#fmdos2

[fmdjoosungarchive]

sung vs discography

word count: 1600+

tldr; with sung’s revamp, his solo discography has changed, and i wanna talk abt its relevance to sung’s career n life. basc backdating a lot of storyline. he’s a lot more concept and performance focused which is his natural state as a muse tbh so it’s a rly good change. if ur only curious abt what the songs are they’re separated by release so go 4 it

191106: in sensitivity, the first solo mini-album tracklist: 1. sad memories (intro) full melody and arrangement 2. badbye ft. npc full lyrics, melody, and arrangement 3. sensitive (interlude) full melody and arrangement 4. flower ft. npc partial lyrics, melody, arrangement, and choreography

we’re ignoring that the intro n interlude dont rly have topline melodies alright credits r fake everything is fake

this album was still a rush job in response to sung’s viral moment and what came after. however, since he doesn’t have releases before this like he used to, it’s even more of a surprise. sung didn’t expect to have solo music, esp when they were still in the tail end of rookie era

here, it being a rushed album affects the end product more in the lack of tracks, and how there’s only one traditional song on the album

but the tracks serve the purpose of being a Concept

and that’s a much bigger focus in his discography now. his discography before was a lot of ideas, storylines, songs that fit element, as well as trying to fit both who sung is and what his position offered. but it was a lot of compromises against how i think of sung. as a producer, i absolutely think of him in sentimental music, coffee shop music, and that’s something that can be reflected in what he writes for others, but it has its touch in this album

new in sensitivity is like taking the concepts of happiness and in sensitivity and meshing them, bc happiness was dropped. they were pretty similar anyway

starting with sad memories, it’s still a song sung wrote as a love letter to piano, in finding his love of it once again. he’s extremely proud of it

badbye is conceptual heavy, now not only expressing deeply exhausted emotion in instrumentals, but voice too

sensitive identifies the core concept of the album, that this is him expressing his emotions openly, because he’s a sensitive person, and that that’s okay

aaand flower. this being the title track changes the role this album plays in sung’s life. unlike with body/ya, sung wouldn’t have had the creativity taken away from him. the title would just be tweaked because, well it’s his first

there is a level of sensuality to this release/others later on, but it’s not as in your face and uncomfortable for sung, so he’s a lot more pleased with his solo music bc of that

flower’s sound is very grandiose. when sung made it, he would have been thinking it was too uncommon of a song to be a title, and would be surprised when it was chosen for it. writing it was him pushing his creative boundaries as it comes to sound. the first hint of it was a tiny ditty he would have written for one of his last evaluations at gold star, and when he was kicked from the company, he added lyrics that became about that experience. but because he wasn’t a songwriter back then, he dropped it and forgot about it for years. when making in sensitivity, sung would have come back to that and made it into a full song that expressed his fears about becoming a trainee and eventual idol again. he felt like he had lost Everything, because he finally found a passion of his own, and it was taken. he feared it being taken again, feared that he wouldn’t make it. writing it later in life offers the gift of hindsight in knowing it would be okay

and anticlimactic after that, but the choreo would have come bc sung had so many ideas he was tossing on the other choreographer that he ended up becoming the choreographer too skdjsk

200216: press your number, promoted single full lyrics, full choreography

hopefully the rest of these r shorter lol

now i kno none of yall r surprised my shawol ass snatched a lil taemin here. i went w pyn because i feel like it’s taemin’s release with the strongest concept to it. its concept and packaging was actually the biggest inspiration for in sensitivity’s album cover so i think it fits rly well in that way too, creates a thru line

arguably, this is the least sung has been involved in his solo music, aside from base singles, but a lot of that comes from the same as what happened with money, that dms wanted sung to have a cb soon after their debut, and tossed a song towards sung like this is the one go add a little of ur flair

but opposed to money, the lyrics aren’t very personal. i imagine he would have been inspired by a relationship in a show he was watching and then would add in his own details thru his breakups w wamen. choreography would have been rushed, too, so it’s not the most inventive thing he’s come up with, but he still likes it a lot. overall this is a very easy era, still sticks to who he is but isn’t the most personal

200627: quit playing, colla3orate single

i have little to say abt this sung just changed position to hoon so he got to live out his dream of having a threesome w ash. not how he imagined it happening but he’ll take it :/

(& he still feels uncomfortable being sexualised to this degree)

2008XX-2011XX: our songs, competition show releases: 1. rise full lyrics, melody, and arrangement 2. musical in life full lyrics, melody, and arrangement 3. babybaby full lyrics, melody, and arrangement

the latter two releases came out after the release listed below, but it’s easier to have them all together

for the simplest, babybaby has no change

now, rise is replacing smile which was for the round about self introduction. whereas before it focused on the family oriented sim trait of sung’s, rise is about his passion for dance. it’s one of my favorite taemin songs overall, like i find it So beautiful to listen to, and with the performance i linked (taem emo singing while a dancer does an interpretive dance around him, finalized by a literal rising at the end), i think it becomes all the more beautiful. the lyrics base around the story of icarus, and come off very, please don’t leave me, you’re the light of my life, i’ll burn myself a million times just to get close to you. and as much as the point of icarus is a cautionary tale, sung does feel like he has and will put his wellbeing on the line in order to continue dancing/working towards being an idol. he’s the type who fell asleep in practice rooms because he was there so long, and continuously danced through a hip injury bc he didn’t wanna b a liability. he had plastic surgery in order to try to convince gold star to keep him as a trainee. he has done a Lot in order to get to where he is. it’s a deeply personal song and getting sixth place with it would have torn him to shreds

but it would also light a fire under him, which leads into musical in life. sung isn’t a musical actor like junsu, so it’s not a song based on personal experience so much. this song is all about pushing a concept forward, and it’s Literally theatrical. there are multiple references to musicals in the lyrics and the performance. the performance has two tap dance breaks as well. the lyrics also discuss a bit about idols not being allowed to date which i think sung would have Feelings abt. but overall this performance would be sung wanting to go All Out. he’d have done extensive research into musicals and probably made multiple powerpoints that he gave to dms like this is concept pls make it happen. and ! the bitch would get second place ! doesn’t get first in live nor online voting but he’s iconique enough to get second anyway

in general i really wanted to keep our songs bc i think it’s an important milestone for sung as a producer, and also adds more context for why he doesn’t promote solo again for a long while. quantum had four cbs in 2020 for one, and for two, he had a lot of other projects going on, including musical projects like this. he’s just a busy lad

200906: when we disco, collab portal partial lyrics, melody, and arrangement

here me out,, sung = jyp? makes no sense. sung = when we disco? makes All the sense. i personally think this song is best enjoyed when u look just at sunmi whenever u can, and jyp neck n below the rest of the time

this one i think is like dms saying let’s have another release so we can keep ur fans satisfied n sung’s like okay i have these songs if u wanna just pick one, n they pick when we disco and rework it to what they want

u can go ahead n still imagine hyeju’s the other person in this (forgot to say this is replacing don’t) bc she would be great in it

the sound and lyrics would have come about by sung rly just,, faffing abt? he’d be wanting to dip into other genres and would wanna make a disco revival part 2 song

filming was a bit of a stretch on his time, but aside from that he thinks it’s fun, and adds a nice different element to his concepts? flower and pyn both have more serious/’darker’ concepts, n when we disco is stupid fun if u ignore the mob boss,,,, thing,,,,

210520: cabi song, colla3orate single

oh cabi cabi deo hottest hottest

210606: spider, promoted single full lyrics and melody, partial arrangement and choreography

uh so the story here is... quantum weren’t havin cbs,,, so,,,,, sung cb🤪

the instrumental and melody would have started from sung wanting to take his coffee shop music and make it something brighter, here with dance and edm influence as well. the lyrics would have shifted the sound further. it’s the first of his solo releases he’s written with a Focus on sexuality in the concept so balancing between being too much and too little would be necessary, as well as sonically invoking that feeling of being trapped in a complex and beautiful web you don’t want to leave

lyrically it would have started about s*x ngl but the funniest thing is def in the process of writing it would have come back around to his relationship w depression n how he deals w negative emotions. it’s multilayered

and the choreo, tbh it’s just a Very involved choreography so i’m sure it was nice for him to have someone to help visualize with. i think this is the level of sexuality he enjoys being able to show, because the focus isn’t just on looks, it’s on energy, performance, sound. the highest value of the song to him is the choreography so it feels much more doable

[famedbasearchive]

OUR SONGS: EPISODES 5 & 6

Timeline: October 10, 2020, to November 7, 2020

On-Set Filming Dates: October 10, November 7

Deadline: November 5, 11:59PM KST

Those involved in the main cast of Our Songs this month may earn up to 10 points total for writing, by the end of November 5 KST:

Completions of the two interviews included in the in-character prompt. (1 point each, up to 2 points total)

Up to two solo paras of 400+ words based on filming for episodes 5 & 6. (2 points each, up to 4 points total). 

A thread of six posts (three per participant, including the starter) with another muse in the main cast based on the Our Songs episodes 5 and 6 schedule. This must be with a different muse than the thread you collected points for last month. (2 points)

A thread of six posts (three per participant, including the starter) with the guest muse your muse is writing for for this round based on the Our Songs episodes 4 and 5 schedule. (2 points). **Note: This should be the first priority and points may only be collected for the exact requirement listed. That said, should you have trouble completing this by the deadline with the guest muse, this requirement also be passed only for the sake of elimination consideration (not points) if you complete a second thread with another muse from the main cast by the deadline.

Please remember the number of the above tasks completed by each muse will factor into eliminations during blocks with eliminations.

Those guesting on Our Songs this month may earn up to 6 points total for writing, by the end of November 5 KST:

Completions of these interviews. (1 point each, up to 2 points total)

A solo para of 400+ words based on filming for episodes 5 & 6. (2 points).

A thread of six posts (three per participant, including the starter) with the muse your muse is paired with for Our Songs episodes 5 and 6 schedule. (2 points) 

These do not count toward monthly limits or toward normal schedule points. All posts for this task block should be tagged with #fmdos3.

IN-’VERSE INFO

Following the performances on October 8, the competitors will go backstage to their dressing rooms for a little under an hour while the audience is instructed to vote for two songwriters whose performances they liked the best. These votes will be calculated and combined with online track votes based on a weighted formula, and then the competitors are brought back out. They are first told the cast members that got the most votes in the live voting and the online voting as follows:

- Live audience vote: Youngjoo - Online vote: Taeyong

The final rankings are announced as follows to announce the safe competitors from fifth place to second:

5. Suji 4. Taeyong 3. Joohwan 2. Sun

Choi Jihoon congratulates the four safe competitors and dismisses them from the stage to bring the four remaining on stage (Youngjoo, Kami, Eunah, and Jaewon). The competitors currently on stage represent first place, sixth place, and the two competitors who will be eliminated and he reminds everyone of that. After building suspense, he announces Youngjoo as this round’s winner and announces she’s won a prize: she’ll be invited to perform a solo set on one night of the Topaz Music Festival, a popular music festival held at the venue they performed at this round that will take place in November. The festival is normally for non-idol singer-songwriter types, and this will be the first time an idol has been invited to perform. (admin note: If the mun would like to officially confirm this claim as a prize, please submit this form to the points shop blog to have it added to her career page! The mun may decide the exact date for the festival around their muse’s schedule). She’s individually congratulated and then dismissed from the stage.

This leaves three competitors (Kami, Eunah, and Jaewon) and only one will be safe. After building the tension, it is announced that Jaewon has placed sixth and will be safe to go onto the next episode. This means Kami and Eunah have unfortunately been eliminated from the competition and the final overall ranking for the latest round is ultimately as follows:

1. Youngjoo 2. Sun 3. Joohwan 4. Taeyong 5. Suji 6. Jaewon

On October 10, the idols will once again return to the “recording studio” set they first met at on their first day of filming. Competitors will once again be seated based on their rank (first place in seat one, second place in seat two, etc.). Basic pleasantries will be gone through on camera recounting the last round and reminding everyone of the rules and structure of the show before host Choi Jihoon will inform them of their third songwriting mission:

“After the first and second round, you should all have an idea of who you yourself are as a songwriter and who the rest of the cast are as songwriters. You’ve seen their versatility and the areas they excel in the most, both as a performer and songwriter, but a truly gifted songwriter can work for others as well as they can work for themselves, For this round, you will all be asked to write for another idol who will be performing a song you wrote. No one will be able to get through on an established image or popularity alone this round, as the songwriter behind each song will be kept anonymous until everyone has cast their final vote at the live performances. There will be no additional requirements this round, so put your all into shaping a song fitting of the artist who will be performing your song this round.”

The competitors are given time to react to the prompt before they are dismissed from the main set to their green rooms. In their individual green rooms, they’re once again approached by a camera crew and given a form provided by production with basic information on the idol they’ll be writing for, although the exact identity of the idol is not revealed yet (admin note: please keep in mind muses shouldn’t really be able to narrow down exactly who they’re paired with from information on the forms since the form will be re-typed to remove the element of handwriting recognition and they are not informed the idols are limited to the three in-’verse companies). They’ll react to the information and be expected to talk about their first thoughts. After this, each musician will film a talking head interview in a private room with a small team of cameras and producers where they are asked the following questions:

How are you feeling about the ranking you received last round? How do you feel about it in comparison to your rank for the first round?

What are your thoughts on the song you’ll write this round based on the information you’ve been given about the idol you’ll be writing for?

How will you approach writing a song for someone else differently than you’ve approached writing songs for yourself for the first two rounds?

What are your thoughts on your other competitors at this point in the competition?

From October 10 to October 17, all competitors are given time to begin to work on a song or potential songs based on the information they’ve been given. They will be filmed both through the stationary cameras installed in the studio in their company buildings and will also be instructed to continue to use their self-cam to record their creative process as well.

The guest cast members will be made aware at this time of their role in the show: having a song written for them by an assigned cast member to record and perform. They will not yet be made aware of which main cast member they are partnered with and are asked not to discuss their guesting with anyone.

On October 18, all pairs will meet through either a filmed meeting at a coffee shop or through a filmed video call depending on what schedules allow. This meeting will be the reveal of their partner’s identity and during this meeting, the main cast member should be prepared to show the song they’ve been working on and discuss together with their partner about the song and any changes that may need to be made to fit the idol’s voice, style, or preferences. It is up to the main cast member how much they change to accommodate their partner, although they will not be allowed to completely redo the song at this point.

The main cast member will have from October 18 through October 27 to finalize the song and get vocals recorded from the other idol on the track. The pairs may meet up over the course of this time as they wish to work on recording and finalizing, although each meeting should be filmed.

There will be no “demo” presentation for this episode in front of the other competitors due to the nature of the task. Final mastered versions of all songs are due to the production team by the end of October 27.

On November 1, the final version of each competitor’s song will be released onto the base TV website and voting will open for online audiences. They will be uploaded onto streaming sites a week later so as not to reveal the writers’ identities.

On November 7, all competitors and all of the special guests will go to the regular building with the performance set from first episode, where their songs will be performed and voted on. As with last episode, minor set and prop elements are permitted, but they should be easy for the staff to get on and off the stage. The respective companies will be responsible for the styling and performance preparation of the performer. 

Once filming begins, the competitors will be informed they will be performing in a randomly generated order in order to maintain anonymity of the writers. The audience is asked to vote more on how well-written a song is for the idol than how amazing the performance is since the songwriters are the ones being evaluated. The performing order is revealed to be:

Wei - “Pit-a-pet” (written by Jaewon)

Huiseon - “Baby Baby” (written by Sun)

Aera - “Diver” (written by Joohwan)

Duri - “Heaven” (written by Youngjoo)

Charlie - “Iljido” (written by Suji)

Minjung - “Girl, Interrupted” (written by Taeyong)

As each guest idol is performing, the six songwriters and all five other guest performers will sit backstage in their individual dressing rooms while their reactions are filmed. Since they are in private, songwriters may react appropriately to the song they wrote. At the conclusion of each stage, each competitor will be given time to talk about their thoughts on the performance and song. In the final airing of the episode, only some competitors’ comments will be aired per song.

During the break following all six song performances, each competitor will film another talking head interview (admin note: please wait to complete this interview until all songs have been chosen and listed above):

Talk about the song you wrote for this task. How do you feel it compares to the first two songs you wrote for the show?

How do you feel the idol you wrote for did in performing your song? In what ways do you feel the song benefited from not being performed by you?

Which of the other songs/performances caught your attention the most?

Which song do you expect got the most votes online and from the audience?

OUT OF ‘VERSE INFO

As usual, the rankings for the second round were determined by random generation for spots among who completed the most tasks. In this case, spots one through six were generated by those who had all tasks completed in the #fmdos2 tag on their muse’s blog by the deadline. Two muses did not complete all of the tasks, so they took the eliminated spots. The only exception here is that the admin’s muse will not be eligible for the overall first place ranking unless they are the only muse who completes the most number of tasks. Proof shots of the name picker can be found here (note: admin is in EDT, while the deadline was in KST, so the names were drawn after the deadline).

The winners for separate live voting and online voting were determined using weighted selection based on the randomly generated overall rankings. Rank one got eight submissions into the generator, rank two got seven, rank three got six, etc. and the two eliminated muses got one submission each, and then names were drawn. Proof shots of the name picker for the live audience vote and online vote winners can be found here. A proof shot of the randomizer for performance order this round can be found here. Pairs were made simply by pairing the order of the main cast by seniority directly with the guest cast submissions by order of submission from earliest to latest. Only one switch was made to ensure all muses would be writing for a muse with a skill set or song availability significantly different from their own.

For this task block you will need to submit the following information: the song you would like to claim for your muse to create for this round’s task (and a performance reference if one is available and agreed upon with the performing muse) and the creative claims on it. Please note that the song choice should ultimately be the decision of the mun of the main cast member. Muns may discuss what the performing muse is comfortable with, but the song choice should be based on what the muse would write with the information presented to them and not what the performing muse would necessarily want written for them.

The form link will be uploaded here at 12AM KST October 10/11AM EDT October 9, twenty-four hours after this post goes up. The form link can be found here. A reminder of the limits of creative claims on each muse for the show can be found here. If you think there is a mistake or if a song is released that leads to a necessary update, please contact the main.

Songs Claimed:

Heaven - Gaho

Iljido - Moonbyul

Girl, Interrupted - Miso (prod. 2xxx!)

Pit-a-pet - Yukika

Baby Baby - Suran

Diver - YooA

SONG LIMITATIONS/REQUIREMENTS

The simplified theme for this round is “Written By, Not For”. Please read the prompt in the in-’verse info for full details on what this means.

For all rounds, a song must fit all general rules of music claims (i.e. matches muse position, is not too explicit, must be by an artist in the Korean music industry, etc.) and must receive admin approval.

For this round, these are the additional limitations and requirements on songs that can be chosen:

The song must be solo. This means it cannot be a collab or have a feature.

The song must be performed by the muse assigned by the show and the muse performing cannot have creative claims on a song.

In real life, the song must not be a title track according to Melon and cannot have an official MV. Special clips, live clips, and minimal production lyric videos are acceptable, but the song will have to be re-released on an album in the future to claim such videos as canon to the universe.

In real life, the song cannot have charted higher than a rank of 75 on Gaon’s Weekly Digital Chart at any point.

You may claim songs with choreography, but choreography creative claims are not available. As usual, songs with more emphasis on complex choreography should be reserved for muses with dance positions.

[fmdxyoungjoo]

Our Songs : Episode 4 Solo

Premise: joo actually sitting down with her production team and writing the solo + artistic process  Word Count: never as much as any of u who wrote before above a 1000 words u n u 1125 words well this is awkward ignore what i said :) A/N: ESTELLE KEEP OUT :D wow i never wrote so much for a solo once i think clearly i am inspired

its not that difficult to write this song in particular. not especially if you had already a plan in mind that you wanted to set in motion. thoughts and colours had whirled around in her head as soon as she had pulled out that crisp little red piece of paper that now resided in her pocket, folded over and over, repeatedly upon its creases, smoothened out by lithe fingers and thoughtful manipulation of the piece of paper. 

she sets the self cam down in front of her, peering awkwardly into the camera to check if it was recording (perhaps in the process, unknowingly setting yet another meme for herself as she pulled a troubled, long face whilst trying to figure out the contraption just like the wizened old lady at heart that she was) as quickly as she could.

“is this record...ding?” she peers at the blinking red button, unknowingly having started the recording prior before she even noticed, before settling back a little unsuredly. “hm..i guess it is. hello hello.” she bent down towards eye level of the camera, beaming lightly in the direction of the camera. “its youngjoo here from silhouette, and i’m going to show you in a bit, a little of the song that i’ve been working on hard for our songs. i’m currently preparing for the meeting with my production team, since they’re most likely helping me with part of the productions of the song itself, and are probably waiting a bit for some of the lyrics that i’ve written.” she rustles, bustling about like a busy ant as she hoisted up her bag, hauling out a couple of thick files that she had made in preparation for this prior meeting that she had. 

she paused, letting the silence of the room fill as her leg bounced ever so slightly, eyes darting as she casted her eyes towards the door in a bit of a nervous unease.

“i really really want to do this song well, partially because i think i got lucky with the colour that i had, and red is pretty easy to interpret.” she mumbled, resting her chin slightly as she perked up at the sound of the doors opening, tilting her head to rest against her hand as she grinned lightly in the direction of her production team, wiggling her fingers in greeting as the room started to bustle a bit from the influx of people into its small soundproof room.

“so..”youngjoo rubbed her hands together slightly. “shall we start the discussion? i’m sure that everyone has received uh..the thumbdrive recording that i did of the song a few hours after i got the assignment for the song.” she lets her fingers tangle lightly through her hair in tender but mild contemplation. “so, the topic of the entire song is contrast, and the colour that i drew, luckily enough i guess, is the colour of red. i think one of the many things that people relate to when it comes to the colour of red is the idea of rage, and of anger. maybe a little bit of lust?” the paper rustles as she raised a hand to scratch her brows out of slight nervousness. “but what i thought of red being is the colour of regret. so i want the production to be something heavy hitting and grungy. but also not loosing that edge of slight etherealness that we’re know to have. ethereal sounds don’t necessarily have to be angelic, it can be dark and you know..”she trails off a little, trying to find the right words to describe what she was feeling.

“like empty space?” one of the producers piped up, tapping his pen against the table.

“mhm, something like that. i want a very..empty feeling in a way. so the more spacious the song feels, the better honestly.” its rare that she has such a clear direction on the type and kind, or even the theme of the song. “i’ve thought of the theme of the performance itself already. i want it to be sensual and slow, but also running with that undertone of rage and repressed emotions. most of the song itself will be set in the low jazzy register, so for the stage settings, the darker and closer the stage, the better. i want red lights to emphasise the theme of the song, and to remind the audience of the colour that i chose. i want to be closer enough to be able to interact with the audience, and to let them feel as though they’re close enough to touch me.” she laughed a little at her thoughts. “i have feeling as though like this song is very different from what we usually do, so despite my aims to actually hit the first spot this time--” soft laughter rings through the room at her words, and its finally youngjoo’s turn to heavily blush, shaking her head to free herself from her own mortification. 

“ call it being a little ambitious, but i like the thought of being able to maintain my standing in our songs. who knows, this is actually a good spot to put out my name and let people know a little more of my own capabilities and things that i can do. we’ve just recently made it known that i’m good at ballads with my full album, and everyone knows that i can do things with osts or jazzy songs from Masked Singer, so i think we can afford to take this little risk here and go a little sexy, grungy and almost emo or emotive.” there were slight nods all around as youngjoo heaved a mild sigh of relief at earning the approval from her production team, quickly concluding the meeting and handing the lyrics off to the production team for reference in preparation for their recording sessions. 

she had a lot to prepare for, especially after a hyped up performance that she was sure jaewon would eventually bring to the stage. 

as the room cleared out and the meeting ended, she sits in front of her self camera with a faint sigh, sinking into the seat as though speaking so much had drained her of all of her possible energy. 

“everyone,i really do hope that i can pull this off--”she pouts a little at the camera, sinking a little aegyo here and there as comfortably as she could, blinking up at the camera as she spun around slightly in her chair. “but most of all i hope that everyone really really enjoys Runnin’ Back. that’s the title of this upcoming song, and its going to be much different from all the ballads, osts or even silhouette songs that i’ve put out or silhouette has put out. i think...”she paused for a moment, letting her own thoughts mildly consume her. “its very raw. i wrote the lyrics in mind with the idea of obsession and regret, and the production of the music in the direction of something darker and angrier. don’t you think it fully brings out the colours of red itself? i personally think that this entire song is really dyed completely in the colours of red. i was really inspired this time, so..thank you our songs for this opportunity, and i hope to see everyone again, if you like my songs enough to send me off to the next round.” she grinned, waving her hand lightly as she ended her self camera for the day. “ see you around everyone, hope you enjoy my songs.” 

[fmdtaeyongarchive]

@fmdjoohwan​ // september 24

it would be a lie to say ash would rather be anywhere but here, but that doesn’t mean he’s happy being backstage, getting ready to head out on set and have to sit through hours of filming for what most likely wouldn’t take up more than half an hour of the final episode. there was no point in filming “demo” performances for so long when he didn’t think the viewers would care that much anyway. surely, they’d see through how little the songs changed before the final product because of how little time they were given afterward to do anything with it.

it doesn’t help that ash is still on edge from the news of his album being pushed back. it’s the second time now, and if the first time hadn’t been bad enough, it’d been made more clear than ever that it was being pushed back because he hadn’t presented enough songs that were good enough to make the cut to pad out the track list. it’s so fucking stupid. they send him on this stupid show as some kind of prize pig to prove bc idols aren’t all creatively-deprived robots, but he isn’t good enough in their eyes to have twelve songs approved as release-ready.

his day is made that much worse when he turns the corner backstage, clutching his newly-acquired coffee like the savior it is and nearly runs head-first into joohwan. he hadn’t been watching where he was going and, in his surprise, the coffee cup hits the ground and splits, spilling its contents all over the floor, though it avoids touching either of them by some miracle. ash swears he can feel his will to live crack down the middle just the same, and it takes only a few seconds for him to find himself teetering between rage and tears. “fuck, fuck. what the fuck? why the hell were you just there? were you waiting for someone to come around the corner to scare the living hell out of them or was that a fun coincidence?” ash is trying not to sound pissed, but by the time he finishes speaking, all of the energy he’d had left to pretend has evaporated.

[eunahfmdarchive]

base tv: our songs, episodes 3 & 4, interview one. where: on set for our songs. when: september 6th. mentions: @fmdkami, @fmdjoohwan & @fmdjoosung. word count: 309.

eunah knows what to expect now from the interviews. that brings her some amount of comfort, but not much, considering that that’s not what’s making her nervous for this round of questions. no one ever feels great with a low ranking, she supposes.

you’ve had some time since you found out your ranking in the last round. how do you feel about your ranking and what pressure do you feel it puts on you this round?

“it’s a shame to come so close to last place,” eunah chooses her words carefully, fidgety hands working overtime in her lap. she especially doesn’t want to say anything about the way she’s a place higher than an origin member. she doesn’t think joohwan would care, but she has a feeling that there are some fans that are going to be angry. “i was really proud of my song from last round. i’m nervous that maybe my best isn’t going to be enough to get me through the competition.”

what are the first thoughts that come to mind when you think of the color you drew from the box?

“to me, gold is a winner’s colour. it definitely isn’t a colour i would ever associate with myself. the closest to gold i am is ... a rich autumnal mustard shade of yellow.”

do you already have an idea in mind for what you’ll do for your song this round?

“no,” admits eunah, cringing as the word falls from her lips. there’s no point in lying though. “i think this round is going to be a serious challenge for me. that’s scary, but i’m also looking forward to it in a way. it’ll be a good opportunity to get out of my comfort zone.”

after seeing everyone compete in the first round and knowing the task for this round, has your view on your biggest competition changed? who do you expect to do the best this round?

“everyone did really well last round, even if somebody did have to come last. since sun is the one directly above me in the rankings, i suppose, numbers wise, that makes him my biggest competition at the moment. otherwise, i don’t really know. as for who’ll do the best this round ... i think that kami and sun both have good chances of coming out on top. i think kami will be able to take the live audience vote again, and i think that sun really suits the colour purple.”

[fmdjaewonarchive]

setting: our songs demo performance, 24 september 2020 with: @fmdxsuji​

jaewon knew the other songwriters on the show were good, he’d known that before coming onto the show and was only reminded of just how true that was after the first round (which, he had won, somehow, still didn’t make much sense in his head). either way, there had never been a shortage of respect for the other songwriters on the show or their songs for that matter. after the demo performances for the next round however, there was one song that really stood out, tall above everyone elses, his own included. not that reply was much of a lyrical masterpiece anyway, it wasn’t written to be one. 

but yes, suji had really managed to impress him, which said a lot as he already did have a tremendous amount of respect for her music beforehand. while jaewon had voiced his praise for the song during the recording as well, it only felt right to tell her once more after the camera’s were turned off. “suji sunbaenim!” he called out to her as he walked up to her. “hey, sorry, i hope i’m not keeping you up. i just- wanted to congratulate you on the song you just performed.”  the smile on his lips was a little awkward, it wasn’t like the two of them had spoken much in the past. “the traditional sound is really cool and i think it’s a very creative take on the color black. i can imagine your color wasn’t the easiest on you.”

[fmdxsujiarchive]

our songs episode 3/4: interview (part 2)

Talk about your song. How does it contrast the song you wrote for the last round “Introduction / Identity”?

“arari’s lyrics talk about the story of a bittersweet ending. the person that’s mostly doing the speaking within the song has been abandoned by their lover but instead of cursing them, they wish them happiness. upon listening to it for the first time, i understand that it might not be an outright contrast to little wildflower, but i challenged myself with arari by implementing a lot of traditional korean instruments. i think thematically making my song connect with the color black is a contrast in itself since i don’t have a lot of black-sounding music. it was a nice challenge though, and i enjoyed being able to delve into something so new and valuable.”

Did the different venue and audience atmosphere impact your performance in any way?

“not by much. i do think the audience atmosphere was a little intimidating at first, but once i started singing it didn’t bother me as much as i thought it would,” she stated with a slight smile on her face. truthfully, with all the blinding lights, it’s not like she can pay a lot of attention to the audience in the first place. they did seem a bit more disinterested than the last crowd, but it didn’t affect her very much.

Which of the other songs/performances caught your attention the most?

“i think joosung-ssi’s lyrics were very raw? i’m not sure if that’s the right word to use, but i liked them. jaewon-ssi’s song was also lots of fun! i enjoyed the whole performance a lot, and he had to perform first, but he didn’t look nervous at all.”

Which song do you expect got the most votes?

“maybe kami sunbae-nim? i do think she does so well in front of an audience that i’m sure i’d vote for her. youngjoo unnie’s song was also entrancing though, and i think her voice has this pulling factor to it.”

[fmdkamiarchive]

she knew she had to engage even after she picked her color. that didn't stop her brain from traveling a mile a minute. why? when she thought of the color nothing came to mind, not one thing. the thought floated around in the back of her mind until the recording was officially over and she noticed the other's leaving. it wasn't anything big, just a small bump-in with eunah. mainly due to the fact that she wasn't paying attention. "sorry, i'm a bit distracted." and she needed to re-focus.

"what do you say too getting something to eat?" it was a bit of a sudden request but her face was completely serious. "normally once this is over, i go straight home because i have a tone of idea's but i'm drawing a blank right now." almost all of the other colors she had some vague idea for. "i'm getting more inspiration from your color than my own. how about you?"

@eunahfmd​

[fmdjoohwanarchive]

mentions of: eunah and joosung 

Everything about his demeanor is different from last episode’s interview and Joohwan knows it’s obvious. As much as he had tried – barely – to keep in the bitterness last time around, he knows it was written all over his face how annoyed he had been at placing dead last. This time he doesn’t have to worry about that at all. Regardless of what the result might be, he’s just so satisfied with his performance, with his song, with the effort he put into creating something he’s fully proud of – the outcome is the last thing on his mind when he sits down for this interview.

Talk about your song. How does it contrast the song you wrote for the last round “Introduction / Identity”?

“I think it contrasts in quite a few points,” he crosses one leg over the other, hands resting on top of his knee. “Sound is probably the most obvious. That’s Not Me is a very obscure song, I guess? It sounds like how I felt when writing it, as in, very taciturn and also a bit self-pitying.” He smiles. “Whistle is not at all like that. It’s a fun song, it’s meant to hype people up and make them happy and hopefully that translates. And then there’s also the topic of the lyrics. That’s Not Me was obviously about myself and the struggles I have in my own head, whereas Whistle is about love, heartbreak, break up, being lead on. It’s about relationships rather than a deeper dive into myself.”

Did the different venue and audience atmosphere impact your performance in any way?

“If I’m being completely honest, I think it made my performance better,” he tries to sound as sincere and not too prideful when he says that but Joohwan truly means it. “My original idea was a bit bigger than this… Maybe a lot bigger even. But as the song was created I realized it’d be more interesting for me to give a performance more focused on a live band. I haven’t had the chance of showing the fans myself playing instruments anyway so I thought it’d be a great opportunity to do just that and play the guitar. I was really nervous going in because I haven’t really done both singing and playing at the same time often – or at all, in quite a few years. But I think I did well and I hope people had fun.”

Which of the other songs/performances caught your attention the most?

“All of my fellow idols did a really good job with their respective songs and performances,” he makes a point out of saying this, just in case anyone questions him, just as they will. “But I guess my favorite was Eunah’s? Count You Out is such a fun song, I wish I got the chance of working on it.” Joohwan laughs, shaking his head. “Just kidding, I think she did a really good job. I enjoyed Joosung’s performance as well.”

Which song do you expect got the most votes?

“I honestly don’t know,” and after the almost certainty from the first round, when he thought he’d at least get more votes than he did, Joohwan is unwilling to gamble. “I think everybody has chances, both to do well and to do badly, as the first round has shown us. So I guess we’ll find out soon!”

[fmdxyoungjoo]

Our Songs: Interview 3 

Premise: joo learning that she won second place and is highkey panicking like she always does on the inside Word Count: 419 words A/N: well, she panicked and I PANICKED :)

You’ve had some time since you found out your ranking in the last round. How do you feel about your ranking and what pressure do you feel it puts on you this round?

“oh god. half of me is incredibly grateful that i’m in second place? but the other half of me is just completely a wreck and a total mess. i’ve been stressing out even before about all the rounds, not just this particular round--its nothing against anything or what not, i’m just highkey--highkey a little too competitive and a little bit too much of a perfectionist, so i take my songs and my writing a little too seriously. even though this is a competition and its okay to lose out to others, i have a feeling that i don’t want to. even if i’m taking this as a practice to hone my skills and make myself better, i kinda, want this all to turn out well. i’m just going to have to work so much harder to live up to the expectations of everyone, honestly. i don’t think that i’ll always stay on top, and since i’ve had a little taste of success, i think..” she paused a little bashfully. “i’ll try to aim for better and for more.” 

What are the first thoughts that come to mind when you think of the color you drew from the box?

“rage. i think that’s pretty much a given when we talk about the colour red. red is for anger, for destruction. when you describe someone that’s angry and upset you say that they see red as a descriptive form of understanding that they’re mad. upset or angry. but that’s just the cliche, fiscal form of it all. 

Do you already have an idea in mind for what you’ll do for your song this round?

“yes. i think i do.” she smiled lightly, almost brightly as her eyes sparkled. “i was honestly looking forward to the new things that i could possibly do with the new theme and challenge that our songs was going to give.” she admitted. “while its not entirely cemented in stone, i already have an inkling of what i might wanna do in mind, so...keep looking forward to it, and i’ll cross my fingers and hope that it doesn’t disappoint you!” 

After seeing everyone compete in the first round and knowing the task for this round, has your view on your biggest competition changed? Who do you expect to do the best this round?

“not really.” she admits. “ash still is one of the biggest competitors for me.”  she admits. “but rather than wanting to predict who would do best for this next round or talking about my view on competition, i’d prefer spending my time moulding and honing my skills and songs. i think everyone has an element of a competitor for me. there’s no one too big or too little of a competitor, and that’s not going to change anytime soon. everyone has their own strengths and weaknesses, and so that’s not something that we can measure with just the yardstick of just one particular thing. 

[fmdxyoungjoo]

Our Songs Interview 4 

Premise: interview no. 4 Word Count: 400 words A/N: : D estelle keep out :D

Talk about your song. How does it contrast the song you wrote for the last round “Introduction / Identity”?

“i’ll have to admit that even for me, i went pretty wild on this particular song. it said to contrast the song that i had in the first round, which thankfully owing to everyone who ended up loving my music, became one of the more popular songs that had been produced in the round. so i decided to be the wild card this time. running back was something entirely different, despite being fully composed and partially produced by me. as you all know, i drew the colour red, and i’m pretty sure that most would think that red is the easier colour to go for, because of is natural associations to anger, to lust. so i changed it around a bit. red, can be also the colour of regret, and of desperation. that’s the first contrast that my song had. even its title is different from e.t. e.t was considered as ethereal, or dreamy--and runnin back is hard hitting and grungy, direct to the point. for the first time i think i wrote a really direct song when it came to runnin back, and it sounded pleasing to my own ears. its a very different song, and i’m honestly eager to see how people are receiving or going to receive it.”

Did the different venue and audience atmosphere impact your performance in any way?

“oh definitely. the song itself was a very intimate one, with the lyrics being very confrontational and almost obsessive. its almost something that’s sung like a oppressing cry, almost with a borderline sensuality to the timbre and tone of the voice, to give the image to someone that there’s something almost always constantly hovering about them, all because they desire or lust after them. i usually don’t go for such seemingly seductive or obsessive songs, but this seemed really fitting for runnin’ back this time. the closer i got with the audience, the stronger the feelings i had for the song, and the better the interpretation that i got.”

Which of the other songs/performances caught your attention the most?

“there was 21, and also dystopia by sun. dystopia was really incredibly different, i think in a lot of ways it reminded me of my own song because of the grunge and the hard hitting notes and rap of the track.”

Which song do you expect got the most votes?

“21 was really hyped up for the performance, and perhaps jaewon’s performance? he did get the first place in the last round too, so i’m pretty sure that there’s a lot of people who love the music he’s recently been putting forth.”

[fmdjoosungarchive]

date: september 6th with: @fmdxyoungjoo​

a crew member clapped the slate stick, signaling the end of the group’s main portion of filming, and sung felt himself slump. sung imparted as much meaning as a little rectangle of paper could have onto the piece in his hands. he’d have to work harder this round, maybe listen to the company more. a deep breath shot out from his lungs.

he blinked up, while his hands worked to fold the purple rectangle and put it into his pocket, and noticed many of the other contestants were being shuffled off to makeup or hair touchups, or off for interviews. that was, except for youngjoo. sung righted himself, and stood up to go greet her.

his lips quirked up at the same time he reached out to glide a gentle brush of his hand on the woman’s shoulder to get her attention. “hi. um, i didn’t get a chance to say anything before,” rather, he wasn’t quite in the right mindset enough to do so before now, “but, i wanted to congratulate you on your ranking. i really liked e.t. it makes sense other people would see your charms as well.”

[fmdtaeyongarchive]

↬ our songs: “21″ performance.

date: october 8, 2020.

location: unspecified concert venue.

word count: 797 words.

summary: :/

triggers: poor health?? ungodly amounts of caffeine consumption??

notes: n/a.

the look ash had gotten when he’d asked him manager to get him an energy drink on top of the three large coffees he’d downed already the same day likely would have dissuaded him any other time. any other time, ash wouldn’t be asking for an energy drink. on principle, he doesn’t drink them, but, now, he has no other choice if he wants to make it through his performance without self-eliminating.

it’s been days since he’d gotten more than one hour of sleep at a time, so many that he’s not sure he’d be able to tabulate an exact number even if his brain didn’t feel halfway to pounding itself out of his skull through his ears. this morning alone, he’d had to set out early for mcountdown to film knight’s comeback stage and he’d had time only to grab his third coffee on the drive from the mnet building to the venue his manager had been given the address of.

he doesn’t think he’d looked surprised at all when the news had been broken to him that the performance would be different this time, on a different stage and for an audience who hadn’t signed up to watch him sing, but conservation of energy had been the main thought on his mind and he’d known the makeup artists were going to want to spend extra time on him to make the dark circles under his eyes appear alluring instead of concerning as soon as they saw him.

he avoids the other contestants as much as he can in the lead-up to his stage, and while he’s not wholly successful, he’s one of the last to arrive to the shared dressing room he’s told they’ll be seated in to film their reaction shots. he shuffles to the open spot on the side of a couch and does everything he can not to let the plushness of the sofa knock him out into sleep right away.

luckily, he has the benefit of performing early in the set list due to his ranking on the last episode, and he stumbles off of the couch as soon as he gets the opportunity to go get his last touch-ups and mic checks before he goes on stage.

the stage goes surprisingly well, according to his manager later on. his vocals aren’t in the best condition, but he’d convinced the staff to turn up the backing track for his parts higher than usual at mcountdown so he could preserve his vocal cords before they gave out entirely. there will be armchair vocal coaches in fan communities that point out the raspiness his voice dips into on some of the lower notes or his poorly thought-out breathing, but a burst of something akin to adrenaline hits him before the first chorus that he’s able to ride out for the rest of the song. he goes heavy on prompting audience participation at the end, relying on the hope that a handful of the audience members had streamed his song without knowing they’d be seeing him perform.

the bottom drops out from under him as soon as he’s off-stage and he’s lucky his manager had caught onto his state enough to be waiting in the wings as soon as he gets off the stage. his manager has felt like the bane of ash’s existence lately, but now, all he feels is a rush of gratefulness as his manager wards off the cameras that want to get an immediate post-performance shot of him.

ash slips away into an empty room down one of the side hallways backstage and sprawls his back out over the nearest table before his legs can give out on their own. 

his manager joins him in the room a minute later, but the walls haven’t stopped spinning around ash quite yet. a cold wetness pressed to his forehead causes him to pull away from the water bottle his manager is offering him.

“you need to drink water. i’m going to talk to production. i’m sure they’ve got people on standby who can check you out.”

“no!” ash rejects with a startling amount of force that reverberates through his chest. “no, no, please. i’m good. tell them i need a minute and i’ll be back out to the dressing room.”

“we’re going straight to the hospital after filming’s over.”

“can’t. meeting.” a quip about ash thinking the other man is supposed to be the manager dies on his lips as he fails to find any humor in the situation.

“give me...” he huffs and holds up one of his hands with five fingers extended. “then i’m good. i’ll be great.”

without looking, ash knows his manager won’t believe him, but he doesn’t have any other choice but to let ash power through.

[fmdtaeyongarchive]

our songs episode four interview

mentions of: jaewon, suji

ash has no interest in being pushed in front of a camera to talk about his performance or the rest of the cast. he has places to be and he doesn’t have anything to say about half of the cast at this point. he doesn’t get any say in it, though, so he sits down obediently in the chair as a staff comes in to touch up his hair and makeup and he tries to focus his vision on the camera instead of letting his surroundings descend into the blur it’s more comfortable to let them be.

Talk about your song. How does it contrast the song you wrote for the last round “Introduction / Identity”?

“it’s, uh...” he knows the answer to the question but he forgets as soon as he’s asked. it must have gotten lost somewhere in the days he’s been awake without sleep now. “it’s... the song for this round has a different energy.” the producer behind the camera looks unsatisfied, but when ash reaches up to rub the sharp pain tormenting his neck instead of saying anything else, they move on.

Did the different venue and audience atmosphere impact your performance in any way?

that’s not what had affected his performance if it’d gone badly (had it? he’s not sure. he remembers standing on stage, but most of the details had been wiped now, unable to write themselves into his longterm memory when all of his energy is concentrated into not shaking with exhaustion. he should have found a way to fit in a nap before filming.) “it was a surprise. i think... it’s better to let the audience judge if my performance was impacted.”

Which of the other songs/performances caught your attention the most?

ash has very little recollection of the other performances he’d watched either. he’d been too focused on trying not to let his eyes fall shut for too long while the cameras were on him. his voice had been absent from most of the commentary they filmed, and there’s a nagging voice in the back of his head that they’re going to eliminate him because he hadn’t given them anything worth screen time.

“what’s the question again?” he thinks he sees an intern to the side of the room roll her eyes, but turning his head to check seems too daunting. the producer reads the question back to him impatiently and ash apologizes in a voice that sounds weaker than intended, so he clears his throat and repeats himself more clearly. gossip spreads backstage at shows like this too easily and he doesn’t want anyone speculating about his well-being when it’s just lack of sleep. “i liked... jaewon’s.” he searches his mind for the performances of the other cast members, but it’s the names he doesn’t want to say that stand out in his mind in big, bold letters. “suji! suji... her song was good, too. unique.” he recalls that part of her song from the demo day.

Which song do you expect got the most votes?

“jaewon and suji. their songs.” it’s easier to repeat his previous answer than to come up with something new, and the room is growing tense with what ash gauges to be agitation toward his terrible answers that he wants to get away from, and his own shoulders are already tensed in annoyance about having to waste his time on something so pointless. there are seven other members of the cast. what does it matter if he doesn’t give them an endless ramble wrapped in a pretty bow for them to edit for a story line? he never asked to be on this show anyway. let them eliminate him on the spot — he can get some sleep in the spots in his schedule the show is supposed to fill.

“is that everything? thank you.”

[eunahfmdarchive]

base tv: our songs, episodes 3 & 4, interview two. where: on set for our songs. when: september 6th. mentions: @fmdjaewon, @fmdxyoungjoo & the songs by @fmdtaeyong & @fmdkami. word count: 320.

talk about your song. how does it contrast the song you wrote for the last round “Introduction / Identity”?

“swim away was about the way i tend to live my life letting things just happen and accepting my fate, rather than taking too active a role in my life. count you out, in contrast, is a song about taking initiative in a relationship you’re not happy in and ending it, cut and dry. swim away’s method of dealing with the problem would be to keep on letting the relationship fizzle out until it ends that way,” which is definitely eunah’s own way of doing things, “count you out is totally different. it’s much more efficient.”

did the different venue and audience atmosphere impact your performance in any way?

“the way they brought in audience members for this episode was intimidating. most people only go to shows or concerts because they know an artist they like is performing. i thought to myself, “won’t they be disappointed once the mystery wears off?” especially since i was performing second last, i was really worried that their interest would’ve been lost by the time it was my turn, no matter what i was singing. the venue itself was nice, though. i really enjoyed performing in the intimate setup.”

which of the other songs/performances caught your attention the most?

“jaewon’s song, reply, was a really good opener for the concert! it’s catchy and lively, so i think it set the audience’s tone really well for the rest of us. it put me in a good mood, even though i was nervous about having to follow almost everyone else up. youngjoo was especially cool on stage too. i thought she had a great balance of cool and sexy, while still being present for the audience.”

which song do you expect got the most votes?

“my top picks for that would be reply, 21, and superwoman.” in her mind, she adds her own song, count you out, purely to try and will it into happening. “when you’re listening to a lot of songs for the first time, you’ll remember the catchiest ones the most, right? i think those three songs are the most memorable after a first listen.”

[fmdjaewonarchive]

 ‘our songs’ episode 4: interview

mentions of: suji, joosung, kami & ash

so far, his lucky streak seems to extend itself to the performance of this round as well. or it feels that way at least, anything could still happen result-wise. but at the very least, jaewon has a good feeling about it. for once, he’s content, with his song, with his performance, with himself. whatever comes next, he at least knows he’s tried his best. that has to be worth something too right?

talk about your song. how does it contrast the song you wrote for the last round “introduction / identity”?

“i like to think i did a pretty good job at making reply very distinct from alarm.” he jokes lamely. it’s no rocket science, where alarm was downbeat and sad, reply is light-hearted and cheery. “reply is a very hopeful song, about the excitement that comes with new love. i tried to capture that happiness and eagerness in both the lyrics and the sound of the song itself. i think it’s a good fit for my assigned color white. most people can relate to being eager about a new relationship, wanting to text and meet up with them the entire time even if you two just parted ways. reply is about the charm of that honeymoon phase of a relationship.”

did the different venue and audience atmosphere impact your performance in any way?

jaewon shakes his head briefly before answering. “i don’t think it did no. i think it was a good idea, to gather the audience in such way that both them and us had no idea of what was waiting for them but i don’t think it made me more nervous to perform. maybe that’s because i was better prepared this time.” last time, jaewon had dropped the ball a little on the performance aspect with how much he had been obsessing over the song. apparently, people didn’t care, he had still come in first but it was something he wanted to better for himself this time around. “i put more thought into not just the song but also the performance this time, which is why i think i was able to adapt to the unexpected circumstances. especially as i had to perform first.”

which of the other songs/performances caught your attention the most?

“i’m really impressed by suji’s song.” he exclaims immediately before having the decency to feel embarassed at just how quickly he was to answer that. “i just... think arari is a really good song and not to mention a very creative take on the mission, suji really did incredibly well.” he takes a moment to think back to the other songs. “i really liked joosung’s song as well, especially the performance, it was put together really well, you can tell he had a very clear vision for what he wanted.”

which song do you expect got the most votes?

“hmh, kami’s superwoman maybe? her performance was really well thought out and i think it’s a very uplifting song that the crowd loved a lot.” there was a brief pause as jaewon nodded silently. “oh and ash’ song too. i think ash is very good at capturing the crowd regardless of who is in the audience so i think his song will be well received too.”