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#which is not what is being sung by the band??? but there you go
statementlou · 9 months
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chosocutegf · 1 month
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~ nothing the matter with a kiss ~
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. band au!Choso x fem!reader
. summary: you go to a concert with your friend, not expecting the bass guitarist to kiss you in front of the whole arena
. cw: fingering (f!receiving), cunningulus, p in v, hand job (m!receiving), unprotected sex
. wc: 5.2k
. got inspired by Ross Lynch kissing his fan the other day while singing “A Kiss” (ˊ̥̥̥̥̥ ³ ˋ̥̥̥̥̥)
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How long has it been since you last went to a concert? Too long and now, you weren’t no longer used to the sweaty and murky atmosphere all around you. After being forced by your friend to get in line since early in the morning to get the best view, now you found yourself pressed against the iron bars just under the stage while people all around you screamed and danced to the pre-songs.
You liked the band that was about to perform, but to stay under the stage? It was a firm no for you. Your friend next to you was hopping up and down, screaming, and talking to everyone around you about the songs they expected the band to perform. You groaned as you were forced against the bars for the nth time, and your friend turned to face you. “Aren’t you excited? You are finally gonna see them!,” she screamed, gripping your arm before starting to jump up and down and looking at you so excitedly. As if she wasn’t the one who couldn’t stop dancing around while talking about the songs.
You nodded at her, and thanked the heaven when the person who was opening the concert came on stage, and the entire arena went black, distracting your friend from annoying you. People started to cheer around you, but many of them were still distracted from what was coming next.
The space around you was big, the biggest you have ever seen, and it was packed of people. Some of them had headbands over their forehead who pictured the four members to the band: Gojo Satoru, Geto Suguru, Shoko Ieiri, and Kamo Choso. Others had t-shirts about them and you couldn’t help yourself from searching Choso’s face on every merch.
When mayhem broke loose, you were soon drawn out of your thoughts. The individual on stage has just completed singing their songs and called the band to the stage. Everyone surrounding you began to shout at the top of their voices and bounce around you, holding their phones up in the air to capture the moment the four band members appeared on stage.
Someone you didn’t recognised silenced everyone from the stage and your breath hitched. You felt everyone around you do the same, while some of them tried to catch sight of who was on the black stage.
And hell broke free when the lights were turned on and the first note was sung.
Your friend began to scream, and you couldn't help but join in, raising your hands in the air and cheering for the four individuals on the platform. When you saw them all so close together, you couldn't help but notice how beautiful they were. How could they seem like Greek gods who just happened to be on stage with a few instruments?
On the left side of the stage, the one farthest from you and your friend, there was Shoko with his electric guitar. Her brown hair was unbound as she nodded her head to the rhythm of the song, her beautiful face serious while she glanced at the audience before bringing her gaze back on her guitar.
Satoru was the main vocalist, and you could see why everyone was on their feet for him: his white hair and blue eyes could captivate anyone, but what really made him stand out was his enticing attitude.
On the center of the stage, behind, Suguru was playing the drums and… wow. It should be illegal to be that handsome and be around freely. He had a smirk on his lips, which made you skip a heartbeat, wishing he could look at you that way. His dark hair was unbound while he held his drumsticks with his strong muscular arms and rolled them between his fingers. He sure seemed like he knew how to use them.
But your screaming stopped when you looked up to the right side of the stage, and you gaze met with the bass player, Choso. You felt as if you had been drawn into another dimension by his black eyes, which were looking directly at you. It only lasted a second, but as he looked away, you believe he winked at you and the corner of his lips were slightly tugged upwards. Your jaw opened, and you took him in completely: he had his normal ponytails, and purple makeup was on his eyes, emphasizing his aloof appearance. And you might have fainted when you saw that he was wearing a sleeveless jacket with nothing underneath. You caught a peek of his toned abs, and your eyes widened when you noticed his long, slender fingers leisurely playing the bass.
As the concert went on, you kept cheering for the band even if most of your enthusiasm was towards Choso, from which you couldn’t look away. And you couldn’t really understand if you were dreaming, or was just hallucination when you caught him glance at you too many times before he quickly looked away. And as they played, he started to get bolder and would go around the stage, playing with his band members and sometimes singing at the same microphone of Gojo, enjoying the loud screams that followed the act.
When they announced that their concert was coming to an end, you felt disappointed and joined the crowd when they started to cheer for the band to sing one last song, in particular their most famous one. You felt yourself head over heels to hear it and, of course, it wasn’t really because Choso had a bigger part in it, no.
You screamed and raised your arms over your head, holding your phone to film Choso as he sang, before he screamed just over the music, “who wants a kiss?”. You screamed again and raised your hand, just as everyone else did, because who could hurt to be a little delusional? You laughed as you observed him and, just like all the people around you, everyone was taking it as a joke. However, he pointed towards your direction, smirking, “you want one?,” he asked you, his voice reverberating all around the arena, and you nodded, thinking that he was surely referring to another person around you. You laughed with your friend, but your eyes widened when you saw him remove his bass from his shoulder and jump down the stage.
You looked around to see if someone was waiting for him, but you surely weren’t expecting to see him walking towards you with that sexy smirk and all sweaty. Everyone was screaming around you and reaching towards him with their hands when he stopped in front of you, and you looked up at him awestruck. He was smiling at you, and he nodded, asking for permission with a soft “yeah?”. And before both of you could change your mind, you nodded.
Time stopped when he held your face between his hands and leaned closer to you, placing his lips against yours. You couldn’t hear anything else, or see when the only thing you could focus on was him, and the softness of his lips against yours. He smelled of sandalwood and citrus, with a hint of sweat, and you thought that no one has never smelled better than him.
The kiss lasted a few seconds and when he pulled back, the world came around again and you heard everyone screaming around you, looking at you two with wide eyes. Choso was smiling at you before he let you go and went back to the stage, putting back his bass around his shoulders.
Gojo was joking about the kiss and the way Choso stole the attention of the audience from him, while Shoko and Suguru laughed. As they went on with the song, your friend was tugging you and telling you about how lucky you were, but your gaze was fixed only on Choso and the way he still kept glancing at you. There was a faint blush on his cheeks and he laughed to himself as he finished to sing the song.
When the concert ended, everyone came up to you to ask how was the kiss, but you couldn’t really put your head around what happened. Was it really possible for something like this to happen? And why Choso choose you in particular? Your head was full of question as your friend pulled you out of the arena.
When you were outside, you took a deep breath, finally having a breath of fresh air. “Let’s smoke before going home,” she told you before taking your hand and tugging you towards a more secluded spot where the smoke wouldn’t annoy anyone.
Both of you had cigarettes between your lips, when you realised you didn’t have a lighter. Your friend went to ask to people around if they had one, but no one seemed to smoke. You sweared under your breath and were currently discussing with your friend when you heard someone call you from behind. “Hey!,” you heard, and both you and your friend turned around to see a bodyguard standing just outside a door. You shared a glance with your friend before looking back at the man, and pointing at yourself, confused. “Yeah, you… you’re the one Choso kissed, right?,” he asked you at which you blushed slightly, before nodding, “yea,” you answered, looking around you and making sure no one was listening to you.
The bodyguard pointed with his thumb towards the iron door, “come,” he said briefly. Your eyes widened at his words and you looked at your friend, both of you thinking to run away from the creepy man. You removed your cigarette from your lips, the same Choso kissed, before smiling embarrassed at the bodyguard, “we were actually going away… sorry,” you said before taking a step back and tugging your friend with you. You saw the bodyguard getting annoyed from your act, and let out a sigh, “Choso asked for you, girl,” he explained, a hit of exasperation in his voice.
But luck kissed you once, and who could assure you that he was saying the truth? So you glanced at your friend again and you were ready to run away, when you saw a familiar head pop up from the iron door. All the breath was sucked away from your lungs when you met Choso’s eyes, and you almost dropped your cigarette at the sight of his grin. The bodyguard immediately got alarmed and tried to push Choso inside, scared that someone was gonna see him outside, “get inside, Choso,” the man told the musician. The latter laughed and nodded at you, “come inside to have a chat?,” he asked you before the bodyguard closed the door behind him, leaving you to wonder if it was real or just a mirage.
You realised it wasn’t a dream when you found yourself in the backstage, your friend next to you and the bodyguard guiding you to the sitting area, after searching you for any weapons. As if, you thought.
“Sit here,” the man said, pointing to the couch and waiting for you two to sit before he left. You heard people scurrying around, putting away stuff and screaming some orders when you felt the couch dip to your free side. When you turned to see who was, your eyes widened at the sight of Gojo. “So… I guess you really enjoyed the kiss? Didn’t know Cho had such courage in him,” he told you, chuckling at the sight of your shocked face. When you took too long to answer, Gojo leaned back against the couch and looked at you with a smirk, “guess you really bewitched him, mh? By the way, what is your name, pretty?”. You blushed at the pet name before your friend tended her hand towards the singer and smiled at him charmingly, introducing themselves.
Gojo was handsome and you were really happy to see him, but—
“You came,” a relieved voice said behind you, and you didn’t have to turn around to know that it was Choso. However, your head whipped towards him in a second and you felt your cheeks burn at the sight of him, his hair unbound and changed into comfier clothes. “Want to smoke?,” he asked you, nodding towards a door nearby while taking out a pack of cigarettes. The movement made your stomach tighten from both arousal and excitement, and you nodded at him before raising from the couch.
You followed him to the room and you felt your heart in your throat when he closed the door behind you two, and you realised you were finally alone with him. The room was small, with a couch on the left side and a large mirror in front of you, as well as a door on the right. His bass sat on the box next to the couch, with his clothes strewn on top of it. You turned around to look at him, and you realised how much taller he was than you, so you had to bend your head back to see him. His eyes, with their beauty, drew you in. Choso held a cigarette in front of you and lowered his head to the side, smirking. "Want a cigarette?" he murmured softly.
You sighed, attempting to relax as you nodded, chuckled softly, and took the cigarette from his palm. "Thank you," you muttered, and your breath hitched when Choso placed his cigarette to his lips before raising his lighter and holding it to yours. You took a drag from your cigarette and slowly blew the smoke out, mesmerised by the way he lit and drew from his.
You took a step back, having to put some space between you two, and looked around, the cigarette clasped between your fingers. "So we can smoke here?," you asked Choso, glancing at him before taking a seat on the sofa. He nodded and followed you, opening a nearby window and sitting close to you. If he was nervous like you, he didn't show it.
You noticed how close he sat next to you as he turned to gaze at you and the smoke from his lips lightly hit your face. "I'll make up an excuse," he said, smirking. You chuckled and shook your head, taking another drag from the cigarette before looking away. "I don't think it's fair that you know my name but I don't know yours," he said, a teasing tone in his voice. When you returned your gaze to him, you observed something else in his eyes, right above his nose tattoo: curiosity or... lust?
You smirked at his comments, running the cigarette filter across your lower lip and noting how Choso watched the movement. "Who said I know your name?," you questioned, lifting your brow in challenge before taking a drag. Choso's laugh was so deep you could feel it in your core. You couldn't help but assume that there was some tension between you two, which was getting you addicted.
"You don't?," he said, continuing with your joke and clicking his tongue in mock displeasure. He shrugged and said, "My apologies… My name is Choso." You chewed your lower lip silently as you watched him bring the cigarette to his lips and take a blow, and when he met your gaze, you murmured, "y/n".
He smiled at you and nodded before repeating your name, as if he was tasting how it sounded on his lips, “y/n… I really like that, it suits you,” he added. You chuckled and leaned back against the cushion, noticing how soon after Choso draped an arm behind the couch, just where your head was resting. Your breath hitched at the proximity between you two, and you felt your cheeks heat up when his thigh brushed against yours. You could feel his heat seeping through your clothes as if he was touching your bare skin, and in that moment, you found yourself wishing he really was caressing you that way. “Yeah? And how can you say that it suits me when you don’t even know me?,” you asked him, tilting your head to the side and blowing softly the smoke over his face.
He laughed again and shook his head, before playfully tugging your hair with the hand that was behind your head. You yelped before laughing, and tried to swat his hand away. “It just looks like it… it sounds like a fierce name,” he explained, taking a last drag from the cigarette before putting it out in the ashtray at the feet of the couch. “For a fiery person like you… who was about to run away from my bodyguard,” he continued, smiling and slightly tilting his head towards you.
You chuckled softly at his words and shrugged before putting out your cigarette, “wasn’t sure he was really inviting me because of you or because he wanted to harass me and my friend,” you answered him, raising your brows to him, waiting for him to answer back. He shook his head, letting out a breathy chuckle before raising his free hand up in the air, “fair point, guess it could’ve been easily misunderstood”.
You bit your bottom lip and glanced at him, your heart rate rising as he looked at you. The faint lights in the room reflected in his eyes, making them even more gorgeous. Your glance fell to his lips, and your thoughts returned to when he kissed you in front of everyone. In that instant, he was able to obliterate everything else with the simple touch of his lips on yours, and he appeared to have experience, so you wondered how things would be with him if you deepened them.
“Did you enjoy the kiss?,” he asked after a few moments, snapping you out of your trance. His gaze lingered on your lips with what looked like hunger in his eyes, before meeting yours. You nodded slightly and swallowed the lump in your throat. Was it you or the room was getting hotter? “Yeah… I did, even if it was a little bit unexpected,” you murmured, biting your bottom lip.
Choso watched the movement, and you could see his lips part before his Adam's apple moved and he returned your gaze. "Sorry about that, I couldn't hold myself back when you looked so beautiful in the middle of the audience," he stated, drawing closer to you till you could feel his breath gently hitting your lips, "It's like you were calling out for me to do that".
Your breath caught as he spoke; did he feel the tension in the room as well? Because you had to press your thighs together, your core becoming wetter as he hungrily looked at you. "So it's only fair that I repay the favor, no?" you muttered, looking up into his eyes, and when you saw your lust reflected in them, you leaned in and kissed him.
His lips tasted even better than before, and they felt like heaven against yours. You let out a soft hum before leaning even closer, and Choso pushed you towards him with his hand behind your shoulder, bringing you closer. His other hand sneaked over your thigh while his lips traced the seal of yours, asking for permission. When you opened your mouth, his tongue was quick to find yours and tasted like cigarettes and mint. You sighed softly as you laced a hand behind his neck, holding him tight while you explored his mouth as if it were your final act. The hand that was on your thigh quickly moved to your waist and your back, drawing you closer.
“Come here, baby,” he murmured against your lips, pulling back to let you both breathe while he guided you to straddle his lap. When you felt his muscular thighs under your core, you let out a soft whine and arched your back as Choso put his hands on your lower back, pushing you closer until your chest pressed against his. His lips instantly met yours in a devouring kiss, as your arms curled around his neck and your fingers played with his dark hair.
He slid a hand under your shirt, and hummed when he felt your soft skin under his touch, drawing little circles on the spot without going further. “Can I?,” he asked softly against your mouth, and when you nodded and arched your back against his hands, he groaned. “Yes, please,” you moaned just before he leaned down and attached his mouth to your neck, leaving wet kisses along the column of your throat. He slid both hands under your shirt, quickly pulling it over your head and throwing it in another spot in the room. "Oh, fuck, princess," he moaned, pulling back from your neck to glance down at your bra-clad breasts before cupping them with his hands. You whined and pleaded to him to go further. You could feel your pussy dripping into your panties, and you couldn't wait to feel Choso against you.
You lowered your hands to his chest and tugged on his t-shirt while looking at him, and when he nodded, you helped him in removing it. You licked your lips at the sight of his toned chest and stomach, tracing every muscle until you found his happy trail, which vanished beneath his pants. Your pussy throbbed at the sight, and you mewled before grinding your hips down on his thighs, causing him to smirk. He reached behind you and unclasped your bra, allowing it to fall down.
His breath faltered and you bit your lower lip when he reached to cup your breasts in his big hands and roll your nipples under his thumbs. “Such pretty tits, doll,” he murmured, before he tugged you closer and latched his mouth to your left nipple. “Need you, Cho,” you moaned at the feeling, pushing his head closer and threading your fingers through his hair. He swirled his tongue around your nipple while rubbing the other with his thumb and index finger, then reversed positions and placed his mouth on the other nipple.
You could feel his boner pushing right where you needed him, so you reached down with a hand and rubbed his shaft slowly over his pants. He groaned on your nipple, and you gazed down at him with a faint smirk, clenching around nothing as he looked up at you with hungry eyes, your nipple and his mouth connected by a line of saliva. "Let me take care of you first, baby," he said softly, changing your position so that your back was against the couch and he was kneeling between your legs.
He smirked at you when he noticed your flushed cheeks before beginning to unbutton your pants. He was fast to pull them away, leaving you only in your panties. You bit your bottom lip as you propped up on your elbows and stared at him, his attention fixated between your thighs. You were certain there was a damp area on them right above your hole.
He rubbed a thumb across your pussy lips and groaned when he felt your wetness seeping through the material, “fuck, baby… you’re so wet,” he murmured before rubbing circles just over your clit. You moaned and arched your back, trying to grind your hips against his hand. “Bet you got wet when you saw me on the stage, uh?,” he teased, letting out a breathless chuckle before looking at you. When you didn’t answer, he licked his lips and asked, “cat got your tongue, pretty girl? Tell me if this is okay for you, mh? Or I’ll stop”.
You shook your head at his words and pouted, “it’s okay, please… don’t stop,” you whined. He smirked at you, “good girl,” before he slowly tugged your panties down, and sweared under his breath at the sight of your bare glistening cunt. “Pretty face with a pretty pussy,” he said, leaning down and inhaling your scent with a groan. Before you could react, he sticked his tongue out and licked from your hole to your clit, where he stopped and left a kiss. “Oh, god… Choso, so good,” you whined, trying to grind your hips against his face even if he was holding you down with a hand. He smirked against your sensitive flesh and looked up at you, “yeah? You like this?,” he asked, and chuckled when he saw you nodding.
He went back to suck on your clit, before moving to your hole and sliding his tongue inside. You moaned at the feeling, and he reveled in the sound, pressing his tongue harder inside you and sucking all your juices in his mouth. Soon after, he added his calloused finger and rubbed your clit slowly before he switched his tongue and fingers, kissing your clit as he inserted a finger inside you, slowly pumping it inside of you. You threw your head back, mewling from the pleasure before you brought your hands to his hair, tugging his face closer to your cunt.
At the stimulation of another finger added inside you, you were fast to cum and clench around his finger. You moaned his name, and arched your back, your body stiffing as you ground your hips against his face. Choso stayed there until he felt the last waves of pleasure wear off, then he raised on top of you, smiling down at the sight of your glazed eyes. His mouth was glistening with your fluids as you placed your arms around his neck and leaned down, allowing you to taste yourself on his lips. You let out a whimper in his mouth before feeling his chest press against yours and bringing your hand down to scratch his toned back.
He groaned against your lips before he pulled back and rested his forehead against yours. “Let me make you feel good too,” feeling his breath against your lips, before moving your hand to clasp his cock over his pants. You noticed him closing his eyes and moaning, his hips involuntarily pressing against your hands. He shook his head and moved away from you, crouching between your legs and studying how your hand was rubbing him over his clothes, “don’t know how much I’m gonna last if you touch me,” he breathed, before he smirked and threaded a hand through his hair. “Then fuck me,” you said, his gaze darkening at your words before standing up from the couch and removing his pants. You propped yourself up on your elbows and gasped when you saw the size of him, before glancing between your legs wondering if it would fit.
“Don’t worry, baby, we will make it fit, mh?,” he told you, grinning as he placed himself back between your legs, and you saw his cock throb against his stomach as he observed you spread out on the couch, waiting for him. He positioned your legs over his thighs, and you brought your hand closer, wrapped it around his cock. Choso groaned at the feeling, looking down at how your fingers were stroking him so gently, a feeling so different from what he usually did to himself. “You like my cock, princess?,” he asked you, and you nodded humming, “yeah…”.
He let out a breathy chuckle and his cock throbbed in your hand before you guided him closer, “wait”. You looked up at him and Choso furrowed his brows, waiting for you to go on, “you have a condom?”. He loosed a breath and shook his head, biting his lower lip as he glance down at his cock between your legs and back up to meet your gaze. “I’ll make sure to come out,” he murmured, and you looked at his needy eyes then down at his throbbing cock under your hand, before nodding. He smiled at you and leaned down to peck your lips, before letting you guide his cock to your cunt.
Both your breath hitched when his tip brushed against your clit, and he felt your wetness against his bare length. “Fuck…” he moaned breathless and he wrapped a calloused hand around yours, guiding his cock to slap against your pussy lips before moving down to your hole. There, you removed your hand and moaned as he started to push inside, making you feel every inch of him. You felt your eyes get teary at his girth and you gripped his wrists, trying to hold yourself onto something. He glanced at you and started to rub your clit, “relax, princess,” he murmured, taking your hand and bringing it to his lips, kissing the back softly.
You started to breathe and relax, pain changing quickly into pleasure as you let your upper body fall back on the couch, moaning as he came to a hilt, his hips flushed against yours. “Baby, you’re so tight, you’re squeezing me,” he whined, biting his lower lip while he closed his eyes, trying to hold back from coming in that moment. After a few moments, he started to thrust inside of you, his pace increasing with the time after feeling your walls relaxing around him and taking him better.
He brought his hands to hold your hips while he filled you to the brim, his cock dragging against your walls perfectly, making you feel every inch of him. You looked up at him and moaned when you saw his fucked out face, looking down at you through half lidded eyes. He went faster, slamming within you with force and getting deeper as he went on. You reached up and pulled him down, connecting your lips in a sloppy kiss, moaning together in each other’s mouth.
“Turn around, pretty, let me take you from behind,” he said breathless against your lips, before pulling back and sliding out of you, guiding you to raise on your knees and hold to the couch, while Choso stood behind you. He caressed your asscheeks gently, “such a beautiful sight,” he said under his breath, before slapping a cheek and observing how the skin rippled under his touch. You gasped and arched your back, glancing back at him with needy eyes, “please, Cho”.
He smirked at your words, and held your hips tightly before guiding his cock back to your hole, “if you ask so nicely,” he answered, before thrusting back inside you with a single movement. You screamed at the feeling and arched your back, holding tightly on the couch while he set a punishing pace, filling you up and drilling inside you so hard that you could feel him to your stomach. Your head dropped down and you moaned, feeling yourself getting closer when his hand slipped under you and rubbed your clit. His cock throbbed inside of you when he felt your walls tightening around him, “I’m close, baby… fuck”. You gasped at his words and pulled your hips back, meeting his thrusts as he rubbed your clit harder, your eyes rolling back to your skull as your orgasm poured over you. Your body convulsed, and your walls drained his cock dry.
Choso remembered to pull back in the heat of the moment, swearing as he did so. He stroked his cock quickly, his gaze locked on your pussy and the gaping hole. He finished shortly after with a groan, spewing cum all over his palm and your ass. He groaned and embraced you as you collapsed on the couch before lying down next to you. You smiled at him as Choso wrapped his arms around you and kissed your forehead, then closed your eyes and leaned against him.
“So… can I have your number, y/n?”
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wavesoutbeingtossed · 28 days
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TTPD Track Speculation/Prediction: @wavesoutbeingtossed Edition
Against my better judgment, I’m putting down my predictions before I am proven completely wrong on April 19.
on the other hand I did correctly attribute all of the 1989 TV vault track teaser lyrics to their songs before it was released so maybe I’m just that good jk.
I’m putting everything under a cut because it’s long and mostly just shooting the shit but it’s a long weekend so what the heck!
I started writing this the night the album was announced at the Grammys in February, so obviously things may have evolved in the meantime. It will be very interesting to see just how wrong I am!
Here be speculation, musings, jokes and more! Enter at your own risk!
SOUND:
I honestly have NO CLUE. I’ve said many, many times that I would be absolutely gagged for an Americana-folk type sound like Carolina/Safe and Sound/some of her acoustic performances on tour. I don’t really expect TTPD to sound quite that stripped back, though. (Prove me wrong, Taylor!)
I am kind of feeling pop-rock-y though, à la WCS, TTDS, based on absolutely nothing but that is also a genre/sound I love that I am begging to hear more on albums.
Completely off the wall guess: Something more jazzy-big band-y, based on nothing but her styling in recent months on the red carpet that harkens back to golden age of Hollywood vibes (especially the Grammys), the inclusion of Clara Bow (renowned flapper girl) on the track list, and the way she keeps talking about being grateful fans accept her bending and switching genres over the years and support her when she does “weird” things.
FORMAT (?)
OK this is just me spitballing, but I said awhile back that I am just getting vibes that there may be, like, a story within a story with this. As in, using some fictional settings as an allegory for the story about herself. The example I used then was The Lumineers, and how they wrote their album III about three generations of a fictional family dealing with addiction, which was an allegory for the lead singer’s own family’s experience with it (without directly calling out the family member in question at the time). There were characters in the album, but many of the songs were sung from an “I”/“you” perspective. I may not be explaining myself well, but I wouldn’t be surprised if there are “fictional” stories in that they’re sung about characters (e.g. Clara Bow?), but it will be obvious to fans that she’s using the characters to speak about herself and her experiences. I’m just getting big “storytelling” energy from the hints. Which means I’m totally wrong!!!! Don’t listen to me!!! (I do think there will be some shades of this somehow, though.)
TRACK LIST SPECULATION
Fortnight: Think you are all on the money about it being the time between the start of tour and when Joever happened for good. Sort of a “two years of uncertainty coming to a head in two weeks” thing. Spending two weeks agonizing over what to do. Two weeks for your whole life to blow up. Finally being removed from the situation and grasping onto your dreams that have been on hold for years and realizing your mind’s made up because you won’t give this part of you up even if it means letting go of what you thought your future held. But another thing I’ve thought of: some common wisdom claims it takes two weeks for a new routine to become a habit, so… outside chance it’s like, two weeks go by and you’re finally used to/accepted whatever it is you’re trying to kick? Also had a thought that there could be many two-week periods that can mark your life and give pause. 
The Tortured Poets Department: No idea really lol. For some reason I feel like this is going to be a little more experimental, “laying the groundwork for the defense” type of vibe, kinda like Mastermind, or using the investigative/academic metaphor to delve into it like, Mad Woman or Vigilante Shit. (Or: it could be super petty roasting the infamous group chat lol. In all seriousness though I would doubt that because I feel like this album is very much about Her… unless said group chat was so insufferable she needs to blast it on main.)
My Boy Only Breaks His Favourite Toys: I saw some talk on my dash about this giving renegade themes (you fire off missiles because you hate yourself but don’t you know you’re demolishing me), and I totally thought the same thing. Also those of you who pointed out the parallels to Cardigan are geniuses (when I was an old cardigan under someone’s bed you put me on and said I was your favorite). Again kinda think there might be some more metaphor in this but guessing it may be along the lines of “he’s only doing this because he knows I won’t leave” themes? It instantly gives dark and uneasy. It gives, the people you love are the ones you hurt the most. All signs point to Not Good.
(Or this is about Benji destroying his spin toys or is that just my cat that does that.)
Down Bad: Someone said (on Jaime’s blog I think*) that this is giving False God but icky and I can TOTALLY see that. (Then again I’ve always found False God sad in the sense that it’s like, “even when we fight so bad we can’t communicate we still have the sex holding us together.”) But, Taylor does like to take sayings with common meanings and twist them on their heads, so I also wouldn’t be surprised if “Down Bad,” isn’t referring to being down as in being horny for someone, but being down as in, feeling devastated/hopeless. (Or, even worse, mean both at the same time. 😵‍💫)
(*I wrote this post in February after the announcement, I don’t have a clue when any of this was said anymore sorry)
So Long, London: like a lot of people, I feel like this is her goodbye to the life they had and more importantly/poignantly, the dreams she had of their future. (I don’t know but, “remember looking at this room we loved cause of the light, now I just sit in the dark and wonder if it’s time” just feels like it’d be part of this story.) So because I’ve said that, watch it be an excoriation of London Boy lol. (You know I’m mad at a London Boy / who just really won’t leave Camden / Market in the afternoon / he hasn’t seen my American smile / in two months cause he won’t come to see me / when I have a show to do…) Feel like it’s going to gut us. BUT, also wonder if this is her “I’m getting the fuck out of dodge ROCK FLAG AND EAGLE” anthem haha. (Or: she ran away to London to escape the Bad Stuff but then got stuck in another kind of Bad Stuff living there for so long…)
But Daddy I Love Him: Pretty obviously the Little Mermaid reference. Very curious if the actual quote is in the song, or if it’s just named that to set the scene but the song instead is an expounding on the theme of giving up her voice for the sake of the relationship like Ariel. Also wonder if this is an overtly diaristic song or if she is going to use characters/figures/fiction to expand on the theme subtly, a little like Maisie Peters’ History of Man or Florence & The Machine’s Cassandra or even more pointedly like her own Last Great American Dynasty or The Lucky One. I do assume the overarching theme is going to be the push-pull between keeping her love and giving up things that are important to her to make that love work.  (Watch this be about her arguing with her father about marrying *** lol.)
The theme of giving up your voice/what you hold dear for love is so loaded, and has some parallels to Clara Bow’s story, which is also on the track list so… Lots to chew on I’m sure.
Fresh Out The Slammer: Totally think the reference to her locking herself up for years at home because she was scared in the Time POTY interview is a likely link to this. Feeling free after the weight of this decision is off her shoulders, yet the sheer terror at now being on her own and rebuilding her future. It could be uplifting but I could also see it being like pure chaos. BUT, a thought I had earlier is that, if this is a song that was written pre-Joever, maybe it’s about the aftermath of a rough patch. Like, we just got our get out of jail free cards, we made it through the other side of this Big Thing that almost ended us (e.g. the final blow in YLM), where do we go from here?
Florida!!!: Emphasis on the “!!!”!!! Honestly it had me at FLORENCE AND THE MACHINE. I’m soooooo curious and sooooooooooooo pumped for this one. I don’t want to let myself hope it’s going to sound like a Florence song BUT I HOPE IT SOUNDS LIKE A FLORENCE SONG. I’m going to guess it may be a reference to the first stop on tour after the news broke. Wasn’t that also a show where a ton of things went wrong? I can see it going so many ways! Is it a hopeful “Florida I’m coming for you you’re a symbol of my great escape my prison break my entire life crumbling and rising again”? An introspective “I never thought I’d have to rebuild my whole world after it imploded, in Florida of all places?!”? Is it a sarcastic “fucking Florida always the scene of the crime I can’t believe my life is falling apart and I need to go to FUCKASS FLORIDA oh great every thing that can go wrong with my show is FLORIDA!!!!”? Is it a rant about the corporate mouse? Or a scathing takedown of Republican politics ahead of the 2024 elections? (lol) Who’s to say?!
Guilty as Sin?: Sooooooooooo curious about this. I’m a Carolina Stan and I know there is 0% chance there is a link between the two songs other than the lyric which is a common term, but it does make me happy. My first thought about this one is that it’s going to be biting or self-reflective — kinda like the bridge of Is It Over Now? Or the chorus of Anti-Hero. As in, “what is it exactly that you think I’m guilty of?” (E.g. ambition? Drive? Seeking attention? Being selfish? But could also be sad: Loving too hard? Caring too much? Being too needy? Hmmm.) I’m kind of feeling like it’s a “if it’s wrong to be guilty of these things I don’t want to be right.” Again if I had to guess I’d wonder if it would have the same vibes as the bridge of YLM. (For some reason, with the question mark, I don’t necessarily think it’s going to be accusing someone of something…)* I also had a thought about the seven deadly sins and this title and… THOUGHTS ARE THINKING**.
(*I may not have found it accusatory in February, but with the benefit of hindsight in March I… reserve the right to change my mind about this.)
(**Future Waves here: the thoughts may have been thinking for February Waves but March Waves has no idea what she was talking about.)
Who’s Afraid of Little Old Me?: I don’t knooooooooooow. At first the title kinda gave me Blank Space vibes, like, you don’t know how much I could fuck this up if I wanted. Then some people mentioned the similarity to Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? And now that’s absolutely all I can think about. If you’ve ever seen the movie (or the play), it is rooooooooough. Watching George and Martha drunkenly eviscerate each other as their guests watch on in horror is… oof. (As someone who has seen this happen in real life and was trapped on a boat with a couple in full unhinged mode… OOF. Just OOF.) Of course there’s the Burton-Taylor of it all too so… (there’s also an interesting theme in Virginia Woolf about buying into illusion to avoid the messiness of reality… and Martha resenting George’s lack of ambition.) Is this song cheeky? Or a threat? Is this a Better Than Revenge/Vigilante Shit rebuke or is it Bejeweled owning her personhood?
(Like any of these songs, there’s also the chance that it’s heartbreaking and is really a reflection on how the things that make her her can be weaponized against her… Or how her struggles/vices alienate her to the person she loves a la Anti-Hero…)
I Can Fix Him (No Really I Can): My first thought is this is going to be one of her sarcastic/satirical/funnier ones, based on nothing except that this sounds like it could be an Olivia Rodrigo cheeky song lol. (Like, I immediately start singing this to the tune of “Get Him Back.”) Never beat those allegations, Taylor, we’ve all been there. It definitely feels like a stereotypical tale of “girl tries to fix a man who doesn’t want to change and refuses to give up.” Watch this actually be a sad ballad about the flip side of renegade and trying to help a partner through a crisis 😬 
loml: the quiet menace in this list!!!! Obviously we’re all immediately thinking “love of my life,” but because this is Taylor, we should not rest easy. The fact that it’s all in small caps is curious to me and calls back to text speak, so is this a term of endearment that turns into a final parting sign off? Is it from an email ahem? Is it a sweet song about the good parts of being together? A wistful song about a lost love? BUT THEN, because it’s Taylor, I can totally see this being a bait and switch and it standing for something else as some of you pointed out, like loss of my life, or love OR my life. Or something entirely different. I’m pretty convinced that this one is going to be devastating in some fashion. I just feel it in my bones.
I Can Do It With a Broken Heart: Like many of you, I’m fairly certain this is going to be a bittersweet Long Live-esque ode to the Eras tour. The pick yourself up by the bootstraps, get out of bed, the show must go on and the show is saving my life story. Just thinking of the quote from the Time POTY interview where she said, “I know I’m going on that stage whether I’m sick, injured, heartbroken, uncomfortable, or stressed.” And in those early weeks, it seems like she might have been all of those things at once. Just trying to talk yourself into getting out of bed when all you want the earth’s core to swallow you whole and never come back. Kind of like, I can pick up the pieces of my life and carry on even when I am dying inside. 
The Smallest Man Who Ever Lived: Obviously this is about one Benjamin Button, please. OK, in all seriousness, it’s giving, well… *shots fired*. It’s giving “your integrity makes me seem small.” It’s giving “I’m a monster on the hill, too big to hang out.” It’s giving “all you are is mean.” So, part of me thinks it’s going to be turned on its head a little bit, just because… it seems to point to something directly and sometimes Taylor enjoys a bit of misdirection. So is this about someone who takes shots at someone else and in so doing, displays their own insecurity? Another thought I had is: Is this about someone who retreats into their own world so much that they’ve shut out everything and everyone else? Their whole world gets shrunken down to the four walls around them? I have a strong feeling this is an allegory-type song, using a fictionalized and possibly fantastical story to tell the real life one, but obviously I could be wrong.
The Alchemy: gonna be real with you all: I didn’t know that alchemy was the practice of turning base metals into something that looks like gold. I think I was mixing it up with apothecary or something, lol. I thought it was the practice of making potions and whatnot. #TheMoreYouKnow ANYWAY, I think the idea of “turning nothing into something that shines” is going to be important. Is it about using her best colours for a portrait to hide the cracks underneath? Is it about trying your best to make something work and thrive but ultimately coming up empty because the foundation is gone? Is it about turning these base experiences into art that fuels her? There are so many possibilities! (@taylortruther’s post about The Alchemy and other comments got me thinking too about the magician/illusionist scenario in So It Goes and now my brain is on fire.)
Clara Bow: Soooooooooo intrigued by this one too. People have pointed out so many of the interesting coincidences and parallels in their lives. Clara Bow was a silent film star who found her voice in the talkies — that right there is one metaphor about finding your voice in your art and your life. But it’s also an interesting parallel that she managed to parlay her success in silent film into talkies, at a time where few actors enjoyed a successful transition, which mirrors Taylor’s transition from country to pop. There’s the way Clara’s private life was splashed all over the press, driven by salacious rumours about her sex life and her perceived revolving door of lovers, which seems like something Taylor would empathize with. There’s the way she had a breakdown and left Hollywood, which may have some shades of 2016. Or that she got married and started a family, but insisted on keeping it a secret for many years to maintain privacy, which is interesting because in this case it seems like *Clara* was the one driving the need for secrecy, not her husband. (At least I read that in one article somewhere, sorry if that’s wrong!) Ultimately though, she died relatively young and was forgotten by mainstream Hollywood, a relic of a past uninteresting to all but the most diehard of film buffs. I’m getting vibes of “The Lucky One,”  (and “Nothing New”) both in themes and in storytelling. So, watch it be completely different and not a story about Clara Bow but instead just have it be an off-hand line lol.
BONUS TRACKS
The Manuscript: I’m veeeeeery intrigued by this one. (I know I say that about all of them. That’s because they all intrigue me.) I love the idea that this wraps up the “standard” album; the chair(wo)man of the Tortured Poets Department has submitted her thesis for review, and it’s up to the board to draw their conclusion. OR: the idea that this is the unfiltered submission to a publisher, before the editor’s review that will cut and tighten and ultimately make it better, but loses the author’s initial vision in the process. (Like self-editing to share the most palatable story to your reader. Which… Also gives Dear Reader/Midnights in general vibes.) OR EVEN: this is the author’s story, submitted to the audience for their review, leaving it up to them to draw their conclusions and annotate. There are sooooooo many ways I can see this going. 
The Bolter: A curious one indeed! I feel like of all of the bonus tracks at least, this is the one I have the least idea about. My immediate guess is that it refers to a person who runs, which would have all kinds of implications. Running from the law (unlikely lol), running from commitment, running from conflict… running for your life. Like running from commitment because you’re scared of being tied down (single girl version) to running from commitment because you’re scared of being tied down (bitter wife* version). (*NOT saying there was a secret wedding lol. I mean as in, that’s the future that was in store if one stayed.) I saw other takes saying bolter is also slang for jailer, which is also interesting with the Ready For It of it all. 
The Albatross: So much has been said about this one, so I don’t think I have much to ado about this one! The famous poem is rife with all kinds of allusions: the bird soaring on its own for up to six years, but being brought down by man’s cruelty. The bird looking majestic in the skies, but the burden of its wings dragging it down on land, slowly killing it. The story being a metaphor for how the very thing poets are exalted for in society are the things they are punished for personally. I think it’s safe to say this one is going to hurt regardless, whether it’s a reference to herself, to ***, or something else entirely.
The Black Dog: Also another one I’m not sure I have many thoughts on yet. The black dog being a metaphor for depression is likely the inspiration, and I’m assuming this has the potential to be one of the most vulnerable songs yet. I have a feeling most of this album will be, but the imagery of this — the black dog being a constant companion, wanted or not, casting a pall over its master’s every move — points in a pretty obvious direction. And one that is probably going to gut us.
Well there you have it folks! I am ready to be completely wrong!
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silenzahra · 1 month
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Mario and Luigi: Musicians 🎶
Yesterday I came up with an idea: what would Mario and Luigi be like as musicians? I mentioned it here first, and then the amazing @itsavee4117 did some research and found out what instruments each brother can cannonically play, though they also added two more with which I totally agree. So here's the list:
Instruments that Mario can play: piano, guitar, synthesizer, xylophone, saxophone, timpani and trumpet.
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Instruments that Luigi can play: violin, acoustic guitar, ukulele and double bass too!
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With this, and with the ideas I had started cooking up yesterday thanks to my favorite band releasing a new album, I ended up coming up with three ideas! 😁 So yeah, this may end up being a bit long, so make sure to grab a snack or a drink before reading!
@vulpixfairy1985 @itsavee4117 @kelbreyworshipper @bberetd @pepperycar @peaches2217 @keakruiser HERE WE GO! 💖
For the first idea, since I was inspired by my favorite band (Estopa, a band formed by two brothers from a town near Barcelona), I'll be adding (mostly at the end of the first part) the links to some reference pictures so you can see where I got some of my ideas 🥰
Without further ado: let's go! ❤️💚✨
1. First idea: Band
Both Mario and Luigi have always had very good voices. Since they were little, the two would often sing for fun, and they continue to do so nowadays, especially when they’re cleaning. They put on their own concerts with their broom and mop and do their own dances. When they live in Brooklyn, their family often joins them, and they all sing together while cleaning, but Mario and Luigi's voices always stand out. In the Mushroom Kingdom, their neighbors Toads always delight in listening to them every time it's thorough cleaning day in the brothers' home.
They both start playing different instruments just for fun. Mario, being so frisky and energetic, wants to try everything, which is why he decides to learn to play not one, but several instruments: piano, synthesizer, saxophone, trumpet, electric guitar, timpani and xylophone. It seems a lot to take on, but all it takes is for someone (aka his father) to tell Mario that he can't play so many instruments for him to put all his efforts into learning each and every one of them. The result? He's pretty good at them all, with piano, electric guitar and trumpet being his main specialties. And his favorites, too.
In Luigi's case, he wanted to focus on a single instrument, his favorite: the violin. He started practicing at a very young age and has been practicing every day since then, only missing a few days for reasons of force majeure (a family problem, something that triggered his anxiety...). When he takes up the instrument again, however, he feels better and calmer, his anxiety and problems disappear with every note he plucks on its strings, and he always feels the music so deeply that he doesn't even realize that his melodies hypnotize and enrapture those who listen to them. He always ends up all flushed and overwhelmed when, after finishing a piece, he realizes that he’s the center of attention.
He began to try his hand at the guitar in his teens, after listening to Mario practicing with the electric guitar. He opted for the acoustic, however, softer and gentler, and has become a great guitarist. Also, for fun, he tried the ukulele and liked it quite a bit, and he's also made his first steps on the double bass until becoming very good at it. He's always open to trying new string instruments in the future. They're his specialty and his favorite.
At some parties and family events, the brothers have shown off their skills with their respective instruments. On more than one occasion, they have joined on an improvised stage, Mario with the electric guitar, Luigi with the acoustic, and have sung duets of some of their favorite Italian songs to the delight of their whole family.
Shortly after arriving in the Mushroom Kingdom, as soon as Peach finds out that both brothers are quite good musicians, she immediately asks them to play in some of the typical festivities of her kingdom. Both are reluctant at first, shy and insecure, but in the end, Mario, always willing to please his beloved princess, finally agrees. He brings all his instruments from home and dedicates a whole private session to Peach, wanting, without really realizing it, to impress her with all the instruments he can play. And Peach is indeed super impressed!
Luigi, being more insecure and not wanting to be the center of attention, is much less willing to agree to the princess' request, and she, always so kind, does not press him, respecting his shyness. Mario, on the other hand, tries to convince his brother: with a soft and comforting voice, he tells him that it will be just like changing audiences, since, instead of their family, they’ll have the inhabitants of the Mushroom Kingdom being amazed by their music. And, of course, Mario will always be on stage with him, so Luigi can choose to stay further back while Mario remains in the spotlight. "If you want to, Lu," Mario tells him at the end, a warm smile on his lips. "We can do it that way if you want, but if you're still not sure, you can stay next to Peach and watch me play."
This causes Luigi to give him a sly look. "You just want the princess to admire you," he says with a chuckle, nudging him. Mario looks at him puzzled. "What are you talking about?" And Luigi, still laughing, eventually agrees. "All right, I'll do it. I'll play with you."
Before starting, since Luigi is very nervous and anxiety is eating at him, Mario stands in front of him, puts his hands on Luigi's shoulders and calls out to him in a low voice. He slowly lifts his brother's chin to get Luigi to look at him and, once he has his attention, looks him intently in the eyes as he rests his forehead on Luigi's. "It's going to be okay," Mario tells him. "We're doing this for fun, okay? We're in time to stop if you don't want to continue."
But Luigi nods, nervous but determined at the same time, and Mario, smiling proudly, places his index finger between Luigi’s eyebrows. "Focus," he whispers to his brother in a soothing voice. "All that matters is playing music and having a good time." Luigi, though somewhat taken aback at first, closes his eyes and takes a deep breath, and, while Mario's finger is still resting on his forehead, Luigi reaches up and puts his index finger between Mario's eyebrows as well (reference image). They both smile with their eyes closed and take a deep breath before separating, and, with a smile and a nod, they get ready to start.
Thus begins what ends up becoming a habit: the brothers, armed with their respective guitars, get on stage together and sing their favorite Italian songs, but also different versions of various well-known and famous songs in Brooklyn (and in all of America). Peach, in time, also tells them about the most popular tunes of the Mushroom Kingdom, and they do not hesitate to incorporate them into their repertoire after rehearsing them.
As Mario suggested, he stands center stage, with all the spotlights on him. He plays his electric guitar and sings, and throws knowing glances at Luigi from time to time. His brother remains a few steps behind, standing in front of his microphone, playing his acoustic guitar and backing him up. Respecting his wishes, which Peach has made sure to communicate the Toads in charge of the lighting, only one spotlight is pointed at him.
Fortunately, once they start singing, Luigi gradually loosens up, letting himself be carried away by the music, and forgets his shyness. Therefore, both brothers end up singing equally and putting all their souls and passion into their songs. Mario, encouraged to see Luigi more devoted to music and less overwhelmed, dares to approach him. They play their respective guitars back-to-back, giving their best shot (reference image though Mario plays an electric guitar), and often share Luigi's microphone: Mario forgets his own and approaches his brother, and both, without stopping playing, look at each other while using the same mic, singing with all their will (reference image). More than once, at the end of a verse or a song, they quickly put their foreheads together before turning to the audience (reference image), a gesture that makes them feel more united and in tune, and also at peace, as they’re sharing their passion for music with their favorite person in the whole world.
I know the last picture wasn't really necesary, since we all know Mario and Luigi do the forehead touch all the time, but honestly, seeing my favorite band doing it too fills me with so much joy I simply wanted to include it 🤭🥹 A few more references:
-Mario and Luigi hugging like this at the end of a concert
-This is how I personally picture them singing on stage!
-Mario looking at Luigi proudly, putting his hands on his shoulders and then doing the forehead touch
-Mario grabbing Luigi like this to kiss him on the head
-Mario ruffling Luigi's hair lovingly
-Mario and Luigi doing a silly dance (jump to 3.37 to see it!)
So this is it! This is my favorite band and this is how I picture our beloved brothers being on stage 🥹 I think it'd be AMAZING to see them live! 🤩💚❤️
As for Estopa, in case you're curious, the older brother is David, the singer, the one with the goatee, and the guitarist is Jose, the younger brother. They're not twins, but in many interviews they've stated that they feel as if they were. They're just as close as Mario and Luigi are and I love them 🥹 (both Estopa and the Mario brothers!)
On to the second idea! ✨
2. Second idea: Classical Music
Since Mario and Luigi can play more instruments, Peach soon comes up with an idea where they can show off their other musical skills. When she organizes balls and receptions to strengthen ties with other kingdoms, Mario and Luigi are invited to liven up the evening, the former sitting at the piano, the latter with his violin in his hands. They usually start with a piano solo that gets all the applause from the audience, since Mario is really very good, but then Luigi starts playing the violin and everyone is spellbound by the sweetness and mastery of the youngest of the brothers with this beautiful instrument. Of course, Mario is always the first to acclaim him, full of pride, just as Luigi is the first to praise Mario with his piano solos.
Often, the two of them join both instruments and play beautiful classical pieces, both completely devoted to the beauty of the notes they pluck on the piano and violin. The audience is always bewitched listening to them, completely captivated, with Peach and Daisy being the first to deeply admire the brothers' artistic talents. The only bad part? That, since they’re the ones who are creating such beautiful music, they don't have the chance to dance to it with their respective princesses. Fortunately, Peach takes into consideration that Mario and Luigi will also want to enjoy the evening and not just enliven it, so she hires a talented orchestra of Toads so that both she and her friend Daisy have the opportunity to dance with both plumbers in the purest Pride and Prejudice style.
(None of the princesses knows what Pride and Prejudice is at first, but Luigi will be sure to explain to both of them what his favorite book is about, and Peach will end up reading it and loving it too. This will make both she and Luigi appreciate in greater depth every step they take in their dances with Mario and Daisy respectively).
Here, I have to say I imagine them playing a duet of Howl's Moving Castle. Yes, I know I also used that song for my Luaisy fanfic, but it's so beautiful I believe it totally fits! ✨
3. Third idea: New Donk City Festival
Mayor Pauline organizes an annual festival to commemorate the history of her city, and, since she’s not only the mayor but also a singer, she loves to sing and dance every year in front of her devoted audience. Learning of Mario and Luigi's musical prowess, she does not hesitate to invite them to join her for this year's festival, and Mario, seeing it as an opportunity to play more than one instrument, gladly accepts. Luigi, laughing at his brother's enthusiasm, agrees, again, to stay behind, this time switching between his guitar and his double bass, and also backing vocals for Pauline. Mario, for his part, asks to have on hand every instrument he can play while on stage.
Thus, when the night of the festival arrives, Luigi stands behind Pauline, with his guitar and his voice, and sometimes playing his double bass instead. Pauline often turns to him and gives him broad smiles with which she intends both to thank him for sharing his talent with her and to encourage him to keep it up.
As for Mario, he keeps switching instruments. Pauline has not hesitated to comply with his request, so Mario moves around the stage, and at each new song, he changes instruments. The xylophone, the saxophone, the keyboard, the trumpet... Mario is delighted to be able to show off such versatility and play each of his instruments according to what each song requires, and both Pauline and Luigi are happy to see him so joyful and enthusiastic.
In the last song, since Mario has already tried all his instruments, he gets carried away by the music and Pauline's voice and, still excited and energetic, runs to Luigi, takes him by the hand and drags him until they’re both right behind Pauline. Mario then begins to dance without letting go of his brother's hands, encouraging him to do the same, and Pauline starts to clap her hands while continuing to sing. Luigi, despite his initial confusion, eventually lets go as well, so that the two brothers dance together on stage while Pauline concludes the festival. The two of them, besides being good musicians and singers, are also very good dancers.
Here you can picture Mario dancing like he does in Super Mario Odyssey and Luigi dancing like he does in Luigi's Mansion 2 and 3.
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(Though without the scaried face 😂)
So this is it! 😁 These are the ideas I came up with for our favorite brothers being musicians 🥰 It's an idea I honestly love and that makes my love and devotion for the Mario brothers grow 🥹
I'll definitely be including some of these ideas in future fanfics! 😁 What do you think of all this? In case you'd like to create something related to this, be my guest! All I ask is to give credits, please 🙏💖
UPDATE: Please don't miss the incredible drawings made by the amazing @itsavee4117 to illustrate two of my ideas! 🤩🤩🤩 They're PERFECT and have me screaming! 👏👏👏
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tinygarbage · 4 months
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Do I Wanna Know?
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part one
pairing: simon “ghost” riley x f!reader (Cheese)
word count: 4.4k
summary: december is passing and you start to wonder what you mean to your lieutenant.
warnings: 18+, MINORS DNI, alcohol consumption (reader and ghost have 3 drinks), no use of y/n, reader is mentioned to have hair (no specific length), readers call name is “Cheese”, American reader, mutual pining, fluff, implication of severe anxiety, swearing, military inaccuracies, drunk soap and gaz, not really edited lol (let me know if i missed any)
au: this chapter is inspired by hozier’s cover of “do I wanna know” by the arctic monkeys 😚 i linked it in the title just in case y’all wanted to give it a listen! im thinking about one more part for this bad boy :)
༝̩̩̥͙ ༓༝̩̩̥͙ ⊹
    The pub is busy when you step in. Loud music and noisy chatter smacks you in the face as you shove your hands into your pockets. You feel your heart beating faster as your eyes search for the team's faces. The painfully familiar feeling of anxiety crawls through your brain as you walk through the crowded space. People are dressed in all sort of attire, a mix of casual and fancy outfits scatter across the dark pub. Party hats and sunglasses work of people heads. Cheap, plastic necklaces around peoples necks. They all chatter, drinks in their hands as they watch TV at the bar or cheer of the people on the karaoke machine. You recognize a Bon Jovi song being sung horribly by a middle aged woman. Her friends crowding the stage with their phones in hand, drunkenly recording her screeching performance.
    Your heart races and your breathing quickens as your eyes continue to dart between the overwhelming amount of people. You were already late. Dreading coming since Simon gave you the invitation during training one day. Quietly mumbling about how the guys were carrying their tradition of going to Price's favorite pub. Inviting you to come along. Which you immediately accepted. Not stopping to think about the fact that crowded pubs make your head spin and stomach flip like the worlds most dangerous amusement park.
     "Cheese!" You hear Soap's thick accent call out through the crowd. His voice immediately sending a soothing blanket over your jittery nerves.
      Your head snaps in the direction you heard it from to see your team grouped up together at a large booth in the corner. They all sit tight together. Gaz and Soap clearly having indulged in their alcohol quickly. Soap's cheeks are rosy and his faux-hawk is tossled slightly. He's wearing a dark grey hoodie with some band graphic fading on it. Next to him sits Gaz. Who's wearing his worn baseball cap backwards. A navy hoodie with a grey and blue flannel over it. His eyes droop as he seems to be searching for where soap spots you. Across from them sits Simon and Price. Price wearing his typical beanie and a flannel. He's in the process of taking off his brown leather jacket. Next to him is Simon. Wearing a black hoodie. You cant see anything but his broad frame and the hood pulled up. But you can guess he's wearing his "civilian" balaclava or a black surgical mask.
    As you approach, Soap is still waving his arm like a maniac and Simon slides out of the booth. Turning slowly to watch you approach. You don't even try to bite back a smile as you get closer. He's in his black surgical mask and a pair of dark denim. Thick leather boots on his feet. Jeans cuffed to reveal the lighter denim on the inside. Hiding the very top of his boot. His pale hand reveals itself, gesturing for you to slide into the booth. To sit right between him Price's broad frames.
     You slip right in. Sitting close to Price. Your cardigan brushes against his flannel and he looks down at you. Giving you a sweet, genuine tight-lipped smile. "Hey, Cheese." He rasps, nudging your shoulder lightly.
      You smile back in response. Glancing back over the busy pub as Simon squeezes in next to you. Both of your arms pressed against each other. "It's packed." You observe, adjusting between the two large men.
     "Well, you did show up at 22:00." Gaz chuckled.
      "How long have y'all been here?" You ask. Your American accent standing out in the pub full of Brits and Soap.
     "Y'all!" Soap repeats in a southern accent. Surprisingly nailing it despite the fact that he's completely tossed.
     The group ignores it, Gaz answers. "Soap and I got here around 19:00. Price and Ghost got here about an hour ago."
     Before you can respond to Gaz, Simon speaks up from beside you. His gaze darting from you to the glass of whiskey sitting on the table in front of him. Pale fingers fidgeting with the wrapper of a straw. The straw from Price's coke. "How come you came so late?" His voice is quiet. Only being heard by you and maybe Price.
    "Oh, I was calling my parents. And i got a little distracted."
    It wasn't a lie. Not entirely. Just withholding the full truth. Not wanting to explain the fact that you had been doing every single chore and calling every single family member instead of getting ready to meet them at the pub. So you just wear a baggy, knitted cardigan over a grey cami. The lavender color of your cardigan and it's marble white buttons standing out amongst the men you were with. Who were wearing rather dull colors. A pair of light wash jeans on your bottom half and your trusty converse. The pair you've had since senior year. The fraying canvas and scuffed soles giving them character. And a sense of nostalgia. A birthday gift from your older brother. Who saved up all of his tips that he got working as a barista while attending college.
You shift awkwardly under his intense stare, waiting for any sort of response from him. Nothing comes. Instead, Soap leans over the table and speaks loudly. His accent thicker with the more he drinks, "Gaz and I have bets going on some pool games, you want to join?"
"I'll pass, I'm not very good at pool." You chuckle, speaking up so they could hear you over the crowded bar.
"That's better for us, means you'll lose!" Gaz chimes in, leaning against Soap.
"Maybe next time. What are you getting anyways?"
"Loser sings karaoke. Winner chooses which song." Soap answers with a drunken giggle, Gaz joking in. You've never seen either of them this drunk before.
"You're going to force an entire bar full of people to listen to your awful singing?" You laugh, shaking your head in disbelief.
"Cant be as bad as the Cougar screaming on stage." Gaz nudges Soap as they laugh loudly. God, they were obliterated already.
Time passes and eventually Price has moved to the bar, leaving you and Simon to watch as Soap and Gaz play pool together. You cant tell who's winning, so Simon updates you with each play. You now had a vodka cranberry sitting in front of you. After Price begged you to let loose for once and stop being a "block of cheddar." Whatever that meant. But when he said it was on Shepherd, you couldn't refuse ordering a few drinks on the dreadful man's pocket. Price giving a big belly laugh as you make a remark about Shepherd's bald head.
With the drink and Simon's calming presence, you feel your anxiety starting to rinse away. A second drink comes and you and Simon are still pressed together despite having more room in the booth now that Price disappeared. The two of you watching Soap lose brutally in a game of pool. Most likely due to the fact that he can't even stand straight. You watch as him and Gaz stumble to the karaoke machine, which is vacant now that people are more focused on midnight approaching. Typing in the song Gaz had chosen as the pair giggle and try to read the screen. Their vision most likely blurred and spinning. The song starts playing once everything is set up, the microphone in Soap's hand as he leans on Gaz for support. Probably needing a glass of water more than a song. You cant help but giggle as Come on Eileen starts playing. Typical karaoke song.
You're still sat in the booth with Simon, watching as Soap curls his arm around Gaz. His singing getting louder and increasingly incoherent as he attempted to read the words on the screen. His accent thick with each word. You wish your hearing was non existent as you watch the shit show in front of you. Simon sitting silently at your side.
"We're going to have to roll that man out," You say with a grin. Soap's an idiot but he's the team's idiot.
"I say we leave him to Price." Ghost replies, glancing at you while you take a chug of your drink.
You glance over to Price, who has his arm loosely around a blonde. A charismatic smile as he leans against the bar, the pint of dark beer half empty and her flashy margarita with nothing but the salt around the rim and the flimsy umbrella laying. It's place as a decoration looking rather sad in the empty glass.
"It seems like Price is on his own mission," you say with a raised brow.
"At least the old man is getting out there," he grumbles. You watch subtly as he lifts his mask to finish off his whiskey. Catching a glimpse of a scar down his pink lips. The sight bringing a familiar pool of heat to your stomach. Your ribs squeezing from the desire building.
You swallow your alcohol infused thoughts, turning back to your drink when you notice his brown eyes shifting under your gaze. You weren't being nearly as subtle as you thought. He had felt the tension build between the two of you the moment your eyes landed on his lips. Clearing your throat you speak up, "Yeah, he's been getting irritable lately. Maybe some stress relief outta do him some good."
You hear a small huff of laughter next to you, watching as his shoulders shook slightly under his black hoodie. A small smile creeps on your lips. Not able to hide the giddiness you feel every time you manage to break his shell. Even if it was something as subtle as a huff of laughter or a sheepish expression.
"Can't remember the last time I've seen the poor bastard do anything for himself." He responds, a hint of a smile in his voice. It was light, airy. But it was everything to you. A moment worth a mental picture in your brain.
"Good for him," you conclude with a proud nod. Watching as the blonde places a hand on Price's bicep. Which looked like it was screaming to be let out of the flannel he wore.
Your eyes flick back to Simon, admiring the curve of his nose. The very top of it peaking out from the surgical mask. The mere sight of him drowns out Soap's awful singing. Drawing you in and letting your mind wander to all the places you wanted the talk, blonde man to take you. You couldn't help but imagine how his nose would feel against your skin. His breath fanning on the open landscape as his lips trace every inch of you. Breathing you in with each peck. You imagine how it's feel as he leaves a trail of kisses down your stomach. Or pressed against your sensitive bud as he buries his face in your dripping cunt. Jesus, Cheese. Slow down.
With that last thought in mind, you stare down at your drink. It's your third. And probably your last. Given the fact that midnight was approaching minute by minute and you needed to be sober to try and get Gaz and Soap out. Simon was on his fourth and final glass as well. Announcing he was cutting himself off before he would have to endure a nasty hangover the next morning. Soap was finished singing, gesturing to you and Simon that they were going for one more round. A round that would probably tie them over to midnight.
And it did. Leaving you and Simon to drag him and Gaz out of the bar and to the Uber you had ordered. Price having left swiftly after midnight with the blonde he was chatting up. Her dragging him out as they laughed like a couple of teenagers. Price giving you and Simon a smug smile and a wink as he passed. You waving goodbye and Simon glaring at him. Pissed at the fact you two were left to taking care of the drunken babies screaming in the karaoke machine. Especially when Soap turned into a runner after 3 pints.
You and Simon wrangle the drunken toddlers into the Escalade. Gaz sobering up quick once you had buckled him in and gave him a bottle of water that the bartenders were handing out. On the other hand, Soap was being a straight menace. Making Simon's life ten times more difficult than it needed to be. Acting like a toddler in the middle of a bloody, screaming tantrum. Trying to slip out if Simon's tight grasp to take off through the streets. You and Simon having to resort to scaring him into sitting still in the Uber. Leaving you in the middle of him and Gaz, holding onto Soap's hand as he babbles. His thick, slurring accent completely impossible to understand. He even asks you a question. One that Ghost has to translate for you.
     "Why do they call ye Cheese?" He slurs, head turning to look at you.
      "Grew up on a dairy farm in Wisconsin." You explain with a shrug. You had gotten used to people asking by now. But internally you were certain you had told him already.
       "Oh," he pauses, his lips pressed into a small pout as he thought more about it. "Well, that's silly."
       "Your name is Soap. What if I think that's stupid?" You say flatly, watching his pout grow.
Eventually, you're back to base. Gaz walking up on his own, but you stay next to him. Ready to catch him if he takes the wrong step or needs to puke. Simon practically carrying Soap behind him. Who's now singing old Scottish folk songs while Simon grumbles profanities. Your favorite being a threat to make him sleep in the bushes. Which causes infectious laughter from the Scot. Which you are quick to quiet as there's other people on base.
Once you're in the confines of your groups own little sector. You and Simon get Gaz into the respective rooms. Propping them on their sides in case there were any accidents. Leaving a water bottle and a couple tablets of Advil for their heads in the morning. Simon was partial to dumping them and heading to bed. But you made sure they were out of their jackets, in their beds, converse with blankets, and had water for the morning.
Soon, you find yourself in Simon’s room. Listening to him grumble endlessly about the behavior from the other three men you live with. You watch in the corner as he lazily unties his leather boots. Body hunched over completely as he sits at the edge of the bed. Kicking them off with a bit of a tipsy struggle. Letting them plop at the end of his bed with a large thunk!
Awkwardly, you shift in your place by the door. He had invited you to come in. But this side of him was so foreign to you that it still felt wrong. Like you were in forbidden territory. But you bury the anxiety. Reminding yourself that the flipping of your stomach could be blamed on the three mixed drinks you had indulged in.
He’s sat up now, stretching his back. A loud crack sounding through the room as his spine arches like a cat. You watch as his hand reaches for his surgical mask. You don’t think twice of the motion. You’re occupied with a fuzzy brain. Crossing the room with a shy stride, blinking a few times as your vision adjust to the dim lighting in his dorm. Your eyes flicking back up to catch his movements. And it isn’t until the mask is pulled completely off that you realize what is happening.
“Simon?” You ask quickly.
His eyes snap to you, head turning towards you ever so slightly. Revealing the rest of his face to you. And god, he’s fucking gorgeous. The curved bridge of his nose that you always noticed is paired with a straight, and narrow length. Slightly tipped downwards. The pale scar you noticed earlier seeming to glow in the dim lighting. Crossing through his pale pink lips. His jawline strong and the shape of his face a little longer than you’d ever noticed when he was wearing the mask.
“You take that thing off?” You ask without thinking. Voice laced in disbelief and shock.
He lets out a huff of laughter. A small, boyish grin tugging at his lip. “Of course I do.”
You stare at him for a moment longer, taking in his strong, prominent features. Trying to drink in every centimeter to engrave in the back of your brain. “Why are you taking it off now? I thought you were hell bent on hiding your face.” You question, frowning slightly.
“You’re the only one who hasn’t seen my face.” He says bluntly.
“What? That’s no fair!”
“Perfectly fair.” He responds. You find yourself speechless. Now you got to put a face to the snappy, dry comments he had an endless supply of. Seeing the full expression of his face when he’s giving an unimpressed stare. You adore it.
“Why haven’t I seen it?” You ask, faking offense with a dramatic gasp.
“Because you’re insufferable.” He answers dryly. But the crooked smile on his lips give his intentions away. You grin, moving your body from its place on the edge of the bed with him. Leaving over to snatch the balaclava that rests on the nightstand where he had tossed the surgical mask. His “civilian” balaclava. The one with the skull print. “What are you doing?”
“Trying it on.” You giggle.
“Don’t touch it.” He says sharply, moving to reach for it.
Your reflexes are heightened. Holding his mask out to the side with a giggle, trying to push his massive body back. But he's too big and overpowering. Not to mention the three drinks you had were still buzzing through your system. He grabs your hand on his chest, pulling you into him as the other arm snatches the skull mask. He tosses it to his nightstand before using both hands to pick you up from the edge and throw you down gently on the middle of  his bed. The wooden bed frame creaking with age. "You're a brat," he says in deep voice. His dark, playful glare making your heart spike as you're pressed against the mattress.
      "Am not!" You argue, laughing as you realize he's about to tickle you. Picking up the lower half of your body as he inserts his larger frame between your denim covered legs. You wonder if it's third grade again as his hands move from holding you down to your sides.
    He then laughs and tickles your ribs, causing you to gasp out into a fit of giggles. Your hands shooting up to his wrists to stop him as you try and speak through the laughter erupting from your chest. He laughs mischievously. His hand moving down to your stomach and up your sides again. The action making you laugh even harder while begging him to stop. Words broken and squealed as you giggle. He finally stops the tickling but he keeps his hands on your sides, looking at you with a crooked grin on his face.
    You try not to dwell on the fact that you've never seen him smile before. And have never ever imagined it would look this good. Or boyish. This felt completely out of character. And it was. All you could think to do was blame it on the glasses of whiskey he had downed just before midnight. But that wouldn't stop you from memorizing each inch of his face without the mask on. Taking in the sight of his blonde lashes that are just a little bit lighter than his thick eyebrows. Or the scar running down his cheek to his jaw. The line dark and uneven, a contrast to his pale skin.  The other scar just below his nose and through the pale pink lips that spread thin with his smile. He was everything.
    The veins in his pale hand popping against your hips as he keeps your ass in place on this thick thighs. "You are and you know it." He finally says, a bit breathless from laughing at you.
    "You're so mean." You say breathlessly, giving him a playful pout.
    "I know, that's why you love me...right?" He asks you, with that charming smile and a smug voice to match. His hands on your sides, leaning down towards your face.
    You just giggle again, nodding slightly as you admire how he looks above you. Your breathing starts to calm as you two sit in the warming silence between each other. Your back is against his sheets, hair spread on his pillow. He's sitting between your legs. Your thighs pressed over his hips as his large body leans over you. As your giggling ceases, you notice him getting closer and closer. Your heart beats faster as his face leans a couple inches forward. Stopping for a second to look over your features. His breath was warm. The scent of a heavy mint mixed with a bit of whiskey. The slow exhales fanning your jaw slightly as his eyes flicker to your lips. His hands on your sides started to get lower the closer he got. Thumbs digging into your hips lightly. Like he was trying to imagine how your flesh would feel gripped beneath his bony fingers.
     Suddenly, you realize what's happening. It hits you like a train coming full speed ahead. You feel your heart lurch as a fire erupts through your hips. His thumbs brush over the skin that is exposed. The cardigan you're wearing rides up to reveal more of your skin peeking between its hem and your jeans. Wires in your brain start to connect when you realize the severity of your situation and your rising feelings. This was Ghost. Simon fucking Riley. These thoughts weren't allowed. These feelings are forbidden. This isn't real. This isn't him.
    You sit up, scooting back as you come to your senses."I...I should probably get back to my room." You clear your throat. Trying to even your breathing.
    He moves back, sitting up completely as your close proximity starts to sink in to his senses. You hear him swallow slightly, shifting back more to allow you to move. Sitting up, you shift towards the edge of the bed. Your feet dangle as you try and calm down the screaming arousal pumping through your veins. As you sit there, you wonder what thoughts run through his brain. Was this all good fun? Was this something he wanted or thought about? Were you something he thought about?
    "Right," his voice deepens and his dark eyes run cold, "you should probably go."
Fuckin' hell. The tension in the room grows thick. It's painfully obvious the affects of the alcohol have taken over their senses. Creating a false perception of each other in a close proximity. You internally calm yourself. Reminding yourself that you're human and a very large, brutally attractive man was hovering over you just second ago. Of course you'd be turned on. But he's your lieutenant. The second in command. The man who'd take over if Price left or retired. Your superior.
"Right." You repeat. Your voice just above a whisper.
    Another consequence of drinking rears it's ugly head when you feel tears start to burn at the corners of your eyes. Why were you so upset? You scold yourself, repeating the fact that you were the one to stop things from progressing. And he's your superior. Not like it should happen anyways.
    But your scolding only goes so far. Instead, a dark shadow of guilt and shame starts to crawl over your skin. You pull your cardigan tighter against yourself as you stand up from his bunk. Your converse tapping on the floor as you start to step away. Glancing at the way her shifts to sit on the bed. Long, large legs planted on the floor. His pale, striking face observing you.
    This type of look wasn't different from the look he always gave you. But this time, you could see his entire face. You can see his thick brow knitting together as his dark eyes scan over you. His eyes stained with dark circles. You could see all of the flaws he so desperately wanted to hide from everyone. But you. The face he allowed you to see. The one with a crooked smile. The sheepish smile that he'd try to bite back. Or the way his nose was a little crooked at the end. And it scrunched up when he lets out a boisterous laugh.
    But all you see is the dark wall that began to rebuild itself. The glaring eyes and the shadow from his thick brow. The rest of his face void of expression as the hand on his leg squeezes his thumb a few times. A nervous tic you had noticed. Something he does when he has so much more to say. When he has an overwhelming amount of feelings bubbling up in his throat. Threatening to spill out like when a toddler spills their milk. Accidental. Inevitable. 
    Slowly, you make your move. Spinning around and walking towards the door with your arms wrapped around your torso. Feeling the overwhelming urge to crawl into yourself like a little shell. Hiding from the reality of you being completely enamored by him. Hiding from all of the pining you shamelessly embraced. Shielding yourself from the fact that you want him to pull you back into his bed. Knowing that if he did, it would ruin this. All of the effort you made to get this close to him knocked over like Jenga blocks. Leaving him to be nothing but a stranger. This is for the better. You know it's for the better.
    A choked breath stops you in your tracks. Your footsteps halt and you turn your head over you shoulder. His large frame still sat on the bed with hunched shoulders. His voice monotonous, speaking out your name into the dimmed room. "Happy New Year."
    Your words come out fragile, on the verge of tears. "Happy New Year, Simon."
༝̩̩̥͙ ༓༝̩̩̥͙ ⊹
moot tags: @annasinterests @pertinentpostmortem
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jokeroutsubs · 10 months
Text
Joker Out interview with magazine Mladina, published on 30th of June 2023
Interviewed by Vanja Pirc
Photos by Borut Kranjc
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This year's Slovenian representatives at Eurovision, the five-member band Joker Out, attracted an unusually large amount of attention with their accessibility and playfulness, especially with the song "Carpe Diem." In the days and weeks that followed, it became clear that their Eurovision entry, which only placed 21st, had indeed opened the door for them to go abroad. They started adding new concerts in Ireland, Croatia, the UK, Scotland, Finland, Sweden, Norway, Serbia, and others to the ones they had already arranged in Slovenia and the former Yugoslav republics. They sold out all of them, some in just a few minutes. Well over eight thousand people will see them on the UK and Nordic tour alone. For musicians working in Slovene, that's an incredible statistic.
It's a remarkable milestone to see how they've come from "Špil liga," where they first came to the limelight by winning in 2013 when they were still a high school band, to today, being greeted by masses of enthusiastic fans below the stage, and being selected by the Scottish band Franz Ferdinand to be their opening act at Croatia's Špancirfest festival. We spoke to lead singer Bojan Cvjetićanin, guitarists Kris Guštin and Jan Peteh, and bassist Nace Jordan. Unfortunately, drummer Jure Maček was missing, but we could see that he is a man of many talents by looking at the huge wooden structure with a platform that added another floor to the band's rehearsal space in Šiška, Ljubljana.
After Eurovision, you made no secret of your disappointment at finishing 21st, but your Eurovision song "Carpe Diem," sung in Slovenian, is now one of the most listened-to songs of this year's Eurovision event. It's being played all over Europe, most notably in Finland, Poland, the UK, the Netherlands, Spain... Did you expect this turn of events?
Bojan: The result we achieved at the Eurovision Song Contest was really not the greatest. Not even close. But, as you can see, in the end, it doesn't even matter. What is more important for us is that we managed to achieve the rest of the goals we had set for ourselves. We approached Eurovision in a very organic way, aiming to translate our stage and concert experience from real life to the Eurovision stage. It was clear to us that this is the biggest show stage in Europe, maybe even in the world. We were aware that this is a competition of one song, one comprehensive performance to be presented in three minutes. Our goal was to ensure that the audience would remember Slovenia's performance in 2023, and we have achieved that. We also aimed to connect with other performers, and we succeeded in doing so. But most importantly, we wanted both our Eurovision song and our other songs to be well-received in the real world. The data from radio stations, online streaming platforms, and concert offers confirm that apparently, we have achieved that as well.
Before, you were known mainly in Slovenia, and to a lesser extent in the Balkans. However, your Eurovision song has temporarily climbed to the top 50 most viral songs in the world chart on the streaming platform Spotify. You even briefly surpassed Sweden's Loreen, the winner of this year's Eurovision, in terms of popularity.
Bojan: Just to clarify, we only surpassed her for a day or two. But it's really nice that it happened on Spotify's list of the most listened-to songs in the world.
Kris: Well, she did get a billboard in New York's Times Square as the winner at the time, so it's a matter of who surpassed whom, I suppose (gesturing with his hands).
Well, who did?
Bojan: I believe that what we will gain from this performance will surpass what many other performers will achieve. Eurovision has introduced us to a very large audience in a very short time, and they have really connected with our music. They are now translating our lyrics into their own languages and even learning Slovenian. We were surprised to see how many of them bought dictionaries to learn Slovenian - we know this because we were asked to sign them. Others are learning Slovenian through online platforms, and there are even dictionaries being created on TikTok. These listeners are not bothered at all that we are not creating in English at this point; on the contrary, they would like us to keep it that way. However, we have to be realistic. To truly expand our listener base, it's important to be accessible to people.
That's why you have already prepared an album a few months ago, featuring songs from both your previous albums rearranged in English. The album is now awaiting release. One of your main goals was to be able to translate your concert experience onto the stage.
Bojan: The first real international test after Eurovision was in Zagreb, where we performed as the opening act for the most popular young Serbian band at the moment, "Buč Kesidi", at a previously arranged concert. We performed outdoors in the middle of the day, with the sun still high up in the sky. However, we were greeted by a crowd of 2,500 people and received a phenomenal response. They sang along with us, and later we read in the Serbian media that we probably have the most Croatian fans among Slovenian bands. After this show, when we announced a solo concert in Zagreb's Tvornica for November, which is comparable in size to Ljubljana's Cvetličarna, the tickets sold out in five hours. So, we arranged another concert in the same venue, and that one sold out as well. The response in Croatia has been truly amazing, and they have set a very high bar for the future.
You have been intentionally engaging with the countries of the former Yugoslavia lately. Through songs like "Demoni" ("Demons"), you have approached them language-wise. In addition to Croatia, you have also been booked for concerts in Serbia and Bosnia and Herzegovina. Your Eurovision song also reminds me a little of Plavi orkestar, which was once the most popular Yugoslav pop band, or Đorđe Balašević. It is probably not a coincidence that the line "The game of hatred is your thing, thank you, don't count on us" is reminiscent of his hit "Računajte na nas" ("Count on us")?
Bojan: No, no, it's not a coincidence.
Is it nevertheless more difficult to plan a breakthrough to the rest of Europe? After Eurovision, the Irish were the first to sign you up, did the audience there also know your songs by heart?
Bojan: Yeah, we haven't really gotten used to that yet (laughs). In Ireland, we managed to sell out our first show in 12 minutes. It's true that it was a small venue, comparable to Ljubljana's Orto bar, and it wasn't a solo concert, but a joint performance with this year's Irish Eurovision representatives. However, due to the high level of interest, we arranged another concert in a club twice as big, which is also their most iconic venue. Soon after, other venues started to show interest. We announced a UK tour, with over five thousand tickets on sale for four shows in major cities, and they sold out. We announced a Nordic tour, with around 2,500 tickets available, and it sold out in half an hour, along with three Finnish concerts in just ten minutes. Later, we released an additional 770 tickets, which were gone in five minutes. Offers are also coming in from many other countries, and it is impossible to predict what will happen in the upcoming months.
A number of Slovenian music artists have successfully reached international audiences, from Senidah to Laibach, from Gramatik to Umek, and you were the first ones to consider using Eurovision as a springboard. Would it make sense for our country to continue using this event to promote established musicians who are eager to make an international breakthrough? You were internally selected for this competition.
Kris: It all depends on what we as a country want to achieve from this competition in the future. We have to decide whether EMA is a competition where we find the most suitable representative and expect them to make the most of their opportunity while promoting our country along the way, or whether it is a competition where Slovenian musicians present themselves to Slovenian audiences. Personally, I believe that it is definitely better to choose a performer who already has an established infrastructure in place and a certain support base, because this can enable him to use his potential to the fullest.
Jan: I think that would be the best approach as well. However, since many musicians see EMA as one of the few opportunities to showcase their work to a wide audience through public broadcasting, it would make sense to maintain that aspect too, perhaps as a prelude to EMA, transforming it into a grand finale for carefully selected artists, similar to Sanremo.
Bojan: The main issue with the previous selections was that Slovenia didn't approach it with the intention of winning. Of course, success in such a significant event is not guaranteed. But why not approach it strategically nonetheless? For example, I believe we should send Senidah to Eurovision in 2024!
Senidah is the biggest star in the Balkans, the most listened-to musician. Is she also your role model in that sense?
Bojan: Absolutely. Senidah is the first Slovenian artist, after Mr. Predin and "Lačni Franz", to truly break through in the Balkans. She does write music in Serbian, but that's irrelevant; what's important is that she's made a remarkable breakthrough in a market that has so far been very closed off to Slovenians. And not only has she broken through, but she is topping the charts. However, I would understand if Senidah refused to participate in EMA, at least as long as the current rules are in place. EMA is too close in time to Eurovision. The winner has only one month to submit material. Imagine having to put together the most important performance of your life in just 15 days? We, on the other hand, had more time since we were internally selected—three months—and we utilized this extra time to design our pre-Eurovision campaign, which ultimately played a key role in our success. That's what left the biggest impression.
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You managed to invest between ten and fifteen thousand euros of your own funds in this promotion. You have an extensive domestic touring career behind you. In October, you will fill our biggest venue, Stožice, for the first time, where you expect 12,000 people.
Kris: I've always considered it a privilege to have established a music career at such an early stage in our lives and to have quickly reached the point of financial self-sufficiency.
Bojan: It really worked out for us that right after we finished university, we began our professional lives as musicians.
Those who know you say that you are very disciplined, very organized. Bojan, your fellow classmates from Poljane Gymnasium in Ljubljana also say that even back then, you were absolutely convinced that you were going to make a breakthrough. Many people rolled their eyes at the thought, but you had a clear objective. You were networking with the right people, educating yourself, and Pavle Kavec taught you guitar...
Bojan: Yes, Pavle the legend. I knew during my time at Poljane Gymnasium that I wanted to be an artist. I hadn't fully decided whether it would be music or something else because I was also considering studying acting. But my thoughts were always centered around creating. I suppose that's more or less true for all of us. When Jure and Nace joined us, the first question was whether we were fully committed at 1000%, or if there was another one percent pulling us towards a "plan B," such as the directions we were trained in. No, there is no "Plan B" anymore. At some point, we made the decision to cut it off.
So, the high school students at Poljane Gymnasium may very well forget that you were once planning to be their sociology professor? We've also seen you in a few episodes of the series "Gospod profesor" ("Mr. Professor").
Bojan: I've given up on the professorship, but I still find acting very interesting. For once in my life, I would like to be in a film, playing a totally negative character. I would be mean as a snake. And it doesn't even have to be a Slovenian film; it can be from the Balkans.
Kris: I have to admit that I never thought of making a living from music, although I certainly saw it as an ideal. Even when I was deciding on my studies, I wavered between sociology and chemistry, and then preferred the latter because of its greater potential for employability. Well, later on, I did go into social sciences, for a master's degree in international relations.
Yet Kris, you were the one who had the ideal conditions to become a musician. You grew up playing guitar, because your father, Miha Guštin - Gušti, is the co-founder of "Big Foot Mama", one of the most popular Slovenian bands. Today, you are considered to be their successors.
Kris: I really had the ideal conditions to become a musician who does this for a living. Not only because of my dad, but my mum also worked for record labels for many years and has recently embarked on this path again, so I've been in touch with both sides of the music world, creatively and business-wise, since I was a little kid. But I didn't really start playing guitar until I was 14, 15. And nobody else among us is a trained musician either, except our drummer, Jure Maček.
Bojan: Yes, our Maček finished elementary music school, and he also played a lot, mostly with the "Logatec brass band".
Jan: Let's not forget his performances with the "Golaž brass band", and with the Cantabile Symphony Orchestra...
Jan, you are a mathematician. The link between music and mathematics was explored by Pythagoras after he listened to a blacksmith striking a hammer, and from that he developed the study of harmony.
Jan: Yeah, at the moment it's kind of like, if you have an out-of-tune guitar, you can just say you have a Pythagorean tuning (everyone bursts out laughing). To me, maths is relevant because it's the only thing in the existence of human understanding that you can really count on. It can be used to get definitive answers to at least some questions. I see it as something that gives you structure in your life.
Nace: I would have chosen to study veterinary medicine if I had gone to university, but I discovered very quickly that music was my passion. After high school I went out into the world, I played in a band on a cruise ship that more or less sailed the Baltic, somewhere between Russia, Finland and Sweden. You could say I've got a lot of musical mileage from playing abroad. But it's limited to German schlager and German rock. Our audiences were mostly German families (laughs).
You also have the most experience of performing in front of TV cameras, especially as a member of the in-house band of the TV show "V petek zvečer" ("Friday Night"), which gives airtime to more folk-music genres on TV Slovenia. Have you scrapped this "plan B" now as well?
Nace: Officially, I'm still a member of that band; maybe the managers are expecting me to come back to the show in the autumn. But it remains to be seen whether that will be possible. Most probably not.
Today, together with MRFY, you are considered the successors of our most popular rock or pop-rock guitar bands who managed to appeal to the masses, not only of "Big Foot Mama", but also, for example, "Siddharta" and "Dan D". Why hasn't there been a real breakthrough of new bands of this kind in the last few years? Were guitars considered to be outdated, were young people closer to electronica, trap, hip-hop, mixtures of genres?
Bojan: The music of "Siddharta" and "Big Foot Mama" was a kind of basic building block for me from the very beginning. These people have influenced me more than any other world-renowned musicians. So having them support us really means a lot to me. And the Špil Liga, where student bands have been entering for the last decade, has definitely been a very strong factor in the revival of the scene. MRFY are also from Novo mesto, which is considered a mini Slovenian capital of rock'n'roll, as many of the bands that have developed under the patronage of Tokac, the music producer and frontman of "Dan D", originate from there. At the same time, in last few years the Slovenian youth has become hungry for home-produced music of all genres, and this has stirred up a strong wave of creativity, which is being held in the hands of our own generation, as well as those a little younger and older than us. At this point, the whole spectrum of what we need, from clothes to design to photography, is being created by people our age, as well as those a little younger and older than us. Well, with one exception, of course, being our producer Žare Pak, but he's young at heart.
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As you reach out to a wider audience, do you also feel the pressure to meet the ever-increasing expectations of both listeners and the music industry?
Jan: I feel that right now, more than ever, we can be confident and sure of what we are doing. We didn't even enter Eurovision with some deliberately made hit-like song to suit Eurovision ears, but we did a Joker Out song that could easily have been on our album last year. Our achievements so far prove that we are doing something right because people at home and abroad like it.
Kris: I also feel like we have more freedom to create now but also fewer inhibitions to go into more experimental waters in terms of music, outfits, visuals, or anything else.
Do you think that's what some people expect from you now?
Bojan: Musicians are often criticized for their style, genre, or sound. But such criticisms are absurd.
In particular, Slovenian rock or pop-rock has always been attacked in this respect for relying too often on tried-and-tested forms and less often, for example, on boldness, innovation.
Bojan: We've been on the scene long enough, and we know that the very concept of what Jokers do bothers some people. And that's why they keep pushing their idea that we don't make authentic music but rather some crap that we invented just to exist. So, they feel it would be good if we would stop doing that. These people want, or even demand, that Joker Out should stop being Joker Out. And we're happy that on the first and second album we were able to make music completely unburdened by expectations of how people would react to it. I think the second album is quite challenging in both its sonic elements and the overall meaning of the lyrics in certain songs. I'm sorry that not one of the critics mentioned "Plastika" ("Plastics") in their reviews. None of these intellectuals who have so much to say against our love songs thought that this could be a harbinger of a different, new direction.
This song was written in response to a study showing that the vast majority of teenage girls today want plastic surgery and other body modifications to meet their perverse beauty ideals.
Bojan: There's a lot of content that people don't want to see. On the other hand, I also don't understand why songs about love, which are in the vast majority in this culture at the moment, should be inferior to those about society. In fact, I hope to be able to sing about love for the rest of my life.
Kris: You will, you will sing "Umazane misli" ("Dirty Thoughts") for the rest of your life (laughs).
You addressed Europe with the words "We'll be dancing all night long, we'll love and play with each other as if there was no tomorrow." You have stated several times that you are not a political band, but isn't that actually very political? What is more political than being able to smile and rejoice even in the worst of situations?
Bojan: I very much agree. I even think that if Tokac had sung our song, the message would have gotten through to a lot more people. But because we sang it, a lot of people didn't take it seriously.
The current Prime Minister, Robert Golob, after learning that the future coalition had brought down the government of Janez Janša, said, "Today people are dancing, I am waiting for you to start dancing too." Do you think that if we had had your song then, he would have said instead, "We'll be dancing all night long"? As some employees of RTV Slovenia did when the depoliticisation of their institution could begin?
Bojan: The song "Carpe Diem" is largely written with the idea of fighting back against the things that are happening today. The fact that we had Eurovision in a country that was not last year's winner, because the event could not be held there due to the war, is quite an indication of the troubled times we live in. On the other hand, our only defense as musicians is to spread positive energy among the people and send socially relevant messages. We cannot do more than that. We do not want to take up arms, and we won't. Our only weapons can be our songs.
Culture and art can certainly be weapons too, especially in situations where people are suffering. Do you think that's why Ukrainians supported you at Eurovision, both the audience and the jury? The country is in ruins because of the war, people are displaced, and there is no end in sight to the conflict. But your dancing until dawn has been noticed.
Bojan: I am a child of refugees from Bosnia and Herzegovina. My parents had to leave their home in Banja Luka because of the war. They came to Slovenia as refugees and stayed here. They had to rebuild their lives. In light of today's events, I can only conclude that the saying 'Historia magistra vitae est' (“History is the teacher of life”) is clearly not true. Because one day, when all the problems of this world are solved, I too will be able to afford the attitude of being opposed to all that is positive. But at the moment, that is not a possibility.
Your parents, Bojan, had to move because of the war, and your mother, Kris, moved from the Netherlands to Slovenia for love.
Bojan: That's a much nicer reason, isn't it?
Kris: Well, I also have a grandfather who fled Indonesia because of the civil war.
Migration flows have been huge in recent years, with thousands of people pouring into Europe, but they are often met with contempt and harsh treatment. Do you feel that your intimate experience of all this migration has also shaped your attitude towards all those who are seeking a better life?
Kris: Absolutely. In my home, this has always been a topic we have talked about. When I was still living with my parents, we often watched the TV program "Dnevnik" together, and whenever they showed a piece on migration, my mother would get very emotionally involved in the scenes on the screen. And that sticks with you. When you see a parent who can understand someone who had to leave home for completely different reasons and on the other side of the world, it naturally rubs off on you.
Bojan: Most of all, you feel the spectrum of pain associated with having to leave your home is much more than just having to leave a place. Only then do you realize that home is really a tangle of space, of people, of smells, of tastes, of everything surrounding you. Leaving all that behind is not the easiest thing to do. It is even harder to leave under duress, and the hardest to leave knowing that your home is in the process of being destroyed and that when and if you return one day, it will not feel like home anymore. The same people will not be there, the same smells will not be there. What has shaped your life will no longer exist.
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Alongside wars and conflicts, another key reason why people from other parts of the world are moving to Europe in large numbers is climate change. Your generation is leading the fight to reduce carbon dioxide emissions, to live more sustainably. How important is this cause to you?
Kris: The fight for climate fairness is one of our few very clear common political positions. Here we are completely united and support all political choices towards sustainability. It is also very clear that this is an important issue not only for us but also for a large part of our audience. It was interesting to note that two years ago, at a rally for climate justice in Ljubljana, we saw a poster with the lyrics of one of our songs. We've summed up our own thoughts on the subject in the song "Novi val" ("New Wave)," which was written last year and is currently one of our most successful and important songs.
In that song, you say "The radio only plays lightnings and strikes', the newspaper says that we' ve lost our way. Today we'll sing and raise our glasses, we were born yesterday and have already been blamed for everything." And what are you guilty of? Probably not the fact that your generation faces precarious employment, that loans are hard to come by, and so are real estate, even rental properties?
Bojan: These are the facts of life lived by the "born yesterday" generation. They are the result of the accumulation of bad decisions over decades. These facts manifest themselves in reality as obstacles that reduce our ability to build the pillars of our independence and, as a consequence, are the reason for our failure to live up to societal expectations. In a world where laws have been written for decades in favor of a mega-massive littering of the planet, we are guilty of standing up for environmental justice instead of "doing something smarter and more serious with our lives," even though previous generations have themselves turned the (labour) market into a war zone of precarious employment. We fight day in and day out with the uncertainty of whether or not we will be employed tomorrow...
But even in this song, you sing and you raise your glasses.
Kris: This song and the Eurovision song "Carpe Diem" are actually very similar in spirit and message, except the second one addresses the listener in a dance guise and this one in a much more serious manner.
The song "Novi val" ("New Wave") has received a lot of attention because of the English version you released before the Eurovision, which you performed with the renowned British musician Elvis Costello. Your now ex-member Martin has a godfather who is a friend of Costello's, and in 2013 you sent him the song "Gola" ("Naked") to listen to. He did listen to it and suggested that you send him more songs. So last year you sent him "Novi val" ("New Wave").
Bojan: Yes, that was true, and when I sent him that song, I also asked him if he would be willing to re-arrange it in English. And he wrote back that he was up for it. Shortly after that, only about a week later, he sent me another email saying if we all agreed, he was ready to sing the song with us. Interestingly enough, he felt the song even before he understood what it was about. His first reaction after hearing the Slovenian version was that it was "a charming song that transcends the understanding of language". He recorded his vocals in New York, and we recorded them in Ljubljana. At the end of the song, we kept the chorus in Slovenian, at his request.
Costello has two Grammys, two Brit Awards, and was named one of the 100 greatest rock'n'roll musicians of all time by Rolling Stone magazine. What does his support mean to you?
Bojan: I can say without any reservation that even if I never wrote another song after this, I would forever be proud of what I have achieved. But it was this collaboration that gave us an indescribable amount of new energy to create. I am very proud of it. However, I must add that I felt the same pride when Tomi Meglič or Grega Skočir gave us words of encouragement. The moment when I first felt their sincere appreciation was a turning point for me, and since then I have existed quite differently as a musician. But of course, it is clear that Elvis Costello's encouraging words carry international weight. And that is something completely new for us. It's just a pity that we haven't been able to meet up yet because he was on tour in the US at the time of the recording of the song and later the video.
He will be touring Europe in the autumn, including Hamburg. You recorded the Eurovision song there in December.
Bojan: He honored us greatly then. He sent us the song "Hamburg Postcard", which he wrote especially for us.
Kris: Let's not forget something else. Our band has always described our music as "shagadelic rock'n'roll" (the Oxford English Dictionary defines shagadelic as "sexy, but in a psychedelic or retro way", A/N). We borrowed this term from "Austin Powers", but it was actually spoken by Elvis Costello, who played himself in that film. When we sent him our song "Gola" ("Naked") in 2019, we thought it would be a good idea to let him know that we also use the term "shagadelic rock'n'roll". And then he personally gave his permission to use it because he felt that that was what it was. To complete the circle, Elvis Costello is one of the original protagonists of the English New Wave, and we are now singing together about the New Wave. He is also from Liverpool, which hosted this year's Eurovision. Our collaboration was clearly written in the stars.
Costello, as a Liverpudlian, knew the most famous local musicians, The Beatles, very well and had worked with Paul McCartney. The Beatles are also among your role models, and this year you also visited the place where the Beatles began their musical journey for the first time. Do you now understand better why they remain the greatest?
Kris: For me, visiting Liverpool and the places that influenced the Beatles and their music gave me some perspective. We knew them through songs, like Penny Lane, for example, but in reality, it's much smaller and more 'plain' than we imagined. Liverpool is a beautiful city, but the suburbs where the Beatles lived are very ordinary working-class housing estates. One could say quite bland. Now I walk around Ljubljana with different eyes. I can imagine that one of our future songs could also feature an insignificant, less exposed street that made its mark on us...
Bojan: And this is where you can see very clearly why the Beatles are the Beatles. Because everybody has a Penny Lane in their life, an ordinary street where you meet a friend. Penny Lane is the most universal thing in the world
The English song "Novi val" ("New Wave") was covered by the BBC and ITV, and the British voted for you at Eurovision. Your music and performances have always been influenced by British pop. Is that one of the key places for you, besides the Balkans?
Bojan: I think our focus is on any place that is willing to accept us, but England has a special charm because we ourselves have been heavily influenced by British music. I'm not the ultimate "nomad," I dislike long flights and exotic destinations that can be unpredictable, so Europe is very dear to my heart. I would be very happy if we could establish ourselves as a European band that could travel a little bit around Scandinavia in the summer and then Dalmatia in the winter...
Kris: Or Spain, where we would eat tapas.
Is the interest in your band in the country also related to the fact that Bojan speaks Spanish?
Bojan: Yes, I ended up doing more interviews in Spanish than in English. The Spanish have also been very active because of our links with their Eurovision representative Blanca Paloma.
Kris: It's really amazing how you can charm a foreign audience by speaking their language. I understand it with the Spanish, as they are mostly less proficient in English, but I was surprised by the Dutch. Dutch is my mother tongue, of course, but I didn't expect that it would matter because in the last few years I have noticed that in Amsterdam, almost only English is spoken on the street. Even the oldest market vendor speaks perfect English. But they were very enthusiastic. On streaming platforms, the Netherlands is one of our top 10 countries.
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You mentioned earlier that your fans are now learning Slovenian. What about your future - will it be written in English?
Bojan: The next album will almost certainly have songs in English, Slovenian, and Serbian, but it's very possible that there will also be some in French or Spanish.
What about Finnish? At Eurovision, the most talked-about thing was your friendship with the Finnish representative Käärijä, who came in second place. When you, Bojan, sang his song, he praised you, saying it was "better than the original".
Bojan: We haven't talked about a musical collaboration yet, but I was a guest at his concert in Helsinki in June, and we would be very happy to have him at our concerts. Unfortunately, that won't happen in Stožice because he has a big concert on the same day.
Now that it is clear that your international ambitions are growing exponentially, what is the ultimate goal where you would say, well, now we have made it?
Kris: Even before we had international ambitions on the level we have today, we often talked about how performing on the main stage of the Hungarian festival "Sziget" would be a testament to the fact that we have achieved something in our lives. Do you remember?
Bojan: How European of us, right? (laughs)
And - have they called you yet?
Jan: Not yet, but we are already learning Hungarian just in case (laughs).
Kris: And we were just wondering why we shouldn't just announce a concert at Wembley Stadium in London in 2030.
Bojan: Yeah, because if we started selling tickets now, we might even be able to sell them by then. (Everyone bursts out laughing because the stadium seats 90,000).
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cranberrv · 1 month
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Hey boo, I was wondering if u could do hcs or a short story of Darry dating a girl that sings at a bar/diner and going there with the gang, and she sings and maybe works the counter? Or just Darry hcs or a story in general.
be my baby
˚୨୧⋆。˚ ⋆ in which darry watches you sing (not proofread)
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- the dingo was getting boring, so the gang decided to try out a local diner on the west-side
- darry was against it, there was a huge chance someone could get jumped and he didn’twant to deal with that
- but all that worry went away when he saw you
- you were on a small stage in the diner, singing “be my baby” by the ronnettes. the gang had conveniently come during a live music show
- the entire lunch, they all got weird looks, being greasers in a soc diner, but darry didn’t even care
- he never took himself as a “love at first sight” kind of guy, but there was just something about you..
- caring eyes and a calm aura was all he needed, and you had it
- maybe you recognized him from when he was friends with socs, because you gave him a small wave as you sung
- or maybe you were flirting.
- either way, he found himself unable to look away, like there was an invisible string connecting you two
- “ooohh, darry is down bad!” the gang teased when they noticed him
- “oh shut it, boys” he responded, adjusting himself to finally look away from you
- after you finished singing, you went back to your regular job working at the counter as another person began in the background
- they all finished eating and went to pay at the counter, where you were
- the boys shoved darry to the front to pay, and he glared, but did so
- “cash our credit?” you ask him
- “credit is fine,” he answers, scrambling for his wallet before tapping on the machine “um, you were really good, by the way” he adds
- you thank him and smile “do you like the ronnettes?” you ask him
- “they’re not bad.” he answers
- “i’ll tell you what,” you start. “i’ve got two tickets to the ronnettes for next month, and i’ve been looking for someone to go with. and i know who you are, you used to be friends with paul. you’re sweet. so do you want to come with me?”
- he’s not shocked you know him, a lot of people do. “i mean, i’ve got two kid-brothers i gotta look after…” he hesitates.
- sodapop groans. ”just go for it, darry!” he pats his back and turns to you. “he wants you bad, man, don’t start pitying him.”
- you smile at sodapop a bit then turn to darry. “it’s really fine if not, you’ve gotta take care of your family, i get it”
- oh my god, you’re patient too????? you’re perfect
- he’s silent, and ponyboy and sodapop are still insisting to darry that they’ll be fine without him for a night
- you speak again, “how about this: we don’t go to the concert, i’ll take a friend or somethin’, and we can hang out some other time. i think you’re cute, i don’t care what we do as long as we do something”
- gosh, you were confident. “yeah, alright, that sounds good.”
- he was tough to crack, a constant barrier is around him so he can protect himself in order to protect his brothers, and it may take a while to break
- but my god he is exciting to hang out with you!
- sodapop spends the next few days telling him how to treat a girl, and darry has just learned to tune him out
- long story short, you two spend some time at the park, just talking and bonding
- …and then you go out again
- and again
- and again
- and then he starts visiting you at the diner, especially on tuesdays, when it’s open-mic night
- he loves how you treat his brothers. you and sodapop bond over the fact that the ronnettes is both of your favourite band, and you’re so patient and kind and help him out with taking care of them
- darry loves his cute diner girlfriend!
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unbidden-yidden · 3 months
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Jewish Song of the Day #12: Bellida
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Okay so at one point I went spelunking for more female Jewish singers singing in classical styles, and I stumbled upon this song, which is sung in Haketia, a Moroccan dialect of Ladino that also incorporates some Arabic.
It's a secular(ish) song, but very much culturally Jewish.
I'm not going to explain it well, so instead I'll simply quote from this article about it:
On October 25, 2019, Bloch and Zaaluk released their newest hit single Bellida. The song is sung in the traditional Haketia, an endangered Jewish Romance language also known as Djudeo Spañol, Ladino Occidental, or Western Judaeo-Spanish. Tamar is part of a new generation of young artists from Arab and Islamic countries who sing in their mother tongues. Her mother was born in Morocco. “I’m not involved in a preservation project and the social narrative isn’t what’s important to me. In my music I have found, after much searching, a real place for intimate expression – a language that’s a home, ” said the singer in her interview with Haaretz Magazine. Bellida is “definitely a pop album. It’s not world music from a distant and inaccessible culture, which is being preserved. I bring the songs in modern arrangements in the understanding of how relevant this music is.” The song was arranged with the help of Roee Fadida. It is a humoristic women’s song that represents the tradition of women singing in everyday life. “It tells the story about a Jewish-Moroccan girl (Bellida) who falls in love and marries Pepe, a Christian man. The ladies in her village make jokes about it but comfort her with local food.” Although Bloch and primarily sings with the goal of inspiring audiences to sing and dance, she understands her creation bears social obligation. Specifically, it is the female responsibility aspect of Bellida that Bloch warmly embraces. “It is something that I really yearn for,” she says. “Jews assimilation is a very serious prohibition, yet Bellida is not ostracized. She is cared for by means of tradition and food.” Bellida is Bloch’s interpretation of secular feminine folklore. “I imagine these women dancing together. Music brings people together. In Morocco, you see everyone sitting and singing, and being familiar with the words,” she says. “In Israel music reflects the various cultural homes from which we came. The real challenge is to try to create a new sound from within every such home.” In sharing her story of how the heritage songs came into her life, Bloch explained that in 2014, Roee Fadida, a role model, invited her to join a band that plays contemporary Moroccan music. She described having a physical reaction to that music. It felt like I was “smelling a roll outside a bakery and I had to take a bite.” Bellida is performed alongside Bloch’s band Zaaluk, a trans-Mediterranean and North African ensemble that revive lost Haketiya women’s songs. Their age-old melodies are performed to inspire people to sing and dance together and embrace the heritage of the ancient Jewish community of Spanish Morocco. Their sounds are inspired by Andalusian, North African, and Balkan musical traditions. Their music is a combination of electric guitar, bass guitar, drums, percussion, and powerful vocals, performed in Israel and abroad. The name of the band refers to a local Moroccan salad and captures the group’s multi-cultural essence.
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manawari · 7 months
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Five things I hate about you ( & one thing I like about you)
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When Jong-in met his band members for the first time, he had different opinions.
Lim Tae-gyu was an unemployed man who got recognized due to an agent hearing his voice at the karaoke to release some stress. He looked rather reserved, but when Jong-in witnessed him speak, Tae-gyu had a crooked grin on his face and quickly cracked a joke. Jong-in was amused, then when he heard him sing, Tae-gyu's vocals were able to reach high notes and synchronized well with Byung-gyu's.
Min Byung-gyu was an average guy who was found from his acoustic covers in his social media page. Jong-in considered that Byung-gyu was a kind and friendly person, who got along well with everyone. He also wrote songs, which made Jong-in to become impressed at the things Byung-gyu could do.
Sung Jin-woo was the youngest member of the group. He got dragged by his family to the auditions to test his talent, and miraculously, he got accepted. Jin-woo was the quietest one, always putting up a stern look, and at first, he only responded in short sentences. But as the more he spent rehearsals with the rest of the members, he had grown comfortable and Jong-in discovered that Jin-woo was that one person who liked to joke around too, as well as messing around that made their manager, Jin-chul, get headaches.
And then there was Baek Yoon-ho.
Before going to the building, Jong-in was about to get on the cab when someone butted in and shut the door. He ended up being the last member to arrive at the studio. And not only that — he also recognized the person who stopped him from getting on that cab earlier.
What Jong-in did? He confronted him.
"Hey! Aren't you the idiot who pushed me away and shoved the door in front of me?!" Jong-in seethed.
Yoon-ho just blinked. "Excuse me?"
"Do you remember seeing a cab to get to the KHA building?"
"Yeah."
"And did you see there was also a person in front of the backseat door? Yeah, person was me."
"That was you? I was in a hurry, so I didn't notice."
Jong-in decided that Yoon-ho was his least favorite person in ARISE.
There were many things Jong-in had become frustrated at Yoon-ho, be it leaving the toilet open, how they always bumped at each other, and a lot more. But one of the common reasons why Jong-in disliked Yoon-ho a lot was the awful smell reeking from his body every time he returned from the gym.
In ARISE, only three people who took frequent visits at the gym: Tae-gyu, Jin-woo, and Yoon-ho. Tae-gyu used to be a tennis athlete, but since he must maintain shape, he'd go to the gym and workout. Jin-woo always had a strong physique and besides using dancing as an exercise, he still had to carry weights every now and then. The two didn't smell a lot, but if it was Yoon-ho, Jong-in felt like he was suffocating.
Yoon-ho had the largest build among the five of them. It was no surprise that fans would scream once it was his turn to perform, as well as dancing that flexed his muscles, which the fashion designers had chosen to make him wear sleeveless shirts or turtlenecks to increase the attention. After all, ARISE had to maintain its high rank in the charts of the music industry in South Korea.
Jong-in knew it, yes, but only when Yoon-ho was far from him.
When the show was over, Tae-gyu practically kicked the door open and stretched his arms above his head as he made his way to the bean bag where he plopped down face first. The rest were exhausted as well, especially when they had to keep smiling throughout the whole interview.
Jong-in sat on the sofa and took off his glasses to close his eyes, leaning further on the headrest. He could use a bit of a nap before heading to the shower. . . But that was until a heavy weight sat right next to him, radiating a particular smell that made his stomach twist..
"Eurgh." Jong-in wrinkled his nose in disgust at Yoon-ho. "Why did you sit here? You stink!"
"What did you just say?" Yoon-ho flashed him a glare. "Cut me some slack, Choi. I'm tired as you are."
"You could've gone to the floor!" Jong-in gritted his teeth. "Or much better, hit the shower!"
"Isn't showering while being exhausted bad for one's health? I don't want to catch a fever afterward."
"Actually, showering while still exhausted doesn't give you fever," Byung-gyu, who was the one on the floor, piped up. "In other words, have a cool down for two minutes or when the sweating stops as it will bring better effects."
Jong-in rolled his eyes at Yoon-ho's earlier statement. "What an idiot."
"You know, if I'm not so tired right now, I could've punched your pretty face."
"You know that's not allowed," smirked Jong-in. "What would fans think if one member shows up with a black eye? Don't give our manager any more stress, kitty."
Yoon-ho scoffed. "Fine. How about this— you hit the shower first and then I'll go once you're done?"
"Deal!" Jong-in got up and strode to the bathroom of the dorm.
About a few moments later, Jong-in was now refreshed. His fatigue was washed away and his energy was restored. He got out of the bathroom with a towel over his hips and a cotton shirt, Jong-in scrubbed his drenched hair with a shorter towel, then he made his way to the table to grab his pair of glasses and put them on.
"Alright, it's your turn, you—" Jong-in paused his sentence.
Yoon-ho, who was supposed to take a shower after him, was snoring on the couch; Jin-woo, Byung-gyu, and Tae-gyu were all passed out as well, still clad on the clothes they wore in the stage. Now, Jong-in was the only one who was awake and cleaned up.
The red-haired member stared at the situation with a dumbfounded expression. It wasn't long until his blood began to boil. Yoon-ho didn't even hold for a little longer for Jong-in to get out of the shower — which had taken only less than ten minutes as far as he could tell.
He decided to approach Yoon-ho and shake him awake, only then to receive one eye opening, but was closed after a second. Yoon-ho shifted to the other side of the couch, facing Jin-woo, who remained dormant amidst the snoring that was close to his ear.
Jong-in groaned. He gave up and left the room.
            Second— Jong-in hated how strong Yoon-ho was.
            Sure, Yoon-ho had always been seen as muscular and liked to go to the gym a lot, but what frustrated Jong-in the most was that Yoon-ho had zero control of his strength. One time, during one of their live performances, Yoon-ho had accidentally ripped Jin-woo's shirt and it caused the entire stadium to go wild whilst Jong-in could only see Jin-woo die from the inside.
            It made Jong-in feel glad that he wasn't dancing next to Yoon-ho. Otherwise, he'd be punching the daylights out of him.
            Tae-gyu became a victim as well. But instead of getting his shirt torn, Yoon-ho accidentally used too much strength when he nudged him while laughing. Tae-gyu fell of his stool.
            It made Jong-in feel glad he was not near Yoon-ho.
            And then when Byung-gyu asked Yoon-ho to open his can of soda, the drink ended up attacking Byung-gyu's face in just a single flick.
            It made Jong-in feel glad that he was not used to asking for help.
            Yoon-ho wasn't genuinely apologetic for his actions. He couldn't even blame himself for being too strong and not having control over it. And that was another thing Jong-in hated. If Yoon-ho was not being too careful enough, he would cause more mess, and he didn't think he'd be able to hold himself back even if they were in the middle of practice.
            "Five, six, seven, eight!" Jin-woo exclaimed as the song began.
            The five of them faced the mirror, dancing to the song the band had released a week ago, and afterward, a music video would be filmed with the choreography. Jin-woo barely had a break due to creating the steps since the rest had no expertise in such a skill like his; thus, they would have to follow him.
            Jong-in was not much of a dancer, though he managed to adapt the talent. His physique was enough to do smooth dances and synchronized to the music. ARISE had members with different heights and shapes, especially with Yoon-ho being the tallest and Byung-gyu being the shortest, but altogether, they worked in harmony.
            Their positions changed. Jong-in stepped forward while Tae-gyu took his place in the back. Unbeknownst to him, Yoon-ho was close by, yet Jong-in chose to concentrate on his reflection, his steps, and the song. Then, he began to walk backward while swaying his arms across his chest as strong as the beat; Yoon-ho moved to his front until he had taken his previous place. Unfortunately, they bumped into each other and Jong-in lost his balance.
            The next thing he knew, he saw an outstretched hand and Jong-in's incoming fall was stopped. Yoon-ho held onto the collar of his shirt.
            Their eyes met. Then, Yoon-ho asked. "Are you okay?"
            Jong-in was about to reply when—
            *fwip!*
            His back met the floor. If that couldn't get any worse. . .
            Jong-in earned a hole on his shirt. The other piece of the fabric, however, was in Yoon-ho's hand.
            "You idiot! You could've just let me fall instead!" Jong-in hissed.
            "Well, in my defense— you could've moved back quickly." Yoon-ho shrugged. "At least I attempted to save your ass."
            "Ass your face!"
            Jin-woo groaned. "Can't we get back to practice already? Save the arguments for later. Jin-chul needs this to be done in four days."
            "Four days?!" Tae-gyu's jaw dropped.
            Jin-woo scoffed. "I tried convincing him to adjust, but then he hit me up with 'do you think my reports can be adjusted too? No'."
            "Oh kill me now," Tae-gyu grumbled.
            The members continued practicing, with Jong-in having to dance with a portion of his chest exposed. Apparently, none of them were able to keep a straight face and focus because they were trying, and failing, to hold back their chortle.
            Tae-gyu was the first one to break apart from the practice and had collapsed on the floor, laughing on top of his lungs. Jin-woo wheezed. Byung-gyu was holding his stomach from all the laughing. Yoon-ho was the last to burst out as well.
            Jong-in didn't know which person he'd murder first.
            The obvious choice would be Yoon-ho, but given how physically strong he was, Jong-in would likely have no match against him. If anything, Yoon-ho would end up mocking him to his very core.
            Third—
            "Baek Yoon-ho! Look over here!"
            "So hot!!"
            "Your rapping sounds so amazing!"
            "Yoon-ho! Marry me!"
            . . . Yoon-ho always outshone him.
            Being one of the two main rappers, Jong-in felt like he had to fight to get the crowd focus on him. Sure, he had a lot of fans, but it annoyed him how the audience often cheered for Yoon-ho, screaming his name more than his. It was supposed to be the both of them since they performed in sync most of the time.
            Jong-in was not jealous. He just wanted things to be fair between them.
            Apparently, the fans seemed to be more attracted to Yoon-ho, whose skin was exposed most of the time because the designers had agreed to make his costume a bit different from the rest.
            "How about you switch Yoon-ho's verses with mine?"
            "Yoon-ho can't do high notes, Jong-in. It won't work."
            "Okay, how about this one?"
            "If we do that, Yoon-ho wouldn't have anything to rap in the chorus."
            "Who cares? He still have other verses to sing."
            Byung-gyu groaned. "Trust me, Jong-in. This is the final draft. Our manager will be needing us to record it ASAP."
            "Damn it," Jong-in grumbled. "Fine. Let's have it your way then."
            "Thank God!" Byung-gyu sighed in relief. "But don't worry! You two are going to have a duet next month and both of you are gonna have equal parts!"
            "How's that supposed not to make me worry?!"
            A duet? That was even worse. Jong-in didn't know whose idea was it, either Byung-gyu or Jin-chul, but either way, he hated that those two had joined hands and who knew what else they got in store for him and Yoon-ho.
            Later on, Jong-in found himself at the grocery store with Yoon-ho. Tae-gyu was out to practice archery, Jin-woo was too busy playing games, and Byung-gyu was talking with the recording team on how will the song would go, so no one else was left with restocking. He and Yoon-ho wore their masks and luckily, they weren't recognized yet.
            The list turned out to be longer than he thought, considering that the rest had wanted a specific product and had no time to buy. Jong-in was about to rebuke when they handed him money. At least he wouldn't have to spend more of his budget. . .
            They got to the counter afterward, which was then they got recognized. The cashier's lifeless expression lit up and jumped at the sight of the two ARISE members doing grocery. Jong-in put up a kind smile behind his mask and dipped his head in greeting. The cashier began to ramble incoherently as she tapped the barcodes of the products, he and Yoon-ho just chuckled even though they couldn't understand her words.
            Once all of the purchased products were inside of the bags, Jong-in grabbed two of them and left the remaining bags for Yoon-ho to carry. Then, the cashier spoke;
            "Can I take a picture?"
            Jong-in quickly shook his head. "I'm sorry, but—"
            "Sure!" Yoon-ho said.
            "Wha—" Jong-in flashed him a sharp look. "Yoon-ho, aren't we supposed to go back? We got some things to do."
            Yoon-ho scoffed. "A simple picture won't hurt, fire hazard. If you don't want to, then fine."
            Jong-in was about to protest, yet closed his mouth and sighed and walked over to join the picture session. Yoon-ho pulled down his mask to present his broad grin. Jong-in, on the other hand, just held up his peace sign while the cashier brought her phone for the three of them. She snapped a phone and giggled at the shot.
"Thank you very much!" The cashier said. "You guys light up my day."
"I'm glad." Yoon-ho smiled.
            "I hope you have a nice day, miss!" Jong-in said to the cashier. He turned to his companion. "You. Get these bags already."
"Easy! Sheesh." Yoon-ho rolled his eyes and glanced at the woman. "He's the crankiest member in ARISE, so don't mind him. There is the reason why we often associate him with fire."
"Let's go, furball!"
Jong-in got out of the store and headed to the black car that was parked in the empty lot next to the establishment. He pulled the backseat door open to place the two plastic bags inside. Jong-in closed the door, yet paused midway when he noticed that nobody was following him.
Where did that idiot go?
He walked away to search for Yoon-ho. He found him at the grocery store still. However, Yoon-ho had been caught up on the fans asking him for photos and having a small chat with him. Jong-in couldn't believe it. Yoon-ho chose the incongruous time to meddle with fans instead of fulfilling his errands.
Not wanting to ruin both of their reputations, Jong-in just stood with fury in his soul. He would stay like that until Yoon-ho was done and met his gaze where the whole message was already in his eyes.
Fourth.
Not once Jong-in wanted to be near a sleeping Yoon-ho. Never.
When the whole band decided to sleep in the same room, it was not as good as they all thought. It was worse. That was the moment Jong-in learned that Yoon-ho snored like a truck.
He was not the only one suffering though. Tae-gyu was also enduring the noises and Byung-gyu had to pull his blanket away from Jin-woo, who had stolen it while asleep. Jin-woo snored too, but not as loud as Yoon-ho, and if anything, Jong-in got Jin-woo's foot near his cheek while Tae-gyu and Byung-gyu had his leg sprawled across their chests.
Jong-in considered himself as the unluckiest. He was literally laying next to Yoon-ho, of all people.
Since then, there were no longer sleepovers.
But that didn't mean Jong-in would have to no longer hear those awful snores. After a long day at the events, when the whole band was tired, Jong-in leaned further on his seat and plugged in his earphones to his ears to listen to some music. He leaned his head against the window and waited for drowsiness to close his eyes.
And there hadn't been past three minutes when he heard a rumbling noise.
Jong-in increased the volume to block it, but even if it was in its full limit, he could still hear the snores from the back. Yoon-ho was sitting right behind him. On the other hand, the rest were already asleep, at least from Jong-in's perspective. So, he plucked his earphones out and stood up from his seat to make his way over to Yoon-ho.
At first, he placed his right hand on his hip, glaring at him in disapproval. Then he spoke. "Hey! Wake up, you furball!"
Yoon-ho's eyelids cracked open. He stared at the red-haired bluntly. "What now?"
"Easy with the snoring, would you? I'm trying to sleep!"
"Then put on some earphones or something. Don't disturb someone's sleep."
"You're the one who's being a nuisance here."
"Get used to it already."
"Shut up!"
"Oi!" Jin-chul snapped from the front of the van. "Keep it down!"
"I'm just trying to scold Yoon-ho from snoring too much, Mr. Woo," said Jong-in to the band's manager. "Aren't you getting bothered by it?"
"I get bothered by your arguments more, Jong-in."
Jong-in groaned and returns to his seat. He plops down and glances at the window. Sooner or later, Yoon-ho would snore again and there was no way for him to get some shut-eye now.
Fifth.
"Faster! Faster, Byung-gyu! Is that how you run?!"
"I'm at my limit, hyung! I can't handle running at this maximum speed!"
"Don't touch the handles! That's cheating!"
"Gah!"
"Just think that you're running for your life!"
"Running for my life for nothing!"
Jong-in swallowed upon watching Yoon-ho trying to "encourage" Byung-gyu, who was beginning to become exhausted at the treadmill which was at 13.7 speed. Meanwhile, Tae-gyu was busy with pulling the bar in the wall mount and Jin-woo was hauling the barbell gradually in each hand. Jong-in was just sitting on the bench with everyone's bags.
"Hey, Jong-in! Are you just gonna stay there?"
He turned to Tae-gyu. "Uh. . . Yeah. I'm just keeping your bags safe."
"Dude, we're the only ones here. I don't think a ghost will steal them either."
"Coco might mess with these bags."
"Uhm, Coco is over there."
The dog was at the corner, happily chewing on the toys Byung-gyu had brought along since Jin-chul was not available to watch over the canine.
Urgh. . .
"Come on! Here, try this one." Tae-gyu got up from the equipment and gestured to the now empty spot. "All you have to do is pull!"
"You're saying like it's easy," Jong-in grumbled as he reluctantly got up from the bench.
He sat on Tae-gyu's previous spot and reached his hands up to the leather bar. Jong-in curled his fingers around it and pursed his lips in concentration. He started to tug down the bar, which exerted a portion of his strength as he held his breath. His biceps twitched. Unlike Tae-gyu, who managed to pull down in front of his chest, Jong-in barely reached his shoulders and was already panting.
"This. . . " His chest heaved. "I can't take it anymore!"
"It's been barely a minute since you sat there." Tae-gyu deadpanned.
"How do you even pull these things?!"
"Maybe those are not your type. Try lifting these ones instead." Jin-woo offered a barbell to Jong-in. "It's not as heavy as you think."
Jong-in wrinkled his nose. "Pass. That single barbell is heavier than a bag of ice."
"You haven't even carried a bag of ice."
"I did. Using my imagination."
"What's going on here?" Yoon-ho stepped into the scene. "I gave Byung-gyu a break after listening to his complaints."
"Is he still alive?"
"Still breathing."
"Welp! I have to go and check on Byung-gyu!" Jong-in let go of the bar and left the spot.
He was about to walk past Yoon-ho when a broad hand suddenly landed on his shoulder. His stomach twisted. Jong-in looked at the corner of his eye and saw the mischievous glint in Yoon-ho's irises.
"Are you trying to workout?" He asked.
"Uh. . . No." Jong-in answered. "Tae-gyu just forced me to."
"It seems like you need a bit of help."
"Haha— no!"
"Come on, you wouldn't know completely unless you try! You're the only one here who hasn't broken a sweat yet."
"Gross."
"Oh, wow! Get off your high horse and let me help you enhance those muscles up!" Yoon-ho threw his arms over Jong-in's shoulders. Jong-in fought against his grip, yet made no escape.
"Get your hands off me, you fool! Urgh, I can smell your armpits!" Jong-in protested.
Yoon-ho rolled his eyes. "Quit being dramatic. Try doing twenty push-ups and then I'll leave you alone."
"Twenty?! If I die, I'm gonna—"
"Kill me? Haunt me in my sleep? Yeah, I memorized every damn threat of yours, Choi."
As Jong-in was proceeded to be dragged, he looked pleadingly at Tae-gyu and Jin-woo, who both just snickered at him. Byung-gyu, however, was too exhausted to bat an eye on a friend who was about to suffer under Yoon-ho's intense training session.
When Yoon-ho wanted everyone to be in healthy shapes, Jong-in just wished he'd exclude him. He had been slender figured since he was a young boy. It was not his fault that he could never get buffed as Yoon-ho.
He wondered what sin he had committed to suffer from working out. . .
Other times, Jong-in hated Yoon-ho. But other times, Jong-in actually liked Yoon-ho's company. Were they enemies? No. Were they rivals? Kinda. Were they friends? A little.
They were frenemies.
Even the fans knew it. They found Yoon-ho and Jong-in's onscreen bickering entertaining even though it made the rest of the members to endure the situation, including Jin-chul, who had been watching behind the stage. And sometimes, Jong-in and Yoon-ho openly expressed how they were supportive of each other as much as the whole band was to one another.
Even if Jong-in wouldn't want to admit it completely, he was glad that Yoon-ho was around. Yoon-ho always encouraged everyone to stay in shape and was willing to help for someone in need, especially when his strength was needed. Besides Jin-woo, Yoon-ho was the one who could cook for the whole band, given how the rest were not as skilled as him and Jin-woo.
Byung-gyu could only make food when it was ramen, Tae-gyu only knew how to reheat leftovers, and heavens help Jong-in when touching the stove. Yoon-ho had mocked him for his lack of cooking skills because he was raised in a rich family, Jong-in yelled back at him even though it was partially true.
With a father who was the CEO of a bank company and a mother being a co-owner of a publishing house, Jong-in was definitely born with a silver spoon. He had nannies growing up who could make him any dish he wanted. And back when he was living at the hotel, Jong-in would just order room service and sandwiches were few of the food he could make, which didn't involve switching the stove on.
Yoon-ho, on the other hand, was the exact opposite and had been living in his apartment with no roommate and his family being in the United States, so he had to rely on himself in terms of necessities. He knew how to do his own laundry, wash the dishes, fix appliances, and make food for himself.
Jong-in envied him. Jong-in admired him.
Yoon-ho's omelettes were probably his favorite. Jong-in couldn't get enough of the taste and the juiciness when Yoon-ho had added ground beef on the inside. Yoon-ho was usually in charge of breakfast since Jin-woo always woke up an hour after him if there was no agenda for the day.
"Oh! What's that smell?" Tae-gyu said. He stretched his arms above his head and craned his neck sideways. "Is Yoon-ho cooking?"
"Who else?" Byung-gyu yawned. "Hey, hyung! What's for breakfast?"
"Why don't you fools see it for yourselves?" Yoon-ho replied. His back was turned since he was still busy with cooking whatever was in the pan.
On the table was four plates containing an omelette over a rice and the condiments stood in the center for anyone who wished to add on their omelette. Tae-gyu, Jin-woo, Byung-gyu, and Jong-in made their way to the stools to grab their plates; however, there were no other utensils for them.
Tae-gyu turned to the youngest member. "Jin-woo, mind if you grab us chopsticks? And glasses too."
"Why me?" Jin-woo flashed him a glare. "You do it."
"You're the one who's sitting in the corner of the counter here."
Jin-woo groaned and got down from the stool to go to the drawers and took four pairs of steel chopsticks to hand them each to the rest.
"Ahem!" Tae-gyu feigned clearing his throat, then grinned like a Cheshire cat. "Didn't I say glasses too?"
Jin-woo's glare deepened and grumbled something as he turned around to the cupboards.
Jong-in got his chopsticks into the right position in his fingers and was about to dig in when his omelette was taken away by none other than Yoon-ho. His eyebrows furrowed and shot him a sharp look. "Why did you just—"
"This one has onions. You don't like onions, right?" Yoon-ho said. "I made one that doesn't have those and replaced it with chopped lettuce instead."
"Oh," Jong-in's infuriation subsided. "Thanks."
Yoon-ho switched their plates and handed Jong-in the right one, which turned out to be the only omelette in the table to have a different ingredient. Jong-in finally started eating his breakfast, tearing the omelette apart and mixing it with the yellow rice. He brought it to his mouth and his stomach almost growled in satisfaction.
Even though he hardly mentioned the food he disliked, Yoon-ho still remembered just like other details in their band.
There was a reason why the rest preferred him to buy groceries. Yoon-ho knew what his friends wanted and would just ask for their money instead of a list. He was quick to memorize the smallest details even if dance steps were not included in his mind.
"Roll call. Tae-gyu?"
"Here!"
"Byung-gyu?"
"Here, Mr. Woo!"
"Jin-woo?"
"Yes!"
"Jong-in?"
"Here."
"And. . . Yoon-ho?" Jin-chul looked up from the paper he was holding. "Is he here?"
The four looked around and realized Yoon-ho was not in the studio yet. Jin-chul sighed. "Did someone remind him that there's an interview today?"
"I did. But I guess he just got stuck in traffic." Byung-gyu shrugged. "He didn't use a motorcycle this time."
"Then can somebody please—"
"I'm here, Manager Woo!" Yoon-ho finally appeared in the scene. He was in his suit just like the rest, but then he was holding a plastic bag in his hand. "Sorry to keep you all waiting. I was in the parking lot when I saw a juice stand next to the entrance and thought I should buy one for each of you all."
"How thoughtful," Jin-chul remarked. He checked his watch. "Well, since it's only 1:30 and the show is starting by 1:35, you guys should get refreshed."
"Catch!"
Jin-chul looked up and caught a can of juice in his hand. It was cold and had a lemon flavor. He turned to Yoon-ho. "Uh— thank you, Yoon-ho."
"Bet you thought I hadn't bought one for ya?" Yoon-ho smirked. "You're welcome, manager!"
Jin-chul shook his head and opened his drink. The rest got their own, preferably their favorite flavors. Jong-in received his in a tangerine flavor. He let out a smile at that, Yoon-ho must've noticed his expression and just grinned and chattered with Byung-gyu.
Among the five of them, Yoon-ho was the most thoughtful. Even when he was out, if something reminded him of his band members, he would get it and included his manager if Jin-chul was around.
Jong-in liked that about him.
Unselfish and down-to-earth. Yoon-ho never took his fame at heart.
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Reading & Leeds AU Imagine
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Summary: You meet four teenage lads at Leeds Fest in 2007 who change your life forever.
Warnings: Swearing. Vulgar language. Small shite section of smut. One use of y/n near the end. I nearly used my own name but then you can just imagine your own x
Author's Note: Here is the Leeds Fest AU that I've been going on about since the idea popped into my head the morning after I went to Leeds nearly two months ago. I don't think it's very good, definitely not my best work but it's finished I don't have to think about it anymore! But I hope you enjoy it nonetheless. Now got to find motivation to finish my other WIPS that I've abandoned!
Word Count: 6.4K Words
You thought you knew what proud was; there were many moments in your life that you could recall where you felt immense proudness for the four men that made up your best friends. The day they rang you to tell you they had signed their record deal, the day their first EP was released, the day their debut album went to number one, when they sold out Madison Square Garden, the day they first played Reading and Leeds, the first time they headlined Reading and Leeds. The list was endless.
But there was something about the way you felt today that surpassed all of that. Here you were at the side of the main stage at Leeds Festival about to watch your boys headline the festival that started it all. The 1975 was ringing out across the field, the kids were screaming and your heart was hammering in your chest in time with George’s drums as he kicked off The City to the delight of the crowd.
A celebration of the album that they dreamed of making when you met them. A celebration of the album that soundtracked not only the lives of their fans but yours and theirs too. A celebration of the band and every beautiful thing they had achieved in the past ten years surrounded by those they loved and those who loved them the most.
You had told Matty that you were unsure you’d make it today due to a work situation that had popped up which had sent him into a tizzy this morning because you had never missed a performance of theirs at Leeds, despite being at Reading with them just the night before but you couldn’t cancel this important meeting in London called by your manager late last night when you returned from Reading and you weren’t sure if you’d make it in time to see them back up North.
“But you have to be there darling. This is our thing!”He had huffed, as you reached for him and pulling him into your arms as you went to say goodbye.“Leeds is ours! Not Reading. Leeds! You have to be there.” He huffed.
He made your heart hurt as his lip quivered as he watched you hug the other boys and the thought of him being upset made you even more determined to make sure you were side of that stage in time for the opening bars of The City.
You watched as he ran about the stage, singing his little heart out. The kids screaming the words to The City back at the band. George had already sent you a smirk from his seat behind the box knowing fine well Matty would lose his shit when he clocked eyes on you. You looked out towards the audience; the excitement on their faces as they sung every word before turning to look back at your boys. Your hand immediately reaching to touch  your box tattoo that sat on your thumb (matching with your friend behind the drum kit) as your heart soared with happiness for them. 
When you looked up you found Ross with his eyes on you. A soft smile on his handsome face, your eyes locked on to one another for a brief moment that was abruptly interrupted by the roar of applause from the fans when the first song came to an end. 
Bringing your hands to your mouth you cheered as loudly as you could; your laugh a sound Matty would recognise anywhere had him snapping his head in your direction. The moment he clapped eyes on you; he was beaming! His eyes bright and his smile even brighter knowing his best friend had made it. Pointing at you with a cheeky grin, he pulled the mic to his mouth quickly so you could hear him.
“Fucking knew you’d make it darling! This one is for you!” He announced as the intro to M.O.N.E.Y (one of your favourites) started up to more roars of noise.  
2007
Leeds Festival was directly sewn into the DNA of your friendship with the group of teenage boys who went on to be the band The 1975. Having being the place you had met all those many moons ago when headlining the festival was only a dream for them. Now they were about to headline the festival for the third time in four years and proud didn’t even cut it for how you felt for those boys.
You weren’t sure how your life would have turned out if you hadn’t met them the summer of 2007 or if you had simply set up your tent next to somebody else but you were forever grateful for your cousin and “friends" (at the time) for dragging you along because your life was enriched in every aspect because of them.
Trekking through the fields to find your camp sight was proving difficult when your cousin and his mates were pissing about and collectively had about two braincells between them. So you took it upon yourself to march ahead and find the nearest available space and dumping your tent and rucksack on the ground to reserve the spot.
“Oi dickheads! Over here!” You shouted towards the direction of your idiot cousin.
Waiting for him; his two mates and the girlfriends of said friends, who I guess you could call your friends too to make their way over. You took a look around at your neighbours for the next four days. Next to you was a group of teenage boys who were setting up their tents, the one setting up their little camping stove looked up at you at your outburst. God he was pretty you thought as you took in his casual appearance.
“You mind if we grab this spot?”
“Not at all love. Matty.” He held out his hand as he introduced himself.
Shaking his hand; you introduced yourself with a polite smile before shimmying your tent out of it’s bag as your cousin and his pals all appeared, dumped their stuff on the floor before announcing they were going to explore. Therefore leaving you to look after their shit and to attempt to put up your tent by yourself. After ten minutes, several failed attempts and numerous curses towards your absent cousin when the rest of your neighbours appeared.
The tall, dark and handsome one introduced himself first.
“Hi, I’m Ross. You need a hand with that?” 
When you turned to look at him; he was wearing jeans and a hoodie and a soft smile on his face. Nodding at his offer, you explained about your useless cousin and that you didn’t have great hopes for the weekend given that he had already fucked off.
“Don’t worry you can chill with us. They’re pretty useless too but we get by!” He chuckled; nodding in the direction of his mates. “That’s Adam, but we call him Hann and that’s George.” He grinned as you waved at his equally cute mates.
It was as simple as that. You barely spoke to your cousin that weekend. Just let your friendly neighbours cart you around the festival, getting drunk with them and letting them hoist you up on their shoulders as you watched multiple acts that weekend. During your down time, you sat around the campfire and got to know one another. You found out they were from not far from you in Manchester, they were all around the same age, they were all single apart from Hann. And they found out that you really did hate your cousin’s mates and you were newly single after your boyfriend of two years cheated on you and that you were hoping to go to uni to study music.
Giddily telling you that they were all in a band together as you revealed this information; you listened to Matty ramble on about what he wanted to do with his best friends and where he wanted the band to go in terms of their career and you couldn’t help but watch him earnestly as he spoke so passionately about it. Leaning on your knees; you rested your face in the palm of your hands as you listened intently, wrapped up in the jumper Ross had leant you as the evening grew cold with a smile on your face.
It was refreshing to listen to a teenage boy talk with so much passion about something instead whatever shit your cousin and his mates were chatting shite about, you couldn’t even stand to converse with the girlfriends it was that bad. You think you’d have let him pull you around this muddy park and talk your ear off all night that’s how much you enjoyed his company.
The last night of the festival; off the back of the giddiness of watching the Red Hot Chilli Peppers with the boys and screaming your favourite lyrics back at the band from your spot upon George’s shoulders. You giddily jumped into Matty’s arms when you dismounted the drummer and let him slip his hand in yours as you all made your way back towards your campsite.
You lost the rest of the boys at some point within the masses of people; so you took your time making your way back, swinging your arms between one another and spinning each other round. You were so happy! You arrived three days ago in a bit of a mood if you were being honest that your brother hadn’t been able to come with you and you were stuck with those imbeciles but the boys in your neighbouring tents truly had made your entire experience worth it.
So when Matty pulled you to a stop as you neared your respective tents; George’s laugh could be heard from where you had stopped and swept a piece of fallen hair behind your ear before cupping your cheek in his hand with a soft mutter of, “You’re so fucking beautiful.” Before leaning down and closing the gap between the two of you. You melted into him.
When his lips connected with yours; you immediately reciprocated his actions, allowing him to pull you in close and kiss you like you were the air he needed to breath. You weren’t entirely sure how long you were kissing in the middle of the campsite though but you pulled away giggling, beaming brightly when you saw Matty grinning back at you. Feeling brave you pushed yourself up to peck his lips again before pulling him towards your destination, past all his friends who were hooted and hollered when they caught onto to where you guys were off to but you didn’t care because you wanted reckless, you wanted to feel something, you wanted fun.
And ohhhh was Matty fun!
He was gentle in the way he brushed your hair from your face as you kissed down his stomach before pulling his already hard cock out. His grip tight in holding your hair in a ponytail so it was away from your face as you kissed the tip before licking a stripe underneath all the way from his balls until you enveloped the tip in your mouth. Hollowing your cheeks you took him in as he groaned underneath you, his moans encouraging you to continue as you let him continuously hit the back of your throat.
It wasn’t long before his grip tightened in your hair and he was cumming in your mouth; swallowing everything he gave you, you pulled off his cock with a pop before he was attacking your mouth with his own as he dived on top of you.
“God going to be thinking about your mouth for years sweetheart.” He mumbled against your skin before returning the favour.
2013
It had been a good several years since your last visit to Leeds Festival but thankfully it hadn’t been that long since you last saw the boys you met in the neighbouring tent during your first time there. After you packed up your tents the next morning you vowed to stay in touch with them, exchanging numbers with all the boys and promises of drinks when you were both home etc not really expecting much of it because they were teenage boys.
A hour after you returned home, your phone buzzed as messages flooded your inbox from Matty and George, Ross & Adam respectively although they weren’t as persistent as Matthew. You met up with Matty the next weekend, he drove up to see you in Manchester and you made out in the back of his car like the horny teenagers you were. You never slept with Matty during your brief time together but you both got very acquainted with one another on the couple of occasions you did meet up alone.
It wasn’t long after that you decided you were better off as friends and you didn’t mix business with pleasure again! Much to Matty’s disappoint after all he was a man and they only think with their cocks anyway. You continued being friends, you went to their gigs (even when you were the only one there), they visited you at uni, they celebrated your first big writing gig, you celebrated the release of their EPs. You celebrated everything together no matter how big or small.
You truly were the best of friends so when they rang you one afternoon whilst you were in the studio writing, you couldn’t even get out a “Guys you’re on a speaker, I’m just in the studio” before they were all screaming down the phone about their news that they had been asked to play at Leeds.
“That’s fucking insane! I’m so proud of you. Congratulations!”  
“You have to be there babe! We can’t do this without you!” Matty screamed down the phone.
“Yeah we can’t play Leeds without our number one girl can we?” Ross’ voice could be heard next, at a normal decibel, obviously.
“I wouldn’t miss it for the world!” Is what you told them and you stuck to your word as you watched Matty pace nervously before they were about to step onstage to a large crowd of people eager to see them perform.
“Matty.” You called out for him as he chewed his thumb nail, ignoring you. “Matthew!” You  raised your voice loud enough to get his attention finally on you, “What’s wrong with you? You’ve been buzzing all week to finally perform at Leeds. What’s changed?”
“Nervous.”
Your heart stopped as you took your friend’s nervous appearance in as you stopped in front of him and grabbing both his hands in your own. “I’ve never known you to be nervous ever. These people are here to see you, they’ve chosen you over any other tent or stage. They want to see my four best friends because you’re fucking brilliant, okay?” You told him firmly, squeezing his hands supportively, hoping to get through to him.
“Okay.” He smiled softly at you.
“Now what can I do to help with these nerves of yours?”
You asked innocently (of course) but Matty’s eyes lit up; a smirk dancing across his pretty features before lowing his gaze to his crotch. Pulling your hands from his in disgust you looked at him disapprovingly. “Eww gross. I’m not blowing you!”
“Baby please.” He whined; nipping at your waist as he attempted to pull your body into his own and holding you against him.
Looking over your shoulder; you cast glance at the other boys who were watching the interaction. Hann rolled his eyes at you, Ross was shaking his head as he sunk back his beer. George merely smirked; shrugging his shoulders as if to say it wasn’t a bad idea.
“If it takes care of the nerves.” George spoke.
“Ohh I’ll blow all of you then shall I?” You sassed back.
“If you’re offering?” George grinned.
“G don’t be fucking gross. I’m not touching any of you!” You laughed shortly. “Just do some tequila and get out there before I leave before you get the chance to even pick up a pair of drumsticks!”  You threatened.
Your heart pounded in your chest as you stood side of stage and watched as the boys were belting out the tunes to an enthusiastically drunk crowd who were loving life. Ross turned to look at you during chocolate; a look of pure disbelief that the hundreds strong crowd knew every single word. You shook your head with a chuckle, teary eyes and a bright smile because you absolutely could believe they would know every single word because your boys were fucking brilliant and they deserved every single second of it.
As the set came to a close to a rapturous applause; Matty turned to catch your eye with the biggest smile you’ve ever seen before running towards you and jumping into your arms and gripping you so tight, you thought you’d be catapulted backwards if it wasn’t for Ross holding on to both of you. A high squeal leaving your lips as Matty assaulted your face with kisses like an excited puppy dog before pressing his lips to your own. 
You were so proud of him you didn’t have it in you to scold him for it.
2019
The noise that came out of your mouth when the boys told you they had been asked to headline Leeds Fest 2019 can only be described as unhinged! Probably wishing they had told you over face time, Adam the unlucky sod who happened to be stood next to you the moment you found out and nearly had his arm ripped out the socket as you jumped up and down with pure excitement before pulling him into the biggest hug you could muster before jumping a top of George and pressing a lingering kiss to Ross’ cheek before you launched yourself at Matty and squeezing him so tight like it would be the last thing you ever did.
You partied hard that night, celebrating everything they had achieved in order to get to headlining that one place that you all held so dear to your hearts. They say people hold sentimental places that remind you of loved ones close to them, it just so happened that; that muddy field just outside of Leeds was what meant the most to the five of you because it’s where you found one another. It’s where you finally felt whole once they stumbled into your life.
So when Matty drunkly proclaimed “We’ve got to have you with us sweetheart! It’s tradition. You’re our good luck charm!” Loudly down your ear, whilst draping himself over your shoulder in an attempt to stay standing.
Not that you would say no but who were you to ever deny your best friend’s wishes. Especially when they were finally getting to do the one thing they told you they wanted to do together when you first met them all those years ago and the fact they wanted you by their side meant more than anything. 
And here you were backstage at Leeds fest waiting for your best friends in the entire world to go and blow the socks off the festival. You were stood next to Matty who was fidgeting so much it was starting to concern you how nervous he actually was about the headlining slot. Slipping your spare hand into his; your other was wrapped around Ross’ as he conversed with Hann, you pulled away from the bassist so you could talk with the singer more privately.
Pulling Matty away from their crew; you took his hand softly, rubbing your thumb back and forth across the back of it in hopes of soothing his nerves. Matty didn’t say a word but he couldn’t stand still. You pulled on his hand tighter and towards you so you were in each other’s personal space.
“Darling what’s wrong?”
“Just fucking nervous. A lot of people out there.” His nervous chuckle reaching your ears before he started chewing on his thumb nail. 
Slapping his hand away from his mouth, you pulled on both of his hands tightly and made sure that he was looking right at you as spoke.
“When has that ever stopped you going out their and being brilliant before, ehh? You have wanted this for so so long. For as long as I’ve known you. You deserve this so much babe, more than anyone else I know. Do you want to know a little secret?” You watched his curls bounce as he nodded at your words. “When I met you, you told me all about your plans for the band. Told me you were going to headline Leeds Fest one day and in that moment I knew that I liked the shit of you! Thought it was so hot that you were so driven and so passionate about something. And look at you now. Three number one albums. Biggest band in the world and about to do the one thing you told me you were going do when we met twelve years ago. All those people out there choose to come and see you because they love you. I love you.”
“You think I’m hot?”
“That’s what you took from that?” You rolled your eyes.
“It’s what I do best!” He shrugged; pulling you into his arms. “So you going to blow me after this too?” He whispered saying in your ear; as he hugged you tightly.
“You’re so fucking annoying!” You pulled out of his embrace, “You’d be fucking lucky Healy! I’m more likely to blow Hann than you again babe!” You threw him a smirk; so he knew you were joking about his best mate.
“Wait, who’s blowing Hann?” George asked; appearing with Ross and Hann with what could only be impeccable timing.
“Me! Told Healy I’m more likely to blow Hann after your performance than go near his cock again!” You told them casually with a shrug and throwing Adam a wink as the guitarist shook his head with an embarrassed chuckle. “Just a little pep talk and Matthew was being Matthew about the situation!”
“Well if you’re offering up blowies! I’m always down!” George threw his hand up like he was volunteering with a massive grin on his face as he nudged Adam in the ribs who also had a stupidly large grin on his face as they teased you.
“You’re all so fucking annoying which is why the only person I’d be considering to blow is Ross because currently he’s the only one with manners! Now fuck off and blow the socks off the fans!”  You grinned; shoving them in the direction of the stage. Throwing your own arm around Ross’ waist, Matthew’s around your own as you all ascended on the stage, your heart pounding as you watched them walk out to rapturous applause. The feral screams growing louder between each song and you knew that you had never been prouder of anyone in your life than your best friend’s living their dreams.
2023
You had never loved George Daniel more than the day he turned round and introduced you to his new girlfriend because you gained a best for life in the absolutely wonderful and insanely beautiful Charli XCX. You loved her plain and simple! Never was a more selfless girl; you needed anything and she was by your side and offering you her hand, you needed a hype man she was the girl for the job or you just needed a little retail therapy and a bottle of wine, Charli would be at your door ready to go so when it was announced that she was going to be playing Leeds Festival just as the boys were about to embark on their new era. You knew you would be by her side cheering her on and going an absolute feral for that babe of woman! And when the boys were announced as the replacement headliners you could have burst!
Charli was set to perform her set just before the lads were so you knew your evening was going to be chaotic but you couldn’t wait but when she asked you to be by her side and during your favourite song. As flabbergasted as you were by the offer, you couldn’t really say no. When would you ever get the chance to perform at Leeds Festival again? Never!
But it was the way your best friends eyed you from side of stage; clad in an identical leather outfit to Charli’s that left nothing to the imagination. You felt a large calloused hand weave it’s way into your own and squeeze tightly, whispering a soft; “You’ve got this darling.” Before pressing a kiss to your temple just as Charli announced your entrance just as Rina’s verse of Beg For You was about to start.
“I want to introduce you to my best friend to the stage for the next song. She’s a bit shy so please be nice but she’s fucking incredible. Welcome to the stage y/n!”
What happened after you stepped on stage was all some sort of blur, you couldn’t really remember all that much apart from the video that Matty (and the rest of the band) recorded of you from the side of stage, the boys all screaming as you ran off stage and jumping into the nearest pair of arms, which just so happened to be Ross’. The adrenaline that coursed through you then seeped into watching the boys’ set and into the after party. Where you and Charli were necking back the tequila like it was water and had you dancing on the tables and grinding on anyone you could get your hands on. 
Nobody was safe from you and Charli’s feral behaviour that evening as you celebrated your friend’s wins and that included your best friend who you had taken to making out with, pulling him into a several kisses that seemed to get more erotic as the night went on much to the shock and then immediate thrill of your friends as they squealed and cheered on your behaviour every single time like you weren’t potentially jeopardising fifteen years of friendship with Ross just because you were on a high and feeling a little giddy. 
You were also a woman with eyes!
Something nobody was doing the morning after as you all travelled back to London with your tail between your legs and pounding headaches. Attempting to sleep it off on the drive home, you rested your head against Hann’s shoulder and tried to block out Matty’s talking, something that you were usually quite good at but to no avail when you felt like you were in about to slip into a tequila induced coma. 
By the time you got back to London and to your respective locations; you felt yourself being nudged awake before being gently pulled away from Hann who sweetly pressed a kiss to the crown of your head as Ross got out of the van before pulling you sleepily into your apartment building. No words were exchanged between the two of you as he unlocked your shared apartment or whilst he made you both a cuppa. You couldn’t decide if it was because he was just as horrifically hungover as you or because of what transpired between the two of you the night before and didn’t know how to act around you now because you had well and truly fucked everything up.
You never spoke about it. Just carried on as normal just as you and Matty did fifteen years prior and you thought you had done a pretty good job at acting normal too. You carried on sharing your flat and cohabiting as if it didn’t happen and then he went off to America for the start of At Their Very Best. Then once you were reunited on his return home from tour you thought that everything would be fine but it seemed that your emotions or seemingly your hormones were supercharged and all the lingering touches and sweet exchanges that usually came with your relationship had all come to a head about two weeks before they were due to headline Leeds fest again.
Whilst the boys had been on tour and doing the festival circuit during the summer you had taken to dating again. You use the term dating very loosely you had been on a handful of dates with one guy, a producer friend of Charli’s. It had been a few weeks since you had seen him due to the busy nature of your careers but you were supposed to be heading on another date with him tomorrow and you were ready to take it to the next level. 
Stood in front of your full length mirror you admired the intricate white lace of the lingerie that donned your tanned skin wondering if Patrick would like it or not when your bedroom door burst open. Not hearing his heavy footsteps approach as you stood in next to nothing; you jumped in fright, as an also topless Ross was now looking at you with a startled expression on his handsome face.
“Babe have you seen my favourite ju … jumper” He stuttered as he stopped and drunk in your appearance. “Ehhh why are you? Why ehhh? I mean why?” He was gesturing towards your lingerie clad body.
“I have a date tomorrow.” Your voice quiet but Ross heard it; your eyes just as wide as his when you took in his own appearance. Grey joggers, bare chest, hair tied up in a bun and the bastard cursive tattoo of your initial, that still makes your stomach flip every time you see it, etched into the skin near his left collarbone.
Ross simply nodded in response, not knowing what else to say. Noting that as his eyes travelled up your legs, over the tiny bit of delicate fabric that was covering your modesty, up to how your tits sat gloriously in the white lace, he noticed it. He noticed as you stood in the best set of lingerie he’d ever seen on anyone ever, that right there balancing in between your tits on a dainty gold chain was the necklace with a small ‘R’ on it. 
Without another word said between the pair of you; he turned with a curt nod of his head without getting his answer knowing fine well that it would be somewhere in your room. But he had plenty of other jumpers he could wear. He just needed to just get out of there before he made a tit of himself. Heading straight back to his room across the hall, he paced his bedroom floor in hopes of getting the image of you stood in your underwear out of his head before he got a problem, not knowing that across the hall you were staring at his retreating figure unsure of what to do.
Picking up your phone you sent an apologetic text to Patrick to let him know the date was cancelled before chucking your phone amongst your pillows and marching across the hallway. Just as you reached up your arm to knock; Ross’ bedroom door was ripped off its hinges and stalling you, both of your chests heaving as you came face to face. Neither of you choosing to cover yourselves up in the moments you were apart.
Looking up at him; you caught sight of the gold chain he’d been wearing recently sitting against the chest hair that littered his toned chest before your eyes drifted to the left. Your heart tripling in speed knowing you were etched on his skin forever. Ross’s eyes immediately went back to your tits, not in a weird way even if they did look glorious in the white lace but the golden ‘R’ that sat between them.
Returning your gaze to his face; you weren’t entirely sure how long you were staring at each other before you surged towards one another in a flurry of pent up tension as you pawed at one another. Your hands immediately gripping at his hair at the nape of his neck, causing him to groan into your mouth. His hands gripping your ass as he pulls you flushed against him. Your mouths pressed together as you snogged like it was the last thing you guys would ever do before Ross was slamming his bedroom door and throwing you on the bed and staring at you like you were the best thing he had ever seen. And you were.
Your night of passion with Ross happened two weeks ago and whilst he had gone back to work leaving you at home and to do your own job. You hadn’t stopped thinking about it. It was affecting your studio time and you didn’t quite know what to do with yourself. You brushed past one another briefly whilst he nipped home to quickly put a wash on in between packing again before heading to Reading and Leeds. But you didn’t speak to one another in the van on the way down. Opting to talk with George about a new track idea he had been thinking about and he wanted your opinion on how to set it up lyrically.
When you got to Reading. The boys were rushed off for a quick sound check whilst you milled about backstage, getting drinks and greeting over artists you knew from work so you didn’t really get the chance to to talk to him. Then they were on stage. Then it was the after party. Then you were hungover and telling a sad looking Matty that you weren’t sure you could make it due to a work thing and sending them all on their way as you tried not to cry at the sadness in your best friend’s eyes as he looked at you like a sad puppy from the car window with pout on his face.
As you were sat in your meeting about an important contract working with an incredible artist on her next album. You caught yourself completely zoned out and thinking about him again. Over the course of all the the times you found yourself thinking about your night with Ross over the past week; you tried to figure out if it was because it was just because the tension had finally snapped with living under close quarters again after your multiple kisses or because it quite literally the best sex you’ve ever had or because under all of that, it was your Ross.
Your Ross. Your sweet best friend who helped you out any and every situation that you found yourself in, the person who hyped you up and celebrated your wins with you, the person who surprised you with your initial tattooed onto his skin because he just loved you so much he wanted you with him forever. Who then turned round and told you he never wanted you to feel pressured to do the same so gifted you the most beautiful gold necklace with his own on, you’ve never taken it off.
The person who when he come home from tour; buys you flowers as a welcome home surprise and displays them on your dining room table. The person who buys you little nicknacks when he’s abroad because it reminds him of you and thinks you’d love it. As you let your brain mull over this information whilst your manager went over the boring bits of the deal, you realised he was your person and you needed to get Leeds and you needed to get up North to him now. Pulling the ‘emergency’ card, you left your manger to to take any important notes and you darted out of the building, texting your driver to meet you out the front asap before you were speeding out of London and heading to the place that started it all.
You raced up North to get to the festival and just about managing to get there in one piece. Flinging your weekend bag in their green room; you went to run back out when something caught your eye, Ross’ hoodie from the last night. Pulling it over your head; a complete dress on you and covering your own outfit, you quickly untucked you necklace so it proudly displayed on top, you ran towards the main stage as you heard end of your song as George’s launched into to The City. You had just about made it; as you weaved in and out of the crowds of people to get to the side of stage at lightening speed.
Squeezing through the bodies of the crew who were littered backstage you fell into step with Jamie who was filming the boys. Their manager quickly wrapped you up in a side hug with a large grin and a happy “Glad you could make it!” Before turning his attention back to the band.
George was the first person to notice you, sending you a quick wink as you blew him a kiss with a beaming smile. Ross was the next person to spot you; his eyes softening as he took in your appearance before Matty was excitedly shouting you out.
“Fucking knew you’d make it darling! This one is for you!” He announced as the intro to M.O.N.E.Y started up to more roars of noise.
It might have been pure accidental that you ended up next to a rowdy group of teenage boys on that August weekend in 2007. But my god are you happy you did! Not because they were the biggest band in the world but because the five of you had seen every single one of your wins and your losses, they championed you on every new endeavour and had your back through thick and thin. You didn’t care about Matty writing songs about your blowjob skills because you were happily screaming the words back to him now. You cared that he was happy, that they all were and they knew they were fucking loved.
Which you finally realised you did. You fucking loved your best friend and as Ross turned to look at you whilst doing his little two step whilst Matty serenaded the crowd with I’m in Love with You, he really took in your appearance. Thigh high boots and his black hoodie he wore to Reading last night that covered you like a dress and the bastard golden R that was sitting over the top of the neck of the jumper, your hand pressed over the top as you made eye contact with him and beaming brightly at him, he felt his heart skip and triple in speed. He needed to tell you and he needed to tell you now.
So the second About You finished and he had said goodbye to the crowd. He was throwing his bass at Joel and was marching straight towards you, grabbing you by the jaw and smashing his mouth against your own. Melting into his touch you kissed the bassist back as the rest of friends joined you.
“I love you.”  Ross breathed out in between kisses.
“Ohhh thank fuck because I really fucking love you too!”  You told him; pulling him back to your lips as you gripped on to hair at the bottom of his bun tightly as your boys hollered around you.
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hanniesss · 1 year
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☁️ if you want to | han jisung
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pairing: han jisung x fem! reader
warnings: cursing, simpsung
wc: 870
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sung 💝| wanna go out tonight?
you stare at the text for a second, thinking hard on the question. you miss your best friend, you really do, but you’re tired.
idk jisung i’m tireddddd
sung 💝| comeon y/nnnn pleassseeeeeeeee
ugh fine.
sung💝| pick you up at 7 😈
well, with that being said, you throw yourself on your bed to soak in your hour and a half of free time. you think about what’s gonna happen tonight. you’re going out, probably to the local bar, with jisung and the boys who are gonna want to drink which means they’re gonna want you to drink as well. your head pounds at the mere thought of it. maybe you’ll be the driver tonight!
too lazy to get up and shower or get ready, you lay in bed and tell yourself you’ll get up later. your heavy eyelids convince you that you’ll have time to get dressed after this quick nap..
——————————————————————————
you awake to your phone ringing next to you along with banging on your door.
you rapidly blink and try to grasp ahold of the situation when you hear a familiar voice behind the door, “y/n?” it’s jisung.
your eyes dart to the screen of your phone, ‘7:05’ it reads.
“shit.”
you scurry to the door and pull it open to face a worried/angry/holywowhelookssogood jisung.
“shit, sung i’m so sorry!-”
“y/n what the hell? i called you like 6 times. i literally told you to be ready too-” he rambles on and on.
you pout and look at the ground, “ ‘m sorry sung.”
he really looks at you for the first time since he’s gotten there. you, with your disheveled hair and slightly smudged mascara. the band tee (his) and shorts that are barely visible. you’re his weakness and he can’t be mad at you and, to make it worse, you’re pouting at him!!! how can you do that!!!
“hey, it’s okay, i’m sorry. what happened, baby?” he pushes the door more open so he can get through the doorway and bring you into a hug.
with your face buried in his chest, you mumble, “i was really tired, sung. i’m sorry for messing up your plans. you can go without me.”
thank god he was alone and wasn’t riding the boys around too, or else this would’ve been thrice as embarrassing.
“nah it’s okay, i don’t really care about going out, just wanted to see my best friend,” he says and smiles into the top of your hair. your hand finds his and you squeeze it.
“you don’t have to. if you think i’m a bum it’s okay…”
“i do think you’re a bum, but i’ll stay with you anyway. are you hungry?” he asks and takes out his phone to send the boys a text apologizing for his absence tonight.
“no, i’m still tired though.” he giggles at your reappearing pout and drags you to your room, laying with you on the bed.
“well then, let’s take a nap!” he throws a leg over you and clings to you while fake snoring. you laugh and wiggle around trying to get him off of you, “jiiii let me gooooo!!!” your hands shoot straight to his exposed stomach and you tickle him. jisung is very ticklish. he shoots up and flops around the bed every which way like fish while pleading for you to stop.
“okay! okay, that’s enough!!” he yells at you.
after calming down, he remains in the same spot, his head in your lap and laying down, while you were sat upright playing with his bangs.
he studies you from below, and his fingers come up to tug at your shirt.
“i like this, where’d you get it?” he says with a grin, already knowing the answer. you scoff and roll your eyes, “just some lunatic.”
he gasps dramatically and pulls you down to lay with him. you breathe in the scent of jisung and it’s so comforting. you close your eyes again. “jisung?”
“hm?” you feel the vibrations of his chest. “can you read me a story?”
at your words, he gets up and makes his way over to the bookshelf. he picks out a book for you and tells you to cover your eyes. you comply and hear footsteps, the cling of your lamp as he turns it on and your lights off. you feel the bed dip under his weight and he lays the covers over you two. he scooches closer to you to where you feel his body warmth on your entire left side.
he clears his throat, “once upon a time, there were four little rabbits, and their names were Flopsy, Mopsy, Cottontail, and Peter.”
you open your eyes in delight, “peta rabbit!” you say in a mock british accent.
“yup, our favorite,” he smiles as you nuzzle up against him to look at the pictures while he continues to read to you.
heavy eyelids return and jisung’s voice soothes you. it floats throughout your head until you’re out.
the boy notices a minute later and runs his fingers through your hair while putting the book on the nightstand.
“goodnight y/n. i love you,” he whispers.
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xxnomadsxx · 3 months
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Nomads AU! that before timeline I’ve been procrastinating but now I have to finish…Sorry
Once all the bros (plus Poppy) get on Rhonda Branch immediately regrets coming along. His brothers immediately try to get to know him, which starts out wrong as they ask him a bunch of very personal questions but over the trip he starts to actually get along with his brothers (he could do without the babying) but he starts to relight that hope of getting his brothers back as he and them are getting along!(finally)..until he finds out how Floyd is trapped
He didn’t actually hear the plan on how to save Floyd, all he heard was “Floyd in danger” but now he has to sing?!?! He quickly denies singing and says he will get Floyd out of there and they can sing and save him. The bros are shocked why is Bitty B acting like this he loves to sing. Poppy makes the situation worse because she keeps questioning him on it and why he is grey (and lowkey kinda insulting him) She then says stuff like “your a pop troll you have to sing it’s who you are!!” or “why are you being so grey about this come on can’t you just try and be happy.” The bros don’t interfere in the two fighting as they are talking amongst themselves on what they would do since Branch isn’t going to sing…Eventually they decide “Hey if we practice as a family I bet bitty b will realize how good it is to sing as a family again” then John breaks out the Brozone stuff they get there band gear together…John immediately tries to have Branch wear a diaper and Branch threatens to hit him (yea not the best move Johnny) so the band tries to practice but Branch just sorta sits to the side. Then John stops the song and gets on everyone’s case then complains that branch needs to start singing which Branch denies (this looks bad but to be fair he hasn’t sung in years because of his grandma and him thinking his singing is the reason the band broke up he doesn’t want anyone to leave because of it) Then Clay would speak up call John bossy blah blah blah say branch is scarier and taller now blah blah licensed cpa blah blah then the argument ends with the brothers saying “after we rescue Floyd we go our separate ways” this absolutely smothered whatever hope he had at the brothers coming back in his life. I mean they had the audacity to beg him to perform with them then once he thinks they can be a family again they want to…. TO ABANDON HIM AGAIN!!???!!!?!!! He absolutely loses it on them (rightfully so) they left him and didn’t come back, they left him to die ,they left grandma to die by the very thing he hates, they left him to be outcasted to be forced to fight to SURVIVE every single day, to be scared of EVERYTHING to lead a village to make acts he’s ashamed of… them leaving CAUSED EVERYTHING..when he tells them what he went through that he’s “sorry” he wants his family back the only family he had left and that he honestly whishes they just never showed up on his doorstep, that they should just pretend he is dead like they’ve done for 20 years so he can leave there lives completely…
Branch leaves the bus to get promptly chased down by Poppy (who currently got slapped in the face of reality and how bad Branch’s life is, and currently is having her world shattered that he LIVED IN THE VILLAGE!! And no ever talked about him how he and his suffering was forgotten and ignored by EVERYONE!!) she chases him down asking him if he is ok and Ned’s to talk about it (she’s learning!!!!) Branch immediately tells her to leave just like everyone else has in the past.. and Poppy was surprised by his answer. She said she wouldn’t leave him that she needs to make this right for what her people did and that he needs help to get Floyd. Branch (reluctantly) agrees with her and they go to save Floyd
After they did a bunch of cool breakin stuff they would get to the dressing room lo and behold Floyd!! immediately Branch goes down to greet his brother …….who didn’t recognize him (to be fair Branch looks completely deranged and wildly different) at this point I wouldn’t blame the guy if he just started crying, I mean I would. Poppy trying to fix the situation would tell Floyd it was Branch (who currently look distraught and reeeelllyyy sad) Floyd was shocked to say the least and quickly tried to push down his many MANY burning questions as he tried to hug his brother through the wall separating them, Branch does hug back! but then Velvet and Veneer come in and quickly break up the moment as Branch quickly tackles Poppy off the table swinging them to the vent before they where spotted.
At this point Velvet and Veneer had the brothers and were going to kill them at this rate with how much they were being used! Until- Branch came out of nowhere attacking Velvet (Branch can fight, we know he can fight why didn’t he fight during the actual fight in the movie it was basically a game of keep away!?!?) he would get the diamonds out of Velvet as Poppy and Viva get veneer (I forgot to mention viva showed up) Gristle and Bridget weren’t at the show since the whole Bergen thing hasn’t come up yet sooooo… Anyway Branch knows the only way to save his now dying brother from his diamond cage is to sing so he does for the first time in 20 years he sings so do the rest of the brothers (Branch actually feels happy for the first time in a while) He gets more vibrantly colorful as he sings feeling loved by his family(still grey just lighter) anyway harmony was harmoning and they saved Floyd..,,till he dropped to the ground and looking very translucent. The brothers go to Floyd. Branch confesses that he built the bunker just without the waterslide and Floyd woke up saying “but..how will we shower!” And day saved Booyah!!!
The timeline goes the same as whatever happens after the movie with the nomads au besides a few changes Poppy doesn’t leave Branch alone about singing (he goes immediately back on his vow of not singing) the brothers are very overprotective of Floyd (because he u know.. died!) and now Branch as well (he replaced them twice and has suffered for years because of them they feel pretty bad and try and make up for it anyway they can) Branch went back to the village and has less of a hard time leaving. Overall the rest stays the same.
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eteisvalssi · 12 days
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gig report london 11.4.2024
now that i'm back home and stuck inside for a couple of days bc of bovid, i can finally finish my gig report from london! it's gonna be a long one 😅
i won't be getting too much into how i traveled to london bc the story is long, but let's just say that i would arrange it differently now that i experienced it
in london i met up with @joyuntold, who was my roommate for the two nights! kiitos for letting me tag along with you <3 we had so much fun just yapping the night before the concert that i almost forgot how tired i was at that point 😂
i hadn't slept in well over 24 hours so i went to sleep at 8pm local time and had a good night's sleep before going queueing so that i could stay there for the whole day after i'd gotten my number
the queue had already started the day before because of a misunderstanding and it being posted on social media, which caused the word to spread and suddenly everyone was getting their numbers and just going away for several hours. can we please just not do this?
i did have a fun time in the queue though! there were a lot of familiar faces but i just got really shy with my english for some reason and felt very awkward not talking, so i hung out with my finns a lot during the day
but everyone i talked to that day like overall was just super nice once again! i met and talked to a few mutuals too!
the first band member we saw was jure, he walked past the queue and we all just said hi to him
jan and nace came to the venue together shortly after. i waved at them and nace waved back :)
i didn't see the other band members come to the venue but we did see the family guštin walk by a couple of times
the ee line worked so well, we formed the number queue ourselves and the crowd management worked really well for us. there were multiple lines formed for every type of ticket, but i heard that the ga line was not as successful
i had already lost my hope for barricade on jan and nace's side with how many people there were in the queue before me, but i literally got the perfect spot on the barricade and didn't even have to run for it!
when we got inside i had already completely forgotten about the soundcheck so i was actually surprised when they came on stage 😅 they played astp and proti toku
roots & wings were fun, they were just trying really hard and that was kinda adorable :)
elle coves was amazing! hadn't listened to her songs at all beforehand but i really enjoyed it!
they played the gola setlist and i do get why it's their favorite one
kris especially was on fire during the gig!! idk if it was because his family was there but he gave his everything on stage
we got the demoni scream!!!
also idk what was in padam that night but bojan was really living it and i really felt it and got literal goosebumps
i remember there being a moment when i was like the jance shippers are gonna eat this one up, but i'm too feverish to remember what it was rn
we had a surprise guest on stage! louie starkey, grandson of ringo starr, came on stage during umazane misli and did his own solo.
a finnish translation of umazane misli was also sung that night by yours truly <3 i have no memory from that moment but i just saw a video of it and bojan showed a thumbs up to the band when i started singing 😂 btw if anyone else has any footage from that moment, i would love to see more!
we were like there's no way they're not gonna play ssol and were kinda shocked that it was not on the setlist, but of course they came to play it as an extra encore
after the gig i stayed at the barricade and kiki came over to give the setlists and i got one <3 that was the first time i'd even tried to get one so i was kinda surprised to get it, but it's now on the wall next to my photos i got printed :)
when we went outside there were a lot of people waiting and bojan did come to greet us quickly and take the picture he posted on instagram
i waited for a while but my feet were hurting so much from standing all day that i called it a day just a bit too early and just went to the hotel
the next day i found out that if i'd literally walked back towards the venue with the others instead of leaving to the hotel i would've met some of them 😅
my next two days were spent exploring london, we went to camden town with a friend i'd met before at a gig but we only got to know each other in london! and on saturday i was on a bus on my way to london and it was a sunny day and suddenly sunny side of london started playing from my playlist and that felt so good
overall it was a very fun experience! i got to meet so many cool people, i saw my favorite band yet again, i sung in finnish at fucking shepherd's bush empire, i basically traveled solo for the first time and it went very well. i'm really glad i decided to go :)
also i joked about getting bovid from the gig when i was feeling kinda stuffy and tired yesterday and today i tested positive with covid 🤠
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sethsclearwater · 11 months
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request: “can I request where embry and reader go to a bonfire with the boys and reader ends up getting a little too tipsy? and of course, shenanigans ensue 😉”
warnings: reader gets tipsy
word count: 1.29k
the whole reason you’d gotten into this situation in the first place is because you had an inability to admit you were wrong. you’d (unfortunately) made a bold claim to paul and jared that you weren’t a lightweight like they claimed you were. so here you found yourself, 3 shots of tequila in, quickly realizing that you were in fact the lightweight they’d anticipated you being.
“embryyyyyy,” you sung your boyfriend’s name as you skipped over to him, giggling when he opened his arms for you, quickly pulling you close to his chest and sliding one of his hands down to your hip to steady you.
“babe,” embry chuckled, “what happened?” he asked softly, gently cupping your jaw with his other hand so he could scan your face to try and figure out what was up with you.
you giggled, hiccupping before you responded, “jus’ missed you.” you whispered, stepping up onto your tip-toes and pressing a quick kiss to his lips which he gladly returned, letting out a chuckle when you slid your hands across the band of his sweatpants.
“not right now babe,” he chuckled, “how much did you have to drink?” he asked softly as he spun you around to head back over to the main bonfire where paul and jared were muffling their laughter at how drunk you’d managed to get off of just 3 shots. 
“like 3,” you giggled as he sat down in one of the lawn chairs, pulling you into his lap.
“3 what?” he asked softly, chuckling when you hiccuped again and curled into his chest.
“3 tequilas.” you whispered, taking his hand and fiddling around with his fingers to distract yourself. 
embry let out a low groan, “you had 3 shots of tequila?” he asked softly, patiently waiting for you to respond as you continued to fiddle with his fingers for a moment before looking back up at him.
you smiled, nodding, “3 tequilas with paul and jared.” you giggled and embry rolled his eyes, looking over to where jared and paul were sitting, both laughing at your conversation with him.
“listen-” jared started, bursting into laughter as you hiccuped again, “she said she wasn’t a lightweight.” he argued, laughing as he attempted to explain himself to your boyfriend.
“she’s like half your size you moron of course she’s a lightweight.” embry countered, rolling his eyes again, “did you drink some water?” he asked you, his tone softening as he spoke to you.
you shook your head, giggling, “jus’ tequila.” you whispered, hiccuping again as you sat up and pressed a quick kiss to his lips before bursting into another fit of giggles.
embry chuckled softly, “let’s get you some water then, yea?” he suggested and you nodded, smiling at him as he caught the water bottle and bag of bread paul and jared had tossed over to him. he made quick work of unscrewing the water bottle cap before handing it to you, holding the bottom of the bottle to make sure you didn’t drop it, “there ya go babe,” he cooed as you took a few sips.
you beamed at the praise, “have you eaten anything today yet?” he asked softly as he set the water bottle back down, already anticipating your response as he grabbed a slice of bread when you shook your head, “okay then let’s get some food in you, yea?” he suggested and you giggled, nodding as you took the piece of bread from him, slowly nibbling on it as you looked around at the rest of the pack members who seemed to be doing another round of shots.
when you noticed, you looked back over to embry who shook his head, already knowing what you were going to ask him, “not a chance babe,” he chuckled, “keep eating your bread.” he encouraged, rolling his eyes when you hiccuped again, curling further into his lap as you worked at eating your piece of bread.
paul and jared came over a few moments later, crouching down in front of the two of you and laughing when they saw you disheveled state, “not a lightweight, huh?” paul teased when he saw you and your eyes widened, immediately sitting up to argue with him but embry quickly shushed you, pulling you back into his chest.
“we brought you a lime.” jared said after a moment, paul and him laughing as they presented you a lime slice coated with salt.
you beamed at the two of them, smiling as you quickly took it from them and took a bite out of it, absolutely loving the sour taste in your mouth, “oh you guys are the best-” you mumbled around the lime, all three boys laughing at your muffled words.
“i know,” jared teased, chuckling as you wrapped your free arm around his neck, pulling him into an awkward hug, “god you really are fucked up,” he laughed as you pressed a kiss to his head, embry rolling his eyes at your drunk actions.
“alright babe,” embry chuckled, “you ready to go home and get some sleep?” he asked softly, smiling down at you as you settled back into his lap.
“sleep?” you asked incredulously, “need you tonight.” you murmured, jared and paul letting out loud laughs when you tugged at the band of embry’s sweatpants. 
the two boys quickly got up, brushing the sand off their pants, “guess we’ll leave you to it embryo!” paul called teasingly as the two of them headed back over to the rest of the pack, leaving you and embry alone for a moment.
“babe,” embry chuckled, “how about tomorrow when you’re feeling better, yea?” he suggested as he got up, picking you up in the process and carrying you back to the car. 
you thought about it for a moment, chewing on your slice of bread as you contemplated his suggestion, “you promise tomorrow?” you asked softly, peeking up at him as he set you down in the passenger seat, buckling you in.
“pinky promise.” he teased, hooking your pinkies together and pressing a soft kiss to your intertwined fingers before getting into the driver’s seat.
you giggled, happy with that compromise as he drove back to your apartment, quickly helping you out of the car and up to your apartment, “okay you wanna get your pajamas on?” he asked as he got you situated on your shared bed, chuckling when he noticed you zoned out, staring at one of the paintings emily had gifted the two of you when you first got your apartment.
“babe,” embry chuckled, coming over to step in between your thighs and hook his finger under your jaw, prompting you to look up at him, “pajamas?” he asked you softly, patiently waiting for your response.
you giggled, nodding, smiling up at him as he helped you out of your clothes, “want your shirt-” you murmured after a moment and his eyes softened at your words, smiling softly at you.
“course you can have my shirt,” he chuckled, getting one of his shirts for you before helping you into that and your favorite pair of sleep shorts.
“alright let’s get you into bed, yea? we can put on a movie.” he cooed, helping you under the sheets, chuckling when you immediately curled into his chest as he grabbed the remote a got a movie on for the two of you.
he handed you your bottle of water, encouraging you to drink while the movie started, both of you content with laying with each other for the rest of the night.
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goosewriting · 1 year
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Can you do a Donatello x reader where Y/N is like tots obsessed with reciting the song he sung during the library episode like “Room 16, take corridor B, down the stairs past the ibis tapestry” and they’re like always randomly belting it when alone or whispering it under their breath and Donnie keeps secretly catching them singing it and eventually confronts them about it one day cause they’re shouting it alone in the “soundproof garage” and dancing? Bonus points if him speaking up causes Y/N to squeak so high and just THUMP into the floor like “?!?? Surprise audience?!?”
thank you for reading, have a great day, love you 💕
Sing like no one’s watching (rottmnt Donnie x reader)
summary: Donnie catches you singing the library song when you think no one can hear you.
relationship: Rise!Donnie x GN reader (established)
warnings: none, fluff! reader being embarrassed lol
word count: ~950
A/N: i rewatched this episode for the complete text of the song and man i had forgotten how much of a banger it is! also it’s one of my fave episodes so i was having a great time with the research this time lol thanks for the cute prompt, enjoy :D
(english is not my first language. constructive criticism and grammar corrections are very appreciated!)
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Ever since you had been to the mystic library with the turtle brothers, you couldn’t get Donnie’s impromptu rap out of your head. You kept catching yourself singing it under your breath or humming to the tune everywhere: when walking on the street, while cooking, when browsing Netflix, on the toilet.
When at the lair, you tried not to sing it because you did not want Donnie to hear you. If he ever caught you jamming to it, you’d be beyond embarrassed.
However you were completely oblivious to the fact that you had already failed your mission, because the melody fell from your lips without you even noticing, and Donnie had heard you several times softly humming the song when you thought no one could hear. He was amused to say the least, but you seemed to do it absent-mindedly, as your humming or singing came to an abrupt stop when you noticed what you were doing, shooting a quick look at the other people present to see if they had heard you (spoiler alert: they had), so he decided not to bring it up.
It was bound to happen some time though. That day you were hanging at the lair as per usual. You tried to help out with chores, cooking and other things as much as you could, not wanting to seem like a leech or a burden to the turtle family. So it was a pretty common sight to find you asking Splinter if there was anything you could do, or if you could bring him something. He would ask you to bring him snacks and drinks from time to time, to which you happily obliged. But right now, you leaned on the side of his couch, asking for any chores that needed to be done, and Splinter tried dismissing you several times, but you insisted. You had interrupted one of the most important scenes of his soap opera and he wasn’t able to hear the dialogue! So he just sent you off to do the first thing that came to his mind.
“Go and mop the garage!” he said a little gruffly, trying to catch the last part of the dialogue happening on the screen. With a ‘Yessir!’ you made your way to said room, picking up the mop and bucket on the way.
Placing the bucket full of water on the far side of the garage, you poured some cleaning product into it and stirred it with the mop. Humming along to an invented tune, you wringed out the mop and started draping it in big strokes over the floor.
As you repeated the process several times, the tune inevitably turned into Donnie’s song. As you were wringing out the mop, your voice fell silent, and you looked around. No one was here. And you knew for a fact the whole garage was soundproof. So you set the mop in front of you, grabbing onto the stick like you were the lead singer of a band.
“Loom 16 take corridor B, down the stairs past the ibis tapestry” you started singing, swaying your hips from side to side. Your free hand came up into the air, moving back and forth like a DJ scratching a disk.
“Sliding bookcase after bookcase shows the way to the hall, up the pole, through a hole, to the waterfall.” Now you were really getting into it. Unbeknownst to you, the purple turtle was just opening the door to the garage, to tell you dinner was ready. He stopped in his tracks at the sight before him, instead leaning on the doorframe and crossing his arms over his chest with a smug grin.
“Donatello! With a book in his hand, saves the day and proves to everyone that he's the man!” You let go of the mop, which fell to the floor with a whack, your hands fluttering above your head imitating the bats at the library. “Po-po comes in and takes him away, but Donnie D will live to fight another d–!”
As you were singing the last line, you had dramatically turned around, and to your absolute horror you saw Donnie at the door, looking at you with an amused smile. His sudden appearance made you shriek in surprise, and in an attempt to bring your arms back down to your side, you lost your balance, slipping on the still wet floor, and fell back onto your butt. You landed with a loud thump and a disgruntled ‘ow!”.
Your boyfriend quickly approached you, holding out a helping hand.
“I didn’t mean to startle you” he commented, and you took his hand. He pulled you up to your feet effortlessly, not letting go. “You okay?”
“Y-yeah…” you replied, heat rising to your face, as your free hand rubbed your aching bum. You cringed at the very fresh memory of your inelegant fall; as if being caught singing like this wasn’t embarrassing enough.
“You know, I’m kind of impressed you still remember that” Donnie commented and let go of your hand as you picked up the mop.
“How couldn’t I? It’s a real bop” you retorted with a sheepish smile. He hummed.
“Well, you don’t need to hide to sing it” he said, giving your temple a kiss. “You’re a good singer, I like listening to you. After dinner we can duet it if you want?”
Your grip on the mop tightened, cheeks flushing even more, if that was possible, but you nodded nonetheless. He looked at you for a moment, amused at your flustered state, then helped you with finishing up with cleaning. As you both approached the kitchen, he looked at you over his shoulder with a wink.
“And don’t worry, your secret’s safe with me.”
~~~~~
🐥 taglist: [more info in my pinned post!] @hearteyedracoon, @maribatshipper, @whygz, @lovelylovelydreams
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🎸MY THOUGHTS AND HEADCANONS TO ADAM FROM HAZBIN HOTEL - (for now)🍖
Hello hello folks, I've been thinking about writing about this post/blog for a while now and here it is, because Adam is my favorite character (obsession) and I have a lot of things in my head that I need share before I kidnap someone to listen to me talk about it for hours on end.
Hahaha I'm just kidding...or am I?
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TW: Mention of profanity and sex.
I'm writing this blog because I have a lot to say about Adam and I think I'm already bothering my friends too much (just kidding, I'm going to keep filling them with Adam until I say enough is enough🤓👆)
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Alright, let's start, firstly I was already a big fan of Hazbin hotel's work since the time Vizziepop had released the pilot on YouTube at the time of on October 28, 2019, and man, I was simply OBSESSED with the work, I had no idea who Adam was at that time, I was only 11 years old (And I know, I know, Hazbin Hotel was not and is not intended for minors, but I didn't have internet surveillance on my parents, so that's what happened and now I'm 18 years old).
And boy, oh boy
I was in complete EUPHORIA when it became public on August 7, 2020 that Hazbin Hotel was going to have a sequel on Amazon, I only knew how to talk about it and was excited waiting for the release date.
And when I watched that episode where Charlie has a meeting with Adam...I was like "THAT MAN, I NEED THAT MAN‼️‼️"
And that song..."Hell is Forever"... I can't remember a day that I didn't clean the house listening to that sound and pretending the broom was a guitar while I beat my hair like an 80s rocker high (I know, it's an exaggerated comparison but that's how I feel, so let me have it).
Here, listen to this work of art sung by our (MY) beloved Alex Brightman
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In addition to the song "Stick it to the man" from the musical "School of rock" that Adam references in one of the items on the list of things to get into paradise, coincidentally his voice actor Alex Brightman also He is the main voice of the song and a character in the musical.
I spent all day listening to her today, but that's the least of it
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There are also some songs by other singers that make me think of Adam because of their lyrics, for example Lana del Rey, there is a song of hers that all I think of when I hear it is Adam, unfortunately I can't share it here because it is a discarded song by the singer that I managed to download on a pirated website that has been taken down a while ago.
The songs that make me think of him are "Push me down" and what made me think of Adam is the following part "I'm your little baby doll and you are my mister rock 'n roll", the song "Brooklyn Baby" because of the music part "Well, my boyfriend's in a band, He plays guitar while I sing Lou Reed", the others songs are "Say yes to Heaven" and "Angels Forever".
Adam, besides being my favorite character and hyperfocus, was the reason I met the character Beetlejuice (my other hyperfocus) and the voice actor and actor Alex Brightman. Because he was the one who aroused my curiosity to know who his voice actor was since I recognized that his voice was the same as Fizzarolli's, and then when researching and discovering the actor, I also ended up discovering about Beetlejuice, I even have a blog about it, if you want to read it, this is it here.
Just like with Beetlejuice, I'm producing a page with drawings and collages about Adam in my sketchbook that I might post later in a future post about my sketchbook, but that's another topic.
In addition, I'm trying to put together some songs to create a playlist based on him, in it I'm putting rock songs from the 80s that I feel suit him or that he would listen to, some songs by the norwegian singer Aurora which are very reminiscent of and are based on the garden of Eden and Adam from the bible (although the Adam from Hazbin hotel and the one from the bible are completely different).
Some time ago I was writing a fanfic about Adam with an authorial character completely made by me, it was just a fanfic that I had written on character IA but then I decided to write it myself, but I never got around to posting it and kept it stored in my notepad.
The story took place in the timeline of the first season of the series, where heaven discovered that demons and beings from hell now possessed angelic fist weapons and could hurt or kill the exterminating angels after the death of one of the exterminating angels, they would need a new strategy or a new "weapon", and then with the decision of God and all the seraphim, she was created, an angel made to protect heaven and bring back balance by killing sinners in hell, her name was Angelita, and she would be handed over to Adam who would have to train her until the day of the next day of extermination (which would be the day in which Adam dies), throughout the story Adam would begin to feel something for her, unlike Lilith and Eve, he would fall in love out of true love and not obligation, this love between the two would be something forbidden (as a metaphor for the forbidden fruit of Eden) since by God's order she would have to be pure and virgin and that Adam would not fall into temptation for her, I won't tell the rest of the story, if you want I'll make a post just about that (I'll leave you curious hehe), all I can say is that Adam will not die and the ending is tragic, for all sides.
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🤘🏻MY HEADCANONS ABOUT ADAM🎸
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These headcanons are some things I thought Adam might like, do, or make me think of him, and I'm also writing this because most of the headcanons I find about him are about sex or couples things (Not that they're bad, some are actually quite cute and I read them when I need comfort), so I'm here to contribute some content just about him.
• About how he feels about have been betrayed
I know, Adam is not the best person in the world but man, he is not a monster, he is a human, the first human, unfortunately, human nature is curious and destructive, not that this is an excuse for everything Adam committed. But then I think, "How much did it hurt to be cheated on twice?", "Did he feel worthless, insufficient?", I know how much it hurts to be cheated on, then I think how bad he felt and feels, but he hides it all behind a false personality of "Dick Master" and "The First Man", titles, high ego and falsehood to hide your real self. The only part of Adam that we were shown about him was him being extremely selfish, rude, arrogant and sexist, but all in scenes where he was exposed to people, people who weren't close to him, and then I wonder if he's just all that, but I feel like Adam he's just a hurt man who hides what he feels behind a false personality, just like Angel Dust does. Proof that he cares about people (at least those he considers close) was his smile at Lute as he slowly lost his life in the arms of the exterminating angel who cried seeing him dying. (I cried so much at this scene 😭)
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Adam is a sexist character, I can't deny that, but man, he's the first man, no one ever told him what was right and wrong, they always let him do what he wanted from the beginning of his creation, and even in heaven, but now he had Sera to put him in his place at least when she was around.
I might just be taking a shot in the dark or looking for something good in what isn't there, but that's how I think about Adam, so please let me have this, let me see there's still some good there.
• Adam has a chubby body (like a dad body)
Okay, this one took me a while to think about, because a lot of people draw him thin and we never see him without his tunic, which left me quite confused, but after analyzing some scenes and discovering he was made based on his voice actor (Alex Brightman) I had no more doubts.
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In these scenes every time he is squeezed his belly ends up being marked and you can clearly see that he is a little chubby. I know there was that scene with Lilith at the beginning that shows him skinny, but let's face it guys, you can see from his scenes in heaven that he eats a lot, do you really think he wouldn't gain a little weight?
And even Lucifer during the fight in hell against him told Adam that he had really let himself go, kind of like he was different before when he was in the garden of Eden.
Honestly, I don't know why people try to say he's skinny, the fanarts are really beautiful and stuff, but come on, don't you think a chubby Adam would make more sense? I'm not saying this because I love chubby men (I think they're incredibly cute and it makes me want to hug them 😫💗) but I don't know, I just think that with all of his diet, which isn't the best, it made him gain a little weight in the meantime.
• He felt bad about being the only human in heaven
This is because of an art I saw on Pinterest and it made me reflect on it. Like, when he got to heaven he was the only one with human appearance, all other angels and winners (human souls who reach heaven) had different appearances, such as animal appearances, for example Molly, Angel Dust's sister, who is a spider.
So I think he may have made that mask with horns to feel more integrated into that society and less different.
•Adam plays guitar when he's feeling bad (sad, distressed, stuff like that)
I imagine that whenever Adam is feeling sad, distressed or even stressed, he goes somewhere alone and plays his guitar in calm chords expressing what he feels through the melody played, it would be calm notes but full of feelings, his black gloved fingers hitting the strings while all there is in the place are just him, his guitar and his mind, and no one else to see him like that.
I think that whenever he remembers Lilith and Eva's betrayals, he feels at least a little bad, and then playing his guitar stops and takes away all that bad feeling in his chest, even if it just goes away temporarily.
I imagine the following scenario, late afternoon almost dusk as the cotton white clouds take on a yellowish tone as the sun slowly sets bringing the night with it, while the sun brought the night with it, in Adam's chest that bitter feeling grew as memories knocked on the door again, leaving him more moody than usual, making him fly away from the city with his guitar to sit on the golden gates of heaven and as he plays the guitar calmly emptying that feeling from his chest so that the next day he pretends that nothing happened, but he knows, he knows that that will forever be stuck in his mind.
• He's not as popular as he says he is
Going back to that topic I said about him hiding behind a false narcissistic personality and high ego, I think that him being popular is a lie, both sexually and in society, I know, he is the first man and that would make him popular and the fact that he is a guitarist in a band, but think with me, would you like to be in the presence of someone or have relationships with someone who only knows how to curse all the time and talk about himself and how many girls he had sex with over the weekend?
Well, at least I think that everything he says is just stuff to inflate his ego and feel good about himself.
• He likes 80s rock bands
This is just in my head, I feel like Adam would like 80s rock bands like Metallica or Guns N' Roses, maybe even Slipknot, bands in general that have the same type of music that he plays, I also think he enjoys guitar solos like Slash or the solo from the song "Master of puppets".
I also think that his band's style follows the same style as these bands, I don't know, like I said it's just my headcanon.
•Adam has a fear or trauma of apples
This is supposed to be a little funny
This headcanon came to mind when a friend of mine who also knows Hazbin hotel made the joke that Adam is afraid or traumatized by apples because of the whole forbidden fruit of Eden thing and betrayal by Eve.
Imagine, Lute simply eating an apple near him and he freaks out, ripping the apple out of her hands and throwing it away.
⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘
I honestly feel like Adam deserved a chance to change, a chance at redemption, a chance to really be loved and really love, no sex, no divine obligation, just real love.
Well guys that's what I have for now, I'll try to remember more headcanons for a next post, maybe even some +18, but for now that's all I have in my mind.
Thank you so much for reading, kisses in your heart 💗🤘🏻
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