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darktypeimagines · 4 years

Note

hi there! im a bit new here but i really love your writing a whole lot!! could you maybe possibly do a drabble for piers who has a crush on a fellow musician who makes indie music and also really likes him back and they keep writing songs about eachother until one of them is finally like "oh thats about me" ?

So… uh, I wanted to write actual song verses… but I’m terrible at it, so I spared you the pain of that. I hope you like it, though. 😊 This ended up being slow-burn-y, so sorry if that’s not what you meant.

Definition of a drabble (according to google): “Traditionally, a drabble is a piece of fiction that is exactly 100 words long.” HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! nope. Put it under a read more because it’s much, much longer than my usual posts.

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It wasn’t often Piers completely and totally fell for someone.

But there was just something captivating about you; the way you carried yourself, the type of music you crafted. The verses clung to him and he caught himself humming the melodies as he went about his day.

He knew he had a problem when he checked his playlist and found he’s listened to one of your songs 50 times in one week. And it was proven when, after catching a glimpse of you at an indie music festival, he felt that familiar electricity overcome him. Head to toe, in his gut, stopping his breath short. But before he could react, you disappeared behind the crowd once more.

He had a problem. He had fallen for someone he had never met. Someone he knew only from sight and song.

Piers ignored the feelings. It was just a crush. It would fade in time.

It did not.

And, what was worse was, without even realizing it, he wrote you into a few poems he jotted down. It was a nighttime habit he had, all the way back from his teenage years. When he was trying to figure out a song, he’d write a poem first, then adapt it.

So, as he laid curled up in bed, Obstagoon cuddled up next to him, he scribbled out his thoughts. The light was dim, as always; he’d put on a lamp, but that’d require waking up his Pokemon. Plus, there was just something about the soft flicker of a half-broken neon sign that felt… right? Probably just nostalgia, growing up in Spikemuth, where everything seemed to be just barely holding on.

As he struggled to read his own scratchings in the unstable light, the realization overcame him. When he started, he wrote vaguely. The poem-turned-song wasn’t supposed to be about anyone specific. But, somehow, someway, his stifled thoughts ended up on paper. And in reading it over, it wasn’t just about you; it was about his feelings for you.

It made him extremely uncomfortable and he didn’t know what to do.

For now, he tucked the notebook away, and finally turned on the light.

Months went by. The two of you kept passing each other by, but never exchanged a single word. While Piers still had feelings for you, they weren’t as suffocating as before. Fortunately for him.

But as he walked through Spikemuth on a chilly autumn day, he heard a familiar voice echo through the metal and concrete alleyways. He could tell he was coming from a radio, probably from inside someone’s house, at full blast. Piers stuck around to listen to the rest of the song in full, feeling increasingly drawn to it as he made out the words. He already missed half of it, but got the gist of the theme: a missed connection, regret for what could have been.

For some reason… He couldn’t shake the feeling it was almost as though the song was describing… him? Was he just imagining it? But then, the music cut to reveal the ending sung as acapella.

And it was you. Your voice. Between feeling that the song was about him, and then suddenly realizing it was your song, he suddenly felt unsteady on his feet. He had the distinct feeling of wanting to run away and run toward the problem at the same time.

He went straight home, and after restlessly trying to figure out what to do, he turned to what he did best: writing music. After several long nights, many hours of lovesick doubt, and one instance of nearly scrapping everything, he finally had something he felt he could release, loosely based on the poem from months before. Normally, it would take far too long for him to work through the all the hoops in order to get it officially released. But, luckily, there was a small concert planned in Spikemuth; he wasn’t originally going to perform, but he could easily change that… Plus, he knew you were already scheduled to perform there.

The night of the concert came. It was rainy, but one of the few benefits of living in Spikemuth was protection from the elements. The rain pattering on the metal above was a familiar sound, but it would soon be drowned out by music.

Despite it being a smaller concert, a few vendors and a food truck showed up. The stalls held both official and unofficial merch, but no one really minded in this city. This wasn’t Wyndon, after all. As the first fan trickled in, picking spots and browsing the pop-up shops, Piers scanned around for you. It seemed like you hadn’t shown up yet.

And, he soon got distracted by his own fans, and wasn’t able to look for you. Before he knew it, the concert was about to begin. He looked up to the stage and his breath hitched as he saw it was you. All he could focus on was you, the spell only tightening its grip as your song began. It was the same one he heard on the radio, but seeing a performance in person is always a different experience.

Time seemed to slow and it was though no one else was around. While he felt the song was about him before, that feeling was magnified now. And finally, at the last line, you made eye contact with him and smiled. With a fluttering heart, he managed to return the smile. That moment, which was likely just that, stretched on longer in his mind. Time snapped back in place, and you exited the stage, where Piers lost sight of you.

His thoughts were cluttered for the rest of the concert. So, when he bought his mic up to the stage and prepared himself, he felt something he hadn’t felt since the very beginning of his music career; nerves. They never really went away, of course, but this was the first time in a long time that he could remember feeling nervous about how people would react. How you would react.

It was a rocky start. He started on the first verses and was a little out of tune. But then he caught a glimpse of you again, all the way in the back, and the words came easily.

He hadn’t meant to stare at you the entire time, but he just couldn’t help it. The song was meant for you, after all.

Overall, the song was an obvious response to yours. Anyone who was paying attention could tell. Similar theming; a lost chance at love. There were even lines that were basically spin offs of yours. But there was one main difference. His song ended on a line that expressed he still had hope they would meet someday. Another chance.

Either it was one of his best songs, or the crowd was super hyped. The cheering continued far after he exited the stage. They were so excited, Piers decided to wait in the musicians’ lobby in an adjacent building rather than rejoining the crowd. It was already an emotional day and he just needed a break. He scrolled through his phone mindlessly, trying to get his mind off of things, but it didn’t help much.

The music quieted, as did the crowd. The last act had finished and it seemed people were heading out. Piers thought about heading home himself, but figured he’d wait just a bit longer. After hearing the door creak, he looked up and stiffened. As what was becoming the usual, your sudden appearance surprised him again.

The two of you stared at each other for a few moments, only the pinging of rain on metal between you.

“Hey… What’re you still here for?” He asked tentatively.

You sat down on the couch beside him. He seemed to tense up. He sat hunched over a bit, fiddling with a black ring on his index finger. He would occasionally glance at you, but not for long.

“You like the concert? I know it wasn’t much, but I hope you liked it.” He paused. “I’m glad you were able to come. Made my day.”

You told him the same, and began gushing about his song. He smiled, holding eye contact with you.

“Yeah, I heard your song on the radio. Took a bit of inspiration an’ made something of my own. Couldn’t help it. What you wrote was just one of those songs that gets you in the heart, you know?”

You knew.

“So…” He sighs, “I s'ppose I may as well ask. Maybe I’m just imagining things, but- you wanna get together? Or at least get to know each other? Dunno if you realized it, but that new song was meant to be about you.”

You had an inkling. But it overjoyed you to hear him say it. He seemed to notice your reaction and grinned. And then, you told him the truth; that YOUR song was also about him!

Piers sat straight up for a moment, then relaxed, still smiling.

“That settles that, then. Guess I was right all along.” He fidgeted a bit with his choker. “So… was that a yes, right?”

Of course it was.

#piers #piers x reader #pokemon #pokemon swsh #pokemon imagines #pokemon sword and shield #x reader #ask #scenario #darktypeimagines

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glittermemories · 4 years

Text

“Rockcandy” MHA: OC Story

Okashi Shuga Hero Agency Internship

Today the students were informed that they would be joining a Hero Agency for a week. Usually kept only to second and third years, the classes of 1-a and 1-b did such and outstanding job that many heroes wanted them over others. They received offers based on the way they performed in the Sports Festival and they chose from those offers. Though the students who didn’t receive offers were still required to participate from 40 other agencies, each with their own specializations in heroism. Before the students chose an agency they still had to choose their hero names. They also had to choose an agency within two days. Mr. Aizawa told the students they had to choose their hero names. All students had a whiteboard and marker in hand “So these names will probably be temporary, but take them seriously…” He was cut off by midnight walking in “Or there will be consequences. The name you pick today could be your name for life. You better be careful or you’ll be stuck with something utterly indecent.” Shuga just kinda cringed at her and mumbled “Aren’t you a little indecent????” She watched gagged a little as she saw Mineta jump up acting like a dog while Sero and Kaminari were drooling. The other girls slightly cringed as well. The class stated “It’s Midnight!”

Mr. Aizawa looked bored as always “Yeah, she's right. Midnight will have final say over your names. That's not really my forte.” He pulled out his sleeping bag and went to take a nap. Shuga sighed at her uncle and giggled. Kirishima looked to her hearing her giggle “What is it Shuga?” She shook her head “Just my uncle, did he do that before I got here as well?” Kirishima laughed and rubbed the back of his neck “Yeah actually he did. He’s always trying to find some excuse to nap.” She laughed a little louder now “He looks like a caterpillar.” The redhead looked at the napping teacher laughing too “He does actually! I never thought about that.” As they were speaking amongst themselves and giggling the room turned and stared at them. Midnight made a cough sound “Ehem..Mrs. Okashi, is there a reason you and your boyfriend are disrupting class?” The two teens both jumped a little and she was still giggling “I-i’m sorry...pfft...Mrs. Midni-ght. It-it won’t happen a-agai-n..hehe!” Midnight smirked at her “Well I don’t think it will be too funny if I move you away from your what do you call him? Shark boy, and place you next to Mineta?” The girl immediately stopped laughing as she looked too Kirishima in horror. She heard the disgusting mumblings of the purple haired boy only to see that Kirishima had turned and threw a book at him “Stop being such a pervert and show her some respect you weirdo! Next time it won’t be a book, it will be my fist!” Shuga turned as Midnight continued to stare at her and let Mineta be hit by the book hearing an audible thunk “Well?” The pinkette blushing and feeling threatened just bowed and grabbed the back of Kirishima's head bowing him down as well “I-i’m sorry Mrs. Midnight! It- it won’t happen again! PLEASEDON’TMAKEMESITNEXTTOTHATPURPLEFREAK!”

Kirishima removed her hand from his head and held it tightly still bowing “S-sorry Mrs. Midnight ma’am!” Midnight started laughing “PFFT You should see your faces. It's adorable, the fact that he defends you and demands respect for you is very admirable. I almost lost composure when Okashi forced you to bow as well after assaulting Mineta. You two really are a cute couple.” She stopped laughing “Anyway, I think that was enough embarrassment for you two for one day. Sit back down and lets continue class.”

They both sat back in their seats still blushing “Y-yes ma’am!” After Shuga had calmed down she saw Kirishima was still blushing staring straight at his table. She squeezed his had a little and leaned on him like always. He gripped her hand back “I-i won’t let anyone say such disgusting things about you.” She smiled up at him “I know..” She slowly sat back up still holding his hand. They both put their attention back on Midnight. “I will give you a bit to come up with a name and I'll let you know if they are good or not. Then I'll let those of you who I think need to a change do so.” She sat there and the students chatted among themselves. Kirishima was talking to Bakugo and Shuga decided to stay to herself and pop her earbuds in. She put on some music and started mumbling to the song “You know who it is...I’m a goddess with a blade..”. She wrote a few names down still singing “So can you handle what were all about? Were so tough, not scared to show you up...up..” She didn’t like them so she erased it. “Can you feel the rush now?” She continued to write out more names “Ain’t nobody bringing us down...down, down, down, down,” she stopped writing part way through and did the hand movements to the song not paying attention to anyone else “they could try but we’re gonna wear the crown. You could go and another round, round, round, round. Wish ya luck but your not bringing us down, down, down, dow-” She looked up after realizing everyone was watching her again.

Kirishima looked at her “SO CUTE!!!” He hugged her tightly and the rest of the class agreed “SUPER CUTE!!” She giggled but stopped looking to Midnight. Midnight was ogling her with heart eyes “NOW I SEE WHY THEY CALL YOU THE SWEETHEART OF 1-A!!” Bakugo scoffed “She’s not that cute...maybe just a little bit.....” Midnight calmed herself “OK! Enough excitement for now! Who wants to go first???” Everyone was nervous now but a light bulb went off in Shuga’s head and she quickly wrote down her name. First up was Aoyama. He walked up and everyone looked at him they mumbled among themselves once more “Hold your breath. The Shining Hero: I can not stop twinkling!” He held up his hands and Midnight agreed to the name but shortened it to “Can’t stop twinkling” Everyone just cringed at his name “Are you kidding?!”

Next was Aishido she went with “Alien Queen” but Midnight cringed at the thought of the monstrous alien creature from that Scifi horror film “I don’t think so! Next!” Shuga just looked at her “You accepted Can’t stop twinkling but not Alien Queen...ok then..weird standards.” Everyone was slightly shaken by the first two names and decided that they all needed to come up with something good. The next one was Asui “I think I've got one! Mind if I try next?” Midnight agreed to her request “Come on up!” The green haired girl walked up to the front “I’ve had this one in mind since grade school “Rainy Season Hero: Froppy.” Midnight loved it “What a good name! It makes you sound approachable! What a great example of a name everyone will love!” Everyone cheered after that. Her name made everyone less stressed.

The next up was Kirishima “I’ve got mine too! The Sturdy Hero: Red Riot!” Midnight popped in “Red Riot? You're paying homage to the Chivalrous Hero: Crimson Riot yes?” Kirishima responded “Yeah, I want to be just like he was. He may be old school but Crimson was always my favorite hero.” She smiled “If your bearing the name of someone you look up to you have that much more to live up to.” He nodded “ I accept the challenge!” He went back to his seat as Jiro went up next. Shuga greeted him when he got back. She was fangirling, “Red Riot! Thats so...so dreamy!!” He blushed “Thanks Shuga.” She smiled brightly “It suits you so well! I just love it!” He ruffled her hair and kissed her forehead “I love you so much.” She blushed “I love you too!” Jiro walked up to the front with a small smile “The Hearing Hero: I’m Earphone Jack.” Midnight immediately approved “Now that's a good one!”

Next was Shoji “The Tentacle Hero: Tetacole” Midnight went on to say that she liked the idea of his name and how it combined tentacle and tako(octopus). After him was Sero “The Taping Hero: Cellophane.” Then Oijiro “The Martial Arts Hero: Tailman.” Then Sato “The Sweets Hero: Sugarman” Next Aishido again she shouted “PINKY!” Midnight loved it. Next was Kaminari “The Stun Gun Hero: I’m Chargebolt! Electric don’t ya think?” Of course the ravenette swooned and agreed with his name. After him was Hagakure “The Stealth Hero!: Invisible Girl!” Midnight spoke up “That really suits you!”

She asked more people to come up, Mr. Aizawa still napping in his sleeping bag “Now come on who’s up next!” Yaoyorozu went up “I hope I can live up to this name, I’m the Everything Hero: Creati.” Midnight gleefully spoke again “That puts the create in creative!” After her was Todoroki “Shoto.” The black haired woman was slightly disappointed “Just your name? That's it?” Todoroki just nodded “Mmhm.” Next was Tokoyami “Jet Black Hero: Tsukuyomi.” Midnight swooned once again “Oooh god of the night!” Then Mineta went up and everyone just kinda ignored him “Fresh-Picked Hero: Grape Juice” Next Bakugo went. He slammed his board on the stand and shouted “King Explosion Murder.” Midnight didn’t like it at all “I’m gonna say that one is a little too violent.” Bakugo yelled back at her “HUH WHAT DO YA MEAN??” Kirishima spoke up mocking him, “Why don’t you be Explosion boy?” Bakugo snapped “QUIET WEIRD HAIR!” Shuga just giggled next to him.

Ochaco was getting ready and went up as Bakugo still fought about his name. “Ok my turn. This is the name I thought of Uravity.” Midnight loved it and noticed that choosing the names went by faster than she thought it would “Ok all we have left is Bakugo who needs to rethink his, Iida, Midoriya aaaand OH Yes, Okashi!” Iida sat there writing, he was going to choose Ingenium like his brother but opted not to “Tenya” Midnight was surprised but let it go she called up Midoriya and he went to the front, he had a determined look on his face as he set down his board to show everyone. The class was shocked Kaminari spoke up “Are you sure about that?” Kirishima agreed “Yeah man, that could be your name forever.” He spoke up “Right, I used to hate it, but then something changed. I guess someone taught me that it could have a different meaning, and that had a huge impact on how I felt, so now i really like it.” He paused “Deku, that has to be my code name.” Bakugo glared while Ochaco smiled brightly. Shuga nodded with a smile as well silently agreeing on the name. She thought it was a cute name actually.

Next up was her turn she was a little nervous but quickly finished writing hers out. She slowly walked up to the front blushing, she put her board face down. Midnight noticed her sudden shyness and encouraged her “Its ok whatever name you chose will be perfect.” Bakugo yelled “WHAT?! WE DON'T KNOW WHAT HERS IS YET AND YOU ALREADY APPROVE? WHAT ABOUT MINE?” After that outburst the girl laughed “Ka-chan, your name...pfft..it sounds like a villain, of course you have to change it.” He just muttered and sat down in a huff. That was enough for her to gain her confidence back she held up the board “Ehem...I choose Magical Girl: Amaimaho.” The class was silent and Midnight held both of the girls hands “AHHHH “Sweet Magic” Its so perfect! I love it so much! Job well done I approve your name!” The class agreed and gained heart eyes everyone loved her name and told her what they thought.

She thanked them and sat back down next to Kirishima. It was now his time to swoon over her “Amaimaho! Its so cute!” He hugged her rubbing his cheek on her head “So cute! So cute! I’m glad I have such and adorable girlfriend like you!” She giggled and hugged him back “T-thank you Eijiro.” Finally Bakugo went up again he only change one word “LORD EXPLOSION MURDER!” Midnight rejected his name for a final time stating that he only changed one thing.

The students went to their respective agencies Midoriya to Gran Torino, Todoroki to Endevor, Bakugo to Best Jeanist, Iida to Manual, Ochaco to Gun Head, Asui to Selkie, Kirishima to Fourth Kind, Yaoyorozu to Uwabami, Mineta to Mt. Lady, Tokoyami to Hawks, Jiro to Death Arms, Tetsutetsu also to Fourth Kind, Kendo also to Uwabami, and Okashi also to Mt. Lady while taking special training with Mr. Aizawa.

Everyone kept in contact through texts and emails if their cities were farther away then normal. While everyone was at their internships Shuga was doing both an internship and doing training early in the morning with her uncle at 5 am, which was not something she expected him to be ok with but it was his idea. The girl woke up and went through her normal routine but instead of leaving her hair down she put it up in a high ponytail. She noticed that despite it being early she was excited instead of tired. She threw on a tank top that said “Magical girl in training” on it and some black workout pants with some pink trainers. She grabbed a spare set of clothing and other things she’d need after training for when she headed to her internship. She grabbed her wand off its stand shoving it into the bag and noticed her little furball stretch and get up “Hmm up early i see? Going to training with your uncle?” the black cat waited for Shuga to clip her red bow collar on her. Once the girl was finished she scratched her cat behind the ears “Want to come with me today Sparkle?” The roomba she had in her room awoke and started to clean up the glitter trail as the cat jumped on top of it. “Sure!” As she walked out the roomba followed and stopped at the stairs, said cat jumped on the girls shoulder.

Shuga walked down the stairs yelling to her still sleeping parents that she was off and she locked the door behind her heading out of the house. She met up with her uncle who was in his sleeping bag waiting for her at the entrance of the school. She slowly crouched down moving some of his hair out of his face “Uncle, wake up. You can’t just sleep on the street, you look homeless.” He opened an eye lazily “Well I thought to rest before you got here.” She smiled sweetly at him “I know uncle you work so hard for the whole class, even if they don’t notice it. I know why you are so tired all the time…” She stood up brushing off her pants “BUT, this was your idea and I'm excited to get started!” She held out her hand for him. He looked up into her gold eyes exasperated “Your right Sweets, lets go.” He unzipped the bag and grasped her hand as she pulled him up “I can’t wait. So what kind of training will we be doing?” He was about to answer when they heard footsteps behind them the pinkette turned around to see a purple haired boy. He looked sleepy and slightly reminded her of Aizawa. She spoke “Hi? Hitoshi? What are you doing here? Uncle?” Hitoshi looked to Mr. Aizawa “H-hey I hope i’m not late. And hey to you too Okashi-chan.”

Her uncle nodded and said “He will be training with you, we will focus more on hand to hand combat with you. Being a magical girl gives you a slight advantage, making you stronger but you have yet to have to use it, you have managed to keep enemies at a distance for an attack. This should help with close combat situations.” She nodded “Cool! This is exciting, I can’t wait to spar with you! Your quirk is so cool!” He blushed a bit and rubbed the back of his neck “Thank you.” They all continued on into an open field area by the school. She sat her stuff down by a tree, also pulling out her wand. Her cat walked up to the purple haired boy begging for pets. Luckily he loves cats. He was a little shocked when it spoke to him “Pet me! Pet me!” Shuga turned around, a ball of light surrounding her, then it dissipated leaving her in her purple hairstyle and ornament. “Give me the power of Cure Sunshine!” her ornament turned into a yellow flower with a small orange ribbon.

She put her wand away and walked up to Hitoshi “You really are a magical girl!” She giggled “That's what everyone always says. Who’s to say if I am or not? All I know is that I'm going to kick your butt!” He smirked and put the cat down “Oh really? Well then I hope you know I won't go down without a fight.” She smiled “That's what I was hoping for.” Mr. Aizawa called them over to him and taught them the basics of hand to hand and close combat. Shuga was told that she would try a small spar with Mr. Aizawa then Hitoshi so they could both grasp her strength and see what to help with . She charged up her abilities as a golden aura surrounded body like a thin cover. She popped in her earbuds and stretched for a second then stood and faced her uncle, the music pumping her up . She put her fists up like he taught her. She ran at him Aizawa not expecting what she did “Sunshine Punch!” she aimed her fist but he caught her wrist and tried to block only for her to use her arm as leverage. She flipped her body over his, so she was now behind him causing him to almost fall backward but he let her go and somehow stumbled forwards.

She used that opportunity and charged up another attack “Sunshine Kick!” He tried to use his quirk on her and erasure her quirk but it failed somehow and she landed a strong blow kicking the man a small distance away. She freaked out “UNCLE!” Hitoshi, who watched the entire thing was also shocked “His quirk didn’t affect her? Is it because they are blood related, no..could it really be…?” She ran over to help him up as he gripped his side “Uncle, your quirk! It failed? Why?” He looked as confused as she was, her cat sauntered over to her “Maybe you really are a magical girl. It could explain a lot actually.” She looked to her pet “Maybe i really am? Maybe this isn’t a quirk at all but something entirely different?” Aizawa looked a bit confused but then nodded “It's a great possibility at this point. But right now I think maybe we should call it quits for today I need to go find recovery girl…” She nodded worried, after the U.S.J. Incident he seemed more tired than usual. “B-but what about Hitoshi?” Said boy walked over to the two “I-it’s ok, I think Mr. Aizawa is more important at the moment. Plus its almost noon we’ve been training for a long time now.”

The girls eyes widened like saucers “WHAT?!” She looked at her phone “UGH HOW COULD I LET THIS HAPPEN?! MY INTERNSHIP! I have to be there in 5 minutes!” the purple haired boy looked to her again “Its ok, you go. I’ll walk with Mr.Aizawa.” Her uncle was about to protest since he would rather just go back to his sleeping bag and nap. But she gave him a stern look “You go with him. I worry about you a lot uncle. I know you are a Pro-Hero but still.” He finally just relented and agreed “Good now I have to speed off.” She looked at her phone and grabbed her bag, her cat jumping on her shoulder “Hang on sparkle we have to rush.” she held up her wand “Pretty Cure! SHINING FORTISSIMO!” She was bathed in golden light that picked her up, she shot off towards the agency faster than regular Floral Fortissimo.

She got there just in time, not even getting to change or get less sweaty. She looked kinda messy with glitter covering her body as she ran into the agency. Mt. Lady looked shocked and so did the small toddler like boy which Shuga failed to notice “I’M SORRY MA’AM I’M LATE!” The lady looked at her clock “Hmm a minute late, not too bad. But um why do you look like someone dumped a bucket of glitter on you. And where is your hero suit??” She blushed “u-uh i had special training with my uncle. Mr. Aizawa...Eraser Head. I don’t know if you’ve heard of him.” Mt. Lady laughed “Of course I know him. I’m guessing your Okashi Shuga? What's your hero name?” Shuga was blushing “Ah, its Amaimaho. And this glitter is a side effect of my quirk, so i’m sorry if I get glitter everywhere. I can bring my roomba from home next time.” The blonde laughed some more at the girls flustered state “It’s ok, how about you go get ready and come back we’ll wait for you.” The girl tilted her head to the side “We?”

She turned as she felt something grab her leg it was Mineta. The girl screeched as she kicked him off of her and into the wall “AHH Oo-h oops.” She walked to him and helped him up “Sorry about that, that's why you just don’t grab girls like that. Gosh learn some manners Mineta. If Eijiro were here he would have done worse than that.” The boy held his nose “Worth it!” She just shoved him back down “Such a pervert. I’ll be back in a moment Mt. Lady.” The blonde nodded. Shuga got situated and went back to where the others where now not covered in glitter. Mt. Lady looked up “That's your hero costume? That looks like cheap workout clothing...” She looked down “Ah no actually this is.” She pulled her wand up and held it up a ball of light surrounding her again as usual. When she came out she was in her outfit and her hair changed it color and style. Her wand grew smaller and she put it in the pouch around her waist. “I hope this is more acceptable.” The blonde smiled “Perfect, it suits you. But today we are going to do something other than fighting villains. We are going to do chores, cooking, cleaning, basics for when Hero’s have down time.” Mineta inwardly cringed and outwardly cried “WHAT! CHORES!” The girl laughed at his pain but answered Mt.Lady “Ah this is great, I'm still kinda sore from my training this morning. I’m excited to cook! I got up so early I forgot to grab the bento I made for Eijiro last night.”

Mt. Lady giggled “Oooh Eijiro? Is that a boyfriend I here?” Shuga blushed “Y-yes..he is. We’ve been together for a while now. First name basis and everything. I usually make lunch for him but I forgot it today.” The blonde spoke up “Then I guess cooking is first. After you come back from your boyfriend's place we will continue.” She blushed like a tomato “O-oh I just have to bring it to the agency he’s working at. He’s interning as well.” Mt. Lady nodded “What agency?” She thought for a moment “I believe the agency belongs to a hero named...oh what was it...OH Fourth Kind.” She smiled “Ah a chivalrous hero. Fourth Kind, I met him before. If your boyfriend is the rowdy kind he’ll whip him into shape.” She thought for a moment “Rowdy, He’s not rowdy pfft. He's strong and kind. I think that should be a good agency for him.” Well we have a long day and it already 1:30. If you want to get to him before lunch is over we should get started now. Also Mineta you can start by sweeping and mopping the office.”

The small boy cried over his suffering but went along anyways. Shuga had cooked her hardest, wiping the sweat from her brow, and admiring her handy work. It was just a basic two compartment bento. The bottom was half rice with steamed vegetables and the top was Karaage chicken, those little octopus hotdogs, rolled tomago and some fruit with a small cup of whipped cream on the side. She wrapped it up in a red flannel fabric pack and turned to Mt.Lady “Alright i’m going to head out now i’ll be back soon!” She walked out and wondered if she should use her quirk or if she should just walk there. She decided to just walk there instead. She texted Kirishima but he didn’t respond, so she sped up her walking a bit, worried that she might have missed him and he was already starting whatever his internship entailed

. Once she finally got to the Agency where Fourth Kind was she heard a small commotion inside. She slowly and quietly walked inside hearing something about idiots and tea. She saw the four armed man about to punch Kirishima which infuriated her “GOLDEN AEGIS!” she held up her one hand having to fight to hold the barrier up. Kirishima turned around “Shuga?!” Fourth Kind was shocked as he stared at the golden sunflower shield floating in front of him, “Who are you?” She glared at him “Get your meaty fists away from him! I’m Magical Girl: Amaimaho. And it looks like from what Mt. Lady said you aren’t as chivalrous as you look. Who goes around punching their interns!” Kirishima laughed and walked up to her at the misunderstanding “Shuga it’s ok. I’m sorry for the way this looks. Of course to someone who hasn’t been here it would look like he’s abusing us, but he only hits us with our quirks activated.” She walked over to him and hugged him “Sorry. I just got nervous since you didn’t answer your phone, and then hearing that I didn’t know what to think.”

He hugged her back “Well i’m alright, I’ll make sure no matter what, I'll always be ok. I will always come back to you everyday.” She pulled away and smiled “Alright! I promise to do the same then! I didn’t mean to cause such a commotion.” He just admired her bright smile when Fourth Kind started to speak “I’m sorry little lady for the misunderstanding but I require no cellphones in the workplace. Besides…” She walked up to him, smiled, and bowed “I understand Mr. Fourth Kind Sir…” but her smile turned menacing and her anguish rivaled Bakugos “But if I catch you touching my sweet shark boy again i’ll break your hands…” He backed up nervously, Tetsutetsu slowly inched behind Kirishima “Dude, your girlfriend is really scary when she’s mad.” Kirishima called out to her to distract her “Shuga. Why did you come here by the way? I mean i’m happy to see you but what about your internship?”

She immediately switched to being super sweet and she walked back over to him which in turn freaked out the other two people in the room. She held up the red flannel wrapped container “Oh! So with Mt. Lady she wanted us to focus on what to do when waiting to be called out. So basically chores. Plus...I always make you lunch…” She blushed “I-i kinda forgot about it this morning because of the early training with Eraser Head. I had to be up at 5am so I was going to grab it but rushed out of the house. I didn’t want uncle to have to wait.” He blushed as well “B-but we aren’t in classes at the moment plus you’d have to travel all the way here everyday. And if you have to be up early and then go to your internship and then come here your going to get so tired.” She looked down pouting “I always make lunch for you…always.” He hugged her giggling at her pouting face “I��m so lucky to have such a sweetheart like you. Thank you and if you ever get too tired its ok to take a break. Please promise me you will do so if that happens?” She nodded and hugged him tightly once more.

He kissed her forehead “Ok, i’m sure you have to get back to your internship now. So I'll take the bento.” She pulled away and kissed his cheek “Here you go! I hope you like it! I made your favorite! Karaage chicken. I’ll be on my way now.” She gave him one last quick kiss on the lips and ran out “Bye Eijiro! I’ll see you tomorrow!” He blushed then shook his head “That silly girl.” The other two people in the room just stared at the doorway scared and confused. A few days later Mt. Lady sent Shuga out to Hosu city to pick up some special supplies and ingredients to cook with. “Why did I have to come all the way out here for Fish? A frying pan from Hosu? a red flannel...and jeans that have “shark boy” on the legs ...IS THIS A JOKE? Where am I even supposed to find pants that say that?” She called the blonde woman “Hi. Yeah. So, like wHAT the heck is THIS LIST? SHARK BOY PANTS? A RED FLANNEL? Where do i even find pants THAT SAY THAT!!?” Mt. Lady responded “I-i thought it would be cute! Also i found them at a store there. I don’t know why they had those but I was so excited and thought of you and Kirishima. Plus think of this as a slight vacation from all the hard work you’ve been doing.”

The girl just sighed “Ok. Fine. I kinda will. I’ll be back soon though. But what is the store called anyway.” the blonde responded “It's literally called Shark Boy ...think of it sort of as Boy London but like they only have girl clothes and it's called Shark Boy. Anyway have fun byeeee!” The pink haired girl stared at her phone making a puffer fish face and then sighed and put her phone away. “Might as well get this over with.” She had acquired all of the other supplies other than the pants and a red flannel. She finally found the store and walked in looking nervous. She walked up to the counter the employee putting things in a box. She looked at him and he turned to her “Hello welcome to Shark Boy!” She gave him a strange look “Eijiro? What did you do to your hair? What are you doing in Hosu city? What about your internship?” The guy looked at her and blushed. He was the spitting image of Kirishima but with orange hair. He coughed “hehe sorry Dudette. My name is Kevin and I've like never seen you before in my life. I think I'd remember meeting a girl with pink curly hair.”

She looked at him closely, she didn’t see the scar that Kirishima has over his eye and she saw he had straight teeth like Sero instead of sharp ones. She quickly bowed “I-i’m so sorry. You look almost identical to my boyfriend, but his hair is red and he has a small scar over his right eye. He also has sharp teeth because of his quirk. A-anyway, um could you help me find a red flannel and jeans that say Shark Boy on them.” The boy told her it was ok and proceeded to help her shop around she found the items needed. The flannel had a picture of a shark on the back, the pants were skinny jeans that had the word “Shark” on one side and “Boy” on the other with a small shark on the back pocket. She paid, thanked the boy and left. As she was walking back she noticed it was getting dark. “Oh i should probably hurry and get back to Mt Lady.” As she was walking to the train station, she saw a familiar hero.

Well in her eyes a flaming trash bag. It was the number two hero Endeavor. “Oh what the hell is this?!” She inwardly cringed as she despised this man so much since she learned what he did to Todoroki. She tried to walk past only to see a girl in front of him holding what appeared to be a flaming baseball bat with nails in it. The girl seemed to be trying to threaten him. She had on a white hoodie that basically looked like a dress on her small figure. She had on those black cat tights and a tail was slowly swaying behind her. The girl also had a white mask that was cat shaped and covered her whole face. It had a poorly drawn on face. Shuga stopped “HEY! WHat do you think your doing?!”

The girl turned to her “AMAIMAHO...Shuga?! This doesn’t concern you leave! What are you even doing in Hosu City?!” Endeavor folded his arms and huffed this was clearly going to be pointless. The pinkette noticed the short girls stature “Caturnity?..Neko? Why are you trying to attack Endeavor? I mean I don’t like the human dumpster fire either but he’s the number two hero you’ll get killed!” the short girl pointed the bat at him “That...ThAT THING..HE’S A MONSTER!! I don’t even know where Touya is anymore! I can’t find him no matter how hard I try, I...I thought I had found his trail...but really it was this foul creature!” Endeavor was about to protest at them “I told you Touya is de-” but the shorter girl turned “SHUT IT FIRE BOY!” She looked at her old friend “Look I know how much Toya means to you. I know how hard you’ve searched. But this is not the way to do it and you know it!” The white clad girl snapped her fingers putting them in an alternate universe where time seemed to take an eternity. The world looked like it was in an apocalypse a flaming trash can nearby. Endeavor was frozen but could hear everything the strange girl said. The girl took off her mask to reveal her one green eye and one yellow eye both of them cat-like, the pupils slits. She removed her hood and growled lowly as tears streamed down her face, her furry ears on the top of her white hair laid flat as she gave in and dropped to the ground throwing the bat away from her.

“Touya...he was all I had besides you. But you got into UA because of your uncle and then I never saw you again. I saw him years ago. I followed him everywhere, keeping a distance, sleeping in alley near buildings he stayed in, I didn’t want to scare him away and lose him again. I knew he ran away because of that flaming jerks stupid mad desire to be number one.” Said man looked surprised and was about to say that it was impossible that whoever she followed was Touya but the cat girl gave him a look that could kill and yelled “YOU! You can never be number one, not with your sick attitude towards your own children…” She screamed “YOU CALLED HIM USELESS GARBAGE. WELL GUESS WHAT IF ANYONE IS USELESS IT'S YOU! I…..I can’t stand to look at you. HE WAS ALL I HAD AND YOU TOOK THAT FROM ME.” The man just stood there unable to move, and now unable to speak as a black creature crawled up his back and covered his mouth from behind.

The girl sat there sobbing as her head started to hurt. Shuga was kneeling next to her and hugged her tightly “Look, Don’t you worry. We’ll find him again one day trust me we will. You can come with me, mom loves you. She’ll definitely let you stay with us and i’ll convince Uncle and Mt. Lady to give you recommendations, i’m sure they’ll let you in the hero course, with your cat reflexes and alternate reality quirk i’m sure they’ll let you into U.A.” The girl looked at her “Please don’t leave me. Please! I can’t deal with anything alone anymore!” Shuga hugged her just as tightly “Never again. Now come on let's go. Can we get out of here?” Black figures started climbing on Endeavor the one covering his mouth was whispering horrifying things in his ear. The smaller girl snapped her fingers again releasing them from the scary alternate reality. Endeavor jumped slightly when he was among the regular world. He quickly regained his composure and looked at the girl “Your quirk is strong i’ll give you that. I’ll even give you a recommendation letter.”

The girls stood up and started walking past him ignoring him. The cat girl made sure she shoved him out of the way with her shoulder “I would never accept a letter from the likes of you. Your a monster.” They both walked on with Shuga carrying her bags. Unbeknownst to her that she got a text from Midoriya calling for help. The girls were unaware of the hero killer, Midoriya, Todoroki, and Iida fighting until she got on the train heading from Hosu. She read the text and immediately called her uncle “Uncle! Its Midioriya! He’s in trouble. It's the He-” He cut her off already knowing of the situation. “I know, your in Hosu right now right?” She responded “I’m already on the train! I saw the message too late…” He heard the worry in her voice “It’s ok Sweets, it can’t be helped. We already have pros and proper authority on the way. Just come back home and we’ll get it all sorted out.” She agreed with a sigh “Of course. A-also Uncle…” He didn’t respond he just waited for her “I have someone...I need your.. she needs our help.” He just said “Ok. Get home safe and we’ll take care of that too.” Shuga responded “I’m a hero in training remember? I’ll be ok. I’ll be home a bit late. Can you let mom know too please?” He agreed and they both ended the call.

Her friend was watching her. Shuga noticed her friend staring and looked back at her. The cat girl looked so tired, her clothes were clean though due to her quirks. She looked so broken. The pinkette leaned over and pet her friends head “It will be ok Neko. We’ll figure everything out. Your life won’t be so hard anymore, I promise.” The girl nuzzled her friends hand and hugged her. They rode the rest of the way home talking and catching up on the years they missed together. They got off the train, Shuga holding Neko’s hand “I have to go back to my internship for a second to drop off some stuff. Then head to my boyfriends internship he should be getting off right now so I usually walk home with him.

The cat girl blushed “Boy-friend...thats cute.” She giggled as they arrived at the first building. She took out the spare key and opened the door. She flipped on a light as she still held the cat girls hand “You can sit over there for a sec. I need to put this stuff up and then change really quick.” The girl nodded quietly and sat down awkwardly *this is a heros office? WOOW!* The pinkette came back fully changed, her hair in a ponytail and wearing the clothes she bought earlier. The cat looked at her “W-whats up with the shark-s?” Shuga blushed “U-uhh..it..ya see..it's just a long story but you’ll see soon why. Let's get going though. He’s probably waiting for me.” Shuga held out her hand and the white haired girl took it slowly. They both left and headed for Fourth Kind’s agency.

While walking she handed her an earbud “Here, let's listen to some music together. I know that used to help you calm down.” The cat girl took it happily “Is-i-s this BlackPink?” The girl nodded singing along she walked down the street dancing the moves “Boombayah!” They both laughed at her antics. When they made it to Fourth Kinds agency Kirishima was in normal clothing waiting for her. He turned as he felt her jump at him “Eijiro!” He hugged her catching her “Shuga! Hehe. I was waiting for y-Woah.” He looked behind her “I-is this...who is she? I’ve never seen a cat girl before.” The girl stood up and helped him up “Well i’d actually like you to meet my best friend. We got separated for a couple years but we ran into each other while I was in Hosu City.” Kirishima looked concerned for a moment “Hosu City? Are you ok?! I saw Midoriya’s sos.” She smiled and kissed his cheek “Yes I'm ok. We weren’t in that area of Hosu. By the time I got the sos I was already on the train with her.” she grabbed his hand and walked up to the shorter white haired girl, her ears twitching and tail moving slowly in apprehension “This is Genjitsu Neko. She’s my best friend and she’s lucky because she has two quirks. Her cat senses and reflexes. She also has an alternate reality quirk where anything can happen in there but she can only be in there for 5min at a time or it will start to affect her psychologically and mess with her cat senses” the girl shook his hand while he smiled showing his shark like teeth “Now I know why you have that attire Shuga. He’s adorable, you say I'm lucky but you have him...and i…” Her friend walked up in front of her and hugged her “Hey, hey it’s ok. Everything will be ok, we will find him ok? Meanwhile guess what?” The girl looked at her friend as her bicolored eyes watered “What?”

Shuga smiled “Shoto is in my class, soon to be our class. He goes to U.A.!” Her friend's eyes went wide “R-really! that-s ...i..” She started bawling “I’m so happy now.. Thank you Shuga…” The girl smiled at her friend as Kirishima looked at her noticing the outfit “Shark Boy?” She blushed “I-it's a long story but I hope you like it because I bought this outfit for you.” He said “You brought that to impress me?” She nodded. He laughed “Ah I might as well marry you right now.” The girl stared at him wide eyed “Do- do you mean...?” He blushed “W-well we should probably wait till we graduate. But let's think of that later.” He picked her up and threw her over his shoulder running past the white haired girl “CATCH ME IF YOU CAN!!!” The girls eyes go wide her instincts kicking in as she laughed chasing after them “NO PROBLEM SHARK BOY!”

After the internships were over the class returned to normal except with one new person. Mt.Lady had agreed to give a recommendation and after talking more with her uncle he gave one too. Evern Kirishima managed to get Fourth Kind to give the cat girl one. She was transferred into class 1-a without a hitch. Shuga walked in with a smaller person behind her. The class turned around and was about to greet her when they noticed a white tail. “HEY WHEN DID YOU GROW A TAIL SAILOR MOON?” Shuga just huffed “You know Ka-chan, as your friend I love you so believe me when I tell you, that you have the absolute worst timing when it comes to being a asshole.” The boy just looked at her “WHAT”D YOU SAY?!”

Mr. Aizawa slammed his had on the desk which was new given his regular demeanor “Hey Bakugo Shut it! Your scaring the poor girl.” the shorter girl hiding behind Shuga was shoving her face into her friends back while her tail hid between her legs. Bakugo was confused “EH STUPID. OKASHI ISN’T SCARED OF ME. I KNOW THAT FOR SURE. SO WHO ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT?” Mr. Aizawa looked him in the eye “If you stop yelling we can introduce her.” Shuga turned to her friend “Look it’s ok you’ll do fine. I even got uncle to switch seats around so you can be near Shoto, and me. I have to go sit down now, but you got this.” She hugged her as her flustered friend was left to the class. The short cat girl opened her eyes slowly the green one first then yellow. Her ears lifted themselves and twitched at small sounds while her tail went back to normal. She relaxed a bit as she took in her class. They all stared at her in shock. Todoroki’s eyes widened and he sat up not believing what he was seeing.

She spoke softly “M-my name is..Genjitsu...Neko. It's nice to meet you all.” She wrote her name and its meaning on the board Genjitsu(Reality) Neko(Cat). “My quirk.. If you can’t tell is being part cat...but also..this…” She snapped her fingers and the classroom was now a field of flowers outside with a tree above for shade. The class was surprised but they liked it and cheered “Wow this is so cool!” She responded “I can put myself or others in an alternate reality for a little while. My limit is 5min and then it will affect me psychologically and mess with my cat senses. My hero name is Caturnity” She snapped her fingers again and the class went back to its normal state.

With that Todoroki stood up abruptly, everyone was shocked. The small girl saw him and teared up “Shoto!” Her quickly ran to her embracing her in tight hug. “I-i..I tried my best to find him...I found him for a while that's why I was gone for so long..but I lost him ...one day. Then I thought I picked up on his trail again...but it-it was Endeavor..” Todoroki just shushed her and walked her over to the empty seat next to him “It’s ok Neko. I know you tried your hardest.” Mr. Aizawa let the class talk among themselves to catch up and he took a nap. Somehow Bakugo’s hair stayed in that strange smoothed down style but Kirishima and Sero laughed at him making him angry enough that it went back to normal. The girls except for Genjitsu talked about their internships. Aishido is amazed by Jiro helping in a hostage situation and the rest of the girls are amazed that Asui helped take down a drug smuggling ring. Asui asks about how Uraraka and Shuga’s training went. Uraraka talks about how she has found her fighting spirit. Shuga explains that while she didn’t train under Mt. Lady for her internship she instead trained separately with her uncle and Hitoshi Shinsou. She also gives Mineta a look and he cowers in fear “Also me and Mt. Lady spent the time torturing that pervert with chores the entire time. Now he thinks girls are evil.” All the girls laughed at him.

She also explains that while she was there for the Hosu incident she was not actually there. She was doing other things when she stumbled across her old friend and only got the sos after they were both on the train. Kaminari talks about how he fawned over his Internship. Then everyone talks to Todoroki the cat girl lightly napping next to him. As well as Midoriya and Iida about the Hosu Incident. They spoke about the Hero Killer and Midoriya said he was cool, then apologized to Iida. Iida told him it was ok and that Stain’s actions were wrong despite his tenacity. He vowed to continue from then on to walk the true and proper path of a hero. Everyone started to talk in their own smaller groups. Todoroki held a small ghost of a smile as he slowly ran his hands through the cat girls hair giving her all his attention after they were separated for so long. She smiled at him lazily happy to be with her friends again, she still had a small pang in her heart for Touya. She knew they would find him again one day. And boy was she right.

#okashi shuga #mha okashi shuga #okashi shuga and genjitsu neko belong to me #their hero names also belong to me #caturnity #amaimahou #genjitsu neko #everyone else belongs to horikoshi #their quirks also belong to me #mha #bnha #my hero academia #boku no hero academia #bnha okashi shuga #mha genjitsu neko #bnha genjitsu neko #bnha oc's #mha oc's

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froppy-the-frog · 4 years

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Electric Love- Kaminari Denki x Jiro Kyoka

So, I have never written fanfiction before. But then I read this beautiful fic by shikastemari and honestly I was so inspired by it that I wanted to take a crack at writing my own. Please go read their writing because it’s so good ahhhh. So, my fic shares a similar premise/situation to their fic- Kaminari asking Jiro for help playing guitar for the school festival.

Note: Listen, we all love Kaminari for the flirtatious, hilarious, friendly loser that he is. The boy does not excel at school, but he does actually possess knowledge regarding the arts (literature, art, etc) and I think we all need to remember that. So, I personally headcannon that while he sucks a school in a traditional classroom environment, he actually really enjoys reading classic literature, has quite a broad vocabulary, and writes down his favorite quotes in the notes app on his phone. I also think he really would enjoy indie rock and pop. Idk he gives off those vibes imo. Jiro prefers rock music I think, but she is listens to a lot of different songs and constantly is recommending songs to people that she thinks they would like. She is very shy but also really enjoys calling Kaminari different nicknames.

Anyways.

This story takes place sometime before the school festival where they throw that concert. Also, idk if you’re supposed to use character’s last names or their first names, so I did a mix. Also, there may be some spelling errors and grammar errors. Please forgive me if that’s the case. Fic title inspired by this song.

Word count: 4,948

Part: 1/? Idk I might write a sequel if I feel like it and/or have time

Warnings: fluff, maybe some angst?

Pairings: Jiro Kyoka x Kaminari Denki

Outside sources referenced/used: Practice; The Learn’d Astronomer, Prometheus Unbound, Electric Love

Kaminari Denki had had enough of today. His last class had ended for the day, and honestly it wasn’t a second too soon. Everything today had been an absolute train wreck- between the ungodly amount of homework the teachers has assigned for over the weekend, the absolute bs that had gone down in third period between Bakugou and Midoriya that resulted in a singed classroom and a broken door, and the thunderstorm that had been booming on and off throughout the day, Kaminari was ready to scream into a pillow. Walking out of the main campus building, Kaminari pushed his headphones over his ears, pressing shuffle on his Spotify playlist adequately named ‘jams for when ur ready to lose ur goddamn mind xD’. This was the beginning of the short walk from the main campus building to the dorm building where he lived during the school year. It was overcast. A gust of wind pushing his honeyed blonde hair back, bringing with it the smell of impending. Great, Kaminari thought to himself, another thing ruin today. Kaminari absolutely loathed the rain, or really, any sort of water-electricity and water don’t exactly mix well. His foul mood festered as he quickened his pace, his hands shoved deep into his jacket pockets, and he felt a few drops of water hit his forehead. Yep, definitely is gonna rain tonight, Kaminari thought to himself. He was so looking forward to bursting into his dorm and falling face first on his bed. Unfortunately, this dream would be a nearly impossible task, at least without being interrupted, as he lived in a dorm building with all of the other students that attended UA. UA, despite being the most prestigious hero-training high school in all of Japan, still had its fair share of the typical shenanigans that teens get into-drama, gossip, flirting, Mariokart tournaments, pranks, impromptu dance-offs, etc. Kaminari normally was totally ready to get insert himself into whatever social situation was going on in the common spaces. He considered himself to be a pretty gregarious, easy-going guy. He really liked hanging out with the other heroes in training. They were great to banter with, and he especially loved playfully flirting with the girls. But tonight, he wanted none of that, only hoping to slip unnoticed into his dorm so he could scream into his pillow. After a few minutes of walking, Kaminari reached the entrance of the dorm buildings. He scanned his ID and the door buzzed, signally it was unlocked so he could enter. Taking a deep breath, he mentally prepared himself for whatever was going on in the common areas that laid between him and his final destination, before he entering the common room. Luckily for him, the common areas were actually pretty empty for once, and Kaminari sighed a breath of relief. Everybody must have just gotten back and were probably in their rooms. Elevator or stairs? He quietly asked himself. Hm, less chance of running into anybody else in the stairwell. So with his book bag over his shoulder, he made a beeline through the common room to the stairwell door, opening it, and started his ascent to the third floor. He cast his gaze down at the steps as he climbed so as to avoid eye contact with any other soul he might encounter in that stairwell. He was lost deep in his ruminations, so it wasn’t a surprise that he didn’t register hearing footsteps from another person who was descending the stairs.

“Hey!” A waving hand appeared in his face suddenly, catching Kaminari off-guard. He accidentally took a step back in surprise, missing the stair beneath him, and falling on his ass on the stair landing.

“Kamimari! Holy shit! are you okay?!” The sound of boots pounded down the steps then Kaminari felt warmth next to his shoulder where somebody was kneeling next to him.

“Ughhh” Lucky for him, he had landed on his ass and hadn’t hit is head.

“Holy shit Kaminari, I knew you looked out of it today, but Jesus, this is a lot, even for you.”

Regaining a bit of his senses, Kaminari sharply snapped back “What the hell do you mean by that?! And what are you doing here in the stairwell leading to the men’s wing, Jiro?” Normally, he wasn’t the type to get super angry, but he had just fell on his ass in front of Jiro, one of his closest friends. His face flushed red, a stark contrast against his honey-colored hair.

“Whoa, chill Denki. This isn’t like you. Listen, I didn’t mean for you fall backwards, I just wanted get your attention, Megawatt. You’re not hurt, are you?”

“No, I’m fine” he said, getting up and brushing himself off. Well, so much for avoiding people.

Jiro stood up from kneeling and took a step back from Kaminari. “Well, anyways, I was in the male’s wing ‘cause I was actually looking for you. You said earlier this week that you needed help with the guitar, right?” she asked earnestly.

“Well, yeah... but right now really isn’t a good time. I’ve had the shittiest day and I don’t think I can handle any more failure...”

Jiro stopped and blinked, looking upset. “Denki... what happened today? Was it about third period? Really, you didn’t incite that incident, I was only kidding-” She asked earnestly.

“It’s nothing!” He snapped, his face turning a darked\r shade of vermillion. Jiro looked surprised and hurt by his reaction, and Denki immediately felt bad. He stiffened, and looked down, softening his tone. “I just...need some time to let off some steam. You know, get into a better headspace, recharge. I want to be left alone right now.”

“Oh, okay... well, if there’s anything I can do to help or you change your mind, you know where I live.” Then she reached out to gently touch his arm, startling him. He looked up, caught off guard by this. His felt his heartbeat quicken, and he prayed that she couldn’t hear it. Jiro added “Stop by. I mean it.” Denki mumbled a quick thanks to her, and not looking up, made his way up another flight of stairs to the third floor.

He flung open the door to the hallway in the men’s wing. He trudged down the hallway, finally arriving at his dorm. His hand went to his pocket to get his key only to hit fabric. SHIT he thought. I must’ve dropped it in the stairwell when I fell. He swiftly spun around to retrace his steps only to turn and bump right into Jiro, knocking both her and himself to the ground.

“Watch it, Sparky! I mean, Shit... sorry.” Jiro quickly scrambled to her feet, red faced and stammered “Look, I didn’t mean to- listen, so you, uh, dropped your keys and- I uh- just- here” She tossed Denki’s keys onto his lap and quickly ran down the hallways towards the door to the female wing.

Denki sat there, blinking, just trying to comprehend what had just happened. Shit, that had really just happened. Jiro looked really embarrassed. All she was trying to do was help him out. Denki felt awful for not only having snapped at her in the stairwell but then having knocked her to the floor. His thoughts shifted from anger from the day’s events to determination to fix things with Jiro. Rising to his feet, he unlocked his door, and quickly changed into some more casual clothes. He grabbed the guitar that was propped against the wall and slung it over his shoulder, taking note to also bring the sheet music for the song he was learning. With that, Kaminari headed out of his room and toward the female wing. When he got to Jiro’s room, he hesitated a brief moment before knocking. Does she even want to see me after having been so rude? Only one way to find out.

Kaminari knocked on the door and waited. “Yeah? Who is it?” An icy, familiar voice from rang out from behind the closed door. “Um, uh, it’s me, you know, Denki Kaminari, your friend.” He heard footsteps, then the door unlatch.

Jiro opened her door enough to stand in the doorframe. “Yeah?”

“Hey Kyoka, I am here to for some practice. I wanna be ready to impress everybody for the school festival!” He flashed a bright smile at her, and she rolled her eyes.

“Alright Sparky. C’mon in”.

Denki walked in, looking around at her décor. Band posters plastered the walls and tons of different music equipment peeking out from every available nook and cranny. “You know Kyoka, I still can’t get over how cool your room is. It really looks like a music store or somethin’”

Jiro scoffed “Well, it’s just some stuff to help set the vibe. Gotta keep it rockin’” Jiro sat on the edge of her bed, and gestured for kaminari to come over. He plopped himself down on the floor in front of Jiro and took off his jacket. “Alright Mr. Jammingway, let’s start off with some warm-ups”

“Awww, Kyoka, do I have to? I wanna get jamming!”

“Dude, you wrists and fingers are gonna get so sore if you don’t warm up. Besides, even the legends like Jimmie Hendrix and Eric Clapton would warm up before playing. You’re not any better than them, so shut up and get started”

“Aww okay. I wouldn’t want tendinitis or anything.”

“Let’s start off with getting you tuned. Your guitar I mean.” Jiro got up and went over to her electric keyboard, and started off with a low E. Kaminari tuned his guitar string to match, and followed suit with the remaining strings. After getting his guitar tuned, he cracked his knuckles and stretched out his digits and rolled his wrists around to loosen them up. He then started on some warm up exercises, practicing picking and strumming.

Jiro smirked as she sat back down on her bed. “Wow Sparky, you actually listened to me. You have been warming up before you practice”

Denki stopped and looked up at her, grinning. “’Course, why wouldn’t a listen to a talented rocker such as yourself? I’m not completely obtuse.”

“You are though most of the time. I swear, there’s lots of cobwebs in the brain of yours” Jiro said followed by a laugh.

Kaminari frowned. “I’m really not that dumb. I swear. I’m just not so much a math-science-logic sort of guy. I’m more of a Whitman sort of guy”.

Jiro looked at him, puzzled. “A what?”

“You know, Walt Whitman, the poet? Here, lemme look up a poem real quick-” Kaminari reached over to his jacket and took his smartphone out of the pocket. He tapped quickly and scooted closer to Jiro and began reading aloud:

When I heard the learn’d astronomer,

When the proofs, the figures, we ranged in columns before me,

When I was shown the charts and diagrams, to add, divide, and measure them,

When I was sitting heard the astronomer where he lectured with much applause in the lecture-room,

How soon unaccountable I became tired and sick,

Till rising and gliding out I wander’d off by myself,

In the mystical moist air, and from time to time,

Look’d up in perfect silence at the stars

They sat in silence for a moment before Denki spoke. “That’s probably my favorite poem by him. I really just, I don’t know, I feel like it was almost written about me in a way. But I guess that’s the great thing about poetry-it reminds you that you aren’t alone in your human experience”.

Jiro was quiet. She hadn’t expected such a deep philosophical sentiment from the same guy who regularly and non-ironically used the word ‘yeet’.

“Um-“ Jiro started, but Denki interrupted her “Heh, sorry. Let’s get back to practicing. I am having problem with the barre chords. I just can’t seem to get my fingers to do that.”

Jiro snapped back to reality “Oh, yeah, barre chords are hard. If the song only had barre chords, you could use a capo, but since it has other non-barre chords, unfortunately ya gotta learn them the hard way. So,” She reached over to the wall and unhooked the electric guitar, bringing it down to her lap. “what you’re gonna do is take your pointer finger like this” She put it across all six strings “and then roll it to the side so the bony part is up against the strings. You’ll get a cleaner sound and it won’t hurt as much.”

She turned to look at Kaminari, who was staring at her, his eyes glistening under the fluorescent light. “Um, so, uh, why don’t you give it a try Denki?” She watched as Denki tried to copy her hand position but it was clear he was struggling.

“Nah, more like this” she showed him again on her guitar, and watched as he hopelessly tried to copy her hand position. She scooted off the bed and knelt in front of him. She took his hand and moved each of his fingers to the correct placement. She looked up from the neck of his guitar, close enough where he could feel her exhales on his face. His heart thumped loudly in his chest and he prayed she could not hear him. Jiro continued, “…See, like this. Try strumming now.” Blushing, Kaminari strummed downward, and a clean sounding chord rang out.”

Jiro sat back and smiled. “See? You got it! Try it again, upward stroke this time.” Denki repeated, and let the chord ring out fully. He grinned at Jiro.

“Thanks Kyoka! You’re a really good teacher.” “Jiro began an attempted at denying it, but Denki cut her off “Jiro, accept a compliment! You’re good at teaching and you’re even better at playing. You really are talented.”

Jiro stayed quiet for a few moments, then stood up. “Well,” she exhaled. “You seem to be progressing really well. I think that if you keep up with the practicing, you should be ready for the school festival by the time it rolls around. I say let’s call it quits for the evening. She looked out the window over her balcony. Attempting to change the subject to distract herself from blushing, she said “Looks like it stopped raining.”

Denki put down the guitar and stood up. “Yeah. Hey Kyoka?” She looked at him, and he continued “Wanna go for a walk in the courtyard? I know it’s probably a bit wet out still from the rain, but it’s always really refreshing to be outside after a rainstorm.”

Jiro thought about saying no, until an idea struck her. “Yeah, sure thing. Lemme grab my jacket and shoes real quick.” She grabbed her jacket and slid on her boots, then they both headed for the door. They both reached for the door handle at the same time, accidently touching hands for a split second before yanking their hands back.

“Oh! Um, sorry” Denki stammered, turning slightly red as he tensed up.

“It’s all good; don’t worry ‘bout it, Sparky.” She smiled reassuringly at him, and his shoulder relaxed. They walked next to each other, heading towards the stairwell. Descending the stairs then walking through the common area, they headed towards the exit.

Unlike earlier, there were students from 1-A now sitting on the couches surrounding the TV, watching some sort of rom-com. Ochaco, Tsuyu, Tokoyami, Mina, Midoriya, Iida, Todoroki, and Momo were spread out over the couches. Uraraka turned around when she heard their footsteps and called out to them.

“Hey Kyoka! Hi Denki!” She grabbed the TV remote and hit pause. “You guys want to watch “A Cinderella Story” with us?”

Mina chimed in “Tokoyami, Iida, and Todoroki haven’t seen it before, which an absolute crime. Can you believe it?! it’s an absolutely iconic movie that defined a generation”.

Todoroki’s eyes widened “Its a crime?!”

Momo laughed. “No Todoroki, figure of speech. And well mina, maybe that’s a bit of an overstatement, but seriously, Jiro, Kaminari, it’s a good movie. We started it only a few minutes ago, so you haven’t missed much. Bakugo, Sero, and Kirishima are in the kitchen working on dinner for everybody.”

Iida added “We extended the invitation to the other students to join us for this screening, but most of them either went home for the weekend or are studying.”

Tsuyu added “We stopped by Jiro’s room to ask you to join us, but it sounded like you guys were practicing for the festival, so we decided not to interrupt, ribbet.”

Denki responded “That was real cool of you guys. Jiro and me are gonna go for a quick walk, but we’ll join you afterwards. Its one of my favorite movies”.

Mina laughed from the couch. “That’s a surprise, Kaminari. I wouldn’t peg you as the rom-com type”.

Denki shook his head and grinned “A movie with hot girls, humor, and happy endings? What’s not to love? Anyways, we’ll be back.”

Uraraka waved and said “Alright, have fun! We’ll see you guys soon!” Denki waved back then he and Jiro headed outside.

When they got outside, they walked for a few minutes, saying nothing. The air was still, and the streetlights softly illuminated the sidewalk, slick with water. Jirou and Kaminari walked closely side by side, unconsciously syncing their strides, only a few inches between their hands that swung loosely at their sides. Kaminari finally broke the silence. “Isn’t it nice out? I don’t like thunderstorms much, but I love the air afterwards. It has a weird feel to it, you know? Its… I don’t know how to describe it. I guess it almost feels like it’s a liminal space of sorts, like between good and bad weather.”

Jiro looked at him confused. “You don’t like thunderstorms? You literally have an electric quirk. I would’ve thought that you would love them.”

Denki laughed, and put his hand on the back of his neck. “Aha, yeah, not so much. Water and I don’t exactly mix…”

“Ah, that makes sense. Well, every time there’s a thunderstorm, it reminds me of you ” Jiro replied. Kaminari felt a hot blush spread across his face and he was grateful for the dim lighting to disguise his embarrassment. Jiro looked away from him quickly as to also disguise the blush that was creeping across her face. Silence once again befell them and the continued walking.

Is now the time to bring this up, Jiro thought to herself. Well, she thought, might as well give it a try. Jiro broke the silence to say “Hey, so I, uh, well, so I came across this song the other day and I think you might like. You like indie rock and that kind of music, right, Jammingway?”

Kaminari was surprised. “How did you kn-”

Jiro laughed. “Dude, your Spotify playlists are public. I’m always looking for new songs so I sometimes randomly listen to other people’s playlists. Plus, you give off that sort of vibes. Anyways, as I was saying before I was so rudely interrupted,” Denki smiled sheepishly as she continued “so I came across this song that I think you would like. You got your phone on you?”

“Of course. What kind of teen would I be if I didn’t?” He laughed as he pulled his smartphone out of his jacket pocket, unlocked it, then handed it over to Jiro. She walked over to a nearby bench, brushed off the water, and tapped the bench, inviting Kaminari to come sit next to her. She pulled a pair of earbuds from her pocket, plugged them into his phone’s headphone jack, and then handed Kaminari one earbud. She put the other one in her own ear, then hit play. She closed her eyes, and Kaminari followed suit, listening to the beginning of the song.

“Candy… She’s sweet like candy in my veins…”

He was very aware of how close they were sitting together, how her arm was resting against his, her warm breath on his skin, his knee touching hers.

“Baby, I’m dying for another taste. And every night my mind is running round her, Thunder’s getting louder and louder”

He blushed hearing the lyrics, wondering if she thought this way about him or if it was just the style of music that reminded her of him. If it was the first of the two, would that mean…?

“Baby, you’re like lightning in a bottle! I I can't let you go now that I got it! And all I need is to be struck by your electric love”

The chorus hit, and he got it: it was because it was about electricity. I mean, he thought, that’s kinda a shallow connection to me, but a connection nevertheless. At least she thought about me…

The song ended, and Jiro turned to look at him expectedly. “So… what do you think? You like it?”

“Yeah, “he laughed. “That is a great example of the kind of music I like. Guess I have a pretty predictable music taste.” He ran his hand through his hair.

Jiro frowned “Nah, I just know you, dude. What did you think of the lyrics?” She hoped that he had picked up on the general message so she wouldn’t have to explain it…

“Yeah, I see why you thought of me. ‘Cause of the thunderstorm metaphor used. I have an electricity quirk. You said earlier thunderstorms remind you of me. It’s a superficial level metaphoric comparison.” He saw her face change under the dim streetlight, and he quickly clarified “Superficial in the sense of like not like ‘uh you’re soooo superficial’ but more like it just being a surface level observation, like not skin deep, you know? Sorry. I do like the song though, and” he took a deep breath and touched her arm gently. “I’m glad that you think of me. You’re a good friend, Kyoka”.

Jiro’s heart sank. Dammit, she thought to herself, I really am gonna have to explain it. “So, um, I guess like I saw the lyrics as a sort of way to describe how I feel about you. Like how earlier you read that poem to me and said you said you thought it described you. I feel like this song really captures how I feel about… well, how I feel about you.”

Denki took a moment to process what she had just said. Please oh please oh please I hope he picks up on what I’m trying to say she prayed.

Kaminari’s face broke out into a grin. “So, I think I catch your drift.” He paused, then said “Are you familiar with the work of Percy Bysshe Shelley?”

Jiro shook her head “I don’t see how this connects Den-“

“Shh, lemme continue, Earbuds. Percy B Shelley, English poet, husband of Mary Shelley who authored ‘Frankenstein’, real cool guy. Anyways, he wrote a play called ‘Prometheus Unbound’ which was like his response to the story ‘Prometheus Bound’ which is like an ancient Greek play… sorry, tangent. Yeah, so there was this one line I read that I wrote down in my notes…somewhere…” He bit his bottom lip as he scrolled through all of his notes on his phone. “Ah, here it is. It reminded me of how you make me feel” He read out loud:

As in the soft and sweet eclipse,

When soul meets soul on lovers' lips,

High hearts are calm, and brightest eyes are dull;

So when thy shadow falls on me,

Then am I mute and still, by thee

He leaned forward and softly placed his lips against hers for a few seconds. Then, they broke away, saying nothing. Kaminari leaned back and looked up at the sky, smiling to himself. I finally did it, he thought.

Jiro’s thoughts were racing 100 kilos an hour. THAT JUST HAPPENED OMG what do I do now ahhhhhh. Okay, get it together, Kyoka. She reached out and took his hand. She gave it a light squeeze, and joined Kaminari in looking up at the sky. A few softly glowing specks of light glimmered amongst the dark clouds that filled the void. Jiro leaned her head on Kaminari’s shoulder, and he leaned his towards her in response. Their gazes directed towards the sky, thoughts intertwined, sharing warmth from each other’s touch, they stayed in this seemingly infinite, gentle moment.

A few tiny drops of water descended from the sky, bringing them both crashing back to earth from the sky. Kaminari turned his head and kissed the top of Jiro’s head. “I think it’s time to head back, Kyoka.” he whispered, making no attempt to get up.

Jiro rotated her body to face Kaminari, delicately placed her hand on his cheek and pulled him close, meeting her lips with his. “Okay” she softly responded.

Both of them reluctantly broke apart and stood up, and began leisurely strolling towards the UA dorm building. Suddenly, lightning bolts instantly zagged across the sky above, followed by a deafening boom that echoed through the air. The clouds above broke open, and hard droplets raced to the earth below, aggressively soaking the world in a layer of water. Kaminari grabbed Jiro’s hand and pulled her forward as he ran towards the entrance of the dorm building. He fumbled for his ID, only then realizing he must have dropped it somewhere.

“Jiro… I can’t find my ID. Do you have yours?” Jiro’s hand instantly went to her pocket and pulled out her ID. She quickly pressed it against the scanner on the wall, the door buzzed, and they were able to quickly enter into the dry, brightly-lit common room. They were dripping wet, but grateful to be out of the storm.

Everyone was still watching the movie in the common room. Tsuyu was the first to notice their return; she picked up the remote that was laid on the coffee table to pause the movie. “Looks like you guys got rained on, ribbet.”

Jiro didn’t know how to respond, so she was relieved when Kaminari answered for them. “Yeah!” He smirked. “It really just started downpouring out of nowhere, no warning or anything! Guess good ol’ Zeus decided one rainshower today wasn’t enough” He caused a few of the other students to chuckle.

“Oh, Kaminari” Iida tossed a lanyard at Kaminari. “You dropped your keys and ID here in the lobby. Try to be more responsible next time.”

“Thanks Iida” Kaminari mumbled, turning a shade of crimson.

“Well…” Jiro began “I am going to go change into some dry clothes. Be right back.”

“Oh, Jiro!” Uraraka called out. “Dinner should be done by the time you are back! So don’t forget to bring your appetite! Also, this is a pajama party so wear your pjs!” Jiro smiled and left for her room.

Kaminari watched her as she left the room, smiling to himself. He heard somebody clear their throat, and he snapped back to reality. “Well, I will probs go change too. Don’t want to catch a cold or anything. That would be pretty tragic. Also, I’ll bring some M&Ms for everybody. Be right back!”. Kaminari smirked as he left the common room and climbed the stairs to the third floor. He couldn’t have asked for that to have gone any better, except minus getting rained on. But Kyoka… she really kissed him, huh. He wanted to talk to her about what had happened outside, but he didn’t want to complicate anything yet.

Kaminari got to his dorm room and unlocked it, quickly changing into some comfy pj bottoms and a t-shirt, then he grabbed the bag of M&Ms, the lanyard with his ID and keys, and walked towards the female wing. He got to Jiro’s door and knocked, and waited for a response.

“Yeah?” Her voice rang out from behind the door.

“It’s me”.

A minute later, the door opened, and Jiro stood once again in the doorframe, this time, wearing a pair of pajama bottoms with a tank top. “Hey Megawatt, you ready to head back down?” She spied the bag of M&Ms in Kaminari’s hands. “Bruh. M&Ms are actually my favorite candy in the world.”

Kaminari smiled. “I know. That’s what I was thinking when I got them. You gotta share them with everybody else though too”.

Jiro pouted “Aww, alright Sparky, I will. I’m not gonna be happy about it but I guess sharing is caring. Let’s go.”

They walked together towards the stairwell door, and before going through, Jiro stopped suddenly.

“So, before we go join the rest of the gang, Sparky, um, can we quickly maybe talk about what happened out there? You know, before it started raining...”

Kaminari responded “I would love to, but I really really want to watch the movie with you and the others, so maybe let’s put a pin in that for now. Don’t worry” he paused, and gently placed a kiss on her check, causing her to cheeks to flush pink. “We’ll talk about it. Tomorrow maybe?”

Jiro smirked, threw her arms around his neck, and smashed her lips against his before saying. “Alright, whatever you say, Mr. Short-Circuit. Let’s grab some tea or something when we do. You know, make it a date.”

Kaminari’s brain whirled, but he managed to respond “Yeah. Tomorrow at 1?”

“Yeah, sounds good. Stop by beforehand though so you can practice guitar more. Ya gotta be able to shred for the festival.”

“Course.” Kaminari said. “I gotta keep up so I don’t look idiotic next to a hardcore rocker such as yourself”.

Jiro smirked, opening the door to the stairwell and bounded down the stairs to the floor with the common areas. Kaminari smiled, following her into the common area to join the other students.

#kaminari denki #jiro kyoka #kaminari x jiro #kaminari denki x jiro kyoka #my hero academia #mha #mha fanfiction #kamijirou #kamijiro #jirou kyoka

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mcrmadness · 4 years

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I was tagged by @froschimbrunnen for this Rammstein themed tag game, thanks! :D

Get to know me in 10 questions. Copy and paste the questions if you’re tagged, or if you feel like it.

Rules: There are no rules. Tag whoever you want. Don’t tag anyone. Tag yourself. You don’t have to answer all of the questions. Do what you please. Have fun.

created by: @vapor-stein

1. I’m curious: when did you discover Rammstein? I started listening to them in 2011 but I have known about them ever since Amerika became internationally popular and it was playing in the radio all the time in 2004. And because Finland is very much into metal music, Rammstein is very popular here too. And my dad has liked them a lot for a very long time so he often showed us their music videos even when I wasn’t into R+ yet.

2. Tell me your story. How did you discover them? Like I said, it was in 2011 when I got interested in them. I have never been into metal music and I always felt that Rammstein is way too metal for me too. But my siblings had got into Rammstein a bit before me and I remember doing German homework with my brother and we were listening to music, Rammstein this time. And the song Amerika was playing and I had known about this song for years and I didn’t find it bad, but also not that interesting. But I still started to feel like maybe I should still give it a try? And after the song comes their song Moskau. And that was it. That sounded actually good. And I asked my dad for the files and started to investigate their music myself and here I am now.

3. Favorite song? It’s difficult to say just one when all the albums are slightly different from each other and each album has its own best song. But I have to say that “Mein Land” is actually the first one to come in mind. I have liked it a lot ever since I heard it for the first time and it still is one of those songs that makes me feel as good as it did then. “Links 2-3-4″ is also a favorite, I really love the march rhytm in songs! And I like “Adios” a lot too, it has great drums and it’s a bit faster song too which is not that typical for them but it works really great. I also like “Zerstören” A LOT. And have to mention “Halleluja” and “Feuerräder”, those are great.

4. Least favorite song? Come on. I know you have one. I have more than one, Rammstein is one of those bands that have REALLY good songs but then also each album has several not-so-interesting songs. I guess everything just needs to be in balance :D But I mainly don’t really care about very slow songs so I often skip songs like “Feuer und Wasser” or “Rammstein”, I’ve also never really been into “Wiener Blut” nor “Stein um Stein” etc., you get the point.

5. Favorite album? Hmmm, this is a tough one. Mutter and Rosenrot have probably the biggest amount of songs that I don’t skip, and I also really like Sehnsucht, but then again I also really loved the 2019 album too, as it’s a very rare one because I don’t skip a single song. And I really like it how it sounds so Rammstein yet so different, and most of the songs have these little details that sound like they would be almost like easter eggs or tributes to their older albums, and that’s super interesting, because the songs still sound like completely new songs! So I think I’m gonna go with “Rammstein”.

6. Least favorite album? Probably not hard to count from here that it’s “Herzeleid” :D It also has some really good songs but most of the time is has a lot less melodies than the other albums and I really love music with lots of melody and layers. I think what appeals to me with this album the most is the rhythm and drums.

7. Something that speaks to you in the deepest sense of the word: a lyric? A specific song? I’m so bad with lyrics (with all bands) that I cannot say anything to this. I guess I have gone through all the songs with English translations when I was bored but I legit cannot remember the stories to more than maybe a couple of songs. I guess “Halleluja” is kinda interesing, and “Mein Land” is very simple what comes to lyrics and I kinda like it how the words go together with the sound so I guess I’m gonna say those. But I don’t have any song that would be somewhat special to me, those are the only ones I can remember now and not even that well.

8. Unpopular opinion: about a member? A scandal? Anything? Not really. I am partially a fan and I own t-shirts and all cds and dvds etc. but I’ve never been SO into them that I’d have spent hours on reading about them. I rarely watch any interviews and mostly I know stuff only if I’ve read it from Wikipedia or from their dvds. I don’t think I have even watched all of the documents ON the dvds, but I believe I have at least seen all the concert dvds :D So I don’t think I have any interesting (nor uninteresting) unpopular opinion.

9. Have you ever seen them live? Tell me what you felt. Lol yes, 4 times so far (all here in Finland). In 2013, 2016, 2017 and 2019 :D The first three were all festivals. And what I felt? Well, for starters: I always feel like dying because of the bass. They almost always (except for last year) start the concerts with the bass going up so slowly you barely notice it, then you just feel like everything is shaking and I start to panic has my heart gone crazy and then I realize it’s just the GROUND shaking. And the 2019 one was even worse and I literally felt like my head was gonna explode because they legit did all they could at making it as loud as possible, I was wearing earplugs but the bass was SO FUCKING LOUD that I’m surprised the stadium even stands anymore. The whole ground was shaking and I’m sure the sound waves kept crashing into the walls and all and making it all shake even more. So it feels very uncomfortable at first and I’d say you don’t really get used to it ever, especially not when being a highly sensitive person. That is actually the worst part for me and I wonder every time why did I go there again when it always makes me feel like I’m dying. Yet I always do that. I guess I’m just stupid.

Anyway, can’t really see a lot because I’m short and there’s so many people always (over 30 000 people at the stadium last year, that’s the same amount of people that live in my town alone o_o), but I still think it’s worth it. Especially last year it was pretty good spot after all because the light show was incredible and if you stand in the front, you definitely are not going to see all that! And the fire is always very interesting because I’m terrified of fire, but somehow in their show it’s fascinating. And fire is such a powerful element because no matter how far you’d be from it, you can still feel the warmth within seconds. The show itself is also incredible, and I cannot wait for them to release this show on dvd so that I’ll actually see the show happening on the stage too, not just the light and fire show :D

10. Do you play any instruments? If you do, can you play any song by them? No I don’t, I used to play piano as a kid but then I stopped for whatever reasons. So no, I can’t play any songs from them, tho if I ever had an electric piano, maybe I could try something. But I’m the most beginner as it gets since I was ~8 when I played and stopped playing the piano.

I think I’m gonna tag @cupcakecurl, if you want to do this one! :)

#mcrmadness' random stuff #tag games #rammstein

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sinceileftyoublog · 4 years

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Dogleg Interview: Buckle Up, Motherfucker

BY JORDAN MAINZER

Earlier this year, Michigan punk four-piece Dogleg released one of the most blistering, endlessly playable debuts of the year in Melee, which, yes, is a Super Smash Bros. game. At this point, much has been written about the band, from their beyond wild live shows to their Pokemon-referencing and video game-playing prowess. Lost in the shuffle is that 2020 was poised to be their year to gain even more of a national following. Released on March 13th, right as the COVID-19 pandemic hit, Melee was supposed to be supported by three cancelled tours--SXSW, an opening slot for Microwave, and an opening slot for Joyce Manor--and an appearance at this year’s cancelled Pitchfork Music Festival. Listening to the songs on the record, you can only imagine how they translate: the jerky momentum of “Bueno”, build-up of “Prom Hell”, gang vocals of “Fox”, clear-vocal anthem of “Wrist”, and odd groove of “Ender”. The band agrees that playing live is what makes them Dogleg: “Our live shows is what made us the forefront of the DIY music scene for as long as we were with such little released music,” bassist Chase Macinski told me over the phone in April.

The band’s self-titled debut EP--at the time, the band was simply a solo project of lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist Alex Stoitsiadis--was released in 2015. Full-band follow-up Remember Alderaan? (Macinski, drummer Parker Grissom) came out in 2016. In the four years between EP2 and LP1, Dogleg took their time writing what would become Melee but wasted no time debuting unreleased songs as they were finished. It was not just their energy, but their steady stream of new material that garnered the band a growing fan base, local and beyond, and eventually a deal with venerable indie punk label Triple Crown Records. “Fox” and “Kawasaki Backflip” were released as singles last November and February, respectively, and the generated hype garnered them rave reviews from publications like Pitchfork that, 10-20 years ago, probably would have scoffed at them.

Dogleg’s bigger moment--they’ve certainly had plenty of already big ones--may be on hold. Macinski continues his day job as a janitor in Southfield, about 20 minutes northwest of Detroit, while Stoitsiadis has played around with live-streamed acoustic and solo electric sets. While the group approach to writing that allowed the band to flourish when making Remember Alderaan? and Melee may not be possible without a completely reopen Michigan, and while Dogleg won’t be able to feed off of crowds for a bit, I have no doubt they’ll come back when they can with an even greater drive.

Read my interview with Macinski below.

Since I Left You: To what extent can Melee be fully appreciated without the context of the Dogleg live show?

Chase Macinski: I think you get a feeling for it. You understand it. But you still haven’t experienced it. We have been playing these songs for a long time. “Headfirst” for example, we basically had that song written by the time Remember Alderaan? came out in 2016. But we didn’t want to include it on the EP because it was close but not finished. Two weeks later, I’m pretty sure we wrapped it up, and then we were like, “Cool. We have the first song for the new album.” At that point, we thought it was time to make an album. We were playing it ever since it’s been done. As we were writing songs for the album, we were incorporating them into our live shows. A year ago, when the album wasn’t even out, half our set was still this album. Locals who saw us on the most recent tour we got to go on did catch that experience but didn’t get the whole context of the album, you know?

SILY: "Headfirst”, especially, is the most maximal song on the record.

CM: Oh yeah.

SILY: At the same time, when I read reviews of your music that say things like, “Dogleg plays loud,” or “Dogleg has energy,” it seems to leave out the complexity of the arrangements. The stop-starts, the drum fills, the crescendos. There’s a lot going on in the music, beyond it obviously being loud and fast. Can you talk about achieving a balance between raw energy and composition?

CM: We want to build up a lot of tension when we play, and we keep that in mind when we’re writing songs. We definitely try to think of, “What’s really hype? What builds up a lot of energy? What gives us butterflies in our stomach and makes us really jazzed up to hear this or anxious?” For the live shows, since we focus so much on those details, the start-stops and crescendos, it fills itself in pretty easily since we’re all focused on that and on the same page in terms of execution, that it just happens, and on the other side of that, we’re trying to be as energetic and involved and engaging with the music as possible. What we do in theory helps us out in practice, if that makes sense.

SILY: How did you approach the sequencing on Melee?

CM: We took it very seriously. It took us a lot of time to figure out what order the songs should be in. I immediately said we should start the album with “Kawasaki Backflip”, and I got some backlash on that. The other two contenders for the first track were “Fox” and “Prom Hell”. “Prom Hell” had more of an argument than “Fox” did. My attitude was, “‘Kawasaki’ starts off like a roller coaster, and that intro guitar riff is just like, ‘Buckle up, motherfucker.’ Let’s go for a ride.’” I really thought it had that tension immediately out the gate and blasted you with what could be a middle ground for the entire album, where I thought “Prom Hell” didn’t really address or show you what you can fully expect on this. For the first track, you might think something differently. After that, it was a lot of, “Okay, how does one song end and another begin?” We thought a lot about what key songs were in, what note songs ended on, how they ended, what the band was doing, what they sounded like, and then we thought about the same thing for how songs begin. “How does this one start? Does it start full-band, just guitar, drum fill?” We wanted to make sure we weren’t being too repetitive and created a sense of flow that could make one song go into the other. We even incorporated those moments where we were very specific about the time change between “Kawasaki” and “Bueno”. We were very specific about when “Kawasaki” ended and how much time passed between that and for you to hear the drums of “Bueno”. We wanted it to be an exact timing just for enough tension to be built up.

SILY: Were there any considerations to the thematic sequencing of the songs?

CM: No, not really, other than when we wrote “Ender” and decided to call it “Ender”, we knew it would be the last song. Otherwise, there wasn’t thematic sequencing because the lyrical content and the themes through the lyrics throughout the album were Alex’s thing. We write a song, and when the whole band writes the song, it’s an instrumental. Then, Alex comes up with a melody, and we all pitch in with what the lyrics might sound like, and Alex writes all the words. I’ve contributed when he’s got writer’s block and have helped him out a bit there, but for the most part, all of the themes for the lyrics he puts in.

SILY: There’s a line on “Kawasaki Backflip” that does seem like an appropriate introductory mantra to the record: “We can destroy this together.”

CM: Yeah, I mean, I think that’s a pretty powerful statement as an introductory song on the album. “Kawasaki”’s that “buckle up” song, as well, so the instrumental aspects definitely lead into that idea of “get ready for what you’re about to experience.”

SILY: A song like “Cannonball” is a bit more swaying instead of clearly uptempo. When you go into write as a unit, do those differences occur naturally, or are they forced with any sort of intention?

CM: “Cannonball” I would say occurred naturally because we wrote the song as we were practicing one day. In between songs we were practicing and making noise, I played that main verse riff, that A to C progression. I was just bored, not thinking, and playing my bass, waiting for Alex and Parker to be like, “Okay, let’s play another song.” While I was doing that, Alex was like, “Yo, what’s that?” I was like, “I don’t know, I was just messing around.” We started building on that and took that swaying feeling for what it was, and the lyrics to add to that--I think “Cannonball” was maybe the 4th, maybe 5th song on the album, so we didn’t have any idea what would be on it at that point. We knew it was a Dogleg song.

SILY: On “Ender”, are those actual strings in the outro?

CM: Yes, those are our friends who go to music school in Chicago. We know them from the School of Rock music program we all did when we were in middle school and high school. They were home for summer vacation and had their instruments, and we asked, “Yo, can we record y’alls playing violin”...I forget the other instrument. [Editor’s note: It’s double bass.] Those are actual strings. Honestly, I thought they played the parts so well, I made a comment that, “I don’t think people will think this is real because it sounds so genuine and good.”

SILY: I actually assumed it was a synthesizer.

CM: It’s legit. They’re just really good at playing their instruments. The horns are real as well.

SILY: What’s the story behind the cover art?

CM: The cover art is Alex’s aunt’s artwork. She’s a really great artist, and we’ve used her designs in the past. If you’ve ever seen the dog pack t-shirt, where it’s the bunch of dogs in watercolor--it’s also the artwork of our first EP--she also did that. She just really likes drawing dogs. We’ve never really commissioned something from her--she’s always already made something that we’ve thought is really cool, and then Alex asks her whether we can use it for the band, and she says, “Yeah, sure go ahead.” One day we were playing a show in 2017, way before we had half the songs on the album written, before “Fox” was even an idea. [Alex] was scrolling through his aunt’s Instagram and came across that picture. I saw it out of the corner of my eye and was like, “What is that?” He just goes, “It’s just something my aunt made.” I was like, “That is a fucking phenomenal piece of art. We have to use that for our album artwork.” He was like, “Okay.” He asked, we got permission. We made no edits to it. I don’t know when it was drawn or made, but when I saw it, I immediately knew it was perfect.

SILY: Is she a fan of the band?

CM: Yeah, she likes the band. She thinks it’s really cool.

SILY: Have any of these songs evolved, from the song structure to the performance, as the fans get to know both the recorded and live versions?

CM: We play the songs faster live, that’s for sure. Before we did any recording for the album, we had to decide on a tempo we wanted to play them at for the album. But since the songs were written, it’s just whatever tempo we’re feeling. For Melee, none of the song structures have really changed. But for the Dogleg self-titled EP, a lot of those songs, we play very differently live. Alex did that all by himself, recording, drums, bass, vocals, guitar. When we got incorporated in the band, that’s when we had the ability to put our spin on it. We changed and added those stop-and-go’s, different solos. No major changes to structure, but they feel more like Dogleg songs you’d expect to hear today.

SILY: Have you written anything during quarantine?

CM: Alex has been making some riffs, but we haven’t written any music. Alex says it’s pretty difficult for him at the moment. The songwriting process for every song on Melee and every song on Remember Alderaan? has been a band experience: Someone comes to the table with a riff, melody, one piece of the puzzle, and then the entire band fleshes it out. It’s pretty difficult for us to write music at the moment when we can’t get together.

SILY: Is there anything else next for you? Are you releasing any more music videos?

CM: We have some ideas. Nothing fleshed out yet. The last thing we did was the “Wartortle” video. We also have the Eureka [Records] sessions, which were all filmed before Michigan was put under lock down. We have some guitar play-throughs that will get out eventually, where it’s Alex playing along with the songs.

SILY: Is there anything you’ve been listening to, watching, or reading during or before quarantine that’s inspired you, comforted you, or caught your attention?

CM: I’ve been listening to a lot of music that I’ve listened to in the past. Once I graduated college and was really active in the temporary jobs I had and on the road, I stopped using Spotify for a long time even though I still had my account. My senior year, my Spotify minutes were huge: You listen to music when you study, do homework, whatever. Once I graduated, I couldn’t listen to music while doing things. A year ago, I was working at a hospital on a research project, and you’re not allowed to listen to music during work. I had like 15% of the music usage I did the previous year. So I’ve been revisiting a lot of old music. I’ve been listening to a band called Colossal. I forget the name of the album--it’s the only one I have in my car. The first track is called “The Dusk of Us” so it’s the first thing that comes to my mind. [Editor’s note: It’s Welcome the Problems.] Phenomenal album, really nice. I’ve listened to that a lot. My roommate has an extra PC, so I’ve been playing a lot of PC games, which I haven’t done in a long time because I don’t have a PC that can keep up. I’ve been playing [Civilization VI] with friends over Discord, which is nice, because I haven’t talked to them in a while. I haven’t really been reading anything, and I’ve been trying to watch movies I’ve been expected to watch for a while. Yesterday I watched The Matrix for the first time.

Melee by Dogleg

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gaymusicchart · 5 years

Video

youtube

GAY MUSIC CHART – 2019 week 08

Welcome to the Gay Music Chart, the LGBTQA related music videos TOP 50 actuality and most request.

Please notice that we received dozens of suggestions, and it's impossible to present all of them in the same week edition because the video would be too long. We have three months late to catch up, so it will take some times.

Vote for your favourite LGBTQA related music videos by leaving a comment for this post on :

YOUTUBE (in the comment section of the video of the week) : https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCz7yfp-xq-b08tD6mAWwclA

BLOGGER : http://gaymusicchart.blogspot.fr

FACEBOOK : https://www.facebook.com/GayMusicChart/

TWITTER : https://twitter.com/GayMusicChart with #GayMusicChart

TUMBLR : http://gaymusicchart.tumblr.com

Here are some other sites which also makes LGBT charts or presents some LGBT artists :

https://tadslgbtmusiccharts.blogspot.com/

https://www.facebook.com/groups/gaymusicgossipshow/

http://picdeer.com/gaymusicgram

http://thecountdownwithdjbaker.blogspot.com/

https://lgbtqmusicchart.uk/

Don’t hesitate to visits their sites !

Here is the recap for this week :

OUT : Erik Altemus - "Desidero" LW: 26 / WO: 2 / PEAK: 24

OUT : Greyson Chance - "Good As Gold" LW: 27 / WO: 8 / PEAK: 10

OUT : Clean Bandit feat. Marina & Luis Fonsi - "Baby" LW: 35 / WO: 4 / PEAK: 35

OUT : Years & Years - "All For You" LW: 39 / WO: 17 / PEAK: 01 (x1)

OUT : Blair St. Clair - "Irresistible" LW: 41 / WO: 6 / PEAK: 09

OUT : Tuure Boelius - "Vihaan rakastaa sua" LW: 43 / WO: 1 / PEAK: 43

OUT : Sam Tsui - "A Million Pieces" LW: 44 / WO: 5 / PEAK: 31

OUT : Pet Shop Boys - "On social media" (lyric video) LW: 46 / WO: 1 / PEAK: 46

OUT : Michete - "Yum Yum Big Slurp" LW: 47 / WO: 1 / PEAK: 47

OUT : Tim'm West - "Shoes" LW: 49 / WO: 1 / PEAK: 49

OUT : Tokio Hotel - "Melancholic Paradise" LW: 50 / WO: 1 / PEAK: 50

01 (+ 2) : Calum Scott - "No Matter What"

LW: 03 / WO: 7 / PEAK: 01 (x3)

UK - 2018 - from the album "Only Human" (Special Edition)

This really personnal song tells the story of Calum Scott telling his parents he was gay and their reactions of loving him "no matter what". It's a deep and emotional power ballad.

02 (- 1) : Jax Jones, Years & Years - "Play"

LW: 01 / WO: 7 / PEAK: 01 (x1)

UK - 2018 - from the EP "Snacks"

03 (- 1) : Troye Sivan - "Lucky Strike"

LW: 02 / WO: 6 / PEAK: 01 (x2)

Australia - 2019 - from the album "Bloom"

04 (+ 6) : Lauv & Troye Sivan - "i'm so tired..."

LW: 10 / WO: 4 / PEAK: 04

USA / Australia - 2019

05 (+ 4) : Saara Aalto - "Dance Like Nobody's Watching"

LW: 09 / WO: 2 / PEAK: 05

Finland - 2019 - from the album "Wild Wild Wonderland"

A music video about a transgender teen who wants to do ballet against the will of his father.

06 (=) : Trinity The Tuck - "The Face The Body"

LW: 06 / WO: 3 / PEAK: 06

USA - 2019

07 (+ 13) : Courtney Act - "Fight For Love"

LW: 20 / WO: 4 / PEAK: 07

Australia - 2018

The drag queen came 4th at "Eurovision - Australia decides", the Australian national selections for the Eurovision Song Contest 2019.

08 (+ 8) : Federica Abbate - "Finalmente"

LW: 16 / WO: 6 / PEAK: 08

Italy - 2018

This song came second in the first part of the Sanremo Giovani 2018 Music Festival for emergent artists. The lyrics talk about a love relationship badly judged by the entourage. If the lyrics aren't specifically gay, the music video is, with the portrayal of a young man who comes out to his father who rejects him in return. So, the young man can only be reconforted by his boyfriend and his friends. Until... Beautiful.

09 (+ 3) : Calum Scott - "If Our Love is Wrong"

LW: 12 / WO: 3 / PEAK: 09

UK - 2018 - from the album "Only Human"

10 (- 6) : Manila Luzon - "Go Fish"

LW: 04 / WO: 3 / PEAK: 04

USA - 2019 - from the album "Rules"

11 (- 6) : Lady Gaga & Bradley Cooper - "Shallow"

LW: 05 / WO: 7 / PEAK: 04

USA - 2018 - from the OST "A Star Is Born"

This song won the Golden Globe for Best Original Song 2018, the Grammy for Best Pop Duo/Group Performance 2019 and Best Song Written for Visual Media 2019, the BAFTA for Best Film Music 2019.

12 (+ 1) : Not.Your.Regular.Boy. - "It's All Yours"

LW: 13 / WO: 5 / PEAK: 12

The Netherlands - 2018

This is his third single.

13 (+ 9) : N.E.F.O.R.M.A.T - "Чужие Судьбы" (Aliens Destiny)

LW: 22 / WO: 2 / PEAK: 13

Russia - 2019

For their first music video, these two have guts to do this kind of music video in their country: they show their homosexuality, they kiss, they flirt half naked in bed, they rebel for freedom. Respect, men!

14 (- 3) : Tiago Braga - "Ilusão"

LW: 11 / WO: 25 / PEAK: 06

Portugal - 2018

A story of infidelity.

15 (+ 18) : Christopher Sorensen - "Afterglow"

LW: 33 / WO: 2 / PEAK: 15

USA - 2018

A touching music video about a teen dating a mature man, but his life collapses when he discovered he's a married man with child.

16 (- 9) : Netta - "Bassa Sababa"

LW: 07 / WO: 3 / PEAK: 07

Israel - 2019

This is her first single her victory at the Eurovision Song Contest 2018, still composed by Stav Beger.

17 (=) : Jão - "Me Beija Com Raiva"

LW: 17 / WO: 4 / PEAK: 10

Brazil - 2018 - from the album "Lobos"

It's the first time the singer talks about his sexual orientation with this song, writen for an ex-lover who broke his heart.

18 (NEW) : Robyn - "Send To Robin Immediately"

LW: - / WO: 1 / PEAK: 18

Sweden - 2019 - from the album "Honey"

19 (+ 2) : Bilal Hassani - "Roi"

LW: 21 / WO: 7 / PEAK: 05

France - 2019

Bilal Hassani won Destination Eurovision 2019 and will represent France at the Eurovision Song Contest 2019 in Tel Avivwith this song about self esteem.

20 (+ 4) : Theo X - "You Don't Wanna Dance"

LW: 24 / WO: 7 / PEAK: 09

Denmark - 2018

In this cute music video, a young teen dares to give an invitation to dance to another boy. Love is love.

21 (- 7) : Sam Smith, Normani - "Dancing With A Stranger"

LW: 14 / WO: 5 / PEAK: 14

UK / USA - 2019

This is a passionate duet about coping with loneliness and trying to get over a lost love.

22 (- 8) : Sam Smith - "Fire On Fire"

LW: 15 / WO: 7 / PEAK: 07

UK - 2018 - from the OST "Watership Down"

"Watership Down" is a BBC mini-series adaptation of the book, which tells the story about a warren of rabbits fighting to survive numerous perils as they search for a new home.

23 (NEW) : Trinity The Tuck feat. Peppermint - "I Call Shade"

LW: - / WO: 1 / PEAK: 23

USA - 2019 - from the album "Plastic"

24 (+ 5) : Calvin Harris, Sam Smith - "Promises"

LW: 29 / WO: 12 / PEAK: 01 (x1)

UK - 2018

25 (- 6) : Mark Ronson feat. Miley Cyrus - "Nothing Breaks Like a Heart"

LW: 19 / WO: 7 / PEAK: 04

USA - 2018

26 (- 1) : Brandon Stansell - "Hometown"

LW: 25 / WO: 3 / PEAK: 25

USA - 2018 - from the album "Slow Down"

This song is kind of a representation of his coming out story, with his family who didn’t respond very well. It was named one of the TOP 10 COUNTRY MUSIC VIDEOS of 2018 by Rolling Stone.

27 (NEW) : Ben Platt - "Ease My Mind"

LW: - / WO: 1 / PEAK: 27

USA - 2019 - from the album "Sing To Me Instead"

With the second track of his upcoming album, the actor and singer officially comes out as gay in this music video, where he's dating Charles Carver.

28 (+ 8) : Allen King feat. Amor Romeira - "My Boy"

LW: 36 / WO: 9 / PEAK: 03

Spain - 2018

29 (+ 11) : Urgence Homophobie - "De l'Amour"

LW: 40 / WO: 7 / PEAK: 10

France - 2018

As homophobic attacks have increased by 15% in 2018 in France, 70 French celebrities made this song to fight homophobia.

30 (NEW) : Filatov & Karas - "Au Au"

LW: - / WO: 1 / PEAK: 30

Russia - 2019

A man is pregnant in this music video.

31 (+ 1) : Michael Medrano - "Love Somebody Else"

LW: 32 / WO: 7 / PEAK: 11

USA - 2018

The song was previously presented in our chart, but the music video was only released during our break.

32 (NEW) : Lady Gaga - "Joanne (Where Do You Think You’re Goin’?)" (Piano Version)

LW: - / WO: 1 / PEAK: 32

USA - 2018 - from the album "Joanne"

She won three Grammy Awards this year, including for Best Pop Solo Performance.

33 (NEW) : TIN - "Don't Say His Name"

LW: - / WO: 1 / PEAK: 33

UK - 2018

34 (- 16) : D. Prime - "GAY" and "HAPPY-NESS"

LW: 18 / WO: 2 / PEAK: 18

USA - 2019

35 (+ 3) : JORDY - "Just Friends"

LW: 38 / WO: 2 / PEAK: 35

USA - 2018

A love declaration.

36 (NEW) : Ben Platt - "Bad Habit"

LW: - / WO: 1 / PEAK: 36

USA - 2019 - from the album "Sing To Me Instead"

The singer and actor will release his first solo album next March 29th. People wonder if he has just come out as gay with the appearance of Charles Carver in his apartment at the end of the clip.

37 (- 29) : Lizzo - "Juice"

LW: 08 / WO: 6 / PEAK: 02

USA - 2018

38 (- 1) : Greyson Chance - "shut up"

LW: 37 / WO: 2 / PEAK: 37

USA - 2019

39 (- 16) : Super King Reza & Groovebox - "Horchata"

LW: 23 / WO: 2 / PEAK: 23

USA - 2018

40 (+ 2) : Someone Who Isn't Me - "Gomenaki"

LW: 42 / WO: 2 / PEAK: 40

Greece - 2018

41 (- 7) : Silva - "Duas da Tarde"

LW: 34 / WO: 6 / PEAK: 08

Brazil - 2018 - from the album "Brasileiro"

42 (- 14) : MNEK - "Girlfriend"

LW: 28 / WO: 2 / PEAK: 28

UK - 2019 - from the album "Language"

43 (NEW) : Years & Years feat. MNEK - "Valentino"

LW: - / WO: 1 / PEAK: 43

UK - 2019 - from the album "Palo Santo"

We can't show the music video due to copyright restriction.

44 (NEW) : LOBODA - "INSTADRAMA"

LW: - / WO: 1 / PEAK: 44

Ukraine - 2019

45 (- 14) : Miss Benny - "Rendezvous"

LW: 31 / WO: 4 / PEAK: 31

USA - 2019

Miss Benny is the new project of Ben J. Pierce aka Kid POV, aka Benny, well known here for his previous singles, included "Boys Will Be Boys". Welcome back!

46 (NEW) : Savoir Adore - "Bloom"

LW: - / WO: 1 / PEAK: 46

USA - 2019 - from the EP "First Bloom"

47 (RE-ENTRY) : Pabllo Vittar - "Seu Crime"

LW: - / WO: 2 / PEAK: 31

Brazil - 2019 - from the album "Não Para Não"

48 (=) : Echo Black - "Poison Apple"

LW: 48 / WO: 5 / PEAK: 37

USA - 2018 - from the album "Dawn"

The queer lead singer of the band is Danny Blu.

49 (- 19) : Electric Fields - "2000 and Whatever" (Lyrics Video)

LW: 30 / WO: 3 / PEAK: 30

Australia - 2019

Zaachariaha Fielding and Michael Ross mix electronic music with Aboriginal culture. This song came 2nd at "Eurovision - Australia decides", the Australian national selections for the Eurovision Song Contest 2019.

50 (- 5) : Troye Sivan and Jónsi - "Revelation" (Lyric video)

LW: 45 / WO: 7 / PEAK: 11

Australia / Iceland - 2018 - from the OST "Boy Erased"

The song was nominated on the 2019 Golden Globe Award for Best Original Song. The movie "Boy Erased" follows the son of Baptist parents who is forced to take part in a gay conversion therapy program.

NEW THIS WEEK

Nimmo - "No More"

LW: - / WO: - / PEAK: -

UK - 2019

Pet Shop Boys - "Give stupidity a chance" (lyric video)

LW: - / WO: - / PEAK: -

UK - 2019 - from the EP "Agenda"

Bring Me The Horizon feat. Grimes - "nihilist blues" (Lyric Video)

LW: - / WO: - / PEAK: -

UK / Canada - 2019 - from the album "amo"

Drake Jensen - "Talk Me Down"

LW: - / WO: - / PEAK: -

Canada - 2019 - from the album "Sideshow"

Jackie Shane - "Any Other Way" (audio)

LW: - / WO: 2 / PEAK: 18

USA - 1962

The transgender singer has died at the age of 78 years old. RIP.

King Princess - "Pussy Is God"

LW: - / WO: - / PEAK: -

USA - 2018

Dorian Electra - "Man To Man"

LW: - / WO: - / PEAK: -

USA - 2018

Tacocat - "Grains of Salt"

LW: - / WO: - / PEAK: -

USA - 2019 - from the album "This Mess is a Place"

Galla - "Nightsong"

LW: - / WO: - / PEAK: -

USA - 2018

Adam Gallagher is a fashion influencer, who releases his first single.

Nima - "Are You Serious?"

LW: - / WO: - / PEAK: -

USA - 2019

Matracia - "Slow"

LW: - / WO: - / PEAK: -

USA - 2019

Ben Levi Ross & Taylor Trensch - "Only Us"

LW: - / WO: - / PEAK: -

USA - 2019

A gay cover of the song from musical "Dear Evan Hansen"

Bobby Newberry - "Love You Like I Do"

LW: - / WO: - / PEAK: -

USA - 2019

CupcakKe - "Squidward Nose"

LW: - / WO: - / PEAK: -

USA - 2019

As usual, it's for an adult audience with these explicit sexual themed lyrics.

Abdu Ali - "Chastity"

LW: - / WO: - / PEAK: -

USA - 2019

PrettiBoiRoq - "Wanna Be Me"

LW: - / WO: - / PEAK: -

USA - 2018 - from the EP "Haus of Ken"

ILoveMakonnen feat. Gucci Mane - "Spendin" (Official Lyric Video)

LW: - / WO: - / PEAK: -

UK - 2019

Silva - "Brisa"

LW: - / WO: - / PEAK: -

Brazil - 2019

Jaloo feat. Nave - "Dói d+"

LW: - / WO: - / PEAK: -

Brazil - 2019

Funtastic - "Taku Fogo"

LW: - / WO: - / PEAK: -

Brazil - 2019

Criolo - "Etérea"

LW: - / WO: - / PEAK: -

Brazil - 2019

Filipe Catto - "É Sempre o Mesmo Lugar"

LW: - / WO: - / PEAK: -

Brazil - 2019 - from the album "Catto"

Ana Gabriela - "Mais De Nós"

LW: - / WO: - / PEAK: -

Brazil - 2019

Mateus Carrilho, Tainá Costa - "Toma"

LW: - / WO: - / PEAK: -

Brazil - 2019

Yhago Sebaz - "Vou Embora"

LW: - / WO: - / PEAK: -

Brazil - 2019

Rodrigo Alarcon part. Liniker - "Amor Acidente"

LW: - / WO: - / PEAK: -

Brazil - 2019 - from the EP "Parte"

Diego Diaz - "Caótico"

LW: - / WO: - / PEAK: -

Argentina - 2019

Agustín Malandra - "Madrugada Índica"

LW: - / WO: - / PEAK: -

Argentina - 2019

Dj Nelasta feat.Titica & Paulelson (Mr. Aleluia) - "Tonga"

LW: - / WO: - / PEAK: -

Angola - 2019

Gyre - "Quarantine"

LW: - / WO: - / PEAK: -

South Africa - 2018

Yaariyan LGBTQ Flashmob 2019

LW: - / WO: - / PEAK: -

India - 2019

Netflix Presents: The Valentine's Day Special

LW: - / WO: - / PEAK: -

India - 2019

This is a gay themed advertisement from Netflix India.

Love X Stereo - "Zero One"

LW: - / WO: - / PEAK: -

South Korea - 2019

Yanni Burton - "Mess Around"

LW: - / WO: - / PEAK: -

Australia - 2019

Philippe Jaroussky - "Che città"

LW: - / WO: - / PEAK: -

France - 2019

Colin Meyer & Burçak - "Pornstar"

LW: - / WO: - / PEAK: -

The Netherlands / Turkey - 2018

Merol - "Hou je bek en bef me"

LW: - / WO: - / PEAK: -

The Netherlands - 2019

Daniel Schuhmacher - "Venus or Mars"

LW: - / WO: - / PEAK: -

Germany - 2018

Electrosexual - "Darkroom"

LW: - / WO: - / PEAK: -

Germany - 2019 - from the EP "Era#03 - X2"

Divines - "Ponad"

LW: - / WO: - / PEAK: -

Poland - 2019

In this music video, LGBTQ bullied students take their revenge and go to prom.

Azis feat Azis Group - "Jeno Biagai"

LW: - / WO: - / PEAK: -

Bulgaria - 2019

teo entertainment - "OMG Fuck Me Hard"

LW: - / WO: - / PEAK: -

Russia - 2018

MARUV - "Siren song" (live @ Vidbir 2019 - Final)

LW: - / WO: - / PEAK: -

Ukraine - 2019

The song won the national selections and will represent Ukraine at the Eurovision Song Contest 2019 in Tel Aviv.

Alen Chicco - "Your Cure" (live @ Eurovizijos 2019 - Grand Final)

LW: - / WO: - / PEAK: -

Lithuania - 2019

The song came 5th in the Grand Final of the Lithuanian national selections for the Eurovision Song Contest.

Junà - "Strength of A Woman" (live @ Eurovizijos 2019 - Grand Final)

LW: - / WO: - / PEAK: -

Lithuania - 2019

The song came 8th and last in the Grand Final of the Lithuanian national selections for the Eurovision Song Contest. This time, the backdancers wore high heels.

Sigmund - "Say My Name" (live @ Melodi Grand Prix 2019)

LW: - / WO: - / PEAK: -

Denmark - 2019

The song came 5th in the Danish national selections for the Eurovision Song Contest.

P!nk - Live at The BRIT Awards 2019

LW: - / WO: - / PEAK: -

USA - 2019

She has received the Outstanding Contribution to Music Award at The Brit Awards 2019.

#Gay Music Chart #gay #music #LGBT #chart #top #2019 week 08

21 notes · View notes

jaceyourself · 5 years

Text

End of Year Wrap-Up 24/12/2018

Happy Merry to all you readers!

I’ve had a great year but all us music fans have had an even better one! Streaming services mean that now more than ever we can experience the musical output from all corners of the globe (though overwhelmingly the English-speaking parts of it) to understand different points of view, learn of the goings on in other parts of the world and most importantly indulge ourselves in a bit of a boogie. All the moods, genres and feels you could think of are out there, so over the holiday period perhaps try and listen to something new. Who knows it might break the tension with that younger/older relative round the xmas table when you find they also happen to like k-pop/jazz-funk/grindcore or at the very least you can bicker about the tragedy of the current album charts (Greatest Showman: 21 weeks!). To aid you in your quest for knowledge/excitement/small-talk I have spent almost 30 minutes curating a best-of for both albums and singles in the year of 2018.

(NB even with my album-a-day policy, there’s no way I can get through everything I want to within the 365, so if your fave appears ignored, let it be known that I probably haven’t heard it yet. The full list of everything I’ve listened to this year is at the bottom)

So in no particular order:

Albums

Jinx Lennon- Grow A Pair!!!

The Beths- Future Me Hates Me

The Pistol Annies- Interstate Gospel

Travis Scott- ASTROWORLD

Mount Eerie- Now Only

Cardi B- Invasion of Privacy

The 1975- A Brief Inquiry Into Online Relationships

The Aces- When My Heart Felt Volcanic

Singles

Confidence Man- Out The Window

Cardi B- I Like It

Janelle Monae ft. Grimes- Pynk

Lori McKenna- People Get Old

SOPHIE- Immaterial

Marie Davidson- Work It

Car Seat Headrest- Stop Smoking (We Love You)

BLACKPINK- AS IF IT’S YOUR LAST

The 1975- It’s Not Living (If It’s Not With You)

https://open.spotify.com/user/jaceyourself/playlist/1kFex3QLVv0l3cCqjVC6dT?si=_GqTJXrOSoSXYaMC9ra_lg

Have a great festive period and I’ll see you in 2019 :D

2018 Albums what I listened to

Floating Points- Reflections – Mojave Desert

James Elkington- Wintres Woma

Miguel- War & Leisure

Ride- Weather Diaries

Sidney Gish- No Dogs Allowed

Emperor X- The Orlando Sentinel, Oversleepers International

Broken Social Scene- Hug of Thunder

MC5- Kick Out The Jams (Live)

Public Service Broadcasting- Every Valley

JJ Doom- Key to the Kuffs

HAIM- Something To Tell You

Camila Cabello- Camila

Sheer Mag- Need To Feel Your Love

Taylor Swift- reputation

Shabazz Palaces- Quazarz vs The Jealous Machines

This Is The Kit- Moonshine Freeze

Japanese Breakfast- Soft Sounds From Another Planet

Tune-Yards- I can feel you creep into my private life

Jupiter & Okwess- Kin Sonic

Various Artists- The Passion Of Charlie Parker

Waxahatchee- Out In The Storm, Great Thunder

Offa Rex- The Queen Of Hearts

Dizzee Rascal- Raskit

Alvvays- Antisocialites

Childhood- Universal High

Marmozets- Knowing What You Know Now

Declan McKenna- What Do You Think About the Car?

Paul Heaton- Crooked Calypso

Lana Del Rey- Lust For Life

Charles Lloyd New Quartet- Passin’ Thru (Live)

Rip Rig & Panic- Circa Rip Rig + Panic

Avey Tare- Eucalyptus

Justin Timberlake- Man Of The Woods

Rio Mira- Marimba del Pacifico

Oddisee- The Iceberg

Aimee Mann- Mental Illness

Katie Von Schleicher- Shitty Hits

Arcade Fire- Everything Now

Girl Ray- Earl Grey

Ezra Furman- Transangelic Exodus

Randy Newman- Dark Matter

Dead Cross- Dead Cross

Chronixx- Chronology

Mondo Cozmo- Plastic Soul

Kesha- Rainbow

Lal & Mike Waterson- Bright Phoebus

Steve Reich- Pulse / Quartet

Orchestra Baobab- Tribute to Ndiouga Dieng

Ratboy- SCUM

Prince- Dirty Mind, Controversy, 1999, Purple Rain, Parade, Sign ‘O’ The Times

Stanley Cowell- No Illusions

Oneohtrix Point Never- Good Time Original Motion Picture Soundtrack

Downtown Boys- Cost Of Living

Screaming Females- All At Once

Rob Luft- Riser

Sibusile Xaba- Open Letter To Adoniah

Jen Cloher- Jen Cloher

Everything Everything- Fever Dream

Grizzly Bear- Painted Ruins

Bob’s Burgers- The Bob’s Burgers Music Album

Superorganism- Superorganism

Maren Morris- HERO

Courtney Marie Andrews- Honest Life, May Your Kindness Remain

Stefflon Don- Real Ting Mixtape

Ghostpoet- Dark Days + Canapés

Young Fathers- White Men Are Black Men Too, Cocoa Sugar

Queens Of The Stone Age- Songs For The Deaf

Thurst- Cut to the Chafe

John Moreland- Big Bad Luv

Aruan Ortiz- Cub(an)ism [Piano Solo]

Mount Eerie- Now Only

The War On Drugs- A Deeper Understanding

Various Artists- Pop Makossa

Liane Carroll- The Right to Love

Fickle Friends- You Are Someone Else

Nadine Shah- Holiday Destination

Various Artists- Howsla

George Ezra- Staying at Tamara’s

The Doors- The Doors

Filthy Friends- Invitation

Susanne Sundfør- Music For People In Trouble

LCD Soundsystem- LCD Soundsystem, Sound of Silver, American Dream

Mogwai- Every Country’s Sun

Kacey Musgraves- Golden Hour

The National- High Violet, Sleep Well Beast

The Klezmatics- Wonder Wheel

Hercules & Love Affair- Omnion

Mount Kimbie- Love What Survives

The Aces- When My Heart Felt Volcanic

Matthew Bourne- Isotach

Finished- Cum Inside Me Bro

Forced Into Femininity- I’m Making Progress

Heron Oblivion- Heron Oblivion

Hamell On Trial- TACKLE BOX

Confidence Man- Confident Music For Confident People

Swet Shop Boys- Cashmere

Princess Nokia- 1992 Deluxe, A Girl Cried Red

Steely Dan- The Royal Scam, Aja

King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard- Nonagon Infinity

Sparks- Hippopotamus

J. Cole- KOD

Fat Tony- Macgregor Park

L’Orange and Jeremiah Jae- The Night Took Us In Like Family

Little Simz- Stillness In Wonderland

Lady Leshurr- Queen’s Speech

RAY BLK- Durt

Brand New- Science Fiction

Janelle Monae- Dirty Computer

Rolling Blackouts Coastal Fever- Talk Tight

Fred Thomas- Changer

Myra Davies- Sirens

Laraaji- Sun Gong

The Killers- Wonderful Wonderful

Descendents- Milo Goes To College

Frank Turner- Be More Kind

The Horrors- V

Moses Sumney- Aromanticism

Arctic Monkeys- Whatever People…, AM, Tranquility Base Hotel & Casino

Oxbow- Thin Black Duke

Dee Byrne’s Entropi- Moment Frozen

Mike Stern- Trip

The Vampires- The Vampires Meet Lionel Loueke

Gogol Bordello- Gypsy Punks: Underdog World Strike, Super Taranta!, Seekers And Finders

Umphrey’s McGee- Zonkey

Hard Working Americans- We’re All in This Together

Courtney Barnett- Tell Me How You Really Feel

Jllin- Black Origami

Various Artists- Rough Guide to the Music of West Africa

Wolf Alice- Visions Of A Life

The Young’uns- Strangers

Fever Ray- Fever Ray, Plunge

CHVRCHES- Love Is Dead

Oumou Sangaré- Oumou, Mogoya

Charlotte Gainsbourg- Rest

Daniel Avery- Song For Alpha

Daphni- Joli Mai

Kanye West- ye

Cécile McLorin Salvant- Dreams and Daggers

Trio Da Kali, Kronos Quartet- Ladilikan

Kelela- Take Me Apart

Bob Dylan- The Times.., Another.., Bringing.., Highway.., Blond.., John.., Nashville.., New.., Blood..

Lily Allen- Alright(,) Still, It’s Not Me(,) It’s You, Sheezus, No Shame

Fanfare Ciocarlia- 20

Wolf Parade- Cry Cry Cry

SOPHIE- OIL OF EVERY PEARL’S UN-INSIDES

Zara McFarlane- Arise

St. Vincent- MASSEDUCTION

Margo Price- All American Made

Bebe Rexha- Expectations

Motörhead- Under Cöver

Orchestre Les Mangelepa- Last Band Standing

Drake- Scorpion

Various Artists- Gentle Giants: The Songs Of Don Williams

Noga Erez- Off The Radar

Baxter Dury- Prince of Tears

John Maus- Screen Memories

Lankum- Between the Earth and Sky

Shamir- Revelations

Years & Years- Palo Santo

Converge- The Dusk In Us

Canzoniere Grecanico Salentino- Canzoniere

Fred Hersch- Open Book

A. Savage- Thawing Dawn

Big Thief- Capacity

Kelly Clarkson- Meaning Of Life

Dirty Projectors- Lamp Lit Prose

Robt Sarazin Blake- Recitative

Shed Seven- Instant Pleasures

Spinning Coin- Permo

Call Super- Arpo

Laura Perrudin- Poisons & antidotes

Ellen Andrea Wang- Blank Out

Lori McKenna- The Tree

Wu-Tang Clan- Enter The Wu-Tang (36 Chambers)

Lee Ronaldo- Electric Trim

Deer Tick- Vol. 2

The Paranoid Style- Underworld U.S.A.

Youssou N’Dour- Set, Joko- From Village To Town, Nothing’s In Vain, Seeni Valeurs

Gaika- BASIC VOLUME

Kasai Allstars- Around Felicite

Carly Rae Jepsen- Emotion

Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds- Who Built The Moon?

Anna Ternheim- All the Way to Rio

U2- Songs of Experience

Mônica Vasconcelos- The São Paulo Tapes

Travis Scott- ASTROWORLD

Nabihah Iqbal- Weighing of the Heart

Van Morrison- Versatile

Jim James- Tribute to 2

Criolo- Espiral de Ilusão

Maciej Obara Quartet- Unloved

N.E.R.D- NO ONE EVER REALLY DIES

The Beths- Future Me Hates Me

Maryam Saleh- Lekhfa

Naomi Bedford- Songs My Ruiner Gave to Me

Jens Lekman- Night Over Kortedala

The Spirit of the Beehive- pleasure suck

Tom Rogerson- Finding Shore

Paul Jacobs- Pictures(,) Movies and Apartments

Ariana Grande- sweetener

Rina Sawayama- RINA

Marcel Khalife- Andalusia of Love

Gunter Hampel- Bounce (Live at Theater Gütersloh)

BAYNK- Someone’s EP

Omar Souleyman- To Syria(,) With Love

Blood Orange- Negro Swan

Open Mike Eagle- Brick Body Kids Still Daydream

First Aid Kit- Ruins

Shame- Songs of Praise

Homeboy Sandman- Veins

Playboi Carti- Playboi Carti

Eminem- Kamikaze

Troye Sivan- Blue Neighbourhood, BLOOM

Joey Bada$$- ALL AMERIKKKAN BADA$$

Priests- Nothing Feels Natural

Rhiannon Giddens- Freedom Highway

King Krule- The OOZ

Django Django- Marble Skies

Bon Iver- For Emma(,) Forever Ago

Calexico- The Thread That Keeps Us

Mary Gauthier- Rifles & Rosary Beads

Hookworms- Microshift

Aphex Twin- Collapse EP

Rae Morris- Someone Out There

Field Music- Open Here

Rhye- Blood

Shopping- The Official Body

MGMT- Little Dark Age

Christine and the Queens- Chris

Alela Diane- Cusp

Sonic Youth- Sister

Brigid Mae Power- The Two Worlds

Deafheaven- Sunbather

Various Artists- American Epic: The Collection Disc 1, 2, 3

Rich Krueger- Life Ain’t That Long

Lil Wayne- Tha Carter V

Modern Mal- The Misanthrope Family Album

Rejjie Snow- Dear Annie

U.S. Girls- In a Poem Unlimited

The Orielles- Silver Dollar Moment

Tal National- Tantabara

Marie Davidson- Working Class Woman

Superchunk- What a Time to Be Alive

Brandi Carlile- By The Way(,) I Forgive You

Car Seat Headrest- Twin Fantasy

Loma- Loma

Quavo- QUAVO HUNCHO

Marlon Williams- Make Way For Love

Nipsey Hussle- Victory Lap

Insecure Men- Insecure Men

Kendrick Lamar- Black Panther

Rapsody- Lalia’s Wisdom

Khalid- Suncity

Tracey Thorn- Record

Anna von Hausswolff- Dead Magic

Jinx Lennon- Grow a Pair!!!

Gwenno- Le Kov

Judas Priest- Stained Class, FIREPOWER

Robyn- Robyn, Body Talk, Honey

The Magic Gang- The Magic Gang

Essaie Pas- New Path

Bob Dylan and The Band- The Basement Tapes

The Decemberists- I’ll Be Your Girl

Pistol Annies- Interstate Gospel

BCUC- Emakhosini (Bantu Continua Uhuru Consciousness)

Jack White- Boarding House Reach

Yo La Tengo- There’s A Riot Going On

Sidi Touré- Toubalbero

Lil Peep- Come Over When You’re Sober(,) Pt. 2

The Breeders- All Nerve

The Vaccines- Combat Sports

CZARFACE- Czarface Meets Metal Face

Laurence Pike- Distant Early Warning

Chopteeth Afrofunk Big Band- Bone Reader

Leo Kalyan- The Edge

Hayley Kyoko- Expectations

Tristen- Sneaker Waves

Thelonious Monk- Les Liaisons Dangereuses

Brad Mehldau & Mark Guiliana- Mehliana: Taming The Dragon

Amy Rigby- Til The Wheels Fall Off, Little Fugitive, The Old Guys

BLACKPINK- BLACKPINK IN YOUR AREA

Rose Cousins- Natural Conclusion

Nora Jane Struthers- Champion

Lilly Hiatt- Trinity Lane

The Rolling Stones- The Rolling Stones, The Rolling Stones No. 2, Out of Our Heads, Aftermath

MAST- Thelonious Sphere Monk

The 1975- A Brief Inquiry Into Online Relationships

Jhene Aiko- Trip

Don Bryant- Don’t Give up on Love

EMA- Exile in the Outer Ring

Small Believer- Anna Tivel

Vera Sola- Shades

Cardi B- Invasion of Privacy

Darkthrone- A Blaze in the Northern Sky

Sarah Shook & the Disarmers- Years

Goat Girl- Goat Girl

Vic Mensa- HOOLIGANS

Unknown Mortal Orchestra- Sex & Food

Alasdair Roberts, Amble Scuse & David McGuiness- What News

Kali Uchis- Isolation

Wye Oak- The Louder I Call, the Faster It Runs

Migos- Culture II

Hinds- I Don’t Run

DRINKS- Hippo Lite

Alexis Taylor- Beautiful Thing

Jenny Wilson- EXORCISM

#music 2018 #music #best of #christmas

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krispyweiss · 6 years

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Outlaw Music Festival feat. Willie Nelson and Family, Van Morrison, Tedeschi Trucks Band, Sturgill Simpson, Lukas Nelson & Promise of the Real and Particle Kid at Hersheypark Stadium, Hershey, Penn., Sept. 8, 2018

Though he's absolutely earned the right, Willie Nelson probably shouldn't follow Van Morrison and the Tedeschi Trucks Band.

But Nelson did just that Saturday night in Hershey, taking the stage in a steady rain just before 10 p.m. to close out the latest iteration of his Outlaw Music Festival in front of a massive Texas state flag. Though he played and sang well, Nelson, 85, seemed tired as he ran through a truncated, 65-minute version of his standard set with a band that included sons Lukas (guitar/vocals) and Micah (percussion), both of whom had played early slots backed by Promise of the Real.

Opening with "Whiskey River" and closing with Hank Williams' "I Saw the Light" with Derek Trucks and Susan Tedeschi augmenting his Family, Nelson proved his still-supple chops as he took Trigger on a ride through Django Reinhardt's instrumental "Nuages," and tossed gorgeous fills in to "Angel Flying too Close to the Ground," even as he struggled with the lyrics to the latter.

Higher in the mix and busier than is typical, pianist "Little Sister" Bobbie Nelson, who at 87, is two years her brother's senior, played not only her usual showcase of "Down Yonder," but also took over for "Twelth Street Rag” while Nelson briefly doffed his Willie's Reserve sweatshirt before putting it right back on. Lukas served as bandleader for "Texas Flood" and the elder Nelson mocked his advacing years with "Roll Me up and Smoke me When I Die" and "I Woke up Still Not Dead Again Today," reminding his adoring fans to take every Willie Nelson show not for granted, but as a gift.

He followed an uncharacteristically jovial Van Morrison, who, dressed in his trademark dark suit, fedora and shades - even though it was mostly dark when he took the stage in a light drizzle - visited many corners of his storied songbook in a generous, 90-minute set.

Backed by an eight-piece band that included peerless players on percussion; drums; backing vocals; violin; nylon-string acoustic guitar; electric and pedal-steel guitar; bass; and keys and trumpet; Morrison joined the ensemble on hollow-bodied electric guitar, sax and blues harp. Fully engaged, he cued the band with his right hard, yodeled, growled, cracked himself and his band up on "Broken Record" and threw them a couple of curve balls by calling out "Carrying a Torch," "Wonderful Remark" and "Warm Love" on the fly.

They're super-tight and had no problems tackling the audibles.

The 20 tracks bled into one another as Morrison and the band played jazz on Mose Allison's "Benediction," country on Don Gibson's "I Can't Stop Loving You," soul on "Here Comes the Night" and more jazz on a sped-up, horn-driven take on "Moondance," a fantabulous choice on a cloud-covered night where the moon was simply a rumor.

Morrison walked off the stage following "Did Ye Get Healed," the band vamping and the music director calling for applause and bellowing his boss' name again and again. The show seemed over, but the man returned for a rearranged and newly jazzed-up version of "Brown Eyed Girl" and Them's "Gloria," which smoked, and Morrison's segment ended for real.

Making their Outlaw debut, the 12-piece Tedeschi Trucks band slayed the smallish audience in the cavernous stadium as Trucks and Tedeschi traded searing guitar solos, Tedeschi and the group's trio of backing vocalists sang to the heavens and the group's three-piece rhythm and horn sections goosed the music along like a runaway train that somehow maintained control.

Tedeschi had the crowd eating out of her hand on a red-hot reading B.B. King's "How Blue Can You Get?;" Trucks showed why he's a slide-guitar master on "Down in the Flood," which along with a mournful "Going Gone Gone" was one of two Bob Dylan songs to pop up during the 90-minute set; and the whole house sang along to "The Night Time is the Right Time" in the grey light of the overcast late afternoon.

Originals such as "Midnight in Harlem," "Let Me Get By" and "Don't Know What it Means" found the group channeling its influences while being uniquely original. Tedeschi Trucks Band is one of those ensembles that makes room for every one of its dozen players without sounding like it's making room and that never fails to be anything less than staggeringly good.

Saturday was no exception, which was a good thing as they had to follow Sturgill Simpson. The guitarist played a jaw-dropping, 80-minute concert that was boiling stew of blues-based rock with the faintest hint of outlaw spice.

With a baritone that recalls Waylon Jennings and a playing style that follows the arc from Jimmy Page to Trey Anastasio, Simpson is a low-key stage presence who lets his guitar do the talking as he turns to his amps to coax feedback and walks bandstand letting inspiration pour through his fingers. When the quartet kicked into a blistering version of the Jeff Beck Group's "Going Down" late in the set, everything about Simpson came into focus and the relative newcomer - who has three LPs under his belt - surely made a bunch of new fans.

Lukas Nelson & Promise of the Real played an all-too-short, 40-minute set of material from their eponymous 2017 LP and the just-released Forget About Georgia EP that earned them a well-deserved standing ovation. With Micah Nelson on guitar and percussion, Lukas performed tracks such as "Turn off the News," "Die Alone" and "Forget About Georgia," which was extended to show off the rhythm section at the expense of his own guitar solo.

This was rememdied on the climax, when Nelson, sporting a Jimi Hendrix T, played with his teeth and jumped off the drum riser in a swell combination of showmanship and musicianship.

The Particle Kid, aka Micah Nelson, opened the eight-hour marathon with 30-minute set that concluded with "Everything is Bullshit," which featured big brother Lukas on air guitar and vocals and, as Micah played a grungy, stabbing guitar solo, illustrated why Neil Young tapped POTR to be his latest backing band.

The opening set began 15 minutes before the scheduled 2:45 p.m.start time and set the tone for a well-oiled festival that ran right on schedule for the entire day, with 20- to 30-minute gaps between artists. It proved that even stoners can be on time when they set their minds to it.

Grade card: Outlaw Music Festival feat. Willie Nelson and Family, Van Morrison, Tedeschi Trucks Band, Sturgill Simpson, Lukas Nelson & Promise of the Real and Particle Kid at Hersheypark Stadium - A (Overall)/B+/A/A/A-/B+/C

More photos here and here.

9/9/18

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felicityb-reviews · 6 years

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Review Roundup - February 2018 Week 1

Hello, my loves!! My name is Jace (aka Felicity B), and this is your Review Roundup for Week 1 of February 2018!!

So... Last Friday, I mentioned making some changes to my Review Roundup format. The reasoning being that as I've expanded my network of Korean music channels, It's become very clear to me that it's too difficult for me to write a substantial review of 25+ videos every week without each review mixing into the last. I've also come to realize that I can't include *every* song I find that happens to be in Korean, and that's fine!! Most songs are either ballads or OST ballads (which are even worse), and it's just not worth my time to flog those at you guys.

So, I'm gonna try to explain this to y'all as best as I can. It sounds more complicated than it is in practice, but I wanna give y'all an idea of what's going on.

I'm gonna present to you all the playlist of songs for the week. From there, you'll see a new segment called the Titacular Ten. Yes, I am aware "titacular" is not a word, but catch me not givin' a fuck in these streets. These guys are songs I enjoyed, but didn't like enough to put in the Fabulous Five. They'll be rated (*not* reviewed) according to my replayability scale.

And speaking of my rating scale, I've decided to add a new category called KoKoNotABop (because nothing brings me joy more than pissing off the stans of my favorite K-Pop group). This sits in between Conditional Replay and Trash Bomb with Shuffle Bait. I decided to add KoKoNotABop, because there wasn't really anything for those songs that weren't complete Trash Bombs, but fell short. I could enjoy these songs from time to time, but I wouldn't intentionally put them in a playlist, so I didn't want to call them Shuffle Bait. In short, I just wanted to expand the range of my extraness.

Moving on, you'll see the Honorable Mentions/Trash Bombs of the week after the Titacular Ten. The Honorable Mentions are tracks that didn't make it into the week's Fab Five, but I still wanted to speak on. And if you've seen my previous RRUs, you know what Trash Bombs are.

I haven't had to rated many songs as Trash Bombs, but that should be considered a small mercy. Y'all know how I get when I don't like a song

So!!

Let's get started!!

This Weeks' List

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The Titacular Ten

Saturn (Nevada51 featuring Gayoung Seo of Spy Girls)

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Rating - Heavy Rotation

Perfectly Perfect (MxM of BRANDNEWBOYS)

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Rating - Heavy Rotation

BLOCKED (Ash-B featuring Cherry Coke)

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Rating - Heavy Rotation

Ballad of Full Speed (Evolution of Sound)

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Rating - Conditional Rotation

Grayish (JUNA)

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Rating - Conditional Rotation

Run Away (Mona)

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Rating - Heavy Rotation

To the sky (CLC)

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Rating - Heavy Rotation

If (Day6)

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Rating - Heavy Rotation

Mi Amor (CoCoSori)

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Mi Amori Dance Practice

Rating - Heavy Rotation

Good Bye (Hong Jin Young)

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Rating - Heavy Rotation

Honorable Mentions

You Have a Crush On Me (No Brain)

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If you guys can believe it, this was the type of song I loved during my J-Pop days. Oh boy, does this take me back.

And yes, I do realize this song is literally a decade old. There are idols active in the industry that this song is older than. But I'm gonna need y'all to bring me some freshly prepared fucks to care.

The children deserve to know about No Brain!!

Crush On Me (sorry, that title is too long to be typing over and over) is a punk track that is fun, personified. Every time I queue up the song to play, I just wanna dance the night away~ have my own little party, dancing and singing along. And don't think that you can get away from this song unscathed, cause the hook (neon naege banhaesseo) will stick itself in your brain and torment you till you're singing along like a good little Baby Borgie.

No Brain is a band that I want every single NuGen K-Pop (2014/2015) fan to get into. Every single one of you. Cause while this band is hella talented (they've literally been in the game for twenty years), they don't write music to show it off. They write music because they fucking love it. And that's the best kind, sis. I could clock this song for a lot of things I'd clock a modern K-Pop song for, but I won't because this song is entirely too fun to be picked apart like a science experiment.

My main reason for including Crush On You was that I love how fun this song is, BUT!! I also wanted an excuse to include No Brain's collab stage with Lovelyz from the 2017 MBC Year End Song Festival.

Now *that* was a oollab stage, ladies.

Rating - Heavy Rotation

No Gravity (Yoon Mi Rae)

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Yoon MiRae is the OG Korean Female Rapper.

That's not my bias speaking (although it's definitely showing), I've never heard anyone speak ill of Mirae. NEVAH!! And I mean, why would they want to!?!?! She's magical. I literally can't say enough nice things about her.

I literally zone in on her and don't pay anyone else any mind when she's in a song. Whenever she's gracious enough to give us a solo, my wigs bow in reverence to her. I just love this woman so much. She can do no wrong in my book.

Gravity is a pre-release track from Mirae's upcoming Korean album. We have no word on what it's called or when it's dropping, but I already know it's amazing. Gravity is a midtempo rap ballad, and I usually find these cheesy af, but I really like Mirae's take on it. For those of you who've been YMR stans for a while, the vocals are arranged in Mirae's typical fashion - hard hitting rap verses, brackted in by Smoove™ vocals.

Yes, Mirae is the one who has your rap fave givin' Soulful Vocals™.

THANK!! HER!!

Gravity is just so nice, you guys. I don't know what it is about these Korean acts dropping really hopeful and healing tracks this year, but I want it to continue. These types of midtempos are usually reserved for Bad Days™, but I lowkey wanna listen to Gravity all the time. There's enough groove that it doesn't drag my mood down if I'm feelin' good, but at the same time, the uplifting vibe is great for everything kinda sucks.

Off Topic, but if y'all haven't heard Mirae's Black Happiness, I urge you!! It's S U C H a good song!! That's a song that's for the worst of days, sis.

Rating - Heavy Rotation

Free Somebody (Luna of f(x) x HEDA)

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I really do not understand what the point of this release was. Can someone from SM DM me on Twitter and explain. Cause sis, this shit made no sense to me.

Firstly, congratulations to Ms HEDA are in order!! If you weren't aware (like me), everysing (a Korean karaoke company) and Genie Music (SM Entertainment's distributor) ran a contest called Battle Singer to select a new feature vocalist for an upcoming Station release. Why SM didn't give her her own Station track, I'm not sure, but I rather liked the way she sounded here. So, I can't be too mad.

Wha I *am* mad at, however, is why SM decided to have Luna and HEDA do karaoke on one of the unused sets of Younha's Parade video, and releasing that shit as a single. Y'all couldn't call in nobody to produce these vocals?!?!?! Every single one of y'all vocal producers were busy?!?!?!

K...

I'm just so over SMSTATION releases varying in quality and effort spent. Some weeks, SM puts in the time and effort to rock that shit out, but then we also get lazy as fuck all releases like these. And I get it, there was a contest attached to this and we don't know if SM is gonna pull Ms HEDA back in for a round 2. I'm hoping they do, but SM is fickle. I just wish this release was up to the standard as Luna and Amber's Lower. Some of y'all thought that song was dry af, but at least the video was dynamic.

Rating - KoKoNotABop

The Fabulous Five

5. Mystery (Jalhyejun)

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Mystery sounds like Lim Kim and Neon Bunny decided to team up for a song. They didn't, but if they ever did, I'd need at least three albums worth of material from it.

Mystery is a very cutesy synthrock song. It lowkey reminds me of something Puffy AmiYumi would do 2003/2004, but it mostly sounds like a bonus track on Neon Bunny's Seoulite. Not a bad thing; Puffy AmiYumi were literally my gateway into J-Pop fifteen years ago (I still listen to them), and Seoulite is one of the best Korean albums of 2011.

Mystery sounds like it belongs in a kids' show, and that's exactly why I like it. It's not anything crazy energetic, but it's really fun and every time I listen to it, it puts the biggest smile on my face. And because it isn't super in your face, you could also use it very peppy background music.

We love a versatile queen, sis.

Rating - Heavy Rotation

4. To Do List (Kim Hyorin)

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Okay, sis... I was a lil nervous when I heard the teasers for this. Too many of my faves been droppin' ballads as digital singles, and then disappearing into the ether. Hyorin is my girl, but I will *always* put the music first.

Fortunately,I had nothing to worry about; Hyorin did with To Do List what Henry couldn't do with Monster. Give me an engaging ballad.

Hyorin's To Do List is the same flavor of stripped back ballad as Henry's Monster; it's just Hyorin's sweet vocals layered over a clean electric guitar. It's just that she can emote with her voice and is an overall better vocalist.

I'm finding that I really enjoying this style of ballad. There's just an unexpected element to having a song be just electric guitar and vocals, ya know?!?! Like I mentioned above, I was very unsure about Hyorin making her solo debut under her own agency with a song like this, but I can see why she did it. Ballads do stupidly well in Korea, so Hyorin was catering to that market. BUT ALSO!! There's enough spunk here to keep the more adventurous crowd happy.

Of course, Hyorin could also sing me the dictionary, and I'd be like, "YASSS KWEEN!! BUILD THE CHILDREN'S VOCABULARY!! TAKE EVERY SINGLE OF MY WIGS, GODDESS!!".

So what do I know?!?!

Rating - Heavy Rotation

3. Unstoppable (The Night Of Seokyo x Minju)

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I normally don't include covers on this list, and I definitely wouldn't put them in the Fab Five. But y'all, this fucking cover. I really wish they covered the entire song, because it's fucking M A G I C A L

Which only makes sense, because the original is even more magical, but still...

Minju and the Night of Seokyo's Unstoppable is a cover of Lianne La Havas's 2015 song Unstoppable. I have no idea why I don't know this song or artist, because they're both magical. I already said Unstoppable was magical, but I'm gonna say it again!! This song is so good!! Can I live in the feeling this song creates?!?! I'd enjoy that a lot, sis. It's just so calm and healing, and I need that to be my energy for all of 2018.

And Ms Lianne, y'all. My wig toppled off my head the first 30 seconds of the song, because ma'am looks like a Black goddess. Can I be her when I grow up?!?!?! She looks so cool, and her music is just so nice. God, I love just Black women, you guys. They're so amazing, and they never get credit for always being ahead of the curve (as mentioned in my Nega Dola review). But I love Black women. I wouldn't be who I am today without Black women. None of us would. And I think it's time that we acknowledge that!!

So now that I've gotten that out of my system (we are unapologetically stanning Black women in 2018 and beyond, sis), let's discuss the Night of Seokyo and Minju's cover of Unstoppable. Absolutely beautiful. Breathtaking. I felt like I was floating. I usually don't care for covers, because 90% of them fall into two categories - a) indistinct from the original because they do everything the original does and b) complete and total trash because they did Too Much™ when reinterpretting it. But Minju and the Night of Seokyo strike the perfect balance - the rearrangement for piano and vocal does Just Enough™ to stand out on it's own without feeling like it's fucked up the vibe of the song.

I really should have just done a standalone review of this cover, since I *clearly* have so much so say on it, but it's just so good. A very big thank you to my girl sunnysidae who found the original version for Unstoppable for me. You're the best, sis!!

Rating - Heavy Rotation

2. Baby Funk (Yoo Naul of Brown Eyed Soul)

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Y'all.

Everything about this song n video is so Black!! I'm Shook™!!

I don't know Brown Eyed Soul that well, so I really thought Naul was the Black dude in the video. Thought BES had a whole ass (well, half ass) nigga in the group!!

Baby Funk's name is a little misleading - the only thing Funky about her is that guitar line (and the beatswitch that happens towards the end). But that's fine!! We love a good throwback to the Soul tracks of the '90s!!

I really don't know what to say, but tbh I really shouldn't have to - y'all *know* I L I V E for a good RnB/Soul track. And Baby Funk definitely delivers, babies!! I'm not gonna lie, the video did put me a off little, at first; I can't help but be suspect of the dynamic here. But you know, I'm just gonna receive this blessing, and keep it pushing. Naul made a love letter to Black culture with Baby Funk, and I Appreciate™.

Rating - Heavy Rotation

1. Blind (Planetarium Records)

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Trigger Warning - intense strobe lighting effects are used in the live showcase video

One of these days, I'm gonna need to learn these dudes' names. Especially since they refuse to stop terrorizing my wig collection with their group albums.

Sidenote - whoever decided to bait n switch my Black ass with them teasers, ya mama's a heaux. And I expect a full version of T.M.N.T with vocals on Case#3!! That shit is too good to just be an intro!!

*ahem*

When I first saw the teasers for Planetarium's CASE#1, I didn't think much of it. I thought they were an EDM label, number 1. And number 2, teasers didn't really give me anything to be excited about. But they blasted onto the scene with Blah, which had me eatin' my words a lil. I didn't include ha in my Fab Five for that week, but I was definitely paying attention to them Planetarium boys. And then came a live video of Glue (which I did put in my Fab Five), and now Blind.

Blind is a very clear 180 from the very fun, very tropical themed Blah. But catch these niggas drivin' off into the sunset with my wig, because I am B A L D T.

Blind is an intense synthpop track with a slight RnB tilt. Which is to be expect, because Planetarium is an RnB/Hip Hop label. But guys, this song is just S O G O O D. If every idol boy band in K-Pop *has* to do overly series tracks because They're Super Serious Boys Who Very Serious All The Time Seriously™, I'm gonna need them deliver tracks on this level.

Show me you have soul, not that you have abs. I've seen enough shirt lifts to last me a lifetime, kids.

On top of giving us a music video that's a continuation of Blah, the Planetarium boys have also provided us with a live showcase video that you can watch here. Be mindful that there is intense strobing effects during the chorus bits.

Rating - Heavy Rotation

Alright loves, that's all I've got for you guys this week!! I hope the change in format isn't jarring, but I needed to do something to alleviate some of the work that goes into these lists. Cause pretty soon, I'm not gonna have the gobs and gobs of free time that I have now to do them, on top of my standalone reviews. My SHINee Feature Spotlight series has been halted, for now, but tune in on Friday at 12pm and 6pm EST for a special surprise. And be sure to tune in on Monday at 6pm EST for me full length review of the week.

Love, you guys!!

#Planetarium Records #Naul #The Night of Seokyo #Hyorin #Jalhyejun #Minju #Brown Eyed Soul #Review Roundup #review #Felicity B

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dylawa · 4 years

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Having Lived and Loved: The Playlist (Part 2)

Here is Part 2 to my HLAL Playlist description series! The purpose of this post is to put all the important songs in one place, as well as add descriptions for where they fit in, and my reasoning as such. I’ll put it all under a Read More of course.

Again, this is Part 2 since I can only share five videos per post, so expect more to come, and know you’re entering in media-res if you haven’t read the first post! I will also mention, there will be more songs in the playlist than there are directly mentioned in this series of posts. That is because the playlist will include all songs related to the chapters’ titles, not just the ones that have significance character/story-line wise. Links to all parts and the full playlist are at the bottom of the post!

Onwards!

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“Oh man, Dylawa, Rush again?” Yes, my friend, Rush again. Specifically, “The Anarchist”. We have a very different mood to set here from our last Rush selection, though! Take a look at these lyric excerpts and, based on the chapter it’s from (yes, the chapter is titled “The Anarchist”), see if you can guess who this is for:

A voice so silent for so long For all those years I had to get along, they told me I was wrong I never wanted to belong - I was so strong

In all your science of the mind, seeking blind through flesh and bone Find the blood inside this stone What I know, I've never shown, what I feel, I've always known I plan my vengeance on my own - and I was always alone

The lenses inside of me that paint the world black The pools of poison, the scarlet mist, that spill over into rage The things I've always been denied An early promise that somehow died A missing part of me that grows around me like a cage A missing part of me that grows around me like a cage

Have an idea yet? We’ve moved on from focusing on Comet and All Might here: This is about Ironwill.

I purposefully wrote Ironwill to be a reflection of Comet-- or, at least, my rendition of Comet. Remember, Comet is meant to be a character you can project onto and change and warp to your heart’s content! The main reason I write her with specific details about her past is because, well, it’d be difficult to write a compelling protagonist without some baggage and the like. Feel free to discard anything in your own Comet interpretations, or add your own details! Anyways, that point aside, as I was saying, Ironwill is meant to be a reflection of Comet; both had distance or abusive parents, and both were told their powers were not suited for the dreams they had. Both lived isolated childhoods due to their oppression and personal beliefs differing from those around them, and both ultimately decided to go against everything they were told to the best of their ability anyways. However, their more personal choices on that last bit of similarity lead them down ultimately different paths.

Ironwill justified his actions by saying they were for the betterment of mankind; he wanted to save people, but believed the only way to do as such was to do exactly as he was told as a child; to fit everyone into neat, safe little qualifying boxes that, should anyone attempt to step out of, would face dire consequences. It’s for their own good, after all! What’s a little government tyranny if it means saving your life?

I understand the title of this piece means the very opposite of what Ironwill is striving for, but his actions certainly go against the government in many ways. Think of it as temporary anarchy to bring about a new rule.

Wow, that was a lot! Moving on to the next song: “Prime Mover” by... Rush. I know, I’m sorry, this is the last Rush song for now, and we won’t spend as long on it!

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Basic elemental instinct to survive Stirs the higher passions Thrill to be alive Alternating currents in a tidewater surge Rational resistance to an unwise urge Anything can happen...

So this is it. The evil is defeated, the hero returns to the familiar, but they have been forever changed by the hardships they have endured, and the treasure they have gained along their journey. Comet has started on a path of finding herself, thanks to the help of All Might, alongside coming to her own difficult conclusions about herself. At this point, she’s riding high on the wings of victory, but not every bird can fly forever. For now, though, she’s found her strength, and the world is at her fingertips. Further growth will come later; after all, such an ordeal is never linear. It comes and goes in waves, and for now, Comet has won the right to be proud of herself, and have high hopes for the future. Not to mention, with All Might as her newfound friend...

Anything can happen...

... And while that concludes “if i could be half of what you think of me,” we’ve still got “wondering when i’m coming back” to cover! Let’s get started on diving into that right now, because why not?

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I love “In Love With A Ghost”! Great music! Wish they would actually make some!

Ahem, sorry, salty moment there. This song is called “i know it’s not easy but you’re not alone anymore.”

This skips pretty far into the WWICB storyline, as this is the title for the sixth chapter, where Comet and All Might enjoy the Tanabata festival after a not-so-pleasant run-in with Endeavor. At this point, it has become apparent that something is still wrong with Comet’s power; while she has the aid of her eye drops, her power continues to diminish dramatically. I didn’t make this as clear in the story as I wanted to, but the reason for this is her emotions-- anyone who isn’t at their mental best would suffer in performing their duties in, well, any aspect of life. So, essentially, she pulls an Elsa and decides to conceal, don’t feel. That will end well!

But, I digress. What I like about the selection of this song for this chapter is, it’s not really clear who this is meant to be directed at. Is this Comet thinking about Yagi, or vice-versa? It also doesn’t help that, ahem, feelings are beginning to become apparent for both parties (well, apparent to the reader, at least; Comet is clueless!)

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Ah, man... To The Moon. Brilliant game. Old, a little outdated, not the best representation of Autism, but still brilliant, and is a huge inspiration for how I try to write as a whole, both in direct dialogue, and in emotion. If any of you have played this game and read the Having Lived and Loved series, now that I’ve pointed it out, I hope you can see some connection!

Anyways, Kan R. Gao is the creator of the game and its soundtrack, and this piece, “Once Upon A Memory,” doesn’t quite fit the overall theme of Chapter 12 of WWICB. However, a moment alone between our two darling heroes is deserving of a track that feels intimate and close, even if the upbeat nature isn’t quite the same as the circumstances our heroes currently find themselves in. Plus, the characters in To The Moon are stargazing when this piece plays, and at this point of time, so are All Might and Comet. So there’s... some connection, I suppose?

That being said, the songs don’t always necessarily fit the chapters they’re assigned to. Sometimes, just the name itself is fitting enough and gets a spot that way, but that being said, most songs at least fit the aesthetic of the All Might/Comet relationship. This one is no different, even if not placed in the most opportune spot.

I really want to go into “The Body Electric” as my next song, but that is, unfortunately, another Rush song, and I promised you guys no more Rush! So I’ll just abbreviate really quickly before moving on to the next piece; it’s 45T3R01D’s song. It will be present in the playlist, of course! So with that, we’ll end this post on...

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“You Can Be A Hero,” from the My Hero Academia Soundtrack.

“Now, wait a minute: This is the title of the last chapter, and you only covered three songs from WWICB, and Comet already knows she can be a hero! What gives?!”

There is a really easy answer to that: The other songs aren’t super worth going into detail for (but feel free to ask about any other titles you may be curious about!), and more importantly, this is the song I had in mind for when All Might and Comet share their first kiss.

That little pause at the 1:30 mark is absolutely the perfect moment for a breath, and for All Might to sweep in for that kiss I spent a week writing and perfecting.

For a second, his hands dance in the air, before one settles on your lower back, while the other brushes your hair back from your forehead. The touch is… different, from everything you’ve shared before.

It’s intimate.

You open your mouth to speak, to comment, to question. But all you have time to do is take a breath.

For Yagi makes it impossible to breathe, when his lips connect with yours.

It’s quick, but it’s not a crash. It’s eager, but not desperate. It’s not gentle, but it’s not bruising either. Whatever you can think of to describe it, it isn’t quite that; no matter what, it remains something in between, something indescribable, something… something that must be for you.

... Yeah, I made myself breathless a couple times writing that part.

So, for this song, it’s not so much about the title and the song’s meaning, and more about the feeling it evokes. Once again, Comet has overcome overwhelming odds to emerge the victor, only this time, the tables on the surprise kiss trope are turned! At least, I think it is: usually I see girls initiating the surprise kisses in most forms of media. I like to think this is a welcome breath of fresh air in that regard!

Well, that’s five videos again! Next post, we’ll be going over individual character songs!

[Part 1] [Part 2] [Part 3] [Part 4] [Full Playlist]

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doomedandstoned · 6 years

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Strike The Sun: An Interview with Miami’s SHROUD EATER

~By Billy Goate~

~Pictures by Wicked Ways Photography~

This piece has been a long time coming. SHROUD EATER has been a powerful force in doom metal for damn near a decade. Their sound crackles with electricity, with a rumbling low-end that has caused a ripple in the underground and vocals that soar triumphantly above the rubbled landscape. It's inexplicable that we haven't covered them in these pages before. Chalk it up to a scene that has just mushroomed exponentially in size since Doomed & Stoned blasted off in 2013. I came within feet of seeing them at Psycho Las Vegas a few years back, but by that time in the festival I was so exhausted I overslept. So it was high time we gave the Miami trio of Jean Saiz (guitars, vox), Jan Valentine (bass, backing vocals), and Davin Sosa (drums) some love. This has been an eventful year for the band, seeing the realization of their second full-length, 'Strike The Sun (2017 - STB Records), and then having the unenviable experience of seeing this self-same sun "stricken" by a certain hurricane called Irma just a month later. The band was kind enough to oblige me an interview in the days following, including an in-depth, track-by-track walkthrough of their Doom Charting new record.

The new record is a behemoth. Are you finding your approach to writing as a band has changed significantly since the early days? What's your creative process like now?

Jan: First off, thanks for digging the new record! Now, as far as the writing process goes, it’s definitely changed due to changes in dynamics within the band depending on who we’re writing with. I feel that with Davin in the band we are all more involved as a unit. Normally, a riff idea blooms, one of us writes lyrics, things just come together and if it feels right we run with it. Sometimes Jean, being the main song writer, has a solid idea to work off of. Currently, the process has a pretty organic flow.

Most young bands would find it hard to envision five years together and hear you are inching ever closer to 10. I'm curious, how your relationships with one another evolved over the years. Assuming you've always been tight. Would you say being in a long-term band relationship is more or less like being in a marriage? Weird question, I know.

Jan: I personally refer to a band relationship as being very much like a marriage, so not a weird question at all. Jean and I have been together 15 years, have been in this band for about a decade now and have been playing with Davin for a little over two years. Personalities, creative interests, sense of humor, compromise, communication, similar goals -- all among the many things that need to jive in order to make a relationship work. If any of these aspects don’t mesh or there’s no connection it’s very difficult to come together creatively. Writing is very much an intimate experience whereas performing can easily be compared to letting it all hang out so to speak. When shit works, it just does.

What do you all do when you're not creating and performing music?

Jan: Jean is a graphic designer by day and works on commissioned artwork by night. She also runs her cassette label, Primitive Violence. She’s worked on some really killer releases including our limited edition cassette packages for Strike the Sun. Davin is a skilled sushi chef and can also whip up a mean hot sauce. He’s a video game enthusiast and is really good with horses. I’m a full-time photographer, animal lover, dabble in incense-making, and a B-movie buff. I enjoy collecting shitty movies and forcing friends to watch them.

This is your second full-length in 6 years. How is it different for you putting out an LP versus and EP? Does it basically just come down to the number of songs you have on hand? What's special about this LP for you?

Davin: Wasn't here for the whole six, but it's pretty much just that. There's definitely an urge to make the songs on an LP flow better together, while an EP can be presented as a “grab bag” of songs. Aside from being my first longer release with the band, what makes this one special for me is how Jan and Jean pretty much let me do things my way (the dumb, hard way) on the recording front. It was a crazy learning experience, and I’m grateful for the opportunity to have put us all through hell and back.

The sound on 'Strike The Sun' is exquisite. I feel surrounded by fuzz, so thick you could slice it with a knife and gobble it whole! Take us inside the studio and share, if you will, what it took to capture just the right tone and tenor you wanted. For instance, what gear did you/do you find essential to get the sound you want?

Davin: Thank ya! We captured the raw DI signals for guitar and bass in the comfort of our respective homes, and took those dry tracks with us to HiFive Audio in Deland, Florida to be re-amped through the gals’ rigs. This allowed the boys at HiFive to really dial in a great tone without worrying about the strength of our performances. As far as gear goes, Jean’s sound hinges largely on the Black Forest, Pharaoh, and Quantum Mystic pedals, all by Black Arts Toneworks, running full-stack out of a Verellen Skyhammer and Matamp GT 120. Jan also sports a Black Forest alongside the Revelation Superbass, all out of a Fender Super Bassman. Vocals were done at home with me in a similar fashion to the guitar ‘n bass, with drum tracking also taking place at HiFive. All lovingly mixed by Sanford Parker!

Did anything change between the practice room and the recording studio in regard to the songs to more fully realize your creative vision?

Davin: Small things like licks and fills. In a more substantial way, vocal parts got a little more detailed, and a couple songs got the synth treatment. I think the mantra was to not add anything engaging enough to the point where it's absence in a live setting would be noticeable.

You've worked with various producers over the years, but seem to have found your sweet spot with doing the recording yourself. Tell us about the difference it makes having Davin Sosa in the engineer's seat.

Jean: Having someone who is in the band handle the engineering and recording is great for us, because it assures that we have someone who really cares about and will go the extra mile on what they’re working on. He has an exceptional attention to detail, knows the songs from all angles, and he really loves the process of recording; I think that shows in everything we’ve put out since he’s joined us and I feel very fortunate in that respect.

Ok, let's get to the fun stuff. Take us through 'Strike The Sun' and guide us into this landscape of fire, flesh, dreams, and disaster. Is there an interlocking character to the songs we're hearing? Perhaps you can walk us track-by-track through the album, if you like.

Jean: Fire, flesh, dreams and disaster is a perfect summary! There are many references to not being of one flesh or skin, creating a certain sense of unstoppable will power, death, destruction and the lot. So let’s go on that track-by-track stroll:

Smokeless Fire