#american idol top 5

[theabstruseone]

I want to push back on the narrative that's already going around that the "Reality TV" boom was because of the writer's strike. It's straight-up anti-labor propaganda attempting to claim the strike didn't do anything.

And it's blatantly false.

1) Survivor premiered in 1997, Big Brother in 2000, Amazing Race in 2001, American Idol in 2002, and that's just the big-name network ones I can think of off the top of my head.

The last WGA strike was in 2007.

The reality TV boom was already in full gear long before the strike.

2) The 2007 WGA strike lasted from November 5, 2007, to February 12, 2008 - Three months and one week.

It takes a hell of a lot longer than that to develop, pre-produce, shoot, and edit a television show than that. No studios turned around a reality TV series in those 14 weeks.

This keeps being brought up because they want to dismiss efforts of the workers by claiming the studios can quickly pivot to something that doesn't need writers (bullshit) and blame what's seen by many as a blight on American entertainment, reality TV, on the WGA strike.

[octuscle]

Gym Motivation

Lord knows Michael wasn't one of the little guys. He had an impressive body for a 17-year-old. But after going through a growth spurt with a decent weight gain, his weight stagnated. Despite lifting iron at least three times a week for two to three hours at the gym, he had gained maybe a pound in the last two months. It was frustrating. It was most frustrating when Vlad was working out. Vlad was barely older than Michael. Maybe 22 or 23 years old. But Vlad was a colossus. The ground shook under his steps. The air shook when he performed the last repetition with a shout at the end of a set. And the air was thick with fresh and old sweat when he walked through the gym. Vlad rarely spoke to any of the other visitors to the gym. Mostly to gain access to the dumbbells or some piece of equipment. Never had anyone dared to not make room for Vlad immediately.

"Little brother, are you going to be here much longer?" Vlad's booming bass with its heavy Slavic accent went through Michael's entire body. The colossus stood behind the barbell bench, the bulge of his cock just above Michael's head. Michael's throat went dry, and not just because of the smell of sweat and musk. He shook his head. Vlad added a 20-pound plate on either side of the barbell bar without being asked. "I'm going to help you get big, little brother. Come on, ten reps." Michael gave it his all, embarrassing himself in front of his idol was out of the question. With a loud cry, he set the dumbbell down after the tenth repetition. He had never lifted such a weight before. Vlad added 50 kg twice, gestured for Michael to get up, and laid himself down on the barbell bench. "You help when Vlad can't anymore." Michael nodded, even though he knew he had no chance of catching that weight if needed. But Vlad didn't need any help, either.

It was 10:30 p.m. when the janitor switched the lights to emergency and told them he was locking up in fifteen minutes. The gym was deserted. Michael was exhausted. Vlad stripped off his sweaty tank top and did a double biceps pose in front of the mirror. "Good workout, but now Vlad horny." He pulled the waistband of his workout shorts down and his boner jumped up like a jack-in-the-box. Michael didn't need to think, he got on his knees and sucked the fattest balls he had ever seen. And after a few minutes Vlad cummed his massive load into Michael's face. After that he turned around without a word and left. Completely alone in the studio, Michael took off his T-shirt and used it to wipe everything he hadn't been able to swallow out of the corners of his mouth. He also did a double biceps pose. And he was convinced that he had gained mass.

At 06:30, Michael woke up. Fuck, those had been wild dreams. Wet dreams. His boxers, pubic hair, and the Treasury Trail between his abs were cum-encrusted. Michael did three sets of pushups and three sets of situps and went to the bathroom. Before showering, he did another double biceps pose. The workout yesterday had really paid off. Michael loved the bush in his armpits. For a senior in high school, he really had plenty of body hair.

Michael skipped shaving for once today. He was running late as it was. As he gulped down his protein shake and lean curds, his mother reminded him that today was her mother's birthday. Michael loved his baba. But talking to her on the phone was exhausting. Despite her American husband, she had never learned to speak English properly. And Michael had learned little Bulgarian from his mother. But a "Happy Birthday" she would understand. Because of the time difference, Michael made the call right on the way to school.

It was hard to concentrate at school. Michael scribbled pictures of massive mounds of muscle with huge dicks in his notebooks. And he couldn't wait to get back to the gym. Even though he knew Vlad was never here this early, he was disappointed not to hear the colossus' groan as he entered the Gym at 5:00 PM. Motivated by yesterday's workout, Michael put on more weights than he usually did. And he also felt stronger than usual. And while he proudly lifted 280 kg on the leg press, he took in the scent of clenched manhood behind him. "Little brother, are you warming up? Hold on, let me put some weights on." And though he needed all the blood in his legs, Michael got a boner.

At 10:30 p.m., Vlad dropped his barbell with a crash after the last set. "Come on, little brother!" he said, heading toward the locker room. Again, the gym was deserted. And again Vlad's monstrous cock popped out of his pants. "No blowjob today, fuck today!" Michael could hardly wait. Never before had a man fucked him. And never had he felt like he did the moment Vlad shot his load. Vlad caught the cum dripping from Michael's ass with his calloused hands and made Michael lick his hands like a dog. And with his hands still wet from spit and cum, Vlad jerked Michael off afterwards. And massaged the load Michael had cum on his chest into his stomach and pecs with vigorous movements. "Gives hair on chest" grinned Vlad.

When Mikael woke up the next morning, he could already smell fresh pitki. This meant that his mother was once again homesick for her hometown Sofia. Mikael knew that. Then she hummed Bulgarian folk songs all day, spoke only Bulgarian to him and his father (which was less difficult for Mikael, who had grown up bilingual, than for his father), and cooked oodles of Bulgarian home cooking. Oh well, Mikael thought to himself as he washed down his breakfast with a gallon of protein shake, Vlad will be pleased. Because, as usual, his mother had packed a large portion of pitki for his colleague.

Of course, his father would have preferred it if Mikael had gone to college and studied law as well. But maybe he would do that again. So go to college and study mechanical engineering. But right now, he wanted nothing more than to fix truck engines. He and Vlad were a well-rehearsed and unbeatable team. And if the two of them could work bare-chested, they were even better. At least according to their own convictions. Especially on a Friday, when the weekend was already within reach. At 3:00 p.m., the two beefcakes swapped their mechanic overalls for sweatshorts and tank tops and headed to the gym.

Those who regularly worked out at the gym knew the two beefcakes and knew that it got loud when they lifted weights. And they also knew that the smell the two gave off could have a numbing as well as an aphrodisiac effect. And those who knew the two better knew that on Fridays they both ended their workouts with a sauna session. No wonder that, apart from Mikael's and Vlad's regular place, the sauna was full at 8:00 pm. Not a few hoped to be allowed to blow one of the two or even to be fucked by them. But also today Vlad cum in Mikael's face. And Mikael in Vlad's.

Also on Saturday morning Mikhail's and Vlad's day started early. In their father's trucking company, they worked around the clock. Their parents taught them on a daily basis that as Bulgarian immigrants they had to work harder than anyone else. And Mikail and Vlad worked harder than any of their employees. One of their drivers had dropped out and Vlad had to fill in. That sucked. That meant that their joint training was cancelled today. On the other hand, Mikhail was happy if he got a chance to catch up with his big brother. He would also work out harder than everyone else at the gym today.

And there was one more advantage to working out alone: He had the free choice of which bro from the gym would be allowed to suck his sweaty balls and cock afterwards.

Inspiration for the story by @windysidewalk. Pic of Mikhail found @woolf200

[absolutebl]

This Week in BL - Bunch of Stuff Coming in August

July 2023 Wk 5

Being a highly subjective assessment of one tiny corner of the interwebs. Organized by which ones (in each category) I’m enjoying most.

Ongoing Series - Thai

Laws of Attraction (Sat iQIYI) 2-3 of 8 - Oh good, we now know that Thailand has the same statutory rape laws as the US. Dub con is as dub con does. MEANWHILE Oh my God I love evil lawyer cutie so much. Him and his beautiful weaponized smile, maybe my new favorite character. I like the way this director is playing with noir mystery tropes, settings, and archetypes too - it’s feeling very 60s pulp, I’m getting gay Travis McGee vibes. Grandma knowing that her grandson likes boys is so sweet. I have to be completely frank here, this is what I wanted from both Manner of Death and KP. I truly love this show

Hidden Agenda that isn’t hidden (Sun GMMTV YouTube) ep 3 of 10 - It’s a very Cyrano de Bergerac kind of narrative... If Cyrano fell in love with Christian instead of Roxanne. Mock date was fun. 

Low Frequency (Sat iQIYI) ep 4 of 8 - Into the lion’s den. Investigation begins. Why isn’t the ghost acting lookout? Who are these random side characters? I’m confused. Half way through kiss is right on schedule tho. 

Wedding Plan (Weds YT & iQIYI) ep 2 of 7 - The kiss was nice, but it’d be nicer if Nuea had punched Lom. Manipulative arse. A trash watch is happening!

Be Mine Super Star (Mon Viki) ep 4 of 12 - Meh. 

Dinosaur Love (Sun iQIYI) ep 5 of 8 eps - The hazing has begun + secret relationship and it’s kinda like a v soft SOTUS. Dino is getting a bit too controlling and obsessive for me so it slid down the ranks. I much prefer La Cusine’s version of this dynamic. The friends protecting Dino’s interests were funny tho - boy is so obsessed he outsources his stalking. 

Be My Favorite (Fri YouTube) ep 10 of 12 - Max is BEST BOY. I hate Kawi. Tra la la. Trash watch here.

Ongoing Series - Not Thai

Jun & Jun (Korea Thurs Viki) 2 of 8 - Our ex idol is a total FLIRT. Nice to see an uke with agency. I mean baby girl is a newbie worker bee… but still flirty, good for you, sweetie. I see your little lip bite and so does your soon to be husband. Speaking of, I love Choi Jun’s style of seme aggression: a little sleezy + a bit too handsy + ultra clever with his words. Plus tie tug!!! Also threatening to take off your TAILORED suit so baby wears your shirt and smells like you? HOT. Boy you sped right past American style and into Italian - that’s real Corinthian leather, that is. 

Stay By My Side (Taiwan Fri Gaga) 5 of 10 eps - Mid series kiss right on schedule. Thank you for never upsetting me, Taiwan. Omg. Such boyfriends. Only Taiwan gets this sappy. I have to say, I watch this show after Tokyo on purpose. (I need the pallet cleanser.) Still, I’m scared that the perception will be that Bu Xia is using Jiang Chi, not in love with him, when the truth about ghosts comes out. Why doesn’t BX’s useless sister do something for her disaster brother? I guess JC likes a needy boy? Oh no, the kiss confusion. Lip touch but rejection (?). Nooooo. I suppose they have to draw this out for 10 eps. Gah, they’re so cute. But BX is a bit dim, isn’t he? Poor thing. 

Minato's Laundromat Season 2 AKA Minato Shouji Coin Laundry Season 2 (Japan Thu Gaga) 4 of 12 eps - Shin is such a worrywart, over protective, over the top boyfriend. I guess we saw a little bit of give from Minato? More than usual, baby steps. This is Japan after all.

Tokyo in April is... AKA Shigatsu no Tokyo wa (Japan Fri Gaga) ep 7 of 8 - Japan’s favorite trope = the running of the gays. Kazama knows everything now. Ep ends on one of my few triggers. SKIP! Japan you better NOT go there.

Vian the series (Vietnam YouTube ) ep 11-12fin - terrible ending, he turned back into a cat and the whole thing was pointless. I am very annoyed. 4/10 FATALLY FLAWED 

It’s airing but ...

Stay With Me ... NO I WILL NOT! And you can’t make me.

In case you missed it

Stay (Pinoy YouTube) finished its run at 7 eps. It’s mostly English & set in LA (shudder) so I did not bother. I say little to no chatter about this (that’s normal with the Pinoy stuff tho). Did anyone watch and enjoy? 

Next Week Looks Like This:

Coming August 2023

8/1 Stay Still (Hong Kong Tues YouTube) 5 eps - Yes we have had BL from Hong Kong before, but that was... before... who knows what it’ll be like now. Hayden, moves into a new apartment and starts a complicated relationship with his neighbor’s grandson, Damien, after an unexpected kiss. Meanwhile: Archie rekindles a romance with his high school sweetheart, Kelvin, who is now married.

8/11 Love Class Season 2 (Korea Fri Viki) 10 eps - Hyun, Minwoo and Joo-Hyuk are looking forward to their freshman year at college. But trials and tribulations of love that await them outside the classroom: from learning about maturity to being unable to forget the scars of past lovers. (All new cast from season 1.) 

8/12 My Personal Weatherman AKA Taikan Yoho (Japan Sat ????) 8 eps - hum. 

8/19 Love in Translation (Thai Sat One31) ? eps - Two strangers start working in a cafe together.

8/20 My Universe series begins (Thai Sun iQIYI) 24 episodes - This is sampler pack BL, 12 pairs, each pair gets 2 episodes, not entirely sure on the order they’ll drop in. Known couples include EarthBank from Destiny Seeker and KaownahTurbo from Love Stage!!!, mostly fresh faces otherwise. Jane to direct several. 

8/22 Kisseki: Dear to Me formerly known as Miracle (Taiwan Tues ????) 13 eps - From screenwriter Lin Pei Yu (We Best Love, H3: Trapped) features a student doctor forced to take care of a gangster. I love the premise and like the writer, I’m thinking Viki or Gaga will get this one.  

8/24 Man Suang (Thailand movie domestic cinemas) - historical drama about Thai burlesque with KP’s MileApo. Tong is in this one too? 

8/? Sing My Crush previously Follow The Wind (Korea ????) 8 eps - supposed to have released in the first half of 2022 this is a adaption of Myung’s webtoon, from the director of My Sweet Dear, and the Love Tractor production house, looks like Korea does About Youth.

8/? Why R U? (Korean remake)  is supposed to be out this month, filming started in sept 22. I find everything about this hilarious. I mean if Korea remakes it, we lose all the sexy and then... would we have a story at all? No we would not. Not even for six short eps. It’d be like one of those mesh shopping bags. 

We can probably expect a new BL from GMMTV too, to slot into BMF’s spot mid month. 

2023 forthcoming BL master post (see comments, some are inaccurate, NOT KEPT UPDATED)

THIS WEEK’S BEST MOMENTS

I do love a hyung romance, and this aggressive ghost-ish thing is working for me. (Low Frequency) 

Hidden Agenda + My Ride. 

So coy

I agree with @heretherebedork​ that these two make a great side couple but I am utterly in love with...

HER. (All Laws of Attraction.) 

(Last week)

[en-girls]

ENGIRLS, also known as ENHYPEN GIRLS (엔하이픈 소녀들), is a fictional sub-unit of the ten-member co-ed group, ENHYPEN, which was formed through the survival show, I-LAND. The unit consists of the three female members of the group: Aiko, Blake, and Ruruka. They debuted on November 30th, 2020, with the song, 'Really Bad Boy,' as a part of ENHYPEN's debut EP, 'BORDER: DAY ONE.'

Despite their victory on I-LAND, ENGIRLS had a challenging debut because they were the only three girls out of the twenty-four female contestants to make it to the debuting team. Many fans, international and domestic, accused MNET of voting manipulation or stated that they should have debuted an all-boy group by choosing three other male contestants to take their place. This only increased when their debut EP was released, and they were introduced as a sub-unit, with both the girls and the boys having their own unit songs.

Regardless, ENHYPEN went on to have a successful debut and remain one of the top artists of their generation.

MEMBERS PROFILE

Kobayashi Aiko was born on January 17, 2002, in New York City, New York, to a businessman father and a stay-at-home mother. She is the second eldest of four children and the only one of her siblings pursing a music career. From a young age, she has loved music and can play different instruments, including the piano, violin, guitar, and drums.

Later, when she was five, Aiko and her family moved to Osaka, Japan, due to her father’s job relocation. While in Osaka, Aiko continued to pursue music, picking up vocal lessons and later being scouted by SM Entertainment in 2014. Despite her parent’s disapproval, she went on to train under SM for four years, becoming an SMROOKIE and later participating in the survival show Produce 48. She was eliminated in episode 5 of the show and continued to train at SM until leaving at the end of 2018 to join BigHit Music.

After that, she had a fight with her parents, who wanted her to come home to continue her education, but Aiko stood firm and begged for another chance to prove herself. She later joined I-LAND and made it to the debuting team.

— BASICS

STAGE NAME ; Aiko

BIRTH NAME ; Calista Kobayashi

JAPANESE NAME ; Kobayashi Aiko

BIRTHDAY ; January 17, 2002

ZODIAC ; Capricorn

BIRTHPLACE ; New York City, New York

ETHNICITY ; Japanese

NATIONALITY ; American

— CAREER

PROFESSION ; Idol

YEARS TRAINED ; 6 years

YEARS ACTIVE ; 2018 - present

LABEL ; BELIFT LAB

GROUP ; ENHYPEN

GROUP POSITION ; vocalist, dancer, leader (ENGIRLS) 

— PHYSICAL

FACE CLAIM ; Chisa (XG)

VOCAL CLAIM ; Chisa (XG)

DANCE CLAIM ; Soojin (soloist/ex-(G)I-DLE)

HEIGHT ; 167 cm | 5’5

BLOOD TYPE ; O

Blake Akiyama was born on December 18, 2002, in Houston, Texas, to a surgeon father and model mother. She is an only child because her mother had complications after Blake was born, which led to her being doted on by her family as the only female granddaughter. Despite this, Blake is a very humble girl because her grandmother, her father’s mother, taught her the importance of hard work and appreciation for those around her.

Blake has taken dance classes since she was four and excels in many different genres. She has a deep passion for dancing and has won many awards for local competitions. Her dance teacher at the time had nothing but praise for her and has stated that Blake is one of the best pupils she’s had the honor to teach.

Blake’s parents later divorced when she was eight, and her father received full custody of her because her mother wished to pursue her modeling career. Since then, her mother has been in and out of her life. At fourteen, Blake was scouted as a model and took on some gigs despite her father not wanting her to. Still, he allowed her in order to make her happy. Blake later stopped due to the mental and physical toll it took on her.

She was scouted online due to a dance cover she posted on her Instagram and joined SOURCE Music in 2018 until she joined I-LAND and debuted into ENHYPEN.

— BASICS

STAGE NAME ; Blake

BIRTH NAME ; Blake Akiyama

JAPANESE NAME ; Akiyama Chinatsu

BIRTHDAY ; December 18, 2002

ZODIAC ; Sagittarius

BIRTHPLACE ; Houston, Texas

ETHNICITY ; Japanese

NATIONALITY ; American

— CAREER

PROFESSION ; Idol

YEARS TRAINED ; 2 years

YEARS ACTIVE ; 2018 - present

LABEL ; BELIFT LAB

GROUP ; ENHYPEN

GROUP POSITION ; vocalist, rapper, dancer, face of the group 

— PHYSICAL

FACE CLAIM ; Harvey (XG)

VOCAL/RAP CLAIM ; Harvey (XG)

DANCE CLAIM ; AleXa (soloist)

HEIGHT ; 173 cm | 5’7

BLOOD TYPE ; B

Nishimura Ruruka was born on December 9, 2005, in Okayama, Japan. She is the twin sister of Nishimura Riki, also known as Ni-ki, and has two other sisters. Like her family, Ruruka has a passion for dancing and has been dancing alongside her siblings for as long as she can remember. 

Ruruka has taken gymnastics classes since she was four, alongside dance classes, and originally wanted to pursue an athletic career. However, when she and Riki were eleven, they joined the group SHINeeKIDS and performed with SHINee for many stages. Through that, she learned that she loved to perform in front of a crowd and wanted to become an artist like SHINee. When she and Riki left SHINeeKIDS, Ruruka picked up vocal classes.

Between the time of her departure from SHINeeKIDS and her auditioning for BELIFT, Ruruka did some modeling gigs and was the backup dancer for other artists. Later, both Ruruka and Riki decided to audition for BELIFT and joined I-LAND, both succeeding and joining ENHYPEN. 

— BASICS

STAGE NAME ; Ruruka

BIRTHNAME ; Nishimura Ruruka

BIRTHDAY ; December 9, 2005

ZODIAC ; Sagittarius

BIRTHPLACE ; Okayama, Japan

ETHNICITY ; Japanese

NATIONALITY ; Japanese

— CAREER

PROFESSION ; Idol

TIME TRAINED ; 8 months

LABEL ; BELIFT LAB

GROUP ; ENHYPEN

GROUP POSITION ; rapper, vocalist, dancer, visual, maknae 

— PHYSICAL

FACE CLAIM ; Cocona (XG)

VOCAL/RAP CLAIM ; Cocona (XG)

DANCE CLAIM ; Chungha (ex-I.O.I/soloist)

HEIGHT ; 175 cm | 5’9

BLOOD TYPE ; AB

templates i used was created by @enchanthings link to template

[pinkscaped]

wait omg myah please please PLEASE tell us more abt myrah’s career after allume (and maybe during too 🤭) i js NEED to hear more abt her !

MYRAH YAMAZAKI is a Japanese K-pop idol and global icon based in South Korea. She made her initial debut in the rotational girl group ALLUME in 2005 as the group's leader and lead vocalist until her generation's graduation in 2010. Myrah is often credited for making ALLUME as popular as they are, achieving international stardom during this time for her strong attitude and natural star quality. Her run in Allume would be dubbed "Myrah and Friends" by fans due her popularity often overshadowing her groupmates.

Myrah would immediately begin a solo career after her 2010 graduation, destroying both the Korean charts and Japanese charts with the mini album HAUTE TOPIC. HAUTE TOPIC would break records for having all four tracks debut in the Top 10 on Melon. Moonlight, Chase Me, Starlight, and Kitty Kat would all break into the top ten and remain there for a solid five months. Myrah's solo career would be proflic and global, debuting in Japan shortly after her Korean solo debut where she would destroy the charts there as well. She would be the highest-performing Flowerbank soloist ever until the acquisition of Baebi's contract in 2023.

Myrah is still a high profile celebrity, starring in a handful of blockbuster films, critically acclaimed dramas, and becoming the face of many luxury brands through out the years. She is also the head of the creative board in Flowerbank Entertainment, owning an impressive amount of stocks in the company. She has been the host of the radio show AllTalkMe for over ten years now, keeping her and Allume relevant over the years.

ﾞ . ✩ . ' ۫           INFORMATION!

STAGE NAME :: MYRAH

BIRTH NAME :: Myrah Yamazaki

Birthday :: December 1st 1987

Zodiac :: Sagittarius 

Birthplace :: California

Hometown :: Osaka, Japan

Ethnicity :: Japanese

Nationality :: American-Japanese

Faceclaim :: Devon Aoki

Height :: 175 cm || 5′9

ﾞ . ✩ . ' ۫           VIRAL MOMENTS!

"I don't think people realize we haven't actually had sex...I wish but we're acting, guys." One of her first viral moments as an actress was in 2016 during the press tour for A Man and a Woman with her co-star Gong Yoo. Myrah and Gong Yoo would go on to have a public relationship that would often have them going viral for their cute and funny moments. To fans' dismay, the pair would split in late 2020.

When she snatched Sooah's mic from her during a concert, singing her lines and high notes. "My mic wasn't working. It's not like she sings much anyways," Myrah would go on to say in an interview, fueling the fire of rumors about the two having a feud during their time in Allume. After this, Sooah would noticeably clutch her microphone whenever Myrah would walk by her.

"How could I not like her? I've never spoken to her. I love 2ne1. Shut up." Myrah would shut down rumors of her and CL of 2ne1 having beef, telling a fan to shut up when they spoke negatively of her. Shot in glorious 2009 iPhone quality, the video would make its round around the internet. A week later, Myrah would post a selfie with CL on her blog with the caption "My bestiiiiii~ ^-^ <3" and the two are still close to this day.

She put her hand up in Gdragon's face when he attempted to sing to her at the 2013 MAMA Awards. It was a lighthearted interaction, Myrah laughing the whole time, but the internet took it differently and deemed her "a rude bitch" and VIPS would begin to harass her. This would have very little effect on Myrah as she would go on to post a couple of photos of her with T.O.P and Gdragon in the studio with the caption: "I lovvveee rappers!! (*^^*)♡"

"She's a bitch! A hot one though!" Myrah would shout out her car window when she was escorted out of a club by Flowerbank CEO Kim Iseul. Myrah was a bit of a club-goer post-Allume, often having to be picked up by friends or, on rare occasions, her CEO. When asked by paparazzi about her thoughts on Iseul having to pick her up, prompting her to say her now most iconic line.

[hit-song-showdown]

Year-End Poll #56: 2005

[Image description: a collage of photos of the 10 musicians and musical groups featured in this poll. In order from left to right, top to bottom: Mariah Carey, Gwen Stefani, Mario, Kelly Clarkson, Ciara, Kanye West, Green Day, 50 Cent, The Pussycat Dolls, Kelly Clarkson. End description]

More information about this blog here

2005 time. With Kelly Clarkson, we're seeing the first example of an artist jumpstarting their career off of the reality TV boom of the early 2000's. Simon Fuller, the manager for a number of UK acts including Spice Girls (until he wasn't) and S Club 7, created the show Pop Idol in 2001. In 2002, Pop Idol was brought overseas under a new name, American Idol. Kelly Clarkson won the first season of American Idol, and we'll see at least two more winners featured on these polls as we continue on.

Also notable is Hollaback Girl, specifically for the production behind the scenes. Songwriting and production duo, The Neptunes, was created in 1992 by Pharrell Williams and Chad Hugo. In addition to Timbaland (who we will cover in more detail on the next poll), The Neptunes would become a production powerhouse in the 2000's and beyond, helping to carve out what pop music sounds like this decade while also allowing their sound to evolve. For more information (because music production techniques aren't really my strong suit), I found two videos that go into more depth about their work and history. (1) (2)

[silvermoon424]

What are your top 5 Defunctland videos?

UGH it's so hard to narrow them down! But my faves are

Disney's Fastpass

Superstar Limo

The American Idol Experience

The Orient Express (this one is special to me bc I live in KC and used to go to Worlds of Fun every single summer)

The one about Action Park

Honorable mention to the Disney Channel theme song one, because I haven't seen it yet (I'm a bad fan) and I just know it'll be top 5 once I do.

[scotianostra]

The singer Lonnie Donegan was born on April 29th 1931 in Bridgeton Glasgow.

Donegan was born Anthony James Donegan, the son of a Scottish father and Irish mother. His father was a professional violinist who had played with the Scottish National Orchestra.

He moved with his mother to London at an early age, after his parents divorced. Inspired by blues music and New Orleans jazz bands he heard on the radio, he resolved to learn the guitar, and bought his first at the age of fourteen. He took his first name after a New Orleans blues singer he admired called Lonnie Johnson.

The first band he ever played in was the trad jazz band led by Chris Barber, who approached him on a train asking him if he wanted to audition for his group. Barber had heard that Donegan was a good banjo player; in fact, Donegan had never played the banjo at this point, but he bought one and managed to bluff his way through the audition. His stint in this group was interrupted, however, when he was called up for National Service in 1949.

In 1952, he formed his first own group, the Tony Donegan Jazzband, which found some work around London. On one occasion they opened for the blues musician Lonnie Johnson at the Royal Festival Hall. Donegan was a big fan of Johnson, and took his first name as a tribute to him. The story goes that the host at the concert got the musicians’ names confused, calling them “Tony Johnson” and “Lonnie Donegan”, and Donegan was happy to keep the name.

Donegan recorded a reworking of an American folk tune, Rock Island Line. Decca released the song in 1956, billed by the Lonnie Donegan Skiffle Group. The record, with its talking sequences, homage to Americana, and fast train shuffle climax, became a major hit in Britain and America. Because he was paid a flat fee for the session, Donegan didn’t receive any royalty payments for his most popular and influential song until the label struck a new deal for him 40 years later. However, Rock Island Line made him a star in his own right and would remain his signature song throughout his career.

From 1956 through 1962, he enjoyed a string of 34 British hits including Puttin’ on the Style and Cumberland Gap, which hit number one in 1957, Don’t You Rock Me Daddy-O, which reached number four in the same year, and the raucous sing-along My Old Man’s a Dustman which climbed to the top of the charts in 1960. It’s not hard to see why Lonnie is regarded as the first real pop star, his fans included the likes of Lennon and McCartney, who’s first group, The Quarrymen were a skiffle group. he Shadows, the Searchers, the Hollies, Herman’s Hermits, Gerry & the Pacemakers, and Cliff Richard all began their musical lives doing skiffle.

As the swinging sixties rolled on Donegans hits dried up but he was always in demand for gigs at home and across the world, he also dabbled in a wee bit acting and his own song publishing business, his most popular song he bought the rights for being Nights in white Satin. In the 70’s he popped upon the occasional TV shows during breaks from touring, in 1972 Tom Jones covered one of Lonnie’s songs and it went top 5 on both sides of the Atlantic. As a performer he continued to record and lease unsuccessful sides to Pye, Decca, Black Lion, and RCA.

A 1976 heart attack forced Donegan into an uneasy semi-retirement in California. Two years later, Chrysalis Records organized an all-star recreation of his early hits Puttin’ on the Style. Produced by former British teen idol Adam Faith and boasting duets with Ringo Starr, Elton John, and Rory Gallagher, it was his last major-selling album. Follow-ups with respected session ace Albert Lee and Cajun-fiddler Doug Kershaw seemed to point him towards country music, but a series of heart attacks in 1979 ended his full-time career.

In later years Donegan made a series of guest appearances with old friend Chris Barber including a featured spot on Van Morrison’s Skiffle Sessions: Live in Belfast 1998. Just before his death, he returned to touring full time, exhibiting much of his classic verve and humour before standing-room-only crowds. Donegan died on November 3rd, 2002, in Peterborough.

[btsqualityy]

Y.O.U (Years Of Us), Chapter 5: Old Friend

Jimin x half black/half Korean OC; Taemin  half black/half Korean OC

Genre/Rating: 21+, established relationship, idol!AU, smut, angst, and fluff

Summary: Kamaria has a night out on the town and runs into an old “friend”.

Warnings: semi public sex, unprotected sex, oral sex, dirty talk, and creampie.

WC: 2.8K

Song Of The Chapter: Taemin-Danger

9 Years Ago

Kamaria sat in one of the many studios in the SM building, nervously tapping her foot as she waited for one of SM’s most prolific groups to make their way inside. Although Kamaria had officially signed as an artist to the company not too long before, she still enjoyed writing music so after writing a song called “Good Evening”, she took it to the company who decided to give it to their top male group. 

“Hello?” A sudden voice called out as the door opened and Kamaria had to will herself to stay calm as the members of SHINee walked inside. 

“Hello, sunbaenims,” Kamaria smiled as she stood up, bowing politely as the members filed into the room. “I’m Minali or Kamaria, whichever you prefer.”

“Oh, no need to be so formal!” Onew exclaimed with a bright smile. “We’ve heard amazing things about you! I’m Lee Jinki.”

“Minho,” he introduced himself with a bow.

“I’m Kibum,” Key added.

“And I’m Lee Taemin,” Taemin grinned widely. “Our managers told us that you have an amazing song for us.”

“Well, I’m hoping you all will think so,” Kamaria chuckled. “I got inspired after hearing a song from an American group and after contacting them, they gave me permission to use the song and change it up so I did so and added new lyrics.”

“Well, no time like the present,” Key said as he clapped his hands together. “Let’s get started.”

Going into the session, Kamaria had been insanely nervous because SHINee was a legendary group in the KPop industry and Kamaria had only just debuted less than a year prior. However, as the session began and everything started to flow, she realized that she had been worried for nothing. The members were just as nice and funny as they had been rumored to be, not to mention the level of professionalism that they exuded when it came to doing what they loved. 

“I love this song so much!” Minho exclaimed. “And after hearing the original, it’s amazing how you made it into something completely different.”

“That’s definitely some talent there,” Onew nodded in agreement. 

“Thank you,” Kamaria replied sheepishly, feeling her cheeks warming up in embarrassment. “You guys made it effortless, though. Your voices are amazing.”

“We’re professionals darling,” Key joked, making Kamaria laugh. After a few more times of recording their verses, they all decided that almost three hours in the studio had been enough so they decided to go their separate ways. 

“Taemin-ah, you coming?” Key wondered as Onew and Minho paced out of the studio. 

“Ah, no hyung,” Taemin shook his head, throwing a quick glance Kamaria’s way before looking back at the older man. “I’ll get home on my own.”

“Alright,” Key smiled knowingly. “Be safe. Minali-ssi, amazing work.”

“Thank you so much,” Kamaria beamed as she took a break from packing up her bag to bow towards him. Key walked out of the studio then, leaving Kamaria and Taemin by themselves.

“Uh, Minali-ssi?” Taemin called out and Kamaria looked up at hearing her Korean name. “I was wondering, would you mind staying here a little while longer?”

“Uh, sure but why?” Kamaria wondered. 

“I’m not exactly satisfied with my vocals,” he explained. “But if you have plans and can’t stay, I can always have our managers contact you to set up a better time and-”

“Taemin-ssi, I don’t mind at all,” she giggled. “And please, call me Minali.”

“Only if you call me Taemin.”

“Alright,” she agreed easily as she set her things down next to her. “Let’s go over them again.” Once Taemin went back into the recording booth and put the headphones over his ears, Kamaria sat in front of the mixing table and restarted the song. As Taemin began to record his lines over again, she happened to catch the part that he was talking about. 

“So this part of the song is a build up,” Kamaria began after she cut the music off. “Your voice should reflect that but the thing is, you have to start strong to lead up to your high note. It’s not the same breathy one that Minho does in the beginning.”

“Can you give me an example?” Taemin requested. 

“Sure,” she nodded before beginning to sing. “Negero ga, negero ga, negero ga-ah.”

“Ah ok, I get you,” he said. “Restart the song?” Kamaria did then, watching with a smile as Taemin effortlessly copied the way that she had song the riff for him. 

“That’s it, you hit it,” she said. “Come on out and listen to it.” Taemin did as instructed, stepping back out of the booth and standing next to Kamaria’s chair as she replied the song. 

“Excuse my language, but that sounds so damn good,” he praised. “I absolutely love it and I know the hyungs do too.”

“Like I said, you guys make it easy,” Kamaria echoed. “Your voices just blend so well together, especially yours.”

“Am I your bias in SHINee?” He wondered and Kamaria looked up at him with a smirk. “Or at least your favorite voice?”

“Actually, Jonghyun was,” she replied with a smile. “But you and your voice are a very close second.”

“Well, would you mind if your second favorite bias treats you out to dinner?” Taemin wondered. 

“Are you asking me out on a date?”

“No, think of it as a ‘thank you for writing one of my favorite SHINee songs in recent memory’ dinner,” he chuckled. “How about it?”

“Yeah,” Kamaria nodded with a soft smile. “Ok.”

.................................................................

“I don’t understand why the two of you are doing this to me,” Kamaria muttered from her place in the back seat as she glared at Nari, who was in the drivers’ seat. 

“Because you needed to get out of the house!” Kang Seulgi exclaimed. Her and Kamaria had been extremely close friends since Kamaria’s days at SM Entertainment and with their busy schedules, they didn’t get much time to hang out together. 

“You’ve been in the house sulking ever since you had that dinner with Jimin,” Nari added, glancing in the review mirror at her best friend. “Between that and the anniversary of your mom’s death coming up, you need to keep your spirits up.”

“And you two thought a night out in Gangnam would help that?” Kamaria deadpanned. 

“Hey, good music, even better drinks, and gorgeous ass men?” Seulgi smirked. “Of course.”

“Good thing neither of you get paid for thinking then,” she muttered.

“Oh, you’ll feel better once you’re there and have a few drinks in your system,” Nari dismissed and Kamaria turned her gaze towards the window then, setting her chin on her hand. She was grateful that her friends cared enough about her to recognize when she was struggling but sometimes, she just wanted to wallow and feel all of her feelings. 

Not too long later, Nari pulled the car up in front of one of the hottest spots in Gangnam, Club Octagon. As soon as the three of them stepped out of the car, a crowd tried to form around them due to Kamaria and Seulgi’s combined star power. Luckily, security was quick to usher them inside and to their own little section. 

Nari made quick work of getting three drinks to their table and they lifted them up into the air.

“What should we cheers to?” Nari wondered.

“Friendship,” Seulgi suggested. “Existing, new, and future.”

“To friendship,” Kamaria smiled as they all pushed their glasses together. Since it was just a double shot of soju, it was effortless for Kamaria to slam it all back in one go. 

“Alright, I’m hitting the dance floor,” Seulgi announced before hopping up out of her seat. “Come with me, Kam.”

“I don’t feel like dancing,” Kamaria said before glancing at Nari for help.

“Oh no, you guys go ahead because I saw some people I know,” Nari smiled as she stood up. “I’ll meet you guys out there!”

“You have no excuse now,” Seulgi smiled as Nari walked away from them. “I’ll buy you another drink.”

“Fine,” Kamaria huffed, allowing Seulgi to pull her up into a standing position. “But I want the drink first!” After a quick trip to the bar where the two of them downed more shots, they then made their way to the dance floor. 

Club Octagon was frequented by a lot of music lovers so they played a wide array of music, both Korean and Western, that had everyone going crazy. The vibes were immaculate and even though she hadn’t really wanted to go out in the first place, Kamaria found herself feeling happy that she had allowed her friends to drag her out. 

Life was hard and unfair but moments like these would always be worth it. Always.

Before she knew it, an hour had passed and Kamaria’s high heels were starting to put a strain on her feet. Just as she found herself about to turn and tell Seulgi that she was going to sit down for a break, she felt a pair of hands station themselves on her waist from behind. 

“Can I have a dance?” The voice asked and Kamaria gasped, recognizing that voice anywhere as she turned around. 

“Lee Taemin!” She squealed before throwing herself into his arms. “What are you doing here?!”

“Kai dragged me out,” Taemin chuckled, setting her back down onto the ground before motioning behind him with his head. When Kamaria looked over his shoulder, she saw Kai from EXO talking animatedly with Seulgi and Nari. Once he made eye contact, he waved happily and Kamaria laughed before waving back. 

“How many drinks has he had?” Kamaria wondered as she looked back at Taemin. 

“Too damn many,” he huffed with a smile. “I’m starting to think he just wanted to let loose and dragged me along so that I could prevent any scandals from occurring.”

“That sounds like him,” she giggled. 

“And you? What are you doing out in Gangnam?” 

“Same predicament as you, conned by my friends,” Kamaria sighed. “Admittedly though, I needed some cheering up.”

“Ah yeah, it is February huh?” Taemin grimaced and she nodded solemnly. “Well, if it helps, you might not feel that great but you definitely look it.”

“Yeah?” She smiled softly, looking down at the black ruched bodycon dress that covered her body. 

“Absolutely,” he confirmed. “So, will you dance with me?”

“Mmm, I don’t know,” Kamaria hummed. “You could at least buy me a drink first.”

“That can be arranged,” Taemin smirked. 

.................................................................

5 Years Ago

“That’s it my love,” Taemin whispered huskily as he thrust forward roughly, causing Kamaria to moan underneath him. “You’re taking it so well.”

“Feels so good Tae, fuck,” Kamaria gasped. “Harder.”

“You’re asking or telling me baby?” He wondered as he wrapped one strong hand in her shoulder length braids before yanking backwards and bringing her face closer to his. 

“A-asking, I’m asking.”

“Rephrase that for me then.”

“P-please fuck me h-harder,” she pleaded. 

“Much better,” Taemin cooed, reaching out with his free hand and taking ahold of Kamaria’s jaw, forcing her to crane her neck and look into his eyes. “You gonna come?”

“So hard,” Kamaria nodded. 

“Rub your clit and come for me then,” he instructed and Kamaria didn’t hesitate to reach underneath herself, finding the bundle of nerves with the tips of her fingers. Not even a minute later, Kamaria’s orgasm hit her causing her body to shake and tremble. The feeling of her walls clenching around his length made Taemin groan loudly as his own orgasm bubbled to the surface and before he could even react, he felt himself spilling inside of her. 

“Holy shit,” Kamaria sighed blissfully, giggling when Taemin allowed his body to fall on top of hers. “Get off of me. You might be skinny but that muscle isn’t weightless, you know.”

“I don’t even think I can move right now,” he chuckled. “You’re too damn good.”

“I could say the same for you,” she replied, smiling to herself when she felt Taemin press an open mouthed kiss to her shoulder. 

“My gorgeous love,” he murmured.

.................................................................

“Fuck Tae,” Kamaria moaned, letting her head fall back against the wall of the bathroom stall that she and Taemin had crowded into together. After a few more drinks and dancing together to a few songs with wandering hands, Kamaria couldn’t help herself and ended up kissing him. Like any old habit, the familiar feeling came right back like second nature and it wasn’t long until they ended up in the bathroom. 

“Stay quiet, my love,” Taemin whispered from his place on his knees in front of her. “You don’t want anyone to catch us in here, right?”

“R-right,” she nodded as she looked down, biting her lip right after when he sucked her clit back into his mouth. Her dress was pushed up around her hips, her thong pulled to the side and held against her thigh by one of Taemin’s hands, and one of her thighs hooked over his shoulder. 

“You have no idea how much I missed the taste of this gorgeous pussy,” Taemin murmured. “You’re always so wet, Mina.”

“Cause of you,” she whispered, gasping when he quickly flicked the tip of his tongue against her. “Oh my gosh, that feels so good. Please keep doing that.”

“Asking so well,” he cooed before doing just as she requested. The feeling had her reaching down and burying her hands in his hair, her fingers gripping the strands tightly as her hips began to move on their own accord. 

“Fuck, you’re gonna make me come,” Kamaria whimpered and Taemin just doubled down on his efforts in response, his tongue working double time to make her orgasm. 

“God...fuck!” She burst suddenly, her jaw dropping open in a silent scream as she came on his face. Taemin, ever the considerate lover, licked up every ounce of wetness that escaped her slit before he gently removed her leg from his shoulder and stood up. 

“You ok?” He checked, smirking when he realized that her body was trembling a little bit. 

“Sorry, I haven’t had any sexual contact with a human being in like six months,” Kamaria giggled breathlessly as she wrapped her arms around his neck. “My world is a little rocked right now.”

“And here I was thinking that you just remembered how good I used to make you come.”

“Oh trust me, that plays a part in it too,” she smiled before leaning forward and kissing him firmly. The kiss instantly turned into a French one, their tongues sliding against each others and Kamaria moaned at the taste of herself on Taemin’s tongue. 

“I hate to make you come and then run,” Taemin began, murmuring against her lips. “But I have to get going.”

“Really?” She pouted. “I haven’t even gotten a chance to reciprocate yet.”

“I know and it’s taking everything in me to say this right now,” he laughed. “But I have a schedule with the hyungs in the morning and wake up call is at 5.”

“I could come back to your place with you.”

“Just for me to want to fuck you all night?” He chuckled. “Tempting but I can’t.”

“Alright,” Kamaria relented. “Have your managers discussed Nari’s offer for us to do a duet together on my new album with you yet?”

“They have and I have some free time coming up soon so have Nari contact them and they can set up a time for us to further discuss it in depth,” Taemin replied. 

“That means the answer is yes?”

“For you?” Taemin asked with a smile. “Always, my love.” Not being able to help herself, which seemed to be a constant theme in any of her interactions with Taemin through the years, Kamaria kissed him one last time before he pulled away from her. 

“I’ll see you soon, ok?” He murmured. 

“I hope so,” Kamaria smiled, watching with half lidded eyes as Taemin slowly opened the door to the stall, checked to make sure that it was clear of any people before stepping out and shutting the door behind him. Taking a few more minutes to compose herself and fix her dress, Kamaria then stepped out of the stall as well before making her way out of the bathroom. She didn’t even get five steps down the hall before Seulgi and Nari came rushing up to her, both of them sporting shit-eating grins on their faces. 

“What?” Kamaria wondered. 

“You wanna tell us why Lee Taemin came out of that bathroom and practically dragged Jongin out of here?” Seulgi wondered. 

“Or why he was sporting the biggest hard-on I think I’ve ever seen?” Nari added. “Or why you happen to have a post orgasm glow on your fucking face?”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Kamaria smiled with a shrug. “You guys ready to go?”

“Yeah, ready to go so you can tell us all about what happened in that bathroom,” Nari smiled. As the three of them made their ways out of the club then, Kamaria couldn’t help but to think how happy she was that she had come out after all. 

[my-rose-tinted-glasses]

if you get this, answer with your top 5 music artists and send it to the last 7 people in your notifications <3

Top 5 artists? Do people have top 5 anything? That is a foreign concept to me. I have like 50 top artists. But since you were so kind to send this to me and I love asks let me see how I can answer this.

Let's start at the beginning. We usually start by listening the music our parents listen to, in my case my mom. She loves music. I've been to more concerts in her belly or on a carrier that I ever been to after that. So the first of her obsessions that she passed on to me were The Beatles.

Yes it's a cliché, but it's so for a reason. I love all of it but this song holds a special meaning to me.

I love all types of music. One of my first loves that didn't come from my mother was Sinatra. And when I found him, I found everything else. I still love him, but I'd say that my favourite artist from that time would have to be Nat King Cole. His voice just does something to me.

Now let's leave the past behind and focus more on the present.

Like I said before I don't really do concerts, for a bunch of reasons. So if by my own choice I choose to go to a concert it's because I love them. And the band that has the honor of being my first concert, that I chose to go, was Green Day. It was obviously a long time ago but I still listen to them.

I must've listen to this song on repeat a thousand times.

Kelly Clarkson. Now she never made it here, but I would do anything to be able to see her live. I've been a fan since she was on american idol. I don't have her voice but I've spent many hours singing her songs with all the feeling if not the voice. And this song will forever be iconic to me.

Now since I've talked about concerts before, let's close it out with my last one. It was 5 years ago. Robyn. It was at a festival, my only time at one, and I went mostly because of her. She's an incredible performer, and it was an incredible life moment that I'll never forget. I was there with my best friends in the whole world and she delivered an incredible performance.

So yeah I gave way more information than it was required but I'm in a good mood and I like to talk a lot. Of course these are just 5 of my top. There are so many more.

[chronicangel]

I actually think it would be really funny if Gotham had a reputation for being like, a really cool and fun place that you want to go.

Like I know the running gag in fandom (and a little bit in comics, too) is that Gotham is a cesspit, famed for its insane vigilantes and impossibly high rates of violent crime, but when I think about real-life cities with very high crime rates and sort of a smoggy aesthetic, they are often places that people want to go.

Like, New Orleans is in the top ten cities in the world for homicide rates according to the data from 2022 (all the other 10 are in Mexico, and I can't speak as much to them because I've never been, but I at least recognize Tijuana, which is #5, as a place other people seem to refer to as a tourist destination for Americans), and yet there is a very real and very large crowd of people fully devoted to going there every year for Mardi Gras. I know multiple people who fantasize about living in the French Quarter, and when my grandparents took me there once as a teenager, I remember driving around with my grandmother to look at all the old, pretty buildings.

People famously think of New York City as a dangerous city with high crime rates (although the last few years have really reflected those crime rates going down), and yet it is also one top 10 of the most popular cities in not only the US but the world for tourism. My Dad lived in upstate New York from 2021 until this year, and just moved to North Jersey (significantly closer to the city), and for a while, he would rent a hotel in Times Square for a weekend every time I visited. If a band or artist is touring the US, it would practically be a crime to skip NYC, and there are the huge drawing forces of tourist destinations like the Statue of Liberty and Broadway. In fact, I lived halfway across the country from NYC and I still knew people who went on high school field trips there with their theatre programs.

I grew up in a college town in Southwest Missouri, and for most of my young adult life, I must have gone to St. Louis at least a half-dozen times a year. We went on a field trip to Six Flags when I was in 8th grade. I took a mini-vacation there in July 2023 where I paid for an Airbnb for a week and went to the zoo three or four days in a row so I could really take my time with it. I went on a day-trip in May of this year with a friend from work where we walked around the city to the tune of 19,000 steps. And all of that despite the fact that I spent my entire life hearing about the gang violence permeating the city, and the fact that St. Louis was ranked as the most dangerous city in the United States for several years in my lifetime.

I just moved to Philadelphia, which is in the top 50 cities in the world for homicide rates (see the link on New Orleans), because I've been coming here since I was a teenager and it's always been a home away from home to me. And when I went on my first walk around the neighborhood after moving here, I proudly bragged to my friends about how I had only been catcalled five times, two of which were by the same dude (some guy on my block who yelled at me at the beginning and the end of my walk) and one of which was by a child, so statistically that was a pretty good walk.

My point with all of this is that there are lots of very dangerous places in the world that people still idolize and want to go to. Within the lore of DC Comics, Gotham is a city that was first established in the early 17th century, with beautiful Gothic architecture and the Delaware Bay framing its edges. It would also be the largest city in New Jersey by a long shot, and I can imagine that with the real-world affectionate rivalry between New York and Jersey, citizens of the state would loudly defend Gotham as the superior city to NYC, cesspit or no (the same way that Missourians will hold Kansas City over Kansas' head until the end of time, or until they give back what's rightfully ours).

I imagine people from all sorts of places and all walks of life would go on two-week trips to Gotham during summer vacation to see whatever iconic landmarks stuck out to them, or maybe even to try to catch a glimpse of Batman and the other famous vigilantes-- I think if I heard that there was a vigilante in one of the big cities only a few hours away from my hometown, I probably would have been drawn to it like a magnet the second I was old enough to decide where to spend my breaks.

Also, just looking at it realistically, most of Gotham's crime happens at night and in very specific parts of the city-- which is also true of big cities in the real world. So it's extremely likely that a tourist could spend weeks or even months in Gotham and still never be directly subject to the sort of crime that Batman and Robin and whoever else might be there at the time are dealing with. I can easily imagine plenty of folks from Metropolis deciding to take a day trip to Gotham, which is just across the bay and would logically only take a couple hours tops to get to (assuming there's an operational ferry, and why wouldn't there be?), walking around the city looking at gargoyles and trying famous restaurants, and then packing on up and going back to Metropolis to say, "Yeah, people talk a big talk, but I've been to Gotham and it really isn't that scary."

You know, the way we all do with real cities.

[twistifiedz]

"Like the things that once filled our world with beauty, the dreams we had for the future died."

TW1ST: 180° is the second extended play by South Korean girl group, TWIST. The album was released on May 5, 2017, through JYL Records. Consisting of nine songs, including the three singles, “Come Back Home”, “Triangle”, and “Overdose”. Musically, the album spans between R&B, hip hop, EDM, metal, and dance-pop. The group earned the title ‘self-produce’ group as all members have taken the lead in the album production. “Come Back Home” was written and composed by Chaeyoung and Hyerim, whereas “Overdose” was composed by Sohye and written by Hyerim. “Triangle” is the first track that contains credits from all the members, in which the live arrangement consisting of an electric guitar and violins were composed by Sohye and Chaeyoung, while the lyrics were written by Mina and Hyerim.

As a sequel to their first eponymous extended play, TW1ST, 180° was a commercial success. The album debuted atop the Gaon Albums Chart, with over 400,000 copies sold in the first week, with Twist breaking their own record for having the highest girl group first week album sales, which was previously held by the predecessor album known as TW1ST. By the end of 2017, 180° had sold over 700,000 copies, making Twist hold the top two selling girl group albums of the year.

The lead single, “Come Back Home”, debuted atop the Gaon Digital Chart with other 567,888 digital units sold in the first week of release. The song remained atop the chart for four consecutive weeks. The second single, “Overdose”, debuted at number two on the Gaon Digital Chart with 309,362 digital units sold. In the first week of June 2017, “Overdose” rose to the summit of the chart with a huge increase in sales after the group held a one-time performance at the Apollo Theater in New York City, leading the performance to gain popularity. “Overdose” topped the Gaon Digital Chart for seven consecutive weeks. Due to the sudden traction from the viral performance, “Overdose” peaked at number 10 on the US Billboard Bubbling Under Hot 100. The third single, “Triangle” peaked at number 80 on the Billboard Hot 100 for the week of September 3, 2017.

For the album’s release, a special “TWIST Comeback Show”, hosted by a collaboration of Mnet and MTV, was broadcast live worldwide on May 6, 2017. The show consisted of performances from the following albums: TW1ST and 180°. 

Promotions for the album focused primarily on South Korea and the United States. Twist were apart of the following lineups:

Dream Concert

SBS Super Concert

Incheon Korean Music Wave

American Music Awards

KCON NY

TRACKLIST:

Crush

Like It

Bye Bye

Triangle

Come Back Home

Overdose

Illusion

Mala

Black Widow

ERA HIGHLIGHTS:

It was difficult to follow up to the release of TW1ST, the general public counted them out, but Twist came back FIGHTING! 

Come Back Home topped all the real time charts, earning 50 perfect-all-kills.

Overdose was the REAL hit of the album! It became bigger than Come Back Home and earned 73 perfect-all-kills.

Overdose debuted in the Bubbling Under on Billboard at number 10! 

Sohye had a vengeance. After a winter of taking violin, guitar, and writing lessons, she composed Overdose as her first project. She then enlisted Hyerim to help her with the lyrical material of the song. 2HYE lives on!

Mina joined the cast of Hello Counselor, to give advice to individuals!

As a gift for such a successful first half of 2017, Twist went on vacation to Malaysia!

To get to know the members more, Chaeyoung began her own radio show; Chae’s Clubhouse, where the Twist members and other idols are interviewed every week.

Performance Highlights (Iconic Moments / Popular Performances):

On 050417, the official comeback stages for Come Back Home and Overdose took place at Mnet Countdown. The stage for Come Back Home was rather futuristic, inspired by The Matrix and TLC’s ‘No Scrubs’. Each member had a white monochrome and colorful latex outfit suited for them, as they would dance in unison. The Overdose set in comparison was rather dark, sleek, and simplistic with white greek statues surrounding the girls. The beginning of the performances shows 20 backup dancers in the form of a choir as they surround Twist. Chaeyoung and Hyerim are directing the orchestra before the song begins.

On 050717 at SBS Inkigayo, Twist descended onto the stage from the ceiling via a small shaft and broke the glass wall that is used as an entrance to their performance of Overdose. Notable moments include Sohye opening up the performance with an electric guitar solo which transitions into Hyerim’s opening verse, Chaeyoung and Hyerim’s duo rap at the bridge, and Mina’s high note before the bridge.

At The 2017 Mnet Asian Music Awards, Twist performed a symphony orchestra version of Overdose, which included 100 members and backup dancers on stage performing various string instruments of the melody. At the opening of the symphony orchestra segment, Mina has an operatic vocal solo stage and is followed by Sohye’s electric guitar solo segment. The girls are seen rising onto the stage in a ring of blue fire, which intensifies with every movement of the symphony behind them. Notable moments include a dance break before the bridge, Chaeyoung and Hyerim’s duo rap, Hyerim’s signature hand movement that commands the audience from each direction to sing or scream louder, and a solo Hyerim dance stage. The performance received critical acclaim and is listed as one of the most iconic MAMA stages.

At The 2017 Melon Music Awards, Twist performed a rock version of Triangle with an orchestra live band to enhance the live instrumental of the song. The girls are seen descending onto the stage as angels with fluffy white wings in a ring of pure white light (in contrast to the ring of blue fire they stood in at MAMA for Overdose). Notable moments include Sohye’s violin solo, Hyerim’s runway walk before her bridge (insp @ 3:01 here), Chaeyoung’s screamo rap, Hyerim’s high note at the end (4:30 here), and Mina leading a metal-insp dance break.

[frazzledsoul]

So let's talk about my favorite arcane subject... historical TV ratings! In this case, historical Gilmore Girls ratings in the aughts.

As a reminder, everything discussed here will be in the 18-49 demo preferred by advertisers. Also, the WB/CW were less universally available than the other networks, so their numbers were lower.

2000-2001

In the debut season of Gilmore Girls, the highest rated show was Survivor, with a demo rating of 16.9.

As you can see, all WB shows are towards the bottom of the chart. Gilmore Girls had a 2.5 demo rating, 8th in the network and 127th total out of 157 shows. The top rated show on the WB was 7th Heaven, with a demo rating of 4.4.

So respectable but not a smash hit.

Why was the show on several times a week? Well, it originally aired on Thursday, during the same time slot as Friends (5th ranked with a 12.6 demo rating) so the network wanted to give it another shot. During that first season, they used to air a recap after the first half of the show in case people switched over after watching Friends.

2001-2002

The highest rated show overall was Friends, with a 15.0 demo rating.

Ah, season 2. Jess Mariano enters the scene and the show starts to develop its core identity as Love Triangle Central. It rises to third ranked on the network (bested by 7th Heaven and Smallville) and 115th overall and goes up to a 3.23 demo rating.

Oh, the power of a bad boy who can read. He will transfix many for decades to come.

2002-2003

The highest ranked show overall was CSI with a 16.1 demo rating.

Season 3 is the last season we have Jess full-time and the only Literati season. We also briefly enjoy the company of Twilight Dad. The show maintains it's popularity but nothing much changes: it's still outranked by 7th Heaven and Smallville, goes a little lower in rank overall to 121th overall, and maintains a 3.23 demo rating.

Gilmore Girls: Beginnings was a time slot where they aired episodes from S1 on Sunday nights. The show was not yet syndicated and streaming didn't exist yet: you couldn't buy DVDS until 2004. This was the only way to see old episodes. Even so, it wasn't that popular.

We lose the boyfriends at the end of the season, and things take a turn for the worse.

2003-2004

American Idol was the top rated show with a 10.7 demo rating.

Season 4 is the season of Single Rory, who ASP tells us we should adore more than the boyfriends.

Unfortunately, ASP also chose to give her scintillating plotlines about urine mints, arguing over a study tree, and begging for attention from a guy she meets in the laundry room. Lorelai's time is mostly taken up by Jason Stiles and his fascinating insurance saga. The viewers were bored. The show slipped to 6th in rank on the network and 128th overall, lost almost half of its viewers, and went down to a 1.7 in the demo rating.

ASP regrouped, brought the boyfriends back in, got rid of Jason, and finally hooked Luke and Lorelai up. The episodes near the end of the season are considered some of the best of the series. The show allegedly was close to getting canceled.

Quality wise, I think there are a lot of nice episodes here and there, but overall the season drags because there are far more interesting things going on with the supporting characters than the mains. Jess is as emo as he ever is and his hair is fabulous.

2004-2005

The top rated show for the year was American Idol with an 11.1 demo rating.

The show was on an upswing in season 5. We have to put up with Dean for a while, but Rory's attention strays (again) to yet another bad boy who can read and Logan brings a lot more energy and more interesting storylines to the show. We also have the glory days of Luke and Lorelai as a couple.

The show rises to #1 on the WB, finally outranking 7th Heaven and Smallville. It ranks 120th overall and the demo rating goes up to 2.0. The show's ratings will never be as high as they were during the Jess seasons.

Jess is not in season 5, as he was busy moving to Philly and becoming awesome. Milo shows up on American Dreams as yet another bad boy, yet his fresh-faced love interest in that show seizes the moment and not only fucks him but runs away with him, too. Meg Pryor at least knows how to take advantage of her opportunities.

American Dreams had slightly better ratings than Gilmore Girls but because it was a network show (and had insanely expensive music rights) it was canceled.

2005-2006

The top rated show (again) was American Idol with a demo rating of 12.9

Oh, season 6. The season of disappointment, thwarted dreams, and Jess Mariano reinventing himself as a hipster dreamboat.

The show remained popular, tying for first place in the network with Smallville and Beauty and the Geek (the reality show version of The Big Bang Theory). The demo rating stayed at 2.0 and the show ranked 110th overall.

Supernatural (the show Jared is most known for) debuts in 5th with a 1.6 demo rating. It will become quite the phenomenon over the next 15 years and spawn many stans of its own.

Milo's show The Bedford Diaries isn't too popular, but he also films the Rocky sequel and is cast in Heroes. He's on to bigger and better things, as is Jess, who is now a stable, successful author and business owner and hotter than ever, while Rory is stuck in a holding pattern of indecisiveness and bad decisions. Oh, well. The population of Philly awaits, son. Start your slut era in style.

2006-2007

Y'all will be shocked to find out that the top rated show of the year again was American Idol again with a 12.3 demo rating.

Oh, season 7. The new writers tried, I guess. ASP had pretty much destroyed Luke and Lorelai as a couple and also set her sights on almost every other character, too. So we're left with a devastated Luke, the specter of Christopher on the horizon, and Rory once again embroiled in love triangle drama.

The WB and UPN had combined into a single network, so the show has more competition, but I think a lot of people just gave up.

The show went down to its S4 series low of 1.7, ranked 4th behind America's Next Top Model and Beauty and the Geek. It ranked 122nd for the year and was canceled. There were negotiations for a 13-episode season 8 (with Matt Czuchry as a regular cast member) but they fell through. I think if that season had happened, Luke and Lorelai would have gotten married/had a baby and Rory and Logan would have been endgame. We would not have seen Jess again, because Milo was too busy elsewhere.

Heroes was the 7th ranked show overall that year and the top rated show on NBC. It has a demo rating of 6.4, over three times as high as Gilmore Girls and almost twice as high as Gilmore Girls at its height. There was a ton of water-cooler chat about the show during that time: it was pretty much everywhere.

There's been a lot of chatter on this site about ASP having big plans for Jess in S7, that she was going to have Rory cheat on Logan with Jess again and Milo only said no because he hated the new writers. There's never been any indication any of that is true because why wouldn't he move on to another job with more money, prestige, and attention? It was wise of him to leave and better for both Milo and Jess in the end.

So what have we learned here, other than that Frazzled has weird hobbies? Well, mainly that season 4 almost killed the show, the show's glory days truly were the first three seasons, and that I was not alone in rage quitting the show in 2006. All good lessons to keep in mind.

[mangopit]

20 Writer Questions

ty @littlefirefox for the tag!! nice seeing the other folks you tagged too, fandom runs deep fr haha <3

1. Total number of AO3 works?

34! i haven't uploaded in so long ouurgh

2. Total AO3 word count?

103,336 :o

3. Fandoms I’ve written in?

oh boy, tons. and im too shy to talk abt a lot of them on my main blog lol, but throughout my life i've written for a lot of youtubers, bbc sherlock, rotbtd, atla, tlok, american idol, some disney shows, an anime, live streamers, musicians...

4. Top 5 Fics by Kudos

dhjdjhs again im too shy to list em directly, they're all rpf >:'D # of kudos: 519, 377, 341, 314, 305

5. Do I️ respond to Comments?

yes, i try to reply to all of them! tho i need to look at my inbox and check that i haven't missed any recent ones :')

6. What has the angstiest ending?

hmmMm on ao3 i have a drabble that ends in perceived unrequited love but i think my actual angstiest published story ends with 2 former best friends finally choosing to part ways. offline, i have stories that end in major character death 😬

7. What has the happiest ending?

oh! a delightful question! i think the one where the soulmates figure their shit out and finally confess their feelings for each other feels like the most triumphant ending that i can remember writing :)

8. Have I️ received hate?

not for my writing. i've received unwarranted constructive criticism before tho.

9. Do I️ write smut? And what kind?

yes sometimes but i've never posted it online 👁👁 and idk "what kind" means... gay i guess???? loll

10. Do I️ write crossovers?

yes! i don't think i've posted anything online but rise of the brave tangled dragons is one of my longest loves.

11. Have I️ ever had a fic stolen?

not that i know of 😳

12. Have I️ ever had a fic translated?

no but i would be honored if anyone offered! :')

13. Have I️ ever co-written a fic?

i've initiated "finish the fic"s before, but i've never co-written a fic in the traditional sense.

14. What is my all-time favorite ship?

OH hmmm idk if i have one. maybe sh****** just bc of how long and intense my obsession was for it lol

15. A WIP I️’ll never finish?

i have a bbc sherlock fic that was well-received but i just can't imagine finishing it bc my writing has changed so much, i never had a direction for the story, and i don't really like how i wrote the characters.

16. Writing Strengths?

i'm good at eavesdropping on imaginary conversations between people who exist solely in my head so i think im good at whipping out dialogue, lol. i also pride myself on writing realistic, complex emotions and digging into the deeper, more hidden thoughts of characters.

17. Writing Weaknesses?

i think i get so excited about writing my favorite bits i have planned that i rush the pacing of my stories or i force plotpoints that don't make too much sense and can probably be cut. i've been trying to combat that by indulging in the first draft—letting myself write all the exciting, wild ideas i have first before revising and fine-tuning the story to my standards!

18. Do I️ like foreign language dialogue?

yes? no opinion? i don't think i understand this question.

19. First Fandom I️ wrote for?

i think it was american idol >:)

20. Favorite fic Ive written?

wahhh like lynn i find it super hard to choose bc my writing is such a reflection of my interests and general mindset at the time! plus i still love my most busted writing bc i have such a warm appreciation for who i was and how i've improved. buuuuut for whatever reason i'm very proud of this one friends to lovers fic on my ao3 that's set during the wintertime~ i think i was able to get the pacing just right, emotionally and plotwise, and everything just makes sense, and the ending is so satisfying. it's a very solid fic for when i wrote it, and i am very happy to write a simply solid fic :)

thanks again lynn for the tag!! tagging: @farklelucas @26velociraptors if you want + any other ficwriters who would like to do this! (lol gretchen i can't even remember if you post on ao3 ermm)

[slimeclimbtime]

performance fits from boys planet i would wear on a daily basis

imma be real i fucking love all the damn outfits from this show so i'm just gonna show off some of my favs here! in order of appearance on the show!

1. Dongyeol (Xiao) - Very Nice

this is honestly the only fit i'd wear in public bc the suspenders are too much for me in the other outfits but it works here with the turtleneck and the oversized t-shirt on top! and the jeans just really sell the look overall. i think g group had fits that were more cohesive but none of them were my taste lol

2. Haru (LMR)

i like all of the g group colors but haru seems to make it work just a little better than jay for me (most likely bc of the white shirt), the headband is just so cute and I can't rock headbands like that but the rest of the outfit is just so comfy looking

3. Sungmin (Jerome) - LMR

K group's LMR outfits were just as equally good and sungmin's got the least like..bulkiest outfit which works great for layering, and the patterned shirt is just a nice plus for me, very like 2000s-core i love it so much

4. Osuke - Hot Sauce

okay tbh i would wear EVERYONE's fit in g group hot sauce bc all of them are SO GOOD! but i narrowed it down to osuke's because the streetwear/racecar vibes of this one are perfect, it's simple, and we're similar in height so i know it'll look good on me :)

5. Itsuki - Danger

the mix of bad-boy tech-wear type pants and then the academia-esque tops with the vest and tie, it just all goes well somehow? the monotone colors work great here for some reason idk why it just scratches an itch in my brain

6. Junseo - Danger

i almost went with yugeng's version but i think junseo's looks a little better, mainly bc of the long-sleeves. the converse really set this outfit btw which is why i cropped it in. i think i just like turtlenecks

7. Ricky (Back Door)

minus the goggles and i'd wear it. this is def a fit that you have to wear together tho, hard to mix and match this one bc it needs that cohesive white or else it gets messy. i feel bad for this team bc ricky was the only one with a decent fit

8. Jeonghyeon (GGANG)

i almost put junhyeon but i would 1. not wear an abs shirt and 2. his fit feels a little too "american high schooler" for me to really call it an idol fit LMFAO??? but jeonghyeon's fit here is actually really nice bc they didn't give him tin foil and the vest helps his shoulders and it just looks super nice. also the arm band :D

9. Jianyu (GGANG)

i know i just slandered the tinfoil but i think with this fit i'd wear it. i still think this is the best fit of the group (minus the green shoes bc the green don't match), the green mesh top is actually pretty nice and the thin vest works wonders, chen jianyu you will always be pretty as fuck

10. Keita (ZOOM)

i really like this fit and it makes keita stand out well; it's a little bulky especially since keita and i are pretty much the same height so i can well imagine how this would look on me, but the colors work nicely and the hat is just super cute!

11. Yujin (LAW)

im just glad they kinda covered up the v neck with the fishnet top LOL but i like the jumper-esque thing it's got going on, harnesses are a bit much but the stud belt really makes this work LOL good accessories too

12. Mingyu (Man In Love)

i think the simplistic fits for man in love work way better than the feel special ones (in terms of concept) and i'd wear all of them but if i had to pick one it's mingyu's easily. the green sweater is a good soft color and it just looks extremely comfy. also mingyu looks so happy

13. Ricky (Rush Hour)

just get rid of the tie and im sold

14. Jingxiang (Rush Hour)

the big hoodie and black sleeves look REALLY good and the chain on the pants really adds a nice touch. also this screenshot is hilarious bc of ricky's face lol. jingxiang however is tall so idk if i could pull this off

15. Jihoo (Limousine)

definitely another "i'd wear all of them but if i had to pick one" scenario, the caustics pants are actually a lot nicer than i expected. i think i have something for short-long sleeve combos now that im looking at it

16. Daeul (Not Spring, Love, or Cherry Blossoms)

definitely needs the beret to complete it but the outfit is just so sweet looking! the white on white somehow works and younger me always dreamed of having a white jean jacket so i would totally wear this!! the hoodie just adds on a nice layer on top too

17. Seowon (Supercharger)

(im ngl i had to do a double take when taking this screenshot, like that's SEOWON???) also this is pretty much just ricky's rush hour fit but dark mode/on steroids, so pretty much similar reasoning there. i just love this one for some reason (fun fact: he rips the rips on his pants LOL)

18. Ollie (Supercharger)

im not gonna say anything just that i've just started to notice a pattern with my choices here

19. Keita (Switch)

if you mixed junhyeon's ggang fit with itsuki's danger fit and them splashed a bunch of highlighter ink on it this is what you'd get. i think this one works best bc its more monotonous and also not blaringly loud (like kamdens pink fit that’s nightmare fuel). also, it's cute!

20. Hanbin (Switch)

the headband and the blue jacket saved this fit ngl bc those green pants don’t exactly work for me LOL but i'd wear everything else!

21. Matthew (Say My Name)

it's definitely the least like "uniform" uniform on the stage, and the extra layers make this seem like it'd be extra comfy in the winter :)

conclusion: i like streetwear and jackets a little too much LOL. if you didn't see a stage here that means i didn’t wanna wear any of their fits lol

[deadcactuswalking]

REVIEWING THE CHARTS: 01/06/2024 (Central Cee & Lil Baby, Bring Me the Horizon's POST HUMAN: NEX GEN, Zach Bryan)

Sabrina Carpenter’s still dominant on the UK Singles Chart as “Espresso” spends a fifth week at the top - welcome back to REVIEWING THE CHARTS!

content warning: language, discussions of death, trauma, drug addiction

Rundown

As always, we start with our notable dropouts, songs exiting the UK Top 75 - which is what I cover - after five weeks in the region or a peak in the top 40. This week, we bid adios to Eurovision tracks like “Europapa” by Joost and “The Code” by Nemo, as well as “Family Matters” by Drake (telling that these three couldn’t make five weeks), “Outside of Love” by Becky Hill, “Jump” by Tyla, Gunna and Skilibeng, “Home” by Good Neighbours (Good riddance) and finally, “Back to Black” by the late Amy Winehouse.

We see one big return with Katy Perry’s catalogue streams rising thanks to some American Idol news or something - I don’t care, I imagine the catalogue sales for her biggest records are high enough anyway. This does mean “Teenage Dream” - the title track - is back at #72. It peaked and debuted at #2 for two weeks in 2010, being blocked by Olly Murs’ “Please Don’t Let Me Go” and Alexandra Burke’s “Start Without You” respectively, though I think we can agree which one of these three have actually managed to pass the test of time. To be thorough, the Glee cover peaked at #36 the next year. As for our gains, we have a small but notable batch of boosts for “Never Lose Me” by Flo Milli at #61, “Right Here” by Becky Hill at #60, “Smalltown Boy” by Bronski Beat at #55, “Miles on It” by Kane Brown and Marshmello at #47, “The Man Who Can’t be Moved” by The Script at #38, “The Door” by Teddy Swims at #35 and finally, all the way up in the top 10 for the first time, Myles Smith with “Stargazing” at #9.

The UK Singles Chart’s top five this week consists of Billie Eilish’s “BIRDS OF A FEATHER” spiking off of the debut up to #5, whilst Central Cee and Lil Baby debut right at #4 with their new track “BAND4BAND”. Following them up is the top three staying the same as last week’s: Shaboozey at #3 with “A Bar Song (Tipsy)”, Eilish again with “LUNCH” at #2 and of course, “Espresso” at #1. Now for what ended up debuting in the lower realms of the chart this week.

New Entries

#73 - “Fall Back” - Lithe

Produced by Lithe

Do I pronounce this “life” or “live”? It doesn’t matter, this is a blog. However you pronounce it, Lithe is from Melbourne and this is his viral breakout hit for an otherwise underground artist who seems to have produced and released this all by himself. This may explain why it’s garbage. Lithe strikes me as the kind of person who would make for a great additional vocalist on a maximalist project by, say, a Travis Scott type, because his vocals, which are very Travis as well, lure you into a mumbling Auto-Tuned atmosphere very effortlessly due to the layering of murmured ad-libs. The problem here is the utter shit production, consisting of rote trap presets in such a static and typical pattern that it almost stands out how frozen and dull trap beats can be because of one weird snare choice that sounds way too loud and mechanical. I know this is very nit-picky but there’s so little to this song, which relies entirely on Lithe for its melodic element considering the blank grey synths that practically could be completely absent under the looming trap dirge. Don’t ask about the lyrics, it’s bottom-of-the-barrel flexing, but at least this song is very uniquely terrible. It uses basic trap tropes, for sure, but Lithe is taking his own approach to things and creates a bad song that is bad in ways more established artists probably couldn’t pull off. That’s a compliment, genuinely.

#66 - “The Craving” - Twenty One Pilots

Produced by Tyler Joseph and Paul Meany

I think it’s somewhat telling that Bring Me the Horizon nabbed three debuts this week, but the usually more accessible Twenty One Pilots, with a higher-peaking album at #2, could only snatch one at #66. I usually care at least a little to check out these guys’ records but the lore aspect has always somewhat bothered me in that I know without fully emerging into it, I’ll never get the full intended effect and relationship with the music that they intend. This week’s effort, Clancy, was one I just straight-up didn’t bother listening to, especially on the grounds of not liking those singles at all. I was thinking that hopefully this could give me some reason to check it out, and, well, there is something to this one.

“The Craving” is available in two versions, with the version on the album being subtitled “(Jenna’s Version)”, referring to his wife Jenna and… yeah, the stripped-back, ukulele rendition on the record is pretty devastating. Starting with a static that obscures Jenna’s voice lamenting the fact their relationship may be deteroriating or stalling out as she grows older, the song is a ballad expressing Tyler’s inability to communicate and express the simple gestures that he loves her. It’s a pretty simple song compositionally but that makes complete sense as it feels like a song he can only sing improvisationally in her presence, but not with her listening. This may be a stretch, but I’m imagining “(Jenna’s version)” refers here not to dedicating the song and playing it to her but her being the muse for this version, which sounds like it could have been written very quickly in a night where he can’t fall asleep thinking about the subject matter whilst she’s fast asleep. The song explains that he can’t communicate this to her, and the visual it gives is Tyler playing the song quietly to himself as to not wake her up but knowing fully that he won’t be able to sleep for the rest of the night without it being expressed. The final chorus ends with an utmost declaration of his dedication to the marriage, complete with a voice crack, but that outro simply writes it off: once she’s awake, the promises mean nothing, and he can’t bring himself to all he promised: the simple act of reminding her that she’s loved. I will be 100% honest: this song kind of fucking broke me, and the imagery surrounding those choruses being one of waiting until demise, wherein the “she” who looks for Tyler as he lays down and tries to sleep could be both Jenna and God, made this a very affecting listen for me, or rather, several listens. I never know exactly what to expect from TOP, but I didn’t expect to be crying.

The single remix, co-produced with Spencer Stewart, is much lighter and breezier with its folk-pop production that’s reverbed to Hell and back and covers some of Tyler’s vocal faults with harmonies and whistling that makes it a bit too saccharine for my taste. I still think it’s a brilliant song but as a performance and production, not so much, and this puts me in a weird position because as far as OCC is concerned, these are both the charting song, I just happen to prefer the very slightly less streamed acoustic version a lot more. Personally, I think adding drums to “The Craving” may be an inspired touch because it takes that fear of death and adds a frolicking carpe diem feel to it but it also touches my soul a bit less by detaching Tyler further from reality: the problem isn’t that he’s separated from his wife, it’s nearly the opposite, with her continued presence acting as both why the song exists and why the emotion is so palpable. Regardless, if more of the album is this personal and honest, less lore-focused as the lead single really scared me off with, maybe I’ll find more to like on it because this acoustic version is genuinely shattering, might be their best song ever.

#57 - “LiMOusIne” - Bring Me the Horizon featuring AURORA

Produced by Zakk Cervini, Oli Sykes and Dan Lancaster

Another week, another album debuting three songs that I haven’t heard. I’ll be fair and say I probably should have listened to Billie’s record before the chart week, and I have since heard and greatly enjoyed her album, but for this one, can you blame me? Firstly, look at the way the tracks are stylised, secondly: whilst I did like the first edition of this POST HUMAN series from 2020, the incessant delay and consistent flow of really mediocre singles that leads to an album that seems a bit bloated compared to the last one’s conciseness because I guess all of them needed to be included. Thirdly, they lost their keyboardist Jordan Fish, also a major songwriting contributor to the band, who now has just a few more lyrical credits on this record than BloodPop, I’m genuinely quite weary that this’ll be another disappointing mess from Bring Me the Horizon. Regardless, I’ll give them this: they always experiment, and these three next songs are going to be interesting and weird, at least in comparison to what usually charts, so it’s good we have them all lined up consecutively. BMTH’s latest, POST HUMAN: NEX GEN, debuted at #5 on the albums chart and naturally, we have three debuts as that’s all OCC’ll allow.

The first to chart, “Limousine” (I’m not doing this, guys) features Norwegian singer AURORA, who had some viral success with “Runaway” a few years back, a song I never really liked and I honestly haven’t heard much else, so maybe I’m missing something by not checking her out - I’m definitely going to be missing something with these songs given the added context of understanding the album’s theme and narrative is pretty important for what seems like a loose concept album, though BMTH records can be so eclectic that it flies out of the window. See amo for a clear demonstration. This particular track takes us into the easy and quick blast frontman Oli Sykes gets from doing hard drugs and the power, authority he feels when he’s off them, hence the “Limousine” - it’s a luxury car you’re in the back of, drugged and being driven around, but you still feel in control. It does this through grinding metal riffs and some of the most strained vocals I’ve heard from Sykes, not in the sense that he hits any insane notes or belts but more so because he stretches out these melodies beyond their need, especially in the pre-chorus, with pitch correction not doing that great of a job to cover it. That sounds like an insult, but it’s really not: when he’s refuting the need for closure and the chorus starts with a stuttered glitching of the song’s last section out of existence, his slow luxury chauffer ride to death feels particularly potent and fittingly gruelling. There’s a seductive and sinister nature to some of the lyrics, AURORA kind of blends into the background which is perfect for this as Sykes’ streams drowning out the clearer, beautiful voice of reason is thematically perfect, that bridge with the keyboards is genuinely moving before everything crashes into shit in the screeching breakdown. That breakdown, however, demonstrates the one time this song succeeds in the mixing department for me, as there’s a muddiness to everything here and an unnecessary vocal focus that seems to push the heavier and cathartic elements back, which does not serve a track like this very well, when the progression into chaos should come from something that is genuinely unnerving and inescapable. A more immersive mix could have done wonders to what is structurally a very sound track that has great performances.

#50 - “YOUtopia” - Bring Me the Horizon

Produced by Zakk Cervini, Oli Sykes, Dan Lancaster and Lee Malia

We can actually split this episode quite nicely into the two songs below the Horizon, the two songs above them, and the Horizon itself. It works out quite nicely too because according to Sykes, “Youtopia” acts as a counterpart to “Limousine”, and I can definitely tell that from the lyrics, wherein Sykes begs for the ability to give his partner the best version of himself, a “youtopia” so to speak. He desperately wants to connect himself and his partner to that utopian setting, but can’t bring himself to do the self-improvement that would enable that kind of perfect relationship, one that you can kind of tell from the imagery either doesn’t exist or has been buried so far deep into obscurity by the constant perpetuance of negativity in everyday life. To be completely honest, I was worried that Bring Me the Horizon’s lyrics would turn as basic as some of the structural songwriting had been on the singles so I’m glad I can still both get a lot out of analysis and resonate pretty heavily with their notions, it’s the most frustrating feeling wanting to be something that no-one but your own insecurity expects you to live up to, so it just seems fruitless to achieve.

As for how it sounds, well, that basic songwriting is there for sure, but oh, my God, this is an insanely nostalgic sound for me. That late-2000s early-2010s Kerrang! TV post-hardcore sound combining fuzzy electronics with the lackadaisical guitars of 2000s emo-pop and often Auto-Tuned vocals - both the clean and unclean vocals, sometimes - as well as just killer hooks and chasm-esque mixing that makes the drums go so hard once they pound into full relentless chorus mode. Of course, BMTH take it into further electronicore territory with the sampled-sounding female vocals, tiny little vocalised riff in the first verse that’s an adorable touch, the birdsong passages of ambiance that mesh so well with the cleaner guitar build, and the hip hop drums in the second verse that actually go for a 2000s R&B groove instead of the typical trap skitter, which I commend them for doing - trap metal feels way too easy and wouldn’t have fit a longing song like this. The harmonies from Sykes and the filtered Dan Lancaster in the bridge are excellent, and whilst the guitar solo is in what I like to call Weezer-meter (very obviously and shamelessly just repeating the chorus lead melody), it’s oddly brief and inessential to the song, as the final post-chorus kind of takes its place with the string swell and incredible drumming from Matt Nicholls that winds down in an industrial squirt for the outro. Apart from once again some mixing that acts as a disservice - when there’s this much going on, I understand the difficulty in making it sound that dynamic, and thematically, sometimes it just wouldn’t make sense to - this is pretty much something I’d inject to my veins any day. I know I say this every time BMTH show up because they’re the country’s biggest left-field rock act currently, but something like this charting in the top 50 in 2024 never fails to put at least a smile on my face.

#41 - “Top 10 staTues tHat CriEd bloOd” - Bring Me the Horizon

Produced by Zakk Cervini, Oli Sykes and Dan Lancaster

This final song is titled like a WatchMojo video, and is a very clear single - the lyrics and songwriting are pretty basic woes, wound up in generic metaphors that Sykes and the lads have sung before. It’s got a pessimistic chorus and a vaguely motivational bridge, and so many lyrics that vaguely allude to prior singles that I can’t tell if these are purposeful references or they’re just that far into their careers that their attempt at being an “average” BMTH track is an amalgamation of all of their other obvious singles. Those lyrical allusions definitely make it a bit more obvious and distracting that this is the case, but musically, it’s in similar territory. They have a brief, cutesy electronic intro, this time slightly hyperpop-esque, before crashing into a catchy alt-metal riff and, yeah, it’s just obvious that this is pulling the tricks of their own trade in a very typical way. Sykes performs incredibly well as he pretty much always does, you can’t take away his passion, but the screaming and sound effects may be a bit much in that second verse. They even have a stop-and-start rhythm built into the chorus melody which feels very Bring Me the Horizon to do: stopping and starting is basically their motif and songwriting approach if we boil it down to borderline offensive essentials. They have an aggressive breakdown with rapid drumming and video game samples, a trap drum pattern in the final pre-chorus, a stuttered vocal, it’s all very by-the-numbers and that’s fine. We can’t all be zingers, sometimes we need to write something accessible and given the album is assumingly a mess (all BMTH albums kind of are, it’s by nature), something like this could be particularly refreshing within its context, and they did care enough to place an atmospheric ambient outro that may contextualise it even further. This is a perfectly cromulent Bring Me the Horizon song, but a bit underwhelming to end on here.

#31 - “Pink Skies” - Zach Bryan

Produced by Zach Bryan

Country star Zach Bryan is back, presumably, he’s got a 30-song album on the way and this is his lead single. As always with Mr. Bryan, it feels wise to discuss the lyrics here in some detail, as this paints a vivid picture of the life that a mother has left for her children at the time of her funeral. The kids who came from that small town are back there to celebrate their late mother’s life, and reflecting on those lessons they learned from the mundane outskirts: appreciating the “pink skies” as a sign of youthful vitality and peace and cleaning the old house as if it were never populated (which feels stereotypical but is very much true for how parents can behave), though with the caveat that those memories remain physically as what appear to be faults in the house but are unavoidable reminders of the life lived within it. The second verse and especially the chorus sing a pretty funny ode: she’d be proud of where her kids are but would still lightheartedly mock them as “yuppies”, and he even has the snark to comment that God probably heard her coming, which I assume she means that she never shut up. For a parent, that’s a great thing to have the ability to do, and it’s reassuring to think that in the afterlife, she still cares too much about her kids’ well-being. This hits particularly close to home for me, and the fact that this song makes great use of my favourite instrument, the harmonica, does not exactly help this from not being a bit of a personal tearjerker for me. Bryan’s smoky drawl comes with his typical homegrown organic instrumentation - though with a higher focus both lyrically and instrumentally on choppier rhythm which I find interesting - and the light female vocals panned into the left channel. Sonically, you could argue it’s a bit safe or easy for Bryan to come out with something that sounds like this, but think of the content: why shouldn’t he be back at home, and invite you into that warm, comforting place as openly as his mother would have? This guy already put out some of my favourite songs of last year, some of the art that emotionally resonated with me the most from that year, and it doesn’t seem like he’s stopping this year either. I adore this.

#4 - “BAND4BAND” - Central Cee and Lil Baby

Produced by Ghana Beats, Geenero and Aasis Beats

This is just such a neat week. We begin near the very bottom with pop-trap from the Anglosphere outside of the US and book-end it near the very top with a UK rapper, whilst sandwiched in the middle are rock and alternative acts, two of which are personal ballads by slightly more mainstream and lighter in sound, closer to more accessible genres they emerged from before developing their sound, and both on either side of three Bring Me the Horizon tracks from the same album. Thiss week just makes sense systematically, damn it, and I love to see it. Also, Central Cee and Lil Baby, I guess, the song’s fine. It’s a bit undercooked because - I repeat, Central Cee and Lil Baby - but the basic rising synth loop, even if very obviously just a basic and lazy implementation of a loop, has enough tension to make way for the heavy-hitting drill rhythm, which is a lot cleaner than some other drill tracks, but also uses much louder, mechanical hats - again, something it has in common with Lithe, and the grey cover arts are just furthering it all - that give an industrial and intense feel to this beat. As for our rappers, this is much more typical: Cench’s complaining about people not being real Muslims, talking about his Lambos, using rhyme schemes that prominently implement acronyms, being distracted by big booties and most importantly, going “Alllright”. It’s almost like “Top 10 Statues that Cried Blood” because Cench feels like an amalgamation of himself on here, though this isn’t a bad thing, he still has more energy than many other rappers and it was cute for him to exchange bars with Lil Baby. Lil Baby then continues to take the song over entirely, as the beat switches up slightly with that crawling trap skitter and Baby goes for his typical frog-throat, running-off-on-the-beat flow that goes insanely hard, bizarrely, without drums, as it builds into a very well-done beat drop. He’s similarly being an amalgamation of himself and his running themes, but there’s some cold wordplay with the birthday lyric and there’s always been something compelling about his relentless approach to just going on and on regardless of what the beat actually asks of him. Overall, I know I’ve sounded nit-picky but this is good, probably great even when taking it outside of the larger context and just treating it as a banger reaching across the Atlantic. There’s a real intensity and hunger to this that there hasn’t been for either in these guys in a while, and it’s refreshing to know that those efforts paid off for a very high and very deserved top five debut.

Conclusion

Considering this is a week mostly consisting of rock acts, it makes complete sense that it’s one of the best weeks for me. Hey, I listen to everything, but some genres will hit closer to home than others. As for the Best of the Week, it is genuinely an incredibly difficult decision, but unsurprisingly, Zach Bryan takes it for “Pink Skies” and the only reason that happened is because of the second single edit of “The Craving” by Twenty One Pilots that I do not care for, because Jenna’s version would run away with Best of the Week, it’s heartbreaking from the first vocal sample of Jenna herself to that final line. Unfortunately, due to the double billing, it’ll have to take Honourable Mention, and on any other week, I would easily be giving all of this praise to a song like “YOUtopia”, which I still love, or Hell, even “BAND4BAND”. Lithe takes Worst of the Week for “Fall Back”, obviously, and I hope the next batch of songs is either just as good as this one or gives me a lot less to talk about because sheesh, this is one of our shorter weeks and I’m still maxxing this word count out. For now, thank you for reading, rest in peace to Charlie Colin, and I’ll see you next week!