with that. The perspective of a boy who is unused to being the object of obsession is an under-explored one in music, probably because it's very hard to land it within the narrow range of acceptable loserdom. But Porter sticks the landing by enveloping us fully within the loser's headspace, where both his emo-inflected chagrin and his fragmented memories of the girl's "cheering" are enshrouded by a waterfall of blown-out Obama-era detritus. If you ever wondered what a big room house remix of Two Door Cinema Club might've sounded like, or Oracular Spectacular if it had debuted on Beatport, here's your answer. Other seemingly out-of-place additions -- the bitpop cowbell, the Punk Goes Acoustic bridge, the hilariously overwrought drumroll that becomes less so the second time around -- fit right into this 1080p capture of late adolescent bag-fumbling. Taken together, they convey a mismatch in interests and hobbies that may have seemed like a deal breaker at the time, but in hindsight was just another excuse to avoid vulnerability. Perhaps I only arrived at this gonzo interpretation because the 4chan-core single artwork serves as a kind of shibboleth for these things. If that's the case, then I plead guilty: I ate the apple. [10]

Oliver Maier: "We have Anamanaguchi at home." [6]

Hannah Jocelyn: I loved Porter Robinson's Nurture for its unapologetic sincerity, a balm when emerging back into the world post-lockdown. I miss that early hopefulness as the years have gone on; even now, it's hard for me to hear "Unfold" without being close to tears. "Cheerleader" is a frustrating detour, with inane lyrics about yandere fujoshis fetishizing Robinson -- you know you're doing nothing new when the Nostalgia Critic beat you to it, and Robinson hardly sells the can't live with 'em, can't live without 'em message better. Nurture, for better or worse, incorporated the pitch-shifting vocals of hyperpop into EDM (to the point where a trans woman musician I know grew frustrated with Nurture's acclaim for doing what acts like Katie Dey had done for years, regardless of how Robinson himself identifies.) That's worth acknowledging, especially as this attempts to go right to the source: 3OH!3 and Metro Station come to mind. Except there’s none of the polish that makes those songs work despite themselves -- What's with that tinny hi-hat? Where's the low end on the guitar? Listen to "Shake It"; that song from 2007 sounds better than this one from 2024. It's not enough to replicate the aesthetics; for some ungodly reason, Robinson decided it must sound like it's coming from a Hot Topic speaker too. [4]

Claire Biddles: We have "Shake It" by Metro Station at home. [4]

Tim de Reuse: I admire the chutzpah to take a stylistic hairpin turn like this. And I appreciate the ability to do that while retaining the crystal-clear boom-bap production chops that made you a breakout sensation in the first place. And I appreciate how it makes its power-pop references clear without sticking to them too desperately. And I appreciate the sheer craft; birds fly, rocks sink, Porter Robinson writes synth hooks that wrap around your mind and squeeze tight. And I appreciate the line about getting drawn kissing other guys. But there's a clean and edgeless quality here, a sterile expression of his EDM roots, that directly contradicts his attempts at a heartbreaking singalong. Nowhere does his voice crack with raw emotion; nowhere does it seem even possible that his voice might crack with raw emotion. [5]

Kayla Beardslee: Porter Robinson’s doing anime OSTs now? Good for him. [7]

Leah Isobel: I see this fitting into a whole universe of PS1/Nintendo DS aesthetic indie games, YouTube video essays about old anime, trans girls with Neocities websites, indie pop sung by vocaloids. I could call it hyperpop -- not in the sense of overdriven chaos, but in the sense of the hyperlink. (HTML revival would be more accurate.) As such, it feels a little too precise, its scruffiness deployed too purposefully; I feel like this stuff works best when the self is obscured, and Porter is too big of a star to let that happen. But that also means the chorus is fucking massive, so I can't complain too much. [7]

Nortey Dowuona: The soft, limply placed drums in the song for once are not the sabotaging element in this song. The lithe, acoustic guitar bridge is even nicely played. The guitar riff, doubled by the synth, is the true arrow to the heart of this song. Porter is processed to hell and back, refusing to give over his composition to a more present, entertaining vocalist, but that riff is so grating and stiff that when it first arrives, sliding up as the culmination of the slowly hopping pre-chorus, it stops the song from progressing any further, simply pushing Porter into the background and leaving his Melodyned voice slack below it, struggling to be heard. Now, does this stop me from screaming that chorus in my head? Of course not. It's not fair I have to keep hearing this grating riff every time, though. [6]

Ian Mathers: God, I love that recurring, overdriven synth sound that kicks in on the chorus. If anything I wish it was more all-enveloping when it hits (yes, like shoegaze, yes, I'm predicable). There's lots of other interesting things going on here, but I can't quite get over that visceral rush enough to figure out my response to it all. Hit the whoosh button again, Porter! [8]

Jacob Sujin Kuppermann: Not nearly dumb enough for me to enjoy its shtick. [3]

Isabel Cole: This sounds like a One Direction album track in a universe where after they got kicked off The X Factor, Simon Cowell realized he could save so much money by replacing everyone but Liam with robots, only when they got into the studio there was some kind of malfunction and Zayn-bot started screeching uncontrollably and Niall-bot fell on his side crackling horribly with static while Harry-bot and Louis-bot took turns punching each other until they were dented beyond recognition, and that's why it sounds like how it sounds. (Liam didn't notice anything amiss, obviously; have you met him?) [4]

Will Adams: At the heart of Nurture was its... well, heart. On that record, Porter Robinson wore his on his sleeve, crooning lines like "I'll be alive next year / I can make something good" without a hint of irony. On "Cheerleader," he surprisingly lets a bit of cynicism slip in. It's not a leap to see how producing such earnest, sincere art would naturally invite fans to form parasocial relationships, to draw fan art but not know where to "draw the line," to develop a near-fatalistic expectation of commitment. But between each of those details is a generous counterpoint, where Porter wonders if he benefits just as much from these feelings. It creates a fascinating tension, expressed best by the chorus: "IT'S NOT FAAAAIIIRRRRRR!", stretched over a fizzy, tightly-wound power-pop arrangement complete with a skyscraping synth line. Porter just can't help himself. We've all got feelings; why not scream them to the rafters? [8]

Katherine St. Asaph: Porter Robinson's brand of earnestness makes my heart feel burnt or dead. [5]

[Read, comment and vote on The Singles Jukebox]

#porter robinson #music #music writing #music reviews #music criticism #the singles jukebox #Youtube

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thedevilsoftruth · 2 months

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Haven't posted in a while, but something that was really bugging me a lot was some shit I noticed when rewatching the Moon Knight series that I think a lot of comic book fans could relate to. I know, Mr " um actually " comic book guy is talking right now but imma need you all to bare with me here for a second. and before any of you start typing, please remember everything said here is MY opinion. All I ask is that you're respectful. I'm going to start of with how I don't understand the hype around this motherfucker.

Literally the most whiniest mf in the ENTIRETY of the MCU. The only people who can like or tolerate this bitch are mfs who have 9 hours of daily screen time on TikTok, listen to hyperpop music and think that he's a soft uwu meow meow baby girl hurt emo princess boy.

Moon Knight is literally one of the most metal superheros out there and the directors saw that and said, " now imagine that but we make his woman so much better than him and water him down and completely change his back story and then wipe our asses with it, spit on it and then pretend we were trying to show representation. " Like what the fuck are you fucking doing?

My first problem is that I felt like this show focused too much on Layla and her relationship to Marc... Nvm, Sorry I lied. Not Marc, fucking STEVEN. This show isn't about " Layla ", its about MARC and Steven and JAKE. (I'll talk about Jake later) Like can we just... " Are you an Egyptian superhero? " " I am. 🥺" GIRL BYE 💀💀 this part of this show was so bad it made eternals look good. This was cringe on the level of seeing your mother do a dab. All that episode 6 was about was Layla kicking ass and that's it. I don't understand why Kevin Feige has the urge to make everything about badass women. Like theres ABSOLUTELY nothing wrong with that, I love badass women and we need more women superheros, but I'm just saying, I came here to watch MOON KNIGHT not Layla El-faouly.

So funny how they make a show about Marc Spector and he only gets like 20 minutes out of the 6 hours of the entirety of the show. I think the most time he got on screen was like episode five and maybe two but that's about it. It felt like he was only there to make things depressing and to make Steven Grant have better character development because he himself is just so fucking boring and not funny. Marc Spector is so much more than " I got hit as a kid and my alter ego is fucking my ex wife. " He's a Jewish antihero struggling with a personality disorder that's eating his life away and a toxic relationship with a man who's been basically lying, emotionally abusing, and manipulating him since his CHILDHOOD. What I love most about Marc Spector is that he's not like all other these mighty superheros, he's just some dude. He just some dude with real human struggles like you and me, trying to figure himself out and navigate through his disorder. Marc should have had a bigger role in this show but I guess Steven Grant and Layla were more interesting than him. Steven is the main course, Layla is the desert and Marc is the salad off to the side that's barley been eaten.

Steven Grant is not a shy British man with great manners who works in a gift shop and is giving in his moms flat, he's a savvy millionaire ( who's from Chicago, Illinois, so as Marc and Jake ) who works in the film industry and lives in a mansion. Those are two completely different characters. Everyone that I've seen who's criticized Steven in the slightest has said that he was bland, boring, and the producers were trying too hard to make him funny. You can't try to have something that's just straight up sad happening with a character and then pretend that it's funny and try to make it into comedy. That's just not how it works and it's not realistic. That's why movies like The Crow are good and movies like Renfield are bad. The Crow takes itself seriously and is genuinely sad but lightly sprinkled with comedy, Renfield wanted to be a bit sad, but ruined itself by trying to hard to make every scene funny.

The only good scene in this entire show is the scene where Marc says, " you are you the only real superpower I ever had " or whatever the fuck. I didn't pay attention because all I could think about was the scene from frozen where Anna fucking froze and Elsa cried about it and then unfroze her with her tears or something. I guess her tears must have been really hot.

What I'll give Muhammad Diab credit for is casting. Having Layla be Egyptian is good, and having Oscar Isaac casted as Marc is also really good. Everyone In the comics is white for a character normally centered around Egyptian bullshit. They also got Khonshus personality right and that's about it.

I hate how the producers said that this show was all about " representation" and then didn't add Frenchie, who is a gay french guy in it or Bushman who is a black mercenary because he was " too much like Killmonger " ( which doesn't make any fucking sense because they are drastically different on so many levels but okay. ) they also said that this show is they're most brutal and violent show yet, but they were " violent " ( and bloody-ish ) the first three episodes and then just kinda gave up towards the end.

For the last thing, I'm gonna talk about Jake finally. Just pretend that I'm sighing right now. Like a really audible, dramatic sigh.

I get they wanted for us to differentiate the differences between each personality with accents but Jake doesn't need to speak Spanish. He doesn't speak Spanish in the comics and having him do it is completely unnecessary. I get it's Hollywood and Hollywood needs to make everything sexy and attractive, but Jake Lockley is the least sexiest alter of Marc Spector. He doesn't wear a suit with black leather gloves or drive a limousine, he's a fucking taxi cab driver with a really weird mustache who wears a turtle neck. When I think sexy, I don't think taxi driver. And it ruins the point of Jake Lockley as well because Marc uses Jake to see what's going on on the streets in New York. New York is really busy and crowded, so people are more prone to using a taxi, not a limousine unless you're bougie and rich.

Anyways that was my rant. Good night.

#marvel #marvel cinematic universe #marvel mcu #marc spector #moon knight #steven grant #jake lockley #marvel smut #moon knight comics #marvel comics #steven grant slander #marvel slander #moon knight slander

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pisspope · 1 year

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okay birthday hcs part 2 but now its reiners bday instead still modern!au because otherwise shit would be anachronistic honestly all credit to @mercifulmudkip because i was just gonna let my other hcs sit on their own but. truly they lit a fire under my ass. i guess cw for a little bit of angst but it's pretty negligible

so fr fr reiner does Not celebrate his birthday unprompted. in canon he straight up wants to [demonetize] himself so even in the modern day he's not into it

last birthday he probably really enjoyed was as a kid. it was tmnt themed and he, bert, annie, and marcel were each a turtle. zeke, their babysitter, was splinter. porco was practically still in diapers but was already antagonizing them as shredder. reiner has fond memories of this but certainly sees it as all in the past

but after he made your birthday so special u are on a MISSION. rounding up the whole gang to make this truly The Number One Birthday Party

i wanna say surprise party because otherwise he would drag his feet about having a celebration so? he certainly can't know about it beforehand

u tell him on the weekend that ur going over to pieck and porcos shared teeny tiny house to celebrate piecks birthday (theyre literally 4 days apart) and honestly thats not really a lie! he just doesnt know its a Joint birthday party

pieck is also 100% in on the surprise even though its her party too. helps porco set up streamers, blow up balloons, etc.

pieck, porco, and annie try to hang stuff from the ceiling but can't reach. bertholdt just walks up behind all three of them with some tape and sticks everything up in rapid succession. annie "you really need to invest in a stepladder." pieck "why would i get a stepladder when i can just ask bert to do it :)?"

falco and gabi were originally enlisted to help but when they found porcos nerf guns they were sent to the backyard

everyone had played with the idea of hiding behind couches, turning lights off, doing the whole "Surprise Party" thing, but eventually decided against it in case it sent poor reiner into a full blown panic attack

instead, its more subtle. when you hop into reiners front seat with two presents, u tell him that u found something at the store that you just couldn't resist. also technically not a lie!

when u pull up to the party, porco is sitting on the front step vaping or something. ring of pineapple smoke around his head. "hey its the birthday bo- I mean, fuck -- wasn't your birthday a couple days ago? haha, weird." nice save, pock

the party is small and intimate, but by no means quiet. pieck has put on some hyperpop to try to keep awake while annie is absolutely dominating bert in smash bros. they always bring it as a party game but no one wants to play with annie because she absolutely wipes the floor every time. reiner has never picked up a switch controller and has, in fact, just discovered that his work computer has minesweeper

after some mingling u all gather around the table for Birthday Dinner. reiner walks in the kitchen and sees two small cakes but thinks its just got something to do with falcos peanut allergy and shrugs it off

everyone sings happy birthday to pieck and after she blows out the candles gabi waves her hands and says "one! more! time!" reiner is all raised eyebrows and confused expression as porco brings out the second cake and places it in front of him at the table

my boy literally starts tearing up as everyone starts a rousing encore of the birthday song. looks at u, eyes shiny, KNOWS u had a hand in this. whispers a soft 'thank you' to u before he blows out the candles and makes his wish

when its time for presents he finally puts two and two together about u bringing two gifts in the car. can practically see the lightbulb above his head. holds the small package in his hands like its going to break apart or disappear. "you didn't have to get me anything. this is more than enough."

it's a little digital camera, nothing fancy, maybe two different modes for landscape shots and close-ups. but it's perfect.

he sets it up to charge in the kitchen while everyone is cleaning up, then meets back in the living room to hang out. gabi and falco have joined annie and bertholdts game, and pieck is fading fast on porcos shoulder while he scrolls on his phone

reiner sits down next to you on the couch, and is not slow to take you into his arms, head resting on top of yours. "You had a hand in this, didn't you?" his voice is resonant and deep, and u can feel the vibration where his neck touches the side of ur head. u nod and look up at him. "a little."

he kisses the top of ur head, breathes in the scent of u. "remind me to take a picture before we leave. i don't ever want to forget today."

he lines everyone up for a photo but has no clue how to set a timer or anything, so he ends up poking his head in at the last moment. ends up looking like absolute shit, out of focus with a big blond blur right on the side of the frame. porco cant stop laughing at it. "babys first selfie" he calls it

but reiner loves it. to him, that blurry picture is like a trophy or a treasure. hed make it his desktop background if he had any clue how

he takes a couple more pictures and decides to experiment more with it later. just enjoys the evening, the company, the feeling of your hand in his

and if gabi steals the camera and takes a candid photo of you two sharing a kiss, well… he'll find out eventually

#reiner braun #reiner x reader #reiner x y/n #cat thots #aot

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rinas4ki · 4 months

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Curating an aespa remix album because the S in SM stands for “sleeping on opportunities”

aespa are not only a group whose talents, incredible music and polished concepts I’ve appreciated for more than 2 years, but they were also a key in reviving my love for hard-hitting electronic music and discovering new kinds of it. A K-pop group fueling my love for entire EDM subgenres may sound absurd, however you’ll understand what I’m saying if you reassess how much potential they have off of the sound they’ve already built. Through both the fandom’s reach on wonderful producers and my own interest, I took proper deep dives into numerous genres such as hyperpop, UK garage, drum and bass, breakcore, trance and future bass, all genres that aespa have either done or would pull off perfectly. As I took my deep dives, one of the things I learned to appreciate tremendously more is remixes. When I was way younger, I had this misconception of remixes just being crappy badly mixed oontz oontz flips of songs due to the atrocities I would regularly hear on pop radios. Talented producers remodeling already high-quality tracks and showing their own stunning perspectives through their own approaches to music completely changed my mind, and I currently often find myself looking forward to how some of my beloved tunes will be reshaped. Now here I am, making a comprehensive list of my desired aespa remixes that also serves as a list of electronic producers that the girls’ A&R team need to get on their roster. (This list was roughly freestyled after @nayeonline came up with the idea of an aespa remix album, and of course I had to make them a victim of my extensive yapping at the mere thought.) Some of these I discovered through MYs, some of these are my own personal faves that the fandom may be overlooking. Enjoy observing my A&R syndrome, and let this serve YOU as a mini aespacore playlist.

Track 1: Welcome to MY World - Sega Bodega Remix

Sega Bodega is most likely my favorite producer of all time. Aside from his objective immense talent, versatility and inability to make a single track of his any less than superb, his musical style (especially recent songs) is otherworldly; his music lulls you into a higher setting. While the possibilities of the outcome of Sega Bodega producing/remixing aespa are endless, WTMW’s orchestration, harmonies and beauty go hand in hand with Sega’s work in that sense. His touch would take the song into another dimension, from an introduction story to aespa’s real world side to a guided trip all around it. It would be a Kwangya-ified but still earthly version of WTMW.

Below attached is his song Cicada, which gives a hint on what can be done with the guitars in WTMW and how the song could become more electronic and intricate.

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Track 2: Next Level - Masayoshi Iimori Remix

A vast majority of the tracks with Masayoshi Iimori’s involvement give me the feel of racing around in a city with neon lights, with a mission to return to my time machine to come back from the future to the present time before it’s too late. Doesn’t this description fit Next Level like a glove? Iimori could make Next Level more punchy, which is perfect for the confidence of the Kwangya rider anthem, with his “mixed and mastered on a BlackBerry in the best way possible” sound adding to the daring, cosmic atmosphere. He definitely needs to be involved in aespa’s Japan debut and quite frankly, he’s not an unrealistic pick even for SM.

Below attached is Freedom Kingdom by 4s4ki feat. Swervy, produced by him, which is my favorite example of his frequent trance incorporation and use of gritty motor-like synths. Spoiler: this will not be Miss 4s4ki’s only appearance in this post.

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Track 3: Savage - A.G. Cook Remix

In all honesty, I don’t believe this needs much elaboration. This man is considered the father of hyperpop, one of the genres aespa are the most influenced by and certainly a genre they could take more advantage of. Savage, the song that solidified aespa as experimental trendsetters in K-pop, becoming more of an outrageous banger than it already is with the A.G. Cook touch, would be a K-pop moment going down in history books.

The track attached below, produced by him, summarizes my vision for a gritty, banging dream Savage 2.0.

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Track 4: Drama - umru remix

Let’s preface this with a fun fact: umru’s splice pack was put to good use in Savage, confirmed by the song’s producers and umru himself! His involvement would transform the twinkling, forceful, electric Drama into an even more hardcore anthem. The synths in the song’s chorus already catch your attention before you’re able to catch your breath after the beauty of the intro and verses, and making all the instruments hit even harder would be a move that totally suits aespa to the core.

Below attached is umru’s take on Fire Truck by SG5, which is one of my favorite productions by him and one of the most hard-hitting of his too. I recommend comparing all the remixes in this post to their respective originals to get a better sense of how these producers can change the tracks.

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Track 5: I’ll Make You Cry - Iglooghost Remix

From the 8-bit synths to the sudden kicks and claps and the video game finale soundtrack vibes, I’ll Make You Cry and Iglooghost’s production go hand in hand. If I were to pick a word to describe the style of his work, without hesitation, it would be “cyber-sigilism”, and he converts it into sound like no other. I’ll Make You Cry could become more even more mystic and mellow, making aespa’s darker side visible once again. (Word to SM: this is how you expand aespa’s range instead of making an EDM-based group release country song demos.)

Below attached is Iglooghost’s take on Crybaby by ABRA, and if this is what he can do to the original Crybaby (love both and please listen to both versions), that IMYC remix would be something never seen in music, let alone K-pop. I also highly suggest checking out his own work to understand the sigilism bit better.

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Track 6: Yeppi Yeppi - Giga/Reol Remix

When I first listened to Reol last March, specifically starting off with the Kinjitou album, “I have to make this woman collab with aespa one way or another” was the second thought to cross my mind. Her and Giga, the producer she works with the most frequently including on Kinjitou, have kept their high spots on the list of Japanese artists I NEED to see working with aespa ever since. Giga’s production is fun, bouncy and radiant, allowing Reol’s expressive songwriting and masterly vocals to shine. I don’t need to mention who else has top-tier production and vocals, you already know who this entire post is dedicated to. The duo, who are also some of the most well-known in Vocaloid/utaite communities, creates pure pop excellence, some of which I’m still convinced were created FOR aespa, to the point I’m genuinely surprised they’ve never mentioned our beloved girls. Reol, I know you’ve been streaming aespa’s music, don’t be shy, at least give them a follow on IG or something.

Kinjitou the title track is Yeppi Yeppi’s older sister and there’s not a single soul that can convince me otherwise. Just tap on the Youtube embed and see for yourself. These two could do WONDERS on Yeppi Yeppi itself. The even crazier instrumentals, and a Reol feature on top? A dream. I also HAVE to see an aespa-ified Kinjitou, to the point where I made a whole line distribution of how they would sing it. At this point I’m begging SM to steal my ideas verbatim. I’d still like a check though.

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Track 7: Illusion - 4s4ki remix

Two scrolls through my account and you’ll immediately know I am THE aespa x 4s4ki truther. President of aes4ki nation. aes4ki priest who has converted three people so far into believers of their joint supremacy so you know it’s tried and tested. 4s4ki and aespa are musical soulmates: the mixture of cybercore and ethereal real world aesthetics and mind-blowing composition on every single song and the lyrics ranging from game/fiction themes to genuine confrontations of virtual worlds to love and sorrow and recovery and the artistry and excellent execution are some incredible traits they have in common as musicians. About Illusion specifically, well firstly I just know that 4s4ki, openly a gamer and anime nerd, would have so much fun working on a song about a virtual snake slurping up some heroines, and she’d eat up aespa’s lore in general. Second, her use of autotune somehow makes her vocals magical and she’s very unafraid to take risks when it comes to music. Illusion’s voice filters, the bass, the surreal atmosphere and that hyper-cosmic feel would be so much more elevated and outrageous with her involvement. If we can’t get a whole album produced by her (I NEED IT SO BAD) at least make this happen. Besides, it would be an incredible full-circle moment for 4s4ki herself, as she has a history of songwriting and producing for others pre-debut, and now she’d be doing it with infinitely much more confidence in her skill and vision.

Now introducing you to into the darkness, my personal fave song of hers and my most played song of 2023. Look at the album cover and listen for yourself. I swear I could praise this woman all day, but I’ll leave it at saying artists like THIS is what aespa deserve, nothing less. MYs, stop what you’re doing and listen to the Killer in Neverland album right now if you haven’t, and you will thank me later.

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Track 8: Thirsty - Donatachi Remix

There are artists who just know the recipe to fun, exciting, girly yet still intriguing pop music and Donatachi is a producer who undoubtedly mastered exactly that. Thirsty already has the bubbliness and joy you could ask from a summer jam so why not double it with this remix? This would be perfect to amplify aespa’s ‘00s spy cartoon-coded colorful real world side, and Donatachi is also a perfect choice for this if you take into account his bright cartoon-avatar 3D visuals. aespa’s real world aesthetics and soundscape should definitely be utilized and expanded to truly fit how surreal their concept is.

Below attached is b2b heartbeat feat. Cowgirl Clue, demonstrating the upbeat drum patterns and euphoric feel that could also be used in a Thirsty remix.

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Track 9: Trick or Trick - Safety Trance Remix

Trick or Trick is the trick-or-treat anthem MYs deserved, and a remix of it needs to maximize its spookiness while setting it apart from all the familiar creepy-ish K-pop songs. Safety Trance brings his grimy industrial genre-bending sound wherever he goes, which hits the target of creating a more experimental, haunting version of the track. Additionally, as reggaeton and dembow influences become increasingly wide-spread in K-pop, a techno-infused neoperreo take on the wave is the most fitting choice for aespa. With the lead of a prominent figure in the electronic neo-reggaeton scene, the execution of this would turn out flawless.

Below attached is his remix of Incredibly Annoying by VTSS. One of my favorite examples of his consistent style and shows how all-in Trick or Trick could possibly go.

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Track 10: Better Things - Florentino Remix

You might be wondering why I chose to give Better Things yet another remix when we already have like 3 of those. Of course the existing remixes are wonderful in their own ways, and the Tropkillaz one is my personal favorite due to its blending of funk, however there’s always room for a full-on Brazilian funk Better Things mix, especially if it’s produced by Florentino. Florentino works with and often seamlessly fuses many genres I have a soft spot for as you could tell, including deconstructed club, neo-reggaeton, baile funk, jungle, breakcore and grime. With such a concoction, the summer anthem could become more distinctive and timeless than it already is.

Below is Florentino’s remix of the adored Nice To Meet You by PinkPantheress, adding in glitchy UK bass, jungle and classic funk drums and grime. The vision for the Better Things remix is crystal clear.

Now, I want to end this post by talking about fans’ wishes for aespa’s future sonic direction. I find many MYs wanting aespa to release hyperpop albums or stick to hyperpop, and while I understand that it’s the bare minimum after the horse girl harmonicas and meemaw ballads that somehow make their way into their God forsaken EPs, even this is nowhere near what’s beneficial for the group in the long-term. Again, aespa have this lingering (thankies to SM 😒) potential to be a multi-faceted EDM group and have one of, if not the, most sophisticated, one-of-a-kind discographies in all of K-pop. It is crucial for them to explore all these EDM subgenres and more instead of getting swayed by shallow trends that come and go. That’s the way to becoming a truly futuristic group that will stand the test of time.

Thank you for reading some of what I got off my chest. Show some love to Drama and Trick or Trick. Being an aespa fan is not for the faint hearted though.

#keyboard.com #aespa #why did this take sm longer than planned…#anywayyyy SM WRITE THIS ENTIRE LIST DOWN.#sega bodega #masayoshi iimori #a.g. cook #umru #iglooghost #giga #reol #4s4ki #donatachi #safety trance #florentino

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arysguide · 4 months

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Part 1: Ary's favourite releases of 2023

Before you ask, yes I know that Mitski and Sufjan Stevens released albums this year! I'm gonna go ahead and assume they're already on a lot of other people's lists! However, if you think I'm missing out on YOUR favourite album of 2023, let me know. If you're thinking: "63 albums isn't that many, I wish there were more" - you're in luck because there's a Part 2. Part 2 has a different (more pop? upbeat? accessible?) vibe. Don't think too hard about it...

The chart isn't ranked, just arranged in a way that looked nice to me. Metal, hardcore, rap, emo, skramz, bedroom pop and more!!!

Here are Bandcamp links to all of the albums (for those not on BC there's a YouTube or Spotify link). Honestly I'm never quite sure what genre something is, but there's a lot of metal in any case.

Row 1

Lauren Bousfield - Salesforce [digital hardcore]

Dead Times - Dead Times [harsh noise extreme metal]

Danny Brown - Quaranta [rap/hiphop]

Underdark - Managed Decline [post black metal]

Boris & Uniform - Bright New Disease [psychedelic heavy metal]

PUPIL SLICER - BLOSSOM [blackened mathcore]

Sanguisugabogg - Homicidal Ecstasy [death metal]

Row 2

Full of Hell & Primitive Man - Suffocating Hallucination [death metal/grindcore]

Radeloos//Ziedend - Doodsverachting [blackened crust]

Agriculture - Agriculture [ecstatic black metal]

Victory Over the Sun - Dance You Monster To My Soft Song! [progressive black metal]

fog lake - midnight society [bedroom pop]

Bell Witch - Future's Shadow Part 1: The Clandestine Gate [funeral doom]

Krallice - Mass Cathexis 2 - The Kinetic Infinite [progressive black metal]

Row 3

Svalbard - The Weight Of The Mask [postmetal]

Terzij de Horde & Ggu:ll - Van Grond [vitalistic black metal]

portrayal of guilt - Devil Music [blackened post-hardcore]

SAINT VEHK - Practice/Doubt I&II [occult death industrial]

Sightless Pit - Lockstep Bloodwar [dub/power electronics]

Designer Violence - We Gave Peace A Chance [electropunk]

geronimostilton - The Vampyre [skramz]

Row 4

Chat Pile & Nerver - Brothers in Christ [sludgey death metal]

Afsky - Om hundrede år [depressive black metal]

Full of Hell & Gasp - FOH/Gasp (Split) [death metal/grindcore]

Solar Temple - The Great Star Above Provides [blackgaze]

Fluisteraars - De Kronieken Van Het Verdwenen Kasteel - II - Nergena [atmospheric black metal]

Fluisteraars - De Kronieken van het Verdwenen Kasteel - I - Harslo [atmospheric black metal]

Andre 3000 - New Blue Sun [spiritual flute jazz]

Row 5

Aesop Rock - Integrated Tech Solutions [rap/hiphop]

Blood Incantation - Luminescent Bridge [cosmic death metal]

Reverend Kristin Michael Hayter (fka LINGUA IGNOTA) - SAVED! [experimental gospel metal]

Spetterpoep - Stoelgang Van Zaken [coprogrind/grindcore]

Gnaw Their Tongues - The Cessation Of Suffering [blackened drone metal]

JPEGMAFIA & Danny Brown - SCARING THE HOES [rap/hiphop]

The Lemon Twigs - Everything Harmony [70s inspired rock]

Row 6

Old Nick - "The Truest Spell" [dungeon synth/raw black metal]

Armand Hammer - We Buy Diabetic Test Strips [rap/hiphop]

Liturgy - 93696 [transcendental black metal]

Helena Hauff - fabric presents Helena Hauff [hardcore techno]

That Same Street ⁻ Electric Angel [skramz]

That Same Street - Endgame [skramz]

the scary jokes - Retinal Bloom [dream pop]

Row 7

Bull of Apis Bull of Bronze - The Fractal Ouroboros [occult black metal]

Katie Dey - never falter hero girl [hyperpop]

Full of Hell & Nothing - When No Birds Sang [grindcore/shoegaze]

All Men Unto Me - Chemical Transit [classical/doom metal]

RXK Nephew - Till I'm Dead [rap/hiphop]

Panopticon - The Rime of Memory [rabm/black metal]

Yaeji - With A Hammer [electronic]

Row 8

DRAIN - LIVING PROOF [punk/hardcore]

909 Worldwide - Hardcore Will Never Die, and Neither Will You [happy hardcore/rave]

lobsterfight, gingerbee, Cicadahead, godfuck - a lobster, bee, & cicada walk into a bar and find god [skramz]

GingerBee - Our Skies Smile [skramz/5th wave emo]

Curta'n Wall - Siege Ubsessed! [dungeon synth/raw black metal]

GEZEBELLE GABURGABLY - Gaburger [alt pop]

crisis sigil - God Cum Poltergeist [cybergrind]

Row 9

Lamp Of Murmuur - Saturnian Bloodstorm [black metal]

Crystalline Thunderbolts - Blessed Hands Touch The Ophanim Under The Golden Rainbows [experimental black metal]

Tomb Mold - The Enduring Spirit [black/death metal]

FIRE TOOLZ - I am upset because I see something that is not there. [electro-industrial/experimental]

Angel Electronics - ULTRA PARADISE [happy post-hardcore]

Vylet Pony - Carousel (An Examination of the Shadow, Creekflow, and its Life as an Afterthought) [electronic]

Ada Rook - Rookie's Bustle [electronic]

This post took forever to make. Again if you have any thoughts on it please tell me!!!! And share widely with your friends :)

Love, Ary

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zapsoda · 4 months

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!ih spacecrew fan account here. do you have any idea concerning how they sound like? maybe with a song or just some dude talking? share them <3

if you've not thought about it you can just share a song you associate with one each and/or a song for the whole crew hehe

hmm i havent thought much about their voices (and the music i listen to doesnt typically lend itself well to projection ahaha. e.g. none of my ocs were pimped out to make money for their deadbeat family before meeting a boy who changed their life)

i do have some things though

this is my hitchhikers guide to the galaxy playlist which i made around 2020 (around the time of these ocs) which is what primarily inspired their creation

all of these songs are pretty effing bax (and the rest of them) -core

i wanted to embed the rest of these because fuck spotify but mobile browser tumblr is genuinely nightmarish to use

anyways i like to projwct onto baxxy so this (one of my faaaavorite songs ever) is also him-pilled

voice-wise im not sure of the sound? kind of scraggly tboy voice. with the exact cadence of fry from futurama

i think this sound is very roy and i think she is a bit scatterbrained and absent minded (not exactly amnesiac but yk)

roy is far from dumb but i think high energy hyperpop is very much her style and i chose this song specifically because of the palpable tgirl swag. in the same vein i hear dubstep heavy mlp and fnaf fansongs and thing "this is kinda roypilled"

i think she would sound a bit like backxwash voicewise maybe. very smooth.

i associate tally very heavily with old-ish britpop (and both of the magrittes with glam rock) he wouldnt listen to weezer or radiohead (baxter absolutely would though lets be real) but he would Understand them. now imagining bax showing him angsty earth music (very cute).

this song *is* kip. its about him and he would listen to it and it is his vibes. in addition to the glamrock he is very much a goofy hard/dad rock guy

ill have to get back to you on the alien guys. i feel like they would sound very inhuman so atp i struggle with making any comparisons lol.

the music i associate all these characters with is veeery much influenced by the things i was into when i first created them and their story and what was inspiring me then eheh (glam rock, 2000s indie pop, mid-late 20th century british music. anything related to the ocean/pirates or outer space)

edit: gonna be real i entirely forgot about clam chowder. ill get back to you on this

#asks #ty for asking this !!! ^_^

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clementine-writes-things · 3 days

Text

Grenadine - J.T

Summary: Imagine meeting one of your favorite artists in person by a chance encounter. Well, that happened to y/n. What made it even better was that the encounter led her to getting in a relationship with the rockstar: Joby Taylor.

(A/N: HEHE I MADE Y/N THE COMPLETE OPPOSITE OF JOBY WOW SO OUT OF CHARACTER FOR ME TO DO THAT KIND OF DYNAMIC!!!!! Also...this became a very long fanfic without me realizing it so I hope you all wanted a super long Joby fanfic)

Content Warning: 18+ MDNI, explicit language, brief smut, sexual themes, fluff, steamy fluff, dirty talking, dom!Joby, sub!Reader, slight angst (if you squint), metalhead!Reader, hyperpop!Reader, alcohol, and cigarettes.

Word Count: 11.4k

Songs For Inspo:

Groupie Love - Lana Del Rey, A$AP Rocky

Brooklyn Baby - Lana Del Rey

Psychosocial - Slipknot

Just What I Needed - The Cars

Faster n Harder (w/ asteria & kets4eki) - 6arleyhuman

Stargirl Interlude - The Weeknd, Lana Del Rey

(Why does he look so fine omg he looks stoned, drunk, tired, homeless, and wide awake all at once <3)

~Read Below Cut~

He had no intention of stumbling across her. Joby Taylor was a rockstar, and he lived for the fame. Being in a band, especially being the lead singer, had inflated his ego to an immeasurable size. Although his band wasn't too popular, he still had fans scattered around the place, especially in his hometown. Every now and then, he would encounter some, mainly women. And to no fail, they all tried to get with him and have a quick fuck. He was definitely not one to refuse, but after a while...he grew bored of the one night stands. When he met y/n, he assumed that she would want the same thing everyone else did, but he was very wrong. In fact, he got humbled quick.

Joby Taylor sat at the counter of the bar. His dark brown, almost black, hair hanging in his face as he looked at his glass. The shot had a small amount of alcohol in it and he shrugged, tilting the glass back and letting the last few drops fall down his throat. With a hiss through his teeth, he placed the shot glass down and slid it over. Using two fingers, he motioned for the bartender to fill it up again, giving a small "thank you" afterwards. He could still be polite, even if he was arrogant. A rustling was heard next to him as he picked up the shot.

"One Shirley Temple, please!" A soft voice said.

He did his best to stifle a laugh, but it slipped out. Shaking his head, he placed the shot glass back down. Joby ran a hand through his hair as he lifted his head up and turned to face the voice. Sitting next to him was a woman, maybe a year or two younger than him, with her hands gripping the sides of the stool she was on. Her legs swung back and forth gently, making the skirt she wore move along with them. She was pretty cute with that skirt and sweater. The bartender nodded and made the drink, placing a maraschino cherry on top after ,and sliding it to her. A wide smile spread on her face as she watched him place a straw in it as well. Once the barkeep walked away, Joby raised an eyebrow.

"Who the fuck orders a Shirley Temple at a bar?" He asked, rubbing his jaw with his ringed fingers.

The girl took a sip of the drink, legs still continuing to swing back and forth. Joby watched as she placed it down and turned around to face him. Her eyelids were covered with glitter, and black winged eyeliner with mascara complimented it well. Joby's eyes flickered to her lips, seeing how they were a faint peachy pink with lots of gloss. The amount of blush she wore would normally be a little too much, but it suited her well.

"I happen to like Shirley Temples! So what if I drink them at a bar? Sorry I'm not an alcoholic!" She lifted her hands in the air, waving them for exaggeration.

He found that display rather amusing, and it caused him to grin subtly. As she looked at the man before her, her eyes widened and she went red in the face instantly, though her cheeks and nose were already fairly pink. Joby's grin turned into a smug smirk at her reaction, no doubt realizing who he was. Running his tongue lightly over his top teeth, specifically his canine, he picked up the shot again. His eyes never left hers as he downed the burning liquid.

"Holy shit, you're Joby Taylor..." She spoke softly.

"Mhm." He said simply, a single finger lazily tracing the rim of the shot glass.

She swallowed a lump in her throat, unsure of what to do or say. Clearing her throat, she stuck out her hand. It caught Joby off-guard, but he went with it. He took her hand firmly, and shook it. Y/n took note of the callouses on his palm and finger tips, no doubt from playing guitar. She shivered and pulled her hand away after the shake.

"My name's Y/n! I love your music! Um, sorry for getting so defensive about the Shirley Temples...I like them a little too much." She admitted.

"No, it's cool. No worries." He said.

"Um...is it ok if I um..." Y/n trailed, fidgeting with her hands.

Joby sighed, rolling his eyes. He knew exactly what she was going to ask. Yeah, he was a rockstar, but man was he getting tired of fucking in a bathroom. Sliding the shot glass away from him, he ran a hand through his hair and stood up. It looked like he was about to walk away soon.

"What?" She asked.

"Look, I really don't feel up to it, plus I don't have a condom on me." He huffed.

Y/n, who was taking a sip of her drink, nearly choked on it. She coughed violently, eyes wide as she calmed down. With a bewildered look, she looked up at Joby and noticed that his confidence was now faltering. She glared at him, placing her drink down and scoffing. Joby sat back down onto the stool, realizing that he grossly misinterpreted the situation.

"D-Did you think I wanted to have sex with you!?" Y/n asked, baffled.

His mouth hung agape slightly, glancing around the room. He was relieved to see that no one was paying too much attention. Clearing his throat, he shrugged but nodded his head. Y/n scoffed again, turning away from him and looking down at her non-alcoholic beverage. He could see that he had upset her, and he felt a little guilty. Usually he didn't care about hurting someone's feelings, but she looked humiliated.

"Shit, that's not what you wanted at all...was it?" He asked, scolding himself mentally.

She shook her head, propping her elbow up on the counter as her chin rested in her palm. It was silent between the two of them, the only noises being the chatter of the other people in the bar and the music from the jukebox. After a few moments, y/n finally spoke up, making Joby turn his attention towards her.

"Do I really look that much like a slut?" She mumbled.

Joby's eyes widened, understanding why she might feel like that. After all, he just assumed she wanted to have sex with him. He shook his head, leaning onto his forearms with his body slightly turned to her.

"No, not at all! It had nothing to do with how you look. I'm just used to girls finding out I'm a rockstar and then wanting to have a one night stand." He explained.

Y/n looked up at him, eyes glazed slightly with tears that threatened to spill. He felt his heart being tugged at, something that he didn't really feel as of late. She sniffled, looking back to her drink and stirring it lazily with the straw. The beverage was already empty, only a bit of melted ice on the bottom and the cherry. He watched as she picked it up, biting it off at the stem and dropping it in the drink as she ate the sweet fruit. Not knowing what to say, and not feeling comfortable in the silence, he spoke.

"I'm really sorry for assuming, y/n. Honestly, I'm glad you don't want that from me. I'm getting tired of people only wanting to talk to me for my body." He sighed, rubbing a hand down his face.

Y/n turned around again slightly, looking at him out of the corner of her eye. He met her gaze, maintaining it until she looked back at her empty glass. She nodded softly, causing a wave of relief to wash over him. Of course, it wasn't an acceptance of his apology, but it was something at least. Her bottom lip stuck out in a slight pout.

"That makes two of us." She replied.

His gaze softened up, getting some idea of what she meant by that. Biting on his tongue lightly, he drummed his fingers on the edge of the counter before getting up. He walked to the jukebox, looking at the song options. The reason he liked coming to this bar was because it was one of the few in town that actually had metal songs to play. Most other bars had 80's songs or disco music, which were still good, but he did have a penchant for metal. He finally chose a Slipknot song, having an urge to listen to their music. Once it started playing, he walked back over and sat down.

"Can we start over? I feel like..." He trailed.

"Like a dick?" Y/n finished for him.

"Yeah, like a dick. Will you let me buy you a drink or something?"

"You don't have to buy me a drink to earn my forgiveness. I accept your apology."

"I know, but I want to." He smiled.

She sighed, looking up at him again with those glittery eyes. Looking at the jukebox, she smiled when she heard the song that played. He took note of that, thinking that maybe she liked Slipknot as well. When she returned her eye contact, she nodded, a small smile still on her glossy lips. With the confirmation, he motioned for the bartender to come over with a hand movement. He pushed his shot glass and y/n's glass forward.

"Another shot and a Shirley Temple, please." He said.

The bartender nodded, taking the glasses and leaving. Y/n sighed, sitting up straight and turning to look at him. Her lips were still in a pout and it was then that Joby noticed glitter on her cheeks. It was most likely fallout from the eyeshadow she was wearing, or maybe it was purposeful. Either way, it looked good on her. He didn't really see many people wear such bold makeup out and about, unless it was at a club or something. But it suited her well, at least from what he knew about her so far. Y/n grabbed the edges of the stool again, French tip coffin shaped acrylics adorning her nails. Her ring finger on her left hand had a ring on it, which usually meant that someone was married. Joby was a little startled, but then he got a better look at it. The ring was small and silver, a bedazzled outline of Hello Kitty's face on it, including a pink bow made of gems. He raised an eyebrow, pointing towards it.

"You know that's where people wear their weddings rings right?" He questioned.

She nodded, laughing softly. Raising her hand up, she looked almost embarrassed. With her pointer finger and thumb, she fidgeted with the jewelry.

"Yeah, I saw the ring at a store and thought it was cute. I wear it on this finger so I can joke that only Hello Kitty & Friends have my heart."

This made Joby chuckle, finding the reasoning to be a little strange. But it was still humorous. Nodding, he took the drinks from the bartender as he brought them back. He gave y/n her Shirley Temple, and took the shot for himself.

"So, I'm guessing you like Hello Kitty then?"

Y/n nodded, grabbing the straw of her drink and stirring it around. He watched as her pink lips wrapped around it, taking a sip of the sweet treat. When she was done, she placed it back on the counter, turning her seat to face him more.

"Yeah, ever since I was a kid. I guess I just never grew out of it." She shrugged.

Joby smirked and downed his shot in one swig like it was nothing. And it truly was nothing to him, as he had already had a bit too much. But he held his alcohol well, so he wasn't too worried. Placing the glass back down, he propped his right arm on the counter as he looked at y/n. She looked up at him as she took another sip of the pinkish red drink, smiling softly as she did.

"What did you want earlier?" He asked.

Her lips left contact with the straw, holding the glass in her hand. She picked up the cherry, and then placed the drink down. Looking at him, though with no innuendo, she put the cherry in her mouth and tugged the stem off gently. She placed it on the napkin next to her Shirley Temple, eating the cherry with lips of a faded yet similar shade.

"I was hoping to get an autograph or a picture, something like that. But I didn't realize I had to sleep with you to get it." She teased.

He rolled his eyes, raising an eyebrow as he chuckled. Nodding his head, he pointed at her playfully. She giggled, crossing one leg over the other.

"Mmm, that's funny. I guess I deserve that though. Do you still want those things?" He asked, pulling out a pen from the pocket of his leather jacket.

She tilted her head, smiling as she pulled out her phone. Holding it in her hand, she turned it on and put in her password. After a few more seconds, she gave the phone to Joby. He took it, seeing that she had her camera opened up.

"Alright, uh how do you want to po-"

He was interrupted by y/n standing up, putting her arm over his shoulder and draping it down his chest. With her other hand she held up a peace sign and smiled widely. Her eyes were squinted shut from how brightly she smiled. Joby chuckled, taking this as the answer to his interrupted question. He looked at the camera, his eyes lidded like always, giving him a stoned look. His lips tugged up slightly into the faintest smirk. Taking the picture, he gave the phone back to y/n and watched in amusement as she giggled.

"Thanks! Huh, you smell like cigarettes, cheap beer, and...cinnamon?" She randomly said.

He furrowed his eyebrows, taken aback by the out of the blue comment. Glancing around, her looked back to her.

"Um, is that a good thing?"

"I like it."

"Huh, alright then."

Y/n smiled, tapping her foot against the stool base to the beat of the song playing. The way she carried herself, the way she looked, and the way she acted, it was all too enticing to Joby. In his entire life, he had never met someone as friendly as her. Even after he said something vulgar to her, she forgave him so easily. It made him wonder more about who she was. Was she truly this kind? Most people would have thrown their drink in his face and stormed out, but she didn't. He was intrigued.

"You like Slipknot?" He asked, adjusting one of his many necklaces.

She nodded, pulling out her phone. After a few touches on her screen, she slid it over to him on the counter. He looked at it, seeing that she had opened up her Spotify. There were multiple playlists shown. Looking at her for permission, to which she nodded, he scrolled through a bunch of them. He had to admit that he was very impressed. There were so many metal/rock bands. He spotted songs from Megadeth, Slayer, System Of A Down, Metallica, Slipknot, Judas Priest, Korn, Whitesnake, Foo Fighters, Smashing Pumpkins, Rob Zombie, and of course, his own songs. But he also found various other genres of music. There was Lady Gaga, Weezer, Lana Del Rey, Pixies, and a shit ton of others. He knew about a lot of those artists/bands, and lots of girls he had slept with in the past had told him that he reminded them of a Lana Del Rey song. Y/n liked basically every genre of music, except there was absolutely no country songs. He appreciated that. He hated that genre of music so fucking much. But there were certain artists that he had never heard of. Curious, he mentioned those artists.

"I love your music taste, but, and excuse me if I sound uncultured, what is hyperpop?" He asked, a small chuckle leaving his lips.

She got a little red in the face, but it disappeared after a few seconds. A small smile spread on her face, taking her phone back from him. He raised an eyebrow at the action. She slid the phone back into her pocket, thinking about how to explain the music genre. He gave her time, tracing his finger over his shot glass. It was strange that he was talking with this girl, because he came here for some alone time. But now he was fully invested in their conversation.

"Um...it's hard to explain because each artist is different. But um, you know like club music? Take that, add static, add LSD, and add lots of bass and electronic music. That's what it's like. It's like drugs in song form." She explained, struggling a little bit.

"Sounds...interesting?" He said, more of a question.

"Ugh, it's hard to explain. You just have to listen to it."

"No, I trust your judgement. You look like you know what you're talking about." He smirked.

Y/n felt her phone buzz, causing her to scramble and take it out of her pocket. He watched in silence as she held up a finger, answering the phone call. Placing it up to her ear, she kicked her legs back and forth like she did earlier. No matter how hard he tried, Joby couldn't look away from her. It was as if he was stuck in a trance that he was unable to break out of. She looked so sickeningly sweet, like if he kissed her he would get a cavity.

"Hey Katie! What's up?" Y/n said.

Her eyebrows furrowed.

"What do you mean?"

"Like, he's there right now?"

Joby raised an eyebrow, but tried not to snoop too much.

"What the fu-, ok I'm coming! Don't let him leave! I'm gonna feed that bastard if it's the last thing I do!" Y/n huffed, hanging up the phone.

She got off of the stool, rummaging through her purse. Joby could tell she was looking for money, but he held a hand up. Stopping, she looked up at him perplexed. He dug through his wallet, pulling out enough money to pay for both his drinks and her drinks. Joby placed it on the counter, making sure the bartender saw it.

"I've got it covered. Where are you off to?"

"Oh, thank you so much. That...that's really sweet of you. Um, ok so long story short there is this crow that visits my roommate and I's apartment and sits on the balcony and I NEED to be there! I'm fucking determined to feed that beautiful creature!" She blurted out.

Joby chuckled, nodding in amusement. He reached into his pocket, pulling out a pen and grabbing a napkin from the counter. Quickly, he scribbled something on it and handed it to her. Y/n looked down at it, blushing when she saw a phone number in black ink along with a location and time. She looked back up, her deep blush now visible to Joby. With that signature smirk of his, he ran a hand through his hair and leaned back onto the counter.

"Well, give me a call sometime, yeah? Keep me updated on the crow status. Maybe send me a few song suggestions?" He suggested.

Y/n, finding herself incapable of speaking, nodded her head. She stood there for a few seconds longer, looking back down at the napkin. Swallowing a lump in her throat, she tucked a piece of hair behind her ear.

"Oh, I'm also going to be playing with my band at the place I wrote down. You should go if you can. I'll keep an eye out for you. Though I'm sure I'll see you; you dress...colorfully."

Y/n was completely red in the face. The glitter on her cheeks and eyelids made her look like an angel in the orange-yellow lights of the bar. She practically shimmered, almost iridescent. Joby looked her up and down, admiring how she looked when she stood up straight. She nodded again, making him chuckle softly at her inability to speak. But she eventually managed to spit out a few words.

"Y-Yeah, I'll be there for sure. Um, th-thank you..." She stuttered.

"Get home safe, y/n." He smiled, watching as she left the bar.

When y/n got home from the bar, she immediately looked for the crow and thankfully, he was still there. Y/n took a picture of him, and finally named him after his multiple visits before hand. Katie and y/n decided on Corvus because it was close to the actual scientific name of the family ravens and crows were in. But afterwards, y/n told her roommate everything. Even though she wasn't a fan of Joby Taylor like y/n was, Katie was still tickled pink that her friend met him. When she showed Katie the picture, they both squealed and took note of how he looked sort of...happy? Happy was an emotion that Joby Taylor had a hard time showing with his facial expressions, so y/n was giggling like a school girl. Then she told Katie about the phone number and how he invited her to the performance. After they squealed and giggled a little more, y/n went to her room and plopped on her bed, pulling her phone out. At almost light speed, she put Joby's number into her phone and texted him a picture of the crow. When he saw it, he immediately knew it was y/n and saved the number into his phone. He was in his motel bed, almost like he was waiting for her to text him.

Y/n:

<1 attachment> 10:26 P.M

[ HE WAS STILL THERE!!! WE NAMED HIM CORVUS AND HE ATE SUNFLOWER SEEDS FROM MY HAND!!!! ] 10:26 P.M

Joby chuckled, looking at the picture y/n sent. It was a selfie of y/n and the crow. Corvus was perched on the railing, sunflower seeds scattered on the balcony while he pecked at a few that rested on the railing next to him. Y/n was pointing at him with a giddy look on her face, paired with a sweet smile.

Joby: [ Glad you made it in time, you look happy. ] 10:28 P.M Y/n: [ I AM! ] 10:28 P.M [ Oh, about the invite, where do I get my tickets? ] 10:29 P.M Joby: [ You don't have to pay for any tickets. I'll tell security to keep an eye out for you. ] 10:30 P.M Y/n: [ Free of charge? Really?! ] 10:30 P.M Joby: [ Yeah. ] 10:31 P.M Y/n: [ SO COOL! ] 10:31 P.M Joby: [ Well I still feel bad about earlier so hopefully this makes up for it. ] 10:32 P.M Y/n: [ I already forgave you!!! ] 10:33 P.M Joby: [ Well I haven't forgiven myself. ] 10:33 P.M Y/n: [ Are you this sweet to all of your fans? ] 10:34 P.M Joby: [ Only the ones that drink Shirley Temples. ] 10:35 P.M Y/n: [ Hahaha, funny. Well I gtg to work early in the morning, I'll see you tomorrow when you perform! ] 10:35 P.M Joby: [ I look forward to it. ] 10:36 P.M Y/n: [ Sweet dreams Joby!!! :D ] 10:36 P.M Joby: [ Back at you, y/n. ] 10:36 P.M

Joby turned his phone off, placing it on the night stand as he groaned. The palms of his hands covered his eyes, smudging his eyeliner as he dragged them down. He was too tired to change into different clothes and take his makeup off, so he just settled with sleeping as is. Rolling over on his stomach, he let out a sigh as he reflected on his day. It was extremely boring and dull, at least it was until he met y/n. That made his day a whole lot better. He was already looking forward to performing with his band tomorrow, but now he was even more excited to see y/n as well.

After work, y/n hurried back home to get ready to see Joby perform with his band. She wanted to look good for him, because it was technically a date? Sort of? Well regardless of if it was one or not, y/n still wanted to look her very best. Joby had said it would be easy to find her in the crowd because of how "colorfully" she dressed. He was exactly right though. That is how y/n dressed the majority of the time; a walking rainbow. She would look very out of place at a small concert for a metal band, but she liked standing out. For some odd reason, she wanted to look very out of place at the concert. She wanted Joby to be able to recognize her as soon as he saw what she wore, and she had the perfect outfit in mind, as well as the makeup. She was so excited to see him, so she was quick to get ready and leave. Once she finished getting ready, walking out of her apartment, she sent Joby a text. Y/n wasn't sure he would see it, since he was probably getting ready to go on stage, but she felt the need to let him know she was leaving anyways. After that text, she called a Taxi, because she wasn't sure if she would drink any alcohol or not. But it was best to not bring her car in case she did.

Y/n: [ I'm on my way!!! Excited!!! You better play some of my fav songs or I'm walking out!!! ] 7:09 P.M

Joby was practicing a part of a song on his electric guitar, though he really didn't have to. It was mainly pre-show nerves that made him do it. He felt his phone vibrate in the back pocket of his jeans, causing him to stop playing. A member of his band watched as he pulled out his phone and smiled down at it.

"What's got you lookin' so cheery?" He asked, chuckling softly.

Before he answered, he sent a text and then put his phone away.

Joby: [ Great, I'll see you soon. I've got to get back to rehearsing. ] 7:11 P.M

He looked up at his friend/bandmate, seeing the smug look on his face. Shaking his head lightly, he focused back down to his guitar. He let out a sigh as he finally answered.

"I met a girl." He said simply.

Levi saw that Garrett was talking to Joby, and decided to join the conversation. He was a nosy person at heart.

"Did you meet her or did you fuck her?" Garrett, the drummer, asked.

"Dude, you know I don't sleep around anymore. I met her at a bar last night, and invited her to the show. She's really nice..." He trailed, smiling as he looked back down at his guitar.

Levi, the bass guitarist, walked over and shoved him lightly on the shoulder. Joby lifted up a hand, a playful gesture to get him to stop. Backing up again, Levi pointed at Joby and looked at Garrett before looking back at the lead singer of the band.

"Look at you dude, you're grinning like a dork!" He laughed.

"Levi shut the fuck up. We've seen you make heart eyes over your wife and we don't poke fun at you!" Joby defended.

"That's true...but it's more fun to mess with you, Joby." Garrett commented.

"You're both assholes, you know that?" Joby rolled his eyes.

"Ah, we're only kidding man. Hopefully whatever you two have going on works out. It's depressing seeing you mope around in the studio." Levi sighed.

"Yeah, it's like seeing a wounded animal. You just feel sorry for it..." Garrett hummed.

"You two are fucking weird, are you ready to play or not?" Joby asked.

"Yeah, let's fucking do this shit man! Woo!" Levi did a few fist bumps in the air.

"I'm gonna bang the shit outta those drums." Garrett laughed.

Y/n walked into the building. It was one of those bars that had stages for people to perform on. It was actually pretty spacious inside, giving enough space for about 50 people to be around the stage. The bar and eating area had it's own separate space, but still gave view of the stage. Tonight, during the time Joby's band was playing, only people who had tickets could go in. Every Friday the bar did this, so it wasn't like it was a daily thing. It was a pretty good schedule actually.

"You got a ticket?" One of the security guards asked.

Y/n snapped out of her thoughts, looking up at the very tall guard. She felt nervous, like if she breathed wrong he might tackle her to the floor. Joby had said that he would tell the guards to look out for her, so all she really had to do was tell them her name. Swallowing a lump in her throat, she gave a weak smile to the two men.

"Um, Joby Taylor invited me? I'm y/n." She said.

The man on the right looked at her, but nodded a few seconds after. A wave of relief washed over her as she slid past the guards. She had no idea why that stressed her out so much, but it did. Once she made it to the stage area, she looked around the room for a place to sit, preferably alone. Most of the tables were full, or at least had one person sitting there. But after a little more time of scanning, she noticed an empty table in the middle section of the arrangement of other tables. It was round, just like the others, and had four chairs around it. Keeping in mind where it was, she went to the bar, and of course, ordered what she always ordered. When she got the sweet drink she loved so much, she walked back to the table and sat down. She placed her purse on the wooden table, kicking her legs back and forth as she waited for the event to begin. She was nervous for some reason, and she wasn't even the one performing. Maybe she was nervous for what might happen after the performance. Because she truly had no idea what Joby had planned. Taking her first sip of her drink, she noticed that the lights dimmed slowly and Joby, Garrett, and Levi walked out. Y/n did her best not to shout out "JOBY! OVER HERE! HI! HELLO!", and instead she giggled. When he stepped up to the microphone, he introduced his band to the audience. He glanced to his right, and immediately he saw y/n. Boy oh boy, was he right about her dressing bright. She wore a vibrant rainbow stripped sweater, which made him think that she liked sweaters since she wore one yesterday. He couldn't tell what pants she was wearing, but they looked like jeans with different patches sewn on them, he'd have to look later on. She wore her hair down, but had two bows with ribbons in it. Even from on stage, Joby could she the glittery light blue eyeshadow she had on, no doubt complete with mascara, eyeliner, lip gloss, and blush. He wanted to get the concert over with as soon as possible so he could see her up close. When y/n realized he was looking at her she instinctively waved at him. Her hands frantically shook, smiling wide at him from her seat and pointing to the Shirley Temple she got. Joby bit back a laugh, giving her a smile to make sure she knew he saw her before playing with his band.

The entire time y/n was tapping her feet to the beats and singing the lyrics quietly to herself. She found herself focusing on Joby's outfit a lot. It was just so, to put it bluntly, hot. He wore a white t-shirt, his signature black leather jacket on top of it, and a pair of skinny jeans. He had a chain dangling from his left pocket, moving as he played his guitar. His fingers were adorned with rings, necklaces decorated his neck, and bracelets covered his wrists. His nails were painted black, making him look even hotter than he already was. When y/n discovered Joby Taylor's band, she had to admit, she developed a huge crush on him. And now that the reality of being acquaintances, dare she say friends, with him had set in, she was freaking out internally. Oh man did she feel like a fangirl. Her eyes trailed to Joby's hands, watching how expertly they moved his pick across the guitar string. The sight alone made y/n's face turn beet red. It was like that the entire time Snake Trouble performed, which lasted about an hour. It was a great show really, but y/n was a little biased of course. When they played their last song, Joby thanked the audience and waved them good bye as the people started to filter out. Y/n was unsure of what to do, so she just stayed put in her seat, drinking her second Shirley Temple of the night. She really needed to cut back on them, but they were like crack to her. She'd definitely need to stay away from bars for a little while. A whistle took her out of her thoughts, making her head whip up, accidentally taking the straw with her. Joby had his pointer finger and thumb in his mouth, that's where the source of the whistle came from. He chuckled when he saw y/n looking up at him with a straw hanging from her mouth limply. He chuckled, saying something to his band members before waving y/n over. Even though she knew that he was directing the movement at her, she still pointed at her chest. He nodded, eyes wide as he waved her over again before walking backstage. Quickly, she drank the rest of her drink and grabbed the three cherries that remained. She was glad that the bartender wasn't modest with the cherries. With her other hand, she put on her small crossbody purse and hastily walked over to the door to the backstage area. Not sure what to do, she knocked on it, immediately feeling stupid afterwards. Joby opened it up, giving her a weird look.

"Did you just knock?"

"Um, maybe?" She mumbled, popping a cherry in her mouth.

"Well, come on back. I wanna introduce you to the band, if that's ok with you?" He asked.

She nodded, putting another cherry in her mouth. Joby took a few seconds to take in her appearance. He could see it from on stage, but he had a better view up close. His heart was pounding and he could feel his palms getting clammy. He felt like a school boy crushing on a girl again. She was practically sparkling and glowing before him. Joby decided that he had been staring for far too long, so he stepped aside to let them walk in. Garrett and Levi were putting their things away, but when they saw y/n, they stopped. Joby walked forward with her, placing a hand on her upper back, making her shiver underneath his touch. It was something he picked up on, but didn't comment on.

"Garrett, Levi, this is y/n." He introduced.

Y/n immediately popped her last cherry into her mouth, holding out her hand. There she went again with the handshakes. That's how she introduced herself to Joby, and he found it to be very amusing. It still was, really. She finished chewing the cherry and then swallowed it. Garrett took her hand first, shaking it, and then Levi did the same.

"It's really cool to be meeting you guys! I'm a huge fan of your music! I love metal so much and your guys' take on the genre is so unique!" She blurted out, shaking both of their hands vigorously.

The bassist and drummer looked at her, especially her outfit and makeup. The rainbow sweater, the washed out denim pants with flowers sewn on them, and the red converse. It was all very...bright. And her makeup was too. She had soft blush on her nose and cheeks, peachy pink lip gloss, mascara, eyeliner, and a faded light blue eyeshadow with white in the corners of her eyes, glitter in the corners too. It was all blended out well, so nothing looks harsh or out of place. It really suited her bubbly personality well. They both chuckled lightly, thrown off by how she looked. When Joby said he met a girl, they imagined she would look more like...well...not like y/n.

"Uh, yeah...thanks. Sorry, you just look very..." Garrett trailed.

"Vibrant." Levi finished.

"Thank you! I take that as a compliment!" She smiled widely, making Joby look at his friends with a dorky grin.

"Well, it's nice to see that Joby's making some friends. God knows he needs them." Garrett teased, pushing his shoulder lightly.

"Fuck off, dude." Joby chuckled.

"He certainly was friendly when I met him. A little too friendly." Y/n giggled, making Joby's eyes widen.

"What does that mean?" Levi asked.

"He didn't tell you?" Y/n asked.

"No?" Both guys said in synch.

"Mmm, I don't think they need to hear that story. Why don't you go wait at the bar while I finish packing up?" He asked, nudging them slightly.

"Oh my God! You're embarrassed!" Y/n laughed.

"About what!" Levi exclaimed.

Y/n looked at Joby, seeing him roll his eyes. Letting out a sigh, he gave in.

"She was trying to ask me for an autograph, but I...I thought she was trying to..." He trailed.

"No fucking way. You're joking. That's not true. Is it?!" Garrett burst out laughing, knowing exactly what he was going to say.

Y/n nodded, smiling wide as if she told the funniest joke ever. Looking at Garrett, Levi placed a hand on his shoulder and doubled over. He clutched his stomach as he wheezed, tears practically coming out of his eyes. Garrett clapped him on the back, helping him stand back up straight. Joby put a hand in his pocket, using the other one to run through his hair.

"It's really not that funny." He commented.

"It's fucking hilarious dude, shut up. You thought you were gonna get some!" Levi wheezed again.

"Well, actually he tried to turn me down. But again, I wasn't trying to do that." Y/n corrected.

"Oh shit, really? Joby turning down a quickie? Now I've really seen everything." Garrett teased.

"Man, you know I don't do that shit anymore." Joby shoved him lightly.

"We know, we're just messing with you." Levi reassured him, stretching out his back.

Y/n bounced back and forth on her heels, fidgeting with the hem of her sweater. The two band members thanked y/n for coming to see them perform, took a photo with her, and then went back to packing up. Joby put his hand on her shoulder, patting it a bit. Y/n looked up at him, smiling.

"You wanna go get something to eat after this? My treat." He asked.

"I never turn down free food." Y/n smirked.

"No more Shirley Temples though. I saw how many you had."

"I think I have to agree with you on that. I...I think I have a problem with those things." She sighed.

Without really thinking about what he was doing, Joby brought his hand up. His painted fingertips held her chin gently, thumb brushing over her skin as he tilted her head up just barely. With a glance towards the door and tilt of his head, he brought his hand back down.

"Why don't you go wait for me, hm? I won't be long." Joby said smoothly.

The words rolled off his tongue like sugar, giving y/n a high off of them. Her cheeks were now bright red, and she swore her knees nearly buckled. It was as if his voice turned her legs to jelly. Swallowing a lump in her throat, she nodded, going towards the door. She looked back at him, giving him a shy smile as she exited the backstage. Just like he told her to, she waited at one of the tables for him. And just like he said, it didn't take him long at all. His bandmates left through the backdoor, but he went to the bar to get y/n. His guitar case was held in his hand firmly. Levi and Garrett took the rest of the equipment because they came to the show with a van together, so they were going to take it all back to Levi's house. Y/n looked up from her phone, instantly beaming when she saw him. Joby felt his body warm up upon seeing her smile.

"You have a specific place you want to go to?" He asked.

"No, not really. Is there a diner or something nearby?"

"I think so yeah, we can go there in my car if you're ok with that?"

"Yeah, let's go!" Y/n hopped up from the seat.

The two of them left the bar, walking to the back of the building and going to Joby's car. He unlocked it, putting his guitar case in the backseat on the floor. Quickly, he opened up the passenger door for y/n, letting her in first. She playfully tapped his shoulder, complimenting him for his chivalry. He rolled his eyes, closing the door and going to the driver's side, getting in. Putting his keys in the ignition, he started his car, looking over at y/n.

"Did you like the show?"

Y/n furrowed her eyebrows. She gave him a confused look, as if he asked her the stupidest question. Nodding her head repeatedly, she pulled out her phone. She turned it to him, showing a few pictures that she took of him performing. Joby felt butterflies in his stomach as she took the phone back, swiping through the pictures and smiling as she looked at them. Yes, y/n was a huge fan of Snake Trouble, but she was also a huge fan of Joby. It wasn't often that Joby met someone who looked at him and pictures of him with that amount of adoration. It warmed his heart and made him grip his seatbelt tightly. He realized that y/n hadn't put hers on yet, so he reached over and grabbed it, clicking it in place for her. She was red in the face at how close he was, letting out a soft breath when he retracted.

"Let's get something to eat. I'm starved." He said, putting his car in drive.

Joby held open the diner door for y/n, and the tiny bell rung above their head. Y/n's eyes widened at the interior, taking in how sleek it looked. Joby stuffed his hands in his pockets as he walked to a booth and sat down, watching as y/n sat across the table from him. She leaned forward on the table, her facial expression was one of fascination.

"It's like a 50's diner!" She whisper-yelled.

"Yeah, yeah it is." He nodded.

"That's so cool! I love these types of diners!!!" Y/n giggled softly, backing up again.

Joby smiled, enjoying how happy she was over the theme of the diner. But he had to admit, it was pretty cool looking. Old 50's advertisement posters were hung on the wall, along with pictures of old cars and famous singers from the decade. Y/n was looking around, taking in every detail about the place. After a few minutes, a waitress came and took their orders, and y/n found the strength to get a plain water for once. As they waited for their food, Joby decided to strike up some conversation. A song from The Ink Spots played in the background, providing a nice atmosphere for a late night meal in Fall. He noticed that y/n was tapping her finger against the table to the beat of the song.

"Do you like this kind of music?" He asked.

"Huh? Oh, yeah I love it! I have a wide range of music taste. Sometimes I want to listen to metal, and some days I want to listen to a bit of Skeeter Davis. You know?" She took a sip of her water.

"Yeah, I get it. I mean, I obviously have a favorite genre of music, but I can listen to this stuff just fine." He nodded, scratching under his chin lightly.

Y/n opened up her purse, taking out a handheld mirror and opening it up. Joby watched as she looked at herself in it, focusing on her lips. She went back into her purse, taking out a tube of pigmented lip gloss. He couldn't take his eyes off of her as she applied it, smacking her lips together gently a few times before putting both items away. There was something so mesmerizing about her and the way she carried herself. She wasn't full of herself, she wasn't an airhead, she wasn't a brainiac, and she wasn't humble, she was just herself. It was hard to explain, but he was absolutely enthralled with her. It was a feeling he hadn't experienced in a long time.

"Oh, I should probably call Katie and let her know I'll be home late. We were supposed to watch a movie tonight." She said.

"Yeah no problem." Joby shrugged, looking out at the street that was being sprinkled with rain.

Y/n took out her phone as their food arrived, thanking the waitress as she pulled up her friend's contact. She motioned for Joby to start eating as she called Katie, holding the phone up to her ear. After a few seconds, she answered.

"Bitch where are you!" She exclaimed, causing Joby to grin.

"I'm sorry Katie, I'm uh..." She trailed, looking into Joby's eyes.

He gave her a charming smile, making her blush lightly. It was clear what this was, but y/n was just a little embarrassed to say it. She was also worried that maybe she was misinterpreting Joby's intentions. But fuck it.

"...on a date." She finished, and Joby smirked as he took a bite of his food.

"A DATE?! FINALLY!" Katie groaned.

"Hey!" Y/n scoffed.

"Who is it with!? Do I know them!?"

Joby bit back a laugh, taking a sip of his water. Even though y/n didn't have the phone on speaker, Katie was still loud enough to where he could hear. Y/n glared at him playfully, making him raise his hands up slightly in defense.

"I'm with Joby." She answered simply.

"Ooo, girl look at you! Dating a rockstar!" Katie giggled.

Y/n blushed deeply, avoiding eye contact with Joby. He watched as she hid her face. His heart practically melted at the sight of her getting shy around him.

"W-We're not dating..." Y/n mumbled.

"Yet you guys are on a date?"

Joby smirked.

"Shut up!" Y/n whisper-yelled at Katie.

"Whatever babe, but if you guys fuck I wanna know everything! See you later y/n!" Katie hung up.

Y/n was bright red and Joby had a bit of pink in his cheeks as well. She chuckled awkwardly, putting her phone away. He took another bite of his food. Both of them heard what Katie had said, but they both pretended like they didn't.

"Sorry about that." Y/n cleared her throat.

"You're alright, so...you think we're on a date?" He questioned, a playful smile on his face.

"I-...is that not what this is?" Her eyes widened, realizing that she might have been dead wrong.

Joby brushed some hair out of his face, leaning back in the booth. He looked at her through lidded eyes, once again looking like he was stoned out of his mind. A soft laugh left his lips as his arms crossed lazily over his chest.

"I intended for this to be a date, yes. Is that what you want it to be?" He smirked.

She gulped, his gaze and stature intimidating her slightly. The way he dressed was already intimidating, but his eyes made her feel small. In a good way, that is. Y/n nodded, fidgeting with her belt that held up her jeans.

"So does that mean that we're...?"

"No, not if you don't want to. This can just be a casual thing." He smiled.

Y/n nodded.

Casual didn't last for long, not at all. In fact, two weeks after that diner date, Joby had asked y/n if she would be his girlfriend. Of course, she agreed to it immediately. After that, they were basically inseparable. Well, other than when y/n had to go to work or go back to her apartment. But sometimes when Katie was at her girlfriend's apartment, y/n had Joby stay over at her apartment with her. It was pretty frequent as well, around once a week. The dating was fun, almost like a high school relationship at first. It was exciting, new, and fun. But after a few months of dating, that's when things got more serious and they actually started to act like a real adult couple. It was almost sickening how in love the two of them were. They even came up with nicknames for each other, although they weren't exactly original. Y/n called Joby "rockstar" or "honey" and Joby called y/n "groupie", "sugar", or "bunny". It was cute to them. And in a way, she was his groupie. Well, if the rockstar and groupie were in an actual relationship, that is.

Y/n opened up Joby's dressing room door, closing it behind her. He was sitting in a chair in front of the mirror. Over the months, his band had gotten more popular and now they were able to play at actual arenas/stadiums. Granted, they were the smaller ones, but it was a great start. He turned around, seeing y/n, and immediately stood up. She ran over to him, jumping into his arms and wrapping her arms around his neck. He grinned, and placed his hands on her waist as she looked up at him.

"You did so great! That was awesome, honey!" She cheered, giggling a the end.

"Thank you, bunny. You know I'm doing it all for you, don't you?" He hummed, rubbing circles into her hips with his thumbs.

She nodded, blushing at his sweet words. Y/n learned that Joby was a surprisingly romantic man. He would get her bouquets of flowers, do random acts of kindness for her without being told to, and even buy a gift for her completely unprecedented. His dates were always so thoughtful and fun, even if they just watched a movie together. Since his band got more popular, he was able to get his own apartment and y/n moved in with him. Katie was sad at first, but she was happy for y/n and of course they still kept in contact and remained best friends. Though she would miss Corvus a lot. Katie would send pictures of him every now and then.

"Every time I look at you I have to remind myself that I'm dating you. It's hard to believe, because you're way out of my league. How did I get so lucky, bunny?" Joby cooed.

"You're the one who's out of my league! You're a literal rockstar dumbass!" She joked, hitting his chest playfully.

Joby smiled, pulling y/n onto his lap as he sat in the chair. Her eyes widened and she blushed when he gripped her thighs, massaging them. His hand raised up, calloused fingertips gently cupping her flushed face. When he wore rings and touched her, man oh man, it was like her kryptonite. The feeling of the cold material against her warm skin sent shivers down her spine every time. Joby would use this "method" as a way to get her to calm down when she was stressed. But it also came in handy in the bedroom too. He closed his eyes, thinking back to the first time the two of them had sex. God, it was something he would never forget. Y/n would never forget it either. After all, Joby was insanely good at dirty talk. And when it was paired with his skill in bed...it left y/n a mess.

Y/n let out a soft moan, arms wrapped around Joby's neck. His necklaces moved back and forth in synch with his thrusts. Their bodies were entwined in a dirty dance, one that would leave them panting and exhausted. Joby, with his eyes squinted shut and mouth slightly agape, buried his face into the crook of y/n's neck. He lazily placed kisses on her hot skin, giving it the occasional nip and lick.

"Oh, Joby! S' so good!" She slurred, words broken up by his thrusts.

He hummed against her neck, feeling his heart skip a beat. The sound of her moaning his name made his stomach turn upside down. Lust was heavy in their shared bedroom, the yellow glow emitting from the string of fairy lights providing the only light for them. A horror movie, which neither of them could remember the name of, played quietly in the background. Originally, they had planned to have a marathon of gory underground horror movies, but things got off track.

"Fuck, bunny. You're taking me so good." He groaned.

Y/n lifted her legs up, wrapping them around his waist with her heels digging into his lower back. Her acrylic nails dug into the skin of his shoulders, making him wince. An overwhelming urge to look into her eyes flooded over his body, causing him to pull away from her neck. He grabbed her hands from off his shoulders, and quickly pinned them above her head. She moaned at the new restricting position, her eyes glazed over with adoration and desire. Joby moved his free hand to her hip, keeping her in place firmly as he picked up his pace. Y/n threw her head back, arching her body up towards the ceiling. He let out a shaky moan at the sight, closely sounding to a whimper. Joby had had sex with many women, and each of them definitely had their own kinks. He himself was a very kinky man, but he wasn't quite sure what y/n liked. So he was cautious with his actions and choices, being experimental yet thoughtful. Plus, they made a safeword before they started, so he felt better about it.

"Yeah, you like that sugar? You like it when I fuck you like this?" He moaned.

Y/n squirmed underneath him, legs squeezing around him tightly. It must have been the way he talked to her mixed with the sensation of his dick inside of her, because she wasn't acting this crazy when they started off. But now she was underneath him, arms pinned above her head and arching her back. She looked absolutely ruined and it had only been a few minutes. The eyeliner she wore was smudging a bit, and her lip gloss was smeared on her bottom lip. Joby wished he had a camera, wanting to capture this moment so he would never forget it. When he didn't get a response from her he decided to try something out, reaching down and giving her a delicate smack to the cheek. Even though it wasn't hard, it caught her attention.

"C'mon bunny, I asked you a question."

Y/n moaned after the action, nodding her head frantically. Joby smirked to himself, taking note of how she reacted to the slap. He gave a quick snap of his hips, making y/n's eyes roll back into her head. The sight made Joby twitch as he was buried deep inside of her. He brought another smack across her face, a little more firm this time. She moaned again, but it was cut short as he kept his hand on her cheek, sliding his thumb into her mouth. He pressed the pad of his thumb on her tongue, enjoying how she looked beneath him. There was just something about having his finger inside her mouth that drove him wild.

"Dirty little thing, aren't you? Getting stretched by a rockstar, and taking it like a groupie." He chuckled softly, picking up pace.

She moaned around his thumb, incapable of speaking due to her tongue being restricted. Y/n whimpered as he hit the bundle of nerves inside of her with every thrust. Her legs were shaking, and Joby could tell she was close. The thought of her cumming around his cock was so enticing, but he longed to taste her. He wanted to see if she tasted just like she smelled: like cherries.

"Give me a kiss, pretty girl." He cooed.

Y/n didn't hesitate to kiss him as he leaned down. He bit down on her lip, tugging it a little bit. She whined, but was comforted when Joby released his grip on her wrists and instead entwined his fingers with one of her hands. With her now free hand, she tangled it in Joby's hair, tugging on it harshly, eliciting a groan that echoed in her mouth. He pulled away from the kiss, a string of saliva connecting their lips.

"I'm gonna make you cum so hard, bunny."

"A rockstar isn't a real rockstar without a groupie, aren't they?"

"Technically they are still a rockstar because th-"

He held up a finger to her lips, shushing her.

"I'm trying to be all hot and romantic over here." He scoffed.

"Well maybe you should do a better job of it, Mr. Taylor." Y/n challenged jokingly.

Joby raised an eyebrow.

"Oh really? Because from where I am, it looks like I'm doing a fine job. After all, you're still sitting on my lap, aren't you?"

Y/n giggled, placing a hand on his chest and leaning in closely. Joby could smell the mint on her breath, along with the scent of her perfume, and it made his stomach turn into a knot. She stuck out her tongue at him.

"I'm only doing it to stroke your ego."

Joby grabbed her thighs, pulling her closer to his body. She yelped, grabbing onto his shoulders for stability, He sat up straight, lifting a hand to grip her chin gently yet firm. His other hand remained on her thigh, close to her ass.

"Oh yeah, I'm sure. Are you really trying to stroke my ego, or are you just trying to get some rough strokes yourself?" He taunted, pressing his lips to her neck.

She couldn't prevent the shaky moan that left her lips, making Joby groan. Y/n gripped his shoulders tighter as she felt his erection throb underneath her. Just like he was a natural romantic, he was always a natural dirty talker. And he wasn't all bark, because when it came to sex, he brought the bite hard. Although, even though the two had been dating for over 6 months, they had only had sex with penetration twice. But each time, y/n was left breathless and ruined. They had done other things a lot more frequently, like giving each other oral or handjobs and fingering. But actual sex was something they didn't do much, though they didn't really have a real reason. And frankly, they were still getting used to being that intimate with each other.

"N-Not in your dressing room! We could get caught!" She stuttered.

"Doors have locks, bunny."

"No fucking way, they do!? I had no fucking idea! You're so, so, sooo smart Joby! Oh, what would I do without you!" She faked, pretending to swoon.

"Alright, alright, calm down with the theatrics. Get up and we can go home, yeah?" He patted her thigh.

She didn't move, only giving him a look. He raised an eyebrow, but then smirked to himself. He nodded his head towards the door. It amused him how quickly y/n changed her mind. She giggled, getting up and locking the door before going back to Joby. He stood up from his chair, picking y/n up and making them wrap their legs around his waist. Hungrily, he pushed her against the wall, lips meeting hers in a sloppy kiss. It was messy and wet, but neither of them really cared. Y/n moaned, wrapping her arms around his neck again and pulling him even closer to her. He bit on her lip, tugging it as he pulled away. She looked at him with doe eyes, whining as he grinded up against her. Joby watched as her face became dusted with shades of pink, eyes fluttering softly like tiny little butterfly wings. When he was satisfied, he pulled away, gently putting her on her feet. Instantly, she reached forward and tugged at his jacket, bottom lip stuck out in a pout. He smirked at how desperate she was for him.

"Joby?" She whined.

He grabbed her hands, removing them from his leather jacket. Turning around, he picked up his guitar case. When he looked back at y/n, he nearly shivered at how needy they seemed, especially with those big eyes.

"I don't have a condom on me." He winked, referencing to the first time they met.

She furrowed her eyebrows, hitting him on the shoulder over and over again. Y/n wasn't that strong, but man if you pissed her off she could get scary. Joby's eyes widened, instantly defending himself.

"Woah, woah, hold on! I've got some back home!" He used his guitar case as a shield.

"Then let's go!" Y/n grabbed his hand, tugging him to the door.

"Damn, you want it that bad?" He chuckled.

Y/n huffed, turning around to face him. She moved his hand to in between her legs. His eyes widened when he felt her damp panties underneath her skirt. A shaky breath left his throat and he grew weak in the knees. Joby nearly moaned at the sensation, wanting so badly to just slide his fingers under the material. But he resisted the temptation, instead retracting his hand and landing a swift smack on y/n's ass. He was now very eager to get back to their apartment.

"Fuuuck, I'm going to break so many traffic laws..."

Dating a rockstar, especially Joby, definitely had its perks. Not only did he spoil her beyond imagination, he also wrote songs for her. It was the most romantic thing y/n had ever experienced. And even though the music didn't sound romantic, the lyrics hit her like a truck. A few months before her birthday, around 2 years after they started dating, Joby wrote his first song about her. Well, he started to write it. Y/n would walk into his studio, complete with noise canceling pads all over the walls and ceiling, and see him hunched over his desk or guitar. She never knew what he was doing, but urged him to take a break and watch a movie with her or play a video game. But he turned it down every single time. She didn't realize that he was working hard on a birthday gift for her. That was until one concert, that happened to fall on y/n's birthday. Y/n had no problem traveling around with Joby for his performances, in fact she loved it. It allowed her to visit different parts of the country. At first she was upset that the concert fell on her birthday, but Joby assured her that they would celebrate it still. He was definitely keeping his promise. Snake Trouble performed their songs on the stage to the crowds of people that cheered them on and sang along to the lyrics. But as they sang their "last" long, Joby took a deep breath and held the microphone tightly.

"So that was supposed to be our last song of the night..." He trailed, looking back to Garrett and Levi.

"...but today is a special day for someone special to me." Joby finished.

He pointed to the side area of the stage on the right. On each side of the stage was an area that was barricaded off. It was where they kept a lot of equipment, speakers, wires, and what not. But y/n would also stay there during concerts and watch Snake Trouble perform from the sidelines. Not many people knew it, other than the band members of course, but y/n worked a lot behind the scenes of their concerts. Whether it was making sure all the equipment was ready, doing mic checks, or even just cleaning things up. She loved to help out and the band really appreciated it. The crowd went crazy, hearing rumors that Joby was dating someone but never really getting a chance to see her. One of the backstage people nudged y/n, motioning towards Joby. A spotlight moved onto her, and she instinctively waved, a wide smile on her face. Everyone was whistling and cheering, making y/n blush lightly. The spotlight moved away from her and back onto Joby.

"She's been my girlfriend for over two years now, and I've enjoyed every single microscopic second of our relationship. Anyways, today is her birthday, and I cannot express how much I appreciate her for being willing to travel with me for this concert. After long, hard, and grueling months of writing, rewriting, rehearsing, and starting over from scratch, I've finally made the perfect birthday gift for her. Y/n, sugar, happy birthday. This is our new song 'Grenadine'."

Y/n felt tears well up in her eyes as the band started to play a song. Her heart was pounding in her chest and she felt like she might just melt into a puddle on the floor. No one had ever given her a birthday gift this amazing. He wrote a song about her, and was playing it for the first time in front of hundreds, if not thousands, of people. She felt so lucky to be with him, and so lucky to be loved by him. The entire time he played with his band and sang, she listened intently. It was a relatively relaxed song, as he had pulled out his acoustic guitar for it. The drums were soft and the bass was a nice addition to the background. A few lyrics stuck out to her as they performed, and those were the lyrics that made the tears fall.

"Your lips are made of cherry, I taste it on your tongue."

"A cavity per kiss, it makes my mouth feel numb."

Y/n was fanning her eyes, desperately trying to stop crying. She did not want her makeup to run, in case the cameras and spotlights went back on her. Delicately, she wiped some away, sniffling as she continued to listen to the song. Every word was held close to her heart.

"When I first saw you, I could have sworn you were shining in the light."

"Grenadine, sugar sweet, I met you in the night."

"I'd rather die by cyanide than not be by your side."

"Your love's a wave that cleansed my soul, it flushed out with the tide."

"My grenadine, my sugar sweet, you light my heart on fire."

"The pedestal I put you on, it should be so much higher."

"And these lyrics do no justice, no matter all the flair."

"My words get tangled in my throat, like the ribbons in your hair."

"I wish I had more time to sing, cause there's so much I could say."

"Know I hold you close at heart, and I think of you every day."

Joby played a little longer, singing a few more lyrics. Y/n was fully incapable of preventing the tears from falling anymore. At that point, they were streaming down her face. She felt so happy and loved, and it was hard to control those emotions. The three men finished up, thanking the crowd and Joby tossed a few guitar picks he used for some songs out to the crowd. Y/n thought it was so cool that he did that. He came down the steps, wiping a bead of sweat off of his forehead. Before he could even say anything, y/n ran over to him and wrapped her arms around his stomach, pulling him into a tight hug. He chuckled, startled a little bit, but quickly gave her a hug back. She was sobbing into his shirt, face buried in the fabric.

"JOBY! THAT WAS SO SWE-E-EEEEEEEET!" She cried.

He patted her back, rubbing it gently.

"Was that a good birthday gift, bunny?" He cooed.

She nodded, continuing to cry into his chest. Garrett and Levi walked past, smiling and giving him a thumbs up. He smiled back at them, watching as they went backstage to start packing up. Joby softly grabbed y/n's arms and removed her from him, rubbing her shoulders.

"Hey, hey, don't cry!"

"I can't h-help it! I'm so happy!" She sniffled, wiping a tear away.

"Oh boy, c'mon, let's go dry those tears away. We're going to dinner after this." Joby hummed, putting his hand on her lower back as he led her to the backstage.

"I love you so much, honey."

"I love you too, bunny."

#writers #writers of tumblr #fanfic writer #fanfic #paul dano #danonation #danonator #danocel #joby taylor #for ellen

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theproloser34 · 5 months

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So at the end of every year, I always find it interesting to see how my music taste has changed throughout the year. Which is why I LOVE Spotify Wrapped day and seeing what my top 5 songs of the year were. And this year, I was actually kinda surprised.

Now, it’s not wrong, I absolutely played these songs a bunch, but I wouldn’t say they were my FAVORITE songs this year. They just came out very early in the year and were able to add up plays before anything else. So that got me thinking, what were my FAVORITE songs this year? Not the ones that I played the most, but what had the most impact, whether it just be an earworm or the meaning of the song. So why not write and list them out! I like analyzing my thoughts too much.

I’ll keep my choices to just one song per artist. It'll be however many songs I wanna add. Details don’t really matter, it’s my list, I add whatever I want. Expect a VERY long posts and a lot of links to songs if you want to check them out. (DO IT. I swear I have good music taste.)

1) First off, I gotta start with DO BETTER by Ab-Soul off of his latest album HERBERT. Ab-Soul has been in my top 5 rappers probably for the past decade and my second favorite of TDE other than Kendrick. HERBERT was his most personal album to date, and nothing shows that better than DO BETTER. A lot of his album is inspired by the events that happened in his life during the pandemic including one of his best friends dying and his own failed suicide attempt and his subsequent trip to rehab. You can easily hear all the pain and survivor's guilt he has, but also the determination to turn around and come out stronger. The instrumentation is both extremely haunting and calming. I always come out of this feeling inspired to deal with my own issues. The line "I gotta do better, I gotta do better, I guided you better. There's nothing they can do that I can't do better. Better yet, there's nothing I can do that I can't do better. Yeah, I'm better," never stops giving me chills.

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2) I've been slowly getting into EDM these past couple years. And one big part of my learning of the genre is Skrillex, who came back and surprise dropped TWO albums in TWO days. And both were really good albums that showed multiple different styles of EDM. Whether you prefer more dark and grungy beats like the songs in Quest For Fire, or if you rather have more bright, poppy sounds in Don't Get Too Close, there will be something for you in these two albums. The song that most stood out to me though was a good mix of the two with the opener for Quest For Fire, Leave Me Like This. The standout part of this song is the earworm of a vocal hook, which gives a wonderful strong melodic element to the song. Combined with the synths creates a strong hypnotic pre-drop section for the song. Of course the drop contains the more grungy parts of the song, especially the growly bass the introduces the drop of the song. But my favorite part of this section tis the repeated, pitched up "left, right, left" chant helps keep the rhythmic center in the song as the drums get more complex in the drop. Even if you don't enjoy EDM music, I'd listen to Skrillex's new releases because you get such a different arrangement of sounds and really see his versatility.

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3) Anyone who knows me knows that I have been horribly addicted to hyperpop these past three years and it is definitely unhealthy to my ear drums. And 100 gecs has absolutely been in my top 3 hyperpop artists since they came out. So when they announced they were releasing an album this year, it was instantly one of my most anticipated albums of this year. And they absolutely delivered with 10000 Gecs. They continue to create inventive music with the same brashness, humor, and insanity that drew me to them in the first place. And I'd say this album is just slightly less abrasive to new fans than their past album. Nothing anywhere near as crazy as Money Machine, but all of the tracks contain the unique brand of energy and mix of hip-hop, rock, and pop, with and added element of ska on some songs like I Got My Tooth Removed and Frog On The Floor. But my favorite has to go to the opener of this album, Dumbest Girl Alive. Right away with the first 15 seconds, you can tell they're back on their bullshit with the opening guitar riff and gunshot impacts. And as soon as the drums come in, you get their wonderful blown out sound where I can't help but turn up my speakers to the max. But the obvious standout of this track is Laura Les's performance of this track. A super catchy melody, an earworm of a recurring phrase, "I'm the dumbest girl alive," and multiple quotable lines create a great verse. Plus the bouncy bass continuing with it creates such a wonderful short track that makes me just want to keep repeating it over and over again.

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4) The more music I listen to, the more I am drawn to the weird, more eclectic styles of music. Especially with hip-hop, with so much getting made, only the really unique stuff sticks out to me now. Luckily that's the exact type of music Danny Brown and JPEGMAFIA make and together they made one of the best hip-hop albums of this year with Scaring The Hoes. And this music will, in fact, scare the hoes.

JPEGMAFIA and Danny Brown are already well known in the Abstract Hip-hop genre, each being strongly characterized by their unique self-production and unique delivery respectively. Both of them have their own unique strength and coming together, they create a landscape of sounds and tracks that you will not hear on any other hip-hop album this year. As has become pretty evident, I'm a sucker for intros. And this album is no different because the intro, Lean Beef Patty, is easily my favorite from this album and was also in my top 5 songs played this year. Even though this song is just 2 minutes, it contains my favorite things about both artists. A sped up sample almost drowned out by the rest of the production, a signature of JPEGMAFIA production. Brash, bold lyrics from JPEGMAFIA such as "Fuck y'all niggas, I feel like Papa John," and "Fuck Elon Musk, eight dollars too much," which honestly just became the slogan for the year. Finally Danny Brown's energy and delivery give an exciting final verse to this song. And wonderful way to start one of the best albums of the year.

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5) A group that came out of nowhere for me was grouptherapy. grouptherapy. is a music group consisting of Jadagrace, TJOnline, and SWIM. Their new album "i was mature for my age, but i was still a child" popped up randomly in my Spotify and I was surprised by the quality of there sounds, their charisma, and their chemistry. Each artist clearly has their own style that fits well with the other two and they all trade off so well in each of their tracks, which is essential to a good group dynamic.

Their new album has multiple standouts that show all of the groups' talents such as American Psycho and FUNKFEST. But my personal favorite off of this album is "club song :(" where Jadagrace takes the front stage in a mainly acoustic guitar song. Her voice is allowed to take a front seat and it creates a striking and kinda haunting melody. TJOnline joins in the latter half of the song to add some well added harmony to the song. This was the song that I kept coming back to from this project. Check this group out, cause they should have much more buzz than they have now.

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6) Every once in a while, you'll be at a concert and you'll see an opening act that completely surprises you. And then afterwards, you slowly see them gaining more and more clout as they slowly grow to superstardom. That happened to me with Jordan Ward. I had the opportunity to see him perform and a JID x Smino concert as the opener and he absolutely impressed with his energy and singing.

I forgot about him until he released the deluxe version of him latest album FORWARD. I remembered his name and decided to listen finally and he has everything to be one of the next RnB stars. Since then, his album is one a bunch of top albums of the year lists and has even had a NPR tiny desk concert.

My favorite of his so far is MUSTARD. The guitar arpeggiating the chords, the slightly pitched up vocals, and live played drums on this track just work in the best way. 6lack also joins and adds a great second verse. Listen to him, he's gonna be up next soon and you'll want to see his rise.

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7) Finally, there's the artist of the year for me, Underscores. I've known of them for a while, but only REALLY got into their music this year. I devoured their last two albums and have been playing them on repeat all year until she announced her new album Wallsocket. It was easily my most anticipated album this year and luckily it exceeded all expectations.

Underscores is a very hard artist to describe because she was one of the hyperpop classic artists but has evolved her sound beyond that. There is still some of that overblown hip-hop, dance pop sound around her music, but there is also more of what I'd say is folk rock in there now with this album. Either way, she still manages to produces some of the most unique soundscapes that I've heard this year.

All three of her singles that she released were in completely different areas. The rock focused "Cops and Robbers", the creepy, slow, and uncomfortable "You don't even know who I am", or the dance EDM focused "Locals (Girls like us)" had be so confused about what the sound of the album would be like. All it did was build up the hype and so I HAD to watch the livestream of the album on release day. And that is easily on of my favorite memories of the year, freaking out with the chat as we uncovered how good of an album this is.

While every song on this project is wonderful, the song the immediately attached itself to my brain was "Uncanny long arms". The song structure here is just hypnotizing to me. The quiet opening of the song going into the first chorus and the first "I can touch my toes" belt is forever into my mind. And the vocal stuttering and breakdown afterwards let me know this song was special immediately but it only gets better.

Jane Remover has a standout second verse on this song and her voice sounds angelic and just floats over the guitar. She had an amazing year in her own career and this song is a standout moment. Her turn on the chorus is even better with added instrumentation and the pure emotion you hear in her voice.

But easily the favorite part of this track to me is the outro, which to long underscores fans will be no surprise. The song being stripped down before jumping right into a bombastic, more rock version of "Kinko's field trip" brought me right back to 2021 and I damn near screamed hearing this on the live stream. Easily my favorite music moment and favorite song of this year. Listen to underscores everyone, you won't regret it.

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HONORABLE MENTIONS

I don't have anywhere near as much to say about these songs, but I still want to bring them up because they're fun and were big parts of this year for me.

Stasis - leastfavorite!: Discovered her this year and she is another hyperpop artist that I think deserves more recognition. She released her first EP late last year so listen to it!

nothing2say - Jay Kim: Another artist I discovered this year but released an EP last year. Not really hyperpop, more midwest emo vibes with a little bit of brakence vibes with him. But another album that I'm excited to see grow after listening to them this year.

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Damage Gets Done - Hozier: I shouldn't have to say this on this website, but Hozier is a pretty good artist. I listened to the new album he dropped this year and this duet was a standout to me and just couldn't get out of my head.

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Maybe Man - AJR: As we now know, I'm a sucker for openers, and damn, is AJR good at them. They always make them fit the themes and sounds of the albums so well. "Maybe Man" is no exception. Probably would've made it onto the favorites list is it came out sooner.

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Alright that's it. This post is long enough. Please listen to them! I swear they're good! And I promised not to always talk about music this long! (It's still gonna happen sometimes though. I'm sorry, I can't stop myself.) Also please share your favorite songs! I love seeing people's music tastes and what really connects with them!

#music #long post #ab soul #ajr #100 gecs #jpegmafia #skrillex #danny brown #hozier #jay kim #underscores #jordan ward #grouptherapy!#top 2023 #Spotify #leastfavorite!#why did I write so much

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