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darkficsyouneveraskedfor · 3 years

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Looking for a Place to Happen

Warnings: non-consent sex and rape (series), age gap, general stupidity.

This is dark!biker!Sam Wilson x reader and explicit. 18+ only. Your media consumption is your own responsibility. Warnings have been given. DO NOT PROCEED if these matters upset you.

Series Synopsis: There’s lots happening in Birch and you find it all too amusing.

Sister series to Smalltown Bringdown, When the Weight Comes Down, Little Bones, and Fully Completely

Note: We’re starting Sam’s installment but this weekend I’ll probably only be catching up on my headcanons and drabbles because I’ve been a lazy bitch and I’m sorry to those who have been waiting.

Thanks to everyone for their patience and feedback. :)

I really hope you enjoy. 💋

<3 Let me know what you think with a like or reblog or reply or an ask! Love ya!

Chapter 1: I've got a job, I explore

💀💀💀

The sleepy town of Birch was awake.

In those last weeks, the arrival of outsiders had roused the attention of many once passive residents of the timeless territory. Those brick buildings unchanged by the tick of the clock inlaid into the old tower above the library that chimed every hour on the hour. They still stood with only chips in the mortar but the air tasted different. The frost was more bitter and the sky more grim. An omen of something no one could predict.

It was the perfect setting for a screenplay. The isolated town with its unsavoury secrets and the visitors who threatened to bring them to the surface. It was inspiring to you, to imagine what was hidden behind the stern wrinkled faces of the town elders and under the jackets of those men who wore the cut of the local club. The bikers ruled the town covertly but everyone knew that Bucky Barnes’ palm was lined with the map of Birch.

As a bystander, an unnoticed observer, just another ant in the hill, you watched from the side and amused yourself with the drama of others. It was like a soap opera or another HBO hype machine. Those things you aspired to when you could be free of this ho-hum town.

The snows added to the natural gloom of the place. The deep heaps smothered the noise and harkened back to those days of colonial settlement. Forgotten, desolate, fearful.

You ventured down in your heavy boots that stretched to your knees and pushed your chin down into your scarf. As a child, you ran and jumped in those piles, now you were out of breath just trying to walk past them.

You stopped in the bakery that doubled as the only café, a place where the owner, Babs, tried to to intimidate the last caffeinated trends. She was always a few seasons behind but you didn’t mind so much.

You ordered the salted caramel mocha and waited patiently as the quiet woman fought with the steaming machines. She was older than you but you’d work with her for one summer during high school, only five years ago. She had the eyes of a child still, but there was something worn in her. As if she’d been exposed to far too much in her three or so decades in that place. She was a harbinger of what you didn’t want to become.

You thanked her for your drink and set out once more into the billowing winds. Birch winters were never kind but this one was crueler than most. Your teeth chattered as you blew the steam away from the lid and hugged it with your mittened hands.

You stopped short as you heard the familiar ding of the diner door across the street. You recognised the mechanic who kept to herself and once growled at you in the grocery store. She stormed across the street, followed closely and quickly by a black-haired man you’d only seen once before. He was one of those outsiders who came to deal with the club men.

You sped up as you sensed chaos brewing and pulled out your phone as you balanced your paper cup in your other hand. You flicked your camera on just as you got to the front of the shop and the man grabbed the mechanic. You let out an ‘oop’ as she turned on him and you aimed the lens at the couple as they fell into the snow, the man’s shoes giving little traction to his steps.

You moved closer, stunned by the scene, and kept your cell phone rolling as you found a better angle around the snowy walks. As she choked him on the ground he elbowed her and she coughed as she rolled away. She snarled as he clamoured to his feet, slipping and sliding as he marched away.

You killed the recording and watched the man cross the street again, nearly wiping out as he did and when you looked back to the mechanic, she was gone behind the clattering door. You chuckled to yourself and tucked away your cell. It was prime footage for TikTok; with a bit of editing, it would be comedy gold.

💀

You stomped up the steps of your grandmother’s house, this time through the front door as you heard her chair rocking in the front room. You usually took the stairs in the back as you paid her to live on the upper floor of the duplex. You checked in with her daily, she didn’t get out much more than the occasional trip to the grocery store when you couldn’t or you dragged her out to join you for a tea at Babs’.

“You’re late,” she grumbled as you set your cup down and unzipped your coat.

“For what?” you scoffed.

“It’s after noon and you don’t even come down to say hello? A ‘good morning, nan’,” she harrumphed.

You chuckled and hung your coat before shoving your boots over on the mat. You grabbed your mocha and leaned on the doorway as you watched her crocheting in her chair, reruns of some court show playing from the boxy television.

“I was working,” you said, “sent in some stuff for review. Hopefully not much work to be done.”

“I don’t know how you make money on that interweb,” she bemoaned, “I don’t trust it.”

“Maybe you’d trust it more if you used the Netflix subscription I got you,” you crossed your arms, “then you wouldn’t have to watch trash daytime TV.”

She shrugged and muttered under her breath. She could be crotchety but you liked her sense of humour. Your aunts and uncles never came around because they just took it as spite. You were the only one who knew how to handle the jaded old lady.

“Maybe you coulda looked out the window,” you snickered, “quite a show going on in town.”

“Hmm, what’s that?” she stilled her needles and reached for her tea stained cup.

“Just a fight. You wouldn’t believe it, that lady mechanic beat the shit--”

“Language,” she huffed.

“Anyway, she had this guy in a chokehold. It was awesome.”

“What guy?” she squinted at you over her glasses.

“I dunno. Some out of towner. Remember I told you about that burly dude hanging around the library?”

“There’s more?” she sucked on her teeth, “those bikers have never been good news and now they’re bringing in more.”

“Yeah, well, what’re you gonna do?” you sniffed as you took out your phone and rewatched the scuffle with the volume down. You shook your head and opened up your TikTok.

“I don’t understand why you’re always on your dang phone,” your grandmother pestered.

“I’m not always on my phone,” you smiled at her smugly, “there are those time when I’m listening to you prattle on or you know, making you tea, oh, and cooking you dinner. What was it I did last week? Oh that’s right, I got Pippin out of the crawlspace.”

“I’m too old to be chasin’ that cat all around,” she huffed, “where is he anyway?”

“He’s your cat, I don’t know? Last time I saw him, I sent him back out the window for shredding my charger.”

“He knows you need to give it a rest,” she laughed to herself, “got your nose to that screen too much.”

“And what do you do, old lady? Crocheting doilies to put where exactly?”

She gave you that dry smile, the one that said watch it but carried a hint of humour still. You hit post and put your phone away as you waved off her irritation.

“Well, you know what, I sit all day at my computer, doing who knows what and you know what it got me?” you taunted, “a large mocha!” you sipped as you sat on the sofa and grabbed the remote, “and it’s paying my rent and putting bullet points on my resume.”

“Mhmm,” she scowled, “just remember, real life ain’t online. Those videos you’re always laughing at like hyena, that’s not reality. You forget it and it’ll come back and bit you. ‘Specially with those bikers.”

“Oh, nan, you know too well, don’t you? Didn’t you have a fling with one back in your hippie phase?”

“Two, actually,” she raised her brows, “I was young and stupid. Not like you, but still.”

“I love you too,” you chirped and sipped from your cup, flicking the station to Jerry Springer, “that’s more like it.”

💀

Your usual TikToks were sarcastic and dull complaints about your small town life. The response was less than pleasing but it gave you an outlet to vent. You liked to goof around and document the very specific type of weirdos that resided in Birch. But the video of the fight in the snow blew up your phone and made it difficult to ignore the buzzing as you went back up to your room to eke out the last of your captions for the ad agency.

When at last you could call your day hard-earned, you logged off and sent in your hours to the agency. Social media promotion was easy enough but the working gigs for a thousand different companies was tedious. You hoped you could build your portfolio enough to manage a single corporate page as you continued to chip away at your creative outlets.

You picked up your phone as you waited for Netflix to load on your tiny smart tv and flopped onto your bed, not two feet from your desk. You hit the icon in the upper panel of your phone and scrolled through the notifications, pausing to turn on another episode of the cable sitcom from ten years before. You snorted as you read each comment but the number under the video made your eyes round. The thing was bound to go viral.

As usual, you went down to help with supper. Pippin, the orange tabby, returned to cry at his dish and you fed him too. Your nan peered through her glasses at a crossword as she tasted the tangy pasta sauce.

“More basil,” she snipped.

“Well, I asked if you wanted to help,” you muttered, “I think it’s good.”

“Hmmp, I need milk,” she jutted her chin out, “for my after-dinner tea.”

“You couldn’t say something like three hours ago?” you blinked.

“I could have but I didn’t,” she snickered. You rolled your eyes and she took another forkful of penne and filled in another line on her puzzle, “ah, no hurry, girlie, you know I’m patient.”

“Patient? You?” you chuckled as you took your plate and shoved it in the microwave to keep it warm. The ancient thing had a dial and the door stuck, “I’ll just go get it over with.”

“Don’t forget your mitts,” she called after you as you tramped into the front room, “it’s cold.”

You pulled on your knitted cap and matching mitts. You zipped up your parka and shoved your feet into the deep boots. You grabbed your wallet and buried it in the spacious pocket. You bounced out the front door and down the steps as the sky sent down another coat of powder for the night.

You went up White Forge Street and through the short path behind the diner that led to the main road. You glanced over at The Asp, the beacon of the dull town, and turned towards the grocer. Like anywhere in Birch, the store was outdated and stuffy. It felt like stepping into another time with the paper bags and chunky tills.

You went down the center aisle and stopped at the fridge to search through the frosted glass. Your nan only drank whole milk and the last time you carelessly grabbed skim, she whined that even Pippin wouldn’t drink it. She was particular but that was just her nature. You couldn’t say you were any less fussy in some instances.

You grabbed a jug and the door slapped closed against the worn rubber seal. You headed up the candy aisle and brushed your woolly thumb over your chin as you considered gummy bears or Reeses’ Pieces.

“Hard choice?” The deep voice jolted you.

You snatched the box of chocolate and looked over at the man in leather, his chin tucked down behind the collar as snow dusted his shoulders.

“Sure,” you said as you brushed past him.

The cut of the leather told you he was better not entertained. While you thought the men amusing, you weren’t stupid enough to engage with them. You rarely listened to your grandmother but she was wise in her own way.

You knew a girl in highschool, she was fucking around with one of the club men in her junior year, she ended up with a baby and no support. You didn’t think he was into you that way but he could hardly have innocent intentions.

“How’s the old lady?” Clayton asked as he rung in your order at the end of the belt, you moved along with the groceries and pulled out your wallet.

“The usual, you know? She’s tryna quit again. Don’t know how long it’ll last.”

“Oh yeah? I’ll keep a carton aside for her,” he kidded as you felt your phone vibing in your back pocket.

“Don’t encourage her,” you swiped your card and punched in your pin, “although I don’t know what’s worse; the smoke or her sucking on those mints all the time.”

“Oh, it’s not the bitchin’?” he laughed.

“That, too,” you scooped up the paper bag and put your wallet away, “have a good one.”

As you came to the end of the first counter, you were nearly cut off by the club member as he swept around from till two. His own purchase of a car magazine and jerky was tucked under his arm.

“Ah, sorry,” he smiled, a sparkling smile, almost charming.

“No worries,” you continued on and he followed close behind.

“Those mitts look real warm. ‘Specially in this weather,” he said as you pushed open the door.

“Uh huh,” you kept on as your boots crunched out into the snow.

“You know where I can get a pair. Leather isn’t exactly thermal, you know?”

“These? My nan made ‘em. I’m sure Clayton got some hung up back there,” you looked across the street as you stepped up onto the ledge of snow between the sidewalk and the road.

“Am I bothering you?” he asked.

You looked at him dumbly and almost laughed in his face. You glanced back across the street then down towards The Asp.

“Sorta,” you answered.

“Make you a deal. Leave ya alone for your name.”

You eyed him. He was older than you like many of the Commandos. At least a decade, likely more than that. You chewed on your hesitation and cradled the bag more firmly against your side. His eyes strayed as he tried to see through the thick layer of your coat.

“Nah, I’m not s’posed to talk to strangers,” you said and hopped off onto the road.

You heard him behind you as he struggled to follow and as you came up to the other side, he came parallel with you and kept stride with you easily.

“I know you’re young but you’re not a kid,” he intoned, “what’s the harm in a name?”

“It’s a small town,” you stopped short of the end of White Forge, “I think I know enough about you to avoid you.”

“Oh ho, is that it? Well, I’m Sam, I’m not a stranger now, am I?”

“Not interested, Sam. Sure there’s women your own age over at the bar,” you nodded behind him.

“You wanna come see? Maybe have a drink?” he gave a crooked grin.

“You don’t give up, do you?” you shook your head, put off by his forwardness.

“Well?”

“Not tonight, Sam,” you turned around and headed down White Forge.

“Then what night?” he asked but you didn’t answer and he didn’t follow.

You turned down onto your street and refused to look back in case. It would be best not to mention the run-in to your nan, she was paranoid enough as it was. Besides, you’d forget about it by the end of next week.

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itsarealshitshow · 4 years

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NCT 127 reaction to falling in love with a fan

Requested by @fruityutas

Pairing: NCT 127 x reader

Warnings: None

Author: Admin Wiki & Admin Emelia

Scenario: The members have secret accounts to keep up and interact with their fans. What happens when they start talking to you and they develop feelings?

A/N: so we changed the request up a little bit. instead of them falling in love with a fan on their like secret account, it’s how they meet and fall for you. i hope you like it!

Moon Taeil

YOU ACCIDENTALLY DM HIM

sir is a grandfather

like literal grandpa energy radiates off this man

i see him on facebook and pinterest

but for the sake of this fic

let’s say haechan downloaded tiktok on his phone and that taeil uses it

you sent him something once accidentally thinking it was your friend but it was taeil

and he replied to it

soon after a beautiful friendship started

eventually he trusted you enough to go on video call and he was like plz don’t tell anyone that you’re friends with taeil moon

and you guys start going on video calls so often that he just falls for your humour and your beauty

he eventually realizes by himself that he loves you

it’s a late night on video call with you and he doesn’t care that he’s going to be tired in the morning during practice

he knows that you’re a fan and he doesn’t care because to him you’re so much more

Johnny Seo

CHILDHOOD FRIENDS TO LOVERS

ok so basically

you guys were so close as kids

then he moved away and lost contact with you

of course when you got into kpop you’ve heard of johnny seo

and were like omg it’s my childhood best friend

luckily

one day you go to go to an nct concert

and he saw you and stood there like 👁👄👁 too

he got you backstage for afterwards

and was like omg i’ve missed you, i can’t believe you’re a fan

you’re like i’ve gotta seize this opportunity

so you’re like johnny i’m in love with you

and he’s like OMG I’VE BEEN IN LOVE WITH YOU TOO

and once again you guys look at each other like 👁👄👁

johnny’s first instinct is to be like wanna date then

and you

being the rational one

asked about you being a fan

and he was like OH SHIT RIGHT

but you two brought it up with sm and somehow they let you two date

Lee Taeyong

BECOMING FRIENDS THROUGH ANIMAL CROSSING

so of course this mans plays animal crossing

we been knew

but one day he needed to sell his turnips very desperately

and used an app to find someone with the highest prices

which happened to be you

and so

your island is the cutest and most amazing island taeyong ever seen

you have a welcome sign and are so nice to him in the game

he saw that you have some custom designs of nct stuff and that’s when he found out he was on a fan’s island

but he doesn’t really care

and he asks for your number so you two can text

he told you to call him yongie

so he can be anonymous

and over time you two just fell for each other

taeyong becomes worried when he realizes that he’s fallen for you

because you’re a fan and if he confesses without ever doing a video call or meeting in person it’s weird

but he decides to confess to you over text and makes sure you actually like him for him

after taeyong confirms that you like him too he suggests going on a video call

that’s when you two see each other for the first time and you’re like omg

and he asks you to be his s/o

Yuta Nakamoto

FOLLOWS A FAN ACCOUNT AND FALLS FOR THE PERSON IN CHARGE OF THE ACCOUNT

disclaimer : i don't know how the photo accounts actually work

but anyways

this man is full of himself

it’s kinda obvious

so of course he follows fan accounts

one day he direct messages you to see photos that you haven’t posted yet

and you were like um hi??

who are you??

he’s like hi i’m yuta i wanna see photos of myself, also do not post about this interaction or else i can sue you 🥰🥰

so you’re like um ok first i want confirmation that you’re yuta and not some crazy fan wanting unreleased photos

anyways

after that whole shebang

you two just start talking on the regular about anything and everything

and he realizes that he’s fallen for you

he doesn’t care that you’re a fan because he’s genuinely fallen for you

and the next time he sees you at an event is when he confesses how he feels

Kim Doyoung

HE GETS SAVED FROM SAESANGS

we all know that mans hates saesangs and fights them a lot

so one day doyoung is trying to escape some crazy fans

but nothing is working and they keep catching up to him

you end up running into him when he’s running away

realizing that saesangs are following him like crazy you figure he must be an idol

and so you grab his hand

you pull doyoung to a really small café that no one knows about

once you’ve lost them you realize that it really is doyoung that you were hanging onto

doyoung starts to open his mouth to thank you when all of a sudden you start apologizing

“i’m so sorry! it was really rude of me to just grab onto you and drag you around. i can’t believe saesangs are like that! honestly i hate being in the same fandom as them when they do stuff like this.”

he sits there like 👁👄👁

“so you’re a fan of mine?”

“oh yes, i’m so sorry for just grabbing you like that doyoung. i should’ve asked you first.”

he’s like “actually, i should pay you back. you got me away from the saesangs.”

so you two go on a date

and then he finds he actually likes you and that you make him feel normal even though you’re a fan of his group

he’s surprised because he thought he would fall in love with a fellow idol and not someone who idolizes him

Jaehyun (Jung Jaehyun or Jung Yoonoh)

HE MEETS THEM DURING A BUSKING

while strolling through seoul on his day out jaehyun stumbled upon a group of people doing a busking

the songs they were performing happened to be NCT songs which is what caught his attention

there was one person who had completely captured his attention

which happened to be you

luckily for jaehyun he was wearing a hat and a mask which meant that no one would know it was him

he watched as you performed and was completely enamoured with your charm and looks

after your performance had ended jaehyun decided to come up to you

he was like “i think you’re super cool and really good looking do you wanna hang out sometime”

no cap you recognize his voice and are like “🤩 yessir”

he keeps coming to your buskings and you two hang out all the time

he quickly falls for you but is worried that you only like him because he’s an idol

he gets johnny or mark to ask you how you feel about him and if you care that he’s an idol

jaehyun’s decision is set when they tell him you like him for him and not because he’s famous

Kim Jungwoo

THEY DO AEGYO DURING A FAN MEET

jungwoo loves the shit out of these fan meets

he’s anxious about them of course but he loves meeting fans and seeing them

before the fan meet had even begun jungwoo spotted you in the crowd

he thought you were the best looking person he’s ever seen and couldn’t wait to meet you

he forgot about you but when he heard mark laughing at someone and saw you he got all excited again

finally when you came up to him you performed some aegyo for him

he thinks he’s died and gone to heaven you are so cute

you guys chat it up during the time you guys have with each other and he sneaks his phone number in for you

he loves the fact that you’re a fan because it means you just appreciate what he does so much more

Mark Lee

ACCIDENTALLY HITS THEM WITH A NCT BONG DURING A CONCERT

ok so picture this

all the members were given some light sticks for this song to just fool around

when the song starts haechan looks at mark and is like “i dare you to recreate that video of taeyong dancing and breaking the light stick without you actually breaking the stick”

spoiler alert

it still fucking breaks and hits you in the face

mark is screaming that he’s sorry and tells the security guards to bring you backstage

haechan is on the floor laughing because he can’t believe mark just hit a fan in the face

once mark is backstage he’s rushing around looking around for you

once he spots you he’s on his knees apologizing so hard he switches to english

you’re like “it’s ok! i’m fine! it’s just gonna bruise a little maybe”

he’s like “THAT’S EVEN WORSE”

so he’s like “how ‘bout you go out with me after the concert so i can repay you for this”

ofc you say yes

so you two go out to get something to eat

and mark falls for you so quick

he likes everything about you that you’ve shown so far

he also really likes the fact that you’re a fan because that means he has a chance with you since you already like him and understand what he’s doing

Haechan (Lee Donghyuck)

HE MEETS HER ON TIKTOK MAKING FUN OF RENJUN

so this mans obvs has a tik tok

he loves the trends and seeing what fans are doing

and one day he stumbles upon your tik tok making fun of renjun

it’s you and your friends recreating iconic nct moments and you’re the one who gets to recreate the renjun video

you know the voice crack during the my first and last era

he dies when he sees your recreation of that video

he direct messages you and asks if you guys can be friends because you seem so cool and cute

you’re like sure how bout we talk on snap

and that’s when you find out that he’s haechan

he tells you to not say anything about his identity

you two become close and eventually meet up like regular friends

he doesn’t really remember that you’re a fan because he feels normal around you

and that’s what he really likes about you

#nct 127 imagines #nct 127 x reader #nct 127 reactions #nct 127 scenarios #nct x reader #nct imagines #nct reactions #nct scenarios

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ft-dads-au · 4 years

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Kiss Me

Fanart by @oryu404, do not repost without their permission. A collaboration by @mdelpin and @oryu404

Stingue Fall Equinox 2020 Prompt: Warmth Pairing: Sting x Rogue, Sting & Orga

AO3 | FF.Net

Summary: Sting has one thing on his mind when Rogue shows up at his dorm room unexpectedly: the kiss they'd shared at the end of a week spent studying together for midterms. He's dying to get Rogue alone again, but first he has to get past the embarrassment of his messy room, and his nosy roommate.

October 27, 2012

“Check this out,” Orga laughed as he showed Sting yet another silly TikTok on his phone. He had to raise his voice a little to surpass the sound of the music he’d put on- some kind of rock band Sting knew most songs from by now. “I’ve already seen that one, blockhead. You bombard me with so many of these that you can’t even remember which ones you’ve already sent me?” Sting groaned when his roommate shrugged at his comment and started singing along to the music, “Turn it down, people are still asleep! It’s barely past 10!” He had just finished speaking when they heard a loud banging against the wall. “See?” he flashed him a look that said I told you so, feeling rather victorious when Orga turned the volume down a little. Sadly enough, he didn’t stop singing. “Whoa-oa-oah, so hun-gry~” “The-eh-eh-en get fucking dre-essed~ We’re all out of...everything.” Sting checked the minifridge and the small cabinet they used for snacks, pouting in disappointment when all he found were empty wrappers and some leftovers from a salad that looked like it was ready to crawl out of its container. He pulled a face as he dumped it into the trash, “Nasty…”

“Or-” Orga swiped across the screen of his phone, “we could get some lunch delivered! What’re you up for? Pizza? Burgers? Ooh! You should try 8-Island!” The idea of getting delivery was very tempting, but they’d done that so many times already over the midterm week that Sting was almost looking forward to the crappy dorm food. He could hear his mother’s voice inside his head, giving him a lecture about the importance of healthy meals. Oh well, what she didn’t know wouldn’t hurt her. “But-” he was cut off when Orga raised the volume again. “This is the best part!” “Normally, yes! Your caterwauling kind of ruins it for me, though!” Sting noticed Orga was busy singing into the TV-remote for an invisible audience, so he took his chance and dashed for the computer. He was able to lower the volume to a more acceptable level again, despite Orga’s sung protest, but a loud knock at the door told him the damage was probably already done. “Great, now we have pissed off people at the door, which I have to answer because you’re still not dressed.”

Plastering a smile on his face, he opened the door, ready to charm his way out of yet another noise complaint. His smile widened as he recognized the person standing on the other side. That was until Orga opened his mouth.

“Is that Dobengal whining again? Cause if it is, tell him he can suck my big fat -”

Sting waved at Rogue cheerfully and put his hand up in a wait-one-sec gesture, quickly closing the door before Orga had a chance to finish that statement.

“It’s not Dobengal,” Sting hissed, “and can you put some clothes on?”

“Fine, fine. What’s got your panties in a bunch?” Orga muttered, searching through the pile of clothes that lay at the foot of his bed for a pair of pants. “There, happy?”

While Orga got dressed, Sting grabbed all of his clothes and threw them into his wardrobe in a last-ditch effort to make the room look somewhat habitable.

“Are, like, your parents here for a surprise visit or something?” Orga asked.

“No, worse. Rogue,” Sting explained, continuing to throw the contents of his floor into his wardrobe. He pushed all his weight against the doors to force them to shut, and when that didn’t work, he hooked his desk chair with his leg and dragged it towards him in an attempt to lodge it under the handles.

“You mean the guy you’re always talking about?”

Sting didn’t like the gleam in Orga’s eyes at the news or the way he made kissy faces at him. “Oh, come on, don’t be an asshole for once. Please?”

“We have a guest, and you shouldn’t leave him waiting outside. You wouldn’t want Dobengal to have a go at him, would you?” Orga smiled sweetly, and with that, Sting hurried to the door. He could only hope the wardrobe would hold.

Giving himself a quick once over in the mirror that hung behind the door and deeming himself presentable, he opened the door again and leaned against it. “Hey there! Sorry about that, loud roommate, and all that.”

“Hey,” Rogue replied, looking slightly uncomfortable but happy to see him.

“Uhm, do you wanna come in?” Sting almost wished he’d say no so that they could get out of there, but he knew it would be rude not to ask, especially after nearly slamming the door in his face. “Actually, I was just wondering if-”

Sting was ungraciously shoved aside, nearly faceplanting on the floor when Orga joined, “Are you Rogue? Nice to meet you. I’m Orga!” He gave Rogue a handshake that had his whole arm moving up and down and flung the door wide open. “Come in, come in!” Sting watched with growing dread as his roommate pulled his crush inside their room and showed it off. He didn’t see why. There was nothing worth showing off. His efforts to get his clothes out of sight barely made a difference. “Take a seat!” Orga gestured from Sting’s bed to the chair that was cranked underneath the wardrobe door handles, offering both as viable options even though he could see Sting waving his arms and shaking his head. “So, Sting told me you were in a band. Are you guys still looking for members?” “Don’t-” Sting quickly blocked the chair before Rogue would sit on it, “uhm...invite him to your band! He’s basically tone-deaf!” He regretted his words the second he saw Orga’s challenging smirk. The gloves were off. He needed to get them out of there quickly before Orga had a chance to humiliate him further.

“We’re all set, actually,” Rogue replied, eyes drifting across the room and taking in the mess with obvious distaste.

“Too bad, you guys are really good.”

“Oh, have you seen us play?” Rogue asked curiously.

“Not seen exactly, as much as heard,” Orga grinned cheerfully, “Sting plays your music all the time.”

That bastard!

Rogue was gazing at him, a surprised expression on his face, but at least it didn’t look like he thought he was a weirdo. There was still a chance to get out of this without suffering too much ego damage. He just had to get them out of there before Orga could say anything else.

“Guilty,” he smiled, “I like to listen to it sometimes, helps me get in the groove to study.”

“Sometimes?” Orga chortled. “Anyway,” Sting coughed into his hand, “What are you up to?”

“Oh,” Rogue focused on him once again, “I was running some errands nearby and thought you might like to get some coffee.”

“That sounds great!” Sting agreed readily, “Just let me grab my stuff.”

He scrambled to grab his phone, keys, coat, and wallet from their various locations around the room, having no trouble finding them despite the mess.

“Oh, can I come too?” Orga asked in a tone that Sting immediately did not trust.

“No!” Sting answered, grabbing Rogue by the arm and pulling him towards the door.

“Oh, you’re right. You probably want some private time to suck face again, my bad.”

Sting stopped mid-step, not sure what to do with himself after his roommate blurted out that little tidbit, and not wanting to look at Rogue’s face either. It proved to be a mistake as the chair holding the wardrobe closed slid out of place and fell over, hitting the floor with a loud smack. The doors flew open, and an avalanche of dirty laundry cascaded out onto the floor.

Orga’s laughs echoed in the room, and Sting could feel his cheeks burning from mortification, but to his great relief, he could hear Rogue laughing along.

“Let’s-uh... go,” Sting managed to get out, still feeling like he’d like to find a hole to crawl into. He flipped Orga off and closed the door behind them, muffling the loud love song blasting from the computer speakers to accompany their departure.

“God, I’m so sorry for him, he’s-,” Sting gestured with his hands in frustration, not able to come up with a word to adequately describe his roommate and still flustered by what the idiot had said.

“That’s nothing, trust me, my older brother can be worse,” Rogue chuckled. “How did your midterms go?” “I’m not sure, but I think I did okay?” Sting threaded his fingers through his hair. In truth, there were a few he wasn’t so confident about, and he’d been somewhat on edge waiting for the professors to post the results, but he didn’t really want to talk about that.

There was only one thing that had been on his mind since they’d last parted ways, and it was the kiss they’d shared. He’d worried about it, relived it, and pretty much obsessed over it since it had happened, but there had been no time to talk about it during midterm week.

Now he had all the time in the world, but no idea how to bring it up casually. God, he wanted to do it again, and he had a feeling Rogue did as well. The fact that he'd shown up on his doorstep the day after midterms were over at least betrayed that he'd wanted to spend time together, didn't it? But of course, Sting had no way to be sure, so he decided he’d let Rogue lead the conversation. ”What about you?”

“I’m only worried about Bio. The rest were pretty easy.”

As they discussed the Biology test, they reached the dorm’s exit, and Sting hurried to hold the door open for Rogue, smiling slightly when he saw the other’s eye roll at the gesture. His smile disappeared completely when a gust of cold air blew past him, making him grab onto his open coat and fold it tightly closed over his chest. “C-c-cold!”

“I have no idea how you’re going to survive the winter, if you think this is cold,” Rogue teased.

“You mean it gets worse?!” Sting replied in mock horror.

“Maybe we can find you a wool crop top,” Rogue snorted, “Come on, let’s go get that coffee before you freeze to death.” After weeks of being cooped inside studying for midterms, many students were out enjoying what was a rather beautiful day for this time of year. The sun was out, and despite Sting’s complaints, it was relatively warm.

A short walk brought them to the campus coffee shop, a busy place called Heavenly Brews, which sadly did not live up to its name. It was convenient though, not to mention cheap, and as expected, it was full of other students who’d had the same idea. But the service was fast, and in less than ten minutes, they each had a large cup of piping hot coffee.

Sting insisted on paying, still wanting to make up for Orga’s...well, everything, and Rogue let him. Once back outside, they began walking in a random direction, moving away from the hustle and bustle around campus to more quiet places.

“Every damn time,” Rogue shook his head as he showed Sting his coffee cup, turning it around so it showed the name written on it. Rouge.

Sting giggled, receiving an elbow to his side for his response. “What? It’s funny! Besides, that’s nothing. Try growing up with a name like Sting.”

He wrapped both hands around his drink, feeling its warmth seeping through the double cup as they walked. He recognized the area they were in from his morning runs. There was a small park further down the street that he’d often visited with Orga to throw a frisbee around when they were getting stressed.

Sting took in their surroundings, swiftly realizing he’d been so busy studying the last few weeks that he’d barely noticed the telltale signs of fall. Even though the leaves were not as brightly colored as those he was used to seeing in Edolas, they were still quite beautiful, covering the ground in a blanket of browns, yellows, crimsons, and oranges.

They reached the park entrance, and Sting decided it would be a nice place to talk. They walked past a game of touch football, making their way towards the small duck pond. The sound of the leaves crunching under their feet was satisfying, and he was pleased to find that with the ducks having already left to migrate south, the benches facing the pond were unoccupied. He immediately claimed one that was slightly hidden behind the thick trunk of a large oak tree, and Rogue sat beside him.

The air might be cold and crisp, but the sun’s rays warming his skin through the barren branches made it still pleasant enough to be outside. Or maybe, he guessed as he looked to his side, eyes drawn to Rogue’s lips as they blew small white clouds into his coffee cup, it had nothing to do with the sun at all.

“Penny for your thoughts?” Rogue asked when he caught him staring, lowering his coffee until his hands were resting in his lap. Fuck it. Sting put his coffee down next to him on the bench, freeing his hands so he could cup Rogue's rosy cold cheeks. He leaned in and kissed him, all sense of cold disappearing when Rogue deepened the kiss.

"I was just thinking about how much I've wanted to do that again," he confessed, still close enough for their lips to brush against each other with every word he spoke.

Rogue smiled sheepishly and asked, "And you really thought I'd get up before noon on a Saturday just to get sub-par coffee?"

"Hmm… true, you’re not a morning person at all,” Sting chuckled, “so I guess I should make it worth your while, then.” He pressed his lips against Rogue’s again, soon forgetting the rest of the world around them. He had no idea how long they stayed lost in each other, but by the time they broke apart, their coffees had gone from scalding hot to barely warmer than the heat that was burning under his skin.

Sting was about to risk spoiling the moment by saying something possibly sappy or cliche when his stomach spoke up in his stead, unleashing a loud roar that made Rogue hack up a laugh. “Wanna go out for lunch with me?” he asked when he was done laughing, finding it hard not to start all over again when he saw Sting’s pouty face. "I think you already know the answer to that.” Sting got off the bench, pulling Rogue along with him, and despite feeling a bit nervous about it, he kept holding his hand as they passed other people enjoying the outdoors on their free Saturdays. As they walked back towards the park’s entrance, Sting noticed kids playing around in the leaves, gathering them into big piles and throwing them around, reminding him of afternoons spent with Yukino when they were younger.

“I used to do that with my best friend when we were about that age,” The corner of his mouth curved up at the memory. “Did you do stuff like that?”

Rogue laughed heartily, “Every year. My dad and his best friend were the biggest kids in my family. So his daughter, my brother, and I would help them make these huge leaf piles. We’d come up with some rather creative jumps. My poor mom would totally lose it when she saw what we were up to.”

Sting snorted, thinking of how childish his own dad could be at times. It was something he’d always loved about him. “Are you thinking what I’m thinking?” His eyes twinkled with mischief as he pointed at a large leaf pile that sat a ways from where the kids played.

He was pleased to feel Rogue squeeze his hand briefly before issuing him a challenge, “Last one in pays for lunch!”

Rogue had already started his approach as Sting watched mesmerized until the words sunk in, “Hey! That’s cheating!”

He chased after him, overtaking him easily and laughing at Rogue’s protests. In the end, Sting slowed down and grabbed Rogue’s hand, counting down to one so they could both jump in at the same time.

Leaves flew all around them in a swirl of colors before blowing away. Sting stretched his body, much like a cat searching for a sunny spot, while still holding on to Rogue’s hand. When he was satisfied, he rested his head on Rogue’s shoulder, content to just lay there snuggled together for the time being.

When he’d first gotten to Magnolia for his exchange year, Sting hadn’t been sure if he’d made the right decision. He hadn’t made many friends, the weather was uncomfortable, and everything had been more difficult than he was used to.

Meeting Rogue had made him feel a little bit more at home in a foreign place, and although he knew he'd be moving back to Edolas at the end of the school year, he refused to deny the feeling that was bursting inside of him whenever they were together. So even though falling in love had never been part of the plan, it was far too late for him to resist. Not that he really wanted to.

Sting turned over on his stomach, captivated by the warm fall tones reflected in Rogue’s eyes. “I missed you this week,” he admitted, nudging their faces closer together and running his fingers through Rogue’s hair, gently picking out some leaves.

They stared at each other until Rogue grabbed hold of Sting’s jacket, pulling him in for another kiss.

“Me too,” Rogue’s contented hum at their closeness warmed Sting’s heart, chasing away any lingering chill he’d felt.

#fairy tail #ftdadsau #stingue #fyeahstingue #ftlgbtales #Stingue Fall Equinox 2020 #fics #prompt: warmth #media

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kizykinz · 4 years

Text

“The Reunion Chat :)” Pt 5

Pt1 Pt2 Pt3 Pt4 Pt5

Zayn- Hey are any of you going to protests?

Liam- Me and Maya are going tomorrow, why? What’s up? What do you need?

Zayn- nothing, I was just wondering.

Harry- I’m out right now.

Louis- same. London is crazy right now.

Harry- La is insane, too.

Niall- I don’t know when I’m going out but I know I am.

Zayn- I’m not gonna go out, but I donated some money and signed petitions until my fingers hurt, same with Gi.

Louis- Eleanor and I did too. My laptop was glitching from the amount of tabs open.

Niall- I’ve been sharing them on my story all morning.

Harry- It doesn’t matter if you can’t protest or donate, just sign petitions and share stories, y’know?

Niall- Yeah, I get you. I sent links to my family for a good hour last night.

Zayn- Black

Liam- Lives

Harry- Matter

Louis- Stay

Niall- Safe.

Harry- I’m going home today!!

Louis- You’re coming home today!!

Niall- and that’s on the two week rule.

Zayn- I’m going to London in a day or two for some meetings and to see my family.

Louis- hm. I don’t remember asking, Zayn.

Zayn- okay well-

Liam- be nice oh my god.

Louis- bE nIcE oH mY goD

Liam- STOP

Louis- sToP

Niall- hehe

Liam- You’re so annoying.

Louis- yOuRe sO aNnOyIng

Liam- I hate harry styles

Louis- I’m not saying that.

Harry- oh my god, I forgot I had a house in California.

Zayn- you forgot?

Niall- What?

Harry- I JUST STAYED AT A HOTEL

Liam- jesus.

Louis- I don’t even know what to say. YOU HAVE LIKE A MILLION HOUSES

Harry- WE HAVE A LOT OF MONEY. WE ARE FAMOUS LOUIS

Louis- YEAH BUT I’VE NEVER FORGOTTEN ABOUT A HOUSE

Niall- yikers.

Zayn- did you just say yikers.

Niall- yikers.

Harry- I’m boarding the plane now, 7.4, 7, 7.8, and 10.2. I’ll talk to you when I land.

Liam- sTop please I am begging.

Zayn- TEN POINT TWO????

Niall- expose me like that? Jesus.

Louis- why is it so specific? Like. ??

Zayn- TEN POINT TWO?

Niall- why, do you think it’s off?

Louis- well yeah, harry is definitely not 8.8

Liam- i fucking hate it here. I’m leaving.

Niall- oh so he’s just gonna ZAYN like that? K.

Zayn- TEN POINT TWO. ~

Harry- I landed.

Niall- ONTO LOUIS’ LIPS

Niall- WITH YOUR LIPS

Liam- How was the flight?

Harry- it was nice, I slept the whole time.

Zayn- Ni...no. Hey! That rhymes!

Niall- no, no. It doesn’t.

Liam- you slept through a ten hour flight?

Harry- well, on and off. It was a VERY awkward flight.

Niall- Where is Louis?

Harry- He’s driving, but he says hi!

Niall- fucking knew it.

Liam- how?

Harry- by pushing on the gas pedal?

Liam- no, how was the flight awkward?

Harry- ohhhhhh

Niall- HIT THE PEDAL HEAVY METAL SHOW ME YOU CARE

Zayn- i have a breaking point .

Harry- there was a girl next to me that was sleeping and just BLASTING Taylor’s songs. Which, like, cool. Vibes. Good music. But, she like fucking specifically chose “Songs about Harry Styles.” I swear. so there’s that.

Niall- HAHHA Zayn- I laughed.

Liam- And i oop-

Niall- no.

Harry- yeah, and then there was a stewardess that kept flirting with me.

Niall- tHeRe WaS a StEwArdEsS tHaT kEpT flIrtInG wItH mE!

Liam- ?

Zayn- what is happening.

Niall- what? Louis can’t do it so someone had to.

Harry- facts.

Liam- facts. Harry just said facts.

Harry- I’m on twitter too much i stg.

Niall- and you never post. Me, Liam, and gigi are the only people CARRYING this fandom.

Zayn- he didn’t technically lie.

Liam- zayn, when do you get in?

Zayn- 2 pm, your time, tomorrow.

Liam- yay! We’ll have to meet and catch up.

Niall- they’re going to fuck. I bet five dollars harry.

Harry- Ni, they’re not gay. They both have kids with women.

Niall- so does Louis.

Harry- Touche.

Harry- make it ten dollars.

Niall- IM SCREAMING

Liam- what

Louis- here we go.

Niall- SOMEONEMADE LIKE A THING WHERE ITS HARRY ADN THen ONE IS LOUIS HELP I CANTBEHDErhE

Harry- what

Zayn- you haven’t seen it?

Harry- no? I’m so confused.

Niall- https://vm.tiktok.com/JJnSfh7/

Liam- HAHAHA OH MY GOD! LOUIS!

Louis- oh my god. This is why i don’t have tiktok.

Niall- https://vm.tiktok.com/JJnjWYA/

Harry- ew. Go back. Delete.

Zayn- that genuinely scares me so much.

Harry- if i start crying now, i don't think i will ever stop.

Zayn- why? Is it March 25th?

Louis- y'know what? Fuck off.

Liam- ME AND ZAYN HAVE AN IDEA

Zayn- Liam has an idea.

Liam- I HAVE AN IDEA.

Harry- deja vu

Niall- doja cat

Louis- I can’t.

Liam- WERE ALL IN LONDON!

Louis- we’re all in London?

Liam- YEAH! ZAYN SAID HE WAS COMING LIKE A DAY AGO IN THIS GC

Louis- I don’t pay attention to what he says.

Zayn- sometimes you have to pretend that you’re fine and you’re really not but you couldn’t get into it because they would never understand.

Liam- I’m just saying that it would be good to meet up somewhere and talk about the reunion.

Zayn- I’m not in the band again, I’m just coming for emotional support from modest.

Harry- we’re not signed with them anymore…

Zayn- Oh.

Zayn- then im just going to bully lewis.

Louis- lEwiS

Niall- LEWIS CAPALDI

Liam- Okay here, I’ll see you all at the Shangri-La Hotel in London at 3 am.

Niall- sir, what?

Liam- do we want people to see us and make it into a big deal…? Louis, Harry, do you want that.

Harry- i mean, I wouldn’t mind it…

Louis- no.

Zayn- I’m still on America time so okay.

Liam- okay. I’ll see you there.

Louis- Niall?? Where are you?? You’re thirty minutes late!

Niall- sorry, sorry. I was protecting our ASSES.

Liam- please don’t touch my ass.

Niall- someone saw you and harry go into the hotel together and then saw maya outside the doors you little shits. AND THEn, zayn’s sister said that Zayn was in London. I was doing damage control.

Harry- that’s it?

Niall- No, I picked up food. Come get it, I’m in the lobby.

Zayn- now this is the kind of stuff to make me stay.

Harry- Happy Father’s day, boys!

Louis- Thank you, Hazza.

Liam- THANKS!

Harry- Happy first Father’s day Zayn.

Zayn- aw, thank you H.

Niall- Happy father’s day Liam!

Liam- ?

Louis- just liam?

Zayn- yeah um?

Niall- yeah, because he’s MY daddy.

Zayn- that breaking point has been hit. I will now zayn.

Niall- don’t you dare leave.

Zayn- I-

Niall- Don’t you DARE leave.

Harry- I actually have something to tell you all, and it’s important. You might want to sit down, Louis doesn’t even know.

Louis- what?

Niall- fuck. Iceberg ahead.

Harry- I’m going to be a father.

Louis- what the fuck.

Niall- iCEBERG IS GETTING CLOSER

Liam- oh my god.

Zayn- but louis?

Harry- I am happy to announce that I am pregnant. Me and Gigi have the same due date. Louis is the other father.

Louis- i almost cried

Liam- ANOTHER KID LOUIS? WOW.

Niall- iceberg had been avoided. The ship almost fucking sank.

Niall- again.

Zayn- jesus.

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wineanddinosaur · 3 years

Text

VinePair Podcast: Do We Really Need More Celebrity Booze?

Celebrities have long been involved with the beverage alcohol industry, and the volume of celebrity brands continues to grow exponentially. On this episode of the “VinePair Podcast,” co-hosts Adam Teeter, Joanna Sciarrino, and Zach Geballe reflect on why celebrities get involved in the industry, and how their products resonate (or don’t) with the public.

For the Friday tasting, the three try out a popular celebrity wine — Snoop Dogg’s 19 Crimes Cali Red. Was it a celebrity wine worth buying again for the group? Tune in to find out.

Additionally, Teeter sits down with Sovereign Brands CEO Brett Berish for a conversation on his successful partnerships with celebrities like Jay-Z and Rick Ross. Berish talks about his approach to celebrity brand partnerships, why he doesn’t look at market research, and what it takes for a celebrity-backed product to find success.

Tune in, and learn more about Brett Berish’s Sovereign Brands at https://www.sovereignbrands.com/.

LISTEN ONLINE

Listen on Apple Podcasts

Listen on Spotify

OR CHECK OUT THE CONVERSATION HERE

Adam Teeter: From VinePair’s New York City headquarters, I’m Adam Teeter.

Joanna Sciarrino: I’m Joanna Sciarrino.

Zach Geballe: And in Seattle, Washington, I’m Zach Geballe.

A: As a very iconic singer would say, “It’s Friday, Friday, gotta get down on Friday.” Dude, what happened to Rebecca Black? Come on, Rebecca. Well, she’s on TikTok now. Anyway, she’s a celebrity, and what we’re going to talk about today is celebrities. We are going to talk about celebrity alcohol.

Celebrities have always been involved in alcohol, whether as spokespeople, whether as consumers, et cetera. Alcohol is a sexy space for celebrities to be a part of. They’re premium products. They’re lifestyle products. They’re fun. It feels like, in the last decade or even five years, the amount of celebrities getting involved in alcohol products has absolutely exploded. Some have been massively successful. Some have been massive failures where someone came out with it and then you never heard about it again. What do you both think about celebrity spirits, wines, and beers? If a celebrity is involved with something, are you more or less likely to consume it or try it?

J: I find it just so curious how it’s been such a recent development and how many there are. I don’t find it more appealing when a celebrity is attached to a brand. I probably actually feel the opposite, because I’m really suspicious of the quality of it. That’s my take. I think it’s so interesting how it’s evolved from celebrities being spokespeople for a brand to being involved and having a cut of it.

A: There are definitely different ways you can go about it. You can either be the spokesperson that makes it seem like you have a lot to do with the brand. Matthew McConaughey is a great example of that. He’s the creative director of Wild Turkey. Wild Turkey’s already owned by Campari, though. He may have a stake in it. I have no idea at this point. I think he has his own line, too, with Wild Turkey. That’s a little different than starting the brand yourself a la The Rock or Conor McGregor, who then sold to Proximo. I was going to use Ryan Reynolds as that example, and then a lot of people on our team have reminded me that Reynolds didn’t actually start the brand. He came onto the brand a few years in, but then they cut him in and made him an owner of the brand.

J: Is that still the case?

A: Diageo owns it now.

Z: They sold it.

A: It sold for, like, $700 million. Clooney started Casamigos. Zach, what do you think? Are you more or less likely to buy because there’s a celebrity attached?

Z: I think there are maybe a couple different genres of celebrity alcohol products. In wine, you think of Francis Ford Coppola or someone like that. On the one hand, they never hid who was behind the winery. His name is on the bottles. The cachet of the product is, in part, that it’s a wine nominally made, or at least owned, by a famous director. At the same time, you could look at the winery and say, “OK, presumably Coppola was really into wine and decided he wanted to have a winery.” He was not hesitant to put his name all over it, but like —

J: He actually was. He didn’t want his name on it.

Z: Oh, that’s true. You guys interviewed him. Somehow, marketing people were able to get him over that. You don’t have to dig to figure out what celebrity is behind that.

J: Exactly.

Z: Then, there are these other things that fit into this weird middle ground. That’s like McConaughey with Wild Turkey. Obviously, Wild Turkey existed long before Matthew McConaughey was born. What a creative director does is hard to say. But, there’s obviously something more than just an endorsement going on there. Then, there are also the run-of-the-mill endorsements.

I don’t know that I have an answer to your question, Adam, other than to say that as a buyer at a restaurant, we certainly had Aviation Gin and Wild Turkey. We didn’t have a lot of these other products that are so clearly branded with a celebrity imprimatur.

What is fascinating to me is this: You think about this especially with hip hop music. We went from name-checking luxury brands as a way to prove your status — like saying “I can buy a Cristal” — to name-checking a brand that you own or are heavily involved with. That’s a whole ‘nother level of flex. It’s like saying, “I can’t just buy a Cristal, I also have my own Champagne.”

That kind of cachet and the way that it motivates consumption is fascinating. Maybe people still think, “I’m going to buy Ace of Spades because that’s what Jay-Z drinks and I want to be like Jay-Z.” That money’s going to Jay-Z, you know? It’s a great move. It’s savvy. Why should Roederer, who dissed you, get that money for Cristal when you can get that money. That’s pretty brilliant if you’re an entrepreneur. What I want your guys is opinion on is, are we getting to a point now where there are so many celebrity products that they no longer stand out?

J: Yes. There are so many of them. There’s this ranking that Aaron Goldfarb did in Esquire of 63 of them. That’s a lot, and it’s not even all of them.

A: He only did spirits. He didn’t even touch Cameron Diaz’s clean wine. Vera Wang has a Prosecco. John Legend has a wine. There is a lot. What’s interesting with these brands is that the only way they’re successful is if the celebrity actually lives and breathes them and feels very committed. Then, the brands actually do grow. Where they grow is not on, but off premise. They become huge off premise. A lot of these brands are massive off-premise brands. It’s people who love MMA and Conor. He drinks his whiskey in every press conference. He’s talking about Proper Twelve all the time. So, when they watch an MMA fight, they drink Proper Twelve. They’re not going to the bar looking for it. At the bar, I would guess Proper Twelve has still had a very hard time unseating Jameson, which is basically its direct competitor.

Same with Teremana. A lot of people probably have Teremana at home. Ken Austin, who created both those brands with Dwayne and Conor, told us when we interviewed him a few months ago that his belief is that if you don’t live the brand and are not fully committed, that he doesn’t want to do it with you because it will fail. A lot of times, there’s the belief among a person’s team that, “We’ve done this with perfume. We’ve done this with other things. Why would this not work with alcohol?” Alcohol is such a different beast.

When I’ve talked to some of the top executives at Diageo, Campari, and others, they’ve all echoed this. The only successful partnerships they’re ever had are when the celebrity is fully invested. Cîroc was, and is, successful because Sean Combs has a piece of the brand, is very connected to the brand, and really controls how it shows up in public. People know his attachment to it is authentic. Same with Matthew McConaughey. It’s a very authentic connection to Wild Turkey. People don’t see him as just this paid spokesman who’s trying to trade on his name. They really, truly believe he loves that bourbon.

Z: That’s the difference. You have to believe that the celebrity drinks the thing that you’re buying. In the luxury realm, if someone has a sponsorship with Burberry and they wear Burberry a lot, it probably helps. But, no one expects that’s the only clothing they’ll ever wear.

With beverage alcohol, it has to be plausible that the celebrity would actually drink this stuff. You can’t fake that. People’s detectors are good enough on that kind of stuff, that a product that does not align with a celebrity’s public image in any way would have a really hard time.

A: I think that’s 100 percent on point. It’s why Kendall Jenner got so much crap when she released her tequila. Everyone thought, “Drinking 1942 doesn’t mean that you know how to make tequila.” That’s great that she loves that product. It’s a great product, but that doesn’t mean she should be making tequila. That doesn’t mean people should believe she has any connection to it and that she’s going to be someone people believe is passionate enough about this, that she’s going to make a great liquid, which she probably is not.

Z: There’s also this cultural appropriation element to it, too. It’s going to be much more pertinent with something like tequila than with gin, say.

I have one other question in this space for both of you: Do you think that this social media age that we’re in now is part of the reason why this works? Celebrities just have such incredible followings. These days, that following is so unfiltered. You can literally follow them on whatever social media platform. It gives them that direct access that must be like a slot machine going off in a beverage alcohol company’s brain. They don’t have to pay for placement in a magazine or on TV this way.

If the celebrity’s got a piece of it, they’ll want to post about it because it’s money in their pocket. They can live it through social media, which is the only way any of us ever access them anyhow, and it feels authentic. Ten years ago, no matter how passionate someone might have been about a product, it was going to be very hard. You had to play ball with publications to get that message out. It was uncertain whether you’d reach your audience. Now, you know you can reach your audience because your audience is hanging on your every post.

J: I don’t follow Cameron Diaz on Instagram, but I peeked at her Instagram recently. It was all Avaline. She lives it.

Z: On social media, at least.

A: Why don’t we listen to this interview I did with Brett Berish of Sovereign Brands. He’s created Ace of Spades, D’USSE, Luc Belaire, and a bunch of really amazing brands with a bunch of very famous people, including Jay-Z and Rick Ross.

CONVERSATION WITH BRETT BERISH, FOUNDER AND CEO OF SOVEREIGN BRANDS

A: I am super excited to be talking to Brett Berish, who is the founder and CEO of Sovereign Brands. Brett, thank you so much for joining me.

Brett Berish: Thanks, Adam. Happy to be on.

A: Can you give me a little bit of background on yourself and on Sovereign?

B: Yes. I grew up in the liquor industry.

A: Are we talking about being born into it?

B: Born into it, in different capacities. I like to think that we’re third generation. My grandparents on my mother’s side were distributors in Madison, Wis. My dad worked for the same liquor company for 45 years. I have three older brothers and what we all remember best about being christened into liquor was when we were in first grade. We walked to school with bottles in our hands to take them to teachers as gifts.

A: That’s amazing.

B: We were always around it. I grew up in this industry based on my father. That’s all he ever talked about. He has a true passion for it.

A: That’s awesome. You’ve created some pretty famous brands. I’d love it if we could chat about that and what made you start Sovereign. You started Ace of Spades, which a lot of people are very well aware of now, thanks to Jay-Z. There’s D’USSE, which is his Cognac. How did that happen? How did you start creating these brands and how did you do it with someone like Jay-Z?

B: I’m in the liquor and wine space, so that’s all I know. I’m a fan of music. I’m a fan of sports. I couldn’t do music. I couldn’t do sports. All the brands were created for the industry, though. It’s based on me and my team thinking, “Can we make a product better? Can we do better in the Champagne category? Can we do better in the rum category? Can we do better in the gin category?”

The basis of all the brands are based on that. How we then roll them out and put ourselves into lifestyle, that’s organic. If I use a brand, like our Bumbu rum, it’s the No. 1 rum in Canada. No one from my company, and I, have never been there. With Jay or anybody else, everything is organic for me. I don’t want to force brands into anybody’s hands. I’m the guy who wants to discover things, and I think consumers want to discover things.

A: How did you get into collaborating with artists? There’s so many brands that want to be able to do that. There’s not a lot of people who’ve really ever done it and done it to your level of success. Someone may have done one brand with an artist and the brand doesn’t work for one reason or another. I have to assume, prior to Ace of Spades, you had done other things. How did that come about?

B: It’s such a tough question to answer. If you think about it, there are so many celebrities that have had brands and wine and spirits is one space. For so many celebrities, it hasn’t worked. I think that I’m fortunate in that the brands we create, there’s a place for them. They should exist.

When we worked with Jay-Z, Rick Ross, Post Malone, or A Boogie, it’s not like I knew these people. There wasn’t a relationship that I had with them before the brands. The relationship exists because of the brands. They found them. They drank them. They pursued them. It was something they already saw. Rick Ross was the biggest fan of Belaire, but Belaire was out for two years before I ever met Rick.

A: Oh, wow. I didn’t realize that.

B: It’s that way with all the brands. Sometimes celebrities get involved. I used to say that Martha Stewart was a huge fan of Ace of Spades. She has nothing to do with the brand but she loved the brand. It almost takes on a whole persona, but that’s what you want. That’s a good brand.

A: Right. In terms of something like Ace of Spades, was that something that you created initially and then got connected with Jay-Z, or was that something that you created together? In the legend of Ace of Spades, everyone tells that story of how Jay-Z decided to start drinking or making that Champagne. Is that legend true? Was it because he really didn’t want to drink Cristal anymore and wanted his own thing? And did he come to you?

B: One has nothing to do with the other. I was developing a brand. So, if I had you at my office, I would let you taste it and show you everything I’m doing. I like getting people’s opinions and reactions. We don’t do market research. It’s just very organic. Like a lot of things I do, people hear and talk about it. Ace of Spades existed, the Armand de Brignac, and Jay and his team heard about this brand as many other people did. They wanted to see and experience it. Fortunately, I didn’t give any bottles, because they’re expensive. He bought bottles, became familiar with it, and loved the brand. That’s normal in everything we do. People find it and discover it, just like my Canada example. They’re finding it, discovering it, and holding on to it. That’s what I hope for all our brands.

A: How much do you think packaging has to do — and how striking so much of the packaging of the brands that you create — with the finding and discovering process? A lot of times we want to believe packaging isn’t as important. We say, “Oh, it’s all about the liquid.” A lot of what makes your brands pop is that packaging. It’s what causes someone to take it off the shelf in the first place. How much do you think about that?

B: It’s huge for me. There’s two things, and they go hand in hand. There are gorgeous packages, designs, and bottles out there. If the liquid isn’t good, no one’s ever going to come back. There are brands that have tremendous liquid. What’s in the bottle is fantastic. If the package doesn’t stand out though, you may just never notice it.

To me, both sides matter. I’m the little guy. I’m competing against the Diageos and the Bacardis. I don’t have their money. Package becomes even more important because it’s the most important thing you have to try to stand out. I think we’ve done a good job. Again, it’s all organic. It’s all developed in house. We’re creating, what I always hope, is an iconic image and feeling. My goal is always that I want you to buy two bottles — one to put on the shelf and one to open. That’s my goal.

A: Nice. Do you try to have a relationship with someone attached to the brand in each brand you create? Do you want some of the brands you create to live without an association with Rick Ross or Jay-Z?

B: I’m not smart enough to know what works and what doesn’t. I can go back to my example that there are major celebrities in every single industry, and brands don’t work. For everybody who thinks that their next video they put on Instagram is going to go viral, it never does.

The way I build brands and the way I think about it is that my product is better than what I’m competing against. My job is to get people to taste it and see where it goes. I’ll give you an example in our industry that you’ll appreciate. There’s an expression. You sell it on premise to bars and restaurants to then sell at retail. That’s what everybody thinks. That’s the norm.

A: Right. On premise is what makes you famous, then you want everyone to buy an off premise. Totally. That’s the standard model that everyone uses.

B: Had I thought — for Belaire, for example — that it had to be an on-premise brand and that’s the only way it would ever work, I wouldn’t have realized the reality, which is what happened. We’re 10 years in and we’re 98 percent retail.

A: Wow.

B: Everything is just about letting things breathe. See where a brand works and where it achieves success. Build on that. I think of that with everything I do. I’m not smart enough to know where it should go. I have a North Star. I know where I want to go, but how I get there is going to change every day.

A: It seems like you have a little bit of a specialty, right? You’ve done two Cognacs. You’ve done a bunch of sparkling. Is that because you love those products? It’s a sweet spot? How much are you looking at data to see where the opportunity is? I am always so curious how much someone like yourself, who is truly an alcohol entrepreneur and launching different brands, is looking at data and the market to figure out what that next brand is.

B: I look at no data.

A: Oh, wow. OK.

B: Nothing. I consume my brands. I was never a rum drinker until I started drinking rum. I was never a gin drinker until I started drinking it and learning about it. There’s no category that I’m not interested in. I just have to consume it and become familiar with it. Then, it becomes a question of, “Can I come up with a better product than exists? Can I come up with a story that’s better than something else out there that exists?” Because of my dad, I know whiskey so well. It’s easy to me. Only in the past year or so have we come up with what we think is going to make a difference, but I can’t force it. I’m not going to put out a brand just to put out a brand. The second thing I’d say is that the only thing I do look at is if everybody’s running one way. I don’t want to go that way. I want to go somewhere else.

A: So, everyone is circling around premium tequila right now. Is that what you’re saying?

B: Correct. A perfect example is rum. Bumbu is the single largest premium rum now in the U.S. It’s No. 1 in the U.K., Canada, Latvia, Czech. When we launched that five years ago, our industry told us, “Don’t do it. You should go to tequila. Tequila’s the hot thing.” To me. it’s not about that. I want to do things that we feel really good about what we created. It doesn’t matter the category. I think I can compete. It doesn’t matter the category as long as I have a discernible difference in a product.

A: Interesting. I’m curious about your thoughts. As someone that has launched so many great brands, done well, and has sometimes done it with celebrity partners, what do you make of this massive celebrity tequila movement? Do you think it’s a bubble that’s going to burst anytime soon? Do you think there are things about the spirits industry that people don’t realize who are getting in right now?

B: I’d love to give you a thoughtful answer. To me, it’s still about the product. It has to be a good tasting product. It has to have a story. I don’t drink brands because of somebody. I’m drinking the brand because I have a connection to it. I like the taste. That has longevity. It’s hard for me to answer because I don’t think like that. I only think about it from the perspective that it’s all about the brand. It’s not about who’s tied to it. It’s all about the brand.

A: The only person I think that is probably also as well known as you for launching brands like this is Ken Austin. He has said to us before — and it seems like you’re giving a similar answer — that it’s about the brand and for a lot of this, it’s about being all in. I think a lot of people who get involved in the alcohol world don’t realize how much of a grind it is and how much authenticity really matters. Do you agree with that?

B: Oh, completely. It’s history, authenticity, the taste profile, the look and feel. It has to have a connection. I remember 30 years ago, being at a club in South Beach with my dad, and someone ordered a bottle of Ketel One. I’d never heard of it before. I thought it was the coolest thing I’d ever seen. That became the brand I wanted to consume.

Consumers need a connection. They need a real connection to the brand. If you’re banking on celebrity, to me, that’s not it. I don’t know how to build brands that way. For every Conor McGregor, there’s 1,000 other ones that didn’t make it. I don’t know why his brand made it. No clue. I couldn’t give you an answer as to what’s the recipe for that.

A: Interesting. There’s a lot of noise from marketing executives that millennials and Gen Z aren’t brand loyal. They don’t care about brands anymore. Do you buy that?

B: No. Brands just have to have meaning to you. They have to have a soul. They have to have a connection. When we first did our brand with Ace, we didn’t have social media. It was built based on traditional block and tackling articles, magazines, newspapers, and blogs.

When we did Belaire, Instagram started coming. We thought, “Wow, that’s kind of neat. You get to see how people react to your brand.” Now, take Bumbu. Bumbu has more followers on Instagram than any brand of rum — more than Captain Morgan and Bacardi. They have billion dollar budgets. I don’t spend any money on advertising. I’m connecting with the consumer. To me, that means something. My brand has a meaning to them, just like it has a meaning to me. I tell people all the time, the way I think about our brands is that they’re my children. You’ve got to get them to learn to walk, talk, and position them. You need to see where they need help and where they don’t need help. That’s how I do it. Sometimes, not having a plan is a really good plan. As long as you can pivot constantly, you’ll get there.

A: It’s really interesting. When you have the idea for these brands, where do the names come from?

B: For the names, the bottles, and the icons, I’ll see something. I’ll have an idea. I’ll think of something. Then, I park them. Take Bumbu. When we were learning about rum, I ended up learning that in the 14th century, when merchants who traveled the West Indies drank rum, they didn’t like the taste of it. That was called grog. That was their normal rum. They started blending their own and they called it bumbu. It’s almost like you’re birthing an idea from that. You get it. That’s where the inspiration came from.

Villon’s story is just so cool. In the 14th century, there was a poet named François Villon in France. He was an iconoclast who went against the grain. He fought against bad cops and the government. He was kicked out of Paris. He ultimately was killed by a monk. Some people think the word villain comes from Villon. That’s the brand’s soul. It’s going against everybody else in this category. The names, bottles, and designs are all done in house. They’re all critical to me in how you build that loyalty with a consumer.

A: That’s really fascinating. Well, Brett, it has been really interesting to talk to you. I really appreciate you taking the time to tell us a little bit more about yourself and the brands that you’re building. I think all the people who listen are familiar with at least one, if not many of them. I love the way that you talk about how you’re thinking about the brand, how it fits into people’s lives, and that attachment. I think a lot of people who listen are probably pretty jealous that you don’t spend any money on advertising. So, congrats to you for all that success. Thank you so much again for joining me.

B: Thanks, Adam. Really appreciate being able to talk about our industry. New brands are the lifeblood of the industry, so I love it.

THE VINEPAIR TEAM TRIES SNOOP DOGG’S 19 CRIMES CALI RED WINE

A: That was a super-fun interview. Brett was really great. Let’s jump into this, though. There’s a lot of celebrity wines we could have chosen to taste today, but the one we all have in front of us is Snoop Dogg’s. It’s just been everywhere recently. It’s called 19 Crimes. This is a perfect example of a collaboration. I don’t think Snoop has any ownership in this. He probably gets paid very well.

Z: Treasury folks, I know you listen, if you want to let us know exactly what you’re paying him, that’d be cool.

A: Seriously, Treasury. Hook us up. It jumped every other 19 Crimes, which was already wildly successful. This is what I see now, everywhere. I think he’s come out with a rosé, too, which also proves that this has got to be the most successful in the entire line. I’m standing for this.

Z: Is that out of respect, or what?

J: He’s only associated with his picks, right? Like, the Snoop Cali Red?

A: Yeah. The other 19 Crimes with a guy from Australia is how the brand started and then they connected with him. I think that this is way more successful than anything else. Don’t quote me, if you want to email me and tell me, Adam, you’re wrong, cool. I think it is very successful. I’ve never had it before.

Z: Let’s talk a little bit about this. Everyone has seen this bottle, presumably, if you’ve ever been in a grocery store before.

A: It’s full black. You can’t see the wine in it.

Z: It’s definitely a matte finish, a little translucent. It fits the broader 19 Crimes look, but it’s also very distinctly its own thing. That’s in part because it’s got Snoop Dogg’s face on it, which is pretty recognizable.

A: Literally the foil around the whole neck says “Snoop.”.

Z: The cork, if you haven’t gotten it open yet, has his visage on it as well, which is cool. That’s going in my cork collection.

A: It’s a little weird quirk at the top.

Z: I’m actually mildly surprised that this wine has a cork. This might have been a thing that would have made sense with a screw cap.

A: Oh, my gosh. It’s hilarious. As you’re pulling the cork out, it’s his face.

Z: Oh, yeah. Snoop stares at you. We’ve been doing this whole recording with him kind of glaring at me. It’s mildly intimidating.

A: It’s kind of cool.

Z: It’s very, very dark in color, unsurprisingly.

A: It’s very purple.

Z: Joanna, have you tried it yet?

J: I have not.

Z: And Adam, you have not tasted it yet, right?

A: I have not tasted it.

Z: OK. Joanna, do you think this wine will be sweet or not?

J: Oh, I don’t think it will be sweet. Is it sweet?

Z: Well, taste it and tell us.

A: Are you quizzing everybody or just Joanna?

Z: OK, do you think it will be sweet, Adam, or not?

A: I think it’s going to be sweet, but deceptively so. It’s going to have sugar, but it’s not going to be in your face like Moscato. Now, do I taste it?

Z: Yeah, go for it.

J: It’s sweet.

A: It’s sweet, but like I said, it’s deceptively so. This wine is very well engineered.

Z: Oh, yeah.

A: This is a flavor lab, we’re going to figure out how to deliver this at exactly—

J: Like blending? Is that what you mean?

A: Oh, they are doing a lot more than that.

Z: Oh Joanna, you sweet summer child.

A: This wine is sweet. It’s almost no tannin.

Z: And almost no acidity. It’s very, very smooth.

A: This is what someone thinks of when they say they want a smooth wine. It’s super dark. This is like crushed velvet.

Z: My thinking on this wine when I first tasted it is that their inspiration for this wine was, “How do we make a $12 bottle of the Prisoner?”

A: That’s 100 percent what that is.

Z: The Prisoner is not this sweet. It has more tannin, but it has that very smooth blended fruit character. I interviewed the winemaker, Chrissy Wittmann, a while back. She talked about how one of the huge things for Prisoner is that they know that their drinkers want to drink the wine right away. They’re not going to age it. The tannins have to be very supple and integrated. They go for a lot of fruit ripeness, and that’s what they’re going for. Maybe all of 19 Crimes is trying to piggyback a little bit on that vague esthetic. But, this feels to me like, “What can we make that we can sell that’s basically the Prisoner, but we can sell it in every gas station and grocery store around the country?”

J: Maximally appealing.

Z: It’s not bad. My wife was very curious to try it. She said, “This is the kind of wine that if someone invited me over to have wine and chocolate, this is the wine they should serve me.”

J: Oh, interesting.

Z: I think it’s a good point. It’s a good wine for that kind of thing.

A: It has a little acidity, but you’re right. There’s not a lot of oak either.

Z: The other thing about this … there’s almost no aftertaste to this wine. It’s gone almost instantly. What does that make you want to do? It makes you want to fill the glass and drink again. It’s a drink-the-whole-bottle kind of thing.

A: This wine is so engineered. It’s crazy. Wow, this is awesome. I feel like we didn’t hate it. I would not buy it, but I also really understand why people love it. I didn’t think it was disgusting. I don’t hate it. Zach, I think your wife is right. If you had a wine and chocolate event, I could get down with this. It’s an interesting beverage. To me, is it an interesting wine? No. It’s an interesting beverage, though.

J: Maybe I’d mull this wine.

A: Ooh, yeah.

Z: I think it could be a great wine for sangria. It’d be a great wine for making a New York Sour, a cocktail with red wine.

A: Or a Kalimotxo.

Z: It’s cool stuff. Glad I finally had an excuse to try it. I’ve seen it sitting out in the grocery store for years now.

A: Me too. Well guys, talk to you Monday.

J: See ya.

Z: Sounds great.

Thanks so much for listening to the “VinePair Podcast.” If you love this show as much as we love making it, please leave us a rating or review on iTunes, Spotify, Stitcher, or wherever it is you get your podcasts. It really helps everyone else discover the show.

Now, for the credits, VinePair is produced and recorded in New York City and Seattle, Washington, by myself and Zach Geballe, who does all the editing and loves to get the credit. Also, I would love to give a special shout-out to my VinePair co-founder, Josh Malin, for helping make all this possible and also to Keith Beavers, VinePair’s tastings director, who is additionally a producer on the show. I also want to, of course, thank every other member of the VinePair team who are instrumental in all of the ideas that go into making the show every week. Thanks so much for listening, and we’ll see you again.

Ed. note: This episode has been edited for length and clarity.

The article VinePair Podcast: Do We Really Need More Celebrity Booze? appeared first on VinePair.

source https://vinepair.com/articles/podcast-celebrity-booze/

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jeremystrele · 4 years

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Times Like These… With Writer Clementine Ford

Times Like These

by Sally Tabart

Photo – Sarah Collins of Work + Co. for The Design Files.

The first thing writer and activist Clementine Ford and I spoke about on the phone during our interview was a mutual admission that, in a way, we would miss being in this period of isolation. Of course, this feeling comes from a place of immense privilege. For Clem, a massive part of this is the quality time she’s been able to spend with her son – ‘his language skills have really exploded and we can have actual conversations with each other’ she tells me.

I must admit that one of the main things I have been grateful for in this pandemic is that I don’t have a child, but Clem has been relishing the opportunity to be more present with her kid, and develop new routines based around quality time together. This is helped by the fact that she co-parents with her son’s father, and spends ‘an essential’ three days a week by herself. But it’s also a conscious change she’s made to release herself from the high expectations of work-related productivity she had pre-isolation. It’s helped her step back and look at her life more objectively, and take stock of the things that really feel good – whether that’s taking her time to cook a fancy meal for one, learning lip sync dances on Tik Tok, or going for a long walk around the neighbourhood with a friend.

So we’re coming up to two months in isolation now – how have you been feeling throughout this time?

It’s been a really interesting experience, and I would preface this by saying that I have the privilege of being able to still work and still earn an income, so the experience of isolation for me has been different and less stressful probably than it is for a lot of other people. I also don’t live with a partner – it’s just me and my son – so I don’t have any of those domestic stresses.

I have been thinking a lot about the women in isolation who have been experiencing domestic abuse in this country, so I’m coming at you now from a place of enormous privilege, but generally speaking it’s been a very interesting ride.

In what ways has it been interesting for you?

When we began, when we didn’t know how long it was going to go for and no one really knew it was happening, it felt like the stress levels were a lot more elevated for everybody. I wasn’t sure whether or not society was going to collapse and we were going to descend into total anarchy! So that was quite scary because it’s not just me I have to worry about obviously, I’ve got a small child to look after.

Those first couple of weeks when we were all getting used to it was enormously stressful because I didn’t know how to work in isolation with a toddler. I work from home anyway, but normally he’s in childcare. Balancing that and figuring out what our new normal was had quite a lot of tension around it. But I feel like we adjusted pretty quickly, and developed a routine, doing certain things through the day like going for walks or getting on the bike and riding around the neighbourhood to spot all the bears that people put in their windows.

And how has that evolved?

I kind of let go of a lot of the tension and stress that I felt to keep working and performing at the same level that I was before. In many ways I’ve actually been a lot more productive, which is a weird word to use in this time, but I’ve been more productive and more creative. I’ve really liked my work becoming more creative in nature, and consequently more fun.

One of the things that really stood out to me is that before isolation I’d been feeling that life was moving so quickly, and particularly my son’s life was moving very quickly. I was committed to this idea that I was so busy all the time. I wanted to spend more time with him but I had so much work to do – always so much work to do!

I had been feeling a sort of pre-emptive anxiety realising that all of these years when he’s so cute and discovering so many things, that I would wake up one day and go, ‘Oh I missed out on that time’, because I was so busy working and he was in childcare every day.

Isolation brought an end to that obviously, and even though it was a tense transition at first, I started to feel like I was being given this beautiful opportunity in my life to be able to form really amazing long-lasting memories.

It did kind of feel like we didn’t have control over our lives and times before, like we were all on a ginormous hamster wheel.

And if you get off the hamster wheel, it’s so hard to get back on because it’s moving all the time!

What changes have you made that you want to hold onto after this time eases back into a more ‘normal’ normal?

The most obvious one is really being conscious about making time with my son. To just put the phone down, put the laptop down, put the work down and just be present with him. Even in isolation it’s still a really tricky thing for me to do. But just letting myself just enjoy the moment as it happens and realising that the world isn’t going anywhere.

I’ve also been doing these cooking stories on Instagram most nights and using the opportunity to have feminist chats with people who are watching them. And I really enjoy that. Part of what I enjoy about it is the process of cooking, which I’ve always loved, but I guess just making sure that I take time out of my day to recognise that as a process, to de-stress at the end of the day and perform a task like cooking a meal for myself. And just because I’m the only person eating it doesn’t mean I can’t put care and time and effort into it!

I’ve been watching a lot less TV which I’ve really enjoyed. And I guess it really is just about the slow down – not feeling like I need to be doing something all the time or be somewhere, and not worrying that not going to things will let people down.

I assume you’re doing a bit of a co-parenting thing – how has that been going?

My son’s Dad and I do 50/50. He’s a really wonderful dad and he has him for 3 days a week and sometimes for an extra night to sleepover. It’s very routine and we share that care well. It’s good, I get the best of both worlds. I get to spend time with my kid and I also get an essential three days a week to myself.

I think a lot of women are really scared of saying that they need or want that because they feel like other people will judge them, as if somehow if you appreciate time away from being a mother that it means that you don’t really appreciate it, or that you’re being cruel to your children in some way. And I think we all need to get better at saying, ‘I’m a better mother when I have some time to myself.’

It seems like you’re having a lot of fun on your social media too with things like make up tutorials and the cooking videos!

I do worry sometimes that people are going to think that posting makeup videos is really frivolous, but I like watching those kinds of videos! If people don’t like it they don’t have to watch.

I guess one of the benefits of doing that kind of thing is that I don’t have to be serious. I don’t have to be angry. I can just enjoy myself and people get to see a different side of me which is softer and a bit more fun, a bit more free. I really like doing those lip-sync videos on TikTok, and I guess in the light-heartedness as well… I actually think I’m really funny! I don’t know if people have seen that side of me before, so I’m enjoying stuff like that. Just as a consumer I’ve really enjoyed watching women on Tik Tok, women are SO funny.

What are you feeling hopeful about?

I feel very encouraged about how Australia has responded to the virus. I feel hopeful about the fact that if we continue in this fashion, a lot of people are not going to die. And I guess in a way – and maybe this is a bit Pollyanna of me – it restores my faith in community. Our communities can let us down so often, and it’s not like this has made us into a perfect group of people, but the general community-wide response in the area that I live in at least seems to indicate that people have gone, ‘This is really serious and we’re going to take it really seriously’. So that makes me feel hopeful about humanity.

I feel hopeful about how the way that we live might change, we might slow down a little bit, we might be more considerate of people’s personal space, and I think that this is a global historical moment that no one’es going to forget about. So being able to reconsider what our global community looks like is really important. How do we need to change our existence? Do we need to fly so much? Probably not. And I’m saying that as someone who flies a lot for work, but maybe we should stop making ourselves the exceptions. Maybe we shouldn’t be able to fly to Bali for $150!

I quite like how resourceful people have become. I know it’s a real cliche to learn how to bake sourdough, but I love that people are learning how to make bread!

One thing I’ve really enjoyed doing is taking socially distanced walks with a couple of friends. Last Saturday night I went for a walk around the neighbourhood with my friend Alice and it was really cold so we put our coats on and poured a bottle of wine into a couple of glasses and just walked around the neighbourhood talking for an hour and a half sipping our wine. I like that stuff. We were reflecting last Saturday that when our kids are old enough and asking, ‘What did you do during the pandemic?’ we’ll be like, ‘We made our own fun!’

It’s reassuring to think that when our creature comforts are taken away from us – and obviously we still have a lot of comfort in this country – that we will actually adapt really quickly. It feels like the mood of the country seven weeks ago which was panic, fearful and stressed, has shifted into an easier, lighter feeling of ‘What will be, will be’.

Keep up with Clem on Instagram for her nightly cooking videos + feminist conversations, and listen to her weekly podcast Big Sister Hotline!

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deadcactuswalking · 5 years

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REVIEWING THE CHARTS: 07/02/2020

I’ll be transparent: my left ear’s blocked and I’ve been struggling to hear really, I feel I can’t properly critique music with that issue for many reasons, so I’m just going to BS my way through that one. I think that’s fair. Let’s “review” those charts.

Top 10

At the top spot, finally, it’s the amazing “Blinding Lights” by the Weeknd, up one space to #1 after 10 weeks on the chart! I’m glad it’s here, and I think it can last though it does face some competition.

At number-two is the runner-up, “The Box” by Roddy Ricch, up a single space from last week.

Last week’s #1 “Before You Go” by Lewis Capaldi is down two spaces to number-three this week.

“Don’t Start Now” is also down two spots to number-four this week.

Unfortunately still holding onto number-five after a one-spot drop is “Godzilla” by Eminem featuring the late Juice WRLD.

“Someone You Loved” has dragged itself up three spots from the depths of hell, rebounding to number-six. I have no idea how this is happening and I want to put a halt to it as soon as possible.

At number-seven, “everything i wanted” by Billie Eilish gets a slight one-spot boost possibly due to the Grammy’s performance.

“Life is Good” by Drake, then Future is down a position to number-eight.

“ROXANNE” by Arizona Zervas is still hanging on up a spot to number-nine.

Finally, to round off the top 10, we have “Adore You” by Harry Styles back at #10 after raving up four positions this week for whatever reason. I’m not exactly complaining; it’s a pretty decent song, but I have no idea why it’s back.

Climbers

We have only two climbers that are notable enough to earn a spot here, but they are very interesting and seem to be surprising hits. “You should be sad”, a country rock-infused hot mess (Or song, depending on how polite you want to be) by Halsey, is up seven spaces to #17 this week, with some true organic momentum, and “Roses” by Saint Jhn, a trap song that was made into an unauthorised house remix by Kazakh producer Imanbek, zoomed up 19 spaces to #21. These two songs seem like they could make the top 10 pretty soon, so I’d keep watch.

Fallers

There are a few more fallers, however, as there always naturally tends to be. First of all, J Hus had all three of his songs that debuted last week from the album bomb (for Big Conspiracy) fall dramatically in pretty expected fashion, but I’m surprised they’re all on the chart still, considering most of the time at least one of the songs tends to drop out. Leading the pack is “Play Play” featuring Burna Boy down eight to #19, swiftly followed by “Repeat” featuring Koffee down 12 spots to #33 and finally, “Big Conspiracy” featuring iceé tgm barely scraping the Top 40 at #40, down a whopping 21 positions from last week, which is a drop intensity I don’t think we’ve seen in a long while. There are also a few hits falling off due to the arbitrary streaming cuts rule, like “Pump it Up” by Endor down five to #23, right next to the absolute collapse of “Own It” by Stormzy featuring Ed Sheeran and Burna Boy, a former #1, down 19 spaces to #24. As I’ve always said, this rule mostly and usually solely affects hip-hop artists. It does have a notable effect on some pop and EDM though; “Lose Control” by MEDUZA, Goodboys and Becky Hill is down five to #25, and not all hip-hop has the streaming cut to blame. The mediocre “Ei8ht Mile” by Digdat featuring Aitch has only been in the chart for three weeks and is already at #28 after its 11-space decrease this week. Regardless, those are our only fallers this week... well, except “Those Kinda Nights” by Eminem featuring Ed Sheeran down 11 spots to #38 but do we really want to acknowledge that song exists? I’m not sure if we do.

Dropouts & Returning Entries

Novelty songs don’t last long, and neither do protest songs, so the anthem of the European Union, “Ode to Joy”, as performed by Andre Rieu and the Johann Strauss Orchestra is out off of the debut at #30, as should be expected. The other dropouts are just songs that have been slogging in the lower reach of the top 40 for at least three weeks, like “Circles” by Post Malone out from #31, “Darkness” by Eminem out from #37 and “Watermelon Sugar” by Harry Styles out from #39, but there is also the dropout for “Pee Pee” by M Huncho. The song’s growing on me too. Don’t think about that too much. There aren’t any returning entries as usual, so let’s run through some possible future hits in the top 75. Not all of them are good, not all of them are bad. We have “What if I Told You that I Loved You” by Ali Gatie at #71, “Charades” by Headie One and Fred Again at #67, “July” by Noah Cyrus at #66, “Momentary Bliss” by Gorillaz featuring slowthai and Slaves at #58, which is a fantastic comeback for Damon and gang, “Only the Young” by Taylor Swift from her documentary at #57, “High Fashion” by Roddy Ricch and Mustard at #56, as well as “Ballin’” by the same duo at #46, the returning entry of “when the party’s over” by Billie Eilish after the Grammy’s at #45, “Power Over Me” by Dermot Kennedy at #42 and finally, “Suicidal” by YNW Melly at #41. Let’s get to the new arrivals.

NEW ARRIVALS

Like I said, I’m going to BS my way through most of these; I can listen to these songs in their entirety completely fine but I won’t be able to have that pleasant of an experience through headphones so I’ll just be blasting it out loud from the crap speakers of my laptop, meaning I could be losing some notable production elements that I would usually further analyse. I’m sorry about that, guys, but I’m still reviewing the charts even with a hearing impairment.

#36 – “Better Off Without You” – Becky Hill and Shift K3y

Produced by Shift K3y, Jarly and Svidden

Is impairment a word? I am so tired right now, I apologise if I start droning on or meandering about garbage, but here we are. I actually got three predictions right last week, with our first three new arrivals all being songs I predicted would end up here this week! So that’s pretty cool. Uh, this is Becky Hill’s new single with Shift K3y? Who’s Shift K3y? I don’t know. Looking him up, he’s another one of those future garage and house DJs from London, and he had a pretty massive hit with “Touch” in 2014. This is his third UK Top 40 single and first in five years since “I Know” peaked at #26 in 2014. It’s Becky Hill’s ninth (eighth excluding the uncredited feature on Wilkinson’s “Afterglow”) and I think I know exactly what to expect. It’s going to be “Wish You Well” with Sigala again. I wasn’t exactly incorrect; there is the same fake handclap, the same breathy and dull vocal from the admittedly talented vocalist Becky Hill, who does have a certain sound to her voice that is recognisable albeit not particularly impressive. The chorus is especially awkward and leads to a lot of empty space vocally within the duration of the drop, it sounds really odd. Otherwise, this is barely anything more than just pop-house fluff and a bit of a waste of time. Oh, and Shift K3y actually provides backing vocals here, or at least that’s who I’m assuming they are. They might just be a heavily edited Becky Hill. Regardless, this is a slightly cuter rendition of what we get every other week on this show.

#35 – “Say So” – Doja Cat

Produced by Tyson Trax

Yay! So, okay, I’ve been a fan of Doja Cat for a while even though her discography is wildly inconsistent in quality, back when “MOOO!” happened, and I’m pretty excited to finally see her here and be able to talk about her first UK Top 40 hit, which I’ve actually already listened to so I can confidently say it is a pretty decent, fun song. It is actually the biggest hit from her album Hot Pink, which saw more success than her debut and contained her second break-out single, the “Juicy” remix with Tyga, which of course had the viral video, but this one doesn’t have a video and instead got big on both TikTok and its pure groove and musical merit. Surely, this is Doja Cat’s best possible “first” impression, yet it’s kind of generic and definitely lacks some of her usual charm. On another note, I don’t care at all; this is a bop. The groove is immediately recognisable as it’s a direct sample from “Good Times” by Chic, or at least damn well sounds like it, and it provides a pretty good foundation for the synth-heavy funk-pop production that, while it does feel flavourless, especially by the end of the song, is a perfect beat for Doja Cat’s light falsetto, especially in the infectious chorus and gorgeous first verse, with some very interesting melodies and harmonies, although her voice does falter at times and it does sound somewhat awkward and abrupt, especially when a shift in her cadence does not reflect a shift in the music at all right at the end. Her second verse is a more typical Doja Cat rap verse, and it has as much charisma and energy as she usually does, with some really sweet, fast and surprisingly aggressive flows. By this time, however, that chorus does really start to drone on, doesn’t it? There are barely any developments in the instrumental to keep it interesting. Like, maybe try a key change? Just don’t loop the same vocal line for the chorus six times, especially since the chorus’ melody is incredibly simple. The meandering outro doesn’t really do much for me either, it just feels like they couldn’t figure out an end to the song. Speaking of not figuring out stuff, the second verse is borderline nonsensical but, hey, despite all those flaws, the song works well as a little dance-pop venture for Doja, and I’d like to hear it more... or perhaps in this case LESS, refined in the future.

#30 – “Lonely” – Joel Corry

Produced by Joel Corry, Lewis Thompson and Neave Applebaum

You remember “Sorry”. Now he’s back with another house-pop song with a one-word, two-syllable title that nearly rhymes with his name and features an uncredited female singer. I have no idea how this one’s going to sound!!! Maybe I shouldn’t be too cynical, I mean “Sorry” was okay. This one seems to have Harlee Jayne Sudworth on it as the vocalist in place of Hayley May, but it could be a sample as I’m just going by the writing credits. It’s Corry’s second UK Top 40 hit, by the way, after “Sorry” was his breakout hit. Yeah, I’m sorry, I find it hard to care. The vocalist sounds exactly like Hayley May, the instrumental is just vaguely deep house-influenced preset loops, and the drop is one I’ve heard at least seven times this past month. The stuttering in the post-chorus and bridge is possibly the most obnoxious shit I’ve heard in EDM since “Like a G6”. AIt’s also way too long for how uninteresting it is. Pass.

#12 – “Physical” – Dua Lipa

Produced by Jason Evigan and Koz

Ah, there are two new songs just outside of the top 10, the first by Dua Lipa, serving as her second single from Future Nostalgia, which is shaping up to be a pretty interesting dance-pop/90s house and nu-disco throwback record seemingly from these singles and the vibrant, colourful aesthetic. This is “Physical”, and despite a pretty cool music video, this seems to have debuted pretty low, which is disappointing but she could easily gain more traction as “Don’t Start Now” starts to falter. I’m excited to listen to this with both ears, but regardless this is Dua Lipa’s 14th UK Top 40 hit, and let’s listen, I guess. First off, this sounds a lot less 90s than it does 80s, in fact I’d probably call this instrumental typical of let’s say, early Madonna, but with an extra injection of steroids inserted right into the tempo, with that first beeping synth melody sounding a lot more menacing and intense than intimate as I expected, but that doesn’t mean it’s bad. In fact, Dua Lipa herself is probably the worst part of this song, as her presence is questionably mundane here, sometimes having her Auto-Tune trail off awkward, in the verses especially. Otherwise, the additional bombast of the synths in that chorus are a pretty nice addition but without Dua Lipa putting that much effort this does feel a tad empty until of course that bridge which is the final release and climax, and that sounds beautiful, especially with the strings and all, but is it really worth it at that point? Not only that, but the chorus that follows feels neutered in comparison. The song feels like it’s a high-speed car chase that happens to constantly be in traffic. It’s not bad, but it’s hard not to feel at least a little disappointed.

#11 – “Wake Up Call” – KSI featuring Trippie Redd

Produced by S-X and Mally Mall

Well, this’ll be an ant-climactic one I think. This is KSI, British vlogger, rapper and semi-professional boxer, with her new song “Wake Up Call” featuring Trippie Redd’s first ever appearance in the UK Top 40, which is unexpected. He’s only ever been in the #80s before, but KSI is a different story, as it’s his third appearance in the UK Top 40 and his umpteenth in the singles chart overall. I’m not exactly excited to hear this since even though I am a fan of Trippie, he really would phone it in on a KSI feature, within reason, but we’ll see how it is. Just as I expected, it is kind of garbage, even though I actually love that quirky synth loop that acts as the main melody. Sadly, it gets pretty old two minutes in, and Trippie’s hook, drowned in reverb, is just unpleasant, as is the pathetic trap beat and KSI’s surprisingly anti-charismatic delivery. Like, I thought he was a YouTuber people liked for being happy and upbeat, right? Why is he just murmuring to kill time here? Yeah, this isn’t worth anyone’s time. KYLE and Lil Yachty could probably do this beat the little amount of justice it deserves, though.

Conclusion

Well, there’s nothing particularly amazing here but it’s clear that Doja Cat’s “Say So” is what is most worth listening to here, so it’ll get Best of the Week, I suppose. I guess I’ll give the Honourable Mention to “Physical” by Dua Lipa, and the Dishonourable Mention to... “Lonely” by Joel Corry, actually, as while it’s less interesting and probably has a larger absence of good than our Worst of the Week, “Wake Up Call” by KSI featuring Trippie Redd, at least there wasn’t any potential being wasted. Follow me on Twitter @cactusinthebank for more pop music rambles and I’ll see you next week – or sooner!

REVIEWING THE CHARTS 2020

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girlsbtrs · 3 years

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Lindsey Candler of g!rlband talks Riot Grrl influences and new music

Written by Peyton Lawrence. Graphic by James Nida Grey.

In times marked by significant political and social change, it’s only natural for people to create art inspired by inequalities they’ve faced. Originally formed as a feminist reaction to the overwhelmingly male punk scene, the Riot Grrl movement was one such group of musicians. Born in the Pacific Northwest during the mid to late 1990s, the scene gave us iconic bands such as Bikini Kill, Bratmobile, and Veruca Salt. Now, nearly three decades later, a resurgence of young women and non-binary people have begun to write and record this raw, angry music about their experiences facing sexism. I had the chance to speak with New Orleans-based artist, Lindsey Candler about her band, g!rlband, and the new music she’s releasing.

So, first of all, I know you just released a new single, You Don’t Know (I Know). When I’m listening to the song, I can really feel your frustration in the lyrics. Can you explain some of your inspiration that led you to write it?

So this song is really about people - in my experience specifically, it was about a combination of professors and teachers that I’ve had not really acknowledging sexism in the literature we were reading in school. I just felt like the people who were in charge of information were deciding that people’s experiences of sexism weren’t valid and that they didn’t exist. I’ve been reading a lot about feminism and been thinking a lot through that lens, and the fact that people who aren’t affected by it can claim that it doesn’t exist just kind of blew my mind. So I wanted to highlight that if you’re not thinking about things from other people’s perspectives, then you can’t really have an accurate understanding of the way that the world works.

Yeah, that makes sense. I totally feel your frustration. So I can hear very strong Riot Grrl influences in your work- would you say that’s intentional?

Yeah totally, especially with this song. I feel like this is the most Riot Grrl my writing has ever gone. I think there’s this really cool confidence that exudes out of Riot Grrl music, and I wanted to be able to apply that to my own life.

Who are some artists you would say you draw inspiration from?

For Riot Grrl artists, obviously Bikini Kill is a huge influence to me. I also am obsessed with Sleater-Kinney, I think their music is incredible. Also, there are more current bands like Skating Polly and Mannequin Pussy that I’m super obsessed with.

That’s awesome, a good mix of classic and more contemporary bands. I’ve noticed that there’s a new wave of Riot Grrl musicians and bands that have started to emerge. How does it feel to be a part of that movement?

It’s super cool! I have noticed online there seems to be a lot of people who are really interested, and now Amy Poehler made that movie [Moxie]. It’s kind of crazy to me that it’s all happening right now, and it's really exciting that I can start this band at this big point in the movement's resurgence. I think it's really going to blow up even more in the next couple of years.

What influence would you say social media has on fostering this community?

I think it’s cool because I don’t know anyone in my own personal life right now who has this Riot Grrl connection. It’s kind of a niche genre, but there are so many people who listen to it, and so I think it’s really cool that we can all hear each other’s music even though we’re from totally different places. We wouldn’t have this connection to each other without social media.

Can you speak on how you’ve used your online presence as a marketing tool? Because to be honest with you, I discovered your music through TikTok!

Really? Wow! TikTok has not been my friend. I actually find my TikTok doesn’t get very many views or likes or anything. I feel like I put a lot of my energy into Instagram because I think there’s a lot of conversations happening on Instagram, and a lot of people sharing what they’re doing and stuff they think is cool, so I love doing that. I think by posting covers of music that you like and seeing other people post covers of things they like, you can find new music and new bands that way too, which is really cool.

I’m probably half of the streams on your other single, Vow, and I can’t wait to hear more from you. What kind of music are you planning on making in the future?

A lot of similar stuff, I plan on releasing a bunch of singles within the next couple of months. I want to stick to a monthly/bi-monthly release schedule at least until live shows start again. Yeah, so a lot more distortion, bass guitar, heavy drums and heavy bass. I’m doing all the instruments for the next couple of songs by myself, so it’s all getting recorded here in my bedroom. I have some stuff in the works, but I don’t have the next song lined up yet.

As you’ve just said, I know that you’re doing all of your music by yourself right now. Do you ever plan on bringing more people onto the g!rlband project?

Yeah, absolutely. I just got my first vaccine dose last week, so once I’m fully vaccinated, I plan on adding other people. Once it’s safe to do so, you know? I just didn’t want to delay starting this project.

So can you talk to me a little bit about how you chose g!rlband for the band name?

The name’s just “girlband”, with the exclamation point for the I, and it has a lot of different meanings. One of them is the obvious - it’s just me, one girl being a band. Also, it came out of a joke, honestly, between me and my friend. I’ve been playing music in bands for forever, and I’ve always been called a “girl band”. You know how they just throw that label on any band that has a female or someone who is female-presenting in it. So, it kind of started out as a joke, and at first we thought we would just call the band "Boy", joking that we would probably get better time slots. Then we realized that was already taken, there’s already a band called Boy. We decided to go in the opposite direction and just go full girl band. I thought it looked cool with the exclamation point, and it summed up the vibe that I wanted.

Right, you’re really leaning into when people think they’re being derogatory, “Oh you’re just a girl band,” and I think that’s super cool.

And it’s kind of like making the girl part explicit with the exclamation point.

So I heard you mention female-presenting people. The original Riot Grrl movement had its issues with intersectionality. Would you say the new movement is working on that?

Yeah, I think the intention in this movement- not that I think the intentions weren’t good in the first movement- has more of an overwhelming acknowledgement of the fact that there were exclusivity issues with the first Riot Grrl movement, and there’s a desire to fix that and be as inclusive as possible.

I’m really excited to see it, I feel like that’s a really cool thing to watch happening.

I think so too. I feel like Gen Z is just a different breed.

We really are, right? Okay lastly, if someone wanted to support a small band like yourself, how would they do that?

Honestly, just streaming the music, adding to playlists, sharing with your friends, reposting to social media, stuff like that. I think sharing with your friends is one of the biggest things because it’s all about expanding your fanbase and it can be hard when everyone is releasing music. That’s super cool, but it can be kind of hard to cut through the noise sometimes. If you really want to support a specific band, sharing their music and streaming their music is the best way to do that.

Follow g!rlband on Instagram or stream Lindsey’s music on Spotify!

#peyton lawrence

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