#and don't get me wrong i am loving a lot of their solo promos and it's incredible that they're doing what they're doing

[my5hiningstars]

.

[solosikoasgf]

most ardently , chapter one.

previous chapters: prologue pairing: roman reigns x oc (cheyenne monet) themes: toxic relationship, angst, power dynamic/imbalance, a little heavy flirtation word count: 1,933 author's note: thank you all for the love on the prologue!!! it's super appreciated and hopefully you stay with me as i navigate where the hell these two are going as it's always changing in my mind. honestly logistics in matches are where i'll get hung up a lot as it doesn't play a huge role in this versus how it's changed roman, so i am making shit up as i go that fall in line with current bloodline happenings. but like i said. i am making that shit up. taglist: none currently, please let me know if you want to be on it!

song recommendations: so be it - alex vaughn & summer walker, let it burn by jazmine sullivan

it had been years since roman had last laid eyes on cheyenne, and things had changed dramatically since that time. going from one title to two, to universal champion with one of the longest reigns in history, to having his family back him as head of the table, guiding the anoa'i family into a new era of greatness.

every test, every trial, every door that had been slammed in his face had been broken, with him always emerging as the victor. over time, it came to be accepted this was how it was supposed to be.

like he had known then, it was only affirmed now. he didn't need anybody. he had carried this legacy this far on his own back, of his own merit. he had long brushed off the feelings that emerged whenever fleeting thoughts of cheyenne managed to make it into his mind - whenever he had free time in the locker room before a match, whenever he sat at a dinner with his cousins rather than her, whenever the days were sunny and he passed a jogger on his normal route - reminded of her early morning walks.

none of that mattered anymore. she had made her choice, he had made his, and he had made the right one. she was in the wrong, not him.

the roar of a crowd as he disappears behind stage rings in his ears, having finished another night of asserting his dominance over another peer who felt they had the right, the nerve, to try and overstep him. he had bigger problems in his rearview - tonight wasn't about the fight, but the mind games he played before the fight occurred. he can hear paul next to him on his right, solo on his left, as staff part while he walks, much like the red sea.

"my tribal chief, we should leave soon." the elder man speaks, hurrying his steps - not daring to walk next to roman, but just one step slightly behind - the respect that roman had long come to feel he deserved. "there's a few days before the next match, and though i know you have a plan, we should discuss how to handle riddle."

roman scowls, shaking his head with a smirk. "ain't nothing to discuss. he won't be satisfied until i put his ass through a table. and who am i to deny him of that if that's what he wants?"

"you shouldn't even have to waste your time, my tribal chief."

"i know that, you know that. but some people - like matt, truly won't hear it until they get their ass handed to 'em. don't worry too hard about it." roman reassures, reaching behind to place a heavy pat on the back of paul. he goes to crack another joke when familiar laughter rings through his ears, and even though time has passed, a feeling runs through his body that makes him stop in his tracks.

he can see solo's body tense from his peripheral vision, and he shakes his head, holds out an arm to get the younger to relax, but the stoney look on his face says otherwise. just beyond solo's shoulder is the prep room, usually where the next wrestlers for the next match, the next promo, wait right up until their time to take the ring. from the panel on the side, it's time for the women's division, and that usually means nothing, he has no interest in that side.

he takes steps towards the laughter, hands curled into tight fists. roman makes no effort to placate anybody with a smile or pleasantries, coming upon bianca belair, standing in the middle of the room while two or three others buzz around her, readying her for her appearance. at first, he relaxes, thinks it can't be anything-

until one person, hidden behind a screen, comes out, hands full of garments. curly hair, sweet and innocent smile, calm brown eyes, small waist and wide hips - cheyenne monet.

she doesn't see him at first - moving towards bianca to adjust her outfit, stepping back to look at the overall before her eyes travel up beyond her shoulder, and they lock eyes for the first time. roman can't trace what he sees across her face - a flash of recognition, anger, disappointment, and finally disinterest. her eyes quickly shift back to bianca, and he quietly moves from the doorway slightly inside and to the side, waving away assistants who ask if he needs anything. bianca throws a glance, a curt nod, refocusing on her own tasks at hand.

"cheyenne, you don't know what this means to me, especially when you don't really do this anymore." bianca grasps cheyenne's hands, and the two share a warm look that makes roman just a little uneasy.

"stop, you know i'll always make time for the 'est'." a bright smile that sends a jab through roman, readjusting his position against the wall. "we can talk about it when you come back, so go. don't forget your belt - and be careful in those heels."

in a few hurried moments, bianca is whisked from the room and her assistants follow, leaving cheyenne and roman alone. she doesn't address him, and he can't decide if this makes him even more angry or wistful.

"so after all this time, you don't have nothing to say to me?" he starts, pushing himself off the wall to slowly walk to her.

"here you go - we're not doing this." her reply is short, not bothering to look at him. she starts to clean up her supplies, and he can get a better look at her - same stature, hair longer, but he feels the same draw to her that he'd always felt. as she moves he can smell the vanilla bourbon drift through the room in waves - his favorite perfume on her.

is she taunting me? did she do this because she knew i'd be here?

"i feel like the last time i saw you, i said you weren't welcome in my world again."

"this isn't your world."

"oh, but it is. i run every night of this business. this is my show now."

roman's long strides take him until he's right in front of her, forcing her to stop, eyes slowly rising to his own - to look him in the face. he wants to see the truth when he looks at her, but is met with a similar reflection of the last time he saw her. cold. empty. a part of him twinges with disappointment - had she really not felt anything?

"i don't answer to you, roman." her reply is soft, but firm. he has her trapped between the table and himself, but she still manages to pack the rest of her bag, trying to squeeze between the two to put space between them, but he stops her, shifting his steps to widen his stance- imposing, domineering. she sighs, and he tilts his head while he looks into her face more, deciding how he wants this to go.

"just hold on, chey." his voice is just slightly softer now.

"why?"

"because i want to look at you." her eyes dart up, and he can see something behind them soften, and it makes his his heart fire up in the slightest way. his tongue glides over his lips looking at her own, and he can see her breath quicken just a little, chest rising with more frequency. he hates that after so long, he still wants her. desires her. she didn't believe in him - in fact cheyenne questioned his capabilities to the point of them fighting so often, they could barely have a conversation by the end of their relationship. he would think that after all this time, his body would be immune to her.

he's pissed that he's wrong.

"there's nothing to look at." she finally responds, pressing a small hand against his chest to create space for her to move away. "just think of me as another nameless face."

"tell me the real reason why you came back."

"roman, what do you want to hear? why are you even talking to me?" she finally presses.

there's a hundred reasons he could use to shoot her down, to make her leave. they all sit in the tip of his tongue, and the wide, toying smirk he has on his face says it all as he rubs his hand across his beard, keeping his dark eyes trained on her. "i just need to make sure you're here for the right reasons." her snort of disgust drives the smirk more, and he shrugs his shoulders.

"i'll be gone before you know it." she mumbles, back to him, looking at the tv where bianca was finishing up her promo.

paul shows back up in the doorway, and roman waves him off, knowing he has to leave. he quietly comes up behind cheyenne, leaning down to talk quietly in her ear.

"things aren't the same since you were here last, cheyenne. everything you see, i run." he pauses, feeling her tense up. "i'm not chasin' you out of here. you can stay to see for yourself." another moment of silence, and he lets himself continue before he overthinks himself out of it - lets his desire come to the forefront. "maybe you'll realize you were wrong so you can be back where you belong- next to me. because once you stepped back in this building, back in my world? whether you like it or not, you're mine."

he can see her eyebrows raise, but she remains silent, and he chuckles. "so either you leave and deny me again, you do the right thing and acknowledge me and get back to how we were, or you stay here, isolated. because ain't no man touchin' you if it ain't me."

roman isn't sure if he believes his own words - physically he wants cheyenne - but mentally he battles. but it's easier to put these lines down now, to make it clear, because it's easier to have it under his control than hers. but the usual tactics that would have made cheyenne acquiesce to him do nothing now, and he's slightly surprised at how her face doesn't change, how she holds her stance, slowly turning her head to look him directly in the eyes.

"that's how i know it bothers you still, ro." her voice is soft, firm. "rather than pretend i'm not here, you come find me. you bother me while i work, you try and get close to me, try to threaten me so nobody else wants to be near me, because you want them to think i belong to you.

instead of saying sorry, apologizing, anything, you intimidate. because being manipulative has always gotten you what you want- but you know what?" she faces him, pressing herself closer in a way that surprises him, her face only inches away from his own. "it just makes me feel bad for you, that you think the only way you'll receive love is by forcing it. you never used to be like that - and that's the only version of you i miss."

the sudden softness in her voice and eyes takes him back, and a moment passes between them that's faintly reminiscent of better times: her laughter, her hands in his, tender moments in private. it hits roman harder than he expects, and he straightens, putting the cold look back on his face. "that man you're talkin' about. he's gone. so figure out where you stand, cheyenne."

he backs up to leave, with the image of cheyenne's disappointed eyes settling on his shoulders.

[struggle-but-its-all-ocean-floor]

Hey there! I'd love to get your thoughts on something. I saw a promo this morning on NBC for Jungkook’s upcoming Today show performance, and the language has been on my mind all day. He was described as: “The breakout star of BTS!”

When he appeared on Good Morning America and the Global Citizens Festival just a few months ago, they called him, “BTS’s Jungkook” or “From BTS, Jungkook.” I feel like there’s a lot of mileage between these designations and hyping him as “the breakout star of BTS.”

Why? Because American culture glorifies individual success. Whether it’s in business or sports or entertainment or politics, we give lip service to the notion of teamwork, but real adulation is for the people we can label mavericks, trailblazers, or…breakout stars. Within this mindset, there’s very little room left over to admire group achievement. The pinnacle of superstardom is reserved for those who are exceptional enough to stand out *from* the group, not be part of it.

So, I’m rewinding to a few months ago to imagine what my all-American Muggle-mind would have made of a promotion for “the breakout star of BTS.” To be honest, I would’ve assumed that one of BTS’s members had left the group because he had surpassed them. There are potentially millions of non-ARMY American customers, like that Muggle-me, to whom Jungkook could be marketed as *the* star---singular---who broke out of that boy-band.

Now, I’m in no way suggesting that Jungkook himself believes this. I have a lot of faith in him, in the dedication he has to the members and their work as a group, and in the sheer power of BTS when they are all together. I'm sure their comeback in 2025 will be astonishing (to quote Suga on Suchwita, “we’ll devour the world.”).

But that’s two years away, and I can feel this narrative building (in the U.S., at least) that Jungkook is the *real* star, and BTS? Well, that’s just part of his past. I hope I’m wrong about that, because as much as I think Jungkook deserves his own success, I don't really want to see BTS getting demoted in the popular imagination to "the band that launched Jungkook."

What do you think? Am I cynically jumping the gun? Overreacting? Talking out of my ass?

--A Muggle

Hi! So nice to hear from you again!!

Americans are so consistent. "The next BTS", "The breakout star in BTS" blah blah. Of course, from their perspective, Jungkook is clearly the breakout star. But that's because he's targeting their market and making pop music. They don't get that the other members are interested in exploring other genres or even other markets. The most famous member in the US is the "breakout" member, nevermind that the others are successful in their respective fields as well. In their mind there has to be a breakout star, and I can't blame them entirely because that is how we all think. We assume that lesser famous artists are unsuccessful, when they might actually be successful in a different market. And in the case of some groups that disband, some members simply don't want fame anymore, yet the member who goes down the pop route and is successful is seen as the only successful one, like the others failed to make it.

And you're right that after Seven there could be a small shift from "the famous maknae from BTS" to "the member that is outdoing BTS" - though that's not true. What you said about America is true. Solo pop stars are much more marketable and respected. Jungkook being a boy group member actually doesn't do him any favors in the sense that, to someone who doesn't know BTS, the boy group label isn't an appealing one.

I agree that people who aren't aware of how massive BTS are might consider him somehow above BTS, because being a breakout star does imply, well, breaking out of the group, but Western media do know BTS. They know the group is huge, that the fans are insanely powerful and those fans are very vocal about loving the other members too. So far Jungkook's success seems to be taken as an extension of BTS's, as proof of BTS's strength, which it is. There isn't a single interview, including the recent one with Jimmy Fallon, in which BTS aren't mentioned, because BTS is bigger and mentioning BTS makes Armys happy and creates engagement. In fact, sometimes they mention BTS too much, but now that Jungkook is sort of standing on his own two feet, there is less of a focus on the group.

Anyway, Jungkook will enlist soon so I don't think there will even be enough time for him to establish himself and build that kind of reputation to separate him from BTS. Jungkook introduces himself as Jungkook of BTS and his fans are Army - as in, BTS's Army - so, in my opinion, what you're saying won't happen. You might see an article or two about it, but people know Jungkook's power and fandom are also BTS's power and fandom. I can't even imagine a scenario in which BTS and just "that band Jungkook is from". At least in kpop it didn't happen with Big Bang, Girls Generation, SHINee, 2EN1, or other groups with famous soloists, and the US might be different, but The Beatles are still The fucking Beatles and not that band that launched John Lennon and Paul McCartney, and One Direction, despite Harry Styles's success and being kind of disbanded, still has a strong group fandom.

So, yeah, BTS are solid imo. Jungkook would need a real solo career, with multiple comebacks and bigger promotion, to be any kind of "threat" to BTS's image. But I can't promise you won't see a few tasteless articles about it.

I'm not great at predicting popular opinion and what the media will do, though, so my opinion may not amount to much.

Thanks for the ask!! Stay in touch, ok?

[houseofpunk]

finally getting around to watching the latest episode of roh and here are all my thoughts:

I think Josh Woods has the potential to be a big contender in roh I just wish he was built up more and would actually drop Mark as his manager. He needs to show he can stand on his own and actually do promos instead of just standing around looking intimidating.

Lexy continues to be the beautiful glue holding this company together I am so proud of how far she's come as an interviewer and broadcaster in the last year you can tell she's really found her confidence

Tony Nesse continues to be the bane of my existence and is the most uncharistmatic one note heel jobber out there he should just be cut all togther at this point.

Scorpio is here now. I'm pretty indifferent to him and I'm worried with him and Ethan being in this togther they'll become a tag team again which I think would be a huge back slide for Ethan who I think needs to focus on building himself up as a baby face which I wish he had done a long time ago

I'm happy that Lee Johnson being built up in this company as well, after being out on injury for so long he lost a lot of momentum but I'm glad to be getting more of a showcase of his talents and capabilities

GRAVITY!!! I am always charmed by his silly little gimmick

Outrunners are my goofy guys and I love the silliness

I really appreciate how much time and care is being put into building up Billy and her relationship with Athena is so perfect these two are the stars of the whole company and the highlight of every episode.

I've said it before and ill say it again- Andretti is sooooo boring and is dragging Darius down with him. When Dante was going solo when his brother was injured he was able to thrive and make waves in aew but now that he's out Darius seems to be drowning. I wish he would be on his own so he could properly show his talents instead of being in bland tag match after band tag match with Action.

Griff is still here? why?

These crowds are not hype enough for the powerhouse that is Leyla she scares me so much :)

JIMMY JACOBS HI HI HIIIIII HIIIIIIIII ZOMBIE PRINCESS my thoughts are not coherent I am goo

It's so unfortunate that Shane Taylor has such a majestic dumpy because it's wasted on a very boring wrestler

Dalton called me a baby chicken and made me blush. I get the feeling he's a very open and emotional lover.

Cole Carter and Griff Garrison match? Skip.

Mercedes and Diamante make such a good scary lesbian duo why don't the women have tag belts in this company because they should be champs yesterday

It makes me so angry when crowds are dead silent during a good women's match y'all don't deserve these amazing women

I am once more sipping the savage sauce, in fact I have not stopped sipping the savage sauce I am all in on the iron savages. Something very beautiful about guys who drink pre-workout like water and love to eat ass.

You know what? I'd love to see a Boulder vs Brody big boy match. That's my new dream match.

Very heart warming to hear people cheering very loudly for my boy Ethan Page. I kinda hope they built Ethan up enough to face Eddie and make a great rivalry out of it considering the history they have togther.

Brian Cage and Metalik main event??? this is so darksided and awful all these bad bitches backstage and you give me this???? Don't get me wrong I like Metalik but he's not a main eventer.

Brain cage must be an absolute throat goat the way he keeps getting tv time

[miidnighters]

4, 15, + 18.

@abysswarden | mun asks

4. what genre do you primarily favour?

I typically stick to the supernatural, magical realism kind of sphere. I like to mix that sometimes with more fantasy or slice of life (within those parameters) but anything that gets too heavy is not really something I want to spend a lot of time on (which isn't to say I won't. Just like. Moderation).

15. what is your favourite part about using this platform to roleplay on?

The visibility of other people. By which I mean, I really love being able to see the things other people post (whether it's meta or other threads or whatever) from one place (i.e. my dash). I've been on forums and they're ok but you have to keep hopping from thread to thread to find things or to see OOC posts - and this is why I've been largely hesitant about discord RP, because to me it feels so secular. It's just you and your RP partner which can be great, don't get me wrong, but I feel like you're not experiencing that wider universe of those characters or finding new mutuals that your mutuals write with.

18. how did you come across the roleplay community?

Uhhh. Let me see. I was on forums first, like I said, and then I was just using a personal tumblr and I think I stumbled across an ad for a RP group? I started in a 4 person Marauders-era pod before I branched out into other tumblr RP groups. I started writing on tumblr in '09 and then the earliest indie blog I can definitively date is when I had Bella on a solo blog and that's dated at 2014 though I SWEAR I had at least one earlier character. An aerialist named Wings but I must have deleted his blog :(

ANYWAY I am including the earliest Bella promo image that I made in MS Paint that I can find from 2015 bc it makes me laugh lmao

Gotta love how far promo graphics have come am i right?

[which-star]

i am enabling ur luna snow solo brainrot bestie, tell me more about her bonkers life experiences😊

yes yes ty!! So I'll get to the nuances later but first I want to lay out some context.

Seol Hee aka Luna Snow's backstory is introduced in Marvel Future Fight Firsts and it's established that she got her powers on her debut stage when her group, 4L1T, was attacked. On her debut! That's uh, a big deal? It's also been mentioned that she only has her grandma, both parents dead, and that she went to a special academy for idols where she met her fellow members. Added with how big the concert (named Stark Arena!!) was in the Firsts comic, it's obvious that 4L1T had a lot of good promo/buzz and/or they're from a well established company. The special academy aspect also implies that Seol Hee probably has a lot of friends in the industry as well.

Story-wise, that gives us a lot of room. Debuts in K-Pop are a big deal to the artists and mark the start of their official promotions, which means Seol Hee had to adjust practically overnight to her powers all the while promoting 24/7: going on reality TV shows, music shows, special performances, etc. In fact, her members and the staff/company would have to adapt just as quickly too. Having a sudden idol-turned-superhero means new marketing techniques, re-branding (shown by her stage name in Firsts going from "Luna" to "Luna Snow"), etc. You could slip in something about how entertainment industries turn humans into commodities and the struggle of maintaining a perfect image all the while not knowing how to control your powers here if you wanted to. Also hone into the mental ramifications too because that's a big issue in the K-Pop industry in general.

And that's only if you choose to focus on the K-Pop aspect of the immediate aftermath! Superhero-wise, things get a lot more tricky. Seol would have to deal with the responsibility of being a hero -- a public one. She got her powers ON TV, everyone knows her identity. That opens up so many more problems for her and how she would deal with that, especially as it's not common for superhero identities to be known.

Otherwise, on a more broad level, you could write about when she's more established. How she deals with balancing both careers. Like most heroes, Seol juggles a double-life, but unlike most, everyone's watching her juggle them. She's a national figure/icon. She's going to be hit with critics on all sides, tabloids, and sasaengs (obsessive stalker fans). And how's her group affected by it? I'm assuming they're really close to one another, based off of Firsts, but there has to be some strain. K-Pop culture is... wild to say the least and complicated and always-evolving. There's so many things to talk about that I can't cover here. But, if done well, I would love to see how the solo handles it. Maybe she could become a mentor in a survival show, or gear up for a comeback, or branch out into acting for the first time all the while a bigger threat is taking over Seoul. Maybe she's being pulled apart by her career and hero duties that she doesn't have any time for herself and friends. K-Pop careers can go anywhere and it would be so cool to see how Seol works everything out.

This is where the nuances come in. You face the risk of stigmatizing an already stigmatized industry even more (which I talk about here). There is also so much terminology and things specific to this industry too. The writer better be well-versed in this because it really can get complicated. Especially for a character so entrenched in it as Seol. And don't get me wrong, it is strange for an American company to be talking about the Korean entertainment industry. That's why I'm always wary of American media taking place in Korea/about K-Pop. There's a lot of them in development right now: Somewhere Only We Know, and I'll Be The One, among a few. (Both books were pretty good, though, and I saw that the authors have a lot of control so I'm kind of excited!) But as long as the people behind the scenes know what they're talking about, I don't think it'd be too bad. Honestly, I know I made it sound difficult but... K-Pop isn't that hard to write about, you just have to know what you're saying and do your research like any other topic.

Capitalism wise it could be a huge success. I'm talking releasing actual songs, music videos, albums of Luna Snow/4L1T. (I'm aware there are a few songs under Luna Snow already but they suck. Like really really suck.) K-Pop is already a highly commodified industry and Marvel could 100% play into it. And potentially draw in a completely new audience in the process. AI-idols like KDA are already a thing and huge. SM has also dipped their toes into AI-idols as well with aespa, and if a company like SM did it -- who's been setting K-Pop trends and standards for over 10 years -- you know it's here to stay. Marvel could do the same. They could literally go all out.

PLUS a Luna solo gives them the opportunity to establish the Korean heroes better. We only know a little bit about Tiger Division, and starting off with Luna Snow who is the second-most established to White Fox in the comics gives Marvel the chance to lay out some groundwork for the future.

It would be challenging to write about, but it could be super cool! Like really cool! I can't wait for her appearance in 2022 Silk. I definitely have ideas about what a Luna Snow solo could be about, some have been mentioned, but I just wanted to expand on it in general here.

[happymetalgirl]

Rammstein - untitled

As soon as it was confirmed for 2019, Rammstein’s seventh studio album was always going to be one of the biggest metal releases of the year, if not the biggest, and it was actually nice to see the band use that to their advantage and give the album a worthily ceremonial roll-out. The promotion alone was a welcome return to times when big artists generally put more effort into their album promo cycles. I get that it got a little overdone in its time, and I get that not every artist has at their disposal the means to give their upcoming records the kind of red carpet treatment that Rammstein has given theirs. And sudden/short-notice, unprecedented album drops have been a cool way for artists to show their confidence in their work and reputation to build their own hype on exactly that suddenness. But in a day and age where sudden project releases carry much less surprise factor now and seem more to be symptomatic of short attention spans and capitalizing on a trend, Rammstein's more magnificent promotional phase for their first album in a decade was a nice change of pace, for me at least. From the incrementally released trailers and teasers for each song, the big broadcast of the single "Radio", to cryptic early social media messages and the delay of the very reveal of the title (or lack thereof) and cover art, Rammstein did a lot to take advantage of their ability to give their album a more committed old-school promotion when few else were doing so. Whereas the once brave, sudden nonchalant album drop has now grown dejected and taken on a possibility to be interpreted as nervousness to hype what might not live up to such hype (it can't disappoint and not live up to the hype if you don't give it any hype), a big roll-out like this has once again become a real sign of confidence in one's work, and based on their seventh album’s roll-out, Rammstein knew they had put together a hell of a comeback album. And that became incredibly clear as soon as the band released their most monumental combined visual and auditory statement to date with the music video for the first single and opening track "Deutschland".

The song itself is a sobering, grand, sorrowfully heart-wrenching cry for the band's homeland and its long, tumultuous struggle to overcome its infamously dark history. It's the kind of tough, honest, and well-timed critical look that I must give Rammstein respect for making, and the huge production and ambitious concept of the music video directed by Specter Berlin do justice to both the song and its uneasy (to say the least) subject matter. It's the kind of biting commentary that the video for Childish Gambino's "This Is America" was so revered for last year, though I honestly think that the Childish Gambino song itself has been largely overrated outside the context of the video and that "Deutschland" is an even more fearlessly convicting song and its video and even more artistically accomplished national critique (as it should have with its evidently bigger budget). But to get into the song itself since it’s on topic, “Deutschland” is a conflicted cry for the band’s homeland and the aftermath of its darkest days it is still struggling to overcome. The lyrics highlight Germany’s pride in its achievements and its unyielding ambition, but how that pride and ambition has been twisted into a kind of malignant narcissism to produce some of history’s most despicable atrocities (with the band not at all coy about the history they bring up, with the reference to Übermensch and the former national anthem line “Deutschland Deutschland über allen”). The instrumental of the song is dynamic and rides in tune with the lyrics’ heaviness perfectly all the way through, and the resounding bellow of the chant, “Deutschland”, provides the burst of sonic and poetic intensity that makes the song such a standout track. And the sorrow and sincere wish to love this complicated and slowly healing Germany is conveyed magnificently in Till Lindemann’s subtly heart-wrenching vocal performance. If it’s not already obvious from the preceding verbiage in this paragraph, “Deutschland” is undoubtedly going to be near or at the top of my song list at the end of this year.

Moving on from my favorite song of 2019 so far, the second single and second track on the album, “Radio”, which had a similarly big release, is possibly the catchiest song on the album with its groovy guitar riff, its keyboard sprinkling on top, and its fittingly infectious chorus. The song is another example of what I think is one of Rammstein’s most overlooked traits, and that is Till Lindemann’s lyricism. The song deals with an escape from life and a finding of pleasure through radio, as is pretty apparent by the title. The lyrics carry a good deal of sexual overtones, and though the line translates to putting one’s ear up to hear the radio, I’m pretty sure Lindemann chose the wording of “Mein Ohr ganz nah am” to resemble “my orgasm”. To possibly look way too deep into this and link it to German history, the band members grew up in the part of Berlin in East Germany, which was basically an impoverished hell hole under Soviet rule, and the band have expressed before their frustration with the forced insulation of the old regime. The radio referred to in the song is specified to be one the picks up international broadcasts, the wonders of which I imagine Rammstein and other Berliners in East Germany were depply inspired by and longed desperately to get any taste they could of (which the voracious appetite the women had for the radios in the music video and the revolt it led to supports).

Third in the track listing is the song “Zeig Dich”(meaning “Show Yourself), whose orthodoxical introductory chant opens the heavy quick-rhythm-driven guitar riff base of the song and its religious critique excellently. The quick calling cards the lyrics bring up to identify the subject of the song as the Christian church aren’t really much more than that, but the fact that the invocation of child abuse and the forbidding of contraception immediately brings to mind an organization meant to promote moral, Godly living is reflective of so many things wrong with the church. But the song seems to be a flustered insistence for the church to reveal its true and conflicting intentions: for its own sustenance through its authority over its followers and their passing down and around of the doctrine. The poetic technique is audibly impressive, but lost in translation, as the verses are loaded with mantras all tagged with the prefix “ver-”, which doesn’t really have an English equivalent, but serves to make more extremein some way the verbs being modified, which could be interpreted quite a few ways in the context of the song’s religious critique.

The fourth track, “Ausländer”, was a bit off-putting to me at first for its dancy beat and pitch-shifted backing vocal sample, but its lighter attitude compared to the surrounding tracks was probably a good move by the band and its cheeky fun has helped it grow on me a bit. The song is a kind of comedic suggestion to travelers to learn to speak native languages because the opposite gender loves to hear a foreigner speak their tongue, with Lindemann dropping all these overly dramatic romantic pleas in Spanish, French, and Russian. It’s kind of tongue-in-cheek, but the concept of cultures mingling and the language through which it happens is certainly something that could be read into even deeper here, but I feel I might be getting in too deep to this album’s lyrics as it is. Fun song! It strikes me as this album’s “Haifisch”.

The sixth song is called “Sex”, and it is one of those universally understood words that needs no translation. Rammstein have never been shy about putting all the raunchiest and most intentionally provocative aspects of the universal pleasure into song (Till Lindemann’s 2015 solo album also was largely about his many sexual fantasies and aspirations). But on this song, Rammstein finally tackle the queasy feelings of rising sexual attraction and the intense urge to bask in its pleasure with another. The lyrics come off, not so much as creepy or filthy, but rather as profoundly horny (a phrase I never thought I’d type, but here we are), with Lindemann singing “Wir leben bei sex”, which means “we live during sex”, which could be interpreted as an ode to the pleasure of the act of reproduction. The boisterous vocal delivery of the titular refrain gives the already heavy, groovy, and provocative song a different primal energy, and it makes the desire spoken of in the lyrics evident and real. And speaking of powerfully primal vocal performances...

The song “Puppe” has justifiably gained a lot of attention for Till Lindemann’s scathingly rough and chillingly tortured vocal delivery in its second half, which was the first thing that caught my ear too when I gave this album its first spin. Delving into the lyrics the song reveals itself to be about a child who is kept comforted (or even medicated to a degree) by a doll while this child’s sister goes off to work, which is revealed to be only in the neighboring room and is likely to be prostitution. The song eventually reveals that the child finds the sister dead at the hands of an assailant during her work, driving the child to bite the head off the doll, which could have a variety of interpretations regarding this already unhinged character’s stability, killing the assailant, destroying the comforting object and thus shedding all childhood innocence completely at the sight of such trauma, or simply a deranged, destructive breakdown. Personally, I think the lyrics suggest that the child rips the doll’s head off in an act of traumatic realization of the world’s cruelty and a refusal to accept being sheltered from it, with whatever actions following being very up in the air. Either way, how the band builds up the the climax of the child biting the head of the doll off and explodes into vibrant heaviness provides the perfect backing for Lindemann to play this character phenomenally.

The soulful metallic ballad “Was ich Liebe” is probably the most flat-out depressing song on the album, and despite the simplicity of its lyrics, its conflict with its speaker wanting to love but also feeling that doing so is futile and that all pleasure is fleeting is well expressed, and an interestingly stark contrast to “Sex”, wherein the raw, physical lust brings about divine, life-affirming pleasure and whereas “Was ich Liebe” details perhaps the comedown from the high of sexual fulfillment to a life viewed through the most hopeless lens in which all pleasure eventually rots and everything loved dies. The song itself doesn’t actually reference sex at all, but it is perhaps its very absence and the vagueness concepts the speaker laments over that suggest that perhaps the speaker doesn’t even know how to find the lasting forms of love sought through sex. Then again, I could just be reading into Rammstein’s trend of often writing about sex. Sonically it provides a break from all the extreme energy leading up to it,which is nice in the track listing, but the woeful lamentation makes it come off as a bit overly dramatic. Given the whiny, defeatist subject matter though, perhaps that was intentional.

The very next song, “Diamant”, is an even more stripped back acoustic breather track supplemented with weeping vibratto strings for an intentionally melodramatic effect. It's a somber love song in which Lindemann compares his allure to a beautiful person to that of a diamond, struggling with an infatuation that he knows is soul-sucking and something he should avoid, concluding his comparison of this beautiful person to the beautiful jewel in dejection, saying it’s only a stone.

The song “Weit Weg” is probably the album's low point both lyrically and musically, being a less tangibly performed song of unfulfilled longing for a far away woman with some juxtaposition between feeling close, but oh so far away too, which Lindemann has written about before much more convincingly. And the somewhat slow pace and minimal energy of the whole band's performance kind of just makes it drag on. It's not the worst song, but by Rammstein's standards and this album's standards, it's only distinction from the other songs on the album is its lack of much melodic or lyrical distinction.

“Tattoo” thankfully brings back the energy of the band's signature industrial metal groove for the album's last minutes. It definitely hearkens back to Reise Reise musically, and it's a fine offering of their more groovy old-school style. The song is about the literal act of tattooing a lover's name and contemplating the pain and permanence of it all to express the significance of their love in the speaker's life, ending on the somewhat tongue-in-cheek contemplation that if they ever split up, then the speaker will have to find someone else with the same name. Lyrically, it's very direct, but also colorful and a fresh angle for this topic.

The album closes on perhaps the most haunting and unsettling note (rivaled only by "Puppe") with “Halloman”, a song about the luring of a young girl by the titular "Hallomann" (who is suggested to be part of the Catholic church when the girl is revealed to be dancing while wearing a rosary) into a life of sexual servitude. It's a disturbing and genuinely mournful song, and the band handles the seriousness of the subject matter well both lyrically and musically with the pleading sorrow in Till Lindemann's performance conveying the gravity of the all too common story of childhood stolen and butchered by depraved opportunists who prey upon the vulnerable. I'm glad Tue band saved this song for the end because I can't imagine its eerie realism anywhere else in the track listing. It's an incredibly emotive, but chilling finish to the album, and it does a fantastic job bowing out for the album.

And that's it; that's Rammstein's long-awaited seventh studio album. In many ways it is Rammstein simply getting back on track after their long creative break after Liebe ist für alle da, but it does also feel like a well-rounded set of songs that take a lot from the band's whole career, and the songs do mostly seem very well nurtured. And while this album probably didn't need ten years to make, I'm certainly glad it's here now and I hope it helps Rammstein get back into a more consistent creative cycle. If there’s one thing that dampens the album’s experience, it’s perhaps the decrease in energy and the reversion to some of the band’s more typical tendencies without supplementation during the second half. But the brightest moments on the album definitely outweigh the duller ones, and the dynamic excitement of the album's experience certainly stems from Rammstein smartly placing their confidence in the progress they had made with their sound rather than trying to make a disingenuous rehash of Sehnsucht or Mutter alone (though the elements they bring in from those albums do serve to bolster this one). And through it all, Rammstein stays true to the focus on tight, efficient composition that has made every album of theirs so engaging and digestible. I'm glad they're back.

Willkommen zurück/10

[struggle-but-its-all-ocean-floor]

The thing you mentioned about not quite being interested in the members' solo music, I actually relate to it a lot. Same as you, I got into BTS because of the group's music and overall dynamic. I absolutely LOVE love them as a unit. It's so fun when they're all together. And the music they put out as a group, as BTS, is my favorite with very few exceptions.

But, when it comes to them as individual artists, I don't necessarily have to like each and every song they put out or whatever they do. Personally, apart from Joon and Jimin (some of Jk's too), I'm not really interested in their solo music. It's not my taste. So, when I see some fans sort of guilt tripping others to definitely support all the members the same way, it's quite unsettling. I know it's probably coming from a good place, but, nobody is obligated to do that if they don't want to.

Now, onto this "hiatus" topic. I have mixed feelings about it. I mean I definitely saw this coming with how things have been these past couple of years, especially last few months. So, I'm not quite as affected as I would have been if I chose to ignore all those signals beforehand. But, damn! The moment Jimin started crying, I burst into tears and when Joon started crying, I straight up sobbed for a good few minutes. Last night, I felt how exhausted they are. The state of mind they are in rn, there's no way they can force themselves anymore to work as a group for sometime. I understand. I literally saw it happening for months.

Out of all the members though, to me V seems to be the least affected by it, followed by Jk. All of the members are pretty ambitious in their own right but, these two seem to have this urge to just break out. As if the group is holding them back. And this want to explore their individuality wouldn't have been a bad thing at all but their approach (these two V and Jk) to it ticked me off ngl. Especially, the recent announcement of V being in a ITS spin off with his actor friends. Like I was (still am) really annoyed by it. I mean if he wants to do something with them that badly, can't he think of something else? I don't care if I sound bitchy or petty or whatever. ITS, Bon Voyage and Run BTS are really personal to me. These shows are a source of comfort to me. But to see him do something like this felt wrong, felt demeaning to the relationship the members have or I guess, seem to have. While I'm at it and already subjecting myself to possible attack, let me also say that in these few months/years, V is also the member who has done a complete 180 degree and unlike many manyyyyy fans who break their backs trying to praise him to the skies and back, his sincerity seems a little shallow to me.

At last, I just want to say that it doesn't make you a bad person if you can't come to terms with this news. There's also nothing bad about being selfish as long as you're not hurting anybody. We all deal with changes differently. So, take your time. Don't force yourself to do anything you don't want to. There's simply no point. And don't let anybody make you feel bad about it either. Hope things workout for you. 💜

Thanks for understanding! One of the reasons why it seems to be hard for the members to work as BTS right now is because they all have different tastes. So they can't expect Army not to be the same...

I wish I had seen it coming. I honestly thought the OT7 brand was too strong. Even with the individual IG accounts I thought they were rebranding BTS to make them more like Western celebs, not necessarily soloists. Did I miss the signs? None of the members ever straight up expressed a desire to go solo. I really didn't know the extent of some of the members' ambitions. I also thought the members were happier now and getting more time off after the crazy Dynamite promo. I didn't realize they were this burnt out.

But I think the break is partially for some members to get a chance to work on their own music, and partially a chance for the members to recharge. Jin, for example, didn't seem to be particularly interested in going solo, but he was definitely exhausted, which he even expressed in Abyss. For RM, I'm also not sure that what he wants is to go solo exactly. I think he just wants to make music he loves again, to discover what he wants to say and to speak for himself and not a group of people; he wants BTS to figure out what they want to say as a group, so he doesn't feel guilty for, or pressured into, speaking for them. But for J-Hope and V, the desire to go solo is definitely there imo. J-Hope is even debuting at a major festival. I think that's why Hobi was crying so much during the Festa dinner - because he had put his dream on hold for so long, and felt so relieved, yet so sad and guilty for the group.

I also don't think Jimin ever thought hard about going solo? Tbh, he still gets very shy singing alone or without music, and he's always one of the first members to point out what a blessing it is to not have to do everything alone. I know he'll do great, but I never saw that kind of ambition in him. Of course, they can't share everything with us, as Jimin said.

With Suga, I don't know? Because Suga always seemed to be content being BTS while producing on the side. But he mentioned how he has nothing to write. Even though he's a hit making factory, I remember he or Psy said That That was supposed to be his last work as a producer for a while. I think Yoongi maybe needs time to recharge too, like Namjoon. He's trying different things. I think he's more interested in exploring his range as an artist, in surprising people and challenging himself, like he said in his Proof of Inspiration video or in many other occasions. He couldn't do that in BTS because they were playing it so safe, and it's hard to release mixtapes on top of everything they had to do as a group.

And JK... I also had no idea he wanted to go solo. You say he didn't seem affected but I think he's just changed. He said it himself that he's calmer now. He's accepted that this is how things will be and he knows BTS are not over. I think the reason why he's calm is precisely because he knows the members need this and doesn't want them to feel bad. J-Hope and RM cried a lot because they felt guilty for probably being the members who wanted this break the most. Jungkook was supporting them and mirroring their thoughts. I kind of interpreted it as him being the most indifferent to the break - as in, he, and Jimin, might've been the most okay with the group staying together as they were. I don't think either of them actually talked about being tired or wanting to branch out. V talked about how all the members wanted different things, but Jimin just said he was sorry and worried about Army, and JK summed up the group's position. That's my interpretation though. I think it's natural that all the members had different reasons for wanting a break or needed it with different levels of intensity.

I'm not sure if it's JK who wants to break out or Army who wants him to. Solos and kpop stans have been begging JK to go solo for years. Jungkook has barely given any indication he wants to do that. In the Proof of Inspiration video he literally said he was the happiest performing as 7. But he's been vocal about writing music and finding his voice. I think he wants to show the world he's a great singer. That's been his ambition for years and lately he's improved a lot and changed his sound. For JK, it might be less about establishing himself independently and more about becoming the great singer he dreams of being, so he can return to BTS without feeling the burden of having to be an amazing main vocalist or the golden maknae - he wants to earn those titles. I think he wants to be proud of himself, and writing his own music and becoming a cool singer is how he'll achieve that. That's probably what he meant about BTS coming back stronger after growing. It's probably hard for him to find his own voice and prove himself with his music (like he said on Weverse) if Hybe doesn't let BTS sing most of the songs they write for the group, or if he can rely on the group to cover up his weaknesses, or if he always has to be what the group needs vocally and not necessarily what he wants. Also, like he mentioned in a Weverse article, he wants to be loved for who he is, and I think that, as a soloist, he'll be loved for making the kind of music he likes and represents him, and he'll choose who he wants to be known as, without, again, the golden maknae title hanging over his head. He can debut as an adult and have a bigger control over his image. Imo, lately he's been acting more freely. Like Jimin said, it's time for them to think about how they want to be remembered as artists, and I guess everyone wants their own name to mean something, not just the group's...

But I don't know how V and JK went about going solo the wrong way? Can you elaborate?

About V... I don't agree with you. ITS is a Hybe thing, sort of; Seventeen did it too. I get that it seems weird for V to do ITS with other people, because *we* (Army) might not be getting OT7 ITS for a long time, if ever. I kind of understand why it would upset you, but it's also irrational. And I'm not saying you can't be emotional and irrational, but I hope you know you're not really being fair. I don't think he's betraying the members. However, I personally don't care to watch it.

Again, you'll have to explain to me why V doesn't seem sincere? I really don't see it.

Thank you for your kind words! I still can't wrap my head around it. Every time it feels like I'm finally starting to accept it, I think of the future ahead with solo careers and the boys going their separate ways (schedules, tours, enlistment, etc.) I just get scared and sad all over again.