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d-criss-news · 3 years

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20 Questions With Darren Criss: How Acting Has Helped Him Make New Music

While Darren Criss has graced our TV screens with a range of characters, from high schooler Blaine Anderson on Glee to serial killer Andrew Cunanan on The Assassination of Gianni Versace, he was last spotted just being himself, on our For You Page on TikTok. “I’m walking to rehearsal with a guitar on my back with a Trader Joe’s bag ... I did not bring an umbrella because I forgot that it was raining. I’m rocking that NYC musician life,” the Glee alum explained in the hilarious clip posted three days ago.

While Criss’ acting work has earned him acclaim and stardom, he leaned into making music during the pandemic. On Aug. 20, he dropped a new EP, Masquerade, featuring five new tracks that Criss says were inspired by the different characters Criss has embraced throughout his career. After Criss wrote songs for his musical comedy web series Royalties and Apple TV+’s animated sitcom Central Park before the pandemic struck the United States, he then used those experiences as a precursor to his new EP. As Criss continues to promote his new music, he answered 20 of Billboard's questions – giving us a peek into how his new EP came together, and how growing up in San Fransisco shaped him as an actor, singer and all-around artist.

1. What inspired your latest project, Masquerade?

Although I would have preferred that it come at a far less grim cost, I finally had the time. Before the pandemic, I had written 10 new songs for my show Royalties -- along with an original song for Disney and another for Apple’s Central Park. These were all assignments in which I was writing for a certain scenario and character. Go figure. It was the most music I had ever written in a calendar year. This really emboldened me to rethink how I made my own music— to start putting a focus on “character creation” in my songs, rather than personal reflection. The latter was not proving to be as productive. The alchemy of having this time and having set a new intention with my own songwriting and producing made me put on a few of my favorite masques and throw myself a Masquerade.

2. How do you think your background as an actor complements your music?

They are one and the same to me. I treat acting roles like musical pieces— dialogue is like scoring a melody; there’s pace, dynamics, cadence, tone. Physical characterization is like producing -- zeroing in on the bass line, deciding on the kick pattern. Vocal characterization is like choosing the right sonic experience, choosing the most effective snare sound, and mixing the high end or low end. It goes without saying that it works in the complete opposite direction. Making each song is taking on a different role literally and employing the use of different masques to maximize the effectiveness of the particular story being told.

3. On Instagram you wrote that “Masquerade is a small collection of the variety of musical masques that have always inspired me.” Which track do you identify with most in your real life?

Everybody absorbs songs differently. Some key into the lyrics, some into the melody, some the production, some into vocal performance. When I listen to songs, I consider all of their value on totally different scales. So it’s hard to say if there’s any track I “identify” with more than any others, since I -- by nature -- identify with all of them. I think I just identify with certain aspects more than others. If it helps for a more interesting answer, I will say I enjoy the slightly more classical, playful -- dare I say -- more Broadway-leaning wordplay of “Walk of Shame,” but that’s just talking about lyricism. I enjoy the attitude of “F*kn Around,” the batsh--t musicality of “I Can’t Dance,” the relentless grooves of “Let’s” and “For A Night Like This.” All have different ingredients I really enjoy having an excuse to dive into.

4. What’s the first piece of music that you bought for yourself, and what was the medium?

Beatles audio cassettes: “Help” and “Hard Day’s Night.” I just listened on repeat on a tape-playing Walkman until my brother and I got a stereo for our room with a CD player in it, which was when I just bought the same two albums again, but this time as compact discs.

5. What was the first concert you saw?It’s hard to say, because my parents took us to a lot of classical concerts when we were small. But I guess this question usually refers to what was the first concert you went to on your own volition, and that my friend, was definitely Warped Tour ’01. My brother and I went on our own— two teenagers going to their first music festival, in the golden age of that particular genre and culture. It was f--king incredible.

6. What did your parents do for a living when you were a kid?

My dad was in private banking and advised really, really wealthy people on how to handle their money. My mom was, by choice, a stay-at-home mom, but in reality, she was my dad’s consigliere. They discussed absolutely everything together. They were a real team, and I saw that every single day in the house. They both had a background in finance (That’s how they met in the first place.) and were incredibly skilled at all the hardcore adulting things that I absolutely suck at. They were total finance wizards together. So of course, instead of becoming an accountant, I picked up playing the guitar and ran as far I could with it. Luckily, they were all about it.

7. What was your favorite homecooked meal growing up?

My dad was an incredible chef. For special occasions, I’d request his crab cakes. They were unreal. I’ve never had a crab cake anywhere in the world that was good as my dad’s.

8. Who made you realize you could be an artist full-time?

I don’t know if I’ve actually realized that yet.

9. What’s at the top of your professional bucket list?

The specifics change every day, but the core idea at the top is to continue being consistently inconsistent with my choices, and to keep getting audiences to constantly reconsider their consideration of me. But I mean, sure, what performer doesn’t want to play Coachella? What songwriter doesn’t want to have Adele sing one of their songs? What actor doesn’t want to be in a Wes Anderson film?

10. How did your hometown/city shape who you are?

San Francisco. I mean, come on. I was really lucky. The older I get, the more grateful I am for just being born and raised there. It’s an incredibly diverse, culturally rich, colorful, inclusive, vibrant city. By the time I was born, it had served as a beacon for millions of creative, out-of-the-box thinkers to gather and thrive. I grew up around that. The combination of that with having parents, who were unbelievably supportive of the arts themselves, laid an incredibly fortunate foundation to consider the life of an artist as a legitimately viable option. It’s a foundation that I am supremely aware is not the case for millions of young artists around the world. I was absurdly lucky.

11. What’s the last song you listened to?

I mean probably one of mine, but not by choice. I know, lame. But I’m promoting a new EP, what’d you expect? But if you wanna know what I’ve been listening to, as far as new s--t is concerned: a lot of Lizzy McAlpine, Remi Wolf, and Charlie Burg.

12. If you could see any artist in concert, dead or alive, who would it be?

The Beatles is an obvious "yeah, duh." Sammy Davis, Mel Tormé, or of course, Nat King Cole. I would’ve loved to see Howard Ashman give a lecture on his creative process and his body of work.

13. What’s the wildest thing you’ve seen happen in the crowd of one of your sets?

I feel like just having a crowd at all, at any one of my sets, is pretty wild enough.

14. What’s your karaoke go-to?

The real answer to this I’ll write into a book one day, because I have a lot to say about karaoke etiquette. I have two options here: I can either name a song that I like to sing for me, for fun, or I can name a song that really gets the group going. The answer depends on what kind of karaoke night we’re dealing with here. So I will say, after I’ve selected a ton of songs that services a decent enough party vibe for everyone else, then I would do one for me, and that would be the Beatles’ “Oh! Darling.”

15. What’s one thing your most devoted fans don’t know about you?

What I have up my sleeve.

16. What TV show did you binge-watch over the past year?

Dave is a stroke of genius. There are episodes that I believe are bona fide masterpieces. Also, My Brilliant Friend is a masterclass in cinematic television.

17. What movie, or song, always makes you cry?

It’s A Wonderful Life.

18. What’s one piece of advice you would give to your younger self?

Get used to sharing everything about yourself and your life now, or more astutely, to the idea that you don’t necessarily get to control how your life is shared. I know it’s not really your thing, but you’re gonna have to get used to it, so start building up those calluses now. And don’t worry, all the stuff you love now will be cool again in your mid-thirties, so keep some of those clothes because you’ll be a full-blown fashion icon if you just keep wearing exactly what you’re wearing. Oh nd also, put money into Apple and Facebook.

19. What new hobby did you take on in the last year?

I’ve always been a linguaphile. My idea of leisure time is getting to study or review other languages. This past year, I took the time to finally dive into learning how to read, write, and speak Japanese. Other than making music, it was one of the biggest components of my 2020-2021.

20. What do you hope to accomplish or experience by the end of 2021?

I hope I get to play live shows again.

#darren criss #billboard #masquerade ep #press #sept 2021

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watermelonlipstick · 3 years

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Dreams, Chapter 11

If you haven’t read this series before, you might want to start on Chapter 1, or check out the Dreams Masterlist! Here’s the series description:

When Dean dies for good leaving Sam and his girlfriend (the reader) behind, they must figure out how to carry on without him. Alone, reeling, and unsure what to do next, trying to honor Dean’s memory and follow their hearts gets even more complicated when their nightmares become dreams that feel a little too real.

Title: Dreams, Chapter 11

Pairing: (past) Dean Winchester x Reader, (eventual) Sam Winchester x Reader

Word Count: 2616

Summary: Another dream makes things more clear for the reader and less clear for Sam.

Warnings: angst, fluff, swearing, s l o w b u r n

The booths are those plastic-coated pressboard swoops that are so easy to clean, one row down either side of the long room once you walk past the counter to order. Like other pizza places, there are red pepper flakes and grated parmesan on the table, but they also keep ranch dressing in a minifridge behind the counter as a concession to Midwestern sensibilities. You know you’re just outside Dayton just like you know the pizza shop is run by a family, father and two older teenage daughters deftly throwing dough and scattering cheese evenly over it in a way that shows their years of practice. Dean sits across the table with his elbows on it, one forefinger and thumb picking through a plate of nachos between you. His black t-shirt, amulet, and lack of flannel make you notice the hum of the air conditioner in the background, straining over the 90’s alternative radio and reminding you that you’d been here in a heat stroke the summer after you and Dean had gotten together, his golden freckles and lightened tips of his slightly messy hair underlining the memory.

“They don’t serve nachos here.” It’s half statement and half question.

“Babe, it’s your dream. They’ll serve whatever you want. Does the pizza suck in Wisconsin or something?”

The two sisters are whispering to each other as they look over at your table, an almost-argument that ends with who you suspect is the older sister poofing a pinch of flour into the other’s face. They’re both cute girls but she’s adorable, soft cherubic cheeks and messy bun piling impossibly glossy hair on her head as she walks over to the table with a gigantic pizza. “Can I get you anything else?” she asks in a perfect welcoming cheerleader pitch.

“I think we’re good for now, sweetheart,” Dean purrs with a wink. That you remember; you’d playfully chastised Dean for dazzling the teens, laughing in his face when he’d said it wasn’t on purpose, that he couldn’t help it if chicks dug him. The wink had proved your point then and now it makes the girl’s cheeks flush red.

She catches herself remarkably well, the stammer almost slipping under the radar as she assures you that you can “holler if you need anything!”

Dean brushes his fingers free of nacho debris and loosens a piece of pizza from the melting cheese of the ones next to it. “Last time you had all kinds of sweet nothings and questions for me and now you’re Silent Cal?”

“I don’t think this is real, but I’m pretty sure if I push it you’ll either die in this dream or I’ll wake up, so my plan is to stay here as long as we can.”

He drops the pizza back into the box and wipes off his fingers on a napkin before slouching into the booth, arm stretched across its length. “So test me then. Gimme a question only I would know or something.”

“Well if I ask you something that I know the answer to, my brain will just project you knowing it. See the problem?”

Dean squints and pouts in consideration, touch of a smile dancing across his face and if it isn’t the most beautiful thing you’ve ever seen may you be struck dead right now. “Then ask me something you don’t know the answer to.”

You think about explaining how that too could just be some part of your subconscious recreation of Dean but you don’t want to keep pulling at loose strings in the event that it wakes you up. It’s too hard to keep from smiling, seeing Dean charming and relaxed like this, and when you grin it makes Dean bite his lip. “What’s something I don’t know the answer to?”

“Ah, ah—I thought I’m just a hologram, how would I know?”

“Projection, but okay,” you stall. “Wait, here’s one. Sam said when I first started going on jobs with you guys that you had to have a conversation about staying focused. What was that all about?”

He runs his tongue along the inside of his lower lip. “Man, why would he tell you that?” he says under his breath, smirking mostly to himself before leaning forward to meet your eyes. “Fine. I’m not even sure that you’re going to remember this. There was a vengeful spirit in Indiana, some like homesteader guy, ring a bell?”

You have only the vaguest sense of recollection and sort of waggle your head to show it.

“It was way at the beginning of when you started coming on jobs with us. You and Bobby got into it because he wanted you to bring your own car so you could ditch us if we were ‘acting like cretins’ or some shit like that?”

That fits the last puzzle piece in for you and makes you chuckle. “He ended up giving me like $250 of mad money in case I needed a new room or a bus ticket, yeah. I remember.”

“I didn’t know that part but that’s gotta be the same trip. The whole thing was really stupid. Basically we were supposed to have your six but both me and Sammy wanted to carry a shotgun instead of doing that protection spell because it looked cooler. We were arguing about it when the spirit whipped a chunk of the barn’s scaffolding at you and we didn’t catch it in time. You heard it coming and ducked so nothing ended up happening, but it fucking demolished the wall behind you. It was a huge fuckup—thing could’ve taken your head clean off, you know? Sam was so broken up about it he was wasted for like a week solid after we dropped you back off at Bobby’s.”

“Really? That doesn’t sound like him at all.”

“I know, usually he does some kind of pouty baby bullshit. But I mean both of us felt really guilty that bitching at each other could’ve taken you out.”

Dean’s eyes rake over your face, seeming to linger over every inch like he’s going to draw a topographical map of it later by memory. You can tell he’s waiting for you to say something but you can’t think of anything other than tracing each of his freckles where they dust across his nose.

A hand reaches over the table to run his fingertips along the back of yours, and that certainly feels real enough to send an ache into your gut. “What if you ask Sam? If he says that’s not what happened then you can keep saying I’m not real and you don’t have to listen to me.”

“But he already basically told me that. The only thing I probably wouldn’t have guessed about that is Sam getting drunk about it—these could’ve been just well-informed guesses about when it probably was or the kinds of things it seemed like he was implying.”

His lips press into a firm line and the barest touch of pink rises in his cheeks. “We, um, we pinky swore on it.”

The adorableness of his embarrassment makes you grin teasingly as much as the divulgence does. “A pinky promise? You guys must’ve been pretty serious to take such a sacred oath.”

He rolls his eyes at your ribbing and throws his hands back in his lap with a defeated smirk. “Laugh it up. Would that be good enough proof for you?”

It seems like Dean has figured out a loophole in the system, but you’re sure the light of day and Sam’s scrutiny will figure out why it isn’t actual evidence of communication with Dean beyond death, and you tell him that.

A curtain of suspicious confusion falls over Dean’s face. “Sam being weird about it is what’s keeping you from trusting this? Kid, I’ve been talking to Sa—”

And you woke up.

The bed was empty next to you but you could smell something sweet in the air and hear the light clinking of pots or pans Sam was trying his best to keep quiet. You blinked back a few tears of frustration—who even cared if it was real or not? Reliving a great memory with Dean was more than enough and instead of enjoying it you’d wasted a chance at some small respite from your constant ache of grief. And even then, you hadn’t used any of your time to figure out how the whole thing worked, how you could see him again.

But the most pressing issue was what you thought Dean had been trying to say before disappearing; that he had gotten through to Sam. Sam, of course, deserved to have secrets, but if he had been sitting on the resolution to all the angst you’d been struggling through in the last weeks (months?), you couldn’t imagine a reason why that wouldn’t hurt. Nothing would be solved by laying in your bed to sulk about it, though, so you threw on some clothes and went to brush your teeth.

When you came out, Sam was hunched slightly, the standard stove highlighting his decidedly non-standard height as he shuffled a pan’s handle. He had a dishtowel over his t-shirt clad shoulder, a habit from the bar that sometimes held over when he was in the kitchen at home, and bare feet under old jeans. They were wearing through at the knees, and you knew they were absolutely pajama-soft from having periodically thrown them in with your own laundry. Through the kitchen window, enough snow-brightened sunlight came into the room to cast him in a halo glow that gleamed off of his hair. As long as it had gotten, chunks still swept into his face as he looked down at the stove, and he tucked one behind his ear as he looked up, half-singing a Buddy Guy song that was playing softly. It was stunning—he was stunning, statuesque and strong and right there in front of you. Cooking you breakfast while you slept in, of all things, chocolate chip pancakes he had to have remembered were your favorite from ages ago. You couldn’t even remember the last time you’d had them and right now, nothing in the world sounded better. He beamed and tilted the pan toward you. “Morning! I made pancakes, you want some?”

And you should’ve just let the moment rest, sat in the rare bright winter morning and eaten chocolate chip pancakes and relished how well the boiler was working, maybe later in the day read a predictable murder mystery or taped off the living room to be painted and listened to REM until your shoulders were sore from running rollers up the walls all afternoon. Instead, about as stupid and weird a flop as if a toad had come out of your mouth, you said, “Have you been talking to Dean too?”

Sam’s face fell but not in the right way. There was too much angle in his brow and that confirmed it. “What?” he asked, but it didn’t land.

“How long have you been talking to Dean?”

He kept that curious smile for a second, like maybe he could push through by playing dumb and you would forget, but finally his lips flattened and his jaw clenched as he stacked a finished pancake on top of its predecessors. “Just because I’m having dreams about him doesn’t mean it’s really him,” he finally answered, softly and as though he was telling the bubbling pancake batter in front of him, unable to meet your eyes.

You felt the lump forming in your throat and tried to get the words out ahead of its solidifying. “Why didn’t you tell me?”

“For what?” He let go of the pan and turned toward you, supporting his weight on the countertop. “So we can both—”

“Both what? Be delusional? Is that what you were going to say?”

Sam didn’t answer, but the set of his jaw was firm and he kept his eyes locked on yours.

“He told me you were drunk for a week after the hunt you were talking about.” You watched as Sam’s pupils widened a touch. “And that you didn’t just promise each other to buckle down, you pinky swore.” Sam’s Adam’s apple jumped in his throat. “It’s true, isn’t it? I can see in your face that it is. Did you already know it’s really him?”

He looked down at the floor and clenched his jaw. “I was pretty sure. Or at least I really hoped I was pretty sure.”

You felt more than consciously allowed your mouth’s falling open. “How? How long?”

“It just—I don’t know, it just felt different. I—uh, the first time was after we made those cupcakes; he asked about the cupcakes.”

You slumped against the countertop opposite him, speechless. He shoved the pan off the hot burner a little too hard, put a palm on either side of the stove to brace himself. The two of you stood like that for a long minute, the smell of chocolate not matching the stiff heaviness in the air at all.

“I don’t—what if it’s not real?” His throat sounded bound even though you couldn’t see his face, hulking mass of him spread across the tiny kitchen.

He seemed so defeated, so young, and then you couldn’t believe how selfish you’d been, not putting two and two together that something challenging Sam’s grip on or understanding of reality must shove him back to the brain melting torture he’d endured in the cage and the months—years, maybe, he was always so tight-lipped about it—afterward. What the fuck were you thinking, not seeing it before, how this could seem like a perfectly laid trap for Sam, the most poetic way to whip his mind into stiff peaks of meringue. It made so much sense why he would need time to really suss it out, see the situation from all angles and investigate, check and re-check. Tears pricked the corners of your eyes but you blinked them away. This was not about you or your complicated need for him, it was about Sam, what he’d been through, what he was likely putting himself through even now.

“The, um, the pancakes smell really good.”

“Yeah?” There was half a laugh behind his words, humorless as it was. “I hope they’re okay, I know they’re your, uh, your favorite.”

“I’m surprised you remembered.”

Sam leaned on one arm to rub his face with his other hand. “Yeah, well.”

“Can I help?”

After a beat, he stood up and offered some space next to him on the stove. You worked hip to hip, sprinkling the chocolate chips while Sam flipped. He was scraping the last of the batter into a last little runt pancake with a spatula when you couldn’t help yourself and wrapped your arms around his waist. He seemed surprised, if sad, before setting down the bowl and covering as much of you as he could, folding over you like a protective shell. It reminded you of that dirty motel room, months and months ago, when Sam held you together as you cracked in his arms. All he could do then was be steadfast in reminding you he was still there, if nothing else was, and you hoped you were able to give him the same now.

You silently laid two place settings on the kitchen counter while Sam set the food out. He sat next to you and had picked up his fork when you touched his wrist to still him. “If it’s not real for you then I’m losing it too.”

Sam thought for a second, then raised his forearm and kissed the back of your hand where you held onto him before cutting into his pancakes.

Continue to Dreams, Chapter 12

Thanks again for reading! If you liked it, check out my Masterlist or send me a request!

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pogues-never-say-die · 4 years

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Make Out With Me

Welcome to the much request sequel to “An Evening I Will Not Forget”.

I love Maren Morris with everything in me and the second I heard “Make Out With Me” I thought it would make a great fluff fic so here you all go.

CHARACTERS: Rudy Pankow x (High School Sweetheart) Reader

WARNINGS: smut (after the 33 days header so if it makes you uncomfy you can skip), lots of fluff, lots of curse words

LENGTH: 3.4k

Make Out With Me

This is the end of Side One of this record Please now turn it over for the second side

“You have it all?”

“Yes I have it all. Phone charger, socks, underwear, deodorant, wallet. Do YOU have it all?”

That made me scoff, it’s my house. Of course I’m prepared.

“Yes Rudy, I have it all. Wine, Doritos, I grabbed like 5 different Redbox movies, and then I grabbed 3 new vinyls from that store in Koreatown.”

“Oh baby you know me so well. You gonna tell me which records?”

“You’ll see when you get here”. Hearing him groan really got me going, it had been way too long. Getting back together just a month before he left again for season 2 was a challenge but now he had a break from shooting and was on his way to the airport in Charleston.

“Which will be soon I promise. JD is dropping me off at the airport right now, my flight leaves in an hour. I’ll touch down at JFK before you know it. You gonna wait up for me?”

“We’ll see,” you say with a smirk. “Oh I think you’ll be waiting up for me. See you soon baby”.

I got a phone that won't die You're up in the air, landing tonight So I'll leave a message for ya, get it when you touch down If I'm being honest, I'm a little drunk now

When Rudy got to the airport, the excitement was starting to build. 37 days - that’s how long it’s been since he’s seen your face in person, kissed your lips. The morning after you guys got back together the air was thick, there were a lot of decisions left to be made.

37 days ago “Good morning” Rudy groaned, rolling over to see you sitting in your bed on your phone, scrolling through Tik Tok.

“Technically it’s ‘good afternoon’ bubs,” you say with a giggle. “It’s 2pm.”

“Wait, did you just call me ‘bubs’?” Holy shit Rudy’s heart is exploding.

“Yeah,” you say, getting a little shy. “Do you not like that anymore?” “No baby I didn’t mean to make you nervous, come here,” he says, pulling you on top of him - your phone getting lost in the mountain of blankets. “It’s just been awhile since I’ve heard anyone call me that. I missed you so much”.

Placing your lips on his, your heart was soaring. Over the years Rudy has become an even better kisser. Don’t get it twisted, he was always great. But you guys were each other’s firsts - first kiss, first time, first love, first everything. Although you don’t necessarily want to think about how he got this experience you can admit that he’s definitely an expert now.

Feeling his tongue swipe across your lip, you knew you had to pull back before you both got too far into it.

“As much as I would like to continue this…” you breathe out as Rudy’s lips make their way to your neck. “We have a lot of stuff we need to talk about”.

Rudy groaning into your neck actually made your throat vibrate a little, pulling a laugh out of you.

“I know I know.”

“I’m leaving to go back to New York tonight,” you say with a whisper, already wondering if it’s too late to change your flight.

“Already?”

“Bubs I’ve been quarantining here for months, New York is opening back up I have to go back to work. That’s why I threw the party - a last goodbye, who knows when I’ll be back to Ketchikan. When are you leaving?”

“I’m off to Charleston in 3 days for season 2. So we’re doing this?” He asks, cocking an eyebrow at you from his place resting his head on your chest.

“Doing what?” Running your fingers through his hair you can’t believe how it’s still this soft.

“Long distance. Me in Charleston...or LA….you in New York?”

“No backing out now Pankow. You pulled me back in, you’re stuck with me now”.

“Well, guess it’s time to sign up for a SkyMiles credit card” he says with a smirk, placing his lips back on yours. Yup, he is doing this. And he’s fucking thrilled.

Today

Back in the airport Rudy still can’t stop thinking about that day. Getting on the plane he checks his phone one last time before turning it off - finding a missed call and a voicemail from you. He doesn’t have time to call you back before take off but he listens to the voicemail immediately.

“You know I could be dead in a ditch right now. Murdered, deceased, and you missed my final words because you were what? Getting an airport pretzel for $12? Was it worth it? Was it? Well lucky for you I’m fine, I was just calling to make sure you got checked in safe. I’m stalking your flight online and it’s on time which is good for you because I already opened the wine and if you got delayed I might be too drunk by the time you got here. I can’t wait to see you baby, give me a call when you land. I love you bubs, be safe.”

I got a bed that's too big without ya I got a heart that don't beat without ya Get so jealous when you ain't by my side I know it's selfish, but I need you tonight

33 days ago Being back in NYC was strange. You worked hard to afford a one bedroom, small but still just yours but now you’re regretting not getting a roommate. With the city still partly shut down and you not feeling safe out in public, you pretty much went from work back to your house and then to bed every day. You were getting lonely - and frankly, horny.

“Don’t do this to me pretty girl, not right now,” Rudy groans. Seeing you on FaceTime, hair a mess, his old tshirt that you never returned pushed up to your neck so your breasts were exposed to the camera.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about bubs,” you say with a smirk. Taking a finger to play with your nipple you bite your lip, seeing how worked up Rudy is getting and loving it.

“We have a night shoot tonight, I have to be on set in 20 minutes. It’s my first scene back. I can’t be late baby”.

“Well let’s be quick then,” you say taking his shirt off entirely and moving the phone to rest on your stomach, giving him a full view of your boobs and your face.

“Jesus fuck,” he says, palming his dick through his shorts. One look at you and he’s already hard.

“I miss you so much baby, so much. I’m just alone in this apartment, coming home to this big king bed. It’s too big for just me.” Next thing he knows your hips are shifting, shaking the camera and your underwear is flashed to him before being tossed off screen. Seeing your hands move down towards the camera and then out of view he knows what your next move is. Quickly he gets up to lock the trailer door before taking his shorts and boxers off, sitting back on the couch. He also throws his shirt in the pile - already in his costume for today’s shoot he doesn’t want to have to explain to production why he needs a new shirt because his is covered in cum.

“What are you doing to me baby?” He asks with a groan before spitting into his hand and coating his dick, starting to jack himself off to your moans.

“I just wish you were here, touching me. I see all these girls online talking about how hot you are, responding to all of your Instagrams. But they don’t know that you belong to me,” Flipping the camera around, you show Rudy the way your hands are disappearing in between your folds, circling your clit.

“Holy fucking shit,” he says tossing his head back and pumping his dick even faster. He turns his camera around too so you can see his dick harder than ever. “Keep talking baby.”

“You’re mine. That dick is mine. I’m the only one that gets to touch it, that gets to suck it. I’m the only one who gets to know what it feels like to be filled up by you. Oh god I just miss you so much. I’m so empty. I wanted to be filled with you. My hands are not enough, my dildo isn’t enough, nothing is as good as your dick baby.” Your hands speed up, dirty talk has always turned you on and your own words are getting you there.

“This is your dick baby, and that’s my pussy. None of those Wall Street idiots you work with get to taste it. They don’t get to know how sweet you are, how fucking tight you are. Fuck baby are you close cause I’m so close”. He doesn’t know how much longer he can last.

“Cum baby, cum for me”. With that Rudy shoots all over his chest, he’s super grateful he thought to take his shirt off first. Before he worries about cleaning up his mess though he looks at the phone in time to see your legs start to shake.

“Turn me around princess, I want to see your face when you cum for me”. Turning the camera around, Rudy gets a perfect look at your face when your eyes roll back into your head, your jaw dropping open and his name falling out of your mouth.

“Fuck,” you say grabbing some tissues from your nightstand to clean yourself up.

“Where did that come from baby?” Rudy says with a laugh, starting to clean himself up too.

“I honestly don’t know,” you say chuckling too, putting your shirt back on but still out of breath. “I just miss you so much.”

Rolling over onto your stomach, pouting at the camera, Rudy has no idea how you can go from downright filthy to fucking adorable in mere seconds.

“I know I miss you too pretty girl, just one month until I’m on a plane to you.” As Rudy puts his shirt back on and buckles his pants up, there’s a knock on the door.

“Rudy, let’s go”.

“They’re calling me to set baby, I have to go.”

“I love you superstar, call me on your drive home?”

“Baby we wrap at like 3am, I’ll be fine.”

“I don’t care, I probably won’t be sleeping well without you and I’ll worry about you driving home that late. Call me. Promise?”

“I promise pretty girl, try to get some rest. I love you”.

Today

When his flight took off he was half hard just remembering that day. But less than 2 hours from now he’d get to touch you in person, hold you, feel you. He was so close, just 2 hours. So Rudy popped in his headphones, turned on the playlist you both add your favorite songs too, and closed his eyes - hoping the plane would fly just a little faster than usual.

So text when you touch down, straight to my place now These nights without you, they're so hard to sleep Come put your things down, I'll order take out No more to say now, baby, just make out with me Baby, just make out with me

You couldn’t help yourself - you were refreshing the flight tracker every 5 minutes. When you saw that he had finally landed (10 minutes early actually), you were losing your mind. You wish he would’ve let you pick him up at the airport but you knew he was right - taking a cab out to JFK just to get in a cab with him and turn around was pointless. But all you could think about was that Rudy was here, in your city, just 17 miles away. 17 miles.

Bubs ❤️: Already off the plane and in line for a taxi. Shoved everything in a carry on so I didn’t have to check a bag. Might need to borrow some underwear but it’s worth it to get to you sooner. 😉

Bubs ❤️: Order the food, I’ll be to you in 30. Love you pretty girl, see you soon.

You got a kiss I still taste And I feel your lips from miles away

Knowing Rudy was in a taxi, on his way to you, was making your lips tingle. It’s been too long since you saw him in person. You spoke every day, even FaceTiming multiple times a day, but getting to feel him was something entirely different. You needed to wrap yourself around him and feel his lips on yours.

It’s been 37 days since you tasted him and that’s way too long.

37 days ago

“You know I got myself home from the airport, I could’ve easily gotten myself back here too”.

Sitting at Ketchikan International Airport in Rudy’s truck was a weird moment. Just a few days ago you were stalking him on Instagram, trying not to cry and now here you are trying not to cry again but for an entirely different reason.

“Yeah but what kind of boyfriend would I be if I didn’t drop you off at the airport?” He says, unbuckling his seatbelt to lean across the console and smirk at you.

“I’m sorry boyfriend? I don’t remember agreeing to that.” You say as you unbuckle your seatbelt too, a smirk growing on your face to match his.

“Oh shut up,” he growls, grabbing you by the back of the neck to pull you in for a kiss. God, how did you go that long without feeling his lips on yours?

You don’t know how long you two sat there, making out in his truck like you were 17 but next thing you knew there was a hard knock on the window - scaring you and making you jump apart.

“Hey lovebirds, gotta keep the lane clear”. Although the older TSA agent had a small smile on his face you could tell he meant business.

“I have to go,” you whisper into the empty truck cab. There was a sense of fear filling your lungs, wondering if you both could really do it this time.

“Come back to me pretty girl, I can see you drifting.” Rudy whispers back.

“Even after all of this years - you still know me so well don’t you?” Even though you chuckle at the end tears start to fill your eyes.

“Hey hey hey, none of that okay,” Rudy says, shushing you while covering your face with his large hands. “I’m going to see you in one month okay? Every single month we’ll see each other in person. I’m gonna come to New York and we’ll do all of the touristy bullshit like the Empire State Building and Times Square. You’re gonna come to Charleston and see the set and meet everyone and I’ll take you to that little sushi place I was telling you about. And we’re gonna FaceTime every day. Every single day okay? We can do this. I want to do this. It’s gonna be just fine. Okay?”

“Okay”.

“I love you pretty girl.”

“I love you too bubs.”

I got one more minute of this message to burn I hope you get it 'cause I mean every word So text when you touch down, straight to my place now These nights without you, they're so hard to sleep

Today

After placing your takeout order, you have nothing to do but to just sit and wait for your handsome boyfriend. You’ve already cleaned your apartment 3 times, going over the 600 square foot space too many times.

You thought about getting ready, having lingerie you spent too much money on hanging in the closet but you knew that Rudy didn’t care how you looked. He would be sweaty and tired and smelly after his flight and that was just how you wanted him. So you decided to stay in your ratty tee and boxer shorts, choosing to focus on your man being just miles away instead of worrying about how you look.

Part of starting over means changing expectations. This is you now, messy hair and all.

While you wait you scroll through your phone, hopping on an OBX fandom instagram you had saved to see that Rudy had been stopped in JFK by some fans. Even standing 6 feet behind the fans and with a mask on, your man looked good. Blonde hair flopping into his face, a worn duffle bag tossed over his shoulder. When you zoomed in you could see his phone screen. No fans would be able to tell what it is but you can, it’s the ridiculous photo of you as a baby - it’s Rudy’s favorite photo of you, you’re all chunky and covered in cake with a sideways birthday hat. Knowing that’s his background makes you miss him even more. This boy loves you so much and that feeling is indescribable.

Laying on your couch, you move from Instagram to your saved voicemails, pulling up your favorite one - the one he left you 37 days ago while you were on your flight back to NYC.

“Hi pretty girl, I’m sitting here in this random parking lot at the airport cause I didn’t want to leave until I knew you were up in the air. The past 24 hours have been insane. When I walked into your house last night I didn’t imagine in my wildest dreams that we would end up here. I honestly thought you would kick me out. But here we are and I miss you already. I know I put you through a lot...I know that. But we’re going to make up for lost time. I’m not going to lose you again. I love you so much, never stopped, never will. Come back to me in one piece pretty girl, be safe.”

Come put your things down, I'll order take out No more to say now, baby, just make out with me Baby, just make out with me

When Rudy’s cab pulled up to your 44th street walk up he couldn’t throw money at the driver fast enough. He even got cash out just for the cab so he didn’t have to waste time trying to pay with his card.

Pushing the button for unit 6-B it felt like hours before your angelic voice came over the speaker, though it had only been a few seconds.

“Pizza Hut how may I help you?”

“Are you gonna buzz me in goofball?” He says pressing the intercom button.

“I’m sorry sir, I’m waiting for my boyfriend and I don’t think he’d like it very much if he saw you waiting outside my apartment.”

“Pretty girl it’s dark outside and the doorman across the street is giving me strange looks. Can you please let me in?”

With that a loud buzz sounded and Rudy yanked the door open. Taking the stairs two at a time, he sprinted up 6 flights slowing down when he sees you standing at the door. He doesn’t know what he was expecting but it certainly wasn’t this. Leaning against the doorframe in a pair of his old boxers and his oversized Alabama Shakes shirt, no makeup and soft curls you look radiant.

“Hi handsome,” you manage to get out before Rudy is tackling you into the apartment. His bag hitting the floor as you wrap your legs around his waist, squealing as he turns you around to pin you against the now closed door.

“I...missed….you…..so…...fucking…...much” he says between kisses, placing them all over you face, punctuating each one with a loud smack.

Placing a soft kiss on his lips you card your fingers through his hair, pulling back just enough to look into his eyes. Diving back in your tongue immediately finds its way into his mouth. He tastes like gum and peanuts, probably the airplane snack but you don’t even care. He’s here, pressed up against your door and he tastes like heaven.

Your back is pushed into your door for what feels like hours as you two just makeout like teenagers. When you both finally catch your breath you pull back just enough to whisper against his lips.

“Hi,” you whisper. “Welcome home”.

Taglist: @tangledinsparkles @iamaunicorn4704 @devil-in-those-eyes @spilledtee @teamnick @pink-meringues @nearlydanger9 @earthtotalia @amoreagron @under-a-canyon-moon @joshy-obx @kiillakay @drewswannabegirl @madeinthemidnightmemories @rudyismymanperiod @k-k0129 @obxing @moldisgoodforyou

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mircallablue · 4 years

Text

So, in the wake of BeauJesters seeming passing, I’m going to take a moment to be more than a little self-indulgent and explain why I love these characters and their unique dynamic so goddamn much, as well as why I’m so disheartened by the way the show seems to be taking them. Warning: essay ahead lol. This is just a rambly rant that I’m writing because it’s cathartic to vent a little bit of frustration, and I love these characters so much. (and I love the entire cast, every goddamn one, and every other character in the show too. This is about love, not hate).

So, for a few brief and wonderful episodes in this campaign, I actually believed that I was being told a love story about falling in love with your best friend, and figuring out your sexuality, while also unlearning all of the untrue lessons that the world taught you about love while you were growing up, and in so doing, finding value in yourself. Which, for me personally, is just super relatable. Like, that ticks every damn box I have lol, which partly explains why I love BeauJester so much, and I know a lot of B/J shippers feel the same. I’ve shipped B/J from super early on, but I never in a million years really believed it would happen, for a lot of reasons. Mostly homophobia, biphobia and heteronormativity. But I enjoyed their dynamic nonetheless, even though I thought (and was often TOLD by other shippers) that it didn’t stand a chance in hell of happening.

So you can imagine how VALIDATING it was when Marisha, both in character and out of game, confirmed that Beau had very significant romantic feelings for Jester. All of the crumbs we’d collected over the course of the campaign were finally coming together and all of the gaslighters who told us we were delusional suddenly had to acknowledge that there was something there. And once it had been acknowledged, it was OBVIOUS. Omg it was so obvious and I loved every second of it. It was so undeniable for the next few episodes, and in hindsight, that there was something building there between them, there was potential. There was definitely a connection between these two characters. And for a few weeks, it was great.

Then Liam - out of character - mentions that Caleb is in love with Jester. And it is immediately, fandom wide, treated with more respect than Marisha and Beau.

I know a lot of people get very very angry when this is brought up, but it is just the ugly, unfortunate reality that a lot of people in this fandom treat Jester like a manic pixie dream girl. Even the people who do not consciously believe her to be that (and I don’t think there are many that genuinely believe it), are perfectly fine /treating her/ like one, as long as it serves one of the straight men that they love so much, usually Caleb. And this is where the heteronormativity comes in. Because even though it was an out-of-game confession with no bearing on canon, Calebs feelings immediately took precedence over Beaus in terms of the fandom narrative.

I personally have never liked the way Liam handles romance in game. He did pretty much the exact same thing in campaign 1 as well, where his sad boy pines after the happy girl from afar until he’s uncontrollably in love with her, and then with no warning he drops it like a bomb. He just happened to drop it out of game this time. The main reason I don’t like this style of romance is because of how (unintentionally) manipulative it is. You see it in bad romcoms all the time. The guy makes a public declaration of love that pressures the girl into reciprocating or looking like the bad guy. But the main reason I don’t like /this particular/ declaration is the timing.

Liam - who has always said he likes things to come out in game - inexplicably decides out of game reveal something as major as Caleb being in love with Jester, right after Marisha IN GAME took steps towards Beau and Jester being together. And it completely changed the narrative. Suddenly it was “top table top table”, and that's if Beaus feelings ever got mentioned at all. It was not at all helped by the fact that a lot of cast members (sam) still pushed Fjorester HARD, even with Jester telling Nott to stop, which must have sucked for Marisha/Beau. But even as recently as episode 99, Beau was still flirting with Jester, and there were definite hints at Jester maybe having unacknowledged feelings for Beau.

Then the hiatus happened. When we return, Beau is throwing herself at Yasha, and there’s not even a song for Jester on her playlist. And then Travis reveals (also out of game, like Liam) that Fjord has feelings for Jester (in a playlist heavily curated by known fjorester, Dani Carr). And even /that/ is treated with more weight by some fans than Beaus in canon confession. And Yasha is having all of these super convenient dreams where Zuala tells her its ok to move on, and Beau and Jester are barely speaking. And now Beau is calling Yasha her GIRLFRIEND? WHAT??? Did I miss 20 secret episodes that aired during hiatus or something???? Beau and Yasha have still, in 107 episodes, only had ONE meaningful conversation and yet their relationship is being treated as deep and inevitable. Sure, you can read into their other interactions if you want. But as a queer person, I am sick to death of my love needing to be represented as subtext.

And so it has become pretty clear that the cast has decided out of game to go in a different direction. And of course they are well within their right to do that. But I just can’t help feeling incredibly disheartened, and again, more than a little bit gas-lighted. It really does seem as if Beaus' feelings for Jester have just been scrubbed from canon - as if they never even happened. All, seemingly, to make way for a typical happy-girl-sad-guy relationship with either Fjord or Caleb, and a typical pair-the-spares barely-any-depth relationship between the two out lesbians because its easy.

For the entirety of campaign 2, BeauJester has been treated as one thing - inconvenient. Inconvenient by the fans, who prefer other ships and have treated BeauJesters terribly, and now it seems, inconvenient by the cast, who have seemingly discarded it and scrubbed it from canon.

And one thing that really upsets me is the amount of genuine viciousness and vitriol coming from (some) BeauYasha shippers. I really wish BeauYasha was something I could get on board with, I do. And a lot of people who are sending me hate seem to assume I don’t want them to end up together. But I would be fine with that. But as it stands, they’ve literally only had one real conversation in 107 episodes, and they’re calling each other girlfriend? While literally having not spoken about anything like that? While one of those characters is supposed to have canon romantic feelings for another woman? Imagine that situation with any other characters and it would be comical.

I swear, the queer ladies in this fandom have been done dirty. All of us. Imagine if, in campaign one, Grog and Keyleth, in episode 107, started calling each other boyfriend/girlfriend in the middle of a battle. (I picked those two because they probably had the fewest moments together of any VM pairing). That’s pretty much what happened here, and we’re supposed to like it - be grateful, even - because it’s wlw rep? And I swear, the number of times I’ve been called lesbophobic in the last month is absurd - all because I’m not comfortable with a canon lesbians canon feelings being swept under the rug. All because I want wlw relationships to be allowed to have the same depth and growth as the straight ones. Yes, even if that relationship is B/Y. We should not settle for less. Imagine if they had done this with any other character's canon feelings for another. People would be angry.

And I know there are going to be a lot of people saying “It’s their game, they can do what they like”.

True. I never said otherwise. But it is also a show. It is a product. They sell merch. It is something that they have taken the time and the steps to make sure that we care about. And this is what that looks like.

I know what happened here isn’t technically queerbaiting, but damn if it doesn’t cut the same.

#critical role #cr spoilers #critical role spoilers #beaujester #cr discourse #i look forward to being called toxic

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toujoursmiraculous · 4 years

Text

Thoughts on the New York Special!

I never thought I’d see such an episode but here we are. I think I screamed a dozen times or more, I’m not even sure. But I have a sore, scratchy throat to show for it and I’m okay with that. Most of it was at how many times Adrien kept being not-just-a-friend and both secondhand embarrassment and pity for Marinette’s attempt to see him only as a friend kicked in. But I’ll start from the beginning. No, the voice actors aren’t different, the audio’s been manipulated and is pitched down! **Except Nino. Nino’s voice actor resigned and has been replaced**

Ladynoir friendship + a glimpse of their Astro forms? Heck yes!

Ms. Bustier having a baby was something I had a feeling about but can’t actually believe it’s happening and I’m just so happy for her. Best teacher award should go to her and her student’s reactions just prove that.

“Adrien, you’re our Sock Washington!”

this is his version of Marinette’s

“You’re our everyday Ladybug.”

Sad Adrien and trying-too-hard-to-be-just-friends-Marinette interact and she’ll do what she has to do to get him to go along.

Honestly, I think Marinette trying not to reveal her feelings is better than this, this is just painful to watch her try so hard. Dx

Sad Adrien not being able to fence properly so Kagami who he possibly? likely? is dating, considering she kissed him, asks what’s wrong.

You know, instead of what a good girlfriend/love interest/friend would do and try to sympathize and attempt to make him feel better, she pushes aside his feelings and makes it about her... Oh Kagami, this won’t bode well. Poor Adrien deserves better than being told he and his feelings aren’t as important. He gets plenty of that at home.

Absolutely love the attention Gorilla gets in this, it’s so cute.

LUKA IS THE BEST FRIEND EVER UGH. How many girls have a guy in their life that has feelings for them, yes, but still would do anything that would make her happy, even be with someone else? Who would go to lengths to make sure things work out how she wants them?

Okay, the whole plane scene before everyone fell asleep was intense. I can feel Marinette’s anxiety and desperation so hard, I feel so bad.

I also feel bad that Adrien sounded disappointed by her not sitting by him (and probably doesn’t quite understand why she won’t, either) as well as Ms. Mendeleiev knowing her students think less of her than Ms. Bustier and doesn’t like that.

AND also that both Marinette and Adrien for having to feel guilty for making a trip out of the country. :/ Nobody deserves it more than them.

Wow, that’s a lot of things to feel bad about early on.

Marinette’s luck really sucks on this trip, doesn’t it? Turbulence in the bathroom. Yikes. But of all people to notice her walk by, it has to be Adrien while they watch the beautiful sunset together. Of course it does. It’s like he has some sensor that knows when Marinette is sad or something. x3

Adrien, looking sweetly and IN LOVE at her: “You’ve got something, Marinette...”

“So-something?”

“Yeah, there. In your hair.”

....

Alya: I can’t decide if they’re the cutest people I know, or the most embarrassing.

Nino: I love Adrien, but he’s like a baby chick that just started cracking out of his egg.

I- They’re just so done 😂

Then you see more of Alya/Nino and their Operation New York plan and it’s freaking adorable, but you think Adrien’s done talking but OH NO there’s more

“...Well, what I meant to say was...thanks for managing to convince my father. *gives her a hug*”

Okay, first off

OH MY GOSH I CAN’T EVEN WITH THIS. THIS IS JUST SO SWEET AND CUTE AHHH THIS IS THE FIRST ADRIENETTE HUG EVER! I screamed so loud I just... my heart is so happy. ;~;

Second,

slyly grinning

IS THIS NERVOUS ADRIEN, I SEE? He tried to say it the first time but chickened out. 😉

Also, you cannot convince me that when they both went and sat back in their seats, anxious as the plane was getting attacked, that they would not be holding hands if Marinette had actually ended up sitting by him.

Aeon sees them together for ONE MINUTE. Just one. And she knows. To all the people that

still

somehow doubt that they’ll be together...what will it take for you to realize that they are?

Sabrina liking that boy makes me so happy, she actually gets some scenes that aren’t related to Chloe!

Alya: And you might make a friend. *elbows Mari*

Marinette: 😑

Hehehe the teasing’s not gonna stop, you set yourself up for this.

I’ve counted people referring to Marinette and Adrien as “friends” of some degree 21 times so far. Let’s see what it gets to at the end.

Class: We just got here but LET’S SNEAK OUT TO GO TO A PARTY....and almost get busted.

The sound effects in this are everything, I adore them. xDDD

The way Adrien smiled at Marinette when they had their backs to the door, and how his smile faded when he realized they weren’t alone. 😂

Jess: Ugh people in my room

Aeon: HAHA THEY’RE SO ADORABLE THIS IS THE BEST. I TOLD YOU THEY’RE MADE FOR EACH OTHER

Marinette: Is it a bird?

Adrien: Is it a plane?

Sabrina’s crush: No, it’s Hot Dog Dan!

Why do you have to get me with that xDD

Okay, but the girl saying “Go Sabrina!” made me happy too ugh. Just the fact that Sabrina came to America and people like her is just the best.

Highpitched!Nino: FINALLY, MY CHICKS WINGS ARE GROWING

Not that the show didn’t make me laugh before but dang, I keep laughing at this humor. It’s like a crack video mixed with the sweetest romance.

“OH! That’s the song we danced to at Chloe’s birthday party, remember?”

“Oh, yes, hahah”

looks at her sweetly, shyly

“Then...will you?”

ADRIEN, MY LOVE, I DON’T UNDERSTAND WHAT’S GOING THROUGH THAT PRETTY HEAD OF YOURS. So... you remember. And it makes you happy. And you, again, nervously ask her. To dance with you. Again.

You’ve looked at her with the most soft of expressions more times in under an hour than I’ve seen anyone look at someone

ever

. Uggggh the way he’s falling for her is just so sweet.

And I’ve lost count of how many “friends” there have been due to the overwhelming cuteness. I think 25?

The fact that Adrien and Marinette can’t get through an automated door. I’m wondering what’s causing that? The fact both have a Kwami with them? Is Aeon messing with them? I don’t really think the latter is happening so I’m puzzled but it’s hilarious.

“I don’t mind being stuck somewhere with a friend like you” with the most adorable expression on his face ever.

ADRIEN PLEASE, ARE YOU TRYING TO DESTROY ME WITH THIS?

Jess: And in order to save him...

Aeon: Don’t kidnap him, I LOVE him!

😂 I wanted Jess’s plan to work out so badly though.

Maybe next time.

Miraculous out here teaching American history. 👍 Totally forgot Lafayette was only 19 when he arrived in America and asked to become a general, but he had just turned 20 when he fought his first battle. The white powdered wig always threw me off of everyone’s real ages.

I think this is the closest Marinette and Adrien have transformed out in the open like this.

Ooof @ pissed off and sarcastic Ladybug.

Chat Noir: I was afraid of losing your trust!

Ladybug: Well I can’t trust you anymore, can I?!

Ooohh that hurts. That really hurts. And that distraction like that really went bad. Good thing Aeon’s not human. x.x I really do feel like them finding out their identities would solve more problems than it’d cause at this point.

I get that the situation was bad, but excuse me, they have no right to demand their Miraculouses. Ladybug’s the

Guardian

Knight Owl: “Stop right there, that’s an order.”

LB & CN: WE DON’T ANSWER TO YOU

Lol love the way they ran off and got away without being seen.

Sad and in pain Ladynoir. Wow, this whole scene feels so mature.

And Marinette’s reaction to Chat Noir renouncing Plagg and crying as he ran away hurt so much. I was not expecting all the angst!

Poor Adrien’s traumatized now. He knows he’s lucky she wasn’t human and things worked out, but he also knows that he came this close to Cataclysming Ladybug, and he couldn’t deal with that.

Liiri is so cute I want to see more of her! Very grateful she doesn’t end up in the hands of Gabriel for long.

But really Gabriel, it would’ve been smarter to take it to Paris than give it to a villain in New York where it ends up with a superhero. xD

Depressed Plagg is another level of ouch. Depressed Marinette and Adrien looking at each other like they’re about to cry is yet another.

Marinette about Chat Noir: He made his choice. What were we supposed to do?

Adrien: I wouldn’t have minded being stuck here a little longer with a friend like you.

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO why did you have to go there again?

And then she gasps and really looks like she’s going to burst into tears, and then he gets even

sadder. “My father’s right, I should’ve never come to New York.” Alya: “What is wrong with you, Marinette?! Couldn’t you see that he was just waiting for you to tell him to stay?” “He made his choice. What did you expect me to do?” “It doesn’t matter what I expected you to do! Who’s Adrien to you? A friend or more than a friend? There will never be a better time to be clear with yourself, Marinette! Do you want him to leave or do you want him to stay?”

Within minutes, Marinette said the same thing about both Chat Noir and Adrien. o.o

Also hold up. If what Alya’s saying is true, which very well could be considering how he went from looking sad but still smiling, to looking utterly crushed after saying that line to her and her reaction, and the fact he said it before... Along with every single thing he did the whole trip.... Are we missing something, here? At first I thought it’s just Adrien being Adrien but about to actually acknowledge his feelings, just not yet. Seeing just the trailer I thought it was gratitude maybe, but obviously this is much more than that. But is it possible at all that he already has and, considering how she’s told him she doesn’t have feelings for him more than once before, that he’s been hoping to drive her to say otherwise this entire time and find out if she actually really does have feelings for him? 🤔

Because dang that’d explain everything he’s been doing.

I know he’s hurting over what happened with Uncanny Valley and giving up his Miraculous and leaving Ladybug. But it

still

came down to him with Marinette, looking at her like that was his last bit of hope and happiness he wanted to hold onto and was dashed....

NOT OKAY.

Again, Marinette’s luck on this trip SUCKS so much what the heck, you can’t even let her phone have battery??

Her rushing after him in the pouring rain on a bike screaming for him to stay and then falling hard (oof mustn’t have felt good for Plagg and Tikki) to just lie there in the street whispering “Adrien I...love you,” broke me. It really did. It’s so beautiful and so sad and I just want them to be happy oh gosh. 😭

But please get out of the road sweetie, you’re going to get run over.

By the way, I think I’m at 29 times they referred to each other or others referred to them as friends. Not sure though, I lost count and my heart’s a mess.

So Majestia decided to just blow skyscrapers far through the city and into the water that would no doubt kill everyone inside... in New York City...where skyscrapers were literally destroyed in real life killing thousands? I really hope this isn’t supposed to be a kind of reference.

Also the President of the United States being a superheroine that’s in harms way interacting with supervillains that can do horrific things such as forcing her to spill national secrets or use her power from things such as mind control to control the nation, for example, probably isn’t the smartest thing to do. Cool for plot but dang that’s dangerous.

You know, like right now when he’s making her press the nuke button where a million missiles and bombs are getting ready to go.

“I don’t know if I can do this. I can’t imagine being Ladybug without...

him

.”

“I couldn’t bear to see the disappointment in her eyes.”

I’m not crying. This isn’t twisting my heart all up at all. X.x

But yes the action and Astro Chat! He looks so cool flying through the sky like that omg. He’s BAT CHAT

But the way she just ran and hugged him, saying never to do that to her again.

And how he returned that hug and she hugged him tighter and then wiped her tears away.

This is everything. Absolutely everything. I could watch this a thousand times and not be sick of it.

He also after this better know how much he truly means to her.

Hawk Moth: Ladybug, Chat Noir, if you don’t do as I ask, I will launch a nuclear rocket that will undoubtedly start World War III. If you don’t do as I ask, it will be on you.TICK TOCK TICK TOCK

Geez, you think he can’t get any crazier and he just does. How would another World War help him live happily ever after? Unless he could use two wishes to undo it once he got their Miraculous. Hm.

Majestia is like Captain Marvel because she’s the only other superhero I’m familiar with that could launch a rocket to the sun with her hands.

The animation in this is so beautiful. I haven’t said it yet, but some of the scenes are so breathtaking.

I’m sad that Aeon won’t remember they’re Ladybug and Chat Noir, but surely she’ll remember Adrien, Marinette, Ladybug, and Chat Noir right? x.x

And appreciation to Nadja Chamack for letting Parisans know Ladybug and Chat Noir didn’t abandon them, but just had serious issues to attend to elsewhere.

Wow there’s an ice sculpture/statue of sorts in New York of Ladybug and Chat Noir (along with Uncanny Valley and Eagle) now? Sweet!

Okay, I believe it’s 30 times now that “friend” is used. I may be off, I got really into it the second time watching when I was counting and it’s too late to be serious about it.

Hmm, Marinette can ask herself

the question

on her way back to Paris the following day. I’m assuming about how she feels and if she should still try to let him know her feelings?

Also that Adrien smile, knowing full well Marinette was responsible for that clip for him. Awwww x33

Ohh that ending I’m so looking forward to seeing more of Eagle, Uncanny Valley, and possibly that new superhero team with the new Miraculous.

This special was as if they took the best from S1-S3, then threw in a bunch of amazing new things that I couldn’t have thought would happen, and gave us such an amazing special. Also that it opened up things for the next special and S4! I don’t think I could’ve asked for much better. I’ve missed this show terribly and love that it’s back in a way.

Also terribly sorry for such a long post but I mean the thing was 52 minutes long after all. xD

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hallospaceboyy · 4 years

Note

Can I request Missy and the reader being alone in the vault together and Missy takes the opportunity to fuck the reader on her piano

Unchained Melody

AN: Loved writing this. Again, I couldn't resist adding a lil tooth rotting fluff at the end lol. I'm sure most of you know the title is from the song of the same name by the Righteous Brothers. One of my absolute faves.

Warning for smut, mummy kink and strong language! Gif not mine x

You lay your head on Missy's shoulder, sat beside her on the piano stool, listening to her play a slow melodious tune. You've never heard it before, but it's beautiful, and you watch her fingers work the keys with fascination and fervour. You’ve been visiting her in the vault almost every day, extremely grateful that the Doctor is letting you do so. You enjoy her company, completely infatuated with the Time Lady, and you'd manage to play on the Doctor's compassion to allow you to spend time with her.

You shift a little in your seat as your eyes remain fixed on her long, slender fingers, suddenly finding them entirely distracting. You don’t want to break Missy's concentration, enjoy when she plays for you, but you're feeling mischievous, and bring out a single finger and press a random key, and then another.

“Stop it.” Missy huffs, batting your hand away, and you smirk, pressing a kiss to her shoulder.

She continues to play, so you do it again, pressing your entire hand down on the keys, interrupting her tune. She stops abruptly, gripping your wrist firmly and turning in her seat to face you, her lips inches from yours.

“Why are you being irritating, poppet?” She asks, her voice low, eyebrows raised.

You wriggle your wrist from her grasp, surprised when she lets you, and you gently take her hand in yours, bring her finger to your lips, and suck on it slowly. Your eyes remain gazing into hers, batting your eyelashes innocently when you see her inhale a shuddering breath.

“Ah, I see. Naughty kitten.” She smirks, biting her lip, and her movements are so sudden that you startle. She pulls her hand away from you, grips your waist and hoists you to sit on the piano, the instrument clanging loudly beneath you as your ass hits the keys. She stands between your legs, body pressed against yours, and you whine, wrapping your legs around her.

You lean forward and press a soft kiss to her neck, lick at the shell of her ear, and her grip on your waist tightens.

“Fuck me, Missy...” You whisper, and she growls, roughly pushing your skirt up your thighs, and hooking her fingers into the waistband of your black thong. She tugs it down your thighs, scraping her nails along sensitive skin as she goes. You squirm, watching her.

“Is that all you could think of while I was playing you my lovely song? My fingers inside your cunt?”

You whimper as she licks up your neck from pulse point to ear, and then bites at your ear lobe, tugging on it.

“Answer me.”

“Yes M-Missy. Your fingers are extremely distracting.” She chuckles at that, bites hard on your neck and sucks, sure to leave a dark bruise there. You love when she marks you, so possessive, hot and passionate whenever she touches you. You'd gladly let her mark you from head to toe, proudly be branded by your Mistress.

She rakes her nails back up your thighs, and you moan when you look down and see the long red scratches she is leaving there, part your legs further. She presses a bruising kiss to your lips as her fingers find your core, parting your folds and exploring the wetness there.

“Mm, your cunt is positively drenched. All for me.” She murmurs against your mouth, and you suck at her bottom lip, pulling a low moan from her. She rubs your clit in firm, deliberate circles, and pleasure courses through you, coils in your lower abdomen, and you shift, and random notes from the piano fill the room, chaotic and loud.

“Missy!” You cry out when she rests three fingers at your entrance, and holds them there teasingly. You throw your head back, and Missy brings her other hand to fist into your hair, tugging you forward roughly to look at her. You open your eyes, look into her blown pupils from beneath heavy lids.

“Beg for mummy.” She grins, and you moan at the words, a fluttering of arousal causing your cunt to contract around nothing.

“P-Please. Please... mummy. I need you to fuck me. Hard.” Your words are barely audible, but Missy is so close that she hears, and she laughs, roughly thrusts her three fingers into you and you buck and groan, the noises of the piano falling on deaf ears, for you can think of nothing but her. Her sweet scent in your nostrils, her warm body pressed to yours, her fingers blissfully deep in your cunt.

She pulls her hand back, almost removing her fingers from you entirely, and you whimper in protest, but she thrusts them back in, just as hard, just as deep, curling them within you and the noise that you release is guttural, animalistic, and you can’t help screwing your eyes shut. You claw at Missy's clothed shoulders with trembling hands, and as she continues her movements, brutally rough, and getting faster by the second, you force your eyes open to look at her. You know she loves you to look her in the eyes as she fucks you, drives her wild, and her eyes are lasciviously dark as she gazes into yours, a smirk playing on her thin lips.

You roll your hips against her hand, and her palm grinds at your clit with every thrust, and there are black spots dancing behind your eyes, as hot flashes of pleasure course through your every limb. You can feel yourself tightening around Missy's digits, and you're trying so hard to keep your eyes fixed on hers.

“Come for mummy, baby.” She pecks a tender kiss to your lips, such a contrast to the brutal pace of her hand, and you tip over the edge, a bruising grip on Missy's shoulders as you come hard, spasming around her fingers, bucking and grinding your hips erratically.

“Fuck Fuck Missy Yes!” You know if the Doctor is anywhere near by that he'll hear you, but you’re beyond caring, moaning loudly, and clinging to your Mistress. Her movements stop when you slump against her, panting heavily, nose buried in the crook of her neck. You whimper as she pushes her fingers into you a final time, and then gently pulls them from you. You exhale shakily, wrapping your quivering legs around her waist and pulling her flush against you. She wraps her arms around you and holds you tight, stroking your back. You're vaguely aware of her arm moving, the sound of her sucking her fingers clean, her barely audible hum, but you’re so far gone, mind foggy and sex addled that it barely registers.

When you finally sit up, looking into her ice blue eyes, there's a tenderness there that surely would make your knees buckle if you weren’t already sitting. A soft smile tugs at her lips, and she cups your cheeks and strokes them gently with the pads of her thumbs. This woman is chaotic, addicted to destruction, as some natural disaster that destroys everything in her wake, but slowly, she is changing – her emotions are becoming more readable, she is gentle, she asks you questions and genuinely wants to know the answers, actually shows an interest in you. You recall the first time you saw her cry, tears pooling in her eyes, the shaking of her hands, and your heart swells with adoration for her. She looks almost as if she may cry now, her eyes misty as they flit over your face, and you close the distance and kiss her softly, only mildly surprised when she exhales a soft whimper against your lips. Missy is not accustomed to soft, genuine affection foreign to her, and even less used to letting herself succumb to it, and it still barrels her over, hits her like a freight train each time you gaze at her lovingly, kiss her with the outpouring of love you feel for her every second of every day.

When she pulls away, there are tears in her eyes, but she doesn’t attempt to hide them, allows you to wipe them away as they track down her cheeks, her eyes fluttering closed.

“I love you, Missy.” It's the first time you’ve said it aloud, and your heart suddenly contracts with fear, panic that you maybe shouldn't have done so now. “Y-You don’t have to-"

Missy cuts you off with a salty peck to your lips, and she is smiling, her eyes shining when she opens her eyes.

“Don’t be foolish. I love you too, sweet girl.”

#missy x reader #the mistress x reader #the mistress #doctor who #bbc doctor who

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x--daughters-of-darkness--x · 3 years

Text

Jen Majura (EVANESCENCE) on RockOverdose: “Our new album “The Bitter Truth” is really encouraging and empowering!”

After a quite long time, Zisis Petkanas and Katerina Mitika from the Rock Overdose family participate in a cool talk with Jen Majura, the latest member from the legendary Evanescence, and they come to know everything about their first album with entirely original material after 10 years, the long-awaited “The Bitter Truth” that is set to be released at 26th of March, in addition to how they deal with the pandemic situation.

RockOverdose: So, hi Jen, and welcome to RockOverdose Greece! How are you?

Jen Majura (EVANESCENCE): Hi! Thank you so much for having me, I’m doing great, thank you.

RockOverdose: I think it’s been a long time since our last interview.

Jen Majura (EVANESCENCE): When was that?

RockOverdose: I think it was 2017.

Jen Majura (EVANESCENCE): Was it for “Inzenity”? My solo album “Inzenity”?

RockOverdose: Yes.

Jen Majura (EVANESCENCE): Oh my god, that’s a really long time ago. Really? It doesn’t feel that long, wow, okay.

RockOverdose: We had one interview when you first joined the band.

Jen Majura (EVANESCENCE): True, yes, I remember that. How I got the geek and everything! Yeah (laughs).

RockOverdose: I think it was via mail the first one and via Skype the second.

Jen Majura (EVANESCENCE): Exactly yes, exactly. And now look at us, all professional on Zoom with this pandemic situation! (laughs)

RockOverdose: Yes, now we are at Zoom! (laughs)

Jen Majura (EVANESCENCE): (laughs) Who knows what’s next, you know? (laughs)

RockOverdose: So, how about the pandemic situation, how are you living through this?

Jen Majura (EVANESCENCE): I cook a lot, I dived into acrylic painting, I knit socks… (laughs)

RockOverdose: Oh, you knit!

Jen Majura (EVANESCENCE): Yeah, it’s really tough because for the past, not 2020, nobody knew that 2020 would be the, excuse my French but shit year that it was. My life before that was only touring, airports, hotels, venues, tour bus, airplane, jet lag, airplane, hotel, venue, all the time nonstop for years and I’ve always complained, I was like “Oh man, I wish I had more time to practice my instrument and write more music”. What 2020 taught me is out of a sudden you force to stop, you’re forced to slow down and really you’re forced to stay home. At first I thought “I’m gonna play so much more guitar” but I didn’t, and “I have all this time on my hands and I can write my third solo album”, but what happens is when all of that, all of the things in your life, all the inspiration is been taken away from you and your only inspiration is your couch in your living room. It’s quite hard to come up with music and creations, I mean, what am I supposed to write? The couch blues? (laughs) It’s hard and I really believe in 2020, I have never ever ever ever, since I’ve started playing guitar, played less guitar than in 2020. It can be scary, really. I talk to a lot of friends of mine and I’ve realized this is not just me, it’s a lot of people just not knowing how to deal with this pandemic situation, or maybe by now knowing, of course, because you tried to distract yourself from like I said, with cooking, painting and other creative things, but it’s really not like “Oh you have all this time on your hands, now I wrote 3 albums”. It’s not like it, it’s unpredictable.

RockOverdose: It depends, because other musicians used this time to write songs.

Jen Majura (EVANESCENCE): Some of them, yes, but not all of them! (laughs)

RockOverdose: By the way it was such a good idea, a good time to rest from touring and start other things that you didn’t do. Now, during the pandemic, you have time for other things.

Jen Majura (EVANESCENCE): Yeah, and I appreciate that, especially I really enjoy cooking and painting and other things and having time for the first time. I feel, in 16 years I was longred home than just 2 months and I appreciate that time, but for right now if you ask me what my biggest wish is, is “Please, give me my life back and let me go out and play shows for the fans”. I miss connecting with the fans and no livestream online can replace that energy exchange that you have with your fans.

They give you so so much and I also believe I talked about this with my Something on 11 partner, Alen. I also believe that this pandemic situation will make us be grateful for a lot of things that had been annoying in the past, like “Oh my god I have a 2 hour lay over in London at the airport ughhhhh, sucks”. No, doesn’t suck. From this day on whenever we’re back to touring, no greasy, overpriced airport food will suck, no dressing room time to wait for the show will suck, nothing will suck, no jet lag would be bothering me ever again. I’m gonna be thankful having all these things happening in my life, right? I really believe we’re gonna come out of this pandemic as more people that appreciate and value things way more than we did before.

RockOverdose: So, let’s go on with your new album.

Jen Majura (EVANESCENCE): What album? Just kidding (laughs), this is my favorite thing to do! That was like, “Let’s talk about the new Evanescence album” and I go like, “What album? Well, there’s a new album? They didn’t even tell me, I’m not even on it”. No, I’m just kidding (laughs).

RockOverdose: And the journalist stacks. (laughs) I was like, “Did I ask the wrong person?”.

Jen Majura (EVANESCENCE): I’m sorry, it’s just a stupid joke (laughs). Ok, here we go.

RockOverdose: So, I think you like jokes, I suppose.

Jen Majura (EVANESCENCE): Me? I never laugh, I’m very serious, I’m German. (laughs) Ok, let’s talk about the new Evanescence album, come on.

RockOverdose: Yeah, that’s the point. So, when did you start the writing process for this new material?

Jen Majura (EVANESCENCE): I believe the writing process started already in 2019, but actually it started 10 years ago, because one of the songs called “Take Cover”, I believe Amy wrote it, I think 10 years ago. So, you have all these ideas on your iPhone and your voice messages but I remember when we got together in Canada after playing Heavy Montréal in Canada, we went all the way into the Canadian woods into this beautiful mansion and just spent time together as a band. You know, writing together as a band, it’s just something really beautiful that is so different from what a lot of people think. A lot of people think that Amy comes up with the songs and she goes like “Here, play what I tell you to play”, but it’s not like that. We really worked as a group together, everybody had different ideas that he or she brought to the table. Canada was amazing. The last time I saw Amy and the guys was February last year when we met up in Nashville in Studio X, I just finished playing in Los Angeles the numbshell and flew directly to Nashville. We met up in the studio and recorded the first 4 chunks of songs. Everybody went to the airport and said like “Oh ok, bye, have a safe travel back home, alright see you next month, bye”.

If somebody would have told me in February that I’m not gonna travel back to the States and see my friends for the rest of the year, I probably would have had a good laugh or something, I don’t know. Nobody expected, this just happened right after that I came back home and then out of a sudden, boom! Lockdown! And I’m like “Ugh, what?”. So, the recording process for the album was was different than how I pictured my first original musical album with Evanescence, because I saw us all together in the studio instead of me at home all by myself and just sending files. I mean, thank God for modern technologies, so it was happening, it was possible but I think what I missed most was when you’re in a room recording with an awesome producer like Nick and maybe having Amy sitting on the couch in the corner of the room, you play something and there’s always a little feedback. Amy would go like “Oh, this is beautiful, try this again, oh this is amazing, what a great idea!” or Nick would say “Hey, do that again but try a little bit more, punch, try a little bit more, this or that” and I didn’t have that feedback, I didn’t have that input from the others. So, what happened was that Amy and the guys, they met up in the States and they were able to meet up in person, of course with all the testing and being careful and social distancing and you know, but they created the songs in the moment. In the beginning, there were talks about doing face times and having me involved but it’s just not the same, you have to be in one room as humans and everybody gives their input and that’s how you create stuff.

Then, they would send me the files that they have recorded and it was very sweet, Amy kept updating me every day, she was like “Oh, today was like this and that” and “today we did this and then Troy did that”, it was really sweet. Then I just recorded the guitars, my parts, here in Germany at my home studio and sent everything over to Nick, but, like I said, without that feedback from Amy or Nick or Tim or Troy or Will. I mean, I really appreciate every single band member and I’m glad that they give me input, I think you can only learn and become better, but there was no feedback, so I did another take, and another take and another take, I’m a perfectionist, you know. So, after taking out about 2000 guitar tracks I’m like “Ahhh Jen, man, you have to make up your mind, goddammit, just send something to Nick!”. So, I sent over the files and his first response was “Awesome!”. I remember tracking for this one particular song called, it’s our latest single that came out like 6 days ago I think, “Better Without You”, they sent the files and I listened to the song and when it finished I was like “I gotta listen it again” so I listened again. I think I listened to it 5 times in a row and then I texted Amy and I said “You know, I think the song is perfect the way it is, I’m not gonna lay any guitars on top of that song just for the sake of me playing and me showing of or credits, I don’t function like that. If a song is perfect and it doesn’t demand any more guitars, I’m not gonna play” and then I said “What shall I do?” and she’s like “Sing.” and I said “Ok, alright, I’m gonna sing on that album”.

This is something that makes me really proud, this is the first time ever in the history of Evanescence that there’s another female vocalist recorded on an album and I couldn’t be more proud about this, really, it’s beautiful. I learned about singing with Amy during the Synthesis Tour when we toured with orchestra. There were absolutely no tracked vocals, nothing, no samples, no backing vocals, nothing, it was just Amy and me singing. I think the qualities of a really good backing vocalist is when you’re able to blend in with the main vocalist, you don’t wanna push that main vocalist the way with your voice, you wanna support it, you wanna make it shine, make it bigger. I think that our two voices match really beautiful and yeah, I’m just really proud that yesterday I received my copies from the label of the new album and I looked into the booklet and it says “Jen Majura - Guitars and Vocals”. I was so proud, I’m like “Oh, this is amazing, so cool” (laughs).

RockOverdose: Yeah, it’s great! In how many songs do you sing for this album?

Jen Majura (EVANESCENCE): Oh God, you asked me now? I think 5 or 6. I think so… I’m sorry, I can’t remember it, it’s so long ago when we recorded that stuff. It feels so long ago, it’s not long ago, but in the pandemic times, you lose track.

RockOverdose: Yeah but it’s really great that you are not doing backing vocals but also main vocals to this album.

Jen Majura (EVANESCENCE): No no no no no, that’s wrong, Amy is totally the main vocalist.

RockOverdose: You are not main but you support Amy.

Jen Majura (EVANESCENCE): Yeah, exactly, she is the voice of Evanescence and that’s completely perfect the way it is, but I just added my backing vocals and the choruses sometimes in the verses. It’s just been beautiful working on new song material because I got into the band in 2015 and all the music I’ve been playing so far sort of has been written already, so you can revisit it and listen to what she recorded back in the days for backing vocals, and you just learn what she did and you sing on top of the backing vocals of hers, right? But this time it’s new songs, it’s new energy, it’s new lyrics and everything is new in, so you’ve got this freedom to create and point out ideas like question-and-answer vocals like in “Better Without You” and it’s been beautiful. I’m really really happy that I was able to deliver some background vocals for the new album.

RockOverdose: Great. Jen, from where you were inspired for the writing of “The Bitter Truth”?

Jen Majura (EVANESCENCE): As I said, I’ve been part of the writing process for the beginning but then not so much for the second half of the album, but if you take a look around on planet Earth so much is happening. You know, there’s so much that you have to process these days. I don’t wanna dive into politics, but also not only politics in the States, politics all over the place. There are so many movements, the climate change, so much is going on our planet these days and I feel like 2020 taught us that we are not in control of everything and we had to learn to kinda go with the flow. This album is an empowering, energizing feel, it��s like an inspiration to be real, to stop denial, to stop faking and just be real, face reality, that’s the bitter truth.

Even you, all of us humans, we have bruises, we have scars, we are not perfect. It’s ok to be weak sometimes, it’s ok to be vulnerable, we are humans and we need to stop this Instagram filter “I am so perfect, I can’t even believe how perfect I am”. Also, I believe that we as humans need to stand up for, to fight for the right thing, you know, not fight fight, I mean not punch anybody but have a voice because your voice matters and it matters more than ever, to just make the planet heal again and change things for the better. I really see this album as something that is really encouraging, it’s an encouraging, empowering album. I can’t wait for everybody to hear all the songs. Really, we couldn’t be more proud.

RockOverdose: Great. So, what about the feedback from the press for your new album?

Jen Majura (EVANESCENCE): Oh, everybody was like “Oh my God, Evanescence put out a new original album for the first time in so many years!” and the fans! Every single we put out, I think the 5 singles that we put out by now, are very diverse. You can’t really compare “Wasted on You” which was the first single with “Better Without You” and I truly believe “Better Without You” might even be one of the heaviest songs Evanescence ever put out there. They’re very diverse one of another and it represents the variety of the sounds and the songs on the album perfectly, and the fans just love it. I mean, just imagine you love Margherita pizza and you have to wait like 9 years to get your next Margherita pizza. Did I just compare our album to Margherita pizza? But you know what I mean! (laughs)

RockOverdose: I suppose you are a little hungry!

Jen Majura (EVANESCENCE): I’m hungry, I haven’t had dinner, I’ve been talking all day. I’m hungry yes!

RockOverdose: Ok, so, what are your next news regarding Evanescence?

Jen Majura (EVANESCENCE): This is a question for my boss, I can’t answer that. First of all, it’s we all wait for the album release, this is gonna be amazing and exciting and you know.

RockOverdose: And I suppose you are looking forward to support it by touring.

Jen Majura (EVANESCENCE): Ok, it’s very odd to put out an album and not having a tour attached to it immediately after the release. You know, it’s just first time ever in my life that I’m involved in an album release without a tour coming up straight away. So far, we still have the tour in September-October with Within Temptation, a European tour, and, like I said, the one thing we have to keep in ourselves and our guts and our cores is hope, because I really really really want to play that tour and just be back, but it’s unpredictable, you don’t know and nobody knows. We have to wait and see but we definitely have to hope to be out there soon and rock again and support the album. I mean, we try to do the best that we can, give the fans little things to connect with us but it’s just hard, everything is online…

RockOverdose: Yes, I agree. Are you planning to do maybe a livestreaming show?

Jen Majura (EVANESCENCE): This is another question for my boss, not for me. (laughs)

RockOverdose: Ok, (laughs) so, let’s go on with personal questions.

Jen Majura (EVANESCENCE): Oh God no, personal questions, no I’m not answering those! (laughs)

RockOverdose: But I will ask! What are your greatest influences as a musician?

Jen Majura (EVANESCENCE): Oh God! Ok, I think spoken for the musician and person that I am today, I believe, when it comes to playing the guitar, one of my biggest influences is Mattias IA Eklundh of the Swedish band Freak Kitchen. He’s not only a very dear heart friend but he’s also something like my life guru, there’s so much wise stuff coming out of that guy. I like his approach, the way he sees things and he’s got this style of playing with the over-harmonics. I found it so fascinating that I find myself adapting that to my style of playing, it’s like I’m the merge of me and part of his playing. So, I think he is a big big big influence. Recently, people keep telling me that whatever I play sounds a little bit like Steve Vai. I feel very uncomfortable with that comparison because Steve Vai is just, I mean, come on, it’s Steve Vai! And I’m like, “I’m just JenJen”. It’s a very charming complement and maybe they talk of certain scales or brain wired ideas that I have, I don’t know, but that was coming up lately a little bit.

And I think Amy inspires me, really, because we have a lot of things in common but I respect her so much as not only a fabulous musician, not only a vocalist, but musician. She’s a strong woman, she knows what she wants, she is the leader of this group that I’m allowed to be part of and I think she is a big inspiration in my life as well. And a good friend.

RockOverdose: And how do you feel for being an Evanescence member so far?

Jen Majura (EVANESCENCE): Well, what can I say, come on. Ever since I joined the band it’s been a cool ride. Touring with Evanescence is like being on a big vacation that is amazing with your best friends and then, on top of that, you get to play these amazing, awesome, fulfilling shows. I feel like I’ve been eating so much bullshit in the past that I am allowed to relax a little bit now in this band. For the first time, I have a band with where everybody is friends. I thought this is not the norm, I thought there’s always gonna be like the one stinkface, but it’s not. Evanescence is like, not only the band but the crew and the whole team, we’re all one. That’s a very very beautiful thing and I really cherish that a lot. Yeah, well, minus 2020 right? Because it’s been such a good, great year! (laughs)

RockOverdose: Ok, so, which is your favorite Evanescence song?

Jen Majura (EVANESCENCE): To play live?

RockOverdose: To play live and to listen to.

Jen Majura (EVANESCENCE): Um, I might have to renew that now that we have new songs, but I first of all have to play the songs live to decide if I wanna change up that list, but so far, it’s been always “Disappear”. The song “Disappear” is my favorite track because it’s such highly energetic and we trade solos, Troy and I, and I just love that song. To listen to… Oh, I don’t think that anybody has ever asked me that… You know, the beautiful thing, the beauty about music is that you listen to music and it can create emotions and, like, videos in your eye in your head: landscapes, sceneries, pictures.

Music is creation and when somebody listens to music and gets all these visions and emotions and pictures, that is the goal of music. You don’t make music for the sake of money, that’s definitely not what you do. You do it because music is touching and it’s touching your soul and if music really is touching, this is the goal. So, I believe, I have moments where I’m like “I love to listen to “Made of Stone””, then I have moments where I’m like, I don’t know, “I love to listen to dreamy stuff like “Lithium””, it’s hard to say. You can’t really tell because it always depends on the mood.

RockOverdose: I have to agree with you. Do you have any other side projects?

Jen Majura (EVANESCENCE): Oh yeah, we released an album, Something on 11, working with a partner from Croatia, another guitar player called Alen Brentini and we released an album, I think, when was it, November? I think November Friday the 13th (laughs) and this is just a fun project. The meaning of Something on 11, when we put our heads together to think about writing music together, the core of Something on 11 is to literally show the middle finger to mainstream. Middling, well, you have to have a certain song structure. No you don’t.

We have a song with a hookline, a chorus that is a guitar melody but there are vocals in the verse, I mean, who the hell does that? We also have a song with a giant, big drum solo in the middle, right in the middle of the song, or a couple of songs where you would have a big, dynamic breakdown in the song and then you have tabla and dobra and synth sounds and the song is breathing. It’s just very unconventional songwriting. I am singing, I’m playing guitar and Alen is singing and playing the guitar. We put that out, I think, mainly for ourselves because it’s been a lot of fun working on these songs and they are all very crazy and diverse, kind of like the style of my solo album “Inzenity”. It’s very very diverse and very enjoyable to listen to, very playful.

RockOverdose: So, what are your memories from our country, Greece?

Jen Majura (EVANESCENCE): It was hot. I’ve been to Greece exactly once in my life. I think it was a festival, right?

RockOverdose: Yes.

Jen Majura (EVANESCENCE): Wow God, it’s just been so long ago, was it 2017? It’s been long ago, and I remember I was so excited, I said “Oh my God, for the first time I’m gonna come to Greece and I wanna walk around and find a local market” and “breath it all in, the culture, the food, the people”. I was so excited, and then it turned out it was so hot that I couldn’t even open the window of my hotel room. It was just so hot! And we gathered, we had a band dinner, it was a beautiful restaurant and we could see the Acropolis, it was really beautiful, and the food was great, but the only thing that I was concerned about was I got my makeup running down, my contour is, like, I’m sweating like crazy, it’s just too hot! (laughs)

RockOverdose: Too hot, yes! It was at Rockwave Festival 2017.

Jen Majura (EVANESCENCE): Thank you, so that was when it was and I think that also in the backstage it was super hot. I had to jump into my stage pants and I was like, “Ughh am I ever gonna make it into those leather pants and make it out of those leather pants again after the show?”, it was just really really really hot. I hope next time we return I will get a little bit more time because I so much want to experience the country and the culture. This is the beauty about when you tour, you get to see countries like Brazil or Japan, Australia and it’s so exciting and so beautiful, but if your shoes are melting when you’re walking outside, this is not fun to experience a culture! (laughs) It was just too hot!

RockOverdose: My God, it was too hard!

Jen Majura (EVANESCENCE): I felt like I had, I don’t know, 60 degrees or something, it was just way too hot! (laughs)

RockOverdose: It was on July, I think.

Jen Majura (EVANESCENCE): Super summer, in the middle of summer, yeah. It was tough! So, dear Greece promoters, if you hear this and you wanna book Evanescence, please book us in Spring or Fall so that I can go to a local market and buy some olives and experience the Greek culture a little bit more than instead of putting us into an oven!

RockOverdose: (laughs) Would you like to leave a message to the Greek fans and your fans worldwide?

Jen Majura (EVANESCENCE): Especially to the Greek fans, because you’ve guys been so amazing, I’m following everything that our Evanescence Greek Fan Club posts and you’ve guys been so supportive and loving and passionate and we can’t, really can’t wait to come back to play for you live and connect with you again!

RockOverdose: Great! I have to thank you for this interview.

Jen Majura (EVANESCENCE): Absolutely, sure, anytime!

RockOverdose: I will let you now to rest, I don’t know if you have another interviews afterwards.

Jen Majura (EVANESCENCE): Thank you! I will stop talking now! (laughs)

RockOverdose: And have some food!

Jen Majura: Yes, I’m gonna eat something, exactly. Not sure what I’m gonna make, maybe I’m gonna use some feta cheese right? Because inspired from this last interview. Overbaked, filled mushrooms or something.

RockOverdose: Or pizza Margherita!

Jen Majura (EVANESCENCE): Or pizza Margherita, exactly! (laughs) Thank you so much for this chat, it was just so much fun to reconnect and be back with you! Thank you so much, that was fun!

RockOverdose: Thank you, thank you! Bye bye!

Jen Majura (EVANESCENCE): Have a beautiful evening! Bye!

#Jen Majura #Evanescence #2021 interviews

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skottydawgblog · 3 years

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Top 25 Albums of All Time

Scott Welsch

Criteria:

Every song on the album must be attractive for listening. No “skippers” on the album. No, “Eh, that song kinda sucks” on the album. *Greatest Hits albums ARE NOT acceptable for this list. (This rule devastates me, as it disqualifies Foo Fighters)

2. The album/music/lyrics should still be relevant (and listenable) today.

3. The artist can’t just be for a specific crowd or followers (e.g. Jimmy Buffet, Grateful Dead, Moody Blues, etc.).

4. There is no need for the album to have won any awards or previous recognition.

5. I could have easily made this a “Top 100”, but I have a life.

TOP TWENTY FIVE ALBUMS OF ALL TIME:

#25 Billy Joel — Glass Houses

I played this album at bedtime growing up. I listened to side one, flipped the album, then listened to side two until the needle lulled me to sleep by making the “click click” noise at the end of the record. The album features Billy Joel’s first song to reach #1 status on Billboard (Still Rock and Roll To Me).

#24 Guns n Roses — Appetite For Destruction

My best friend in the 80s said to me, “Have you heard of this new band?” and handed me a cassette tape (in 1987). I listened to the entire cassette from start to finish the first time, and thought to myself, “Oh, man. These guys are gonna be huge.” Sure enough, Guns n Roses became one of the best-known names in modern rock. Their debut album (Appetite) has a buffet of glorious songs to listen to. Repeatedly.

#23 Elton John — Goodbye Yellow Brick Road

Elton John released this album as a two-disc set because he ended up writing and recording more songs than required by his recording company for the release. His creativity had kicked in full force (and then some). He recorded it in Jamaica (the country, not the neighborhood in Queens, NY).

#22 Red Hot Chili Peppers — Blood Sugar Sex Magik

The Chili Peppers’ fifth studio album, BSSM pushed them into mainstream. Prior to this album, the closest they had gotten was with a Stevie Wonder cover of Higher Ground on the Mother’s Milk album. No one has ever duplicated the variety of melodic undertones created by the combination of acid-rock, soul-funk, early alt-rock, and blues style on BSSM.

#21 Billy Idol — Billy Idol

Billy Idol’s debut album, released in 1982, was an absolute success after his breakup with the band Generation X. The song Dancing With Myself (track 11 on the 1983 reissue of the album) was actually a song originally recorded BY Generation X (with Billy Idol on lead vocals). It was a retail failure when released with Generation X, but when Billy Idol re-recorded and re-released it as a solo artist, it went mainstream.

#20 The Police — Zenyatta Mondotta

This was the last album The Police recorded by combining their reggae and punk music style before they switched to a more “popular” music style. Songs like Canary In A Coal Mine and Bombs Away had innuendos of political undertones, while Don’t Stand So Close To Me and De Do Do Do De Da Da Da were more lackadaisical and humorous.

#19 Van Halen — Van Halen

This album is an anomaly. Van Halen is a very well known band. They produced twelve albums. Yet, this is their debut album and has their legacy songs. The album has reached Diamond status by selling over ten million copies. It has one of the best-known guitar instrumental songs in history (eruption).

#18 Nirvana — Nevermind

This is my nod to the Foo Fighters, since they are not eligible for the list. Nevermind was the cork that popped and brought alternative rock (as a whole) into the mainstream. It basically created a whole new genre of both musicians and fans.

#17 Lynyrd Skynyrd — (Pronounced Lĕh-’nérd ‘Skin-’nérd)

Well…Free Bird, of course. I don’t need to write any about this album more than that.

#16 Pink Floyd — The Wall

I used to just listen to this album and watch the movie because it was the cool thing to do. Then, once I picked apart the meaning behind both (the music and the screenplay), it was totally eye opening. Pink Floyd was successful at concept before concept was cool.

#15 The Doors — The Doors

The Doors recorded this album in less than a month, yet it will inspire musicians for centuries. Critics often rate it the best album of all time.

#14 Rainmakers — Rainmakers

The Rainmakers self-titled album epitomizes my “100%” criterion. Every well written song tells a story, either historically or humorously. Also, The Rainmakers made rockabilly cool when no one knew what rockabilly was.

#13 Rush — Moving Pictures

With so many amazing Rush albums to choose from, it was difficult to pick just one. However, the rules of my list narrowed it down to Moving Pictures. I have spent countless nights in my life listening to this album from start to finish. Although Side B has no songs that ever received radio play, they are still AMAZING songs.

#12 Linkin Park — Hybrid Theory

This debut album launched Linkin Park into their river of greatness. Linkin Park was initially rejected by 42 recording agents before recording Hybrid Theory and becoming one of the all-time greatest alt rock bands.

#11 Beastie Boys — Licensed To Ill

Licensed To Ill is one of the fastest selling debut albums in history. It gained Diamond status (over 10 million copies). Some claim that Licensed To Ill is the best punk rap album ever released.

#10 Van Halen–5150

5150 was Van Halen’s debut album with Sammy Hagar as lead singer. Each song has crisp, clear instrumentals and incredibly well written music. Although the album received negative reviews from critics, each song creates different feelings and scenarios with the tempos and feelings. I know, I know. Van Halen is already on this list. However, as stated: this album is with Sammy Hagar as lead singer. The previous one was David Lee Roth.

#9 Violent Femmes — Violent Femmes

This was Violent Femmes debut album. It was the party album of the eighties. Every partygoer knew every lyric to every song. The Femmes had one of the most distinctive sounds of the times and remains an enduring classic. The minimalism and simplicity of their music created the attractiveness, and their lyrics are a drug.

#8 New Order — Substance

This is a compilation (2 disc) album. NOT a greatest hits album. It contains a ton of great New Order music. The only reason I made the exception (of “Greatest Hits”) is because it has a “B” sides disc included with many unreleased, 12-inch, and dub versions of the original songs. For New Order fans, this is a gold mine.

#7 The Who — Who’s Next

There are so many great tracks on here. The primary reason this one made the list is Baba O’Riley. This song (often mislabeled as Teenage Wasteland) was originally 30 minutes long. I would have had no problem with the song being that long.

#6 Prince — Purple Rain

Purple Rain had innovation that was unheard of in the early ’80s. For example, When Doves Cry does not have a bass line. The consolidation of R&B with rock was a new concept. Lastly, Prince’s guitar playing on this album was out of this world.

#5 U2 — Joshua Tree

Bono’s “great romance” and fascination with the United States served as the inspirations for The Joshua Tree. I wonder if Bono would have found today’s United States as inspirational? One of the BEST songs on this album- Running To Stand Still.

#4 AC/DC — Back In Black

This is one of the best-selling albums in history. It is AC/DC’s leanest, meanest album of all-time. It will always sound timeless and simple, yet savagely crafted.

#3 Led Zeppelin — IV

This album defined not only Led Zeppelin but the sound and style of 70s hard rock. It encompassed heavy metal, folk, pure rock-and-roll, and blues. This album not only served as a cornerstone but also a turning point for the future of music. Just don’t ask a guitar player to play Stairway (or Freebird).

#2 Nine Inch Nails — Downward Spiral

It’s no surprise that Trent Reznor collaborated with Jane’s Addiction drummer Stephen Perkins on this album. The instrumentation throughout the album is amazing. Every song leads into the next (it should, as it’s a concept album). Just don’t listen to the lyrics too closely. It could prove very, very depressing!

#1 Pearl Jam — Ten

Ten was the debut album from Pearl Jam in August 1991. Although most consider Pearl Jam a “Grunge” band, the album is more classic rock music. Most of the songs on the album began as simple instrumental band jam sessions that Eddie Vedder then wrote lyrics to go along with. The songs on Ten, despite their deep, dark lyrics, will remain on playlists for generations to come. Ten is powerful, insightful, deep, dark, thought provoking, and brilliant. “Why is the album named ‘Ten’?” you ask, when there are eleven tracks on it? Jeff Ament’s (the band’s bass player) love for NBA point guard Mookie Blaylock provided the inspiration. Blaylock’s involvement in a tragic car accident hit Pearl Jam like an injury to a family member. Blaylock’s jersey number was — you guessed it — Ten.

HONORABLE MENTION:

Steve Miller Band — Book of Dreams

This album has a few legendary songs on it: Jet Airliner, Swingtown, Jungle Love, and True Fine Love. The only reason it did not meet the cut is because it has some “eh” songs on it. However, a host can play this album straight through at a party or a get together, and no one will complain.

The Cars — The Cars

This is an amazing album. Clean, crisp guitar. Ric Ocasek’s vocals and lyrics are powerful. However, two songs (I’m In Touch With Your World and Dontcha Stop) prevent this album from meeting the “100%” criterion.

#rock music #music

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happymetalgirl · 4 years

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Rating Christmas Songs

Yep, it’s that time of year we get inundated wherever we go with mostly shitty Christmas music, usually the same stuff as the years before and the many years before. There are some songs among the barren crop of overplayed tunes that I think are pretty enjoyable, but for the most part I feel pretty confident that most of us are just putting up with the vast majority of the holiday playlist (I mean no one is dying to play any of these songs any other time of year, so they can’t be that great), so it’s time to set the record straight.

Here’s a rating of a few of the season’s musical staples and some brief reasons behind them. I’m sure I’m missing a few classics, but do feel free to bring them up and I will offer my thoughts on them. Granted these songs all have dozens, of not hundreds or thousands of versions, so I’m kind of going by an average of what I generally hear, not the dubstep remix version or even my favorite version necessarily.

“Jingle Bells”

The classic, easy to sing, easy to play on whatever instrument, upbeat childhood Christmas song. It’s hard to mess this one up, and I’m just glad it’s not trying to get all overly serious about Christmas as many of the songs further down this list do. But I mean, it’s fucking “Jingle Bells”, who actually gives a shit about this plinky-ass song.

5/10

“O Holy Night”

This one’s cool the first several years you hear it because it sounds pretty grand and epic, but it does wear off after awhile. Still, I’d rather hear this song than most, and I’ve yet to hear it truly butchered. So cheers to that!

7/10

“Jingle Bell Rock”

The failed swaggering “update” or cousin of the classic children’s Christmas song, it’s one of those songs that sounds like a bunch of upper class white folks sipping wine and putting on the usual façade of in-person Facebook-style humble bragging and life-highlighting about their year for the family they’ve not flexed on all year or since Thanksgiving. The song though is so drab and seemingly intentional sucked of lol the fun the kid’s song had, and in its place is just overly drolly Sinatra-imitation with no spirit at all. It’s the definition of background music, and it’s for the worst kind of background. Dancing to it sure as hell sucks. If you’re hearing this song, you’re probably not having as much fun as you’re supposed to be for a song that’s supposedly more “rock”.

2/10

"O Tanenbaum"

While his semi-jazzed-up approach that characterizes the rest of the soundtrack still seeps into this song, I’ve always loved the more stripped back piano-centric approach that Vince Guaraldi takes with this song on the classic A Charlie Brown Christmas soundtrack. The simple and sweet lullaby-esque melody at the core of the song really works well with the instrumentally minimal approach (which I do hear most often) and it evokes a sense of very sweet nostalgia (for me at least), and I can’t not like it.

9/10

“Angels We Have Heard on High”

You know I’ve heard some pretty alright versions of this song when it’s pushed toward its more energetic side. That over the top run on “glOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoria” tends to be the make-or-make moment of the song, and when a singer or choir commits to it and goes all out, it can sound pretty rad; I’m sure some power metal band somewhere out there has put a decent spin on it. The rigid, traditional delivery I hear more often, though, sadly sounds more often like it’s had the life sucked out of it.

7/10

“Silent Night”

Probably my favorite of the soft Christmas songs, just soulful melodies abound here and written in a way that hasn’t encouraged too many stupid renditions.

9/10

“Santa Baby”

This song is just fuckin’ weird, and I get the place of romance it’s coming from lyrically: finally dropping the charade of Santa Claus and being romantic with the speaker’s husband after putting on the act for the children. It’s cute and endearing, but god is it always so weirdly sung, in a hyperseductive baby voice, not subtle at all, and kind of not fitting with the kind of sweet endearing romanctic tone you would think it’d be carrying if you just read the lyrics. There are definitely worse Christmas/holiday romance songs, and I can definitely imagine this song being performed more sweetly than it usually is.

6/10

“Hark! the Herald Angels Sing!”

This. Song. Is. A. Banger. Glorious and triumphant as shit! It sounds good slow and fast, but definitely best when it’s played bold and loud, as opposed to some contrived-ass attempt at a ballad. This song feels like finishing a marathon. I’d pay to hear Khemmis do this fuckin’ song.

10/10

“Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas”

Sinatra’s version of the song is probably the most famous at this point, and as a consequence, the very title I think tends to invoke his signature smooth delivery on its own. I used to hate this one, but these days I find its naturally soothing character much more welcoming, god, especially this year. I can see why some find it to droll and sloggy, but I think it’s a nice wind-down tune.

7/10

“Last Christmas”

You know, the original synth-pop version by Wham! isn’t too bad on its own; George Michael’s delivery is pretty heartfelt and I can see why it’s become such modern Christmas staple. However, in the context of Christmas background music, that repetitive chorus refrain that seems to be the only lyric anyone knows in the song, gets really grating when it’s the only thing that sticks out, the more scaled-back delivery of the verses aiding their being buried in the chatter with your eggnog-sipping relatives. Furthermore, I’ve yet to hear a cover of the song less dry than sandpaper. Positive points to the original only.

6/10

“Away in a Manger”

This song certainly gets points for its strong narrative consistency, but aside from the “the stars in the sky” line, the melody is really really lame, and infantile in a bad way, and I have yet to hear a version that doesn’t sound like it was done by or similar to an apathetic children’s choir. It’s that quintessential song that every church kindergarten choir gets forced to sing because it’s nice and slow and narrow-range that all the kids look absolutely braindead singing. Not that it’s ever the kids’ fault or anything, it’s just a boring-ass song whose weak-ass strategy hinges on a bunch of 5-year-olds getting into something they clearly don’t give a shit about.

4/10

“The Little Drummer Boy”

You know, I could envision a slow-building post-rock-esque version of this song being pretty cool, but to date, all I have heard is stiff corny solo vocal delivery a la Angela from The Office and haphazard attempts at injecting tons of energy into the song that don’t really fix the kooky melody at the core of it. I swear you can always hear whoever is singing it getting red in the face from the needless intensity.

3/10

"Christmas Time Is Here"

Another solid cut from the soundtrack to A Charlie Brown Christmas, its rather simple instrumental foundation serves as a pretty solid introductory piece for the season; it feels so much like welcoming in the winter. And then of course the jazz embellishments on the instrumental version are some of the best in the Christmas genre, though listening to the soundtrack these days makes me wonder what it would be like if a more bombastic and dynamic jazz band took these songs on a more wild ride. I would love to hear that.

8/10

“Joy to the World”

It’s a little bit cheesy, but I kinda appreciate how ridiculously celebratory this tune is. It’s another one that I think would be interesting to hear Khemmis do a quick cover of, despite the religious theme that doesn’t really fit into their style. At the very least, it always sounds fun or, indeed, joyous.

7/10

“We Three Kings”

I’m not convinced anyone cares about this song.

5/10

“The First Noel”

This is another one of those songs whose runny melody tends to lead to it being delivered so often way too seriously, never really all too fun or worthy of the seriousness either.

3/10

“O Come, O Come Emanuel”

This is another one of those songs that, on the surface, seems more genuine with its minor key and often stoic delivery, and that definitely makes it better than the vast majority of Christmas songs, but the melody and lyrics are a bit oddly mismatched, and the melody that serves as the key appeal in the song does wear thin as the years go on. Nevertheless, I always do seem to find a cool new version ever year or two.

7/10

“Do You Hear What I Hear?”

Goddamn this is such a goofy-ass song. Who the hell made this? I cannot take it seriously. One point for all the kids for the apt “do you smell what I smell?”

1/10

“Mary Did You Know?”

Again, who wrote these lyrics? Like, in the story Mary made up to explain her out-of-wedlock pregnancy, that was kind of the main thing, that this kid would do some crazy shit. I can’t take this song seriously either, especially when it gets the goofy overly operatic treatment.

3/10

“Santa Claus Is Coming to Town”

It’s another one of those songs that literally just says what Santa Claus does. Musically it’s catchy-ish, but I mean it’s about Santa Claus, and it’s so often sung in that overly serious, toned down Motown style that no kid likes. I never liked hearing it then, and I don’t now.

3/10

“12 Days of Christmas”

Structurally iconic, this song really doesn’t offer anything beyond that; have you ever tried listening to someone doing the whole thing? It gets old really fast, and the fact that the “halfway” point in the song, the six geese a-laying, isn’t actually the halfway point, because the verses get longer and longer... fuck! The only thing this song is good for is for structuring workouts around, nothing regarding listening to the song. It gets one point for its utility.

1/10

“It Came upon a Midnight Clear”

We really are in a stretch of trash Christmas songs right now. I don’t think this is anyone’s favorite Christmas song. It’s so lethargic and sleep-inducing, I’m falling asleep just thinking about it.

3/10

“We Wish You a Merry Christmas”

Eh, it’s kinda not a really important song. At least it wakes you up, but apart from throwing some energy into the Christmas playlist that many are often desperate for, it’s just a cheery addition of holiday-themed white noise.

4/10

“What Child Is This?”

Finally some good fucking food. I’ve heard some baller versions of this captivatingly grand song, whose accidentals and minor key really make it one of the more interesting listens during the holiday season. I would dig an Opeth cover or a Pallbearer cover, or... a Khemmis cover.

8/10

“Let It Snow! Let It Snow! Let It Snow!”

This is just one of those standard, old-timey, inoffensive season-themers. It’s alright, I’ve never heard any version of it that really blows my mind.

5/10

“Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree”

This one is almost indistinguishable from, but significantly less annoying than, “Jingle Bell Rock” and is similarly stiff in a way that it’s clearly not meant to be.

3/10

“White Christmas”

This might take the cake for the sleepiest Christmas song out there. It is SLOW, like Bell Witch should ironically do a 20-minute-long cover of it just to see how it goes.

4/10

“It’s the Most Wonderful Time of the Year”

The shopping mall theme song. It’s always given that Sinatra treatment and it only barely fits well enough into that style.

4/10

“Feliz Navidad”

This one always feels like it needs to be sung with a big, cheerful group to capture the liveliness that its main appeal is based in, which puts it at a distinct disadvantage this year. Still, it’s always a fun, sometimes even bouncy song to play during the holiday season.

7/10

“Grandma Got Run over by a Reindeer”

I do actually welcome the absurd narrative that has somehow made itself one of the season’s ironic staples, and its slightly dark humor makes for a nice change of pace in the playlist with its upbeat, campy humor.

6/10

“Deck the Halls”

Fa la la la la, la la la no.

Annoying as fuck: 2/10

“Frosty the Snowman”

God, this song should be way more cheery and kid-friendly than it is. I mean, I’m sure kids don’t mind it, but it’s just yet ANOTHER one of those songs that can’t escape its old-timey suit-and-tie incarnation for the liveliness it desperately needs.

4/10

“God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen”

One of the more compositionally clunky of the well-known minor-key Christmas songs, this one unfortunately tends to show why minor-key songs are generally a weird fit for theme. I have heard a good few modern renditions though that make the song worth keeping around.

6/10

“Jingle in the Jungle”

This one’s for the real ones out there. “Jingle in the Jungle” is not a real Christmas song per se, but it pushes the boundaries; it’s courageous. The song comes from the television series, Bob’s Burgers, in a stressful Christmas-themed episode where the musically adventurous son of the titular character, Gene, burns out his dad’s cell phone battery waiting on hold for a radio station to request this song. The phone dies and he does not get the chance to request the song, but a Christmas miracle occurs, and the station decides to play the obscure, bongo-laden song anyway, and it sure is a fun minute-long diddy.

8/10

“Wonderful Christmastime”

Paul McCartney’s peppy Christmas tune that only kinda accomplishes its light-hearted goal is simply one of many throwaway inoffensive modern Christmas songs that seems to have only gained cultural traction due to it being repetitive and simplistic af, and being made by a Beatle.

5/10

“Happy Xmas (War Is Over)”

Well it would only make sense to have the battle of the Beatles here with John Lennon’s standout Christmas track, a far more soulful, bombastic, and triumphant song that echoed his idealistic spirit in a way that makes this song not all too different from his standout solo works and compositions with The Beatles. It’s a warm, hopeful song that draws from a grounding in the harshness of reality rather than some escapist fantasies about Santa or religion. Despite the acknowledgement of the ills of the world, Lennon’s vision of Christmas and his wish for the world is a day of recognition of love and unity, which is purer than 99% of the dogmatic or materialistic Christmas music above, and definitely the song right below this one.

9/10

“The Christmas Shoes”

Alright, rubbing the hands together, we’re coming to the end here, with this fucking song. It’s not the most famous Christmas song, thank God, but when I heard it for the first time, I was immediately repelled by the saccharine melody, uncannily blank-faced delivery, and sappy lyrics, but it’s one of those special songs that gradually reveals several layers of shit the more you fixate on it. For the uninitiated, the song came out in the year 2000, from the Christian band NewSong; it’s an aggressively sentimental holiday ballad with a bit of pop country vocal flair that only adds to the sinister hokey-ness of the lyrics. And that really is the ugliest facet of this song; as sickeningly cheesy as the music is, the simple lyrics here are more morbid and more disgusting than the grossest brutal death metal songs. The song is a simple narrative about a poor boy buying his sick mom some nice shoes on Christmas Eve so she can look nice for Jesus when she dies, tonight, on Christmas Eve. Yeah, it’s fucking sickening. The song is narrated from the perspective of a man in the store when the boy is buying the shoes and the narrator offers to buy the shoes for him, and he muses vaguely and confusingly on his generosity and Jesus being the “true” meaning of Christmas. Yes, there are so many questions being begged by this narrative. Why would Jesus give a shit about the shoes? Why is getting shoes this divine Christmas gesture? How do these shoes even come close to offsetting the pain and suffering and loss this family is suffering. This is like the opposite of John Lennon’s “Happy Xmas” in that it’s offering a pathetic consolation for the cruelty of a world where a loving God apparently offers only a stranger’s mild and momentary generous gesture for a poor family in the thralls of a mother’s illness. It’s grounded in the same reality that John Lennon presents, but it whitewashes it and minimizes the suffering in a manipulative way to shoehorn a rather cliche reminder to adhere to religious dogma and to keep your mind pure and holy and only on Jesus. A plain-faced telling of the narrative on its own makes it seem kind of benign, but the weirdly sappy tone of it all does a pretty poor job of hiding how contrived the emotion is and how unnatural it all is. Every facet of the lyrics is crafted to maximize the superficial primal tug at the heartstrings; it’s supposed to feel extremely tender and sweet, and aside from being completely transparently manufactured, the response it delivers to the story it sets up is creepily unhuman, the opposite of a natural response to the details of what the song presents, and its misplaced sense of justice makes the song a pretty apt representation of so much wrong with evangelicals’ attitudes surrounding Christmas.

0/10

“All I Want for Christmas Is You”

by Mariah Carrey. Ending on a positive note. Probably the best and most classic modern Christmas song to come out in my lifetime, it’s a sweet, romantic, upbeat love tune that really captures the best aspects of the holiday season. Never mind the relatives and their dumb political views and drama or the religious nonsense that people get so disingenuously up in arms about, or the consumerism. Christmas at its best is a time to appreciate love, and this song gets it.

9/10

And that is it, for me, I obviously know I will never be able to rate every Christmas/holiday song ever.

I had some time, so I had a little fun and charted the 38 semi-serious ratings of Christmas songs here, which I will also be doing with the 200-something metal albums I’ve been reviewing and now rating at the end of the year. Should be interesting. Now 38 isn’t a particularly huge sample of the huge swath of Christmas songs, nor was it random (I just listed a bunch of songs I was familiar with). It didn’t produce the normal curve I somewhat expect for the larger sample of metal albums later at the end of the year; rather, it shows a two-peak pattern, which could be due to the sample size, or maybe it just illustrates a somewhat unsurprising polarized sample of opinions on Christmas songs. The songs that I remember that are (mostly) pretty common, I either really like or really don’t like, most of the songs are not in the middle. These were songs I have heard for a long time and remembered pretty vividly, so I’ve developed some relatively strong opinions on them. Anyway, look at this graaaaaaphh.

#Christmas #Christmas songs #Christmas music #Holiday songs #holiday music

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fuckheadwitha · 4 years

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Listening to Rolling Stone's Top 500 Albums of All Time

Rolling Stone released an updated list of their top 500 albums of all time and being trapped in the purgatory of covid quarantine this seems like the perfect moment to tackle what an almost completely irrelevant former counter-culture institution has to say about music (we can’t actually blame Rolling Stone for this list, a huge number of musicians and critics voted to make it). I am going to listen to every single one of these, all the way through, with a level of attention that's not super intense but I'm definitely not having them on in the background as simple aural wallpaper. Two caveats though: I can make an executive decision to skip any album if I feel the experience is sufficiently miserable, and I'm also going to be skipping the compilation albums that I feel aren't really worth slots (best ofs, etc.). In addition, I will be ordering them as I go, creating a top 500 of the top 500 (it will be less than 500 since we've already established I'm skipping some of these).

Here are 500-490:

#500 Arcade Fire - Funeral

I can already tell I'm going to be at odds with this list if one of the most important albums of my high school years is at the bottom. That being said, I haven't actually given this whole thing a listen since probably the early 2010s, before Arcade Fire fatigue set in and the hipsterati appointed band of a generation just kinda seemed to fade from popular consciousness. I actually dreaded re-experiencing it, since the synthesis of anthemic rock and quirky folk instrumentation which Arcade Fire brought mainstream has now become the common shorthand of insufferable spotify friendly folk pop. Blessedly, the first half of the album easily holds up, largely propelled by dirty fast rhythm guitar, orchestration that's tuneful rather than obnoxious, and lyrics which come off as earnest rather than pretentious. The middle gets a little sappy and “Crown of Love”, a song I definitely used to like, really starts the grate. And then we get to “Wake Up”, whose cultural saturation spawned thousands of dorky indie rock outfits that confused layered strings and horns with power and meaning. This song definitely hasn't survived the film trailers and commercials which it so ubiquitously overlayed, but the line about "a million little gods causing rainstorms, turning every good thing to rust" still attacks the part of my brain capable of sincere emotion. This album is probably going to hold the top spot for a while, because although so many elements of Funeral that made it feel so meaningful, that made it stand out so much in 2004, have been seamlessly assimilated into an intellectually and emotionally bankrupt indie pop industrial complex, the album itself still has a genuine vulnerability and bangers that still manage to rip.

#499

Rufus, Chaka Khan - Ask Rufus

Before she became a name in her own right, Chaka Khan was the voice of the band Rufus, and it’s definitely her voice that shines amongst some spritely vibey funk. That’s not to say that these aren’t some jams on their own. “At Midnight” is a banging opener with a sprint to the finish, and although the explicitly named but kinda boring “Slow Screw Against the Wall” feels weak, this wasn’t really supposed to be an album of barn burners. This was something people put on their vinyl record players while they chilled on vinyl furniture after a night of doing cocaine. “Everlasting Love” is a bop with a bassline like a Sega Genesis game, and the twinkling piano on “Hollywood” adds a playful levity to lyrics that are supposed to be both tackily optimistic about making it big out in LA and subtly realistic about the kind of nightmare world showbiz can be. “Better Days” is another track that manages to be a bittersweet jam with a catchy sour saxophone and playful synths under Chaka Khan’s vamping. This album definitely belongs on a ‘chill funk to study and relax to’ playlist.

#498

Suicide - Suicide

We’ve hit the first album that could be rightly called a progenitor for multiple genres that followed it. Someone could say there’s a self-serving element of this being on a Rolling Stone list (the band was one of the first to adopt the label ‘Punk’ after seeing it in a Lester Bangs article) but the album’s legacy is basically indisputable. EBM, industrial, punk, post-punk, new wave, new whatever all have a genealogy that connects to Suicide, and it’s easy to hear the band in everything that followed. But what the band actually is is two guys, one with an electric organ and one with a spooky voice, doing spooky simple riffs and saying spooky simple things. Simplicity is definitely not a dis here. The opener “Ghost Rider” makes a banger out of four notes and one instrument, and the refrain ‘America America is killing its youth’ is really all the lyrical complexity you need to fucking get it. “Cheree” and “Girl” have almost identical lyrics (‘oh baby’ vs ‘oh girl’) but “Cheree” is more like a fairy tale and “Girl” is more like a sonic handjob. “Frankie Teardrop” has the audacity to tell a ten minute story with its lyrics, but of course there is intermittent, actually way too loud screaming breaking up the narrative of a guy who loses everything then kills his family and himself. The song is basically a novelty, and I think you can probably say the whole album is a novelty between its brevity and character. But for a bite sized snack this album casts a huge shadow.

#497

Various Artists - The Indestructible Beat of Soweto

The fact that this particular compilation always ends up in the canon has a lot to do with the cultural context it existed in, being America’s first encounter with South African contemporary music during the decline of apartheid (it wouldn’t end until a decade later in 1994 with the country’s first multi-racial elections). Music journos often bring up the fact Ladysmith Black Mambazo, the all male choir singing on the album ender “Nansi Imali”, sang on Paul Simon’s Graceland like their virtue is they helped Paul Simon get over his depression and not, like, the actual music. But also like, how is the actual music? Jams. Ubiquitous, hooky guitars propel the songs along with bright choruses over low lead vocals, but I didn’t expect the synthesizer on the bop “Qhude Manikiniki”, nor the discordant hoedown violin on “Sobabamba”. “Holotelani” is a groove to walk into the sunset to.

#496

Shakira - Donde Estan los Ladrones

So this is the first head scratcher on the list. It’s not like it sucks. And I think I prefer this 90s guitar pop driven spanish language Shakira to modern superstar Shakira. But I mean, it’s an album of late nineties latin pop minivan music, with a thick syrupy middle that doesn’t do anything for me. The opener and closer stand out though. ‘Ciega, Sordomuda’, one of the biggest pop songs of the 90s (it was #1 on the charts of literally every country in Latin America), has a galloping acoustic guitar and horn hits with Shakira’s vocals at their most percussive.

#495

Boyz II Men - II

So, if you were alive in the 90s you know Boyz II Men were fucking huge, and the worst song on the album is the second track “All Around the World”, basically a love song to their own success, and also the women they’ve banged. You can tell it was written specifically so that the crowd could go fucking wild when they heard their state/city/country mentioned in the song, and I’m not gonna double check but I’m sure they hit all fifty states. Once you’re over that hump though you basically have an hour of songs to fuck to. “U Know” keeps it catchy with propulsive midi guitar and synth horns, “Jezzebel” starts with a skit and ends with a richly layered jazz tune about falling in love on a train, and “On Bended Knee” has a Ragnarok Online type beat. Honestly this album can drag, but you’re not supposed to be listening to it alone in a state of analysis, you’re supposed to have it on during a date that’s going really, really well.

#494

The Ronettes - Presenting the Fabulous Ronettes

A singles compilation of the Ronettes, the only ones I immediately recognized were ‘Be My Baby’ and ‘Going to the Chapel of Love’, the latter of which I didn’t know existed since the version of the song I knew was by the Dixie Cups, which was apparently a source of drama since the Ronettes did it first but producer Phil Spector refused to release it. I feel like as a retro trip to sixties girl groups it’s full of enough songs about breaking up (for example “Breaking Up”) getting back together (for example “Breaking Up”) and wanting to get married but you can’t, because you’re a teenager (“So Young”).

#493

Marvin Gaye - Here, My Dear

This album only exists because Marvin was required by his divorce settlement to make it and provide all of the royalties to his ex-wife and motown executive Anna Gordy Gaye. It’s absolutely bizarre, phoned in mid tempo funk whose lyrics range from the passive aggressive (“This is what you wanted right?”) to the petulant (“Why do I have to pay attorney’s fees?”). There is a seething realness here that crosses well past the border of uncomfortable. I don’t think it’s an amazing album to listen to, but it’s an amazing album to exist: Marvin Gaye is legally obligated to throw his own divorce pity party, and everyone's invited.

#492

Bonnie Raitt - Nick of Time

I have never heard of Bonnie Raitt before but apparently this album won several grammys including album of the year in 1989 and sold 5 million copies, which I guess goes to show that no award provides less long term relevance than the grammys. The story around the album is pretty heartwarming, it was her first massive hit after a career of whiffs, and Bonnie Raitt herself is apparently a social activist and neat human being. I say all this because this sort of 80s country blues rock doesn't really connect with me, but the artist obviously deserves more than that. I unequivocally like the title track though, a hand-clap backed winding electric piano groove about literally finding love before your eggs dry up.

#491

Harry Styles - Fine Line

I do not think I have ever heard a one direction song because I am an adult who only listens to public radio. I’m totally open to pop bands or boy bands or boy band refugee solo artists, but I don’t like anything here. It’s like a mixtape of the worst pop trends of the decade, from glam rock that sounds like it belongs in a car commercial to folky bullshit that sounds like it belongs in a more family focused car commercial. This gets my first DNP (Does Not Place).

#490

Linda Ronstadt - Heart Like a Wheel

Another soft-rock blues and country album which just doesn’t land with me. But the opener “You’re No Good” is like a soul/country hybrid which still goes hard and the title track hits with the lyrics “And it's only love and it's only love / That can wreck a human being and turn him inside out”.

Current Ranking, which is weirdly almost like an inverse of the rolling stones list so far;

#rolling stone #500 greatest albums of all time

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janaikam · 4 years

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I Can’t Help Falling In Love With You - Collaboration

Day 4 of @luxyweek

Part 3

Read on AO3

There was some force working in XY’s favor because right as he made his realization, his phone went off. One of the first songs he had ever released, Answer Me, blared from his phone. It wasn't the first song he had ever written. No, the first song he wrote his father said it wouldn’t sell and told him the best way to produce music was to have other people do it for you.

XY moved away from the bathroom mirror to check his phone. His father was texting asking to meet for dinner later, which meant yet another boring business meal. Those were never fun because he had to be all serious and stuff, which was the exact opposite of his personality.

Plus he never really needed to be there. His father just told him plans for his career, and they moved on with their lives. It’s not like XY had decisions to make.

XY made bad decisions. That's what his father always said, so it was better to leave it up to other people to decide what was best.

“This has been fun, but I better go before, uhh, before someone recognizes me in these horrid clothes,” XY says quickly, moving to the bathroom door. “Can’t have my fans seeing me like this.”

“Of course. Image is everything. I wouldn’t want to be the one to ruin yours,” Luka said, dryly.

XY smiled. Luka already knew the first things about being a musician.

“I’m glad you understand! It’s definitely nothing against your personal style. Like it’s not all bad. This hoodie is super comfortable. How does something so nice and soft like this exist?” XY stopped his rant, realizing Luka was smirking at him. “Anyways gotta go. This was fun, we should do it again sometime!”

“NO, WE SHOULDN'T!!” he heard Luka yell, but XY was already at the top of the boat.

He dashed off the boat, running towards Le Grand Paris. Being around Luka seemed to have some effect on him that he hated to admit to himself, and he did not need Luka figuring that out.

He would probably use it as blackmail to get XY to buy him anything he wanted. After all, that’s what everyone else wanted.

XY was grateful that he didn’t run into anyone he knew on his run back to the hotel. If his dad found out he was playing dress-up like a little kid, he would get the worst lecture ever.

Thankfully when he returned, he still had about two hours until dinner with his dad, so he pulled out his laptop to play the Sims for a bit to try and distract himself.

It wasn’t until he was deep in a game with two male sims trying to become famous while raising a daughter that he realized he made Luka and himself in the Sims. What made things worse was that the Luka character had a more successful career than him.

Frustrated, XY slammed his laptop shut and threw it on the couch. Clearly, these feelings for Luka weren’t going to go away easily.

That blue-haired wannabe was giving him so much trouble, and he didn’t even know it. He wished that he was right there in his bedroom so XY could yell and give him a piece of his mind. Maybe cuddle a bit. Or even share secrets.

Just so Luka trusted him. Then he would blindside him with feelings. That way XY would have something on Luka.

Yes, that’s what he’ll do. Xavier-Yves Z Roth will make Luka Whatever His Middle Name is Couffaine fall in love with him.

Now all he had to do was figure out how exactly to do it.

----

The sweet sounds of his own music filled his ears as XY slowly woke up. The slight pain in his back let him know that his position on the couch the previous night was not very comfortable.

XY ignored the pain, moving to check his phone.

There were about ten messages from his father, nine more than he was used to. Most of the messages were questioning his whereabouts, which he found strange. XY hardly leaves his room, so it was easy to find him if someone really needed him.

It wasn’t until he scrolled up to the message from yesterday afternoon that he realized he skipped dinner with his father.

Quickly typing a response back, XY tried to think of an excuse as to why he never made dinner. Outright saying that he was watching rom coms to figure out how to make some guy fall in love with him was probably not the best. Especially considering his father wanted him to stay single, so all the girls would buy his album.

Instead, he lied, saying that he had found a great new song and was planning to record it as soon as possible. It would get his father off his back for a while and give XY more time to figure out what he was going to do.

He wanted to get on this Luka thing as soon as possible, but his movie marathon hadn’t been very successful. While the romcoms gave him some ideas, there were many flaws.

Like for one, two weeks in when the feelings are budding, Luka could find out what XY was doing and then hate him for it. It could ruin everything even if in a few days they made up.

Unfortunately for him, his father replied, saying he would stop by the studio to make sure everything was going alright. Which meant XY actually had to go down to the studio and find a song to record.

Just Great. It was gonna be a long day.

----

Everything was stupid.

None of the producers knew what they were doing, and XY couldn’t find a song to steal. He found that most of the producers at the record company were very nervous around him and didn’t want to upset him, which in turn just upset him even more.

“You guys can’t do anything right! How hard is it to just help me pick a song for my next album! There’s so much talent out there! Just find someone! I mean it can’t b-”

A knock at the studio door interrupted XY’s ranting, and everyone turned to see Luka there.

All the producers started whispering among themselves. From what XY gathered, “who would dare interrupt XY?”

XY tuned them out and instead focused on Luka. He looked very out of place with a plastic bag on his shoulder and his scruffed up everyday look.

XY couldn’t think of any reason for Luka to show up, but this was perfect. He could woo Luka and record a song for his dad in one fell swoop.

“Luka! What are you doing here?” XY asked, turning on his charm. He needed this to work or else he would have no way to get Luka back for the feelings XY was feeling.

The producers had stopped whispering instead, choosing to watch the interaction between XY and Luka. Their interest in what was happening was really getting on XY’s nerves.

“Could you guys go make music or something? You’re not needed right now,” XY told them, subtly implying that they should leave.

It worked as producers quickly grabbed their things and bolted out the door, leaving just Luka and XY in the studio.

“Uhh, I just dropped by to return your clothes. I don’t really need them, and Juleka was about to sell them online, so I thought you might want them back before she did that.”

XY blinked. XY vaguely remembered the purple haired girl from yesterday. Based on what Luka said, she didn’t seem very cash money to him.

“Oh, uh thanks.” It was weird the effect Luka had on him. One minute his head is filled with so many thoughts and ideas, and then the next it’s just head empty, no thoughts.

Luka handed him the plastic bag with clothes. XY took it and set it down on the floor.

“I couldn’t help but overhear, but were you trying to find a song to steal?” Luka asked, moving to the laptop XY had been looking at.

XY couldn’t help but feel that Luka was accusing him of something, but he had no clue what. It wasn’t like he was doing anything wrong.

“I mean yeah. It’s how I get all of my music. What else am I supposed to do?” XY flopped back into one of the studio chairs. The chair made a slight creak as it took on XY’s full weight.

“You could try writing your own music. You’re less likely to have akumas target you that way.” Luka crossed his arms while taking a deep breath.

“When has an akuma targeted me for stealing music?” XY scoffed.

“Are you…? You’ve got to be kidding me right? I was akumatized because you stole my band’s song!”

XY blinked. “You were? Huh, no idea how I forgot that. So were you a good akuma?”

“Wha-I-what does that even mean!?” XY inwardly smiled as Luka’s face became redder.

“Like did you win?”

Luka gave him a look that said, are you kidding me?

“Considering that you still have your voice, no I did not win.”

“Some akuma you were,” XY scoffed.

XY wasn’t really sure how, but Luka’s face almost looked like a tomato at this point. It was really cartoonish and super adorable.

“Well if Ladybug hadn't stopped me, then you would be mute, and you would somehow have to explain to your fans how you’re still able to ‘sing’ your songs.” Luka smirked as if he was proud of something.

“That’s easy! We would just keep making the music! It’s already what we do. Doesn’t really matter if I can’t hear them.”

XY could practically feel Luka’s anger coming off in waves. If Luka hadn’t taken a deep breath, XY was almost confident an akuma would’ve appeared. Though maybe that wouldn’t be too bad, it would give him an excuse for not having a song for his dad.

“Before I completely lose my cool, Xavier-”

“It’s XY actually.”

“Xavier-Yves. It is in your best interest that you decide to start writing your own music and shut up when other people are talking for crying out loud,” Luka finished. His face started turning back to it’s normal pale color, much to XY’s disappointment.

XY couldn’t help but think Luka looked cuter mad. It was just a fact.

“That’s too much effort. I’ve tried and I suck.”

Luka frowned. It was debatably cuter than when he was angry.

“If you suck, why don’t you try writing one with someone else? I’m sure if you at least have some ideas then someone else could help you polish things,” Luka asked.

XY paused. He’d never thought of doing that before, or really, his dad had never thought of that. He had always said that success was based on individual effort, not a group effort, so help from others was usually out of the question.

“What do you mean? Like a collab?”

Luka shrugged. “Yeah, something like that. I’m sure there’s someone out there who would be willing to work with you.”

That wasn’t necessarily true. Most other artists in Paris had either stolen their work by him, or he’d made fun of them so much that they cut off all contact with XY. Even some of the celebrities his dad produced were willing to risk their contracts just so they wouldn’t have to work with XY.

Perhaps there was still one musician that might help him, XY thought, looking towards Luka.

Putting on his best puppy dog eyes and duck face, XY asked, “Would you collab with me?”

Upon hearing XY’s question, Luka’s face turned into a disgusted one.

“Uh, yeah, I’ll help. But promise me one thing?”

“What?” XY asked eagerly. He would never admit it to Luka, but the thought of working with him made XY extremely excited.

“Never ever make that face again.”

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

As it turned out, Bob Roth never stopped by the studio. But XY couldn’t have cared less that his father never showed. He had so much fun with Luka that working didn’t even bother him.

It turned out Luka was an amazing guitarist. He was also very talented at the kazoo, making the harsh noise sound very melodic and pleasing to the ear.

The two instruments combined with XY’s sound mixing skills produced an awesome new song that he couldn’t wait to show his father. Even the producers that helped record the song said it was something no one could have ever imagined.

All in all, it was a great experience that XY wanted to do again. Who knew that a new music partner was all one needed to make good music?

When he got back to his room, XY ordered some fried chicken from room service and turned on the TV. He wasn’t really interested in what was on, but he left it on just as background noise. After all, the news could mention him in something amazing he did.

He was just ready to relax from a long day’s work without a care in the world.

Looking over at his bed, XY noticed Luka’s clothes thrown in a pile at the end of the bed. It would be nice of him to return Luka’s things. Especially since Luka returned his clothes instead of letting them be sold online.

XY sighed as he went to pick up the clothes. Luka better give him something in return for all of this.

Maybe he would give him a kiss on the cheek. Now that would be a great payment.

He had almost gathered everything. The last item on the floor was a plain silver bracelet. It was really strange cause all of Luka’s other bracelets were very colorful.

Grabbing the bracelet, it surprisingly turned a soft purple color, and a bright light filled the room. XY had no choice but to cover his eyes, dropping the clothes in his hands.

When the light cleared, there was a green snake thing floating in front of him.

“AHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!”

#luxyweek2k20 #luxy #luka #xy #luxury #my fic #my writing #collaboration #i cant help falling in love with you

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johannesviii · 4 years

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Top 10 Personal Favorite Hit Songs from 2019

The last list, for now. It’s been a wild ride.

Not the best of these lists, but some really refreshing stuff charted that year, and what was good was super good. And also, here’s a barely elligible #1 that nobody seemed to care about for some reason.

Disclaimers:

Keep in mind I’m using both the year-end top 100 lists from the US and from France while making these top 10 things. There’s songs in English that charted in my country way higher than they did in their home countries, or even earlier or later, so that might get surprising at times.

Of course there will be stuff in French. We suck. I know. It’s my list. Deal with it.

My musical tastes have always been terrible and I’m not a critic, just a listener and an idiot.

I have sound to color synesthesia which justifies nothing but might explain why I have trouble describing some songs in other terms than visual ones.

In 2019, my finger was fixed, I dropkicked depression in the garbage bin (with a little help from Eurovision because it was super good and full of hilarious shit), got married, and went on a roadtrip on Vancouver Island (BC, Canada), and that was my first real travel in 13 years. Met a lot of great people, seen amazing places, trees, bears and whales. And planes are also part of the adventure when you’re not used to them (you can watch movies on little screens from your seat now?? I had no idea. I watched so many movies). It was very exciting.

I also saw VNV Nation live in February, for the third time in six years. This time I had enough budget to buy a tshirt. I wasn’t expecting that concert to be even better than the previous two. At that point the new album had only been out for a couple of months and we still knew the lyrics of most of the new songs and Ronan’s face was constantly broadcasting a kind of “...........how” expression (face it guys, we like you. A lot). And they finished with All Of Our Sins and let me tell you, half the club was ready to start a revolution by the time that was over. Super intense.

Ok. 2019 albums! First, let’s talk about some negative things. Coldplay released Everyday Life at the end of the year. It was... uh. It was basically how I stopped loving their new stuff. That’s a very sad conclusion (for now) to this saga. This is exactly what I feared would have happened after Viva La Vida, aka them trying to go back to their earlier sound - except in the meantime we’ve got three fantastic albums with songs full of energy and joy. So I’m not too mad about this, just disappointed.

Within Temptation released Resist, and it wasn’t very good either, but I appreciated the general aesthetic of it. More SF-themed albums in symphonic metal, please. NF released The Search and while I’m still not a fan there’s a song on it that would have been #1 on this list if it had been elligible, so that’s something. And Carly Rae Jepsen released Dedicated and it was super good so why isn’t she getting new hits. Why. It feels unfair. Oh, and Avantasia made Moonglow and that’s the first time I’ve cared about their stuff in like a decade or so. Ghost In The Moon is super good, check it out.

But the big event of the year music-wise, as far as I’m concerned, was the return of two bands I thought we had lost forever. Of course My Chemical Romance reformed, but they don’t have new music yet, so the main event for this post is the return of Tool with Fear Inoculum. It’s not even their best album, but having a pretty good new Tool album in the year of our lord 2019 wasn’t at all something I was counting on. Of course, the hardcore fans are still as insufferable as ever (insert the “you need a pretty high IQ” copypasta here), but it didn’t spoil my enjoyment of it. Come on! Their first album in 13 years! 80 minutes of hypnotic heavy rhythms and weird shit, an album that trolled me when I opened it by playing a music video while I was looking somewhere else (yeah I jumped), and they even managed to land a track for one week on the US hot 100! Again, Tool! On the hot 100! in 2019! Unbelievable. Are we starting to return to the good timeline? I certainly hope so.

Unelligible songs, now. The Search by NF would have topped this list super easily. Might be one of the songs I listened to the most in 2019, actually. Now That I Found You by Carly Rae Jepsen, again, should have been a hit, and I beg you to watch this music video if you’ve never seen it. The 1975 released the super unexpected People, which was still good, and also Frail State of Mind. And most unexpected of all, three artists I didn’t care about at all teamed up and made absolute gold: I Think I’m OKAY, by Machine Gun Kelly, YUNGBLUD and Travis Barker. That would have been the second slot on this list if it had been elligible. Or maybe the first, even? Not sure. I’m just so happy this kind of angry but uplifting music is starting to become popular again. I just love everything about this song.

Here’s a short list of honorable mentions!

Roi (Bilal Hassani) - I don’t like this song a lot, but I do like it, I’m glad it was our song for the ESC 2019, and Bilal is a very nice and endearing person, and everyone who disrespects him on twitter is free to come fight me in the pit, where I’m still waiting with that tambourine from my 1992 list.

Con Calma (Daddy Yankee, Katy Perry, Snow) - You already know I liked the original Informer a lot, so I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t pleased to hear this clone of it on the radio.

Breathin’ (Ariana Grande) - Here’s the usual “if I had better taste this would be higher” honorable mention.

Summer Days (Martin Garrix) - In the absence of any new hit song from Macklemore this will do in a pinch.

Circles (Post Malone) - The fact that everyone seems to adore this and I’m over there saying “it’s ok I guess” probably means I will never love Post Malone nor understand the hype about him, and that’s okay, I can live with that.

High Hopes (Panic! At the Disco) - Still elligible. Still good but too borderline annoying to make the list.

How Do You Sleep (Sam Smith) - This year Sam Smith pulled a Viva La Vida and decided to stop making boring music all of a sudden and I’m LIVING FOR THIS. I certainly hope they continue in that direction.

And now, the list.

10 - La Grenade (Clara Luciani)

US: Not on the list / FR: #55

The only semi-filler on the list. I still like it a lot. Don’t have anything to say about it, though.

9 - Panini (Lil Nas X)

US: #40 / FR: Not on the list

Wasn’t too impressed by this at first and it took a while to grow on me, but the chorus is a nice little earworm, and “hey panini, don’t you be a meanie” has a tendency to pop in my head when I read hateful comments on the internet now. And Lil Nas X is just too endearing to be ignored. We’re so lucky to have someone who became famous so quickly and instantly decided to dress like a Jojo character and have the geekiest music videos possible and still be super nice and humble. We don’t deserve this guy.

8 - Dance Monkey (Tones And I)

US: Not on the list / FR: #6

I’m super glad the US are finally getting on the hype train in 2020 because this is a ton of fun. If the voice was juuuuuust a little less grating this would be even higher. Impossible to get it out of your head and somehow in this case that’s a good thing.

7 - Dancing With a Stranger (Sam Smith & Normani)

US: #14 / FR: Not on the list

As I said in the honorable mentions, Sam Smith pulled a Viva La Vida and decided to stop making boring music all of a sudden and I couldn’t be happier about that. This song is still a bit too calm for my taste most of the time, but when I’m in the right mood, it’s just fantastic.

Again, I hope Sam Smith continues in that direction, because if you had told me a couple of years ago that I would start to like their stuff one day, I would have laughed out loud.

6 - Bad Guy (Billie Eilish)

US: #4 / FR: #16

Duh.

I’m not as enthusiastic about When The Party’s Over as a ton of people are, mostly because, well, it’s a slow emotional song with little to no colour in it and by now you’re already aware I tend to have next to zero interest in that kind of songs. Bad Guy, on the other hand, is half hilarious half scary in equal doses, and even if I’m not super fond of the weird outro, it’s still a fantastic, weird as shit song, and I’m really glad Billie Eilish exists. Can’t wait to see where she goes from there.

I’m super glad this song didn’t come out when I was a teenager myself though. Come to think of it, I’m not sure I would have survived if the musical landscape from 16 years ago had been as depressed as it currently is. Thank god music is slowly getting more energetic again in 2020. Let’s stay on that track.

5 - Hey Look Ma I Made It (Panic! At The Disco)

US: #61 / FR: Not on the list

I follow several music critics on youtube and over the course of 2019, I’ve seen undiluted vitriol and hatred against this song (Spectrum Pulse even made a list of his “worst hit songs” of the decade and put this one at #10! TEN!!). And... I don’t really get where it’s coming from? Maybe I’m too literal-minded to see what the problem is with a sarcastic song saying “look I sold out and now I found success again! And it’s not that great!”. I just think it’s a lot of fun. Thank god Todd put it on his best list, at least we can agree on one thing for once.

It is hilarious that after putting so many Fall Out Boy songs on my lists, the one that I love the most from Panic! is the sellout song. Not sure why this was huge while the even better Say Amen wasn’t, though.

4 - Sunflower (Swae Lee & Post Malone)

US: #2 / FR: Not on the list

I usually don’t get the “chill” songs that tend to be successful these days but this one, unlike most Post Malone songs (bar Circles), has lovely pastel colors and a cloudy texture and it’s a really good vibe. It took several months to grow on me but it sure did.

In about ten years, people will listen to Sunflower and be submerged by nostalgia, mark my words.

3 - Old Town Road (Lil Nas X)

US: #1 / FR: #1 (see, everyone agrees for once)

Everyone on the planet already wrote a thinkpiece about this song and yet I’ve only seen maybe one out of five mentioning, just in passing, that the entire song is based on a Nine Inch Nail track from Ghosts I-IV, superbly re-used to make a weird and insanely catchy country hip hop song out of it. Ghosts has been one of my go-to albums to listen to while I’m painting for about ten years now. I’m saying all this because hearing a track from Ghosts on the radio for months was absolute bliss for me, especially in a new and improved version.

Thank you Lil Nas X for everything you’ve been doing and I wish you a long and successful career. You deserve it. I love this and I love you.

2 - Bury A Friend (Billie Eilish)

US: #73 / FR: Not on the list

Hello again, Billie Eilish.

This song is absolutely terrifying and that was before I even saw the music video. This is the soundtrack of your nightmares right there. I’m not even sure it deserves to be so high on the list, but frankly I’m too terrified to care. Maybe Old Town Road should be higher. I don’t know.

Also you have to know that when I’m super tired I go into echolalia mode and automatically repeat words or entire sentences that my brain considers interesting, like “potiron” (pumpkin) or “dramatique” ; and recently, my brain decided “when we all fall asleep, where do we go?”, sung exactly like it’s sung in this song, was its new favorite sentence. So. Hearing yourself saying that to an empty room while you’re drawing or folding clothes or cleaning plates is not a very pleasant experience, and it makes this song extra scary to me.

And now, here’s the last #1 of the last one of these lists (for now), and I’m glad to announce it closes this series of posts in a super fitting way.

Check this out. It’s so perfect in every way.

1 - Walk Me Home (Pink)

US: #99 / FR: Not on the list

Nobody seemed to care about this song over the course of 2019, and it's barely elligible, and I still have no idea why. The music reviewers I follow only either talked about it super briefly when it came out, or not at all. The rare ones who were making top 100s at the end of the year instead of top 10s usually put it somewhere in the middle of their lists. And yet it’s the elligible song I’ve listened to the most.

If you’ve been reading this series of posts for a while now, you probably already know exactly why it’s here, but here’s a quick recap.

The second album I ever bought in my life was Pink’s Missundaztood in 2002, and I loved her music a lot:

I was still really fond of her stuff in 2007:

Then she started to become less interesting and I basically ignored her apart from a brief blip on my radar in 2017:

Meanwhile, in 2012, fun. made some of the best songs of the entire decade before vanishing instantly, and I’ve been mourning them ever since:

And in the middle of last year, here I am, listening to the radio, and suddenly I hear something that sounds exactly like a fun. song, except I’ve never heard it before and it’s sung by a female singer, and, most importantly, it’s 2019 and fun. broke up more than six years earlier. And I’m like, what’s going on. This is so good. What the hell. What is this.

And I hear it a second time weeks later, and I google it, and I discovered that 1) it was Pink singing this, which made it my favorite Pink song in literally more than ten years, and 2) it was, indeed, written by one of the guys from fun., among other people who’s influence is less obvious.

I guess the main lesson from 2019, between newcomers making great music based on dead trends, old groups reforming, and this song, is that nothing’s gone forever, and things you used to enjoy can come back at the most unexpected time and in the most unexpected form.

There’s always, always gonna be new music to love, and it’s just a question of time.

Quick note

And with this, these lists are over... for now.

I don’t regret making them even if they were a ton of work, because that was super useful for a lot of different reasons.

They helped me get a better understanding of my own life’s chronology. That may sound stupid but I tend to link events to the music I was listening to at the time, and putting all that music in chronological order helped a lot.

I rediscovered a ton of songs I had completely forgotten about, and a lot of new ones. My playlist is much richer now and I’m happy about that.

I also discovered a few artists I knew nothing about.

It forced me to analyse two depressive episodes in my life and just because everything was now in exact chronological order, it accidentally helped me pinpoint what caused both of them. Better and cheaper than therapy. Impressive.

It made me realise how important some bands and artists had been in my life, and I relistened to some of their catalogue while making these lists. For some it was really obvious (Indochine, Placebo, Mylène Farmer, My Chemical Romance among some others), and for some others (Moby, Linkin Park, Mika in particular), it was a real surprise.

It made me realise that Placebo might have been huge in France but weirdly enough not that huge in the UK nor in the US. It’s especially striking when you look at their wikipedia page in English then in French and realise how detailed the French one is compared to the English one. Can’t believe Sleeping With Ghosts was a n°1 album here and basically nowhere else. That was the band where that discrepency was the most obvious but it wasn’t the only one like that. Really puts stuff in perspective.

It also helped me realise how cyclical popular music is. 1) trends tend to die near the end of every decade and the worst year is usually somewhere between the 8th and the 9th year. 2008 and 2018 tend to confirm this. 2) For the same reason, some new & interesting stuff appears at the beginning of every decade, and reaches its high point of quality between the 2nd and 4th year of the decade. 3) Basically I’m saying we’ve now passed the lowest musical quality in recent memory and 2022-2023 will have some exceptional music.

See you in December 2020. I have no doubt there’s a ton of great music coming up in the near future.

#Johannes’ bad not good pretty terrible music lists #music #long post #the last one #I can't believe this is over #I loved making these lists #spider tw #eye contact tw

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sevenringsblingbling · 5 years

Text

Sienna and Colson part 3

Word count: 5,921 (Damn Daniel!)

I sat there in shock reading Jade’s message. How does one respond to something like that? This is the same woman who kissed me and saw my bare tits not only that but she complimented them! How will I face her now? “It's Jade isn't it?” Colson asked with a smirk on his face. “Yeah.” I sighed. “What the fuck do I say?” I showed him the message. He grabbed the phone out of my hand and started typing. I was worried about what he would say. He was smiling the whole time. “Babe don't embarrass me. She's gonna think that’s shit I'm saying!” I tried to grab the phone from him, but he just moved around keeping me from getting it. “Girl after the crazy shit that went down last night, she probably feels embarrassed too.” He's right she's probably is feeling awkward too. Besides we were all consenting adults. I could handle this like a big girl. I think. He finally slide my phone over. I braced myself.

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*Later that evening*

“This steak tho. It's awesome. I'm not really keen on red meat but this hits.” We were sitting down at some fancy French restaurant. Finally I had gotten what I'd been asking for since we got here. No It wasn't the original place I had wanted, that place was booked solid but right across the street from it was this. The food was pretty good, hell it should be at these prices. Can you believe it a hundred and fifty-two dollars for a steak! That's not even including any sides but seeing as how it was our last night in Vegas might as well do it big. “Here let me try a piece.” He took the knife and cut off a huge slice of steak from my plate. As much as I wanted to, I didn't say anything after all he was paying for the whole thing. I should be grateful to have a man such as him. He’s got a lot of fucking money, a poppin ass career, he’s sexy, and has a big dick. I'm a lucky bitch to even be in his presence.

I tapped his hand on the table. “Thanks again for that thing earlier.” He raised his brow and smirked “Babe you don't have to thank me. You can suck me off whenever you want.” “Not the thing we did in the shower.” I smiled. “I’m talking about the thing with Jade.” I grabbed my wine glass off the table. He put his utensils down on the table and looked at me. “Oh, my bad. No problem. I've known Jade for a while now. She’s understanding. Besides she’s got to be to be Marco’s assistant.” We both laughed. I took a deep breath. “Yeah babe. I'm still fucking nervous about facing her but I'm just glad she was cool about the whole thing.” I pushed the steak around on my plate. “Babe did she ever mention her and Marco being fuck buddies? That seems odd.” “What do you mean?” He asked. “I mean they both work together it's got to be weird sleeping with the same person you work for. She made it seem like she hated working for him. Why sleep with someone you hate?” He shrugged his shoulders. “Well that's they business.” Turning his attention to his cell phone.

When Colson and I first started linking up he would always go into these rants about the industry and industry etiquette. He said that I was fresh meat and that he knew what was best for me. “These fuckers are vultures just waiting to pick at your flesh. Trying to see what they can get from you all the while pretending to be your friend. A lot of fake shit.” As things started to progress in our relationship Colson would give me a list of rules to follow when I was with him. One of the rules that he would repeat often was the ‘myb.’ Minding your business. I’d been to a handful of events and so far I hadn’t seen anything too crazy. Men would approach me and try their best pick up line. When I would reject their advances, sometimes they’d offer me drugs, camera time, basically anything to get me to say yes.

At first, I remember thinking ‘Wow these rich guys are so persistent.’ I’d left these events feeling flattered that these men had taken a liking to me. They’d must had seen something in me that I didn't see in myself. I wasn’t the prettiest girl in the room nor was I a celebrity, so I figured that maybe I did have a certain ‘it factor’. Don't get me wrong I wouldn't have stepped out on Colson, but it felt nice to know that I could still turn heads. “Don't feel special. Like I told you your fresh meat. Any woman riding out with me ain't gonna be no weak bitch. These idiots ain’t got love for you. Remember that.” The night he said that I felt all the air leave my chest. So I wasn't special? Did I not turn heads? That insecure little girl inside of me had crept up again trying to takeover but then I remembered simply that Colson was a vet in the game. He knew the truth and was only trying to protect me.

By no means was he ‘perfect’, yes he’s got a temper along with some anger issues but that's just because being in the industry can change people and most of the time it's for the worst. Also considering how his childhood was I shouldn't hold it against him. Colson was able to accept me and all my flaws why shouldn't I be willing to go the extra distance for him. I don't want to make him sound all bad. We’ve had some happy moments together. Sometimes where we actually agreed on a few things. “And so, then I told the guy I wasn’t doing no fucking club appearance for some wack ass twenty-five. I need at least forty-five. Like bruh I've got a family to take care of. I need all my fucking money.” I hadn't noticed Colson was talking this whole time. I had been so wrapped up in my own thoughts. “Right babe.” I responded hoping he wouldn't notice that my mind had wandered off. He shook his head. “You wouldn't understand. This industry shit is all fucked.” I always tried to comfort him as best I could. “Babe don’t worry everything will be taken care of.” Fuck! Sienna is that the best you could come up with. I could sense he was getting agitated. “Hey how about we order a yummy desert?�� I asked the waiter for a menu to change the subject and lighten the mood. “Well let's see here.” I looked over it. “The tiramisu looks good. They've got your favorite babe, Cheesecake.”

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Once we got in the car to go back to the hotel babe didn't say much to me. He blasted music from the stereo system while smoking. Which I didn't mind much it gave me time to think about us. Think about our ‘relationship’ I'm not even sure if that’s what I could call it. I had been introduced to everyone as his ‘girl’ and a lot of people didn't even know my fucking name less I spoke up and told them. There were no formal introductions, no first name last name oh you two are so cute how’d you meet situations. “You wanna hit this?” he held out the joint to me. I took it and inhaled as far as my lungs could take which ended in a coughing fit. “You alright?” I rolled down the window a bit and nodded. Often I had wondered just what he really thought of me.

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Two a.m.

Sienna rolled around on the bed after a restless few hours of sleep. She awoke in a pitch-black room. Colson’s side of the bed was empty. No surprise to Sienna Colson rarely slept and if he did it was only for a couple of hours. She called out his name but of course no answer. She thought perhaps he’s just in some other part of the place and can't hear her. She got up to retrieve her cell off the chair and laid back down. Zero missed calls. Zero text messages. Nothing new about that. Sienna didn't have much friends and the ‘girlfriends’ she thought she had made weren't contacting her anymore for whatever reason. Colson told her that would happen. That sooner or later the women she had become cool with would distance themselves. Something about them being green. She didn't really understand it, but he usually was right about stuff like this, so she accepted it.

She had checked her social media just to see what was going on in the world. What butt hurt celeb would be going off on a troll in their comment section. What/who was trending. What fashions were trendy now. Things of that nature. In her recommendations she stumbled across a post that read ‘MGK gets lit at a Vegas nightclub.’ It had been posted 45 minutes ago. As she slid through the photos there were pictures of him arriving, inside the club, drinking and dancing, standing on top of the counter top rapping his songs. Giving a whole live performance while she was tossing and turning half the night.

“Is he serious?” I screamed into my phone hoping that somehow this was fake and that he really wasn’t at the club on our very last fucking night here! I needed a drink asap, Flung the fridge door open and picked up a random bottle of wine and drank it straight out the bottle. Desperate times call for desperate measures. Okay think bitch. I took a deep breath and sat down on the couch. I didn't call because I knew he wouldn't answer. I didn't text because I know my man, he’s probably high out of his mind flirting with every dress in the building. I had no choice but to wait for him to come home...if he came home at all. I turned on the tv in hopes it would distract me. I channel surfed for a bit and settled on the cartoon network. A little while later my phone lit up with a text message from no other than Ms. Jade. I rolled my eyes. She was the last person I wanted to talk to. I was already pissed at Colson and this bitch was going to get the wrath of how I'm feeling right now if she didn't back off! Besides what the fuck could she possibly want to talk to me about this late at night. Jade: Hey hon. Hope you’re feeling better food poisoning is no joke :( anyways your guy is too lit lol rn. But don’t worry he’s getting to you in one piece.

The fuck? Did this fool really lie and tell her I had food poisoning. All I could do was shake my head. Truly I had no one else to blame but myself. I chose to be in a relationship with a fucking rap artist and this was the price to pay. I paced back and forth in the living room laughing while drinking my wine. “This shit is not what I signed up for. I swear I can’t pick a good man to save my life.” I was feeling a whirlwind of emotions just then I heard the key card ding and a voice other than Colson’s on the other side of the door. Dressed in a bra and boy shorts I ran into the bedroom and threw on one of his t-shirts to cover my body. The door was opened. I just sort of stood there not sure what to expect. There was a big guy helping Colson through the door. “Ayy hey baby.” His words slurring waving at me. I rolled my eyes. The big guy helped Colson over to the couch. “Alright bro you’re home now.” He shook his head. “Need to stop all that drinking man. I can't keep holding up your tall ass every time you get drunk. I'm out.” As he was walking toward the door, I stopped him. “Hi. look, thanks for getting him home safe. Wait something for your trouble.” He put his hands up in protest. “Nope I'm doing this. Don't try and stop me.” He put his hands down. I walked over to Colson and dug in his pants pocket pulling out a wad of loose bills and threw it on the coffee table. I figure he’s drunk and high it's not like he’ll remember any of this shit tomorrow, besides he owes this guy for getting him home on one piece. A fifty-dollar bill won’t break the bank. I handed it to him and sighed. “Looks like I'll have my hands full tonight. Thanks again.” He took the crisp bill and placed it in his pants pocket. “Oh no, thank you ma'am. This fifty going towards some flowers for my wife. I should've been home by now.” we said our goodnight and I shut the door behind him.

I looked over at Colson slumped over on the couch. I was so upset at this man I should leave his ass just like this and go back to bed. But deep down I would've felt terrible doing him like that. Sucking my teeth, I walked toward him, knelt down and pulled his boots off. “I'm fucked right now.” He laughed. “I know. You sneaked off to the club and had fun, didn’t you?” He nodded. Inside I was boiling but I kept a calm demeanor. I helped him take his jacket off and put it on the kitchen chair. I’d spotted my to-go container from earlier on the counter. Perhaps a little food would sober him up. “Okay babe open.” I tried to feed him some of the leftover fried rice, but it just ended up falling on the couch and carpet. So much for that idea. “Damn baby your skin. Its fucking soft.” His head was in my lap touching my thigh. Compliments won’t help you Colson. I rubbed his head trying to figure out how the fuck I was going to get this man in bed without breaking my back. I couldn’t let his tall ass sleep in the couch. It would've been too small for him and he already complains about neck problems. “Babe lets go to the bedroom.” I stood up and pulled him towards me trying to help him up. He stumbled off the couch. “Colson don't fall on me! Please baby be careful.” I was deathly afraid this big tall ass man would fall on top of a little five-foot one Sienna and I wouldn't have been able to lift him off me.

The time seemed to drag on as I helped him through the hall. I had to stop every couple of seconds to catch my breath and readjust. Colson may seem light but trust me he weighs a hell of a lot more than I do. I wasn't used to this. When we got to the bedroom I sat him up on the edge of the bed. I unbuckled his belt to get his pants off. “Oh shit. I'm finna get a blow.” He looked at me smiling. “No baby I'm trying to help you get comfortable. Help me I'm struggling.” He pulled his pants down to the knee waiting for me to do something. Shaking my head. I swear men are different creatures. I pulled his pants through his legs leaving them on the rug. He fell back on the bed, eyes closing. I straddled him and unbuttoned his shirt. He grabbed my ass rubbing it. I felt that big ass dick starting to stir in his boxers. “Baby when can I fuck this juicy ass. You've been holding out for too long.” My flesh was weak, but I was still pissed. Seriously now is not the time to try and get me to have anal. I put my hands on his chest. “No babe. Stop.” I looked at the clock on the nightstand. “Its four in the morning. We sleep now.” He sighed. “That's the perfect time to do the freakiest shit.” I rolled my eyes. “Yeah sure it is. Look baby it's late. I'm tired. Sleep honey.” Kissing him of the forehead I lifted off him and pulled the comforter on top of us hoping to get a few more hours of sleep.

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Periodically he’d get up and go to the bathroom, sleep for a bit, hold me, watch tv, walk out onto the balcony. I was certain his hangover was creeping up on him. Shit that's what he gets for sneaking out to the club and drinking like a fish! I mean I kind of felt sorry for him every time he held me. But then I remembered he lied about me to Jade telling her I had food poisoning. Really Colson that's the best lie you could have come up with? Honestly, I wasn't sure how to get my emotions in check. And to top it all off he didn't even apologies last night to me or that kind gentleman that got him home safely.

By eight o’clock I was up and ready to take on the day. I had taken my shower got dressed in some black leggings and a Fendi crop top (courtesy of babe) and was cooking some breakfast in the kitchen. Colson was still in bed sleeping. He’d had a rough few hours fighting that hangover. He told me the worst part of it was the nausea, so I had poured him a cup of orange juice and picked up one of his joints laying around to take it to him. I walked over to his side of the bed and sat down putting the cup on the nightstand. “Goodmorning baby.” I said with a cheerfulness in my voice. His eyes squinted open. “Ah fuck. Close the fucking blinds baby, too much fucking light.” I shook my head and got up to close the blinds and shut the door making the room dark inside. I sat back down on the bed. “Are you okay?” I asked him. “Look at me, does it look like I'm okay. My stomach feels sick and don't talk so loud.” But sir you're yelling but whatever.

Okay so someone definitely has an attitude this morning. “So I got you some orange juice. Actually, I made breakfast nothing too heavy just some fried egg, toast, and oatmeal.” He thought about it for a minute. “I'll take the toast, and can you get me that bottle of iced coffee out the fridge.” I simply nodded and went to get it. When I got back, we just continued our conversation. “I found this joint laying around. I figured it might help with the nausea.” I hit it up with the lighter that was on the floor and passed it to him. “Thanks babe,” He tongue kissed me then planted another on my chin and forehead. “That’s why I keep yo pretty ass around. You always know what daddy needs." I flicked my hair back. “Yeah whatever, you say that to all ya lil hoes.” He was such a player and could sweet talk any woman he met. I knew that because well first he did it to me and second, he flirted with women when he was out with me, so I had witnessed this first hand. His charming, smooth talking ass got on my nerves I swear. “Yeah I do but you're my favorite hoe.” He smiled at me blowing smoke out his mouth. I gave him the finger and snatched the joint out his hand. We smoked in the room talking and laughing for another twenty minutes before he got up out the bed to take a shower. “Our flight is at seven. I know that's late as fuck but I don’t have a show on Monday so shit.” He shrugged his shoulders. “Okay babe I'm gonna get my shit packed and we’ll figure out something.”

I'd realized that most of our shit was in the living room all sprawled out everywhere. Clothes on the floor, the coffee table had jars of weed and rolling papers all over it. The kitchen counter had liquor bottles and shot glasses galore. Looking around you’d think our vacay was lit and honestly looking back on everything that took place it really was though. I had cleaned up everything and had my stuff packed up an hour later. Colson was dressed and feeling much better than how he was earlier. He played music from the sound bar while he smoked some more. I joined him on the balcony outside. It was a sunny day but there was a nice breeze hitting our skin. “You’re feeling better I see.” He was dressed in a black merch shirt and a pair of grey joggers looking like a mutha fucking snack.

“Yeah I'm at a eighty percent.” He yawned and threw his arms up to stretch. “Only a eighty baby?” I questioned. “Yeah my fuckin head just feels clouded can't think straight.” Well that’s what happens when you go out to party and drink like a fish and lie and say I have food poisoning, I just smiled. “Poor baby. Well I gotta go lay down seeing as how I have food poisoning and all.” I glanced at him and got up from the table. He grabbed my arm in attempt to stop me. “Whoa baby, I need your help with something.” He looked me up and down gawking. “Oh please! Lotion is in the bathroom. I'm sure the hub has a nice selection of videos for you to choose from.” “Why would I do that when I’ve got a real live fucking mermaid in front of me.” He pulled me onto his lap. I could feel his haed dick. I sucked my teeth. Damn him and his charming good looks. “Please baby. Just help me feel better.” He looked at me with those beautiful eyes. How could I deny him in this state?

I dropped down to my knees and began pulling at his joggers freeing that big juicy dick from its confines. It slapped me in the face, but I liked it so much. I felt like a total slut, but it was worth it. I looked up at him and spit on his dick head twirling my tongue in all that pre-cum and saliva. He threw his head back in ecstasy. “Oh fuck. You dirty little slut.” I smiled back up at him and took that dick so deep my throat his balls were almost touching my chin. I pulled my top up exposing my breast. My nipples were hard, the cool air touching them just made them even more sensitive. I deep throated him while pinching my nipples. He looked down at me in disbelief at how deep I was taking his meat. I had practiced with bananas and popsicles for a while now so I'm just glad it was finally paying off.

“You like that daddy?” i jacked his dick with both hands leaving a trail of spit from my mouth to that dick. He moaned. “God damn baby yes. Play with that pussy while you suck me.” I nodded and put my right hand in my leggings, my cunt was already soaking wet. Sucking dick really turns me on. I put two fingers inside myself and went to town. He reached down to play with my nipples while I had my mouth full of his cock gagging on it and loving it with my throat. “Baby that mouth is incredible.” He grunted out. Next thing I know he pulled me up and tongue kissed me then went down my neck whispering dirty things in my ear. “You are such a nasty little girl.” Kiss. “That pussy is mine.” Kiss. “I own you.” Kiss. “Soon I'm going to fuck that ass too. Just think, when you're on your period you can please me and keep me satisfied,” Kiss. “And these tits...” He left a trail of kisses from my neck to my hard nipples and started sucking and biting them. Alternating from the left to right.

My breath quickened. I just realized how much I loved my nipples being sucked, such a turn on. He went to biting them harder it did hurt but the pleasure was amazing. I couldn't wait any longer I needed to be fucked hard and deep. My pussy was throbbing so hard I could feel my heartbeat down there. “Please fuck me.” I moaned. He put his hand in my panties rubbing my slit gently putting two fingers inside. “You’ve got the wettest cunt. I swear.” He was working those fingers inside me. I could hear my wetness sounding like someone stirring macaroni. I whined and moaned. It felt so fucking good to have something buried in my cunt. “Taste yourself.” When he pulled those fingers out of my panties, they were coated with my juices. It was so thick and creamy. I gladly sucked on them tasting myself. “Oh fuck baby what's that pussy taste like? Hmm tell me.”

He was so amazed by me sucking those fingers I could tell my man was in pure bliss. “Mmm it tastes sweet daddy.” All this teasing was just turning me on even more I just wanted to be fucked already. “Pleasee fuck me.” I bit my lip and put a pleading look on my face. At this point was just waiting to be penetrated no matter what hole he wanted to use. I just needed to be filled up. I started playing with my pussy in front of him and licking my own juices off. He just watched me in disbelief, I'm sure he couldn't believe I was being this nasty for him outside on a hotel balcony thirty-seven floors up. Something in his eyes changed suddenly they got dark. He balled up his fist and continued watching me. I was about to suck his dick again when he picked me up and carried me into the bedroom and threw me down on the bed hard. “You little teasing bitch, I'll teach you a lesson.” I felt scared. I wasn't sure what he was going to do to me. What he was going to do to my body. He yanked my leggings and panties off in one swift motion. I sat up on my elbows to get a good view of what was going on. He spread my legs open exposing my pussy to his eyes. “I’m gonna fuck your face and you’re going to like it.” He pulled the rest of his clothes off. I smirked up at him playing with my tits. I was so ready for this.

“Wait come lay across my lap first. Crawl over to me and keep those sexy ass heels on.” I did as I was told feeling so anxious about what was going to happen next. I laid there in silence hoping he would do something to ease the aching between my legs. “I don't want you to make a sound. You’ve been such a tease with that little slut body.” He spread my ass cheeks open so he could get a good look at my pussy and asshole.“Hmm you're really fucking wet.” His thumb glided over my clit rubbing it in circles then he went up to my asshole putting my juices on it. I tensed up. “Relax baby. I’ve got something special for you.” I couldn't see what was going on behind me, but I heard what sounded like a plastic bag and something clanking with the rings in his finger. My heart was beating so fast I thought it would jump out my chest. Colson has never fully penetrated my asshole with anything besides his finger and honestly, I wasn't sure if it would hurt or not. I had watched anal porn and thought it was erotic but to actually put something back there I was too nervous.

“What's going on?” I asked knowing fully well what was about to take place. “Shh calm down.” He rubbed my back. “You trust me Sienna?” Of course I trust you but this was all happening too soon. Vaginal is one thing but my ass was sacred. “Yes baby but I'm nervous, this feels like losing my virginity all over again. What if it hurts?” He reassured me. “It might hurt for a little while, but I promise it’ll start to feel really fucking good.” He slipped the toy in my pussy and started fucking me with it. I was so pent up with emotion I came instantly. “Yes..yes...I want it. Fuck that feels amazing.” I moaned and yelled out. “Good girl. Okay now relax.” I inhaled and felt that toy go right into my ass. “Oh god!” The feeling was odd. Definitely nothing I've ever felt before. I wasn't in as much pain as I thought I would be. Though it did sting a lot! “Fuck that looks so sexy.” He slapped me on the ass and stood me up on my feet. “Come look in the mirror baby.” He led me over to a wall mirror next to the T.V. “Oww. It stings a lot baby. Please take it out.” I groaned putting my head on his chest. He kissed me on the forehead. “Shh it's okay. Give it a few minutes to get adjusted.” I nodded.

“Suck me off while you wait.” I squat down in front of him. Trying to fight through the stinging in my asshole. He held on to the back of my head guiding me to his dick. It was glistening with pre-cum. I took all of it to the back of my throat. Gagging and slurping on it like a true queen of sucking dick. “Sienna baby...:” I looked up at him. “Ah I'm never leaving you.” He panted. “That throat is fucking gold. C'mere come sit on it.” He laid down on the bed and waited for me straddle him. I gently put the head of his dick inside and bounced up and down on it. “Yes ride that shit baby, get it.” His eyes rolled in the back of his head grabbing my ass. I went faster. “Cum for me daddy. I want your cum.” “Okay baby. How's your ass feel?” “It feels better.” The stinging was slowing starting to fade away and was replaced with a fullness and felt tight. Maybe this whole anal thing wasn't as bad as I thought. “Only better?” He moaned. “Hm I think I like it baby.” He smiled and whispered in my ear. “Can I fuck your juicy ass next time?” He kissed me and I nodded. “Mm thank you baby. I want to cum on your pretty face.” I hopped off and assumed the position my body was spent.

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After everything that took place with this crazy ass Vegas weekend I was just so glad to be back in L.A. don't get me wrong Vegas is lit but there's nothing like being back home. Marco had sent Colson a text to let him know we were welcomed back to his club and home anytime. He said and I quote “Don't worry about the couch. Things like that happen all the time.” That just made me feel even more dirtier than I already was, but Colson assured me he was just joking. Hm I had doubts. Jade facetimed me on the way to the airport. We talked everything over, and she insisted we get together soon for an all-girls trip. That she was friends with some cool down to earth women, and I agreed seeing as how I needed to make friends already. I was tired of going out either by myself or with Colson.

Monday was such a chill day I unpacked and just settled back into daily life. I cleaned up my apartment before I left so I didn't have to worry about that. My car however was a different story. I had a bad habit of leaving bags of clothes in my backseat. There were magazines everywhere, just a bunch of junk that needed to be brought inside. One of the perks of dating a celeb was that they always got goodie bags of merch whenever they went to an event. Colson would just throw all the stuff in my car and forget all about it. He didn't care about that crap anyways so I took full advantage. Just last month he got a free California king bed courtesy of some movie he was shooting as a thank you and guess what he didn't even want the damn thing! He gave it to me as a thank you for treating him right. I happily obliged.

Colson went back to his house and did whatever he does. I didn't much care for The Boulevard. I mean the name says it. People over all the fucking time day and night. It could be five in the morning and I swear folks will still be posted up kicking it. Not to mention all his bros were living there and shit is just awkward. I couldn't even walk around in a big t-shirt and panties because I never knew when one of them would just pop up while I'm fixing a bowl of cereal or some shit and Colson would not ask them to leave under any circumstances. It was thier home just as much as it was his. All I can do is respect it.

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“And then she did what!?” Slim sat forward on the couch letting Colson finish his story. “Mannn I'm telling you I had that bitch doing everything I said. Bend over, suck me, all that shit. My bitch so fire Jade even wanted a taste.” Colson stood around with a beer in hand talking. “Nigga you lucky as fuck.” Slim got up to throw his beer in the trash can shaking his head. “All I'm saying is Vegas was lit and I'm a muthafuckin player!” Colson screamed out loud. All the guys laughed. “Ayy hook me up with one of her sisters.” Slim asked. Colson shook his head and took a sip of his beer. “She’s an only child so good luck with that.” In his mind the Vegas trip was a sucess. They had spent time together, went to the club, had a lot of fucking sex. It was everything that a Vegas trip was supposed to be.

“Bro i went to the club got so fucked my security had to drive me back to the hotel.” Colson laughed. “Shit was so crazy. All the hoes was dancing on me. Man after a few vodka shots I don't even remember what the fuck.” He sat down on the couch putting his feet up on the coffee table. “Damn all that and Sienna ain’t say shit?” “Nope.” He thought about it for a moment. “Well I don't know. She seemed cool but I can’t call it. She's so damn good at hiding her emotions sometimes.” He shrugged his shoulders. “Ah bro looks like you’ve found the female version of yourself.” Slim explained. All Colson could do was agree in silence. Sienna did have some of his characteristics.

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A/N: Ladiessssss part 3 is up. What y'all think? I wanted to focus on getting some background info on S+C but trust me there is always more to the story *Big ass smirk on my face while Birdman hands*. I’m like 80% sure I know where I want to take this couple but ya know things never end up how they start. I really hope y’all have been enjoying this series. I swear they my mf babies. <3.

#machine gun kelly #mgk #mgk fanfic #mgkimagines #imagines #colsonbaker #fanfic #fanfiction #fantasy #Gunner #seven #OKurt

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rkxsungwoon-blog · 5 years

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☆ MGA5 EPISODE TWO ; JULY 4 #5008 HA SUNGWOON ; interview

much like the last episode, the ceos retire to discuss the results of the performances while the contestants are ushered one by one into private rooms to be interviewed on the day’s events. sungwoon wonders if this will become a staple from now on. if so… he’s not entirely sure how to feel—the interviews broadcasted last week were interesting, to say the least. he supposes it adds some excitement to the broadcast along with giving viewers a glimpse into the personalities of the contestants. it also feels like russian roulette, like the producers are waiting for someone to inevitably say something damaging during their interviews and metaphorically shoot themselves in the foot.

but maybe the moment of reflection is a good thing too. sungwoon appreciates getting the chance to reorient, to breathe and consider the day’s events and performances in one go. he never truly struggles to answer, so his complaints are probably less valid than most. rather than being truly worried, he’s eager to get this over with and get to the results.

when his name is called, sungwoon rises and gives his friends a double thumbs up before following the staff to the interview room. a quick touch up of his hair and makeup later, he’s seated in a familiar chair in front of the interviewer in a set-up not much different from last week. he greets the interviewer with a smile and makes some idle small talk about the weather and how their day is going so far until the cameraman indicates it’s time to begin.

showtime.

so, welcome back, sungwoon. you’ve managed to survive the first cut, but what did you think of the results last week otherwise?

ah. he expected this one. cutting fifty people from the competition at one time is a lot. of course they’d be asked about it. “i didn’t expect there to be quite as many eliminations from the beginning, so it was a little nerve-wracking, to be honest.” sungwoon is grateful his friends survived alongside him, but admitting as much might sound like rubbing salt in the wounds of people who were separated from their friends.

he decides to keep it neutral. “all my predictions for who would make it to the next round came true, though! well, except one.” poor chan. sungwoon really thought he was good, but his opinion doesn’t count for much when it comes to rap. “i guess that disqualifies me as a psychic? unless i make sure to include a disclaimer that there’s a 16% error margin on all predictions?” he laughs, embarrassed as he realizes his mental math might be a little off. “actually, don’t fact check me on that number.” math isn’t his strong suit, but he refuses to be make a fool of himself over numbers on national tv.

shaking his head slightly, he taps his fingers against his knee in thought. “it was disappointing to see so many talented people go home,” sungwoon adds slowly. “but it’s a competition and, well, i have to believe the ceos made the decisions they did for a reason.” they clearly know what they’re doing, and it’s not for him to question them yet.

how did you feel when you realized you were through to the next round?

“i was relieved, mostly,” sungwoon admits readily. a sigh escapes his lips as he thinks back to the moment his name was called—he’d felt weak and weightless at the same time, even more so when the others made it through safely. sungwoon would like to say he never had any doubts, but that isn’t entirely true. there’s always room for doubt. “i would’ve been mortified to get eliminated so early in the competition.” honestly, he’d be equally mortified to get eliminated now, but it feels unnecessary to add that into his answer. “it also felt right, you know?” he continues with a sheepish smile. “i felt acknowledged by the judges, and that went a long way towards boosting my confidence for today’s performance!”

many people have expressed concern about the number of previous mga contestants participating in this season. as one of the people highlighted as a former contestant during the episode, how does the backlash make you feel?

well, this is one he didn’t expect. of course sungwoon is aware of the backlash—the previous episode literally broadcast one of the contestants’ thoughts on the subject, and the netizens seem united in the opinion that this year has too many old faces. and as one of the old faces, his opinion on the subject should be pretty clear: it sucks, and he doesn’t agree that just because they’ve been on the show before, they have no place on it now. he’s not sure why the interviewers would ask this, unless they’re hoping he gives them something juicy to air? sungwoon is determined to avoid that trap, to think carefully over his response before he gives it.

honesty is the best way to play this, in his opinion. “it’s not the greatest, i’ll admit.” wringing his hands together, he shoots the interviewer a distracted, what can you do, kind of smile before raking his fingers through his hair. “i think it’s disingenuous to act like being on the show one year means we can never come back or to claim we’ve used up our one and only chance. it’s not like we stopped dreaming just because it didn’t work out the first time.” for many, including sungwoon, participating in the mgas increased his desire to stand up on stage.

“i also believe people might be under the impression that we’ve had tons of opportunities for success following the show last year?” being on tv might’ve brought a little bit of localized fame for a brief period of time last year, but all that is gone now, leaving old contestants as forgotten relics of a different time. “but i can tell you that’s not really true—personally, at least. no companies were looking to sign me, and i didn’t have any other prospects.” a bitter pill to swallow, but there it is! he chuckles and rubs the back of his neck. “compared to a lot of other competitions, the mgas are accessible, so yeah, i gave them a shot again, but because this might be the only way i ever make it. i’m sure others feel the same way.”

god, he said a lot more than he intended to. sungwoon takes a deep breath and shakes his head, forcing a smile he hopes looks natural. “if the new contestants are worried about facing the old ones, well, a little healthy competition never hurt anyone, right?”

i see. moving on, how do you think you did this week?

“like i said, i’m never satisfied.” he feels like this will be a familiar refrain if this question continues to come up again, but it continues to be true. he needs the persistent buzz under his skin, the nagging voice that tells him he can do better. it drives sungwoon to improve, and that’s worth the temporary discomfort. still, his feelings towards today’s stage is largely positive overall. “i know my performance wasn’t as exciting as some of the others. that’s always the risk when you do a ballad, right?” sungwoon was well aware of it from the beginning. “and for once i didn’t play an instrument. that was nerve-wracking, let me tell you.”

he straightens up in his seat. “but i wanted the focus to be on my voice today.” no bells and whistles, just sungwoon showing the judges what he’s capable of. “so i chose to sing a korean song, one that ended up becoming pretty personal for me. i think… i did all i could up on the stage, and i hope it resonated with everyone who listened. that’s all i can really ask for.”

who do you think is the best under each skill?

oh, now that’s an interesting question. sungwoon wouldn’t have been able to answer it last week due to the sheer number of people performing, but after watching the episode and sitting through today’s stages, sungwoon is in a better position to judge the rest of the contestants. the interviewer catches the grin spreading across his face and asks him if he’s thinking of naming himself, to which sungwoon responds “oh, no. no,” with a laugh. he wouldn’t dream of it. “i’ll try not to name only empty enigma members either, but you can’t blame me if a few slip in.”

for singers… sungwoon feels like quite a few of them are strong. this is the only category he feels qualified to talk about at length, in any case. “i think heejin is a strong singer, maybe the strongest in the competition. i enjoy her vocal color, and i think her voice is powerful. she has a strong stage presence too, so i definitely think she’s someone to watch for.” he wants to mention a few other singers as well, but he’s determined to keep his picks to one each this time. or… maybe two. two picks, maximum. “hyojin too! he sang one of my favorite day6 songs, and his range is insane. i can’t wait to hear more from him.”

dancers are harder to comment on; sungwoon doesn’t know enough (or feels confident enough) to choose the best in this category. “uh, i think i’m only qualified to talk about who i liked the best, so take all this with a grain of salt.” he probably shouldn’t say park woojin, but the first name that comes out of his mouth is—”park woojin, for sure. though to be clear, i would pick him even if we weren’t friends. his performance was powerful and captivating—i think he’s easily the best dancer here.” he wants to mention kenta as well, but he doesn’t want to come off as too biased either. “i also think yugyeom is a good dancer. i don’t know how i feel about him in general, but i won’t deny talent when i see it.”

rappers are possibly harder to talk about than dancers, so sungwoon takes his time running through the list of performances before answering. “i think the number of female rappers in the competition this year are pretty cool, so i’d have to pick one of them. sakura, maybe? i was surprised by her performance, but in a good way.” his second choice is so obvious, sungwoon wonders if he even has to state it out loud. “and mason, obviously. he’s a good rapper, maybe one of the best, but that’s a given.”

were there any performances you liked?

sungwoon hates questions like these, mostly because he never has enough time to mention everyone he wants to. just saying ‘all of them’ would save a lot of time, but he’s pretty sure that isn’t allowed. also, it’s not truthful either. there are performances he definitely didn’t enjoy. the question is about ones he did, however, and sungwoon runs through the ones he remembers well enough in his mind before blurting out the first one that stayed with him. “daniel’s!” wait, that really isn’t going to help him sound less biased. his face warms and he scratches his cheek while rushing to gather his thoughts. “okay, honestly. i know he’s not the best of the rappers, but he wrote his own rap and the lyrical content was straight fire. his performance had me hyped up. how can i not mention it?”

aside from daniel, there are a few others he wants to mention. “eunji’s dance was… i know i mentioned her last week as a talented singer, but she’s a phenomenal dancer as well. her performance was really powerful and compelling. park jinyoung—i liked his voice, and i thought his song choice was very appropriate for his tone. personally, he’s one to watch for me as well.” pausing, sungwoon leans back in his chair and rubs his chin in thought. “yeji? i thought she did a great job too—really, a lot of the girls have been killing it this year. i wish i could mention them all because they deserve it.”

were there any you didn’t like?

“guys, seriously,” he laughs, letting his arms fall to his sides. “have people answered this?” how many have taken the bait and actually said something negative about their fellow contestants? the interviewer won’t answer that for him, so sungwoon is left wondering when he should bite or not. maybe he should, but gently? “there were a couple of performances i was let down by,” he admits. “kyungsoo, for one. i really enjoy his voice, but i wasn’t sold on his song choice, so i think that colored my opinion of his performance.” toxic isn’t a choice he’d make personally, and while he respects it, sungwoon isn’t sure it’s appropriate for this stage of the competition. “i also enjoyed suwoong’s performance last week, but not as much this week… i don’t know, i think he could’ve taken it a bit more seriously?” sungwoon shrugs. “they’re both good performers; just not my cup of tea.”

is there anyone you are certain will move onto the next phase of the mgas?

“is it time for sungwoon the psychic’s predictions again?” he taps his forehead, thought he’s… not exactly sure why. “uh, well, i think everyone i mentioned as the best of their categories will go through. special shout out to mason, because he’s going all the way to the finale! mark my words.” he doesn’t know if he has any solid picks outside of those. “yuri? she has a powerful voice and the necessary star power.” hm, maybe that’s all? no, wait, he remembers one of the dancers leaving an impression and struggles to pronounce her name properly. “jieqiong? she’s pretty and talented; i would expect her to go through.” sungwoon figures he’d better stop there—or he’ll end up naming half the contestants in the competition. “let’s see how many of these work out! remember, 16% error rate!”

is there anyone you are certain will be eliminated today?

“my third eye broke; i can’t answer that,” sungwoon says, completely straight faced. several moments pass before his expression cracks into a distant smile. “no, seriously—i’m not sure what criteria the judges are basing their assessments on, so i can’t answer. you’d think it would be straightforward, but someone who’s average in a skill can get far based on their sheer charisma and stage presence, right? so i think it could be anyone’s game.” he won’t speculate further; it’s not his place. and he’s worried that if he does start to consider who might be eliminated, a few familiar names could potentially pop into mind.

that’s all for now. thank you!

“thank you! you’ve worked hard.” sungwoon rises and bows to the interviewer and the staff before returning to his seat. he steals a bottle of water from one of the empty enigma members and polishes it off with a cheeky smile. “i need this, guys. i talked a lot,” he complains when they ask. when do you not? someone answers, and sungwoon glares at them playfully before promising to buy another bottle during their break. it’s much easier to stick to smiles and lighthearted conversation before eliminations, and sungwoon does his best to keep the atmosphere cheery.

it’s all he can do for them right now.

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evermorepeyton · 5 years

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LOVER IS INCREDIBLE

TS7 snapped I AM SO GIDDY AND HAPPY AND PROUD OF YOU @taylorswift

I forgot that you existed: LOVE THIS ONE! a great opening song omg !!! the way she speaks the word “indifference”. i think it’s just perfection, and the beat is SICK. THE WAY SHE CLOSES THE SONG WITH A “SO..... YEAH”

favorite lyric: “and i would’ve stuck around for you. would’ve fought the whole town, so yeah. would’ve been right there, front row even if nobody came to your show” THAT IS SO RELATABLE WHEN YOU ~WOULD HAVE~ BEEN THERE FOR SOMEONE BUT THEY HAD TO FUCK UP.

cruel summer: ONE OF MY FAVORITES! the perfect pop song, i wish it had been the lead single or the second single. her vocals are incredible. the lyrics are so good i am literally so in love, she did it again, mesmerized me with her lyricism !!!

favorite lyric: (literally the entire bridge but) “and i screamed for whatever it’s worth “i love you”, ain’t that the worst thing you’ve ever heard?” ALSO HONORABLE MENTION TO THE HE LOOKS UP GRINNING LIKE A DEVIL LINE PLS !!!! AND TO “devils roll the dice, angels roll their eyes. what doesn’t kill me makes me want you more”

lover: WE KNOW THIS ONE! STILL PERFECT! MY WEDDING SONG EVEN THOUGH I AM SINGLE! I WANT TO FALL IN LOVE JUST TO RELATE!

favorite lyric: THE ENTIRE BRIDGE OH MY GOD !!!

the man: THIS IS MY FAVORITE ONE 100% SHE SPILLED !!! i am so proud of her for making this song that not only is it something she can relate to because of how women are treated in the industry BUT ALL WOMEN CAN RELATE TO BECAUSE SOCIETY SUCKS ALL AROUND THE WORLD !!!! and “wondering if i’d get there quicker if i was a man” can also apply to 9 to 5 jobs that are really competitive and for some reason the men always get the positions of power no matter what we do lmao. ANYWAYS I LOVE IT SO MUCH IT’S PERFECT!

favorite lyric: (all of it but) THE ENTIRE BRIDGE! AGAIN! “what’s it like to brag about drinking and dollars and getting bitches and models? (...) if i was out flashing my dollars, i’d be a bitch not a baller, they’d paint me out to be bad SO IT’S OKAY THAT I’M MAD” GIRL !!!!!! THIS TEA !!!!!! i am so proud of her :’) also i love the line “i’d be just like leo in saint tropez” because she has dated like a normal person in their twenties but somehow got slut shamed for it her entire career BUT IF SHE WAS A MAN SHE WOULD LITERALLY BE LEO AT SAINT TROPEZ NO ONE WOULD SAY A GODDAMN THING AND IT WOULD EVEN BE FUN !!!! AND SOMETHING TO APPLAUD HER FOR !!!!!

the archer: have always loved this one wbk <3 so relatable, so vulnerable, i love it still and forever will.

favorite lyric: “all the king’s horses, all the king’s men, couldn’t put me together again. cause all of my enemies started out friends” literally the most heartbreaking thing ever. and i feel for her. having friends become enemies is the ~worst~ because if you make an enemy from the beginning that’s okay, they don’t know you, if they don’t like you that’s none of your business! but having FRIENDS, people who KNOW you completely and have seen you at your best and worst...... and suddenly decided that they don’t like you anymore, when they have seen every part of you..... that makes you feel like shit. you KNOW me, and you didn’t like me enough to stay. :((

i think he knows: A BOP !! literally such a summer bop to listen to in the car in the sunshine omg. i like it so much.

favorite lyric: “he got my heartbeat skipping down 16th avenue.”

miss americana and the heartbreak prince: WHAT IS THIS EVEN ABOUT I DONT KNOW BUT THIS ONE IS ACTUALLY PERFECTION. i picture this really creepy weird high school in my mind, the aesthetic i see in my head i am obsessed. one of the best in the album 13/10.

favorite lyric: “i’m feeling helpless, the damsels are depressed. boys will be boys then, where are the wise men? darling i’m scared” BECAUSE !!!!! and i am also obsessed with “voted most likely to run away with you” + THAT BRIDGE !!!

paper rings: the lyrics are really soft BUT THE SOUND OF IT !! it’s a literal rollercoaster, again! such a fun summer song, i love it.

favorite lyric: “i’m with you even if it makes me blue. which takes me back to the color that we painted your brother’s wall. honey without all the exes, fights, and flaws we wouldn’t be standing here so tall.”

cornelia street: THIS ONE MADE ME CRY! it’s so personal and it’s crystal clear how much taylor cares about her relationship, it made me emotional for some reason. i really like it and it’s not what i expected AT ALL, but it is so beautiful. her voice right after the bridge AHHH I SCREAMED.

favorite lyric: “i hope i never lose you, i hope it never ends. i’d never walk cornelia street again. that’s the kind of heartbreak time could never mend” literally the chorus but i love it <3, also “barefoot in the kitchen, sacred new beginnings that became my religion.”

death by a thousand cuts: I THINK THIS ONE WAS INSPIRED BY SOMEONE GREAT AND THAT MAKES IT SO EXCITING TO ME BECAUSE I LOVE THAT MOVIE <3 i wish it had a bridge because i love bridges but the perfect second verse makes up for it !!

favorite lyric: THE SECOND VERSE, ALL OF IT, GOODBYE.

london boy: LOVE THIS ONE 1) A BOP 2) ALL THOSE ENGLISH REFERENCES REALLY MADE IT PERFECT OH MY GOD!!!! i love it 100%

favorite lyric: “show me a gray sky, a rainy cab ride. babes, don’t threaten me with a good time (THE WAY SHE SAYS THIS) they say home is where the heart is. but god, i love the english” also THE BRIDGE ! + taylor saying “mates” PLEASE THIS IS ALL I HAVE EVER WANTED!

soon you’ll get better: beautiful. sending so much love taylor’s and andrea’s way. it’s so personal and all i could ever do is thank her for sharing. i cried, a lot. it’s very real and emotional.

false god: this one is so good, it’s not what i expected but i love it !!

favorite lyric: “i know heaven’s a thing, i go there when you touch me honey. hell is when i fight with you but we can patch it up good.”

yntcd: WE KNOW THIS ONE! I STILL LOVE IT!

favorite lyric: “and we see you over there on the internet, comparing all the girls who are killing it. but we figured you out, we all know now, we all got crowns” AND “SHADE NEVER MADE ANYBODY LESS GAY” OF COURSE.

afterglow: another beautiful song sonically, the lyrics make me a little sad but i also know relationships be like that sometimes :/ i love this one!!!

favorite lyric: “it’s so excruciating to see you low, just wanna lift you up and not let go” because this is so real, fighting is hard when you don’t want to hurt the other person BUT YOU KNOW THAT YOU ARE DOING IT AND YOU WANT TO MAKE THEM FEEL OKAY BUT YOU ARE ALSO GOING THROUGH IT !!!!!

ME!: a cute bop but WHEN I PUT IT NEXT TO THESE OTHER SONGS IT’S NOT AS GOOD :/ still love it and i will forever scream it at the top of my lungs while having fun in the car, it’s all about the memories we are building with this songs folks!!

favorite lyric: “living in winter i am your summer.”

it’s nice to have a friend: this one is a little weird, i am still not sure what it’s about and the production is a bit weird. i am not sure, it’s not a favorite.

favorite lyric: “light pink sky on the roof, sun sinks down, no curfew.”

DAYLIGHT: this one is a literal pink sky, you can’t change my mind, i love it so much. it’s really soft and emotional for me. i hope this turns into my life, all i could ever hope for. LOVE LOVE LOVE IT <3

favorite lyric: “threw out our cloaks and our daggers because it’s morning now, it’s brighter now” I FEEL THAT IN MY LIFE RIGHT NOW AHHH.

“i once believed love would be burning RED but it’s golden like daylight” THE PERFECT LINE !!! THE BEST LINE !!!!!!!!!!

“you gotta step into the daylight and let it go” I JUST LOVE THIS ONE BECAUSE I’VE BEEN OBSESSED WITH THIS QUOTE FOR MONTHS AND REVOLVED MY LIFE AROUND IT ALL THIS TIME AND WHEN I HEARD IT I SCREAMED !!!!

“i just think that you are what you love” a perfect closing line. this woman’s mind is out of this world.

overall i am obsessed with this album, the soundtrack of this new chapter of my life and i could NOT BE MORE GRATEFUL.

top 5

1. THE MAN !!!!

2. miss americana and the heartbreak prince

3. cruel summer

4. i forgot that you existed

5. i think he knows (or london boy I AM NOT SURE) (also cornelia street is probably what follows this list very closely sooooo)

@taylorswift i love you thank you for writing the perfect album.

#taylor swift #lover #LOVER OUT NOW #cruel summer #the man #ts7 #taylor nation #taylurking #swifties

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