#I’m still trying to think of albums for the serious post

[aloveucannothide]

No Skip Albums: Tag Game

Tagged by @srldesigns6277 thank you so much for tagging me <3333

Rules: share the albums that you can listen to nonstop. those lightning in a bottle-albums that scratch ur brain just right. every single track, an absolute banger. u could not skip one if u tried. no notes. stunning, show-stopping, immaculate. ur no-skip albums

From left to right

- Walls by Louis Tomlinson

- Walls by Louis Tomlinson

- Walls by Louis Tomlinson

- Walls by Louis Tomlinson

- Walls by Louis Tomlinson

- Walls by Louis Tomlinson

- Walls by Louis Tomlinson

- Walls by Louis Tomlinson

- Walls by Louis Tomlinson

(I love this album sm)

Tagging: @enchantedlandcoffee @louisisalarrie @louisarmpits @bogissunflower @28goldens @larriescompass @theirloveisgross @zainmalik @ashleyyroses @1dlthslvr

(sorry if you’ve already been tagged before, I’ve never done a tag game before this)

[syuga-s]

i made my fiancés tinder profile

w.c. 8.5k pairing. non-idol!jeon jungkook x fem!reader genre. cute and angsty friends to lovers <333 a/n. idk guys i wrote this like a month ago but I JUST GOT THE ENERGY TO POST IT so i apologize in advance if you find mistakes here and there, ALSO i made the playlist that inspired me to make this fic so i'll just leave it here if you want to give it a listen or save it don't look at my other playlists tho they're a mess 🦦

You always thought you were pretty good at giving dating advice. It’s easier when you’re not the one doing the dating, right? That’s how it all started with Jungkook. You two were chilling at your apartment one lazy Sunday afternoon when you suddenly blurted out, “Why are you still single, Jungkook? You’re amazing, good-looking, and fun. You should at least be on like three different dating apps.”

He laughed, running a hand through his hair in that effortlessly cool way he always did. “Dunno' just haven’t found the right person,” he said with a smile that made you heart do a weird little flip. “I don’t think I’m good at dating, haha.”

“You’re ridiculous,” you shot back, sitting up. “Let's make you an account. We’ll get you some matches in no time.”

He hesitated for a second, then shrugged. “Sure, let's do it.”

And that’s how you ended up setting up his profile, not realizing that this would be the beginning of the end of your denial and the start of a love story you never saw coming.

You grabbed his phone and he settled onto the couch next to you. “Okay, first things first. We need some killer photos. Let’s start with your main picture.”

You opened the camera app. You sat there, looking at his phone for a minute before he let out a loud laugh.

You looked up. “What is it?"

He grinned, pointing at something behind you. "It's just Tae taking a picture of us setting up a dating profile," Jungkook said, chuckling.

You turned around to see Taehyung standing in the doorway, holding his phone up with a huge grin on his face. "Don't mind me," Taehyung sang out, winking at the two of you. "Just capturing this for posterity."

Tae showed Jungkook the picture and a fit of laughter erupted again, now from the two of them. "Your face! You look so focused and super serious right now."

Rolling your eyes, you lightly smacked his arm. "This is serious business! We need to find the perfect picture to reel in all the potential matches."

Then you started browsing through his photo gallery to curate the most attractive selection of pictures.

There you had him on the gym doing weights, him on his boxing gear, with his dogs, him doing the dishes with a strangely tight black shirt, a few selfies on his car, with his motorcycle. You could sell a whole album with his photos, how on earth would you do him justice and only choose 10 of them?

"Why is this so hard?"

Jungkook chuckled. "Because you're not choosing photos for a profile, you're trying to find a reason to stare at me and my body for too long."

"Boy, I'm trying to help you here, and if I'm gonna do it, I might as well do this like a professional matchmaker." You retorted.

His eyebrows furrowed. "When have you ever paired someone up?"

You smiled smugly. "That's none of your business, Jeon."

"It is, actually, since you're helping me with this thing."

"Fine, if you must know, I hooked up one my friend's older sister with my college roommate."

"Really? How did that go?" He asked, curious.

"Pretty well, they've been together for a couple years now." You answered, still going through his photos.

"Wasn't your college roommate that guy with the blue hair?" He asked, his tone changing slightly.

"Uh-huh, why?"

"Wasn't he the guy you were dating during our third year?"

"Oh yeah, I forgot about that."

"How can you forget about him?" He sounded annoyed. "You spent an entire week crying in my bed because he broke up with you."

"Oh my god, did I? I don't recall." You were playing dumb, of course you remembered but there was no need to talk about that. "What do you think of this one?" It was a shirtless picture, point blank.

"I think you look kinda slutty but everyone's gonna eat it up, you'll get a date in no time." You continued.

"I am not posting a shirtless picture, are you crazy?" He snatched the phone from your hand.

"Well, it's not like we're gonna sell the damn picture, it's just your torso and the picture is really nice, you look good, I don't know why you're making such a fuss."

He didn't say anything, just looked at you.

"What? I'm complimenting you, it's the truth." You rolled your eyes.

"Okay, thank you." He was blushing.

"Are you blushing?" You asked, amused.

"No, it's just really hot in here." He took off his hoodie, throwing it somewhere in your living room.

You didn't even realize how close he was sitting next to you. It wasn't like it was the first time he'd been on your couch, but something felt different today. It was strange.

All the photos that you chose showcased different aspects of Jungkook's personality. Each photo told a story about him - his love for his dogs, his passion for staying active, his playful side with silly selfies. As you scrolled through his gallery, you couldn't help but notice the genuine smile on his face in many of the pictures, a smile that seemed to light up the whole world.

After him putting up a fight on choosing his favorite photos of him, next you had to write him something for his bio.

Jungkook leaned in closer to read over your shoulder.

"This is stupid, what do you want me to write? My name, my age, my occupation?" He was whining.

"Yes, those things obviously, but also things like, I don't know a joke or something to sum up your personality. I want them to know you're fun and cute, mind-blowingly good at everything, something along those lines."

"I am mind-blowingly good at everything." He said, his tone confident.

You rolled your eyes.

"So let's say, what if I write 'shit i'd date the hell out of me', you like it?" You asked him with a smile.

He laughed. "I do, I really do."

"Okay, it's settled." You wrote down the phrase, and a bunch of things about him.

"Now we just have to add something that will hook them up."

"Like what?"

"I don't know, just be honest. Just, don't write that you're looking for a girl to have sex with."

"But I am looking for a girl to have sex with." Blank expression on his face.

"You are so dumb sometimes." You threw a pillow at his face.

He caught it mid-air. "God, you know I'm not look— this was YOUR IDEA IN THE FIRST PLACE!" He yelled, trying to defend himself.

"Yeah, but, just write something that will make you look not like a manwhore."

He thought for a moment. "I know, I got it."

"Okay, shoot."

"I'm a manwhore." He had the brightest smile.

"Oh, for the love of..." You couldn't help but laugh at his antics. "Alright, fine. If that's what you want to go with, who am I to stop you?"

You two were done, and he was already getting notifications.

"Woah, that was... surprisingly fast." He was surprised, and you were proud of yourself.

"Of course, you're hot and cute. We don't see your type in dating apps very often."

He gave you a weird look, you couldn't quite figure out. "Thanks?"

"No worries, I'm sure you'll find someone in no time." You patted him on the back as you were getting up and ready to go to the kitchen and make some dinner. "See who you like and I'll help you on how to ask them on a date."

"Okay." He smiled.

"What are you smiling at? Are you looking at them already?"

"Yeah, I'm trying to see which one of these girls will be our first victim."

"Don't call them victims." You laughed.

The truth is that Jungkook only agreed to this because he loves spending time with you.

As you busied yourself in the kitchen, Jungkook couldn't shake the warmth spreading through his chest. He scrolled through the notifications on his phone, half-heartedly swiping left and right. His mind wasn't on finding a date; it was on you.

He couldn't believe he agreed to this. Making a profile on Tinder just to humor the best friend he was in love with, seemed harmless at first, but now, seeing the app light up with potential matches, he felt burdened. He wasn't here to date. He was here because he wanted to be closer to you, even if it meant pretending to search for someone else.

Each time a new message popped up, he found himself wondering if you'd approve. Would you laugh at the cheesy pickup lines together? Would you help him craft witty responses? He realized he didn't care about meeting any of these girls; he only cared about spending time with you.

But as much as he tried to focus on the dating app in front of him, his thoughts kept drifting back to you. To the way you laughed and teased him, to the way you always seemed to know what he needed even when he didn't realize it himself. Jungkook found himself longing for something he couldn't quite name, a feeling that stirred deep within him whenever he was near you.

He sighed, setting his phone down on the coffee table as he leaned back on the couch because he didn't bother looking through any of the profiles. Instead he made his way to the kitchen, where you were standing over a pot, stirring absentmindedly.

He stepped up behind you, watching as you stirred. His chest was warm, and he had a strange urge to wrap his arms around you and nuzzle his nose into your neck.

"Hey," he said, his voice soft.

You turned your head slightly, not looking at him but smiling. "Hey."

Jungkook took a step closer, placing his hand over yours. "Let me help," he said.

You handed him the wooden spoon, your fingers brushing against his in the exchange. He stirred the pot gently, mirroring the way he wanted to handle your heart. Neither of you spoke, the only sound filling the room was the clinking of utensils against the pot.

"You okay there?" Your voice broke through his daydreaming.

He answered you softly while running a hand through his hair nervously. "Yeah, just... thinking."

As the aroma of the dish wafted through the air, you felt his warmth seeping into you, comforting and familiar. You couldn't ignore the heavy tension that hung between you, thick like a fog.

He cleared his throat, breaking the spell. "So... what do we do now?" His voice was low, almost a whisper.

You turned around to face him, his eyes searching yours for answers neither of you dared to voice. "We eat dummy," you said with a laugh.

You and Jungkook sat down for dinner, the tension from earlier still lingering between you. As you ate, you caught each other stealing glances when the other wasn't looking.

"So...have you looked at any of the matches yet?" you asked, trying to break the silence.

Jungkook shifted in his seat. "A few, but no one really caught my eye," he said evasively.

You nodded, poking at your food. "Well if you see anyone you like, let me know. I want to help."

"Thanks, I will," Jungkook said with a small smile.

You returned the smile weakly, a pang in your chest at the thought of Jungkook dating someone else. You had pushed the feelings down for so long, not wanting to jeopardize your friendship. But your dumb decision of making him a dating profile forced you to confront how you really felt.

After you finished eating together, Jungkook helped you with the dishes. You dried off your hands, and he was ready to leave. Almost as if he was on a rush.

"Thanks for making dinner," he said with a smile.

You nodded. "Of course, you know I love having you over."

You stood at the door awkwardly, not knowing what to say.

Jungkook cleared his throat. "I'll text you," he said.

You gave him a thumbs-up, your voice coming out more high-pitched than normal. "Yeah, cool. See ya later."

He chuckled and leaned down to give you a hug. You wrapped your arms around him, breathing in his scent. You held him a little longer than necessary, wanting to memorize the feeling of his arms enveloping you.

Jungkook's hand lingered on your shoulder as he pulled away.

"Goodnight," he said softly, his thumb brushing against your cheek before he turned to leave. You watched him go, feeling a mix of emotions swirling inside you. As the door closed behind him, you leaned against it, aching with the realization that you might have just pushed away the one person who meant more to you than just a friend.

If only you had the courage to do something.

The following week, you found yourself cleaning your house, the mess had piled up and you had a bunch of your clothes all over the place and that's when you found Jungkook's hoodie from last week. It had fallen between your couch and the wall, so you pulled it out with a considerable amount of force. That's when his iPod fell to the ground.

He still uses this thing? The corners of your mouth turned up involuntarily as you recalled teasing him about the ancient device.

You were surprised, most people uses their phones, or maybe he still has this thing because it was a present from you. If you hadn't seen it you wouldn't have remembered that you had given him this iPod for Christmas like 7 years ago.

You took the device in your hand and turned it on. You figured it would be nice to hear his playlists while you kept cleaning.

You should have just connected it and played it on shuffle. But I guess humans are very nosey creatures. Creatures who love to go through someone else's things, just to see another hidden side of said person.

So, like any other normal human being, you opened his lists, and started to go through them.

"Golden mix", "Euphoria", "OST's". Those were pretty standard. "Lonely nights" a bit of a stretch, "Best of the 00s", "Dance party" and "Songs to sing along". Fork found in kitchen. And there was one more playlist that caught your attention.

Simply labeled with— "Your name."

Your heart started beating faster. What is this?

You opened the playlist and you were welcomed by a list of what it seemed like... love songs.

The first one was "Best Friend". You didn't know what to think. Why did he have a playlist with songs like "Kiss me" by Matt Maltese, "Mountains" by Charlotte Day Wilson, "Making Time" by Rex Orange County. All love songs.

Then it hit you. He's in love.

You started panicking. Your heart racing with thoughts you couldn't ignore any longer. The playlist named after you echoed in your mind.

You couldn't believe it. Jungkook, your best friend, the one who always seemed so casual and carefree, had a playlist dedicated to you filled with love songs. Your mind raced as you tried to process this new information. Was it possible that he felt the same way you did? That the tension between you wasn't one-sided after all?

You sat down on the couch, still holding his iPod in your hands. The weight of it felt heavier now, as if it held all the unspoken words and emotions that had been swirling between you and Jungkook. You couldn't bring yourself to put it down; instead, you scrolled through the playlist again, each song title tugging at your heartstrings.

A sense of warmth washed over you, mingled with fear and uncertainty. What should you do now? Should you confront Jungkook about the playlist, lay all your cards on the table and risk changing everything between you? Or should you keep quiet, pretend you never stumbled upon this precious list?

You knew there was something going on, you weren't stupid. But you couldn't bring yourself to accept the possibility that the guy you love, might like you back. It's easier to pretend like nothing is happening. You have built this whole imaginary life with him in your head, but not once did you consider that it might be a two-way street.

"I already said I'm in love with you Can't you hear me? Why do you act like you don't? You know well the spark in my eyes when I look at you Can't you see it? Why do you act like you don't?"

You had been listening to the song on repeat for an hour. It was stuck in your head. Your heart was aching.

The reality was finally sinking in.

"He's in love with me," you whispered to yourself, the realization hitting you like a tidal wave. It explained so much—his kindness, his attentiveness, even his willingness to go along with making a stupid profile for a stupid dating app. But you had built walls around your heart, afraid to acknowledge the possibility that your feelings were reciprocated.

You felt a surge of emotions, a mix of joy and fear swirling inside you. Jungkook's unspoken confession through his playlist left you feeling exposed and vulnerable, yet strangely hopeful.

"Falling" played softly through the speakers, its lyrics painting a picture of longing and uncertainty. It mirrored your own inner turmoil, the battle between fear and listening to your heart for once.

You had spent so long convincing yourself that this was just a friendship, that any romantic thoughts were one-sided. Now, faced with the truth, you didn't know what to do next. Should you tell Jungkook? Should you pretend you never saw the playlist?

Your mind raced with questions, but deep down, you knew you couldn't ignore this any longer. Jungkook's feelings were out in the open, laid bare through these songs that said a lot about his emotions.

Taking a deep breath, you closed your eyes and let the music wash over you. Each melody, each lyric felt like a confession, a plea for you to see what had been in front of you all along.

"I already said I'm in love with you," the lyrics repeated in your mind, echoing the words you longed to hear from Jungkook himself.

The weight of the situation settled over you. You constructed the exact same playlist on your own phone, replaying it endlessly, searching for answers in the same songs he had chosen. It became a ritual, a way to understand what Jungkook hadn't yet said aloud. Each track felt like a message, a confession hidden in plain sight.

As days passed, the playlist became a lifeline, a connection to Jungkook that transcended words. You wondered if he knew the impact his secret gesture had on you, if he realized how deeply you analyzed each song, each lyric, each subtle hint of affection.

It was as if the playlist had become a conversation between your hearts, a silent dialogue that spoke volumes about your unspoken emotions. You couldn't deny the truth any longer—the love you felt for Jungkook had bloomed quietly, nurtured by his unwavering presence in your life and it reflected in the selection of songs carefully chosen by him.

And so you continued to listen, to immerse yourself in the music that spoke of love and longing. It was a soundtrack to his emotions, a testament to the unspeakable love that had grown between you and him.

The guys had planned a small gathering at your house. Hoseok, Jimin and Tae arrived at the same time around 8:00 p.m. with food, drinks and Cards Against Humanity. They were already having fun when they rang the bell.

"Hey," you said as you opened the door.

"Hey!" they greeted you.

You all headed towards the living room and they placed the things they brought on the table.

You chuckled, feeling a wave of warmth at their enthusiasm. "Thanks for coming, guys. I've got the place ready—cleaned up only for you the other day," you teased, motioning towards the neatly arranged living room.

As you all settled in, chatting and unpacking the snacks and games, there was a noticeable absence. Jungkook hadn't arrived yet, and though you tried not to dwell on it, his absence didn't go unnoticed by your friends.

"Where's Jungkook?" Tae finally asked, voicing the question that lingered in the air.

You shrugged nonchalantly, though your heart skipped a beat at the mention of his name. "Not sure. He said he might be a bit late."

Hoseok raised an eyebrow, exchanging a knowing look with Jimin. "Didn't he say he was gonna meet with someone from Tinder?"

"Tinder?"

"You know, the dating app," Tae chimed in, taking a bite of a snack.

"I know what Tinder is Tae,” you replied with a laugh, trying to keep your cool.

"So you didn't know he was on a date?"

"No, he didn't tell me. Are you serious? He's on a date right now?" Your voice came out louder than expected, and you cursed yourself for the slip.

Jimin frowned, concerned. "Are you okay, Y/N?"

You waved dismissively, trying to downplay the hurt and disappointment. "Yeah, all good... well, more food and games for us until he gets here."

You tried to push down the gnawing feeling of jealousy that threatened to surface at the thought of Jungkook on a date with someone else. The idea of him with another person stirred up emotions you had been trying so hard to accept the past days. You forced a smile as you joined in the banter and laughter, attempting to bury your own conflicting emotions.

Despite their casual remarks, you couldn't shake the unease settling in your stomach. You hoped Jungkook would arrive soon, eager for his presence to dispel the nervous tension building within you.

The minutes ticked by, filled with laughter and infinite jokes over Cards Against Humanity. Each time the doorbell rang, you found yourself tensing, hoping it was him. But each time, it turned out to be someone else—a delivery person, one of your neighbors...

As the evening progressed, you couldn't help but steal glances at your phone, checking for any messages from Jungkook. But you decided not to keep waiting and decided to send him a text first.

'whats taking you so longggggggg' it read.

He replied instantly. 'i'm outside, coming now'

You put down your phone, your heart pounding. A few seconds later, you heard familiar footsteps approaching and there was a knock on the door. You got up, heading towards the door.

"He's here!" Tae exclaimed, a grin spreading across his face as he jumped up to answer the door with you.

You held your breath as Jungkook stepped inside, a sheepish smile on his lips as he greeted everyone. His eyes met yours briefly, and for a moment, the world seemed to slow down.

"Sorry I'm late guys," Jungkook said, setting down a bag of drinks next to Tae's.

Jimin smirked teasingly. "Lost track of time, huh?"

Jungkook chuckled nervously, rubbing the back of his neck. "Haha nah,"

Absolutely not. It was a disaster. Why did I agree to this? She seemed nice enough online, he thought, but in person... It just wasn’t there. The conversation felt forced, and I couldn’t wait for it to end. He grimaced, recalling how he struggled to find common ground and forced a laugh at her jokes. I should've been with y/n tonight, helping her get everything ready for this.

Of course, all of that stayed in his head. He was embarrassed to tell everyone how much he hated meeting someone new. It would just give your friends the opening to tease him more about it.

"Well, you made it, and we're all here now. So let's start" you suggested, breaking the silence.

His eyes sought out yours, finding a mix of emotions reflected back at him—surprise, curiosity, and something he couldn't quite place.

Everyone nodded in agreement and moved to gather around the coffee table, pulling your cushions closer.

With Jungkook's presence, the gathering felt complete, as if a missing piece had been found.

And as you all laughed and played into the night, you couldn't ignore the way Jungkook's gaze lingered on you, a silent reassurance of the feelings you'd been trying to suppress.

"I'm going to take a photo of this." Tae announced, lifting up his beer.

You and the others followed suit, holding your drinks up and smiling. Jungkook on your right got closer to you for the picture, cheek to cheek, his scent surrounding you. You wanted to lean in and practically inhale him.

"Perfect." Tae snapped the shot, and then showed it to the group. "What do you think, everyone?"

Everyone agreed that it was a good photo.

"We all look great," Tae said.

"But not as good as those two," Hoseok joked.

You rolled your eyes. "Please."

"It's true," Hoseok insisted. "You guys look good together."

Jimin nodded, taking another sip of his drink. "They're right. You’d make a cute couple."

Jungkook felt shy at their words. It's not like he was trying to hide his feelings for you, but he hadn't exactly made his intentions known, either. It was frustrating, wanting to be closer to you but not knowing how.

At least it was encouraging to know that your closest friends were seeing you both that way. That meant he had hope, right?

"Okay, that's enough," you said, feeling your cheeks heat up. "Let's keep playing."

As the game resumed, the group's attention shifted back to the cards.

You cleared your throat, shifting awkwardly on the cushion. "So... how was your date?"

Jungkook winced, not meeting your eyes. "It was okay," he said, his tone lacking enthusiasm.

You bit your lip, curiosity gnawing at you. "Just okay? What happened?"

Jungkook shook his head, still not meeting your gaze. "I don't know. It just didn't feel right, I guess."

You tilted your head, searching his face. "What do you mean?"

Jungkook shrugged, a sheepish expression on his face. "It was just... awkward. We didn't really click. I don't know."

Your chest tightened, a mix of emotions swirling inside. "Oh," you managed, turning back to the game. "I'm sorry."

"Don't be." He sighed, running a hand through his hair. "I'm not good at this kind of thing, you know? Meeting new people, going on dates. It's hard for me. I'd rather be with people I already know and trust."

You knew what he meant. The same went for you. It was hard enough trying to navigate your feelings without having to worry about other people, too.

You nodded, giving him a small smile. "I get it."

"I just wish it could be easier, you know? Like, finding someone you actually like who happens to also like you back, and not having to worry about anything else. Just enjoying each other's company."

Your breath caught, your mind reeling from his words. And from the way he was looking at you, you could tell he wasn't just talking about friendship.

"Why would you say something like that?" you questioned, the words tumbling out before you could stop them.

Jungkook's brow furrowed in confusion. "What do you mean? Say something like what?"

"That you wish you could be with someone who actually likes you and not have to worry about anything else."

"I... because it's true. I don't want to go on stupid dates anymore, I want to be with someone I care about. Someone I can laugh and have fun with."

You swallowed, your pulse quickening.

"Someone like who?"

Jungkook exhaled, a nervous smile tugging at the corners of his lips. "I think you know who," he said quietly.

You stared at him, speechless, as his words sunk in. Your heart was racing, your body buzzing with adrenaline.

Hoseok, who had been unusually quiet, suddenly made himself heard, "I think I'm stuck in your bathroom!"

You and Jungkook turned to find your friend, who sounded flustered and slightly panicked. Jimin and Tae burst into laughter, trying to contain themselves as Hoseok continued to tug at the bathroom door.

"What do you mean you're stuck?" Jimin managed to ask between giggles.

Hoseok yelled helplessly. "I went in to use the bathroom, and now the door won't open!"

Jungkook glanced at you with a bemused smile, the tension from earlier dissipating with the absurdity of the situation. "Seriously, Hobi?" he chuckled.

Hoseok sounded exasperated. "It's not funny! How am I supposed to get out of here?"

"I'll go get some tools," Tae offered, still chuckling as he headed towards the kitchen.

You stepped closer to the bathroom door, trying to assess the situation. "It's just stuck. Let me try," you suggested, reaching for the handle and giving it a firm tug.

To everyone's surprise, the door swung open easily, revealing Hoseok looking both relieved and slightly embarrassed. "Oh, thanks, I swear it was stuck…"

Jimin clapped Hoseok on the back, still laughing. "Sure it was, Hobi. Sure."

The rest of the evening passed by in a blur of laughter and games, and despite the lingering awkwardness from earlier, you were glad that the night had gone well.

It was close to 2:00 a.m. when your friends finally began to call it a night, and you were exhausted.

"Thanks again for coming, everyone. I had a lot of funnnn," you said, giving them each a hug goodbye.

Jungkook was still on your kitchen helping you clean up all the mess you made. Drying the dishes and placing the glasses on your cabinets. You were cleaning up the table when he walked up to you.

"Need any help?"

"I'm done, thank you."

"Are you sure?"

"I am, thanks Kookie,"

You started walking towards your room when you heard him speak up.

"I really liked being here tonight."

"I know it was a lot of fun," you replied with a small smile. You grabbed his hoodie and his iPod to return them. Staring at the endearing device. Almost as if it were something fragile.

"I'm glad you had a good time," you responded as you walked back to the kitchen, handing him back his belongings. As you stood there in the dimly lit room, a comfortable silence settled between you. Jungkook's gaze was intense as he looked at you, his eyes searching yours for something unspoken.

Jungkook paused his moves, as if weighing his next words carefully. "I was thinking... maybe we could hang out again this week, just the two of us."

"What about the girl from Tinder?" you asked as you returned to face him, your tone sharper than you intended.

Jungkook frowned, confusion clouding his features. "What are you talking about? You know I went on one date. I told you it was a disaster."

You sighed, suddenly feeling foolish. "Yeah, I know, don't know why I asked that, haha" you muttered. "Didn't know you still used this thing,"

He smiled, his fingers brushing over the iPod. "I still love my music in here, you know, it sounds a lot better"

"Yeah, that's what I thought,"

He looked at you intently, and the air between you seemed to grow heavy.

"I've missed spending time with you, Y/N."

Your breath caught in your throat, your pulse quickening as you stared at him. "Me too," you whispered.

"So, is that a yes?"

"A yes to what?"

"The offer to hang out,"

"Oh, right. Um, yeah, sure. Sounds nice."

Jungkook's face lit up. "Cool. Well, I guess I'll see you later, then." With a final smile, he turned and left.

You watched him go and your mind was spinning. Jungkook's words echoed in your head, his words sending a flutter through your chest. You couldn't help but grin. Maybe there was hope for you two after all.

The following day, you woke up to the sun streaming in through your curtains, illuminating the room in a soft glow. You stretched lazily, savoring the warmth of your bed, before reluctantly climbing out and heading to the bathroom to wash up.

Unconciously, you began to shut yourself out. You had spent the whole night awake, thoughts about the possibility of being with your best friend swirling around your head, preventing you from falling asleep.

As you brushed your teeth, you heard your phone buzz. It was a text from him.

'Good morning'

A smile tugged at your lips, butterflies erupting in your stomach.

'good morning'

'can we go out today? im craving pizza'

You bit your lip, considering the invitation. A part of you was eager to see him, but another part was worried that it might be awkward, especially after the scenarios you created in your head last night.

You ended up refusing to go out with him. And he started to get anxious. He thought he may have done something wrong. That you were actually angry for going on a date or that you no longer wanted him to be part of your life just because he went out with someone else.

Jungkook started panicking.

And so, he called the guys.

"I don't know, she's just not acting normal." he sighed.

"Did something happen the other night?" Hoseok asked, concerned.

"No, I don't think so. She didn't say anything to me,"

"So why is she mad at you?"

"I have no idea. I was hoping maybe you had an idea,"

"Did she say she was mad at you?"

"Not directly, but she didn't want to go out today,"

"Well, I'm not surprised. She's probably just tired,"

"Tired?"

"Yeah, from work and all that, she's probably exhausted. I'm sure it's nothing."

"Do you think so? You don't think she's mad at me?"

"I really don't think she is. She'll probably just want to rest for a few days, and then things will go back to normal."

Your attitude changed so suddenly. You kept on cancelling on him. It’s been weeks.

"You have to talk to her, man," Jimin said.

"What do I say? How do I bring it up? Do I just ask her why she's been avoiding me? What if she doesn't know what I'm talking about?"

"Then ask her. Don't overthink it. Just say it."

Jungkook sighed, frustrated. "You make it sound so easy,"

"Look, I'm not gonna lie to you. It's probably gonna be awkward as fuck, but you can't let it get in the way of your friendship. You've been friends for so long, and it's obviously important to both of you. If she really is mad at you, then you need to find out what's going on. But if she's not, then you need to clear the air and move on. Because otherwise, this is just gonna keep getting worse and worse for you."

"Yeah, you're right. I'm just... worried, I guess."

"I know, but don't be. Everything’s fine. It’ll work out, especially if you let her know that you like her."

"What? Are you crazy? I can't just tell her that."

"Why not?"

"Because... what if she doesn't feel the same way?"

"So what if she doesn't? You'll never know unless you tell her. And if she does feel the same way, then you can finally stop being all sad and pathetic."

"You think she likes me?"

"Well, only she can tell you that, but you'll never know if you don't talk to her. So suck it up and go for it."

"Fine. I'll talk to her."

"Good."

"But... how do I tell her?"

"Just be honest. Tell her you've been worried that something is wrong, and you want to make sure everything is okay. Then let her know how you feel. But, be prepared for her reaction. If she doesn't feel the same way, it could make things weird. But you need to deal with it and move on."

That same day you were laying down in bed, scrolling through your phone. Reading over and over the lyrics of one particular song on the playlist.

"Is there a place for me? Is there a place for us? I can't tell you how much I love you, babe Open the door Open your heart Tell me how you're feeling, I miss you so bad I'm falling to pieces"

And just like that, your phone began vibrating, your heart beating rapidly as his name flashed across the screen.

"Hello?"

"Hey, are you free? Can we talk?"

"Uhm... sure, yeah. Now?"

"If it's okay, yes."

"Okay,"

"I'm coming up now."

"Wait, wha-..."

Jungkook was already at your door, knocking frantically. You opened it for him, your heart in your throat.

He stood before you, looking determined. His eyes were wide, his hair tousled, and he was out of breath, as if he had just run a marathon.

"Sorry, I was already on my way. I had to do it now. I have to say it, because otherwise, I won't have the courage to say it some other time,"

"Okay?"

He inhaled deeply, his eyes locked on yours.

"Y/N, I really, really like you. And I've been so confused and conflicted because I've always liked you, then I started thinking that maybe there was more. And then I realized there was. I really, really like you."

You swallowed hard, the words ringing in your ears.

"I-..."

"It's okay, I just wanted you to know,"

You shook your head, struggling to comprehend what he had just told you. "I'm sorry, I'm just..."

"I know, and I'm sorry. But I had to say it."

"So, does this mean... what are you saying exactly?"

Jungkook hesitated, running a hand through his hair. "Look, Y/N, I don't expect anything from you, and I don't want things to get weird. But I just had to tell you. I'm crazy about you."

You nodded slowly, processing his words. "uh. I-... uh."

"I know it's sudden, and I'm sorry. I just couldn't hold it in anymore. But I don't want anything to change, I promise. I'll just go, and we can forget this ever happened. We can go back to the way things were, I promise. I'm sorry,"

"Jungkook, stop apologizing. It's not a bad thing, I'm just... processing. I've never had anyone say they're crazy about me before," with your phone in your hand an idea immediately came to you.

"Can I show you something?" you asked him.

"What is it?"

You walked up to him, your phone in your hand. You handed him your device and let him see your screen. There it was, the infamous playlist.

Jungkook's doe eyes widened, a small gasp escaping his lips as he noticed. "What... is this...?"

"I went through your iPod when you left your hoodie last time," you told him with an embarrassed grin. "They’re the same songs you have on yours,"

"This is so embarrassing," he groaned, his cheeks red. "You... you went through my iPod?" Jungkook asked, now with a hint of amusement in his voice.

You nodded, feeling a mix of embarrassment and relief that he wasn't angry about it. "I was curious about the music you listen to. And I found… this,”

He stared at the playlist, then back at you, a smile tugging at the corners of his lips. "So... does that mean you... already knew how I felt?" Jungkook asked, hope flickering in his eyes.

Your heart raced at his words, a mix of excitement and uncertainty swirling inside you. Could this really be happening? Could your long-standing friendship truly be blossoming into something more?

"Jungkook," you began, your voice barely above a whisper. "I... I like you too. More than just a friend."

"So what does this mean? That we are supposed to be together?"

"Maybe, or maybe not. It could just mean that you have great taste in music and I admire it,"

Jungkook's eyes widened with hope, a grin spreading across his face. "I've been wanting to tell you for so long, but I was afraid of ruining everything between us."

You smiled, your heart fluttering. "Me too, I’m sorry for making you worry these past few days,"

"Can I hug you?" he asked, his voice trembling slightly.

You nodded, wrapping your arms around his neck.

Jungkook held onto you tightly, his arms snug around your waist. You rested your chin on his shoulder, closing your eyes and inhaling his familiar scent.

After a few moments, he pulled away slightly, his hands still resting on your hips.

He looked at you with a mix of relief and uncertainty in his eyes. "So, I didn't ruin anything between us?" he murmured softly.

You shook your head, a small smile playing on your lips. "You didn't ruin anything, Jungkook. If anything, you've made everything clearer."

His shoulders relaxed slightly at your words, a hint of a smile returning to his face. "I'm glad."

"I'm glad too," you began again, your voice steady but tinged with nervousness. "But I also want you to know that... I've been thinking a lot too."

Jungkook turned to face you fully, his expression a mix of anticipation and apprehension. "About...?"

"About us," you admitted softly, meeting his gaze. "About how much I enjoy spending time with you, about how much I admire you, and... how I've felt something more than just friendship for a while now."

His eyes widened slightly, hope flickering in them. "A while?”

You nodded, a shy smile playing on your lips. "Yes, Jungkook. A while. I've just been afraid to say anything because I didn't want to lose you in case you didn't felt the same way about me."

He stepped closer to you, his hand reaching out tentatively. "Y/N... I wish I had known sooner. I've been struggling with these feelings, not knowing if you felt the same way."

"I'm sorry for not saying anything earlier," you murmured, your fingers brushing against his. "But I'm glad we're talking about it now."

He squeezed your hand gently, his eyes never leaving yours. "Me too. More than anything."

There was a moment of silence between you, the weight of your shared emotions hanging in the air. Finally, Jungkook spoke again, his voice filled with determination.

"So... what do we do now?"

You chuckled softly, feeling a surge of affection for him. "I think we take it one step at a time. We've already taken a big step today."

He nodded, a smile spreading across his face. "Yeah, you're right. I'm just... really happy right now."

"Me too," you said, squeezing his hand.

"I guess the only question now is... are we... together together?" he asked hesitantly.

You grinned, your heart pounding in your chest. "Only if you want us to be,"

"Yes, yes, yes. Of course, yes,"

"Then it's settled. We're together," you giggled.

Jungkook laughed, the sound sending a warm feeling through your chest.

Cut to 4 years in the future.

There you were at a dinner with friends and family. It had been four years since you got together, but it felt like an eternity. You both were so excited for each other, for your life from now on.

"Hey, you got a little something," he whispered, brushing away a strand of hair from your cheek.

You couldn't help but smile, his touch as tender as ever. "Thanks,"

"No problem," he smiled.

Then you could hear someone clinking a glass. "A few words from the fiancé!" Jin's voice reverberated through the dimly lit restaurant.

"Y-yeah, yeah," your boyfriend stuttered, clearing his throat and standing up. He was a nervous wreck, and it was adorable.

"Um, first, thank you all for being here. It really means a lot to us. We know how important it is to have your loved ones around you on a special day, and we're so grateful for everyone who's supported us. Second, a special thanks to my future father and mother-in-law. Thank you for always being there for us and for supporting our relationship. And, um, thanks to my own parents for, uh, also supporting us."

As the guests began to laugh, your boyfriend cleared his throat and continued, his gaze fixed on yours.

"But most importantly, I want to say thank you to my amazing girlfriend. Thank you for making every day better. Thank you for always being by my side and for loving me unconditionall—"

"We know that already! Entertain us or I won't pay the bill!" Jin's loud voice interrupted again.

You couldn't help but chuckle and the guests laughed again, amused.

Your fiancé smiled, clearly enjoying the teasing.

"Alright, alright," Jungkook cleared his throat before he continued, "actually, we agreed that we'd never tell anyone how we actually got together but I guess we're past that, right babe?"

"Oh no, don't!" You blushed, a little embarrassed.

"It's a funny story," he continued. "It's kind of a long one, but this girl right here thought that the best course of action was to make me a dating app profile before telling me that she was in love with me."

Everyone burst into laughter.

"I was dumb, okay?" you joked, earning more laughter from the guests.

"So, we ended up talking to some people on said dating app and went on a few dates, which were terrible—"

"Hey! It's not my fault that you agreed even though you were also in love with me!" — "Everyone, he had a playlist with my name filled with sentimental songs like the most lovesick boy on Earth!"

"But babe trust me, it's a great playlist, by the way," you added.

"And then we got drunk, and the truth was revealed."

"What?! No way," Hoseok laughed.

"We weren’t drunk, I’m kidding, I just told her that I had liked her since the beginning," he said. "We just made a disaster, and we were both scared shitless."

"But here we are," you added.

"So, yeah, thanks for coming everyone," your fiancé concluded, his voice breaking a little as he wrapped up his little speech.

You could see him trying to blink back tears as he sat back down next to you, and you gave his hand a squeeze.

"You did great," you whispered, leaning in to give him a quick kiss.

"Thanks," he replied, his voice hoarse.

Your parents got up, taking the floor after him.

"Thank you, thank you," your mom said, a bit embarrassed.

"We’d like to share a few words as well. First, we'd like to thank everyone for coming. It's such a privilege to have all our family and friends here, and we're so thankful for your support. And we're especially grateful for our beautiful daughter and our soon-to-be son-in-law. We are so proud of both of you, and we know you'll have a long and happy life together."

"Thanks," you managed to say, overcome with emotion.

"So, now, we'd like to present the couple with a little something. It's just a small token of our love for them," your mother added, signaling for someone to come forward.

Jimin, Hoseok, and Tae stood up from the table and approached the stage, each of them holding a framed collage.

"Here, you can pass these out," your mother said, handing each of the guests copies of the photos.

You and your fiancé were stunned as the three guys presented the photos to you.

The photos were a collage of different memories: you and him during his graduation, another one from yours, a candid shot of him cooking for you, a photo of the two of you smiling in front of the sunset, and a picture of him holding your hand while you were asleep.

Tears welled up in your eyes as you took in the beautiful photos, each one capturing a special moment in your relationship. The love and happiness radiating from the images made your heart feel full to the brim. You glanced at Jungkook, whose eyes were also glistening with unshed tears, and you reached for his hand, holding it tightly.

"Thank you so much," you managed to say, your voice choked with emotion. "These are... perfect."

"I have a gift for you too," you told him, reaching under the table. You brought out a box wrapped in bright pink paper and a bow.

He looked at you with surprise, his eyes shining with curiosity as he took the box from your hands. Slowly unwrapping it, his mouth fell open in astonishment when he saw what was inside. Nestled within the box was a beautifully crafted watch, the silver band gleaming under the soft light of the restaurant.

"Oh wow," he breathed, a smile tugging at the corners of his lips. "It's... it's incredible."

"It's engraved," you whispered, pointing to the back of the watch where a message was etched. His eyes widened as he read the words: 'Forever yours, Y/N.'

"I was hoping you'd wear it to the wedding," you said, grinning. "But don't cry, you'll make me cry!" you exclaimed.

"I'm not crying, I just..." he trailed off, sniffling.

"I love it," Jungkook finally managed to say, his voice filled with emotion. He stood up abruptly and pulled you into a tight hug, “I love you.”

As you both separated, there was a collective 'aww' from the guests, making you both blush.

The rest of the evening continued with laughter and joy, surrounded by the love of friends and family. People danced, sang, and shared stories late into the night. It was a celebration of love and new beginnings.

As the night winded down and guests started to leave, you found yourselves standing alone in the dimly lit space. Jungkook wrapped his arm around your waist and pulled you close.

"Thank you for everything today," you said sincerely, looking into his big brown eyes.

"Thank you for being mine," he replied softly, feeling overwhelmed with happiness.

"I wouldn't want to be anyone else's," you whispered, pressing a gentle kiss to his lips.

Jungkook cupped your face in his hands and placed a lingering kiss on your forehead. The world around you seemed to fade, leaving just the two of you in a bubble of the deepest affection you’ve ever felt.

[iamjellyfish]

The idol soldier. | part 2

Part 1

A/n: I f*cking cringe reading my first fics, I deeply apologize to anyone having to deal with the part one. Anyways, I’m not out of hiatus yet, I finished writing my oneshot to be review but I barely want to draw so I might as well as writing something else for a change.

So-, let's try our best to finish this series so I can write smut for y’all.

Second note: this fic take place after the manga and uh, everyone lived! (Idc Shinomiya Isao is my father figure HAHAHA)

Warning: angst, hurt/no comfort- yet, multiple angst trope, the angst demon got me again rahhh. Prob OOC (I’m practicing writing Hoshina’s accent like how other writer do).

Summary: Soshiro proves to you that the life-fighting kaiju isn’t stable enough for love, so the idol soldier second-guesses her decision. She was urged by her manager to return to being an idol, pressure from fans and companies takes a toll on y/n. Would you leave? Or despite all of it, would you stay?

“Guess Jelly really only belongs on stage.”

You mutter into your knees as you hug it and sigh tiringly. The dim light of the phone still reflects into your eyes even if you don’t want to see it. It was the chat between you and Soshiro, your current boyfriend, the one that melted your idol heart and flew you to the moon, but he was a busy man – he is a vice-captain after all. You don’t want to be selfish, you really do, but you also don’t want to be second-priority to him.

17:01 Y/n: Soshiro <3 Do you wanna go get some street food near the base?

17:23 Soshiro: Sorry darling, works.

17:24 Y/n: Oh- okay.

18:00 Soshiro: I will make up for ya alright? How about yer’ treat yourself something nicely?

Soshiro sent you some cash.

18:01 Y/n: You don’t have to! Really.

18:59 Soshiro: Nah, bae. Treat urself, yer’ my princess. ILY alright? Gtg.

19:00 Y/n: Oh, okay. I will come over as usual alright?

Soshiro left you on seen and heart your message.

You know to the man, work is his first priority, work is his life. Soshiro even told you his past one time and you will forever remember every word of his because that is when you realize, you, y/n, and Jelly is his second priority. Blades and works will be his first priority for a long time, heck, you even think the time you retire as an idol or release your 100th album, Soshiro will still have blades and work as his first priority. And Soshiro knows this too, he tries to make up for you by gifting expensive gifts, giving you cash, and letting you sleep over at his place on the base.

Now is 11 pm, and you already prepared everything to wait for Soshiro to come back. The bed? You wash the sheet at 5 in the morning, and by the afternoon, it is soft and clean (Soshiro is a clean man, you just like to help him with cleaning so he can rest after a work day). You decorate it a little with your stuffed animals, and you make sure everything is perfect for Soshiro when he comes back. So laying on the bed, finger-swiping on social media on a secret account of yours, you wait for Soshiro, your man to return home.

Yours e/c eyes scan through the posts, fingers clicking on the “save pictures” button on posts where they have Soshiro’s picture, fan cam, or edits. After a while, a viral post popped up, it was about you.

“The mysterious disappearance of Jelly, the successful idol” was the post’s title. The context of it is just theories on why you disappear for a good long while, even if songs are still released but your appearance was kept at a minimum. You admit you do it on purpose to chase being a JAKDF and of course, being with Soshiro. But you still shoot the music video, still pump out goods, you made sure even if you lower your appearance as Jelly, it would be covered up with excuses like “health issue” “problem with the company” etc…

But seems like it still isn’t enough. The post only covers theories like “Jelly secretly quitting” or “Jelly might have serious health problems”, the worst one is probably “Jelly is secretly got bullied and done dirty by the company”. Not a problem, just let the post die down and everything will be fine-

“JELLY MIGHT QUIT BEING AN IDOL FOR HER SECRET LOVER”.

Fuck fuck fuck. Someone definitely leaking this one out. You’re in deep trouble. In fact, you doubt the post could die down because the post is growing too fast and those damn news channels already covering this. The proof is just blurry images of you and Soshiro, even with just 3 burry images, the fans are already in rage (You are kinda a bit sad and graceful at the same time that Soshiro are too busy to even go on a date with you). But now, you’re afraid of what could happen, what if they doxx Soshiro? What if they found out? Nope, too dangerous.

Ring. Ring. Ring.

You pick up the phone only to be get yell at by the manager.

“Great! Look at our Jelly! Have fun being a Disney princess chasing after some guy? Because we are having a meltdown because of you! If only you weren’t the fan favorite, we would have let you go- “

You want to cry so much; you want to counter ‘But it's Soshiro!’ but you know damn well your manager doesn’t give a shit. And now with everything going down, you know full well that you going to be too dangerous for anyone involved, even for Soshiro. You don’t want to bring him any distress, and you don’t even think you could handle the fan’s rage and Soshiro giving you the second-place treatment at the same time, your poor heart with crack into a million pieces. After a good while of yelling and berating, your manager finally spoke up.

“Alright, Y/n. Here is what gonna do, I have forced to quit you from the JAKDF. Tomorrow morning, you leave. Am I clear? I will send the details later but finish your fairy tale love story because this is the last time you see him.”

“Yes ma’am.”

You said as she cut the call. Your eyes teary as her words finally hit you and it hurts. Never seeing Soshiro again? That’s your worst nightmare! But you know you can’t easily quit being an idol, contracts, and lawsuits, you can’t risk it. As you finally fix yourself up, it is already past midnight and Soshiro finally returns, he fumbles on his words as he realizes how late it is.

“Oh- my, sorry princess, I got carried away when training.”

He smiles, trying to hide his guilt as he walks to the bed and lies down beside you. You just nodded, you couldn’t even be angry right now, not at him, not when you knew you might never see him again. You let it pass, just like every time. Tonight, you will cherish every second, every touch of his… as long as possible. So you pull him into a kiss and cuddle him, Soshiro doesn’t think much but accepts your affections like normal. 

3 in the morning. You packed your stuff, Soshiro is still asleep but you couldn’t even sleep. You spend a good long while staring into his face, trying to remember every single detail, every feature of his. You wish to never forget it, to never forget him. You left him a note simply saying “Let’s break up. Goodbye.”, you couldn’t bring yourself to tell him the truth, you just hoped that he would think you’re a brat that don’t understand his priority so you left.

And with that, you left. Without a trace.

Mina of course know this, but she was asked to keep a secret about the details. She couldn’t tell Soshiro why you left anyway, she knows how broken he could get if he knew the truth. So she kept it a secret.

The sun was warm today, this is the first time Soshiro would find himself waking up and you’re nowhere to be found. He didn’t think much, normally he would wake up before you, give you a little peck on the cheek, and go on with his day. Before he left, he suddenly recognized there was a note on the table, and his hand reached out to open it, “Let’s break up. Goodbye.”, you were broken up with him? No, is it because you felt left out again? Is it because he didn’t take his time to go out with you again? Or is it because he messed up somehow?

That didn’t matter now, he needed to talk with you. As he pulls out his phone, he realizes you sent him a huge cash with a message “Here is everything you gave me, I will return it to you. The gifts will be sent back to you a few days later”. Soshiro was shocked, he wanted to call you, to text you but you blocked him. He texted Mina and Okonogi for answers but they both can’t really answer much.

Soshiro literally begged in his head that somehow you would unblock him and let him have chance to explain. But his past came back haunting him, how could he not realize how secretly hurt you are? How could he not realize all the hints? You were hurt and now his princess is leaving him forever. Right now, he has no way to contact you, so with a heavy heart, he has to surrender for now.

A few months later, shortly after you broke up with Soshiro, you returned to be an idol and have been thriving since. You did have to make an apology saying you were suffering from health problems, and that you didn’t want to make fans worry so you had to limit your appearance and surprisingly everyone was buying it. The scandal died down after that, thankfully.  

Jelly has been releasing new albums and you have to prepare for concerts so you have to practice extra hard for those. As you said goodbye to your group members, you quickly returned to check your phone before returning to your dorm.

“Hm... nothing much.”

You said as you read through the posts. You did have to block Soshiro everywhere and even stuff about him on the internet or else you gonna brawl your eyes out crying. But then, something caught your eye, it was a post about you, basically just dating rumors with another male famous idol. You recognize him as an idol you met only a few times, exchanged small talks, and got interviews with, but nothing much. But seems like it was enough for fans to start rumors, you chuckle to yourself. In this field, some idol even plays the couple of games for extra clout from rumors but it usually ends up dying down or overlapping with other trends.  You could never do that though, but you could sense that your manager might want that.

And you were right. 

In the next few interviews, you were asked to drop hints that further make the rumors about your dating more ‘real’. You didn’t think much of it but oh boy, Soshiro was deeply hurt. He goes on a spiral, and when he finds out about the rumors, the man already thinks about it “What if he treats her better so she left me to be with him?” “Did she really think dating an idol is better for her?” “Did he treat her right?”. But you double down and make it worse by dropping little innocent hints here and there, making everything worse. The tea was hot and you made it extra boiling.

“Oh, I think (idol-name) is really cool, he is really kind.”

“My type is probably someone that can understand how hard it like being an idol.”

Your eyes would exchange a little innocent look to his eyes and Soshiro already knows he hate it. He misses you deeply, and sometimes he even thinks about being an idol so he can be with you. He even went and begged Mina to somehow contact you and beg you to return, Soshiro thought that he might actually be dead this time. The moment the viral video of you and the idol helping each other for a gameshow, Soshiro wants to bury himself 6 feet under.

You’re really cruel to him, at least right now. But even if you were the cruel poison, he will still drink it down, because it’s you. When Soshiro thinks about it, he realizes how important you are to him, he can’t afford to lose you, and he can’t get over you. He will do anything just to see you again, even if it’s something he might regret. So when the ticket to meet you after the concert lottery was announced, Soshiro thought he have used all his life luck to pull the ticket. He was happy is the simplest answer.

So when the time comes, you walk on stage, singing and dancing. Soshiro was nostalgic back to the day when he first listens to your song, first going to your concert and you winked at him while on stage. Did you know it then? That you would fall for him? Loved him but only to be treated like second-choice? The thought haunts him but right now, he is the closest to you ever since that day you left. Soshiro will risk everything he has to get you back.

If wanted him to buy you a new dress, he would gift you an entire wardrobe. If you wanted a house, he would buy a mansion. If you want him to change his haircut, he will. Anything just for you, his princess.

a/n: I wanna give a special thanks to myself for having a Soshiro brainrot at 12 in the morning and writing this ‘till 2:21 and start hallucinating.

[ghost-proofbaby]

HOUR 18 OF "TWENTY FOUR HOURS" WILL BE POSTED TOMORROW, 06/14 AT 6 PM EST.

i'm back, y'all! and worse than ever . i know this has taken forever due to my traveling, and thank you all for your patience and kindness ♡

to hold you over until tomorrow night/afternoon/whatever time of day it will be for all you lovelies, have a snippet below the cut.

Eddie’s eyes narrow in concentration at your phone as his thumbs fly across the screen, navigating the Spotify app with ease to find the Deftones song he specifically wants. He doesn’t do as you had and go to their artist page – he searches with purpose, in no mood to scroll through albums to find the song he’s looking for. 

“I still don’t understand how you can type so fast,” you mumble, watching with fascination that you try to tamper down with faux boredom, “Even I can’t type that fast, and I own the damn thing.” 

He doesn’t even glance up as he scrolls along the screen, finding the song and clicking on it, “I’m just good with my fingers.” 

There it goes. The air from your lungs, once again vacating the premises as he freezes beside you. 

It isn’t fair. An internal whine that nearly works itself up your throat and out your mouth, making you want to stomp your feet like a child. You hadn’t even recovered from the casual drop of baby yet. And now he’s going to just say that? 

“Oh, God, I-” he’s looking up finally, eyes wide and stuttering with embarrassment, “Fuck, I swear to God, I did not mean that as an innuendo.” 

You open your mouth. You close it. You repeat the process. You’re fucking speechless and it’s a little bit embarrassing. 

“I’m serious!” he persists when you don’t reply, and only stare at him in continued shock, “Seriously! I- Fuck, I was referring to with my job. At the autoshop. I’m- Fuck,” he cuts his explanation off, dragging a hand over his face and falling back into the couch, “Kill me. Kill me now, please – and be sure to make it quick and painless, pretty please.” 

You finally laugh. It’s a bit choked, a bit strangled, but it instantly has Eddie lowering his hand. 

“I think if we were going to kill each other, Munson, it would have happened hours ago,” you try to tease him, but something about the sentiment comes out far softer than you intended. Like it’s not a joke. Like, in your own odd way, you’re trying to whisper a truth to him – everything has changed for me now. 

“Probably,” he sighs, relaxing a bit and leaning back beside you as he looks to the phone once more and clicks on a song, “Proba-fucking-ly.”

[tweeterwilbury]

Okay I’m curious, what exactly is the story of George Harrison at Woodstock?

I will try to be brief.

Ok, so in 1968, right after the white album was released, George was invited to go to woodstock for the thanksgiving. As he said on I Me Mine; "I was invited there by The Band. It was Thanksgiving time and I'd just finished producing a Jackie Lomax album, directly after the Beatles 'White' Album."

He also mentions in an interview — I think it's for Musician, in 1987? — that he thinks he was invited there by Robbie Robertson.

Robbie mentions the visit in his memoir, Testimony, and he says that he had to convince Albert Grossman to let George stay at his house, and also that "Bob [Dylan] was keeping a very low profile, and when I asked him if he wanted to see George while he was in town, he too was a little iffy at first."

It's a very known fact that George was a big fan of Bob Dylan — he mentioned that in a lot of interviews, and everyone around him mentioned that too, besides the fact that he was always quoting Bob —, and during that time in Woodstock, he wrote two songs with Bob.

The first one is I'd have you anytime:

I have a post about the unused lyrics for that song that might be interesting for now.

George mentions in I Me Mine that "He [Bob] seemed very nervous, and I felt a little uncomfortable — it seemed strange, especially as he was in his own house.", and he also says that the song was written in the third day there. Later, Olivia mentioned that, when George wrote the lines 'Let me in here, I know I've been here, Let me into your heart', he was "directly talking to Bob".

The second song that they wrote together was...

One thing about this song: it wasn't finished. There are only demos of it. But it still is a very interesting song... in the lyrics on I Me Mine, there is this unused part:

That was substituted with "I get tired of being Beatle Jeff" / "I get tired of being Beatle Ted".

One fun fact about that song is that it had different names through the years. This was mentioned the George Harrison website: "Nowhere To Go was a collaboration between George and Dylan from their 1968 Thanksgiving visit that also yielded ‘I’d Have You Anytime’. It was first called ‘Thingymubob’, then ‘When Everybody Comes to Town’. ‘I Get Tired’ was also a working title and finally, by the time of the All Things Must Pass sessions, it is titled ‘Nowhere To Go’."

George mentioned the song using the title 'Thingymubob' in a letter to Bob, where he wrote the chords of the song.

Going back to The Band, Robbie said this, on testimony: "I was very curious about recording techniques the Beatles had discovered. George described their process as extremely experimental and sometimes accidental. I could definitely relate to that. When George inquired about the Band’s recording methods, I could barely keep up with him. For every question I posed to him, he asked me two about [Music From] Big Pink and The Basement Tapes [...]"

He also said this: "But George was one of the most open people I’d ever met, and Pattie was one of the prettiest and sweetest. George spoke incredibly candidly about the problems within the Beatles. John, he said, was far out on a limb, testing his balance. “Kinda crazy,” he laughed. And our dear Ringo was following in the tradition of many a hard-drinking Brit—apparently he had threatened to quit the band at one point. George was quick to admit there were serious tensions between Paul and him. 'Whenever I present a tune, the Lennon and McCartney songwriting team will ignore it as long as they can,' he said. 'Sometimes I even have to fight for my guitar parts. Paul has such a clear idea of how the song should go that he tells me what to play, or he wants to play it himself.'"

Two very interesting things here: the fact that George was talking about the problems in the Beatles, and also the fact that he was very interested in asking about the band records.

From I Me Mine; "When I wrote 'All Things Must Pass', I was trying to do a Robbie Robertson-Band sort of tune and that is what it turned into." He also mentioned that, while writing the song, he always thought about Levon singing it. (I'm not sure about where he mentioned that, tho.)

There are some songs that Bob showed to George on that time and he played later — for example, I threw it all away, a song that was released on Nashville Skyline, was played by George during the get back sessions, in january 1969, even before Bob recorded his version, and also I don't want to do it, that was released by George in 1985 —, and that travel was basically the start of a long collaboration in music, between George and Bob.

Also, George talking about the problems in the Beatles during that travel makes Nowhere to Go have even more sense. And then, when the beatles got together to record an album, it was on the get back/let it be sessions.... when he famously quit the beatles for some days.

Well, i think I've talked a lot, but that's basically the story. George also gave a guitar to Bob, but I'm not sure about when that happened — especially because he used that guitar during the get back/let it be sessions, and then on the abbey road sessions...

Anyway, here are two pictures; in the first, Bob and George, and in the second, Robbie and George.

AND THAT'S IT! i think. Sorry if this wasn't brief at all. It took me one hour and a half to write all this, so i think i probably got lost somewhere and maybe i am forgetting something.

[missywritesfor7]

❤️‍🩹Lifeline | MYG❤️‍🩹

Synopsis: It’s long been controversial for idols to date, but idols dating each other can be really beautiful or a complete nightmare. When Yoongi's relationship with another idol is discovered, he decides maybe it’s time to break the taboo and show people it’s ok for idols to date. Instead, they find themselves caught in the midst of one media frenzy after another and struggle to keep their relationship as strong as it had been the past 2 years. Yoongi finds a self destructive way to cope, and it causes even more problems than it solves. As they fight for their relationship and their careers, they discover that sometimes, the only way to truly be free is to let go.

Pairing: idol!Yoongi x idol!OC

Warnings: nsfw, alcoholism, cheating, depression, anxiety, Yoongi goes through a bisexy ho phase, Yoongi is also in his alcoholic phase, post-military BTS

Previous chapter | Next chapter | Masterlist

Ch 35: Comeback

The guys hit the ground running as soon as their album is officially released to the world. They have a busy week of promoting which ends with their concert in Seoul. Two days later they’ll be on a flight to New York to kick off the first leg of their tour. Yoongi is excited and buzzing from a constant stream of caffeine. Hyeri is also excited because for the first time since she and Yoongi have been together she can finally attend one of their shows. Before he left for rehearsal he swept her off of her feet and gave her a passionate kiss then bounced out the door looking forward to seeing her face in the crowd later that night.

Before the show, Hyeri meets up with Yoongi’s parents and brother who are in town to see the show. They previously told Yoongi they weren’t sure they’d be able to be there, but with a little help from Hyeri they were able to make it happen. Yoongi has no idea, so their attendance will be a surprise when he finds Hyeri in the crowd and sees the rest of his family there next to her.

Being backstage before the show starts to make Yoongi realize just how much he had been relying on alcohol in the past. He found himself wandering around restlessly trying to figure out what to do with himself. In the past he’d simply have a drink, or a few, and somehow that was enough to pass the time. Now he’s sitting on the couch staring at the wall wondering what brand of paint was used.

“Hyung,” Namjoon says coming over and taking a seat next to Yoongi. “How are you feeling?”

“Good,” Yoongi nods. Internally he breathes a sigh of relief thanking Namjoon for coming over and saving him from the standstill of time. “I’m just ready to get out there.”

“Yeah me too. I saw the mic Rainbow got you. You think anyone will notice it’s from her?” Namjoon jokes.

“Not unless you’ve been talking,” Yoongi chuckles.

“Of course not,” Namjoon smiles. “Your secret is safe as long as you want it to be.”

“Right,” he says returning a smile. “I’m not sure how much longer that will be though.”

“What are you thinking?”

“I don’t know,” Yoongi sighs. “One minute I’m ready to tell everything, and the next I’m doubting myself. What if it causes problems for the rest of you? I can’t do anything to cause that.”

“Hyung we’re not kids anymore.” Namjoon looks at Yoongi with empathy. “We’ve dealt with worse and made it through. We want you to be happy, that’s all. If you want to announce it then we’ll support you the same as always.”

“Thanks, leader,” Yoongi chuckles. “What about Hyeri though? I don’t want this to ruin her.”

“I’m sure she’ll be fine too. At this point I don’t think revealing this would be as bad as a lot of the other things that have gone around about her. If you both are really serious then you’ll have to do it eventually, right?”

“I know. She just seems to be on the fence still. One minute she’s excited about finally letting this secret go and the next she seems hesitant like she’s not sure. That’s why I’m so unsure.”

“See how she feels once the tour is over.”

Namjoon knows why Hyeri would be hesitant, the same reason he and the rest of the guys have been silently anxious about the tour. Trust takes time and if the tour goes smoothly without incident then the guys will no doubt feel much more at ease. Namjoon can only guess that Hyeri feels the same. Yoongi may have been clean and faithful so far, but the tour, the world tour will be the real test of Yoongi’s recovery.

Yoongi is no fool, he fully understands why Namjoon suggested he wait until after the tour. Hyeri knows her drama is set to premiere during the tour so she’s using that as her deadline. In her mind she truly wants to be free of this stupid secret that has caused so much heartache and pain, but she needs to feel like she can trust him just a little bit more before she finally throws caution to the wind.

Yoongi has been determined to prove himself since the moment he returned home from his 2 months in the woods. He’s trying to be patient, but it’s getting harder as each day passes. He wants to go out with her and love her openly without having to hide all the time. He typically doesn’t give much of his personal life away to the public, but he loves her so much that he can no longer contain it.

As if he weren’t already feeling impatient, during the first break during the concert that night when they all introduce themselves, he looks up and sees Hyeri. It’s as if she’s glowing like the brightest star in the sky. He’s ready to scream his love through the custom made microphone she gifted him in front of the entire crowd, but then he sees his mom sitting next to her. And his dad. And his brother. He bites his lip trying to remain composed. It’s much too early for him to start crying at the sight of his family in the crowd. His family he didn’t think was coming. His family and Hyeri. Hyeri is his family. His family.

By the time they reach their final ments at the end of the show, he’s about to burst at the seams. During his ment he wanted to tell everyone then, but he was able to refrain. Instead he mentioned that his family is in attendance and gave a very shy yet bold “I love you” to them making the crowd roar with endearment. Hyeri knows that was for her. He rarely expresses his love to his family openly and directly in such a way. Especially not in front of a stadium full of people. She smiles rubbing the necklace he bought her that’s draped around her neck and he smiles back.

The guys finish their last but not last song then head backstage to prepare for their encore set. So far the show has been incredible. Everyone is full of energy from the electric crowd and Yoongi is undoubtedly enthusiastic knowing Hyeri and his family are there. As he watches the screen backstage it seems the camera found Hyeri, and now everyone else in the crowd is just as enthusiastic as he is. She bows and waves shyly at the cheering crowd before the camera cuts to a few other celebrities in attendance. Yoongi has the biggest smile on his face when they make their way back to the stage.

Hyeri enjoyed herself more than she thought she would. This isn’t just her first time getting to see Yoongi in concert, but her first time seeing the whole group in concert. She was impressed and proud of them all, but especially her big brother Namjoon, and completely smitten and swept away by Yoongi. He looked happy and healthy and in his right mind. It’s such a relief for her.

After the show a staff member ushers Hyeri and Yoongi’s family backstage where the guys are greeting their other friends who were in attendance. With so many cameras backstage for various behind the scenes videos, Yoongi silently nods at Hyeri to follow him into another room. He can’t embrace her with so many cameras around, but he can’t contain himself either. He just wants to hug her and kiss her right now. As soon as they enter the room he shuts the door and pulls Hyeri into a close embrace.

“You don’t know how happy I am to see you,” he says giving her a long kiss.

“Your family is here too,” she chuckles returning his kiss.

“You’re my family too,” he smiles. “I’m happy to see all of you.”

“You were great out there. I’m really proud of you, Yoongi.”

“What?” He says suddenly feeling shy. “Why are you being so formal.”

“I’m not,” she laughs. “I guess it’s just habit whenever we’re not at home.”

“Right,” he says feeling that much closer to going out and kissing her in front of every camera and being over and done with this hiding. “How much longer until that changes?” He asks resting his forehead against hers.

“I told you-“

“I know what you told me.” He gives her a desperate kiss. “I know, Hyeri, but this is so hard.”

“You don’t think it’s hard for me too?” She asks returning his desperate kiss with one of her own.

“Sometimes I can’t tell.” He kisses her again and again pushing her backwards with each one until she’s pressed into the table against the wall.

“I need to know I can trust you,” she says linking her arms around his neck and connecting her lips to his once again. “I love you so fucking much,” she exasperates between kisses. “But I need to be able to trust you, Yoongi. That’s the hard part.” At this point she’s having a hard time speaking because they keep taking turns claiming each other’s tongues. The passion that had been building up all night is overflowing and neither of them can seem to stop it.

“I swear,” he says feeling more out of breath now from arousal than he felt during the entire concert. “I will prove you can trust me. I promise. You mean the world to me, I’ll never fuck that up again. I love you so fucking much.” Hyeri isn’t able to respond because their mouths collide once more and remain connected as they taste and feel the familiar newness of each other. His fingers grip her hips and her fingers find their way to his hair and give a light tug.

“I love you too,” she exhales into his mouth before sealing her words with another kiss. He’s got her nearly completely on top of the table and isn’t letting up.

Yoongi is bursting with vigor at the moment. With the great show and his loved ones in attendance, he can’t help himself. His fingers slide their way under her shirt and she sucks in a sharp breath from the chill of his touch on her back.

“Where’s Yoongi?” Someone can be heard asking outside the door. Yoongi and Hyeri slowly disconnect from one another hating the ill timed distraction for pulling them out of their bliss.

“You should go out there,” Hyeri says.

“Yeah I guess so,” he sighs. “Will you be awake when I get home?”

“I’ll make sure of it,” she smiles. “Go talk to your family and give the fans their behind the scenes content.”

“I’ll do that,” he chuckles.

He slowly and reluctantly walks out of the room into the backstage chaos of cameras, staff, guests, and for some reason a ferret. He greets everyone and as the majority of them are occupied, Hyeri slips out of the room and heads for the exit. She briefly makes eye contact with Namjoon across the room and gives him a nod and an apologetic look. She wanted to talk to him and congratulate him on a great show, but there’s far too many people pining for his attention. Namjoon simply nods back with a flash of his dimples and Hyeri takes off for the exit to head home.

Yoongi chatted with his family a bit, took photos for multiple outlets and social posts, and recorded a few group videos for YouTube. Afterwards they all go their separate ways until they meet up again for their flight in a couple of days.

Yoongi is delighted to see Hyeri is still awake just as she said she’d be when he gets home. He quickly washes up and crawls into bed next to her and wraps his arms around her tightly.

“I’m so glad you all came tonight,” Yoongi says kissing Hyeri’s forehead. “You gave me so much energy tonight.”

“Me or the 50 cups of coffee you drank?” She asks. When she returned home there was a package at their doorstep that contained many packs of instant coffee. Yoongi purchased them in bulk to take with him on tour. He completely forgot to mention it to Hyeri but he didn’t think it would be an issue.

“50?” He scoffs. “I only had 4 cups.”

“With how many espresso shots?”

“Irrelevant,” he chuckles.

“Very relevant,” she laughs. “I don’t want your heart to explode or something before you make it back to me.”

“I’m fine.”

“I mean it,” she says tapping his chest. “I’m happy you found something that gives you energy, I just worry about you. Your package was delivered and there’s enough coffee in there to last a year.”

“I want to make sure I don’t run out,” he shrugs.

“Babe,” she chuckles. “Be honest with me.”

“Always.”

“It’s something else, isn’t it?” She softly asks.

“What do you mean?”

“Has coffee…” she hesitates, but if she doesn’t get it out it’s only going to eat at her more once he’s on the road. “Become your new alcohol?” She gently caresses his cheek hoping that her question doesn’t cause him to shut down or feel attacked. “What’s on your mind?”

Yoongi tries to think of an answer, but he doesn’t have one that will keep him from having to admit how afraid he is. The fact that he’s been progressively drinking more and more coffee as a substitute for his previous addiction never crossed his mind, but with Hyeri’s question he immediately realized that’s what he had been doing.

“I’m-“ he hesitates. “I guess I’m scared.”

“Of what?” She asks feeling the pain in his admission.

“Everything. I feel like there’s so much riding on this comeback and tour that it needs to be perfect. My career, my relationships, everything is going to be impacted if I fuck this up and Hyeri I’m so fucking scared of fucking up.”

“How could you fuck up?” She asks. “I know you’re trying your best, I can see that. As long as you keep doing that then there’s no way you can fuck anything up.”

“I feel like I’ll find a way somehow. This tour, it’s…the last one was so bad, I have so much to make up for. To you, the guys, the fans, all of you.”

“But you’re not alone this time,” she says gently. “You don’t have to suffer in silence, we all are here to support you. All you have to do is talk to us. Be honest, babe.”

“You…” his voice gets caught behind the knot forming in his throat.

“I know I let you down last time when I wasn’t speaking to you,” she continues. “And I’ll always be sorry for making you feel alone when you really needed someone. I promise I won’t do that again. But this time will be different because as long as you’re honest with me and I’m honest with you we can still support each other no matter how far apart we are.”

Yoongi nods still unable to make a sound. He feels silly for not talking to her about his fears sooner. He’d only spoken to Minho about these things, but talking to Hyeri and hearing her words of support is exactly the type of reassurance he needs. He pulls her into a tighter embrace and takes a deep breath releasing his anxieties through his exhale.

“I love you so much,” he whispers.

[dearreader]

hello fellow members of the tortured poets department.

today i will enter into evidence THE TORTURED POETS DEPARTMENT as a song and analyze it. i’m going to look at the lyrics and the relationship and how that translates to the entire album as a whole.

previous posts: fortnight

this song is pretty straight forward, so most analysis is redundant. as most of the lyrics bounce back and forth between two things:

thinking that they’re nothing but two idiots and not geniuses or actual tortured poets

quiet moments where taylor is reaching out and trying to help the situation and make it last but us hindered.

the first part is mentioned relentlessly, to the point it’s the chorus line, “you’re not dylan thomas/im not patti smith/this ain’t the chelsea hotel/we’re modern idiots”, and also taylor says it point blank in the opening stanza:

“you left your typewriter at my apartment/straight from the tortured poets department/i think some things i never say/like who uses type writers anyway?”

this immediately sets the scene of taylor knowing, either looking back or in the moment, that he was full of himself and it wasn’t as serious as she thought it was. but he disagrees, he does view himself very highly. but we see plently of moments where taylor describes him as just… a guy? he’s literally just some guy who gets high and makes declarations, “you smoked and ate seven bars of chocolate/we declared charlie puth should be a bigger artist/i scratch your head as you fall asleep/like a tattooed golden retriever”. this is how she views him, just some guy. maybe this is her trying to show us what she saw in him.

but this brief moment is cut short by his own issues and possibly hung over, “but you awaken with dread/pounding nails in your head/but i've read this one where you come undone/i chose this cyclone with you”. and because of this he’s most likely pulling back or self sabotaging, as can be indicated by the first verse “but your in self sabatoge mode/throwing spikes down on the road/but i’ve seen this episode before and still loved the show”. the first verse is important to know here as it implies that she’s either seen him or a previous partner experience this before, and based on the albatross i think it’s previous partners experienced this, mainly peter as she implies these two and her relationships to them were incredibly similar. because she’s experienced this before with not on the outside world and media interfering in her love life, but she’s also experienced what it’s like to watch a loved one struggle with this. she’s “read it before” in others albums like folklore or midnights where she discusses the media interfering with her relationship and career. and because she saw how that one ended she fears this will happen again and wants to stop it. because she chose him to get out of her previous relationship so she will stick through it with him.

all while she keeps repeatedly telling herself they will never be able to hold each other or know each other like anyone else. so they have to make it work. they just hsve to. but she does fear it won’t work. that he’ll mess it up and their fated love story won’t work out. but she is deluding the fears with rose colored glasses and thinking that he loves her so much that “he’d kill himself if i ever leave” which taylor even acknowledges she likes because it made her feel seen, which we know is something she craved from her romantic partners in the past from songs like tolerate it and you’re losing me. and because of this guy finally sees her so much and loves it he’d rather die than lose her. she’s ignoring all the warning signs around her because she’s finally being given the attention she’s needed in her other relationships. so she’s willing to wear the rose colored glasses, look past his pretentiousness and issues because he’s giving her what she needed… and that was enough.

but how this connects to the album as a whole and why it’s the title. this album is about taylor grappling with years worth of trauma and suffering. it’s about her grieving a 6 year long relationship with who she thought was blown in with the winds of fate and then dealing with the hurt and betrayal that this guy who swore he’d love her forever was leaving her. her titling an album about how he views himself, and almost setting the album itself into a hospital because she feels like she’s on life support, is her acknowledging the hurt she caused. she’s saying that he’s pretentious and under that he is nothing but an idiot who broke and hurt her to the point she felt like she was in a months long manic episode. this man hurt her. so she wrote an album about her healing journey and dissecting the public’s image of her, the thing that’s ruined so many relationships for her, and titled it with his own ego as a fuck you. it’s very tongue in cheek and subverts all our expectations, including his. she’s not taking herself seriously, she’s moving on and healing, and is making fun of him for being that serious.

i’d like to apologize again to the fellow members for this being disorganized. i had a solid explanation for it but then it took me like two hours trying to figure out how to explain it. but, in summation: who the fuck uses type writers anyway and drags them along to the house of a girl you’ve been dating for under a week? only fucking pretentious idiots do.

(tagging the wonderful @camerabitchsmile cause they’ve organized this event and despite my unorganized analysis i’m having fun with this event!)

[mrsnancywheeler]

ok so this is something i ALWAYS #think about whenever i listen to breakup songs, and esp after that blurb u wrote about billy blindsiding the reader with that scathing song.

but what do u think about the dynamic between billy and a shy!reader, or someone who hates being in the limelight. Like they met when the band was somewhat popular and the attention she got for being billy’s “girl” was tolerable.

they’re still in a situationship, and they still argue a lot, but I’m just thinking about the potential angst of billy writing the most insane breakup songs about her, and shes just crying bc all of their business is being aired out 😭 PLEASE i can imagine him being such an ass about it lowkey, he’d be like “what? i thought you wanted to be treated like your special. None of the other groupies have songs written abt them😁” SIR???

She understands that it’s the price you pay for being with an artist, but he can get so mean with it, esp if its a song like regret me. But 1. He’s billy dunne, so ofc she comes back. 2. Sometimes he tries to “make it up” by writing a (very vague) love song that may/may not win her back.

tbh I’m just projecting but this has been idea has been in my head for a while LMAO sorry if it’s weak/doesn’t make sense🫡

-🦅

no like pookie would just like to sit in the background, be backstage, avoid media as much as possible but then they're getting into a fight because billy's the worst and suddenly he's insisting one of the songs on the album is gonna be one where he explicitly talks about the negative side of your relationship and of you, again giving regret me core

"billy please don't put that on the album, that's private stuff, please" you're literally begging because you don't need people knowing all the toxicity that comes with being billy dunne's girl

"you're a groupie for the lead singer of a rock and roll band, don't act like don't want attention" he's just doing a line and is just annoyed

"I don't!" he's scoffing but you literally feel like you might cry, "please, billy, it's gotta stay behind closed doors. people can't know me like that"

"baby, it's good fucking song, you can't just ask me to scrap one of the best pieces I've ever written just because it hurts your feelings." and you realize he's dead serious and just start bawling, because now everyone's gonna know how tumultuous your relationship is. how unsteady you are.

because I'm always comparing them to fleetwood mac and the rumours album, this reminds me of how stevie nicks talks about go your own way and how it made her feel.

"most girls would be on their knees for me to write a song about them, and you want to be my girl but what? don't want the songs? then you're not gonna be my girl"

"fuck you, billy. fuck you!"

OKAY SORRY I'M LISTENING TO FLEETWOOD MAC AS I WRITE THIS AND GOLD DUST WOMAN CAME ON AND JUST- it's about a girl trying to get through a difficult relationship and doing a lot of drugs, I'll do a post because this is so something billy would write about his muse that's pretty scathing and personal

but like a song like that, that analyses you in and out, so infuriating

anyways yes, he does try to make it up by writing a song that's less scathing, it definitely still references how difficult the relationship is, but mentions the love there too. and she's really just going for it because she wants to be with him even though it's hurting her.

it makes sense pookie, thank you for your service 🫡💋

[musicthatyoucandanceto]

robin's opinions about sparks albums 1980-1988

this is part two! I posted a 70s version recently

Terminal Jive (1980) or what I call a sparks slay moment

Bops: When I'm With You (duh), Stereo, The Greatest Show on Earth (those last two are controversial apparently but I like them!!)

Flops: When I'm With You Instrumental (not interesting), Rock N' Roll People in a Disco World (my least favorite but still not bad at all)

WHOMP! THAT! SUCKER! 1981! love love love

Bops: Tips For Teens. I haven't heard anything like it ever in my whole life and I'm SO serious. Also Upstairs, and I Married A Martian, and The Willys, and underrated CLASSIC Wacky Woman. (I try to keep the bops to around 3 songs but as you can see I am failing.)

Flops, or two songs that get on my nerves for some reason: That's Not Nastassia and Don't Shoot Me. The rest of the album is soooo delicious so it's ok

Angst In My Pants (1982): this is a popular one and honestly I'm just starting to warm up to it

Bops: Sextown USA, Moustache, The Decline and Fall of Me (it gets stuck in my head while I'm at work), and oops a bonus one, Eaten By The Monster of Love

Flops: Instant Weight Loss (I just don't like it), and Sherlock Holmes if I'm not in the right mood for it. sometimes I am and sometimes I'm not

In Outer Space (1983) !! I forgot about this one when posting this initially and I’m sad about it!!

Bops: Cool Places, I Wish I Looked A Little Better, All You Ever Think About Is Sex (yes, the basic choices, but they carry the whole album and make it one of my favorites. Plus I loooooove Jane Weidlin in this <3)

Flops: Dance Goddammit? I guess? My least favorite on the album and it’s still excellent!!!

Pulling Rabbits Out Of A Hat (1984) ... not my favorite sparks album tbh

Bops: A Song That Sings Itself, With All My Might sometimes, and... Progress?? idk

Flops: Everybody Move (haha it's spelled as 'Everbody Move' on Spotify which is wrong!), Sparks in the Dark pts 1 and 2? but that feels like cheating

Music That You Can Dance To (1986): that’s my username tee hee

Bops: MODESTY PLAYS !!! fuck yeah dude she sure does, Rosebud, Change if you include that on this album and Music That You Can Dance To if you don't

Flops: Fingertips, Armies of the Night (🤥), Let's Get Funky

Interior Design (1988): kind of fond of this one bc everyone seems to hate it and I like to be contrary sometimes

Bops: So Important, Madonna, The Toughest Girl in Town

Flops: You Got a Hold of My Heart, The Big Brass Ring (but I'm sure everyone says they don't like that one)

I wasn’t sure where to put A Walk Down Memory Lane but I’m listening to it now and it’s actually pretty cool!! that’s an extra bop baby

[void-and-virtue]

First off, thank you for tagging me @moondal514 . This looks fun! It’s insane to me that anyone would consider me a mutual but I’m happy about it sksksks

currently reading: Nothing in particular? There’s a bunch of books I want to read but my brain is SO not on board with me branching out in the book direction rn. I did finally cave and read Son Nefes in full yesterday, even if that is only book-adjacent (It’s really good. If you’re an AFTG fan and haven’t read it, you should. Even if you technically already know all it says from various posts floating around).

Fic wise, it’s whatever @jtl-fics has going on with Fluent Freshman. It’s just prime comedy complete with memes, 11/10.

favorite color: Midnight Blue. I will sing my love for it from the rooftops.

last song: Take Me Back To Eden by Sleep Token. I’m frothing at the mouth about the entire album, but the title song in particular is rotating in my mind like a rotisserie chicken.

last show: I haven’t watched anything in so long I literally can’t remember. @statistical-improbabilities my beloved is trying to bully me into Shadow and Bone and The Good Place and I’ve had my eye on The Legend Of Vox Machina since it came out so my next pick is most likely gonna be one of those.

currently watching: YouTube. If anything, it’s YouTube. I cycle through video essays, Hollow Knight content, Critical Role VODs and the YouTube channel of the animal guy from TikTok like nobody’s business

last movie: Probably my nth rewatch of Howl’s Moving Castle about a year ago (oh god, what is time?) I really wanna go see Across The Spiderverse—the first movie was SO GOOD. Also, Everything Everywhere All At Once when I get around to it (can you tell how I’m always late to trends?)

sweet/spicy/savory: People here expect me to CHOOSE??

currently working on: My beloved monster child of a WIP that is shaping up to be absolutely MASSIVE. It’s an Andreil soulmate AU with telepathy because I am forever true to my brand of ‘what does it do to a person if they have mental superpowers, would that be fucked up or what?’. I passed 110k on this yesterday. It’s still potentially less than half the story. Save me.

current obsession: Take Me Back To Eden by Sleep Token. Ooooh my god. I started listening into this album a couple days ago but sat down today to listen to the entire thing in its proper intended order and. I have ascended into a whole other plane of existence. I am experiencing emotions in colors previously only known to mantis shrimp. I can see my Spotify Wrapped of this year going completely down the drain as this album becomes the only thing I listen to for the entire rest of the year, on repeat. I wish this was an exaggeration. I am dead serious. Sorry to my friends on discord who will be subjected to my lethal case of Not Shutting The Fuck Up About It for the next while <3

6 mutuals: I have no idea at which point following a blog makes that person become a mutual. All I know is that @statistical-improbabilities @i-think-i-lost-my-phone and @swamp-world are legally obliged to put up with my bullshit. @dumbenby I’m roping you into this too <3

Anyone who sees this and feels like doing it (or sees it and wonders why the hell I didn’t tag them because we’re obviously mutuals (I’m sorry)), feel free to take this as your invitation to go ahead and/or yell at me <3

[spacehippieface]

I made a bunch of predictions from the announcement and up to the release of The Super Mario Bros Movie, some joking, some half-serious, some for real, and now that the movie’s out, I figured it was time to fully revisit them and see how I fared. SPOILERS AHEAD. I might get review-y.

The Toads will act like Minions and dominate all marketing and merchandise. JOSSED. The Toads are just people. Just mushroom people living their lives in Toad Town.

Bowser will be voiced by an unfitting former A-lister trying to reinvent himself. JOSSED. I’M SO SORRY, I WAS SO BITTER AND WRONG.

He will make jokes and references which will leave the movie dated upon arrival. JOSSED. He is both menacing AND a dork, and it works! His love ballad in the top 100 on iTunes is proof enough there.

The trailers and TV spots will feature copious usage of Van Halen’s Jump. However, this will not be in the movie or its soundtrack album, instead replaced with a vague cover version by Pharrell Williams. JOSSED. The trailers mostly used Black Hydra’s Super Mushroom. The actual licensed pop songs used in the movie were....well, interesting. Choices were certainly made.

The film will perform moderately well at the box office in Europe and America, but will be banned in China and Russia due to a 30 second sequence involving Birdo in a fashion show set to Born This Way. YES AND NO. Birdo is nowhere to be seen, but so far the film is doing VERY well. Russia haven't got it at all, but they're not getting anything new or nice until they stop being dicks in Ukraine.

Despite lacklustre reviews, it will eventually attain a cult following akin to Shrek and include a subculture of people who unironically really want to fuck Kamek. YES AND NO. Critics are slamming it, but fans are having a fine time! However it’s not necessarily Kamek people are eyeing up, but Bowser, when they’re not shipping him with Luigi. Or possibly even when they are.

Before going to the Mushroom Kingdom, Mario and Luigi are going to have some sort of big argument or estrangement, leading them to be separated for the bulk of the movie, only to realise they needed each other and reunite for the final battle with Bowser. YES AND NO. They are separated, yes, and do reunite in the third act, but there's no estrangement. Far from it. Their brotherly bond is just so important to them, and saving Luigi is Mario’s sole motivation on his adventure. They're lost without each other and that's just so sweet. “Nothing can hurt us as long as we’re together”, indeed. 

Bowser will kidnap Peach as a last ditch power grab when whatever’s happening with the Stars goes sour. KIND OF? Bowser only wanted the Super Star in the first place so Peach would be impressed enough to marry him, and when just having the Star doesn’t work out, he manipulates her into marriage by threatening Toad, and by extension all the other Toads. A kidnapping by coercion if you will.

There’ll be a market chase sequence, where Mario will pass Waluigi who’ll let out a long Charles Martinet voiced “waaaaah” and look knowingly at the camera for an uncomfortable few seconds. JOSSED. This is a Waluigi-free zone.

Alternatively, there’ll be a post-credit scene back in Brooklyn where we see Wario, voiced by Charles Martinet, picking his nose and declaring it to be a keeper while Waluigi cleans the toilet in a maid costume and discovers a pipe to the Mushroom Kingdom. JOSSED. That is NOT what we get in the stinger. I still kind of want to see it though, I think it’s a damn funny image.

That classic Super Mario Bros overworld theme is going to be used a lot. Like, we’ll all be sick of it by the end of the movie. YES AND NO. It IS used a lot, but not overbearingly so. There are a lot of other musical nods and motifs from the games, from SMB 1 to Odyssey and then some. The GameCube noise was very nice to hear too. Brian Tyler did a fantastic job on the score.

There’ll be a Minion on the Illumination title card who eats a mushroom and grows too big for the screen. Alternatively, it’ll be a small group of Minions doing an acapella version of the end of level theme. YES AND NO. We do see a Minion, but he’s in a kart ready for a race. I wasn’t expecting that one.

[walkyjake]

Meu does the King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard discography

What the hell.

It is pretty straight forward. I am going to listen to some music. And then I am going to write some words about it. That is all.

This is all for my self. It is very personalized, unorthodox, and biased. That’s kind of how music Is.

Obviously, I have already very much listened to this band A Lot. Though there are still some corners that have gone unexplored. This is also to refresh my mind on a lot of these noises, as well as write some semi-formal reviews along the way. There is a lot to be said.

I’m going to offer some more information in this post. For convenience and accessibility. (Mostly so I can remember what I’m supposed to be doing). Cos this is Fucked Up.

I will be listening to the entire discography in chronological order.

I think I am going to skip some content for now, such as live albums and demos. These will be separate reviews.

I’m not listening to all 250+ whatever songs at once. Probably like an album or two a day. I’ll do it whenever.

I’ll give each song an individual review as much as I can.

Expect tangents. I’m literally going to talk about everything.

I imagine these reviews to be difficult for people to understand so don’t worry about it too much because I am going to speak either way. But I’m going to try my best to be at least a little cohesive.

I don’t even think I’m going to be able to say every single thought I have about the music within each review because this is forever an ongoing discussion. New revelations are always made. So this won’t be an end all be all or whatever.

I can’t really do numerical/alphabetical scores. Measuring “how much I like something” is impossible to put into simple terms. Maybe I will use such common measurements as means of an example in some cases but for the most part, these reviews are going to consist of descriptions of my feelings. Again, they’re very personally influenced.

With that, please refer to my brief dictionary of vocabulary that I have created for myself, specifically about music things and other general explanations. I am probably going to refer to this sometimes.

By the way I am massively unprofessional about the way in which I talk about this band. Except for right now I think. Meaning that, usually I am very overzealous and nonsensical. Or crazy or whatever. This demeanor may show up throughout this series. I am inclined to state that an informal style of expression might throw people off and isn’t very helpful, but I don’t want to deny that it can be representative of my feelings. Therefore, sometimes things that I say are neither serious, nor a joke, but some secret third thing.

Honestly I’m probably just gonna wing it anyways so don’t think too hard about it. It’s just music.

This is my vehicle and you are just a passenger.

I can do whatever I want forever.

OK, well it’s not like the concept of media reviews are some wildly uncommon thing so I think anyone can eventually catch on to my incredibly warped perception anyways. I’m probably forgetting things to say in this post, but i don’t care. Follow me down this evil path there is still more I have to say.

I would be this elaborate even if I was doing this entirely privately because it just feels necessary. Haha. No this is supposed to be fun I’m so excited to listen to king gizzard music.

idont even like this band. yes i do. ok i need to go listento music.

[tellthemeerkatsitsfine]

Guys, I need people to know how fucking funny it is that people are losing their mind over a Michael Legge Tweet that suggested one of the royal children was telling another royal child that King Charles is a cunt (I assume - we don’t see who he’s pointing at and it could be anyone, really, I’m pretty sure you could have just walked around that coronation event and pointed at any random person and said “cunt”, and you’d probably be correct). Honestly, does this shit happen on Twitter all the time? I mean, I know it does, that’s the entire point of Twitter. But is it this fucking funny every time? Because if it is, I might have to go on there more often.

I know it’s not actually funny. Apparently people are harassing a radio station over it, and harassing his management. And harassing Michael Legge himself, obviously, which I guess is also a seriously bad thing, but I feel like if anyone’s going to not give one fuck about that, it’s going to be Michael Legge. And he did sort of ask for it, he had to know that posting that shit would piss people off. But I think it would be fair for him to not expect it to piss people off this much. Like, if Michael Legge posted a picture of two royal children with the word “cunt” on it and then was shocked that people got upset at all, I’d say, “Oh come on, you posted something provocative and you got a reaction.” But surely it would be fair for him to be surprised that people are calling him a horrifying danger to children, right? And trying to get his management to drop him? Also trying to get him dropped by a radio station that I’m pretty sure he doesn’t actually work for?

It’s also not actually funny because that’s a serious fucking problem, the way right-wing people see something they don’t like and immediately jump to it being a “danger to children”. That’s how you get people who protest drag events claiming that they’re only protecting children from predators. It’s the same basic concept, even though Michael Legge is, you know, not a drag queen. But it comes from the same thing, the idea that if someone doesn’t show deference to right-wing expectations (ie. gender roles, respect for the monarchy), then they are endangering the children, and need to be stopped in the name of the anti-pedophilia movement.

I know that. I know that. I know this has insidious roots. But fucking hell, it’s funny. Proper, laugh-out-loud funny. I read every comment on that Tweet, and they got genuine laughs out of me, way more laughs than I’d have in that same amount of time from the average comedy special. People who don’t understand quotation marks, and think he’s calling the kid a cunt. People who do get that he was putting the word in the kid’s mouth, and not applying it to the kid, but they’re still furious that he’d imply that a royal child would say such a vulgar word. Like “have a kid say a dirty word” is still a horrifyingly edgy thing, and not old as fuck. God, have these people not seen those annoying FuckH8 campaigns from like 2008? If you insist on criticizing Michael Legge for something, I guess you could point out that an “It’s funny when little kids say swear words” joke was a bit hack by about 1965. I still enjoyed the one he did, though. But the criticism you can’t level at it is that suggesting a kid saying a swear word is such a shockingly edgy thing that only a horrifying danger to children would do it.

For something that has almost nothing to do with this, I’ve had Michael Legge in my Bandcamp cart for a few weeks now. I have a cart there with Micahel Legge’s Stawberries to Pigs audiobook, his Halloween thing that I think is trashing Graham Linehan, and Nato Green’s Whiteness Album. All things I want to hear, all by comedians I want to support (as you can on Bandcamp, that’s by far the best way to financially support an artist, if there’s anything you’re willing to spend money on and it exists on Bandcamp, buy the Bandcamp version rather than any other version, that way most of the money will go to the artist, and it’s the best option for the consumer because you don’t get some link to a streaming site, you get a downloadable file), but my work lately has been really inconsistent and my ability to pay rent has been a bit precarious, so I can’t justify purchases like that, but I’m trying really hard to get a new job. So I’ve put that stuff I want in a Bandcamp cart, with the idea that as soon as I get a new job and have a more stable source of income, I’ll make that purchase. That, and I’ll get my own NextUp subscription, which I should really really do as I’ve benefitted so much from them.

Anyway, this is making me really hope one of these potential new jobs comes through soon, because it’s making me really want to throw some support at Michael Legge right now.

[randomvarious]

Today’s compilation:

Super Bad Is Back: Soul Love 1991 Soul / R&B

Yesterday, I posted about an amazing funk, soul, and R&B release that was put out in 1973 by the prolific Canadian budget compilation label K-tel called Super Bad Is Back. K-tel was a multifaceted company that became a fixture of middle-America in the 70s and was synonymous with cheapness and disposability because of the many albums it released that were pretty much just reproductions of big chart hits. There was no originality to their albums, no serious work done by its compilers to feature slept-on gems; just pure record shop discount bin stuff. But that Super Bad Is Back album was a *stellar* exception to their own rule.

And this release, Super Bad Is Back: Soul Love, which came out 18 years later, isn't. This is just a short set of ten straight-up 70s soul classics that are *mostly* fit for making some love to (more on that later). A bunch of special songs on an unremarkable cheat-code comp; K-tel's wheelhouse, as it were.

So, on here you'll find signature songs from a number of acts whose work defined the surface of 70s soul and R&B: Al Green's "Let's Stay Together," Al Wilson's "Show and Tell," The Chi-Lites' "Oh Girl," Luther Ingram's "If Loving You Is Wrong, I Don't Want to Be Right," and Barry White's sex-blaxploitational "I'm Gonna Love You Just a Little Bit More Baby." All huge 70s hits. In fact, the most obscure song on this CD is Tower of Power's great "So Very Hard to Go," which was their most commercially successful single, but only hit #17 on Billboard's Hot 100 and #11 on its R&B chart. A good showing for any song, sure, but based on how this one sounds, it definitely deserved more spins and sales.

And now, here's the part where I ruin part of your day by talking about Marvin Gaye's "Let's Get It On." I'll never fault anyone for thinking that this is a fantastic song, because, sonically, it definitely is. But keep in mind what the impetus behind this tune originally was: Marvin Gaye made it with his then-17 year-old crush, Janis Hunter, in mind. She would go on to marry him for a brief period of time afterwards, and they'd have two kids together, but she was only about half of Gaye's age when they first met. Not accusing Gaye of any legal wrongdoing in this regard and I'm not going to painstakingly research 1970s age of consent laws to figure it out, but listening to those lyrics, and knowing who it was that served as his inspiration for writing them, is definitely unsettling, to say the least. Really not trying to apply today's standards to a song from 50 years ago either—the social mores and what was deemed acceptable back then were obviously very different! How many hit songs have there been of grown-ass men singing about underage girls?!—but I also can't say that I really derive much enjoyment from this one anymore, knowing what I've known about it for some time now. Hard to not think about what he was thinking about when he made it, y'know?

This is all out in the open too, by the way. One need look no further than the liner notes for the 2001 deluxe CD edition of Let's Get It On. I promise you I'm not misinterpreting anything here, and I'm not even getting into the turbulence that Marvin and Janis' marriage suffered through, which was allegedly rife with domestic abuse (he wasn’t a great guy!). I'm just honing in on who and what drove Marvin Gaye to record "Let's Get It On" in the first place, a song that successfully transformed him from a righteous, politically conscious musician into an international sex symbol as well.

Hopefully I didn't ruin any special memories you may have that are associated with this song, but, maybe, let's leave this one off the sex playlists going forward, hmm? 🤷‍♂️

And I'm still including it in the list of highlights below, because, despite not really wanting to listen to it again, it is, undoubtedly, a very well-made song.

So, normally when I find an album like this that's comprised of some of your most basic, essential hits, I call it "Baby's first 'x' compilation." But given that this CD is filled with a bunch of sexual soul songs, I can't call it that. So, we'll call this "Consenting adult's first sex-soul compilation" instead, okay?😅. A wholly unremarkable CD if you're already familiar with these songs, but I guess it's also a sweet release for when you need some of...well...exactly that...except for, of course, that one big Marvin Gaye hit....😬

Highlights:

Al Green - "Let's Stay Together" Marvin Gaye - "Let's Get It On" Dorothy Moore - "Misty Blue" Barry White - "I'm Gonna Love You Just a Little Bit More Baby" Al Wilson - "Show and Tell" Tower of Power - "So Very Hard to Go" The Chi-Lites - "Oh Girl" Luther Ingram - “If Loving You Is Wrong, I Don’t Want to Be Right”

[talkurtalk]

Okay I definitely don’t mean to be mean or anything, but it’s official with the new Midnights merch… Tay’s newer merch is Disappointing.

The merch from like Red (TV) onwards has been seriously lacking. The Evermore drop is like the only exception since Fearless (TV) that i feel like has had overall good merch designs and even some of those feel a little… cheap? To me?

Like obv quality of products has been lacking since Reputation we all know this, but like quality of design is what I’m talking about here.

The Fearless (TV) merch was super cute i feel like! The way that pictures & lyrics & Taylor’s name/brand were placed felt really purposefully stylistic, and i absolutely adore all of the pieces i remember seeing. I was only able to buy the one shirt & it’s easily one of my favorite TS merch pieces.

I feel like the designs captured the unique vibe/soul of Fearless and still brought a new design look vs the OG Fearless stuff that feels fresh and cool!

If we were going to be stuck with basically just variants on the same merch designs forever after i would’ve preferred if they could’ve been more like those ones instead of just… tee or sweater with just Taylor’s name and/or the album cover? For $45-90 a pop?

Occasionally a simple drawing of Taylor and her name on it? Also for $50+? It just doesn’t seem worth it to me when I can find a bootleg design that basically looks the same (or better) for <$40, I’m not really willing to buy clothes I don’t like just to “support” a multi-millionaire & her very successful record label.

Like idk man I’m trying not to judge this Midnights merch too hard because it is pre-release merch which for Tay is always lacking compared to post-release stuff, but the majority of stuff that’s been released over 2021-22 does not have my hopes up that high.

Which is a huge bummer for me because I’m so excited for the Midnights concept based on the snippets we have so far!! And i have some Taylor merch from eras past that are just golden from a design standpoint I think, and it just makes it more disappointing to look at my Speak Now & Reputation merch vs the newer stuff.

(I could go into some serious detail about my Swift Merch Opinions, but i should definitely be sleeping and this is already like a mini essay, so I’ll just leave it at: ugh, that’s disappointing. And say goodnight.)

[thisaintascenereviews]

Fame On Fire - The Death Card

Thanks to the Punk Goes Pop series from the last fifteen years (although the Punk Goes series has been around way longer than that), a lot of bands think they can just put out a generic metalcore / post-hardcore cover of a pop song, and think they’re cool because it has screams and breakdowns in it. It worked for a couple of bands, especially I Prevail, who got big off a cover of Taylor Swift’s “Blank Space,” and Our Last Night eventually just became a glorified cover band. Whatever gets the bag, I guess, but who would want to listen to that?

Another band that started off in that lane, and still kind of leans that way, is Fame On Fire. I’ve heard of them for years now, but never bothered to check them out, because seeing a metalcore band with nothing but covers of pop songs doesn’t sound good. Maybe if I was 15, I’d think it was cool, but I’m not into those types of songs anymore. I saw that Fame On Fire dropped a couple of albums in the last four years, including a debut in 2020 and a second album in 2022, all of which are on Hopeless Records, which is interesting, because I wouldn’t expect them to sign a band like that, but I digress.

I never heard good things about them, so I never bothered, but I saw where they dropped their newest album, The Death Card, and something compelled me to check it out. I also listened to their first two albums, and needless to say, The Death Card is their best album by far, although it’s not exactly an album to write home about (but it’s still really damn good).

Their debut album, 2020’s Levels, is essentially a 2010s Risecore album that dropped in 2020, for some reason; while it isn’t bad, it’s a pretty generic album. Welcome To Chaos, however, is a messy album that really doesn’t know what it wants to be, because it goes into a few directions that never add up, such as metalcore, pop-metal, rap-metal, or hard-rock. Plus, that album also has a few really bad moments, both musically and lyrically, so they could only go up from there, right? Like I said, The Death Card isn’t anything to write home about, but it’s also quite good, especially for what it is, and sometimes that’s all you need.

The Death Card is the band’s most “serious” album, as this album is pretty straight faced, and it’s also their most focused album, as the sound lingers somewhere between Octanecore, metalcore, and hard-rock. Sure, they don’t do anything that other bands haven’t already done in that vein, but their vocalist kind of carries this thing. He carried their other two albums, too, and that’s part of the reason why they aren’t total dumpster fires, but this record is the most grounded of them all. The lyrics are easily its weakest link, but even then, they aren’t as outright awful as some of the lyrics on their first two albums, so it could be a lot worse, and for what it’s worth, this record is solid for what they’re trying to do.

There isn’t a whole lot more to say about this record, but it’s one of those albums that works for what it is. If you’re looking for an Octanecore album with some solid hooks, vocals, and a few breakdowns here and there, you’ll dig this. I’ve been going back to this a lot more than I thought I would, and I never really got into this band beforehand, but I’m having a good time with this thing. That’s surprising, considering that I’ve been listening to a couple of albums I like a lot, such as Lakeview and Keith Buckley’s new band, so this is the album that I’ve been revisiting most, but it’s just that good.