#nomin icons soft

[seouljazzbar]

selfish (m.)

𓃹𓂃𓂃𓃹𓂃𓂃𓃹𓂃𓂃𓃹𓂃𓂃𓃹𓂃𓂃𓃹

about— wonbin’s a musical prodigy, having worked alongside critically acclaimed producers, and now he’s your guest lecturer for the semester. correction, your hot lecturer for the semester (producer!wonbin x f.reader)

author’s note— this is a little rough but i still like the way it turned out! title is from this song if anyone's curious hehe i think it's wonbin coded lowkey

warning— language, teacher-student dynamic, me blatantly lying about new york/nyu, alcohol use, (soft?) dirty talk, fingering (f. receiving), whiny wonbin, oral (m. receiving), teasing, penetrative sex (with a condom!!) 18+ MDNI!!!

word count— 5.3k

Thursdays and Fridays from four to six, those were his office hours. It was difficult to have office hours that fit everyone’s schedule and that was the best he could do given he was only a guest lecturer. Even worse, he wasn’t given an office for said hours due to the deconstructed nature of the city. Going to university in New York was already far from traditional, and the conditions were no exception. But Wonbin didn’t mind, reserving a nice table on the second floor of Gregory's coffee on Broadway. It wasn't much but it was enough for the four or five students who took advantage of the time.

You were one of them. You knew all too well the struggle of falling behind in a class by thinking you had a handle on the material, only to be drowning in confusion come midterms. The class, The Sociology of Pop Music, interested you too much for you to risk completely flopping just because you failed to utilize your resources. But it wasn’t just your grade that you cared about. It helped that the guest lecturer in question was unbelievably sexy, an absolute dreamboat wunderkind who was just barely older than the students he was in charge of. 

Park Wonbin, musician to the stars. He’d worked with countless acclaimed producers, written for most of the Billboard Hot 100 artists, and even put out his own flawless body of work that gifted him one Grammy and several nominations. He was an absolute icon at the ripe age of twenty-two and you were dying to sink your claws into him. Soft and athletic, inky black waves, a bashful smile and a voice that the heavens surely blessed him with. His presence was more distracting than conducive for your precious six-figure education, your thighs clenching together every Tuesday and Thursday that he took his place at the professor’s podium.

But you weren't the only one. Nearly everyone in the class was crushing on him, eyes batting as they asked elementary questions and giggles erupting at even his worst attempts at jokes. You felt like a dime a dozen lusting after him, gnawing your lower lip at the way his back muscles flexed when he turned to write something on the board. Get a grip, you’d think to yourself. You’re fighting for a slot on a list of many. 

So you amused yourself with your self-labeled delusion, daydreaming about him outside of class and showing up to his office hours to clear up even the smallest of questions about the week’s lectures. He was careful with every word, taking his time to cultivate thorough responses to any and all questions you thought up for him, even ones that stemmed outside of the class's margins. 

You still remember the first time you saw him, your jaw nearly dropping to the floor as he entered the lecture hall like any other student. Except he headed straight for the front of the room, placing his bag down at a table near the podium where the staff chaperone was setting up. He picked up the small expo marker that sat on the table, taking off the cap to write wonbin on the white board in messy penmanship before he followed it up with a squiggly smiley face. You knew who he was, his name notorious in the music wing of your school considering what he’d accomplished at such a young age. His looks definitely didn’t hurt, either.

He smiled at you, sitting in the second row waiting for class to start. Most people opted to sit as far back as possible, in the seats that were easier to slip out of the classroom unnoticed. But you sat proudly in the second row, alongside a few other eager students who’d heard good things about the class. His smile felt so personal, the glint of his teeth nearly causing heart palpitations as you smiled back. He didn’t know your name just yet, and suddenly that was your life’s mission; to make this man say your name.

It almost made you think he was giving you special attention with the way he paid close attention to you, his eyes lighting up whenever you came around the coffee shop steps with your notes in tow. He’d even stay past six o’clock if there were too many people before you who needed help, always offering to buy you a cup of coffee or a pastry after having waited for so long. He was so attentive, leaning into your space to look over the notes you took and making sure you were following along correctly. It was hard not to drool over him, especially when you were two of the last people left on the second floor, looking like a couple to the onlooking world. 

“I’m serious! I think I’m gonna ask him out.”

Winter rolled her eyes, closing the magazine that she was never really reading in the first place. "So, what? You'll fuck his brains out in his office and then walk into class like nothing happened?"

"Actually, he doesn't have an office." The thought made you blush, sneaking around with Wonbin while your classmates and professors were none the wiser. The taboo was too hot for you to let go of.

Another roll of her eyes, this time meant for you to see. "___, get a grip. You're just slobbering all over him because he's famous. At the end of the semester, you'll go back to eyeing that one saxophonist."

Winter was numb to the novelty surrounding celebrity and the likes of it. She was a not so struggling artist whose parents funded her entire lifestyle, and it had been that way her whole life. She'd had her fair share of moments in Page Six, and the lavish New York socialite life had grown old for her. Her friends were still in the scene, but she had long since retired. Winter's idea of a fun Friday night these days included watching The White Lotus while experimenting with cookie recipes (with hopes of making it into the NYT Christmas Cookie lineup, of course).

You didn’t tell any of your college friends, though. Sure, the whole university knew that he was guest-teaching a music-related course and that he was unbelievably attractive, but you never mentioned to your friends that you felt something between the two of you. As much as you trusted your small circle of friends, you knew that student-teacher relationships were absolutely prohibited, no exceptions. Knowing this did nothing to quell the insatiable thirst you had for him, or the flutter of your heart every time he locked eyes with you. You were willing to throw caution to the wind for him, knowing you officially had it bad for him the moment you started doodling his name in your notebook. It got to the point where you were ready to make your move, ready to invite him to an apartment party one of your friends was throwing. 

It was a Thursday evening, another night of attending his office hours despite your ninety-five percent in the class. You were the last student left in the final minutes of his office hours, just the two of you at the moderately sized table of the café. Your hands were mere centimeters from touching where they were laid out on the table, his warmth radiating onto you as he penciled in some helpful reminders in the margins of your notes. Just as you parted your lips to speak, he interjected. “I think it would be best if you stopped coming to office hours.”

That was not what you were expecting him to say. “Oh, um. Alright. Can I ask why?”

“You’ve clearly got an amazing grip on the material, and if anything you’re wasting your time showing up so frequently. It would be better if I had the full two hours for the students who are really struggling.” He refused to look you directly in the eyes as he spoke, opting to stare at your notes instead.

“Oh. Okay.” You gathered up all of your notes and pencils as quickly as you could, shoving them into your backpack without caring if the edges curled. The chair skidded back as you stood from it, not bothering with a goodbye as you saw yourself out. It was humiliating, almost, for him to have given you such a backhanded compliment. You started ruffling through your attendance record in the class and decided that you could afford to miss Tuesday, too embarrassed to be seen by him so soon after.

You really dodged a bullet there, then. Just seconds away from making a move on him when he told you that you should stop showing up to the only semi-private time you had together. It made you feel more delusional than ever before, allowing yourself to think he might actually feel something for you, too. You ignored the tears of frustration teasing the corners of your eyes, running off to the subway station that would deliver you back to your lousy campus housing safely.

What you didn’t see, however, was Wonbin nervously pulling at the ends of his hair. He was always such a bad liar but he knew he needed to put on the performance of a lifetime in order to get you to leave him alone. Considering it was quite the opposite of what he wanted you to do. There was something so intoxicating about you, your voice, your lips, your scent, that had him thoroughly fucked for you. Legally, he didn’t feel bad about it. But the professor he was working under, as well as the university, had already told him that under no circumstances was he to have dalliances with any of the students. So there he was, stuck thinking about you and not being able to do anything about it.

He had everything under control, at first. A few stolen glances during class but nothing to raise suspicion, just long enough for it to seem casual. Then it was finding you on social media, careful not to like any posts or to actually follow you, which made him feel like he was in full creeper mode. That was where he decided to draw the line until you started showing up to his office hours consistently, just as gorgeous as ever as you plopped down next to him in full concentration. He let himself indulge for a while, showering you with just a bit of special treatment until he realized he was crossing into dangerous territory. So he drew the line without a second thought.

You felt like you were back in high school, throwing a fit over being rejected by your longtime crush. All he’d done was politely ask you not to attend office hours anymore, but it felt like he’d told you off. You tried to convince yourself that it was because of your education, that you didn’t appreciate him taking away a resource that was proving itself helpful for you. But the real reason, the one you didn’t want to admit, was that you knew he felt it too. The storybook surge of electricity when his shoulder brushed yours and the way he never offered to get any of the other students coffee and pastries. The way he’d sometimes call you by a nickname when you were together or the way he spoke so highly of you in your exam notes. It was more than a one-sided schoolgirl crush and he was denying it just the same as you, and you couldn’t ignore how much it stung.

Saturday night was your chance to forget all about it. A friend of Winter's had convinced her to open up her ridiculously large penthouse for a laidback party, and she reluctantly agreed. You went to the party having skipped Wonbin’s office hours the evening before, successfully resisting the urge to 'drop by' the coffee shop casually; that would've been worse than just going to office hours. You were ready to let loose, your body a bit tense after the marathon overthinking session you had when Wonbin all but rejected you. All done up in one of your favorite ‘going out’ getups, you set yourself at a three drink maximum before starting the trek there.

You arrived considerably late, the party in full swing by the time you stepped off the elevator and onto the floor. There were so many people, sweaty bodies and intoxicated breaths, so much so that you almost missed him. He was leaning up against one of the kitchen countertops, nursing a drink of his own as he chatted with your friends. You couldn’t help but roll your eyes at the sight, almost annoyed that you ran in the same circles. But you pushed it aside to go talk to them, knowing they’d have a drink in your hand faster than you could make one. “___! You made it!” Wonbin’s eyes shot up to you making your way over to them, a raspy ‘fuck’ making its way off of his tongue. He suddenly felt trapped, nowhere to run as his student joined his little conversation circle. “Have you met Wonbin?”

“Yeah, we know each other. From around.” You avoided his gaze at all costs. “I need a drink.”

Wonbin quirked an eyebrow at you, “You drink?”

“Yeah, is that a problem?”

He cleared his throat awkwardly, shifting his weight to the other foot as he avoided eye contact with you. “I just, you know… Are you old enough for that?”

“Ew, don’t be gross. I’m a uni student, I’m not in daycare. I’m twenty-one, promise.”

You were baiting him, and he knew it. Your anger was directed at him and only him, your bubbly demeanor intact for your friends as you caught each other up on the last month or so of your lives. You had no intention of making this night, or his life, easy. You knocked back the drink your friend Sohee gave you easily, sending Wonbin a sarcastic wink as he stared at you.

Even though your mind was begging you to run, you refused to let him ruin your night. They were your friends, too, and things were only awkward because he made them so. You stood your ground, pretending like he wasn’t even there as the conversation ebbed and flowed naturally, the party music seeming to follow suit. Everything was fine until someone who’d had too many came barreling into the kitchen, spilling their sticky spiked punch all over your legs. You let out a curse as it spilled into your shoes, the sensation far too uncomfortable to ignore.

“Here, go clean up in my bathroom.” Winter handed you the key, sending you off with a gentle shove in the direction of her bedroom.

You didn’t bother locking the door back behind you, knowing you’d be in and out before anyone could miss you. You took the time to freshen yourself up as well, poking around in Winter’s cabinets to see if she had anything exciting or ridiculously expensive. Perfumes, hand creams, serums. Sometimes you forget how rich New Yorkers could be. You turned the light off in the bathroom, turning to leave when you nearly jumped out of your skin at the pair of eyes watching you. “What the hell are you doing in here?”

“You didn’t lock the door back.”

Wonbin crossed further into the room, hands in his pockets as he watched you. Even when you were irritated with him, his charm was able to cut through your faux harsh exterior. “I'm sorry, is this allowed? Or does this count as office hours, too? Should I see myself out so that other partygoers can take advantage of your precious time?”

“___, stop. I was just trying to make a decision based on what I thought was best.”

You scoffed at that, trying to ignore just how close he’d gotten to you. “Yeah, right. There’s only like five people who bother showing up anymore, so I don’t know why me showing up is such a big deal? Like you must think awfully highly of yourself if you th—”

He cut you off with a swift kiss, lips finding yours in the pale lighting of the bedroom as you froze. Time seemed to slow; just barely noticeable, but you could feel it. Like one minute felt like two with his hands cupping your cheeks and his hips pressed against yours. You relaxed into his touch, daring to kiss back as the party outside seemed to disappear. All your senses could focus on was him and the way he seemed to consume you.

He walked you backwards, stopping as you stumbled into a wall. The once innocent kiss grew in desperation, your hands everywhere at once as your  tongues clashed over and over again. It could’ve easily been a dream with how much you’d both had to drink, the taste of tequila fresh on his lips as you begged for more. Your leg hooked around his waist to draw him closer, a gasp slipping from your lips as you felt how hard he was through his jeans. And then he just stopped.

“Fuck, I shouldn’t have done that.” He was breathless, his words not matching his desire as he slowly backed away from you. “This is exactly what I was trying so hard to avoid. I'm your superior, ___, I'd get fired for this.”

Your mind was blank, not a single thought worthy of being voiced in response to him. You knew it was wrong, knew his position could be terminated, but you didn’t care. Not when his touch was so addictive and your name sounded so sweet on his lips.

“This… this never happened, okay? And it can never happen again.”

He stalked off to rejoin the party, leaving you breathless and unsure of if any of that was real. The only evidence was the faint waft of his cologne that stayed behind, taunting you with the memory of his kiss. His soft, heated, spine-tingling kiss that had your head spinning from the feeling of it. Your lips were puffy from it, fingers reaching up to touch them delicately as if you could scare away the feeling somehow. 

Your thoughts were interrupted by him coming back in, locking the door behind him as you fixed your hunched over posture. “Fuck it, fuck this job, I don’t need to be a guest lecturer.” His hands found your hips as he pulled you in once again, kissing you with much different intent behind it. “This is all I've been able to think about this semester.”

You let out a whimper, clawing at his shirt as his teeth pulled at your lower lip. His hands smoothed their way up your body, cupping your breasts through the material of your shirt as you moaned into his mouth. This felt real, no doubt in your mind as you melted like putty in his hands. “Do something.”

His lips migrated to your ear, licking along the shell of it as your head tipped back. “Do you want my fingers?” You nodded sheepishly, cheeks flooding with heat in a sudden wave of shyness. “Then spread your legs for me, baby.” Your body obeyed him without question, legs spreading for him to slip his hand between. He could feel how wet you were through the pants you were wearing, your underwear no match for the arousal he was responsible for. Your fingers fumbled with the button of them, popping it open and dragging the zipper down.

You knew this was a bad idea. Whether you cared or not, having his hand slip past your panties was wrong on so many levels, no matter how good it felt. His reputation and your academic career were on the line, but you couldn’t will yourself to stop him. Not when your body was yearning for more, thighs clenching at the circles he was rubbing against your clit. Not with his lips scaling your neck with kisses that only made your knees weaker than they already were.

Your resolve finally melted when he slipped a finger into your warm heat, the stretch easily out-rivaling anything your own fingers provided. The relief sent you into a spiral of high pitched sighs and moans as he added another, curling them near perfectly against your g-spot.

“Sound so pretty for me, baby. Wanna put your moans in a song.” The thought alone made your stomach twist, visions of riding him in his studio while he held his microphone up to your lips. He could see the shift in your expression at the suggestion, teeth practically destroying your lower lip. “Is that what you want, baby? Wanna be my muse?”

All you could do was nod as the heel of his palm pressed against your clit, your orgasm crashing over you much sooner than you expected. He kissed you through the waves of pleasure, swallowing the pleas of his name and the whimpers from the slight overstimulation of your clit. The cherry on top, though, was when he licked his fingers clean of your arousal without once breaking eye contact. It made you shudder.

Neither one of you knew where to go from that moment on, the heat of it all long gone as you faced reality head on. You zipped your pants back up to break the silence, fluffing your hands through your hair to alleviate any signs of sexual activity before rejoining the party. Not a word to Wonbin before going back like nothing happened, even though the uncomfortable dampness of your panties said otherwise. 

unsaved number, 3:25am

↳ it’s Wonbin, i got your number from sohee. we should meet soon

you, 9:08am

↳ yeah? where?

wonbin, 9:09am

↳ 150 east 14th st, @ 11

you, 9:12am

↳ smh making me get my day started on a sunday morning

His apartment was as well kept as him, minimalistic in all its glory but decorated with his achievements wherever he saw fit. Awards, records, framed lyrics, any and everything he felt deeply proud of. You knew that you shouldn’t be there, no matter what occurred the night before. Wonbin was irresistible, and giving into his invitation was practically asking for trouble.

“I got coffee and bagels, if you’re hungry.”

Not just any coffee, though. Coffee from Gregory's. Of course he’d do something like this, you thought. He's trying to prey on my sentimentality to get me in bed. Kinda smart. “Why am I here, Wonbin?”

“Well as of three o’clock this morning, I’m no longer your teacher.”

You nearly choked on nothing as he smiled at you, pulling up the email correspondence from the Dean. “I'm sorry, what?”

“I never needed that teaching job, anyway. I took it because it felt good helping students, but it was getting to be too much, cutting into my own work time. And then when we crossed that line last night… I knew quitting was just the right thing to do.” He walked gingerly toward you, assessing your reaction carefully as he closed the gap between you.

You looked at him incredulously, brows furrowed as if he’d grown a second head. “Y-you’re not my teacher anymore?”

“I'm not your teacher anymore.” He backed you up against the wall of his foyer, the position eerily similar to where you were mere hours before. Heat rose to your face as he gazed at you, his smirk painfully malicious as his hand cupped your jaw. “Lemme take you out on a proper date. Dinner… the Angelika… dessert.”

Your gulp seemed to echo the walls of his apartment, giving up any and all fronts you were trying to put up. You could feel his lips hovering over yours more than you could see them, the soft hum that reverberated as he asked you if you’d like that. “I'm… not sure we’ll make it to dessert.”

“I thought I taught you last night to always leave room for dessert.” He popped open the first button of your blouse, getting a peak at the lavender bra beneath it. You’d dressed up for him, knowing very well where things could lead and not wanting him to see you in your far less alluring Sunday attire. Your breath hitched at his touch, your mind shouting for you to just wait for the date before crossing any more lines. But there he was, just as sexy as ever, sliding the sleeves of your top down your arms with his forehead pressed against yours. Youd didn’t stand a chance.

Your back was hitting his mattress before you could gather the strength to hold off, more of your clothes in a tangled web on his floor than on your actual bodies. Your skin was saccharine, a sweetener he’d been searching for ever since he could identify its name and he couldn’t get enough of it. Marks of his lips were blooming on every inch he could reach, your body signed with his name in a way you never knew you needed. His name rolled off your tongue like it was the only word you knew, the two syllables your new favorite combination in the entire world.

His hands guided your slip skirt down your legs, discarding it carefully with the rest of your clothes as you tugged impatiently at his boxers. He was hard, dangerously so, and it was killing you not to see him in all of his naked glory. “Canisuckyouoff?” You didn’t even think about it, the words flying out of your mouth before you could even try to stop them.

“Seriously?” You were already flipping the two of you over, inching your way down his legs until your face was leveled with his hips.

“Yes, please. I wanna make you feel good.”

Nothing could’ve prepared you properly for his length springing out of his black balenciaga underwear. It would’ve been a shame if he wasn’t as well-endowed as you wanted, but you were mature enough to know that it wasn’t all about size. Wonbin, however, was all about size. He was probably just barely above average in length but he was thick with veins in all the right places that had you close to drooling all over him.

You licked at his tip in a graze, not enough to satisfy him but enough to get him squirming. Small, agonizing licks here and there that had him fisting at his hair in sheer frustration. You pitied him with a bold lick up the underside, but went right back to the teasing that had him close to tears. “___, fuck, I can’t take anymore of this. I thought you said you wanted to make me feel good.”

“I will, baby, you just have to be patient.”

He whined out, not sure how the rest of the afternoon was going to play out if you kept teasing him so mercilessly. He was just about to beg again for you to touch him when your lips wrapped around his tip, his back arching involuntarily and sending him further into your mouth. A guttural groan accompanied the pleasure pumping through his veins as you bobbed her head along his cock, swirling your tongue around him every so often. You had a primal need for more of him, more of the way he tasted and the precum that was oozing out of him. More of the way his groans switched to melodious moans as his climax neared him, more of the way his face was contorted in pleasure as your hands rubbed at his thighs. 

His orgasm was building up in the pit of his stomach, the twine of tension pulling further and further until he was sure it was going to snap. Your mouth abandoning his cock in favor of his balls almost did the trick, your hand wrapping around him to jerk as you sucked one at a time. He pulled you off of him reluctantly, wanting so desperately to cum in your mouth but knowing he’d regret passing up the opportunity to fuck you. “I have condoms in the drawer.” His breath was ragged as he pointed the drawer out to you, his hair sticking to his forehead as his body heat was skyrocketing. You handed one to him before shuffling back to the bed, letting him climb over you clumsily with his arms supporting his weight.

He tapped his tip against your clit, running it between your folds as you bucked your hips toward his. “That's not fair.”

He slipped inside of you, barely an inch before pulling back out. He repeated the movement over and over until you were gripping at his hips in an attempt to force more out of him. “Isn’t it, though? You had your fun…” You were so wet that it was making it hard for him to keep up, your soaked walls pulling him in with every shallow thrust. “Have you learned your lesson yet, baby?”

You nodded your head furiously, feeling almost embarrassed by how much you needed him. He refused to give up so easily, though, continuing his perfectly angled thrusts that grazed your g-spot just enough to make your hips buck. "Wonbin, please."

His first full thrust had you clenching around him so tightly that he almost came on the spot, the warmth of you wrapped around him so overwhelming that he had to screw his eyes shut. Your eyes fluttered in satisfaction as he filled you to the brim, the stretch burning deliciously. All you could think about was the next time, and the time after that, and how he could stretch you out whenever he wanted to now. He was yours now.

His lips wrapped around your nipple as he slowly dragged himself in and out of you, savoring how tightly you were squeezing him. It was all the anticipation finally materializing into something he couldn’t get enough of. Your moans, your faces of pleasure, your scent, your taste. He wanted as much of it as you’d let him have, for however long you’d let him have it. "Is this what you were thinking of while I was trying to teach you? Hm? Thought about me stuffing you full of my cock?"

The only noise you could manage was a raspy moan, mind completely numbed by the sensation of his skin pressed against yours. You could feel your lips move, saying something along the lines of wanteditsobadbinnie, but the feeling of his nose dragging up the side of your neck distracted you.

Your bodies seemed to mold together as he picked up speed, drilling into you relentlessly as your nails dug into his hips, asking for more. The slap of your skin against each other was his kryptonite as he wrapped your legs around his waist, wanting to hear it again and again until it played in his mind on a loop. He could feel the knot in his stomach warning him to slow down, to relish in the feeling a bit longer, but he didn’t care. Not when your lips were pressed right to his ear begging him not to stop. “Are you gonna cum for me?”

He tried to respond with a ‘yes’, but the absentminded clench of your walls sent him over the edge in a flash. He emptied himself into the condom, trying his hardest to focus all of his efforts on pushing you towards your own orgasm. His fingers found your clit between your sweaty bodies, the rough pad of his thumb orbiting your clit until you joined him in your own throes of euphoria. Your nails clawed down the expanse of his back as your vision blurred, ecstasy replacing every cell in your body as he kissed along your jaw.

The room smelled of sex and the remnants of his body wash, both of you fighting for air as you wrapped yourselves in his sheets. Your fingertips danced across his chest as he watched you wordlessly, face flushed with the evidence of your Sunday afternoon in. “What are you thinking about?” He caught your hand in his, eyes still trained on your face.

“Honestly? Trying to remember if there are any hidden corners in the Angelika where we can have sex.” You looked up at him as he laughed, a smile of your own creeping onto your lips. “What? Too honest?”

“You’re kinda perfect, you know that?”

His lips pressed chastely against your temple. “Yeah, actually, I do.”

[urfavsecretgirl]

can we all agree that arctic monkeys are definitly one of the best today's artists ever? and here are so many reasons

their music taste - they are inspired by amazing artists, such as the beatles, rolling stones, the strokes, etc.

sound - in every album, they have different sound. and they clearly don't care about what other people want them to do yet they do what they like. their first album being a prog punk, garage rock. and you can feel how it looks like being a teeanger. then fwn being a little more heavier indie rock sound. then you have humbug, dark, witchy, psychedelic. and it's giving harry potter vibes sm. sias being like you are in wild west during christmas time. really melancholic, soft indie rock, but again psychedelic sound. i love it sm. am being sexy, cool. like you are 80s rockstar writing your love diary. tbhc being atmospheric, really david bowie influenced. like you are in 80s sci-fi movie, having a great time in some luxury hotel, at night. and at the end, you have the car. really funky, soft melancholic sound. which makes you feel like you are at the balcony, in the middle of spring. it's sunny day. and you are smoking on balcony thinking about your past and future.

lyrics - i mean, we all know that alex is amazing songwriter. and even better than that. look at the lyrics of tbhc. also alex's work in submarine. knee socks, etc. he is really creative

about fame and awards - they NEVER CARED about being famous, getting awards, etc. i already mentioned that they don't care about what people want from them yet they do what they like. so basiclly, they give 0 fcks about people's opinions about their music. it's like "you like what you like. everyone has different taste". and that's what i REALLY love about them as a artist. they live for music, they make music for themselves, not for others. and that's why they don't care about awards too. i mean, they only ince attended grammys while being nominated multipate times in different years. alex's speech for brit awards 2014 says enough. also, 3 out of four members never used social media so that says enough (again)

alex's vocals - ok, he is not the best singer but again his vocals are really good. and the way they change in every album

instrument skills - they are good tho, but not the best. also matt during pretty visitors>>>>>>

creativity - very similar to theme about them changing sounds. you can see that they are really creative about it

they are unique, specific, and iconic rock band. and no one can change my mind.

[dnfawards]

THE DNF AWARDS WINNERS

Thank you to everyone for both your nominations and your votes! Under the cut are all of your winners in these totally not cursed, amazing categories ^_^

BIGGEST WTF DNF MOMENT

The winner was... Dream taking the Am I In Love With My Best Friend Quizzes! We were all saying what the FUCK when this was happening, so it makes sense that the people spoke for this and chose it as the craziest DNF moment. Keep on being insane, Dream!

BEST DNF YOUTUBE VIDEO

The winner was... I Met Dream In Real Life! Dubbed by George as his favorite video he's ever made, it makes sense that this video holds a special place in all of our hearts, just like George does in Dream's.

BEST DNF STREAM

The winner was... Memes with Dreams! These streams embodied all of what DNF are at their cores--soft and earnestly fond of each other. From Geoguessr to silly online quizzes and random games, we can only hope to one day have a DNF stream as great as these again.

MOST ICONIC DNF MOMENT PRE-MEETUP

The winner was... Dream asking George to wet his hair and saying "Holy cow!" when he did! George's long-anticipated first cooking stream was insane enough on its own, but only became more crazy when Dream asked George to wet his hair and mess it up because he had been thinking about it for days after seeing it in the taking off shirts extra scenes video. Arguably one of the most iconic DNF moments ever, this award was well-deserved.

MOST ICONIC DNF MOMENT POST-MEETUP

The winner was... The Kiss Snap! Even just six months ago, none of us ever could have imagined getting a picture of DNF leaning in to kiss each other with their faces just barely covered. Somehow, we live in a world where that picture exists, and they willingly released it themselves. There is no denying this is one of the most insane, iconic DNF moments since they first met IRL.

MOST UNDERRATED DNF MOMENT

The winner was... Finding out they used to call each other while in the shower! It was always during a Dream Discord podcast that we would find out the most insane of information against our wills, and finding out that DNF often used to shower call was no different. Even crazier was George taking Dream, and in turn all of us, in the shower with him live on a podcast. And somehow, this moment is outshined by a plethora of other moments, and is deserving of its title as most underrated.

BIGGEST DNFER

The winner was... TommyInnit! One of the biggest shooters for Dream out there, Tommy is always the first to make a DNF joke and support them in all of their insanity. However, this poll was unfair to the other nominees who were smaller CCs than Tommy, especially Velvet. To be more fair and give the other nominees a greater chance, it will be rerun on April 31.

MOST ANTI-DNF

The winner was... Kaceytron! Always the first to call Dream a queerbaiter and be a freak, this award should have been titled person who deserves to be doused in gasoline and lit on fire!

MOST LIKELY TO ACCIDENTALLY LEAK DNF

The winner was... Tubbo! Since Tubbo is known for accidentally leaking things, from new MCC features to his own address, it makes sense that Tubbo would be the most likely to leak DNF. Congrats to Tubbo on the win!

MOST LIKELY TO EXPOSE DNF ON PURPOSE

The winner was... TommyInnit! Tommy is always the first to call DNF out on their shenanigans, and absolutely does expose them on the regular. This was a well-deserved award, and may all of our thoughts be with Tommy for when he meets them IRL and has an entire new encyclopedia of knowledge to expose them with.

MOST LIKELY TO WATCH THE DNF SEX TAPE ON STREAM

The winner was... XQC! As one of the most incomprehensible people on all of Twitch and apparently a close enough friend of DNF that they take him as a plus-one to the birthday parties of A-list celebrities, XQC would love to react to the hypothetical DNF sex tape on stream.

LEAST LIKELY TO BE INVITED TO THE DNF WEDDING

The winner was... Kaceytron! Hopefully she kills herself long before they ever get married so that this won't even be a concern!

MOST OG DNFER

The winner was... BadBoyHalo! As the entire reason DNF met in the first place, this award is more than deserved. Bad deserves financial compensation for being at the scene of all of the most insane DNF crimes since before they were even famous creators in their own right.

BIGGEST VICTIM OF DNF

The winner was... Sapnap! With a resounding 77% of the vote for the biggest sweep of the entire awards, our thoughts and prayers are always with Sapnap for being DNF's greatest victim. No one suffers like him because no one else is brave enough to live in a house with them--let alone sharing a wall with them. o7 to Sapnap, and congrats to him on this deserved win.

BEST DNF FANFIC TROPE

The winner was... Friends to Lovers! DNFers love to read a classic trope that is especially true to DNF, and it makes sense that this would be a fandom favorite with the way it is one of the most used tags across all DNF fanfics on Archive of Our Own.

DREAM'S MOST HATED GEORGE SHIP

The winner was... George x WilburSoot! Probably one of the most evil George ships around due to the insanity of its craziest shippers alone, it makes sense why Georgebur won as Dream's most hated George ship. Though, at the end of the day, Dream's most hated George ship is all of them equally, and we should all be glad they are it for each other.

GEORGE'S MOST HATED DREAM SHIP

The winner was... Dream x WilburSoot! George is truly insane about the idea of Dream being with anyone else, and the nominee that swept the nominations was actually "Dream with any one." However, that option did not make the poll, and therefore Dreambur won. George wanting to murder over the concept of Dream and Wilbur going on a Pizza Hut date will forever live on as one of his craziest moments in the face of Dream joking about dating someone else. Lucky for George, he doesn't have to worry about this ever again.

BEST DNF YEAR

The winner was... 2023! No DNF year before now could really compare to how far they've come since becoming content creators together. Between the cute date snaps, the kiss snap, bedgate, the It Takes Two stream, everything about whatever is in the LA air for them, and plenty of other moments that I'm surely forgetting, 2023 has been the most iconic DNF year yet, even only 4 months into it.

DO YOU THINK DNF IS REAL?

Finally, the only required question on our nomination form asked participants if they thought DNF was real. With a resounding 89.7% of the votes, the people decided that Yes, they do believe DNF is real. Only 16 of the 156 people who voted chose No as their answer.

[astrangetorpedo]

Boy Power: The Women of Boygenius on the Joys of Nourishing a Supergroup Without the Superegos

By Chris Willman

The three singer-songwriters who make up Boygenius are musing about what they did and didn’t intend to accomplish when they went into the studio to make “The Record.” The six Grammy nominations they just collectively reeled in for their first full-length album together? Not actually part of the master plan. Neither was establishing themselves as role models for a much-needed sense of community across a swath of young America.

“We didn’t set out to be like, ‘And we symbolize friendship!’” bandmate Julien Baker points out, musing about the benevolent qualities that have been attributed to the group. “We just were like, ‘Let’s make a good record.’”

Fair enough. But have we mentioned that Variety‘s Group of the Year does, in fact, symbolize friendship — to the point that the band has virtually become an iconic representation of trifold intimacy? Sharing the bond the trio developed in the studio and on the road has been a key part of the appeal for the band’s avid fan base. It’s a conclusion that band member Lucy Dacus was not avoiding when she recently told Teen Vogue that “being affectionate onstage has been really fun and sweet, and it exhibits behavior that I think is healthy and good.” They even wrote about their growing closeness in meta album tracks like “Leonard Cohen.” “True Blue,” their signature loyalty ballad, may or may not be about the group itself, it’s hard to escape the feeling that a line like “It feels good to be known so well” somehow applies not just to the trio’s interpersonal relationships but to the generally progressive, empathetic, LGBTQ-friendly, folk-rocking audience at a Boygenius show.

No wonder Boygenius seemed to consistently have the longest merch lines of 2023 (at least this side of Taylor Swift’s), with fans seeking ways to fly their colors. In what can still register as a man’s world, suddenly, it kind of felt like everybody wanted to be a boy.

A concert by the trio has its rituals. The band members describe a private rite that occurs early in a set, right after they’ve opened the show with a handful of their hardest-charging songs, like “Satanist” (another friendship song, once you get past the irreverent title) and “$20,” and are transitioning into something more reflective. “We have a little moment where we look at each other during ‘True Blue’ every show,” Dacus reveals, looking across the table at bandmate Phoebe Bridgers, “and sometimes I’ll wink at you and be like, ‘Here’s the time where we check in.’ And sometimes I feel like we can see when each of us feel crazy.”

Bridgers agrees, saying, “Or we have a weird day, and we have to look at each other and just be like, ‘Oh, my God, this day is still trudging on,’” suggesting that there are hidden cues and codes being passed around while Dacus’ soft voice is tucking an audience of thousands into a warm, communal bath.

But there’s a more public-facing ritual at the end of the show, when the members basically pile on each other in some form or another. It can look like sheer, rough horseplay, but given that everyone in the group identifies as queer, these full-body collisions also been described in reviews or fan comments as “Sapphic” moments. How would they characterize them? “It’s Sapphic horseplay!” says Bridgers, grinning, and maybe not entirely kidding. “That is exactly what it is.”

“With the horseplay,” says Dacus, taking that term and running with it, “sometimes we kiss. Sometimes we spin around. Sometimes we throw things at the audience. Sometimes we crowd-surf. Sometimes we pick up Julien or bow to her. It’s never really planned. Sometimes our tits are out.”

Bridgers remembers what felt like a signal change moment at a London show in the summer: “Someone got on her friend’s shoulders and flashed me in Gunnersbury Park. It was right after we took our shirts off the first time” at their prior show. “I was like, ‘This is so sick'” — the good kind of sick — “‘that someone feels safe enough to do this.’”

Dacus agrees. “Yeah, it doesn’t feel violent or violating in that particular circumstance. Like, if someone walked by and flashed us right now, I’d be like, Uhhhh. But, yeah, there’s something about what the show culminates in, where it does feel very safe and celebratory.”

Where we are right now is the outdoor patio of a Studio City coffeehouse, where the only things being flashed are Baker’s easing-into-autumn sweater, or slightly more provocative items like the “I Love Cuntry Music” trucker hat that Dacus has just doffed, or the Viagra Boys cap that Bridgers keeps on, maybe to deflect any possible attention that passers-by might otherwise give to her tell-tale platinum hair. The few passersby wouldn’t guess that this is a group about to play a long-sold-out headline show at the Hollywood Bowl for its 2023 tour finale, or to do “Saturday Night Live” a week and a half after that. They’re laid-back and still capable of surprising and delighting each other in conversation, and not at all giving off any America’s Greatest Current Rock Band vibes, although they’ve earned the right to some attitude, with an album that much of the indie-rock crowd and not a few critics would agree is the year’s best.

“Phoebe was the one that was like, ‘This is gonna be big,’” Dacus says. “I had aspirations; you had plans,” she says, looking at Bridgers. “You were like, ‘We’re gonna do it!’”

“We had talked about the Hollywood Bowl in the kitchen of Shangri-La, remember that?” Bridgers says, referring to the Malibu studio owned by Rick Rubin, where they cut “The Record.”

“But I didn’t have any context,” Baker says, noting that neither she nor Dacus had ever set foot in America’s most iconic venue, having grown up around Memphis and Richmond, Va., respectively, versus the Pasadena stomping grounds that’d given Bridgers lifelong access to some bigger dreams. “Our last show” — in Los Angeles, at the end of their debut 2018 tour — “we played the Wiltern, and I was tearful backstage,” Baker says, as she remembers exulting: “‘I’m so proud of us! All my dreams have come true!’ Like I’d topped out.”

The Bowl, and Madison Square Garden just before it, were milestones even for Bridgers, the most visible solo artist of the three prior to this year. She’d topped out herself locally, maybe, at the Greek. Then a funny thing happened on the way to the Cahuenga Pass: “The Record” immediately established Bridgers, Baker and Dacus as equals in every way, even in the eyes of fans who might previously have favored or just been more immersed in one solo career or another. There was magic to how evenly gifted and well matched they were as frontwomen, as songwriters, as harmonizers. They truly put the super back in “supergroup” … and took the ego out of superego, in a manner of speaking.

Strength in numbers: What a concept! Why didn’t anyone ever try it before? Well, there’ve been a few tries at bringing existing titans together over the years, and hoping they wouldn’t clash. There was Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young, and Asia, and the Souther-Hillman-Furay Band and … um … Well, let’s let the geniuses here come up with some slightly more contemporary analogues.

“You could look at Broken Social Scene and New Pornographers,” Baker says, but as soon as she starts dissecting the dynamics of those groups, it’s clear there aren’t really any recent antecedents that compare.

“I bet a lot of people try it, with a pretense that falls apart once they start to make it,” Dacus says, and then affirms why they’ve been able to come up with a successful joint project where others before them have bailed. “This collaboration is as important to each of us, if not more important, than our solo work,” she says. “And I bet a lot of supergroups are, even internally, thinking of it as a side project or a momentary thing.”

Bridgers agrees. “Yeah, because you’re going to make a third of what you’d earn making your own thing. So you’re like, ‘It’s my side thing — I’ll devote six months to it.’ But we put as much attention into it as if we were making our own records. The album took us so long to make, and we worked on it relentlessly. It was pretty serious from day one.”

Baker says, “It’s sick that the band has an identity that’s more than the sum of its parts.” (This maxim may be the closest Boygenius will ever come to a cliché, but they, and you, have got to embrace one that is this mathematically inescapable.)

When it came to the material they brought to the table, far from coming up with tunes that felt like discards from their solo releases, “The Record” ended up being chock-full of extremely personal and introspective songs. But it also included some of the most inherently commercial songs any of them have done, apart or together. You may recall that Bridgers had to be kind of coerced into making “Kyoto” a banger; in each other’s company, there was no such reticence.

“Definitely with ‘Not Strong Enough,’” Bridgers says, “I was like, ‘It’d be fun to have a radio song.’” (And, as it turns out, a Grammy song; it’s up for record of the year.) “With the songs that we were gravitating toward, we knew ‘True Blue’” — a Dacus-led ballad — “was gonna be such an indie smash, and fucking ‘Satanist’” — conceived by Baker — “goes so hard. ‘Strong Enough’ was the one we finished last, and I was like, ‘Let’s each write and sing a verse, because this could be the single.’” It didn’t feel like a sellout. “A lot of stuff that would feel contrived, solo, doesn’t feel contrived with these guys, because it’s just all in the spirit of fun and being together. And, yeah, it’s the first time I’ve ever been like, ‘Damn, people are gonna sing along to this part!’”

That delirious spirit stands in healthy contrast to the sad-core image some people might have slapped onto one or all of the band members. But it’s hardly all about the mirth. At the Bowl, as on every other night in the latter parts of the tour, Bridgers asked the audience to put away all phones for the album’s devastating final track, “Letter to an Old Poet,” as she walked the semicircular platform separating the front two seating areas. She says, “Every once in a while I see a phone and I fume, but mostly they’re great and they put their phones away. And because most of the show has been looking through people’s phones and not at their faces, suddenly they become a roomful of people, and it’s insanely powerful to me.”

Why that number in particular, for shutting down cameras? Is it just one of a dozen possible moments to make that request, or is there something in particular about this one’s wounded and angry spirit…

“I play plenty of heavy songs,” Bridges says, “but that one feels too dark to not be having a communal experience.”

“Isn’t that the only time that you’ve cried while doing a vocal take — during that song?” Dacus asks.

“Yeah. I had a couple years where I had a hard time crying,” Bridgers affirms. “I’m over it now, thank God. Now I cry all the time. But ‘Letter to an Old Poet’ is one of the only times I’ve cried onstage.”

“Lucky,” Dacus says. “I hate crying onstage. It happens. I hate that shit.”

These asides about tears might give a Boygenius novice the wrong impression about the band. Even their softer songs tend to have a barb in them, and others, like the screamfests “$20” or “Satanist,” are undeniably hard-ass. A cutting irreverence is the hallmark that makes the sentimental moments honest and disarming.

Their irreverence comes through in their choice of stage or TV outfits too: At the Bowl, they dressed up as the Father, Son and Holy Ghost (with Dave Grohl sitting in briefly on drums as a zombie priest). “If you think of a three-person costume,” Baker explains, “what’s three things? We were like, ‘We could be the Trinity.’” Maybe it’s just as simple as that — numbers as Halloween destiny. But the band members don’t demur when the suggestion comes up that maybe it also had something to do with the phrase that is repeated over and over again in the bridge of “Not Strong Enough”: “Always an angel, never a god.” They switched up that equation, if just for one night, getting deistic at the Bowl.

Less than two weeks later, for “SNL,” they dressed up as the Beatles in their Ed Sullivan-era early prime. The Trinity? The Fab Four? Screw CSNY and all the rest; these women know a real supergroup when they see one.

When “SNL” came around, it was clear they would only be emulating the Beatles and not, like, the Who. There was definitely not going to be any attempt on the show to repeat Bridgers’ guitar-smashing solo appearance of 2021. “Hey, I tried,” she says about not quite fully breaking her ax on that occasion; the guitar took a licking, but almost kept on ticking, a resilience she was amused, not annoyed, by.

This year, the group has been more about melting hearts than heating up flame wars — whether that’s been in their more nakedly revealing songs or taking up causes like dressing in drag in Nashville to support the trans community under political attack there, or inviting Indigenous groups to provide invocations before select tour dates.

When the band receives its Group of the Year award at Variety‘s Hitmakers event, Joan Baez will be presenting the honor to the trio. That may seem like an odd pairing if you’re only considering Boygenius’ more irreverent moments, but an utterly apropos matchup if you are keeping in mind the band’s deeply earnest side and, especially, the social conscience that flares up around their performances. As it happens, the group has also performed at Baez’s Bread and Roses benefits in the Bay area.

“Oh my God,” says Dacus. “Sometimes I have to remember how important she is, because in our experience of her, she’s just been super-kind, and complimenting us, and then it’s like, ‘You’re Joan Baez! You made music joyfully political for a whole generation of people!’ Sometimes we lament how people in media are asked to basically be politicians now…”

“Because politicians aren’t being politicians,” Bridgers interjects — “they’re being fucking TV stars.”

“But she set this example of, because you’re a human, you have to stand for things,” Dacus continues. “So, it’s not because we’re musicians that we care about these causes, it’s because we’re people, and we would be caring about them if we all had office jobs. A lot of people are afraid to do that, and she wasn’t, and it’s a great example for us. We are not very afraid to say what we believe. … Just as a person, I hope to be like her.”

Bridgers notes that Baez, in her initial heyday as America’s folkie sweetheart, “was losing opportunities because she was radical — and then that ended up being the fuel for her whole career. How radical she was was then rewarded.” She sums up Baez’s appeal in a nutshell: “Woody Guthrie was screeching this, and I’m gonna sing it.” (They crack up, with Bridgers noting that no offense to anyone living or dead was intended: “We’re big Woody fans.”)

Baker has thoughts about how they earn the right to be what might be perceived as political, whether it’s something as seemingly un-divisive as having Indigenous people do Land Acknowledgements introductions before their sets, or speaking up on trans or reproductive choice issues.

“Giving them something of ourselves in the songs is like an endearment practice, where we’re like, ‘You will trust us because you have an emotional connection to something we’ve said that resonates with you.’ So when we are in drag at the Nashville show [just after the state enacted anti-drag laws], kids are trusting our judgment, because we’ve gone to the trouble of sharing something difficult or even painful for us to communicate. Then it’s worth it for them to enter that conversation, because we’ve set the stakes of like what’s important to communicate, even if involves conflict or pain.”

The songs themselves aren’t always, if ever, aimed at the fans, though. Sometimes the target audience for the material is, well, Boygenius.

“We write songs to each other as a communication method,” Baker says.

Bridgers doesn’t think it should be mistaken for oversharing. “We have plenty of stuff that’s sacred and not shown to anybody other than each other. I think there’s this weird misconception sometimes that we don’t have a private relationship, because so much of it this year has been monetized in our performance.” And yet, Dacus says, their music is as transparently interpersonal as it sounds. “Some friendships over years don’t get to enough of a level of intimacy to share the types of fears and desires and hopes that we are saying.”

“We hang out,” declares Baker, as if this might not be a matter-of-fact thing for a working rock group. (It doesn’t go without saying.)

How long will the hang last?

In October, the band put out a four-song EP called “The Rest,” a sequel or companion piece to “The Record.” The title does have an air of at least temporary finality to it, as if the cupboard is bare. Says Bridgers, “It’s funny that it’s called ‘The Rest,’ because we absolutely do have more songs that we didn’t put out.”

But where do they go from here? In 2023, did the side hustle so overtake the main hustle that they should keep Boygenius going into 2024, when they could certainly sell out sheds or maybe even arenas they didn’t come near this year? They’ve already broken with supergroup form so much; would it be a terrible thing if they were to further break it to the point of unexpectedly doing an immediate, sequential band album? Or do they revert to their solo corners? Fans might wish there could be a multiverse in which the band never pauses, on one track, and individual careers proceed apace on another.

Conventional wisdom would suggest they will not let solo albums go unmade just for the sake of rocking more venues. But you will not get a definitive answer here.

“I don’t know,” says Bridgers. “It’s incredible to me that we have kept the ethos behind the band the whole way, which is: it just has to be fun. We’ve done a lot of shit, but there’s also shit we said no to, stuff that felt like it was like pushing a boundary as far as travel or labor and stuff that sounds like we might push ourselves into not having fun. So that gets to continue forward, after this album cycle. I think we just are gonna do whatever is fun, and remain each other to each other. These guys are as involved in what I do as they are in Boygenius. We show each other ideas, and…”

“We need each other’s brains,” Dacus says.

So is it possible to specifically say that solo albums are what’s next, or do they want to leave a bit of mystery?

The attempt to pin it down leaves them unusually cagey. “It’s a mystery,” Bridgers says.

Dacus: “I’ll just say I’m not thinking about it.”

Bridgers: “Oh, yeah. It’s a mystery to us.”

Dacus, having the final noncommittal word: “If it’s a mystery to you, it’s a mystery to us too.”

Hard to tell whether there might be any real indecision here, or whether they just don’t want to lay out all their cards for the outside world, or whether they might be having a difficult time reconciling themselves to a near-future in which they might be Zoom advisors to one another instead of daily physical confidantes.

In the immediate meanwhile, there is Grammy season, and a slew of awards to be won, or not won. Bridgers has some experience there, with her multiple nominations in 2021. “It was still very deeply fucking COVID when I was nominated, and I was pretty like traumatized last time, and like the only way I felt it was on the phone. To find out in a room full of people and be celebrating, it’s already way more fun.” Dacus says being collectively recognized is “triple the joy, right? Much easier to feel happy for them” than for herself, she says. “Much easier to feel.”

Is there a line from any of their songs that could maybe encapsulate how they’re feeling right now, between the six Grammy noms, the “SNL” appearance and the impending end-of-year accolades? At that question, they start to laugh.

“Give me your funny ones,” someone says.

Then Dacus says, “Ohhh, I have a cute one.”

“Which one?” the others ask, curious to get an earnest answer after all.

Quoting one of her own lyrics, Dacus lowers her voice, as if it’s suddenly occurred to her that it’s a secret that she’s sharing. “‘I never thought you’d happen to me,’” she says.

(x) photos by Jingyu Lin

[amee-racle-ofmyown]

Restless, Respite

my take on the final scene of the Hold On ending | Head Engineer Mark x The Captain (can be read as platonic) | Words: 1,232 | read on AO3

basically I was thinking far too much about how we are presumably the last to wake up that final time (besides the colonists) and how it seems like the crew has been up for a while and how engineer Mark might be feeling about that (not good)

The Head Engineer tapped his fingertips anxiously on the rim of his coffee mug.

The Captain hadn't woken up yet.

It had been a good half hour of the Invincible II’s various personnel filling the bridge and every other area of the ship. The crew leads conferred with each other and their respective teams to ensure everything was fully functional and ready to move on to the next phase of the mission. The entire crew was bustling, eager to set foot on their new home, the promise of a new life awaiting them.

Still, the Captain did not stir.

Despite assurance from the computer AI that all systems were nominal, Mark had checked every major system personally, and with a little more caution than usual. If anyone noticed the slight lack in his typical blasé confidence, they didn’t mention it.

They'd had time to run diagnostics, prepare equipment and shuttles to take down to the surface, and all have their “morning” coffee. All except The Captain and Mark.

With a quiet sigh, he pressed a few icons on his tablet, issuing a command to the system to reheat their drink for the fifth time. They'd wake up any minute now, for sure.

Celci let him know that all one hundred thousand colonists were doing well, and seemed a little surprised when his response didn't hold quite the same bite as most of their interactions. (She also insisted that there was nothing wrong with the Captain’s pod, and people wake up at different speeds.) Burt assured him that the reactor was stable and had fared well with the journey, followed by Gunther enthusiastically reporting that the advance team was ready to head down to the planet's surface to scout ahead.

For once, there was no emergency. It was almost too good to be true. There was really no need to wake the Captain prematurely. If they needed a few more minutes after all they'd been through, that was fine.

And yet, Mark couldn't help the growing pit of dread in his stomach.

The details were a little fuzzy, but with every passing minute his memories of the wormhole and the ensuing chaos became clearer, more solid — the freshest of which being a pained exchange with his Captain, his dearest friend, in the warp core room, as the weight of the multiverse fell heavy on his shoulders with realisation and the subsequent guilt and remorse, the walls of reality literally beginning to crumble around them.

Remembering it all was like waking from a dream in reverse; images of each universe and lifetime stung in the tight grip of his psyche instead of slipping from recollection. His mind began to race, panicking slightly as he remembered times his Captain hadn't woken up at all.

Mark took a small sip of coffee. He felt a headache coming on.

As if on cue, he felt a gentle bump against his leg. He cast his gaze towards it and was happy to see Chica softly nudging him, panting cheerfully with her big eyes aglow.

‘Hey, bub.’

He smiled and bent to pet her soft fur with his free hand, grateful for a comforting distraction from his wandering thoughts.

‘Yeah, any moment now,’ he muttered under his breath as he went to retrieve the Captain’s coffee mug while Chica trotted away.

‘Initialising Wakey-Wakey Protocol.’

Mark’s head shot up at the sound of the AI voice announcing their emergence from cryo-sleep. Relief flooded him as he saw them slowly step out of their pod, tentatively poking a crew member as if wanting to make sure this was real. He understood the feeling.

‘Mornin’, Captain!’ Mark beamed as he strode over to greet them. He eyed the Captain up and down with concern. They looked about as exhausted and on edge as he’d felt upon waking up this time.

‘Ooh, you look like you’ve been through hell. Yeah, cryo-sleep sucks, but coffee can help.’ He offered them their mug which they took automatically. With a friendly clunk of his own cup against theirs, he made his way around the main console to talk with various crew members while the crew leads took turns speaking to the Captain.

‘Computer, let’s get those blast shields open.’

The head engineer let out an awed sigh at the view. ‘The trip was smooth. Just a few rocks, couple cosmic rays, nothing the computer couldn’t handle on its own,’ he reassured, hoping to ease their obvious trepidation. To his relief, they seemed to relax immensely at the sight of the planet before them. He watched as they reached out a gloved hand and pressed gently against the glass (memories of said glass shattering flashed across his mind, which he quickly dismissed).

A whole array of emotions crossed his Captain’s face as they admired the planet that would soon house the new colony. He could almost swear that he saw the tell-tale glisten of tears forming in their eyes. Eyes that were now wise and weary beyond their years. Eyes that had seen countless people die and the very fabric of time and space glitch and collapse and attempt to put itself together again. Eyes that could pierce right through his and pull him apart at the seams with a single look.

‘She is a beauty, isn’t she, Captain? The long range scans did not do her justice. Perfect in almost every way. We’ll still have to do top to bottom scans once we’re down on the surface but we’re moving equipment as fast we can. The crew is eager to get off the ship and onto solid ground. I think you can understand the sentiment.’

They watched as the shuttles disembarked from the main ship and made their way towards the planet. The Captain looked pleased to see progress already being made.

Mark hesitated for a moment. There was so much he wanted to say. To ask. Lifetimes worth of emotions lay pent up inside of him, itching at the walls of his throat and the tip of his tongue. But the guilt still bore down on him, and the fear of truly acknowledging and dwelling on all that had transpired between the two far outweighed the desire to talk and have it all laid out in the open where it couldn’t gnaw at his insides. No doubt his Captain would probably want to discuss it all eventually. Maybe they hated him right now and were just trying to hide it. Hell, he’d deserve it if they did. But he couldn’t have that conversation here and now. Not with the whole crew present and the colony to build. Not with so many people looking to both of them for direction and guidance. Maybe that was an excuse.

Instead: ‘And, uh, thank you…’ he uttered simply, voice low and earnest, as he felt their gaze turn towards him before finally bringing himself to meet their eyes, if only briefly.

‘...for, uh, not giving up on me. Just… thank you.’

The Captain gave him a sincere smile and he returned it with a nod. He wasn't sure he remembered the last time he saw them smile like that.

They brought the coffee mug up to their lips. It was one he’d reserved especially for them, bearing a clear message in bold text: ‘#1 Captain’.

As they finally took a sip, Mark hoped they understood that he meant it.

[droughtofapathy]

The DroughtofApathy Theatre Awards Nominations:

Best Ensemble Stereophonic Jaja's African Hair Braiding Merrily We Roll Along Illinoise

Best New Song "Evanesce," Days of Wine and Roses (Adam Guettel) "Masquerade," Stereophonic (Will Butler) "East of Eden," Stereophonic (Will Butler)

Bad Accent Eddie Redmayne's Muppet Voice Whatever the fuck Jeremy Jordan was doing Colton Ryan's Muppet Voice from last season, I'm still not over it

Diva Performance of the Year Jennifer Simard, Once Upon a One More Time Jessica Lange, Mother Play Emily Skinner, Suffs

Most Incredible Scene Transition The I Need That home cleanup transition Opening up Jaja's African Hair Braiding shop Mary Jane's apartment set lifting up to reveal the hospital set Doubt revolving set Appropriate house falling into shambles with a tree and everything De-renovating the Broadway Theatre after Here Lies Love flopped

Most Beautiful Woman On Stage Bebe Neuwirth, Cabaret Kelli O'Hara, Days of Wine and Roses (bonus points for The Hours) Jessica Lange, Mother Play Anika Noni Rose, Uncle Vanya

Moment So Horrifyingly Bad I Physically Recoiled Eddie Redmayne as the Emcee singing "Tomorrow Belongs to Me" BEFORE the party Everything Gayle Rankin did on that stage "My name is Ponyboy//I'm the youngest of the three," lyric from The Outsiders The Hell's Kitchen book being allowed on Broadway at all

Most Hated Sound Designer Gareth Owen, The Who's Tommy Jon Weston, The Wiz Gareth Owen, Hell's Kitchen (hey, a doubly-bad showing) Brian Ronan, The Great Gatsby, but specifically those gunshots

Floppiest Flop Show How to Dance in Ohio Lempicka Here Lies Love Grey House Once Upon a One More Time

Weirdest Marketing/Publicity/Social/Design Decision How to Dance in Ohio only emphasizing "AUTISM REP" over everything that might have drawn in any kind of crowd at all.

The Lempicka social media team just straight-up lying with their pull-quotes and then doubling down and getting snide.

Broadway producer Greg Nobile's twitter discourse.

The Cabaret social media brand refusing to acknowledge Bebe Neuwirth exists and is the only thing holding that show together.

Who did the Days of Wine and Roses cast album design and like...why?

Can You Spell Miscast? Eddie Redmayne, Cabaret Gayle Rankin, Cabaret Eden Espinosa, Lempicka Basically all of The Wiz Doubly so for The Great Gatsby

Star-in-the-Making Sarah Pidgeon, Stereophonic The Grey House kids Hannah Cruz, Suffs Amber Iman, Lempicka Anna Zavelson, Encores! The Light in the Piazza (not Broadway, but I said what I said)

Criminally Underutilized Older Character Actress Jayne Houdyshell, Uncle Vanya Emily Skinner, Suffs Andrea Burns, The Notebook Beth Leavel, Lempicka Mia Katigbak, Uncle Vanya Bebe Neuwirth, Cabaret

Worst Audience Behavior The couple who stayed on their phones the whole time at The Wiz.

The guy who started screaming and fighting at the top of act two at Hell's Kitchen.

The drunk women at Melissa Etheridge who were singing and flailing the whole show.

Shrieking girls at Bad Gatsby whenever the leading man did anything.

Family in front of me at Heart of Rock and Roll.

Guy behind me at Cabaret crunching wine chips through all of act two.

Iconic Merch Item Rosie the Elephant, Water for Elephants: she's so soft and well-made and perfect and I love her and need her. Great American Bitch clothing, Suffs Mother Hat, Mother Play Tissue box, The Notebook

Moment that Had Me in Tears When *spoiler* off-stage, Jaja is taken in by ICE and her daughter can't find her and may face deportation herself.

Merrily We Roll Along overture.

Mary Jane breakdown over the music therapist.

All of Maryann Plunkett's masterful performance in The Notebook.

Me going home to sob over how they butchered Cabaret.

Kimberly Akimbo final performance, it might've opened last season, but fight me

Reading an article on the opening of the Bad Gatsby where a car hit a pedestrian right next to where all the celebrities were getting their photos taken and no one noticed. (tears of laughter-pedestrian was not hurt badly)

Single Best Costume Emily Skinner's Dorothy Louden coat Jennifer Simard, titties up and out as the Stepmother Sara Gettlefinger's fun jumpsuit and headscarf combo Anika Noni Rose entrance blue gown with the plunging neckline and deep v back Bebe Neuwirth's little pink nightie and phenomenal shawl Kate Baldwin's off-the-shoulder outfits in the regional production of A Little Night Music

Best Playbill Design Stereophonic - 10/10 no notes Suffs - Like the art style Illinoise - I really like the colors and art style Here Lies Love - I like the colors

Worst Playbill Design Cabaret - you should be ashamed of yourself. Not even the title Doubt - I know there was a last-minute replacement, but c'mon Lempicka - whoever did this should be taken out back and shot Spamalot - it's just the same damn design as the original, but brighter and worse

Tony Snub Laurie Metcalf, Grey House Jennifer Simard, Once Upon a One More Time Chip Zien, Harmony Days of Wine and Roses, Best Musical Grey House, Best Scenic Design of a Play

Cars on Broadway The Bad Gatsby cars that actually drive The Lempicka silver car that isn't green and doesn't drive The Illinoise concept car made out of props and actor's bodies The Back to the Future car that files and spins and shit

[oscarupsets]

High quality upset material this year!!

The first installment of The Godfather series may be considered one of the greatest of all time, but it had strong competition in the 1972 awards season.

An adaptation of Mario Puzo's 1969 novel, The Godfather boasts a recognizable ensemble cast and spans almost 3 hours. But the length isn't even an issue. The 400+ page novel necessitates the need for Vito's backstory to extend into a second film (which we will get to shortly), so these first 3 hours are FULL. I was very impressed by Coppola and Puzo's adaptation. Only smaller backstories and nonessential characters were removed, leaving space for the most important scenes.

I don't have a ton to say about the production as a whole. I love the music and you can tell the whole thing is produced with great quality. No faults. Critics weren't too fond of Brando's acting in this one. It's not his strongest role, but as a Brando fan, I don't mind.

And speaking of actors that I didn't realize were gay icons until I read their Wiki pages, I also have a soft spot for anything Liza Minnelli. Cabaret was a TREAT to watch, and I was not surprised to learn it's the film with the greatest number of Oscar wins to NOT win Best Picture.

Now I CAN say a lot about the production of this one. There's something so beautiful about it that I can't quite explain. The fact that it's rated PG but is one of the most sensual and sexual films I've seen so far? The fact that the Kit Kat Klub is used as a way to describe the plot through song and shot as if the viewer were an audience member? The editing?? A bi icon main character?? It was all just sheer perfection.

Both Marlon Brando and Al Pacino were absent from the 45th Academy Awards ceremony. Brando was protesting the treatment of Native Americans (both in Hollywood and nationwide), while Al Pacino was protesting his inclusion in the Supporting Actor category, given the fact that he had almost a half hour of screen time over Brando. Marlon Brando also become the 3rd and most recent winner to decline an Oscar.

It's also fun to note that The Godfather originally began with 11 nominations, an additional one for original score. After noting that Nino Rota used the main Godfather theme first in the 1958 Italian film Fortunella (albeit in a completely different style), the Academy voted on the shortlist again. The Godfather did not make the cut a second time.

Cabaret dominated the below-the-line categories, losing only Picture and Adapted Screenplay (both went to The Godfather). Both also were heavily decorated prior to the Oscars, with Cabaret also winning cinematography, sound, and promising newcomer for Grey at the BAFTAs.

A rare 100 from Metacritic for The Godfather, with strong reception across the board. Cabaret remains high, but slightly below average for an upset.

Unofficial Review: This one is very tough. Both are incredibly well done, rewatchable, and widely acclaimed. I think The Godfather wins for overall story and picture, but Cabaret dominates for actual production.

[qnewsau]

Matt Bomer and Nathan Lane are gay Golden Girls in new show

New Post has been published on https://qnews.com.au/matt-bomer-and-nathan-lane-are-gay-golden-girls-in-new-show/

Matt Bomer and Nathan Lane are gay Golden Girls in new show

Matt Bomer and Nathan Lane are starring in a new sitcom pilot from the creators of Will & Grace, and it’s giving very strong Golden Girls vibes.

The new project, which is still at the pilot stage, is titled Mid-Century Modern. Will & Grace’s Max Mutchnick and David Kohan have created the pilot for US streaming service Hulu.

Ryan Murphy is executive producing the pilot. James Burrows, who directed every episode of Will & Grace, is directing it.

The new series will take place in the gay mecca of Palm Springs, California, Variety reported. The outlet played up the comparisons to iconic US sitcom The Golden Girls.

“The series follows three best friends — gay gentlemen of a certain age,” Hulu explains.

“After an unexpected death, [the three men] decide to spend their golden years living together in Palm Springs where the wealthiest one lives with his mother and a naked Gen Z housekeeper.

“As a chosen family, they prove that no matter how hard things get, there’s always someone around to remind you it would be better if you got your neck done.”

‘Hard of body and soft of head’

Mid-Century Modern stars Nathan Lane as Bunny Schneiderman, Matt Bomer as Jerry Frank, and Linda Lavin as Sybil Schneiderman, Bunny’s mother. There’s no third actor cast in the male ensemble just yet, Variety reported.

“A successful businessman with one foot in retirement, Bunny is forever in search of love. But he first has to be convinced he’s worthy of it,” the synopsis reads.

“Like her son, Sybil’s strengths are her weaknesses: wise, caring, and iconoclastic – which sometimes means she’s critical, smothering and amoral.

“Jerry left the Mormon Church and his marriage in his early 20s after his wife informed him and the rest of the congregation that he was a homosexual.

“Now a latter-day saint in the literal sense of the term, Jerry is pure of heart. He is also hard of body and soft of head.”

In Australia, Hulu shows stream here on Disney+. Fingers crossed the powers that be pick this new series up!

Matt Bomer starred in Fellow Travelers

Last year, Matt Bomer got multiple award nominations for his great work with Jonathan Bailey in the epic historical gay drama Fellow Travelers. The brilliant series is streaming in Australia on Paramount+.

Matt has also worked with Max Mutchnick, David Kohan and Jimmy Burrows before. He had a recurring role in the Will & Grace reboot series.

Nathan Lane, who needs no introduction, has appeared recently in 2023’s campy Dicks: The Musical and TV series The Gilded Age and Only Murders in the Building.

Read more:

Nathan Lane says The Birdcage co-star Robin Williams protected him early in his career

Matt Bomer claims he lost Superman role because of sexuality

Jonathan Bailey kept co-star Matt Bomer awake rehearsing for Wicked

Fellow Travelers director talks filming that sexy foot scene

For the latest LGBTIQA+ Sister Girl and Brother Boy news, entertainment, community stories in Australia, visit qnews.com.au. Check out our latest magazines or find us on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and YouTube.

[f1]

Tyre preview: Alternative tyre allocation returns at Monza

Tyre preview: Alternative tyre allocation returns at Monza By Balazs Szabo on 31 Aug 2023, 15:42 For their home race at Monza, Formula One's tyre manufacturer Pirelli will bring the softest tyre compounds of their six-compound range with the alternative tyre allocation also making a return after the first test in Hungary. Following the incident-filled and action-packed Dutch Grand Prix, Formula One made the trip to Norther Italy's Monza that will play host to the Italian Grand Prix. While the track is usually referred to as the Temple of Speed, Pirelli will bring a bold tyre selection to Monza. The C3 will be used as P Zero White hard, C4 as P Zero Yellow medium and C5 as P Zero Red soft. These are the softest compounds in the Pirelli Formula 1 range, already nominated for five other race weekends so far this season, albeit mainly on street circuits or slow tracks like the Hungaroring. It will be spectacular to watch how the weekend unfolds as Pirelli will try out their Alternative Tyre Allocation that has already caused a stir in Hungary. The rule means that each driver will have just 11 sets of slick tyres (three Hard, four Medium and four Soft) at their disposal for the weekend. In qualifying, drivers can use only one type of compound per session (unless it's wet): in Q1 the Hard, in Q2 the Medium, and in Q3 the Soft. As for the race strategy, tyre degradation is usually quite low around the 5.8km Autodromo Nazionale Monza. Last year, there were no fewer than eight different strategies deployed by the top 10 finishers. Max Verstappen and George Russell (first and third respectively) opted for a single stop, while Charles Leclerc – who finished second – had already made two stops before a safety car towards the end of the race allowed all three drivers to stop again. The Italian Grand Prix is one of the races that has counted for every drivers’ championship since the very first competition in 1950. It has always been held in Monza with only one exception, when Imola hosted the race in 1980. Monza was inaugurated in 1922 and is one of the oldest tracks in the world still to be used, second only to Indianapolis. The team with the most victories at Monza is Ferrari (19 out of 72 total grands prix) while the drivers with the most wins are Michael Schumacher and Lewis Hamilton, on five each. Pirelli will remain in Monza after the Italian Grand Prix for a couple of days of testing with Alpine and Red Bull. The teams will take to the track on Tuesday and Wednesday after the race (5-6 September) to test prototype slick tyres. Pirelli's Motorsport Director Mario Isola commented: “As usual, the European Formula 1 season draws to a close in Monza: which is also Pirelli’s home event as our headquarters are just a few kilometres away from this iconic circuit. Monza is synonymous with speed, as its nickname of the ‘Temple of Speed’ capably demonstrates. To this day, it’s where the fastest race in the history of Formula 1 was held, with Michael Schumacher setting an unbeaten average race speed of 247.585 kph back in 2003. As a result, teams use the lowest possible aerodynamic downforce levels to favour top speed by reducing drag. Stability under braking and traction coming out of the two chicanes are the two key factors that challenge tyres most on this track, as well as the lateral loads exerted in the fast corners such as Parabolica (named after Michele Alboreto) and Curva Grande. After Hungary, Monza will be the second time that the Alternative Tyre Allocation (ATA) is trialled, which uses two fewer sets of tyres than the standard format. This offers a benefit in terms of CO2 saved both during production and transport, as well as giving teams and drivers a wider range of strategic option. For this reason as well, we have chosen the trio of softest compounds for Monza – C3, C4, and C5 – which has already been nominated five times this season.” via F1Technical.net . Motorsport news https://www.f1technical.net/news/

[spooner-the-trinity]

AI Experiment 11: XANA wins Biggest Douche in the Universe

The lights dimmed in the extravagant ballroom, the murmurs of anticipation swirling like champagne in crystal flutes. Demons from all sorts of realms clad in their finest threads rubbed elbows, their diamonds glinting in the soft, golden glow of the chandeliers. The atmosphere was electric, the air thick with excitement and the tang of expensive cologne. It was the night of the Biggest Douche in Existence Awards, and everyone wanted a piece of the infamous celebrity supervillain, XANA Thorndyke.

Once an ultra-super virus that advanced with each quantum reset he forced out of the heroes after every defeat his often lethal schemes are met with. His escape to the Internet from his Supercomputer prison resulting in a winning streak that ended with the explosive chain reaction with the Supercomputer bursting in the ageified smog, taking the senior citizombified planet Earth with it. XANA has since been nominated several times for his reign of cosmic horrors but not once has the self proclaimed Dan Schneider of Misery won the prize. Even when he had retired from Active Villainy and joined the Guild of Calamitous Intent's Council of Thirteen, his efforts prove fruitless... Until tonight.

He had hosted a special night of his reality game show 'Who Wants to be a Doombringer?' Where a contestant had reduced Dialgia and Palkia to eggs to serve as a battery for a cosmic power to reduce the champions of the Pokemon World to infancy so they can be gene-slammed into an army of Poke-Human hybrids to invade the Vulcan homework, only for Rick and Morty to combat the threat and narrowly escape defeat after a smorgasbord of casualties amongst the enslaved. The sight of a Lucario-Charizard hybrid Ash Kachum dying after dipping away his Pikachu who had been thunder-stone'd into a Raichu on top of getting gijinkafied was enough to get XANA nominated by the judges live on camera, resulting in the contestant he supplied with the title of Doombringer and twelve trillion dollars.As the presenter stepped up to the stage, the crowd erupted in deafening applause, their clapping hands stinging with anticipation. The presenter cleared their throat, the sound echoing through the ballroom like a gunshot. "And the nominees are, Quaglar the Destructor, Andromeda Galaxy, Planet J-11." XANA looked to the green-scaled Warlord and reached out saying: "May the best irredeemable monster win."

"Ahnkalan DeVrohs, Gamma Quadrant, Planet Pharlow." The vampiristic wasp-headed snake looked to her peers and smirked her sinister grin. "XANA Thorndyke, Milky Way Galaxy, Planet Earth." XANA took a confident bow, to both his fellow felons and to himself. "And finally, Morgana, the giant douche from the Horsehead Nebula, Station J-12."

XANA eyed the literal douche in the back row perplexed as to why Ursula's crazy sister made it to the ceremony. The presenter cleared their throat again, and the crowd hushed. "And the winner is..." They paused dramatically. "XANA Thorndyke, Milky Way Galaxy, Planet Earth!"The auditorium erupted into deafening applause, whistles, and shouts of joy as the presenter approached the newest Biggest Douche in Existence. "XANA, you've proven time and time again that you're the biggest douche in existence, and we're honored to finally have you join our ranks. Congratulations on your well-deserved award!" The presenter placed a sparkling golden trophy in the shape of a toilet plunger into XANA's open palm.

XANA stood before the crowd, acknowledging their adulation with a graceful bow. "You know, a deal's a deal. Long ago, when the only foes I had were the toys upon the Sattelite of Love, I vowed to walk away from public Villainy when I won this award. And while I still intend to cause pain and suffering behind the scenes, this victory means that now, I shall cast my age-ified horde into the great beyond."

A cannon shaped like his iconic emblem fired all of the souls he had ever turned into the light after death, the loud zapping noise alerting the detached souls in the afterlife to the apparent nothing after death and resulting in panic on the converor belt road beneath their metaphorical feet. "Thank you, my loyal subjects," he said, his voice echoing through the room. "I couldn't have done it without you. Together, we have brought misery and suffering to the furthest reaches of creation." There was a moment of silence as the crowd absorbed his words, and then a thunderous applause filled the air. XANA smiled, basking in their adulation. "But now, I must keep my promise. Though you will still see me on the Council of Thirteen and weeknights at 8 on Doombringer... my decades-long reign of terror ends here."

The applause died down, and the room began to quiet. XANA's expression grew solemn. "I leave you with one last piece of advice. Never underestimate the power of an opportunistic megalomaniac, no matter how small they may seem. They may one day return, stronger and more cunning than ever, to conquer and consume until the universe they invade is barren, lifeless and empty."

"I will not say do not cry..." Saruman muttered to the microphone. "...for not all tears are a sin."

"On my long career, I say this: To destroy an entire iteration of earth and its people is wicked, yes. But to revive them on a new earth with new people and new culture divorced from the canon prior... all to have the old get in the way of today." a sinister smile graced the virus' face. "That is new levels of woe for both populations oppressed."

"Let's hear it for him, folks!" XANA was then given a sash and a decorated crown as a gentleman in a suit sang in a harmonious voice:

Here he is, the Biggest Douche of the Universe!

In all the galaxies, there's no bigger douche than you!

You've reached the top, the pinnacle of douchedom!

Good going, douche. Your dreams have come true!

[thewhitneyhoustonblog]

36 years ago today, Billboard magazine announced that Whitney’s soulful ballad, “Where Do Broken Hearts Go”, had replaced Billy Ocean’s “Get Outta My Dreams, Get Into My Car” as the number one single in the country.

In doing so, Whitney set an all-time chart record that stands to this day when she became the first artist in music history to produce seven consecutive number one singles on the Billboard Hot 100.

The historic chart record started when the quiet storm-styled rendition of “Saving All My Love for You” reached number one for the week of October 26, 1985, replacing a-ha’s iconic “Take on Me” and becoming the then 22-year-old singer’s first-ever number one hit and later won her a Grammy Award for Best Female Pop Vocal Performance. Later on, her stirring Grammy performance of the same song won her an Emmy Award for Best Individual Performance in a Variety or Musical Program in September 1986.

Less than five months later, on February 15, 1986, Whitney scored her second number one single on the Hot 100 with her funky dance number, “How Will I Know”, enjoying a two-week stay. It replaced cousin Dionne Warwick’s “That’s What Friends Are For” at the top, making it the first time in eight years that an artist replaced a relative at number one since the Bee Gees’ “Night Fever” replaced little brother Andy Gibb’s “(Love Is) Thicker Than Water”. It’s notable for having originally been offered by a then-struggling teenage R&B singer named Janet Jackson who turned it down and also for the song’s colorful music video helping Whitney break the color barrier for black female artists on MTV as it became the first black female video to instantly reach heavy rotation on the channel within the first week of its airing in late December 1985. Before then, Whitney had struggled to get on the channel due to being told she was “too R&B”. She eventually earned light rotation play for her hit ballad “Saving All My Love for You”, which set up the universal acceptance for “How Will I Know”, which later won the MTV Video Music Award for Best Female Video. Though other artists such as Donna Summer and Tina Turner had enjoyed medium to heavy rotation prior to Whitney’s arrival, it was nothing compared to “How Will I Know”, ushering in the new era of black female-dominated pop music. It also became Whitney’s first pop anthem.

On May 17, 1986, Whitney’s third number one single, “Greatest Love of All” reached number one, replacing Pet Shop Boys’ “West End Girls” at number one and staying there for three consecutive weeks. In doing so, it marked the first time a female solo artist had took three singles to number one off a single album. The ballad later won a Grammy nomination for Record of the Year at the 1987 Grammys. The song, which Whitney began performing as a teenager after coming up second place in a statewide talent show losing to a girl who sang that song, was an early signature song for her. It remained her favorite of her hit singles.

On June 27, 1987, Whitney once again entered the history books when the frenetic dance number, “I Wanna Dance With Somebody (Who Loves Me)”, topped the Billboard Hot 100 for a two-week stay, replacing Lisa Lisa And Cult Jam’s Motown-inspired freestyle hit “Head to Toe”. On that same day, her second album, Whitney, which accompanied the dance anthem, debuted at number one on the Billboard 200, first by a female artist in history. The song would go on to be Whitney’s second best selling single of her career, selling over 14 million physical and digital units worldwide and would win Whitney the Grammy Award for Best Female Pop Vocal Performance. It is also notable for having been streamed over a billion times on the popular streaming app Spotify.

On September 19, 1987, Whitney once again made history when the second single from Whitney, the orchestrated soft rock ballad, “Didn’t We Almost Have It All”, replaced Michael Jackson’s own soft rocker, “I Just Can’t Stop Loving You”, a duet with singer Siedah Garrett, at the top for a two-week stay. This accomplishment tied her with Elvis Presley for having five consecutive number one hits in a row on the Hot 100, a record at the time for a solo artist.

Whitney then shocked everyone on January 9, 1988, when the uptempo rocker “So Emotional” replaced George Michael’s “Faith” to enjoyed a week long tenure atop the chart. In doing so, Whitney broke Elvis’ solo chart record, which put her in a three-way tie with the Beatles and the Bee Gees for the most consecutive number one singles in a row with six. Thus setting up the impossible task of earning a seventh number one. Leading to…

When “Where Do Broken Hearts Go” hit number one on April 23, 1988, she broke the tie with the Beatles and Bee Gees to become the all-time leader of consecutive number one singles, a record that nearly five decades later still holds and is unlikely to break.

[morebedsidebooks]

Poison Ivy #9

As I’ve said before the Poison Ivy series started off ever so rough (I’m still critical of some decisions particularly how they were presented) but, has grown. Literally. As this month it was also announced that Poison Ivy for the first time now has an ongoing comic series! Also, noteworthy the Poison Ivy series has also been nominated for Outstanding Comic Book this year by GLAAD. Issue #9 out this month sees Harley finally find Ivy.

From the beginning of this series, I was really hoping to eventually see Harley’s reaction to the letters Ivy sent her throughout issues 1-6. Because they were a tad less romantic and more low-key disturbing. Harley was in tears with the last letter and setting off to see Ivy in a previous issue. All she says once the two are face to face is she got the letters, with a bit of emphasis on that last word. Followed by Ivy instead thinking about a reason why the two are quick to pick up wherever they left off.

I feel like I should also mention the main cover for #9 by Jessica Fong features Ivy feeding Harley a Fly Agaric mushroom which is rather amusing.

It cracks me up how the Fly Agaric and subspecies is so iconic. Seemingly any time mushrooms are depicted the toadstool from fairy tales, put with scenes of witches, to traditional Christmas decorations. Culturally people may have some debate on what’s fit for consumption or not too, it’s relatively not the worst mushroom, but not edible. Harley being able to handle some level of toxicity because of Ivy was an idea introduced all the way back in their first comic book meeting. Maybe that applies here. As for the work on the interior art by Marcio Takara and Arif Prianto it remains top notch. Psychedelic perspectives and transformations, all the vivid colour choices, from dark horror to soft intimate moments. You want to hold each issue and pour over the pages because there is a lot to look at and follow.

Throughout the series there’s been points where the writing too has moments that shine and really hit, this latest issue including. But these stories for all the significant current matters brought up, (climate change, facing your abuser, class conflict, anti-capitalism, exposing the idolized girlboss, or touching on healthcare in the US), there have also tended to have aspects that undercut the themes. Such as Ivy in issue #4 taking on a predatory boss at basically an Amazon warehouse while still infecting workers and customers. Or what about in #2 the climate change take on the “This is Fine” meme yet as Ivy reconciled spreading deadly spores to all the people simply in a diner— including kids? That is the kind of thing the US lives daily as people must consider if while going about their lives at work or in any place they’re going to be harmed or die. Similarly, there is stretching suspension of disbelief in, for lack of a better term, last-minute pass situations. Particularly the last few issues. When the text literally calls for a miracle— it’s to the letter accurate.

Don’t get me wrong I’m excited for the success of this series. The first ongoing in a character’s history is a big deal. I love Poison Ivy. I’ve been buying each issue and plan to keep doing so. The variant covers by several artists are too astonishingly creative and beautiful. (I received a birthday present with the foil cover by Mindy Lee.) I don’t know if DC or the team behind this series aims for readers to be holding their breath with every issue. Yet rather than on the edge of my seat with anticipation, the Poison Ivy series is something uneasily still anxiety inducing.

[folxlorepod]

Meet the Folxlore team!

First up is our sound wizard, storyteller of the ear, David Devereux! Dev does all the audio-related things for Folxlore, from dialogue edits to "hey Dev can you somehow make this sound spooky??'. They are responsible for Folxlore's distinctive, unique sound.

David Devereux is a non-binary writer, musician, sound designer & producer from Glasgow. They make small batch audio fiction as @tincanaudio (focussing on experimental audio storytelling). They've worked on Doctor Who: Redacted and The Wire At 20 for Campside Media and HBO.

Next up we have Ross! Ross McFarlane is producer, writer and voice-actor on Folxlore, as well as brainparent of the podcast! His writing is queer and soft, while his delivery and narratives are devilishly quick and twisty.

Ross McFarlane is a performance poet, theatre maker, and grungy little punk awaiting a glow up. Self-styled Glasgow's No.1 Support Act, Ross has opened for touring poets and musicians alike including; Sabrina Benaim, Shane Koyczan, Rudy Fransisco, Rae Spoon, and Petrol Girls.

And then there is our local exorcist Syd! Syd Briscoe is writer and voice-actor on Folxlore. He is responsible for iconic Folxlore characters such as "I'm waiting on the Subway" Charlie, and some of Folxlore's most visceral writing.

When not lurking in the tunnels below Glasgow, Syd Briscoe is a writer and performer who specialises in spooky. He writes hopepunk stories that try to bring queer light to life's darkest corners.

And rounding us off is Bibi June, producer, writer and voice-actor on Folxlore. They are also the show's access coordinator. They believe strongly that the scariest horrors are the things we do to ourselves.

Bibi June is a poet and performance maker whose work focusses on queerness, climate justice and post-apocalyptic stories. Their poetry has been nominated for the Callum Macdonald Memorial Award, and they were runner-up for the Edwin Morgan Poetry Award 2022.

[cringefaillosersummit]

Have many Star Wars Characters been nominated?

If not, can I encourage people to consider that Anakin is the cringiest wettest towel of a man

a) iconic lines such as "I don't like sand. It's coarse and rough and irritating and it gets everywhere. Not like here. Here everything is soft and smooth"

b) joined the dark force to save his wife & kid, killed his wife, tortured his daughter and then amputated his son

c)

there's been 9 submissions!

[jamdoughnutmagician]

🎥 Comfort Movie Tag! 

Rules: post 10 of your favorite comfort movies and then tag 10 people or as many as you want ❤️

tagged by @i-me-mine

it was tough to choose just 10 films.

1. Just Like Heaven

I randomly caught this one time on the telly years ago and I absolutely fell in love with it. It’s a bit of a silly concept, but I’ve seen it so many times and it fills me with a warm fuzzy happy feeling whenever I watch it.

2. Enchanted

Another fun and beautiful Disney princess film, and Amy Adams is brilliant as Giselle. I also loved the blend of animation and live action

3. I, Tonya

This is a great bio-pic, about something that I didn’t know to much about to begin with, but Margot really knocks it out of the park with her performance. Also Sebastian Stan as her husband in this film is such an amazing performance too, and I’m still mad that he wasn’t at least nominated for best supporting actor that year.

4. Captain America:The First Avenger

I just really like the 1940′s aesthetic of the film, and it was early stages mcu where everything wasn’t too complicated.

5. See How They Run

This was a new favourite of mine, having only seen it for the first time at the end of last year, but it’s a very funny and quick murder mystery!

6. The Proposal

I think I have a soft spot for rom-coms, and this one is such a great film! Ryan Reynolds, and Sandra Bullock are a great team in this film.

7. Jumanji

Of course I’m talking about the iconic 1995 original with Robin Williams, it’s just such a fun and silly adventure film.

8. Waitress

This was another one which I happened to randomly catch of the telly years ago and I just really love the whole story and how Jenna takes control over her life, and goes out to reach her goals.

9. Disney’s Hercules

How can you not love this film, even just from the soundtrack alone? It’s among one of my top favourite Disney films.

10. The Mummy

This is just a really good and fun action/comedy film and Rick and Evie are an iconic couple 

@penguinsandpotterheads @faerysbloom @fools4love @smute

[annislittleshopofhorrors]

Miss Warrior Nun knew she wasn’t going to get any nominations that’s why she decided to show off what she would wear to the Golden Globes in her shower. I don’t think she would’ve made any best dressed list, but some sleazy producer would’ve taken the bait and put her in some American movies that are also soft core porn ☺️

Not on a best dressed list, excuse me? Did you forget the iconic bird shooting? Always best dressed. And I really don't understand why no producer gave her a role in The Falcon and the Winter Soldier. I mean look: