#the choruses are a mix of them together at times

[idontplaytrack]

Can you write something with a regressed Janis?

Either Janis x Reader or rejanis please

(I love all your work you’re amazing)

Tiny monkey

Janis ‘Imi’ike x Regina George

Warnings: age regression, fluff

Janis gets into Regina’s gummy bears, unintentionally slipping into regression in front of her for the first time

The gang was all gathered at Janis’ after their thanksgiving dinners. It was a little plan they decided on to spend some time together after all the family chaos at home. “Hi, baby.” Regina was the first to arrive. “Hey.” Janis smiled into the kiss, smooching the blonde a second time.

“You alright?” Janis asks, shutting the door.

“My back’s been acting up a bit the last two days, but yeah. I’m alright.” Regina promised, “I already took something for it.”

“Okay,” Janis nodded, her palm caressing Regina’s lower back comfortingly before they both sat on Janis’ couch.

They started a movie while waiting for the rest of the group to get here. Over the next twenty minutes, they all came streaming in nearly one after another. They didn’t have a solid plan for the night, just wanting to sit around and hang out. Cady suggested a card game, then Karen wanted to play Mastermind, then somehow, they were playing drinking games. Well, it was kind of a stretch. They were just playing any card or board games they wanted but brought alcohol into the mix just for the heck of it. Two beers on, Janis was officially clingy, leaning against Regina as she sipped on beer number three. Regina notices the warmth of Janis being so close, looking down to see her so comfortable. “You might want to slow down on the beer, Jay.”

Janis mumbles, “No.” Reaching into a bag of gummy bears, popping one into her mouth. She wasn’t at all focused on their game of Uno anymore.

Regina lets out an exhale in amusement, but resumed playing the game, adding a +4 card to the deck, Cady was next so she grumbled but took four cards from the deck.

When Janis started giggling at Cady’s reaction, it caused Regina to look at her again. “Okay, what’s so funny about that?”

“G, is she…”

“A little kooky? Yeah.” Regina raised a brow, pulling a confused face at the smaller girl. It only made her laugh harder.

“Okay— what the heck is going on with you?” Regina asked softly, losing focus of everything and everyone else but Janis.

Janis shrugged, scrunching up her face before sulking.

“Are you high?!” Regina’s eyes went wide.

“Hi.” Janis chuckled airily, looking up at Regina.

“Oh, yeah.” Damian chimed in, “Girl — why are you always doing something like that?”

“Sorry.” Janis mumbled, putting the beer can down as she shuddered. Damian narrowed his eyes at his best friend.

“Okay.” Damian stood up, “Everybody, out. Party’s over.”

“What?” They chorused, “I mean, she’s okay? Right?”

“Yes, but honestly she’s too out of it.” Damian continued, “Y’all, out you go, good night. We’ll do this again sometime.”

The group was a bit confused, but they promptly said bye and left anyway. Once it was just the three of them, Damian asks, “Do you have any idea what’s going on?”

————

“I know she’s high.” Regina shrugged.

“Okay, yes.” Damian confirmed, “But, she’s also…regressed.”

“What?” Regina asked, eyes panning over to Janis who was currently trying to grab the bag of gummy bears. “Baby, no. Don’t eat that anymore.”

“Whyyyy.” She sulked.

“Don’t pull that face on me.” Regina sounded a little irritated, but truthfully it was confusion that she was feeling— and perhaps a little bit of worry, “It’s mine, I was taking that for my back pain.”

“You might need to talk to her a little differently right now.” Damian began, “Age regression. Do you know what that is?”

Regina blinked profusely, looking between Damian and Janis, then back at Damian again, “Oh.”

Damian kept the eye contact, “So is that a yes?”

“Yeah.” Regina nodded, “Yeah, I know what that is. I just need to figure out what works best for her during.”

“Need my help? Should I stay for a bit?” Damian offered.

“Ooh.” Janis gasped, getting up from the floor and rushing to her closet to rummage through it.

“What— hey!” Regina wasn’t used to just how much quicker Janis seemed to be when regressed.

“She’s fine.” Damian said confidently. “Probably just getting her favourite fluffy blanket.”

“How long has she been using this as a way to…cope…?”

“Uh, I’ve known for a year, give or take. Don’t really have the heart to ask more about it. I just know how to tell when she is in that headspace.” Damian answers, “Now I know she feels safe enough around you to not hold herself back.”

“So why—”

“It’s a lot. You don’t want to get into that right now. Just keep her fed, happy and safe. We’ll talk about that another time.”

Regina bit the inside of her cheek as she watched Janis happily walk back to her with a fleece blanket and a tiny little monkey plushie.

‘So, she keeps the stuff she needs in that storage box in her closet— got it’ Regina made a mental note.

“Are you cold, baby?” Regina ask, like on reflex as her hand ran up and down the brunette’s back. Janis had the blanket draped over her shoulders much like a cape while holding onto the little toy in her hand. As she answered with a nod, she absolutely just leans onto Regina.

“Very clingy, aren’t you?” Regina teased.

“She’s either clingy or running all over the place.” Damian remarked, then he gets hit in the face by the stuffed animal in Janis’ hand. Regina cackled, “Why are you ratting her out like that, Damian? That’s not very nice of you.”

“Ha ha.” Damian scoffed but nicely handed the stuffed animal back to Janis.

“That’s what you get for talking about someone right in front of them~” Regina smirked, wrapping her arms around Janis.

“You’re one to talk.” Damian gave her a look jokingly.

“How old is she?” Regina mouthed to the guy.

“Five.” He answered the same way, holding up a hand to show it.

“Damn.” Regina said back, brows raised for a moment. “Oh, she’s out.” Regina realised Janis had dozed off.

“If she’s not fussing or anything, just let her nod off until she wakes up. If you move her, she’ll most likely get woken up and be upset.” Damian informed hers

Regina nodded, Damian continues, “Everything she needs are in those two storage boxes in her closet. No one else knows that she regresses, so don’t bring it up anywhere else, to anyone else.”

“I got that, yeah.” Regina assured.

“She’s pretty good at telling you what she wants even when she’s regressed so just ask if you’re not sure. If she gets the zoomies or whatever you call it, she’s good in the garage. It’s her safe space. Otherwise? Backyard. Playgrounds or any other places like that— only when there aren’t any other people around. If you have to bring her out, let her bring this monkey or whatever other comfort item she wants. It will keep her calm.”

“Has she ever…gotten into that headspace in public?”

“Only once. I took her home immediately because she was starting to seem like she was just going to full on, be sobbing in the mall. And I mean actually screaming and throwing a fit.”

“There are usually triggers. Right? Do you know hers?”

“Yeah but I don’t really know how to explain some of hers. But one of them would be lack of sleep, higher chance when coupled with high stress or anxiety.” Damian carried on explaining.

“Okay.” Regina nodded solemnly, “So then food and drinks wise, what’s not okay for her?”

“She regresses to about 5 to 7. So all is fine, just don’t intentionally be giving her alcohol or make her high for shits and giggles. She will ask for them gummy bears or brownies and she has— I’ve only ever given in once and regretted it almost immediately because the girl was first laughing, then laughing so hard her stomach hurt so she started to throw a goddamn fit and cried.”

“Sounds about right.” Regina bit back a laugh, “She still kinda does that sometimes.”

“Well now you know more.” Damian shrugs, “I think you’ll be fine if I leave you alone with her, right?”

“I think I got it.” Regina decided, “Thanks.”

“If you have any other questions though, just talk to me.” Damian pointed out.

“I will.” Regina promised, “I have your number, dude.”

“Alright, good night.” Damian got up, gathered his belongings and headed home.

It was barely 9 at night, and Janis’ little nap came to an end about half an hour later when she woke up on her own and decided she’s rested enough. “Will you blow bubbles for me?!” Janis asked eagerly.

“Huh?” The question had failed to fully register on first listen.

“I want bubbles. Can we play?” Janis repeated herself.

“Do you have—”

Janis nodded before Regina could say anymore.

“Of course you do. Sure, baby.” Regina caught up with Janis, now just keeping an eye on her to make sure she wasn’t going to somehow injure herself. Janis had dragged out both storage boxes and then located the bubble wand. She wasn’t about to just let them both sit inside and make a mess on the floor with the soapy liquid— though she could. But since they were in the garage, the door could easily be opened and allow them to sit right by the driveway so the mess landed outside of Janis’ safe space.

“Come here, baby. Let’s sit down right here.” Regina took her by the hand and led her to sit down right outside her garage. Regina struggled a little due to her back, Janis looked at her with worried eyes. “I’m alright.” Regina assured with a smile. “Kay.” Janis replied, arm resting on Regina’s thigh. Regina untwisted the cap, dipping the wand into the container a few times before bringing it up to her lips. Effortlessly, Janis was entertained by the bunch of bubbles that started to float around. “Wanna try?” Regina held the wand out for Janis. She nodded excitedly, giggling before she blew some herself and started to laugh harder. Janis’ excitement over something so simple really tickled Regina, making her laugh a little too. “Is it fun?”

“Yeah.” Janis answered, “Do it again.”

Regina did as she said without hesitation, wanting more than anything to hear that laughter. It sounded like music to her ears and was absolutely adorable. Was she laughing because she’s regressed or because she got into my gummy bears for pain? Regina wasn’t sure, but as long as she could tell Janis was physically fine, she couldn’t really care less.

“Gina, I want a snacky.” Janis said quietly.

“You want a snack?” Regina asked in confirmation.

The other girl nods, “Uh-huh.”

“What snack do you want?” Regina crouched down a little to catch her gaze, Janis finally looks at her.

“String cheese?” Janis asked with a toothy grin.

“Okay, I’ll be right back, hm?” Regina got up again and left Janis seated on the floor alone, “Will you be good and stay put or do I have to take you with me?”

Janis pondered for a moment, “I be on the couch.”

“You’ll be on the couch? Alright.” Regina’s lips tug into a small smile as she messed with the shorter girl’s hair while she stood up still holding onto the bubble wand. Janis scrunched up her face again and laughed when she felt her hair getting messed with. “I’ll be back in a second, Jay.”

“Okayyyy~” Janis said back, flopping onto the couch as she tilted the closed bubble wand from side to side, watching the soapy liquid inside move towards either direction. She even chuckles at that and when Regina returns bearing the snack Janis asked for and a couple of Capri-suns, the brunette set the bubble wand down on the coffee table.

“Alright.” Regina began, “Do you have the soapy water on your hands?”

“Nope.” Janis answered, popping the ‘p’.

“Really?” Regina teased, sitting down by her girlfriend, “Lemme check.”

Janis scrunched up her face, unimpressed but obliged, holding out her palms to let the blonde see.

“Okay, they’re clean.” Regina smiled at the facial expression that she seems to be doing a lot of currently, “Here you go. Brought you a drink too.”

“Hehe, yay.” Janis grabbed the string cheese from Regina’s hand, “Thankies.”

“You’re welcome, baby.” Regina was smiling so much, her cheeks hurt. She didn’t mind though, she just happily sat next to Janis and watched her enjoy her snack. “Hm, you wanna watch TV?”

As Janis nibbled on her snack, she naturally started clinging onto Regina again soon enough. Janis nodded without a word. “What do you want to watch?” Regina asks, recalling that the girl had several DVDs in her designated storage boxes. Janis got out of her seat and back to those boxes by her closet to retrieve the DVD. Regina took one from her and helped her set it up quickly.

Regina would’ve never thought she’d be sitting through a full hour or so of My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, but for Janis, she did— with no complaints. Well, Regina could’ve dozed off but she didn’t. It wasn’t too bad after all. Tolerable.

“Bed soon?” Regina asks absentmindedly.

“Nooooo.” Janis gasped, the string cheese packaging she was fiddling with, fell from her hand onto the couch.

“Please?”

“No.” Janis sulked.

“Whyyy.” Regina played along.

“Cause.” Janis snuggles closer.

Regina wasn’t sure if she wanted to laugh or scoff. To her, this squabble was hilarious, but she was also worried about Janis getting enough sleep.

“How about…we snuggle together till you sleep?” Regina suggested.

“No.” Janis says that just to spite her.

“Aw.”

Janis then started to giggle, barely able to stifle it.

“Please, baby, you need to rest enough.”

“Aw.” Janis mocked. Regina’s eyes went wide, “Did you just mock me?”

Janis blinked and looked right into Regina’s eyes, “No.”

“Sure you aren’t.” Regina resisted the urge to pinch her cheeks. God, why was she so cute?

“I like you.” Janis says, nearly chuckling, “You’re nice.”

“Oh, I am?” Regina glances at her.

“You areee.” Janis nodded, then leaned her head on Regina’s chest. Her arm was then looped around the blonde’s torso.

“Still don’t wanna sleep?” Regina asks.

“Need to brush my teeth.” She mumbled.

“Yeah.” Regina rubs her back, “Let’s go, then we can snuggle some more. Deal?”

“Deal.” Janis agreed quickly.

Janis grabs a different toothbrush from the storage box before Regina took her inside the house for the bathroom. It was quiet, neither of her parents were downstairs so she could only assume they were in their own room, and thank goodness for that since no one else knew about Janis being regressed. While she didn’t want to rush Janis, Regina also made sure to keep things moving.

“Okay, all clean?” Regina looked at Janis in the reflection of the bathroom mirror.

“Yup.” Janis nodded, smiling to show the blonde.

“Good job.” Regina smiled back, kissing her on the cheek, “Let’s go snuggle.”

“Yayyyy.”

As promised, they snuggled up in Janis’ bed once they got back into her garage. “I’m gonna need you to just close your eyes and sleep, okay? It’s getting late and I don’t want you to be tired tomorrow. Can you do that for me, baby?”

“Can we get milkshakes?” Janis asks sleepily, “Tomorrow?

“Of course, tomorrow.” Regina agrees, “I promise.”

“Okay.” Janis smiled, contentedly as she reached for another stuffed animal— a monkey too, but a more huggable size. Regina noticed the little bit of a struggle so she helps her grab it, “Here you go, baby.”

“Thankie.” Janis laughed lightly, instantly hugging the toy tightly, nuzzling her face against the material.

“Good night, you little monkey.” Regina sighs, hand returning to the up and down motion to lull her girlfriend to sleep.

“Nighty nighty.”

🏷️Tag list:

@ashecampos @auliisflower @cheesysoup-arlo @frogs00 @ludoesartandstuff @pda128

💭A/N:

I just about died from cuteness overload writing this request 😭 hopefully tumblr doesn’t glitch out again and make this one poof 💨

[starsofang]

Change of Heart

hitman!ghost x f!reader / part 4

previous part

tw: none, definitely more on the softer side :)

When life has completely and utterly failed you, you hire a hitman to take you out, too afraid to do it yourself. Instead of killing you like you had planned, he strikes up a deal with you, and you're too stubborn to bail out.

Waking up on day seven was not as chirpy as day six.

Being hungover was a bitch. The headache that rattled your brain caused your ears to pound in a way that you feared would have them implode into deafness.

You laid in bed for so long, the sun began to shift its position in the window of your bedroom. It filled the room with a comforting light, soft rays shining through the transparent curtains and saturating the air with a pleasant warmth that nipped at your toes that poked out from the end of your blanket.

Somehow, you managed to roll out of bed, forcing yourself onto bare feet. The wooden floor was cold to the touch compared to the sunlight that had embraced your feet with tepid coziness, and it sent a frigid chill up your spine.

You don’t remember stripping yourself of your clothes last night, but you certainly remembered Ghost taking you home and guiding you into the house with such a careful, thoughtful touch. You recalled the heartfelt one-on-one you ensued, your frazzled mind slowly beginning to piece itself together and completing the puzzle of uncertainty.

Simon was his name, and he had made sure to scribble it down in grubby, black ink on a piece of kitchen napkin where you found it resting. A number was joined below his name, and you had the stark realization that it was his number – not one he gave you from a burner phone before your initial first meeting, but his personal one.

You stared at the crisp napkin from where you were mounted in the kitchen, eyes a bit fuzzy that it made you reread it a few times just for good measure.

Right next to his name, he had drawn a poorly sketched skull. The act was so childish for a man of his title that it had you laughing to yourself in disbelief.

Hitman had jokes, you thought.

No, not hitman. Not Ghost.

Simon had jokes.

His name felt unfamiliar on your tongue when you tested it outloud. The two syllables filled the air like an elegant symphony, as if a lovely mix of chords chorused from your mouth when repeated again, then once more.

The more you repeated it to yourself, the more it began to stick. It was as if his name being rolled off of your tongue was meant to be there, encasing your mouth with a rich sweetness that had you salivating for more.

You made sure to add Simon’s number in your phone, logging his name with a skull emoji to match the cute artwork he’d scribbled in on the napkin.

Despite your raging headache that didn’t want to vanish, even with an overmedicating amount of painkillers, and your horrible start to the morning, you found yourself in a lighter mood than ever before. There was a pep in your step when you walked to work for the evening, all teeth and smiles when the door chimed as you entered the establishment. It was certainly not because of a mysterious, masked man.

You had never gone to work beaming as if the entire world had encased you in a warm hug and told you you’re gonna do great today! In fact, most days spent at work were mind rotting, slowly killing you from the inside until all that remained was a sad, decaying corpse in its wake.

Today was different, though, and even your coworkers took note of it as you clocked yourself in after greeting them with a cheerful hello. You paid no mind to their curious stares and whispers and immediately busied yourself with the task of tugging out prepped ingredients and lining them up neatly at your station.

Baking used to be your passion, up until the man of your past had ruined it. You used to adore the creations you had free reign to make – cookies, breads, cakes, anything you could possibly craft with your hands. Your job was a hobby and not a chore like it was now. Over time, that spark had died, replaced with a hollowness that was waiting so patiently to be filled once again.

He made you hate baking the way he made you hate yourself.

At least if you couldn’t love yourself just yet, you could relearn to love baking.

You were quick to work dough between your hands, rolling it out on the table like a place mat and carefully carving out shapely designs that would puff up into perfect, little treats once in the oven. As you performed, your face was lifted up into a promising smile, eyes brightened with that past passion that sparked in reminiscence.

You hadn’t even realized you were openly expressing joy in your design until your cheeks began to cramp from how much you were grinning to yourself. The soreness was far from unwelcome, and it was your moment of recognition that this was what smiling was like. Oh, how you had forgotten what it felt like to do it with such genuineness.

When you placed all your neatly carved pastries on trays to be baked, you slipped them in the oven with purpose, watching the glow of the orange light of the heat rods illuminate over the pale dough.

As you watched them slowly begin to form in their desired states, you found yourself thinking about Simon again.

You wondered if he liked sweets. Or perhaps if not sweets, then maybe bread. It didn’t hurt to throw the offer his way, right?

Pulling your phone from the pocket of your apron, you swiped your finger to unlock it and pressed on his contact name. You stared at the screen for moments too long, silently contemplating, gnawing on the nail of your thumb.

A doubtful voice prodded you in the back of your head like an unwanted pest, buzzing in disapproval. Another voice gleamed with delight, encouraging you to send him a text, desperate to make his acquaintance once again. After all, his presence was a newly welcomed one in your life, and your body gravitated towards him like a magnet in search of their other half.

Fuck it, you thought. 

Fingers tapping against the screen, you willed yourself to send the text message before you had the mind to back out and erase it, and the moment your phone quietly pinged once the text had gone through, you let out a breath you didn’t realize you were holding.

Hey, Simon! If you have time, I have some pastries for you to try at my job, and I’d love it if you stopped by!

Pocketing your phone, you returned back to work, busying yourself with the freshly baked goodies that were out of the oven.

Hours passed, and nighttime fell like a weighted blanket over the expanse of your workplace. It was your night to close, and seeing as you were feeling rather joyful today, you allowed the other workers to head home early for the night, leaving you to do closing tasks by yourself.

Really, you were waiting for Simon to show up, leaving yourself open for company until the very last moment. You piled up the chairs, swept the floors, wiped every station down, and counted all the money from the sales for the day.

The sign on the door was shut down, neon lights dimmed to display CLOSED for any stray passersby who may have been craving a late night sweet.

Just like the telltale sign of emptiness in the store, there was an emptiness in Simon’s presence.

He hadn’t shown up. You tried not to beat yourself up about it, thinking perhaps he didn’t see the text. Maybe he got wrapped up in his own life – after all, the two of you were only friendly with one another, if you could even call it that.

Maybe to him, you weren’t even friends like you had labeled it. You were a charity case of a broken girl he simply wanted to help keep living.

No. You shouldn’t think that way. You had a great day. You finally had some sort of remembrance of the woman you once were long before the anguish and the agony, and you accomplished the day with a smile on your own.

Though, when you closed up the store and checked your phone in silent hopefulness, you felt a sense of foreboding disappointment wash over you like crashing waves attempting to drown out all of the achievements you’d made today.

Read at 6:47PM.

Walking home felt like a treacherous drag of your feet. It was like your shoes were filled with cement, scraping along the pavement of the sidewalk with every step towards your apartment with a piercing sound of gravel on gravel. The stairs had your legs feeling weighed down and solid, anchoring you to the floor and forcing you to use every fabric of muscle in your body in order to make it to the top step.

In fact, everything felt heavy.

You had made progress today, such amazing progress, and now the pressure of misreading the signs from Simon had made you tentative.

Maybe you really did misinterpret what Simon wanted with you.

You thought that after he’d broken into your house numerous times, aided you back to the security of your bed after a drunken night, had given you his number, and told you his real name instead of continuing the persona of Ghost, things may have been escalating into the desired friendship you fiercely needed.

You liked being around him so much that it was possible you had created a bond in your mind that he didn’t seem to reciprocate.

The torture of your sorrowful mind was feeding into the woefulness of a clear reality, so much so, you hadn’t noticed the large figure standing at your door, patiently waiting for your return.

A soft rumbling of your name lured you out of the prison of your own consciousness, and it took you only seconds to recognize the voice as the very one that was tangling your thoughts in webs, capturing you and keeping you hostage.

“Simon!” you exclaimed in relieved surprise, examining the way he was leaned up against the wall beside your door, his frequent mask obscuring the view of his face as always. His arms crossed over his chest, and if you didn’t know him, you would’ve thought he was a bodyguard with the way he presented with such masculine storminess that clouded the air with warning and danger.

“There you are,” he greeted kindly, and the warmth in his tone had any lingering doubt fade away like a gas dissolving into an abyss. “Was waitin’ up for you.”

Your face broke out into a genuine smile, that slight soreness from your cheeks twinging at the sudden tug of skin.

“I was closing up my work. Waited around just in case you showed, so I took a bit longer than normal,” you explained sheepishly.

He let out a soft hum, nodding in acknowledgement.

“Got caught up with some things. Wasn’t able to make it, so I figured I’d wait outside your apartment instead of breakin’ in like I always do. Didn’t want to scare you, love.”

Your heart soared at the nickname, unable to contain its joyful leaps of pleasure. All disappointment you felt from before was forgotten and forgiven, and you wanted to revel in the time spent with your newfound companion.

“You seem awfully chirpy today. What’s got the pretty girl in such a good mood, hm?” Simon raised his eyebrow from beneath his balaclava, and you shifted awkwardly on your feet.

“Just woke up in a good mood today. Is that a crime?” you asked with a teasing smile.

Simon snorted out a quiet laugh, shaking his head in retaliation.

“S’not a crime, sweetheart. Just a pretty sight s’all,” he offered, filling your chest with pride. “What’s this about pastries?”

It dawned on you that you should’ve brought some home with you, even if you had no idea he would’ve been waiting outside your door. You silently cursed yourself for not snagging a few from the selection. You weren’t sure what kind of pastries he liked, and now that he made his appearance, albeit late, you were boiling over with curiosity on finding out.

“Ah, I didn’t bring any home,” you explained apologetically, and you couldn’t bear to hear the disappointed hum from him. “But I can make some in my apartment if you’d like. May not be as good, but I can give that piece of shit oven a try.”

That roused a laugh from him and he straightened himself off of the wall, gesturing with a hand to your door.

“S’alright with me. Lead the way, pretty girl.”

Simon’s eyes never strayed far from you as you worked your magic in the cramped space of the kitchen. Flour covered the countertops, painting them in a gritty beige as you kneaded the heels of your palms into the forming dough, tongue poked out in concentration.

You could feel the weight of his gaze piercing through you, and you tried not to let it affect your limbo. This time around, the nervousness felt different. It wasn’t an intimidated furl in your lungs that threatened to restrict your airflow, or a choked up lump in your throat that you could never quite swallow down.

No. This was shyness.

It felt like his eyes were interrogating you, digesting your embodiment and creating an outlook of you in his mind. You had no idea what he was thinking as he stared at your powdery hands that shaped out dough, or the sprinkle of flour that pestered your cheek, or even the way your hair repeatedly fell in your eyes and you’d be forced to blow it away with a puff of air.

It was prying, it was focused, it was immersed.

He didn’t dare say a word, but he didn’t need to in order for you to grow flustered in his presence. His gaze was enough to cause a rupture in your chest, tickling you with the fluttering wings of butterflies that soared freely from their entrapment.

The feeling was strange, foreign, and dare you say it, appreciated.

Eyes had never studied you like a work of art before, taking in every brush and stroke on the canvas and perceiving it in their own perspective. What that perspective was, though, remained a mystery.

“Baking’s your thing, eh?” He spoke once your treats were securely placed in the oven, mitts covering the plains of your hands.

“It was,” you admitted with a nod, tugging the mitts off and placing them on a clean space of the counter. Your mess still needed to be tended to, so you made quick work of it, focusing your attention on the grains of flour that plastered themselves like annoying bits of sand that seemed to spread no matter where you cleaned.

“Looks like it still is,” he corrected you, and you glanced up to see a glimmer of a smile behind his eyes.

“Alright,” you sighed, smiling. “It is. Now, anyway. It wasn’t for a long time, though.”

He hummed, leaning his arms on the counter and watching as you swept the stubborn bits of flour into your trashcan. His eyes followed every movement of your nimble fingers, sticky dough caked under your fingernails.

“I’d say you’re startin’ to get a piece of your old self back, don’t you think so, love?”

“You didn’t even know my old self, Simon. In fact, you barely know me at all.”

“I’d like to.”

You froze in place, hands in the midst of wetting a towel to wipe up the remnants of the sheen of powder that tinted your dark countertops. You lifted your gaze to find him already staring at you, like he had been during the entire process of your home baking, and you felt weak under it. There was a slight falter in your knees that threatened to buckle, and a racing in your heart that caused your breath to get caught.

His words could go one of two ways, and the little pest in your mind was telling you it wasn’t the one you found yourself secretly hoping for.

That pest had festered so deep inside your brain, it laid its vile eggs there to harvest feelings of doubt, feelings of being unlovable. There wasn’t a world where Simon could grow to love you, nor was there a world where you could love yourself.

But that wasn’t all that true, was it? All it was was doubt. Not fact, far from truth.

“You shouldn’t say things like that to a woman,” you muttered, dipping your head back down to pry yourself from his gaze.

“I’m saying them to you,” he claimed, so shameless in the way he voiced it.

“It’s only day seven. Get back to me when it’s day fourteen.”

You could tell he smiled under his mask from the way his eyes lit up, and he gave you an amused snort, allowing you to bask in silence and gather your mind together.

You welcomed it, needing your inner voice to run astray rather than fill you with the probability of letting Simon in deeper than a friendship. You had a long way to go, and you had a pressing feeling that Simon wouldn’t be going anywhere all that soon.

The dinging of your timer had you regaining concentration on the original task at hand, taking your pastries out of the oven and decorating them with assortments of frosting and glazes.

Baking was what permitted yourself to calm, brain floating peacefully down a trickling river and sunbathe in a pool of warmth. Thinking could come later.

When Simon snatched up one of the pastries from the tray, he lifted the lower half of his mask to greedily shove a bite in his mouth. He chewed, digesting the delightful flavors that melted on his tongue, before giving you a soft smile.

“Is it good?” you asked wearily, and he finished off the treat as an answer to your question. Pride swelled in your bones, and you let yourself smile back at him.

“Damn good baker, you are. Reckon you’ll get even better after our deal’s up.”

Simon and his damn deal.

The mention of it would normally make you cower to the inner part of yourself that was unhealed, but this time, you laughed brightly, agreeing to tuning up your recipes in an unforeseeable future.

softer chapter before more angst to come 🤝 i also have a profession as a baker so this was fun for me to write + simon with a sweet tooth is cute

[hustlerose]

metric fan.... what are your thoughts on art of doubt ? i'm trying to get into metric and that's the one album that's clicking with me big time... it's so good

i have strongly mixed feelings about art of doubt, and broadly about this newer era the band is in

i hated pagans in vegas. that album was a major slump. i thought they were going the way of bloc party or lcd soundsystem or any number of weirdo indie rock bands from the 00's, where they'd keep on truckin but never reach their glorious highs again...

well, it didn't turn out that way. art of doubt is a triumph, a return to form, and proof they can still write a great rock album. emily's voice is in top form. i've always loved how delicate and sincere she sounds on mic, and middle age has only made those qualities stronger. listen to her gliding across that slippery groove in "anticipate," fluttering breathlessly over the chorus of "underline the black," or balancing between warmth and sarcasm on "seven rules." performances like these make a metric album worth it

i think art of doubt contains some of the best metric songs EVER. "now or never now" is genuinely a top 10 indie rock song imo. when it's on, i never want it to end. "dressed to suppress" is a really knockout track, the kind no one else seems to make anymore. and the last 3 songs are gorgeous. they're naked and unpretentious in a way that just melts my heart

and can i just say the production is killer. metric albums are usually super crisp and detailed, but this one blows em all out of the water. every drum hit BANGS. the guitars on this whole album sound phenomenal

all that said, i think the album has problems. emily pushes her voice outside her comfort zone a few times and... sometimes that works, like on those high notes in "no lights on the horizon." sometimes it DOES NOT WORK, like when she tries to scream some lines on the title track. her voice refuses to get loud and she just yelps awkwardly. the production tries to help her out by adding some distortion, but that only makes it worse. moments like this draw attention to how one-dimensional this album is outside of some key moments.

but here's my real beef with art of doubt, as well as formentera 1 and 2. these songs have a terrible case of "bad verse, great chorus" disease. "die happy," "holding out," and "dark saturday" are the worst offenders here. the choruses sound like they're totally disconnected from the verses around them. the transitions are janky and abrupt, and when the chorus ends my only thought is "damn, i have to slog thru 30 more seconds of sludge before i can get back to the song i was enjoying." so many of the deep cuts have this problem, and it makes the whole album feel choppy and stilted

overall, i like the record. i like it a lot. but on repeated listens, i end up skipping more and more songs until i'm left with the handful i truly love. not my fav metric album, but i'll admit it's grown on me since it dropped

if you like art of doubt, do yourself a huge favor and listen to synthetica. the whole album, front to back. it's one of the greatest alt rock albums ever written. when you're done, listen to fantasies. it's their most popular, and it's equally great.

somewhere in there, find some time for this playlist i just made: metric essential deep cuts. emily doesn't get enough credit as a master lyricist and songwriter. together, the haines-shaw songwriting duo are truly special, the kind of thing you're lucky to get once in a generation. i hope this playlist makes a case for that <3

[certifiedcallahanstan]

The memoir of a horny fangirl (H.C Series)

Pairing: Hazel Callahan x Fem!reader

College AU

Summary:

After a two years of studying abroad in Australia for marine biology you return back to your college for your senior year, everything is how you remember it..

Josie and Isabel moved in together.

P.J is still horny as ever.

but one thing is different..Hazel is a professional baseball player.

Word count: 3.2k

Warnings: Angst!!, Confident Hazel (bc she’s got as fuck), Fuck boy Hazel but not really, Sometimes insufferable reader, eventual smut

This is a slow burn series, there will smut but not in the first chapter

Chapter 1-

You had been in Australia at a marine biology internship for the the past two years of university. You were excited to see at your friends, really you were but after three cancelled flights, two delays and having to sit next to a fifty something year old man who snores could’ve sent the plane down, you were really excited to just lay in your bed and sleep. Your friends however had other plans.

Isabel, Josie, Stella-Rebecca, Brittany, Hazel and P.J had gotten a extra key to your apartment from your parents (which you didn’t even know they had), and had spent five hours furnishing it with balloons, streamers, printed out pictures of sea animals and a big banner that says “welcome home mate”.

To say you were surprised was an understatement, as soon as your hand twisted the door knob and pushed the door open, cheers erupted from your friends and choruses of “welcome back” and “damn how did you get even hotter” filled the room.

As you take in the scene of your friends' enthusiastic welcome, you can't help but feel overwhelmed with warmth and happiness. Despite the exhaustion from your journey, their energy is infectious. Your heart swells with affection for each of them, especially as Isabel, and soon everyone else tackles you in a hug.

well everyone except P.J that is, she just kind of presses her lips together and tilts her head towards you in acknowledgment, never being one for affection.

After everyone has gotten their hugs in you can’t help but notice one face is notably absent, you scan the room for the shaggy haired brunette but she is nowhere to be seen, stirring a mix of emotions within you.

You try to push aside any feelings of disappointment , focusing instead on the joy of being reunited with your friends after such a long time away.

Everyone settles on the couch, Isabel and Josie cuddled together, they’ve been together close to three years which warmed your heart. Stella-Rebecca gushed about how she got asked to do her first ever run way show, and Brittany had officially signed a deal with a celebrity to help promise her jewelry business. And P.J had finally lost her virginity, which came from a slightly tipsy Stella-Rebecca leading to a slightly more annoyed P.J. You chose to leave it alone.

You’re curled up on the couch listening to all of your friends conversing when you hear your apartment door open.

Your heart skips a beat as you turn to see the familiar figure entering the room. The shaggy-haired brunette, the one you've been eagerly awaiting, finally arrives, and a rush of emotions floods over you (it’s just because you haven’t seen her in a while, you swear).

Despite trying to play it cool, you can't hide the smile that spreads across your face as she joins the group. It's as if the puzzle is finally complete with their presence, and you feel a sense of contentment settle over you.

“Sorry i’m late” she huffs out as she sets her backpack on the table by your door “Practice ran late”

"It's alright, we're just glad you're here," you reply, trying to hide the relief in your voice. You gesture for her to join you on the couch.

She graciously accepts the gesture and sits by you and you can’t help but notice how different she looks. When you left two years ago she was still the shy awkward girl you knew from highschool who wouldn’t stop talking about star wars and bomb making.

As you take in her transformation, you're struck by how stunning she looks. Gone is the shy, awkward girl you once knew, replaced by this confident, stylish version of herself. The way she carries herself, the subtle accessories that accentuate her outfit—all of it adds to her allure.

She still had the same mullet rocker hairstyle but her facial features seem to have gotten sharper and her muscle’s definitely more defined (not that you were looking because you definitely weren’t)

Your heart patters as you hear Brittany gasp and look at you “Did Hazel tell you about making the team?!”

Your eyebrows knit in confusion as you turn and look at hazel “no..what team?”

The brunette rubs her ring adorned hand on the back of her neck “it’s really no big deal-“

“No big deal?!” P.J interrupts smacking her hands on the couch “You got signed with the mother fucking NBA!”

Your eyes widen in shock as the news sinks in. The NBA? you swear you could feel your panties dampen. You knew she liked watching baseball and was pretty good at it, but you’ve never gotten to see her play. The thought of her in a baseball uniform makes you unusually horny.

You quickly snap out of your momentary distraction, realizing everyone is waiting for your response. Blushing slightly, you smile, "That's incredible, Hazel! Congratulations!" Your voice carries genuine excitement and admiration.

Her excitement is contagious, and you find yourself beaming along with her. You offer her a congratulatory hug which she happily obliges to.

As everyone converses and gets slightly more tipsy you and hazel sit by each other conversing and you realize how much you’ve missed this.

“I can’t wait to see you in action Miss NBA all star”

Hazel huffs out a chuckle tracing the rim of her cup and you can’t help but notice how prominent the veins are in her hand.

“I actually have a game this weekend. You should come” she smiles and licks her bottom lip in a way that should be illegal. You sensed a hint of flirtatiousness in her voice but you chalked it down to both of you being a little bit more than tipsy.

“Of course Haze” You smile as you squeeze her free hand “you know i wouldn’t miss it for the world”

“OH MY GOD I FUCKING LOVE THIS SONG” Isabel screeches and she pulls a stunned hazel up and starts screaming the words to “HOT TO GO”

As the night winds down and it's just you and Hazel left as she helps you clean up the mess that has consumed your apartment. The intimate setting allows your feelings for her to surface, even if only in the privacy of your thoughts.

You’ve always kind of had a thing for Hazel, the way she was always so kind to everyone even if they didn’t deserve it. How she could make jokes at the perfect time, and the fucking smile of hers.

You’re consumed in your thoughts as “living on a prayer” softly fills your apartment when you hear Hazel say something.

“Sorry” you say looking up from the trash bag you were tying and looking to her “what was that”

“you’re always in you’re own world aren’t you” she chuckles which causes the apples of your cheeks to turn pink “I said it’s good to see you again, it hasn’t been the same without you”

“Yeah, it's good to see you too," you reply, trying to keep your voice steady despite the flutter in your chest. "I've missed our late-night clean-up sessions."

And it’s true, Hazel was always the one to stay after and help you clean up after any kind of event.

An hour later everything is in its place and As Hazel gets ready to leave, you feel a pang of reluctance, not wanting the night to end just yet. "Hey, Hazel," you say, your voice a little softer than before, "thanks for helping out tonight, and for everything, really." You offer her a genuine smile

Hazel returns your smile, her gaze lingering for a moment longer than usual. "Anytime," she replies, her tone equally sincere. "And hey, don't forget about the game this weekend. I'll save you a seat." With a playful wink, she heads towards the door.

You watch her go, feeling a mixture of emotions swirling within you. As the door clicks shut behind her, you're left alone with your thoughts once more, the echoes of the night's events lingering in the air.

————————————

You didn’t see Hazel for the rest of the week, which left you restless and longing for her presence. Each day passed with a sense of anticipation for her baseball game on Saturday.

As the days went by, you couldn't shake the feeling of unease that settled in the pit of your stomach. You missed her more than you cared to admit.

As Saturday rolled around, you sat with them at Josie's house, Isabel was standing in a pile of clothes, determined to find you, quote on quote “the most pussy dripping outfit” and after what seems like an eternity she throws a tank top and short blue denim shorts to you and smiles.

You pick up the articles of clothing and laugh slightly. As you slip into the tank top and shorts, you can't help but feel a surge of confidence wash over you. Sure, the outfit may be on the more revealing side for a baseball game, but you can't deny that you look good in it. With a playful smile, you give Isabel a nod of approval and Josie whistles.

“Hazel isn’t going to be able to focus on the game seeing you” she says “and i mean this in the least offensive most feminist way, your tits look amazing” she huffs out as she gives you the “ok” hand symbol

"Thanks, Josie," you reply with a grin, feeling a warmth spread through you at her words.

With a final adjustment to your outfit, you three head to the stadium and Isabel grabs your hand and drags you to the VIP seating, As you approach the group, you're greeted by Annie, Sylvie, P.J, and Brittany, who are deep in conversation.

“I’m just saying” Sylvie huffs out in between handfuls of popcorn “If god didn’t make weed for people to smoke, what did he make it for“

“Not for you to get high off of and run into a rive butt ass naked!” Annie screeches

"Hey, everyone," you greet the group with a smile. "What's all this about running into rivers naked?" You raise an eyebrow, feigning curiosity as you take a seat among them.

Annie chuckles, shaking her head. "Long story," she replies, shooting a playful glare at Sylvie. "Let's just say Sylvie here had a little too much fun with nature last summer."

Sylvie shrugs, grinning sheepishly. "Hey, it was a dare," she defends herself, reaching for another handful of popcorn.

Soon enough the players start to take their positions on the field, your heart skips a beat when you spot Hazel on the pitcher's mound. The sight of her, with black eye paint under her eyes, which is enough to make you come undone on the spot.

With bated breath, you watch as she lifts her leg up and delivers the first pitch, her focus and determination evident with each movement. As the game progresses, you find yourself cheering louder and more enthusiastically with each play, feeling a sense of pride swell within you with every pitch she throws.

You can feel the anticipation in the air as the score remains neck and neck. Then, in the final moments, Hazel winds up and delivers the winning pitch, sending the ball soaring with precision and determination.

A collective roar erupts from the crowd as the ball connects with the catcher's mitt, signaling victory for Hazel's team. Cheers and applause fill the stadium as fans jump to their feet.

Josie pumps her fist in the air, her infectious energy spreading to the rest of the group.

And for the first time you realize how many girls are wearing Callahan jerseys and you hear a couple screaming “marry me” and “fuck me hazel”, even seeing a few flashing her and you can’t help but feel a pant of jealousy.

Despite knowing that Hazel is just basking in the admiration of her fans, seeing others openly express their attraction to her stirs up feelings of insecurity within you. You hadn’t realized how popular Hazel was until now.

—————————————

Josie declared an obligatory house party after the game, so soon enough her house was filled with drunk college students.

Music thumped through the speakers, laughter echoed in every corner, and the scent of alcohol lingered in the air. You search for Hazel, not being able to have seen her after the game due to the numerous interviewers surrounding her.

You spot her surrounded by girls hanging off of her. You meet her gaze and you can’t help but notice how her eyes travel to your cleavage and the smirk that adorns her face before she turns her attention back to the girls. Isabel comes up to you and bumps your shoulder “fun day huh?”

You tear your eyes away from Hazel and smile “Yeah it was the best, i didn’t realize haze was so popular though, i mean i swear i saw a girl faint when she came out”

Isabel laughs as she grabs another cup from the kitchen counter “Yeah Hazel is like..the gay awakening for every girl across America”

You hum in acknowledgment as you turn your focus back to where Hazel is..or was, and you notice she is walking towards you.

As Hazel makes her way toward you, your heart skips a beat, feeling a mix of excitement and nervousness. You can't help but notice the way her eyes linger on you for a moment before she joins you, the smirk on her lips not escaping your notice.

She’s dressed in a black tank top and blue washed jeans with a silver chain glistening around her neck and you can’t help but wonder what it would look like with her head between your thighs.

"Hey," she says, pulling out of your frankly embarrassing day dream, her voice warm as she approaches. "Sorry about the crowd back there. It's been a bit hectic with all the interviews and fans."

You smile, trying to hide the flutter in your chest as you meet her gaze. "No worries," you reply, mustering up a casual tone. "Looks like you've got quite the fan club."

She shrugs as she messes with the red cup in her hand, her eyes scanning your outfit, still the same one that you had worn to the baseball game.

"You look great," she says, her voice genuine as she meets your gaze, you chew on your bottom lip as she whispers in your ear, “how did you know my favorite color was red”

a shiver runs down your spine at the proximity of her breath. Her words catch you off guard, and you can feel your cheeks flush with warmth. You spot Josie with her eyebrows raised and a shit eating grin on her face.

"I, uh, didn't know," you admit, feeling a flutter of excitement at her whispered confession. "I just... wore what I had."

Hazel's lips curl into a playful smirk as she leans back, her gaze locking with yours. "Well, it suits you," she says, her voice low and teasing. "Red looks good on you."

Since when did Hazel get so fucking good at flirting? You shift your standing position, pressing your thighs together as arousal sweeps over you.

“Hazel!” a drunk P.J calls out as soon as you were about to respond “Do shots with me”

Hazel hesitates before muttering “duty awaits” and giving you a two finger salute and she makes her way to the drunk blonde

"Sure, duty calls," you reply with a forced smile, trying to push aside the twinge of longing that tugs at your chest. With a final glance in Hazel's direction, you watch as she makes her way over to P.J, the momentary connection between you fading into the background as the party continues to unfold.

You find yourself leaning against the wall in a secluded hallway, not because you don’t like the party but because Sylvie keeps trying to challenge you in a game of “who can eat the most edibles”

Footsteps pat against the floors and you let your gaze look to see who was coming to disturb your peace only to find out it was a smiling Hazel.

“Trying to hide from me already?” she chuckles out as she stands infront of you and you can smell her cologne from here.

“Oh yeah” " you reply with a playful smirk, leaning back against the wall. "But I guess you found me."

Hazel chuckles, her eyes sparkling with amusement as she leans in closer, her cologne enveloping you in its intoxicating scent.

“I feel like i’ve barely had any time to talk to you” your words slightly slurred from the alcohol as you look at her.

a frown takes over her face as she tilts her head "Yeah, it's been pretty hectic," she admits, her voice tinged with regret.

You can’t help but notice how good she looks right now with her hair messy and the slight shine from sweat.

Now you wouldn’t call yourself a particularly bold person, but you’re also three vodka cranberries and four shots deep so logic isn’t really on your side right now.

you press your arms closer to your body making your cleavage your prominent as you push your lips out into a fake pout “maybe you can make it up to me”

Hazels eyebrows furrow as she brushes some hair from your face “What do you need?”

There’s her sweet oblivious Hazel, it’s comforting to know she hadn’t totally changed.

You’re about to respond when you feel acid in your throat. With a panicked gasp, you shove Hazel out of the way and rush to the bathroom, your hand clamped over your mouth as you desperately try to contain the rising bile.

As you reach the toilet, your stomach lurches, and you double over, emptying its contents into the bowl Through the haze of nausea, you vaguely register P.J’s concerned voice, asking if you're okay.

Obviously fucking not.

As the worst of the nausea passes, you lean back against the bathroom wall, feeling drained and shaky. Isabel grabs all of your belongings and drags you up from the floor as she takes you home.

——————————————

As you’re curled up in bed about to drift off to sleep your phone pings and you groan.

You swear to god if it’s Annie sending another fucking puking gif you will take her church shoe and shove it so far up her ass.

As you flip your phone over you see that instead of a lewd gif, it’s a message from Hazel.

“I hope you’re doing okay, i’ll bring over some soup tomorrow :)”

You can’t help the smile that spread across your face as you drift off into a peaceful sleep.

Until you got another ping.

This time it was from an unknown number which was odd because you swore you’ve blocked all the scammers.

In the message is a singular photo. a photo containing a petite red head pressed up against hazel, and as she zooms in she realizes their lips are interlocked.

stupid fucking stupid is the only thing you could think of.

With a heavy sigh, you block the number before sending hazel a message and tossing your phone across the room, burying your face in your pillow falling asleep with a tear streaked face.

“don’t bother. i’m fine.”

[blainesebastian]

first christmas (ccg universe) 

words: 1,913 ship: austin butler x reader summary: (anon request) “Austin and Wife (reader) and they have a baby together and its their first Christmas as a family of three”  notes: masterlist on my sidebar :) will be posting more fics after Christmas. hope everyone has a great holiday! warnings: none tag list: @killerqueenfan, @karamelcoveredolicity, @elizabethrosecresswell, @gigisworldsstuff, @stylesmendeshearted

It’s almost ironic that you spend most of your time when you’re working on set praying not to get sick. Like it’s literally a mantra of some kind, worrying if a little sniffle is allergies or a cold, a sore throat stress or something worse, and usually you’re able to keep good vibes combined with Vitamin C and make it through with no issues.

So of course the universe said—you’re finally on break for Christmas and you’re sick.

You suppose you shouldn’t be too surprised—it’s been nonstop for you and Austin ever since you had your baby, Luci, a month ago. Being constantly drawn into the public eye for films, interviews, events and then on top of it, being parents, you knew it was going to be a complicated and stressful journey. But neither of you have any regrets, and you can’t find the right words to express how utterly happy you are with your little family. Austin too, you can see it in his eyes every time he holds his daughter, when he draws you close for a kiss.

It's something you wouldn’t trade for the world.

But being on cloud nine and stress factor eleven, consistently, with not really a break in-between? It definitely takes a toll.

Three days into your Christmas vacation, all the decorations set and gifts bought, and you’re fighting off this bug that has you feeling congested and tired. Before you fell asleep last night, you could see it in Austin’s eyes as he made you a cup of tea—he’s worried. Not just about you, though obviously that’s one of his main priorities, but he’s also concerned about handling Luci on his own.

It's not that Luci doesn’t adore him, she does, but it’s…clear she’s a bit of a mama’s girl to start. You make jokes that it’s all about the milk and feeding but there’s only so many times that she’s gonna cry in Austin’s face when you pass her off to him before he starts to get offended. It’s all one big learning experience, you know both know that, but it doesn’t eliminate the sting of your daughter preferring one parent over the other…and she’s not even a moody teenager yet.

You feel like it’s utterly a shock to you, being some sort of natural with kids—you wouldn’t have bet on that in a lifetime. You’re not one to assume things are automatically going work out for you, so it’s surprising that this does, at least for right now. You assure your husband that it has everything to do with that time in the womb, the bonding, that feeling of connectedness. You’re sure it has something to do with it, right?

You hear some shuffling in the living room and that’s what wakes you up, running a hand over your face and sniffling as you squint at the clock on your bedside table. Three-thirty. Groaning lightly, you press your face into the pillow and reach across the bed, palm hitting cold sheets.

Austin’s been long gone from them.

As you sit up, you realize it’s him in the living room, and he’s crooning softly. You can’t quite tell what song he’s singing, but it’s most likely Blue Christmas because of course it is. Pulling the sheets back, you shiver as you reach for a sweatshirt and tug it over your head, grabbing the sleeves to yank down over your hands.

Feet into slippers on the floor, you move slowly to open your bedroom door and wander down the hall. It’s then you hear the choruses of crying mixing with Austin attempt to soothe your daughter, talking (pleading) with her and running through a few Christmas renditions that he can remember off the top of his head. Curling your hair around your ear, you lean against the living room doorframe, your eyes finding him pacing back and forth—from the tree to the fireplace with Luci against his chest.

She’s crying in earnest, her cheeks flushed red. You wince a little at the sound and the dramatics, Austin soothing her with warm shh’s and rubbing her back in patient circles. Admittedly, it’s not a bad sight to see, your husband with Luci in his arms, trying his best to soothe her. The lights are low, the warm glow of the Christmas lights on the garland resting on the mantel and sparkling in the tree creating something comforting that Luci is not grasping yet.

“I know, I know,” Austin murmurs, his hand moving to cup the back of her head.

Your mom’s told you before that sometimes babies just need to cry but it never feels as simple when you’ve got one wailing in your arms and it seems like they might never stop. You think it’s silly for Luci to play favorites with you—how could she not completely adore Austin? Maybe you’re just bias—a soft smile tugging the corners of your mouth as you think about the gentle blue of his eyes, those wild curls that tuff along his forehead, the soothing quality of his voice, especially when he’s singing. He’s your favorite for sure.

“She giving you a hard time?” You ask, moving to perch yourself on the arm of the couch.

A soft noise that sounds like amusement leaves Austin’s nose, “Nothin’ but trouble,” He teases as he gently bounces her, “Sorry we woke you.”

You wave him off gently, your gaze wandering to the Christmas tree for a moment. Definitely one of your favorite sights of the holidays and it’s one of those weird kinda moments because, even though that tree has been up countless holidays you and Austin have spent together, this year’s completely different. A soft smile tugs the corners of your mouth as you notice that ornament Ashley got you both, the baby’s first Christmas printed on a trio of polar bears. It’s cute.

“I wasn’t sleepin’ too sound anyways.” You assure him.

Austin shifts her from one side of his chest to another, his thumb smoothing back and forth along her neck, “Fever?”

You shake your head, “No, just generally miserable. And I missed you in bed.”

Austin chuckles lightly, “Well I think that makes one of you. Luci’s about to hold her own mutiny if I don’t pass her over soon.”

And while Austin is obviously joking, you can hear that slight tilt in his voice—nearly unrecognizable if you didn’t know him, that he’s genuinely worried that he’s fucking up this whole parenting thing. Your heart aches for him because…he’s wonderful, he’s everything that you’d want as a partner and as a father for Luci. Moments like this, when it’s hard? Of course it feels less true to him.

Right after you gave birth, you were having trouble breastfeeding. And it’s one of those things where it felt incredibly important for you to be able to do, not just for the baby’s health but…in your own mind, something that really highlighted you crossing the threshold into motherhood. It had felt so easy to do it in the hospital but then you struggled without the guidance of the nurse when you came home—you can remember feeling that sort of helplessness, unworthiness, frustration. Especially when you tried to call the assistance number the hospital gave you when you left, the woman on the other end of the phone making you feel terrible that you couldn’t figure it out that you ended up crying.

There’s a twitch of a smile at the corners of your mouth at recalling Austin’s reaction—grabbing the phone with a protective, firm tone as he asks, “what did you say to my wife?”

“You’re doing perfectly,” You assure him, important for him to know it. You sniffle and run a hand through your hair, “Did you try wrapping her up?”

Austin lets out a breath, “Feel like I’ve tried everythin’.” He chuckles before moving to a blanket you keep on the back of the couch. He sits down near you, laying the blanket out on his legs. Setting Luci down, he begins to swaddle her but not too tight.

“Yeah just—hold her for a few moments.” You reach out and run your fingers through the blonde curls in the front part of his hair.

Austin draws Luci into his chest, keeping her close as he looks up at you. A soft smile pulls at your mouth and you lean down to brush a kiss along his hairline in solidarity. Luci’s still a bit fussy but you can sense her starting to calm and she does settle, much more content with Austin holding her, rocking her.

Austin shakes his head, moving the one arm that’s not holding Luci to rest his hand on your thigh. He rubs gently, thumb brushing over your knee, “How’d you know that would work?”

A soft laugh vibrates in your chest because it’s definitely not a science, “Sometimes babies just need to cry…other times they like feeling like a burrito.”

Austin laughs and nods, moving to stand up with Luci again to keep rocking her, hoping she’ll fall asleep. He cups your cheek, brushing his lips along your forehead…as if you can’t tell he’s subtlety checking for a fever.

“Go back to sleep, alright?” He says softly, “I’ll join you soon.”

You stand from the couch and nod, brushing your hand along the crown of Luci’s head before moving to walk down the hallway. Turning to briefly look over your shoulder, you watch as Austin holds his daughter, beginning to sing a Christmas tune under his breath.

Definitely an image you don’t mind going back to sleep with.

--

There’s a stillness on Christmas morning that can’t be replicated—after breakfast, a few presents having been opened, two mugfuls of coffee, it settles on the living room like the snow outside the window. Big, fat flakes gently fluttering down.

Luci is sleeping soundly (for now) in a bassinet near the couch and Austin lets out a long sigh as he settles next to you on the floor near the Christmas tree. He settles his hand along your leg, rubbing back and forth in small circles.

You smile a little, “You know one of my favorite ways to look at a Christmas tree?”

He shakes his head, curious, and you shuffle away from the tree a bit before lying down, taking him with you. A soft chuckle leaves his lips as you lay side by side, shoulders and up underneath the Christmas tree. You tilt your head back a little, looking straight up through the branches of the artificial tree, seeing nothing but patchworks of twinkling multi-colored lights.

“Why is this your favorite?” Austin asks, turning his head a bit to look at you.

“I dunno,” You admit with a laugh before thinking about it a moment, then, “I guess because it’s something I always used to do with my dad when I was little.” You shrug, inching a bit closer to Austin so your shoulders brush. “Just nostalgic.”

He’s quiet for a few moments, nodding, turning his head back to look up through the branches as well. “Somethin’ we can do with Luci.”

You can’t help but grin, stomach fluttering at his words. Reaching your fingers down, your hand brushes his. It’s all it takes for Austin to take your palm against his own, lacing your fingers, his thumb tracing the coolness of the wedding band on your finger.

You love that thought.

[tomorrowxtogether]

Tomorrow X Together Refuse To Play It Safe Musically: ‘We Don’t Want To Limit Ourselves’

After Tomorrow X Together’s scored a No. 1 album on the Billboard 200 chart in February with The Name Chapter: TEMPTATION, the K-pop trailblazers could have been tempted to recreate a collection of similarly whimsical pop cuts. But the quintet opted to push forward with their story by fusing in new genres and collaborators for a goal greater than commercial success.

TXT’s latest musical journey, The Name Chapter: FREEFALL, showcases an unwavering commitment to pushing musical boundaries. From serving one of the best choruses of their careers with a side of ‘80s new wave in the lead single “Chasing That Feeling” to dabbling in everything from metal to Latin pop thanks to mixing new and longtime collaborators, FREEFALL ultimately speaks to their group goal of abandoning traditional genre labels altogether.

“We tried to experiment with new sounds and styles on this album,” says Tomorrow X Together vocalist Taehyun, who co-wrote three of the album’s nine tracks. “We don’t want to limit ourselves to one genre and [want to] continue to experiment with a variety of sounds. At the same time, we want to put our own spin on them so that ‘Tomorrow X Together’ can ultimately be a genre of its own.”

Subverting expectations and refusing to limit oneself is not just a sign of courage in an unpredictable music industry, but artistic confidence that one’s messages and story can continue with the fans and listeners willing to open their ears and minds, with Taehyun, Soobin, Yeonjun, Beomgyu and Hueningkai living that motto in their music. Dive into more with the members of Tomorrow X Together for insights into their creative process, album’s themes and aspirations for the future.

TAEHYUN: We tried to experiment with new sounds and styles on this album as well. There’s 1980s-inspired new wave track “Chasing That Feeling,” hard rock-driven “Growing Pain,” and “Deep Down” which has a Jersey Club sound. We don’t want to limit ourselves to one genre and [want to] continue to experiment with a variety of sounds. At the same time, we want to put our own spin on them so that “TOMORROW X TOGETHER” can ultimately be a genre of its own.

Jeff Benjamin: You mentioned “Chasing That Feeling” has the '80s new-wave sound. What made it the proper title track and how did you approach blending in your sound? 

YEONJUN: “Chasing That Feeling” is a song that marks a new beginning in reality and an important turning point in the Name Chapter series. It sings of a fresh start away from the sweet but irresponsible past which our previous album The Name Chapter: TEMPTATION dealt with. So it felt right as the lead single for the new album.

HUENINGKAI: I think the retro, new-wave sound of the track works well because it captures a youthful and resilient energy. It’s a youth anthem, but not like the romantic youth anthems people might expect, and lays out the pain and emptiness of reality which I think a lot of people will find relatable.

Jeff Benjamin: The choreography for “Chasing That Feeling” features voguing, which is rare for boy bands. Can you tell us the thinking behind it and how it complements the song?

BEOMGYU: We wanted the choreography to reflect the message of the song. A lot of the movements were designed to visually convey this sense of speed and a feeling of freefalling. We like to experiment and try something different for our performances, so voguing was a new but fun experience. It resulted in a very dynamic performance that I think our fans will enjoy very much.

Jeff Benjamin: Going through some album songs, “Growing Pain” opens and stands out with its hard rock, almost metal sound. Can you share the story behind this track?

HUENINGKAI: “Growing Pain” is about facing reality head-on and feeling that sense of pain in the process. But rather than looking at this pain as an end, the song embraces this as growing pains and a process to mature in the end. I really liked this perspective of looking at reality and tried to reflect that in the lyrics.

Jeff Benjamin: The lyrics and message in “Deep Down” are very intriguing about seeing one’s horns as a crown. Is there a connection between it and your debut single “Crown”?

YEONJUN: There’s definitely a connection. “Deep Down” is about accepting one’s “horn,” something you want to keep hidden, as one’s “crown,” something that makes you who you are. “Crown” is about the discovery of what makes you different and “Deep Down” embraces that difference as a part of one’s true self. So, it’s like a full circle moment, and I think it’s natural that there’s this evolution in the narrative because we have evolved and wanted to share that journey through our music.

Jeff Benjamin: MAX co-wrote “Happily Ever After.” Are you fans of him or have you managed to start a friendship?

HUENINGKAI: He's one of my favorite artists, and I was genuinely thrilled when I heard the news that he would be taking part in the track. I was also pleasantly surprised when we received the demo because he sang it himself.

Jeff Benjamin: The color blue appears in several TXT song titles: “Blue Hour,” “Blue Orangeade” and, now, “Blue Spring.” What is the significance of the color and connection with your fans, MOA? 

HUENINGKAI: The color blue has a part in the cohesive story we’re trying to tell through our music. Therefore, certain imagery reappears and evolves along with the theme of our albums. It also plays a role in further immersing our fans into the story we’re telling.

Jeff Benjamin: The visuals for the album range from dark and to fantastical, how do they fit into the overall album theme or sounds even?

SOOBIN: Since we wanted to talk about reality as we see it in this album, the album’s visuals also reflect this. We intended to recreate the look of the real world as it is to give off this sense of reality seen without a filter. And in this reality, there are moments of both pain and beauty, so you can see that reflected in the melancholy and fantasy-like imagery.

Jeff Benjamin: You worked with Ryan Tedder for two songs “Do It Like That” and “Back for More” on this album. What was the experience like and how did he contribute to your established creative process?

TAEHYUN: We had a chance to meet and work with Ryan in Los Angeles during the U.S. leg of our most recent world tour. He took the time out of his vacation to come to the studio to direct our recording sessions. His dedication and level of professionalism throughout the entire process really inspired me. He’s an incredible musician, and it was such a pleasure working with him.

Jeff Benjamin: The album has a message about “freefalling” into reality. Have there been times when you unexpectedly or suddenly had to face reality head on?

YEONJUN: I’d say the journey of becoming an artist was an experience where I faced reality head on. The path to becoming an artist, and a great artist at that, requires a great deal of hard work and responsibility along with growing pains. Through it all, I feel that I’ve become a better artist by enduring those times.

Jeff Benjamin: The series of “Dreamers,” “Deep Down,” “Happily Ever After” and “Skipping Stones” is strong; I think fans will find inspiration in their messages of identity, hope, and courage. Are there personal sentiments here any of you can relate to? 

TAEHYUN: In "Dreamer," there are lyrics that say, “I'm a dreamer, dreamer, dreamer with memories of stars.” I love the sense of resilience in these lyrics because it’s about choosing to embrace adulthood without abandoning the capacity to dream, rather than giving up on hopes and dreams as an adult in the real world. That’s something that I very much aspire to do.

HUENINGKAI: “Skipping Stones” is another great track that I relate to. It’s about staying strong in the face of adversity. The song compares one’s inner turmoil to the fluctuating water surface from skipping stones. One’s inner turmoil creates this wave of unsettling emotions, but just like skipping stones, the water eventually becomes still—I love the lyrical imagery on top of the track’s raw sound.

Jeff Benjamin: Do you have any specific hopes or goals for this album on the charts?

BEOMGYU: We received so much love on our previous album, and it’d be amazing to continue to garner great results on the charts. Regardless, I’m still very proud of how far we were able to expand our sound once again and artistically grow through this album.

Jeff Benjamin: Now that The Name Chapter: FREEFALL is here and fans have seen yet another side of TXT, what are some other aspects you’re excited about or hope to show?

BEOMGYU: I think our fans will enjoy our #ChasingThatFeeling dance challenge videos that we shot in many different locations. Some of them were shot on the set of our music video at Universal Studios in Los Angeles, which gives a behind-the-scenes look of different promotions we’re doing for this album. We also did the dance challenge with other artists that you might not have expected. So, I’m excited about that and I think our fans will enjoy it too.

Jeff Benjamin: Anything else to add or a message you want to ensure fans know? 

SOOBIN: We worked very hard on this album. I hope that many people enjoy it and relate to it in a way that makes tough times a little easier.

[chaosincurate]

A Guide to The Cure, Pt. II: The Pop Phase

After making three consecutively darker records back to back to back, it was time for The Cure to try something else. The next few years would see them experiment with poppier sounds, initially through singles and EPs, to try and create a more accessible sound, but one that still feels true to them. A radical departure in fashion atop the same, familiar skin. The singles they would release (and later compile into the album-length project Japanese Whispers) had mixed results, but with a few fan favourites under their belt with this new sound, they felt ready to make a full album of songs headed in this bold new direction.

The Top

They weren't ready to make a full album of songs headed in this bold new direction.

I generally try to avoid value judgements like that in my writing. I prefer to describe an album's appeal as opposed to it's lack, but this one was a rough listen. I saw some of the reviews heading into this and they didn't paint a very pretty picture, but, especially after the first few tracks were decent (if a little lacking in personality), I was holding out hope that it would give me something to appreciate. It just didn't though. After those first two tracks, I found there to be a steep drop in quality that didn't reverse itself for the rest of the album.

I do think it's very possible for some to enjoy this album though, so long as it's the right person going into it with the right mindset. First, it has to be someone that doesn't mind gimmicky production and songwriting, because there is a lot of that and it can get pretty on the nose. Second, you have to go into it with no pre-conceived notions of how a Cure album sounds. Even heading into this album with the knowledge of both their famous pop sound and their cult classic goth sound, I was not prepared for something that sounded this much like an altogether different band.

So in case it isn't clear already, I really don't recommend this as one of the first albums you listen to of The Cure. Except for maybe in the instance where you know that no matter what you want to listen to all of their discography and want to put this first so it won't ruin your appetite for more as you get the bad outliers out of the way first.

The Head On the Door

If anybody ever said that The Cure weren't elusive, they lied. Right after The Cure's biggest failure to date comes a candidate for their biggest triumph. The Head On the Door is not just a must-listen within The Cure's discography, but also within New Wave as a whole. goth rock and new wave are absolutely very different subgenres, but this album really highlights how transferable the skills are between them. Both support strange and emotive vocalists very well, and both ask a lot of their lyricists, albeit in different ways. Both are also more interested in the soundscape than technical ability when it comes to the instrumentation, although sometimes those two goals align in both styles.

And where there is a stark difference, the band prove able to manage brilliantly. Perhaps it's just my lack of exposure to the gothic sound and therefore it's intricacies, but I feel as though new wave demands more experimentation, and tracks like The Blood prove that this new Cure is capable of striking the balance required between keeping things fresh and ensuring the album comes together well as a cohesive project. I mentioned that different things are required lyrically between the two styles, and Robert Smith makes the necessary adjustments very naturally here. He seems extremely comfortable writing hooky choruses for New Wave as he does rhymeless literary marvels for Goth Rock.

As it stands, there is only one album of The Cure's that I'd recommend as the average listener's first ahead of this one (that album is yet to come), and if you just want to hear the poppier stuff, this is comfortably the best of that bunch for me, even if many of the songs have a goth rock sound sprinkled in.

Kiss Me, Kiss Me, Kiss Me

I'm going to be totally honest, I'm not sure what to say about this album. Not because it's bland, far from it. Just because there's so much going on that it feels difficult to define. It also doesn't really fit cleanly into any narrative I have going on here.

It feels like a lot of fun was had putting this album together, and probably skews the poppiest of all their albums, but it's also very chaotic, with a lot of songs being outliers to that general skew. Confusingly, their opener is amongst those massive outliers, with a prog-rocky guitar solo intro, that leads into an album very nicely, but not necessarily this album. It's far from bad, but tonally it resembles a compilation album. An assortment of sounds that feel navigated based on raw intuition and what the band thought would be fun. That approach has bundles of charm, but you're going to struggle to leave a lasting impression with it.

That being said, some of the very best The Cure has to offer finds itself amongst this strange project. Just Like Heaven was a hit for a reason, Why Can't I Be You is one of their most endearing songs, previously mentioned opener The Kiss is an amazing starter, and as silly as it is, I love Hot Hot Hot!!!. But there in lies the issue with recommending this album: all I have to say about it is in relation to the individual songs. This album has value to fans of The Cure, because it's just them trying a bunch of different things, so there is very little for someone who isn't already familiar with the band to latch onto. It's a fun listen, but I'd recommend leaving this one until you've heard a few albums of theirs already.

Next Week...

Next week will be the wild mood swings phase. That's going to be released on Friday the 13th (spooky) September 2024 at midnight BST. If you're far enough in the future, you can already check it out you privileged scamp, you!

[your-ne1ghbor]

Knowing What I know Now IS REALY BAD...So lets fix it!

Knowing What I know Now from Wish 2023 is a song...I don't like

My problems with the song mainly is shown that there is NO ONE that is joining into the fight. And yes, the people in the story represent community and how we should work together despite differences, ya ya I get it. But it doesn't work, and they only did that part at the end of the story, when it should have been the main progression which would influence how our characters would react.

Someone did a deep dive into the song so here (a lot of the points I would say is similar so just watch that video):

So what I would do to fix this is....

Remove everything and start over. Yes, the song cannot be saved, and I feel like changing everything is the BEST way to fix the song for me personally.

So what the song should have is...

Have more of a chorus which would be the people of Rosas chiming in. There should also be a progression in the story to what is happening in the song, like time passing to show what their plan to overthrow the king to the audience without making it too obvious and not reveal so much, but give evidence that the king and queen knows most of the plan, but not so much to were the audience would know.

The song can start of slow, somewhat like prince of Egypt with the song plagues. But upbeat like the Court of Miracles.

Instead, they are passing the news to overthrow the king.

The chorus grows louder and more and more people come to a location in Rosas where they will start the planning I guess.

Asha can sing at this part, and it should be triumphant. This is her moment to shine as a character since she is nearing her ARC in the story.

Her friends can chime in and tell their stories and why the king isn't as good as they think he is. I feel like it would give depth and fun lines to them that show their personality better than the original song.

At this point, the song can go into 3 directions:

1. The crowd is unconvinced and leaves, leaving the characters to try harder in the next part of the song

2. The crowd leaves, but there is spark in their eyes and they have a whisper chorus, like they are thinking about it.

3. Most of the crowd leaves, but the rest that stays have a chorus with the main characters.

I'm between 2 and 3.

The song gets louder and louder in chorus, as they, shall I say, do strikes I guess. They aren't showing up for work, not going home after curfew and instead doing marches to the castle demanding the freedom for their wishes.

We can get comments from the king and queen, distressed and confused to all the demands, and gets angry about it. You can say, their chorus is how they DEAL with the "heritics".

The differences between the choruses, like the anger of the Rulers of Rosas, and the rage of the people should be like this:

People of Rosas: Mixed choruses, like Plagues from Prince of Egypt.

Rulers: Imagine it like the chorus from Hellfire from Hunchback of Notre Dome.

(Damn, "This is the Thanks I get?!" literally committed suicide. This song is just so damn good holy shit. And the quality is better too wtf)

We can get a glimpse to what they are planning, with Asha saying stuff here and there, and the mixed reactions to the chorus from the people of Rosas.

We can have a instumental montage with the chorus holding up the song that would show what they are doing. But it will mix with the Rulers of Rosas chorus, where they are snuffing out the people and we see what they do with them. The people don't back down, since as all revolutions, they want freedom. Asha can comment her doubts of the plan, wondering if all the pain is nessesary to get what is best for everyone.

As we near the end of the song, it should be with Asha and Magnifico's notes.

Despite her doubts, Asha won't back down, knowing if she does, it will all be for nothing, but wondering if there is another solution.

Magnifico is reckless and will never back down, and we can see is insanity at play here. He is desperate for control of Rosas, and this is his breaking point.

The chorus can be quiet at this point, with only humming from both choruses, syncing with the music and have their voices be the driving part of the song.

The very end should be something like Asha's voice being snuffed out by both the queen and king, as everyone ends on a high note, and only Asha's voice and the people's voices get lower to show the power they have

OR

The King's and Queen's voice and chorus gets lower because the people's voices are the only ones to be heard. Think, Plagues from prince of Egypt again.

The music should be like the court of miracles from hunchback of notre dome with a mix of plagues and hellfire.

Ah well, idk. I dont write songs so yeah take this idea if you want :3

(But seriously, I would like a song like this in my AU, idk how to execute it though, since again, idk how to write songs 🧍‍♂️)

[black-arcana]

EXIT EDEN Reveal New Single ‘Run!’ Feat. Marko Hietala + Announce New Album “Femmes Fatales”

[photo credit: Stephan Heilemann]

Symphonic metal supergroup EXIT EDEN, feat. Clémentine Delauney (Visions of Atlantis), Anna Brunner (League of Distortion) and Marina La Torraca (Phantom Elite), are back to mesmerize audiences with their second studio album – illustrating strength and female empowerment with the title Femmes Fatales – set for release on January 12, 2024 via Napalm Records. EXIT EDEN’s new masterpiece contains its own original compositions as well as covers of international hits, and refers to the “femme fatale” as a symbol of women taking control of their own narratives with autonomy, intelligence and independence, and bringing pure feminine energy back into the world. 

With their debut, Rhapsodies in Black (2017), entering the German album charts at #15 and millions of views on their previous official videos, the trio presents the new single “Run!”, featuring a magical guest appearance by matchless vocalist Marko Hietala (ex-Nightwish). Written by Anna Brunner and Hannes Braun (Kissin’ Dynamite), original track “Run!” showcases another astonishing facet of the album by bringing a folk-ish vibe alongside the outstanding appearance of Hietala, gracing the track with his distinctive voice. The haunting song arrives with a high quality official video, luring the listener into the mesmerizing world of EXIT EDEN.

EXIT EDEN state:                            “We are back and very excited to re-introduce EXIT EDEN, starting with the single ‘Run!’ – our very first original song ever. It features the legendary Marko Hietala (ex-Nightwish), and we couldn’t be more honored! This is only one of the many facets of our new album, ‘Femmes Fatales’, and we can’t wait to share all of them with you.”

When Clémentine Delauney, Anna Brunner, Marina La Torraca and Amanda Somerville came together to form EXIT EDEN, topped by the release of their first album, Rhapsodies in Black, in summer 2017, it became immediately clear that this combination would be both powerful and magical! These four outstanding and independent female vocalists proved that symphonic heaviness can go hand in hand with pop music – dressing well-known classics in a yet unheard soundscape, and evoking more than just a covers album!   Now performing as a trio, EXIT EDEN‘s new full-length follows the path of its predecessor, as it contains six cover versions of famous cross-generational super-hits, but this time also shines by offering six original compositions. With one exception (“Dying in my Dreams”, co-written by Marina La Torraca), the remaining five original songs were brought to life by Anna Brunner and Hannes Braun (Kissin’ Dynamite), who is also responsible for recording, production and mixing, whereas the album was mastered by Jacob Hansen (Delain, Amaranthe, Volbeat, Destruction and many more).

Pre-order your copy of Femmes Fatales NOW

Self-confidently leading straight into the tempting world of EXIT EDEN, opening “Femme Fatale”,  “Buried in the Past” and “Hold Back Your Fear” conjure a mystical atmosphere with strings and orchestral elements, topped by complementary vocals uniting the sonic diversity of the all-femme trio. “Dying In My Dreams” and album closing “Elysium” set the tone as captivating mid-tempo tracks with intense choruses that speak straight to the heart. Moving further along the path where Rhapsodies in Black left off, EXIT EDEN picked the next selection of international super-hits – transforming them into their very own creation, yet still paying reverence to the originals on Femmes Fatales. “It’s a Sin” (Pet Shop Boys), “Separate Ways” (Journey), “Desanchantée” (Mylène Farmer), “Poison” (Alice Cooper), “Alone” (Heart) and “Kayleigh” (Marilion), re-arranged as undoubtably striking rock/symphonic metal compositions, form the common thread between the debut and Femmes Fatales.

With stellar vocals, an exceptional concept and high-quality production, EXIT EDEN have crafted another standout album that absolutely succeeds in expanding the identity of the supergroup even more, and gives fans the chance to experience three of the most beautiful and talented women in metal united as one on Femmes Fatales.

Femmes Fatales tracklisting: 1    Femme Fatale 2    It’s a Sin 3    Run! (feat. Marko Hietala) 4    Separate Ways 5    Buried in the Past 6    Désenchantée 7    Dying in my Dreams 8    Poison 9    Alone 10  Hold Back Your Fear 11  Kayleigh 12  Elysium        

[jewishbarbies]

The one thing that really annoys me as an Indian person is Taylor Swift's misunderstanding of the word "karma".

Karma in Sanskrit actually means "an action" and there are plenty of meanings but the closest one is "a professional duty" as in what you do to uphold your cultural, moral and other important values. That is the true meaning of karma, as opposed to whatever "whatever goes around comes around" meaning. The problem with that is Taylor just takes in that and sort of deprives it of its original essence and what it stands for, so it's incredibly funny to see a person brag about how they're friends with Karma when in reality, they engage in performative activism, align themselves with questionable people, have like 5,000 jets causing global warming and countless others.

Karma is more about the "cause to effect" idea, at least in Hindu culture that I am familiar with, rather than getting revenge on her boyfriends. And people think she's some lyrical genius when she just strings together words that make no sense. At this point she's decided to manufacture music, just make them "look" good with fancy, flamboyant words than convey some actual meaning besides her usual themes that she's gained popularity for.

I know it's a silly thing to get worked up over but it bothers me because people at home here don't know the actual root meaning of Karma and what it stands for and believe that Taylor Swift knows more than they know about their own culture. I wouldn't be surprised if she milks this word and tries to idk, get it patented or something like how one of the Kardashians tried to brand their name or something.

I'm just sick of this lol. People wouldn't shut up about her love life and when you ask them why, they respond with "well, it isn't our business to know about Taylor's personal life" when she chose to air her personal life in the form of songs. She could've easily chosen to change her songwriting direction, perhaps in a way to stay attuned to her roots and be more culturally relevant as times pass, but eh..

Honestly I feel like Taylor just pops up then and now, at least from my perspective. Like her popularity shoots up, everyone loves her, everyone coddles her and then a couple of months, it's all silent. She just relies on quick short bursts of fame and tries to stay relevant during that period, then go on a break or something (?) and stir up the Press pot.

I'm just sick of her lol. Her music is kind of mid, like your average bedroom pop mixed in with some synth and a drum beat. I'm not a qualified musician but I don't understand why people see her as some God when she's just.. basic lmao, in the recent years. Like, boring vanilla lyrics with no substance in them and catchy choruses so she could stay afloat in this TikTok era. Like how many people made those "it's me hi I'm the problem it's me" videos?

[south-of-heaven]

the BRE x reader

Reader has to travel away from home and she’s really upset cuz she hates being away from the BRE and from home, the BRE supprise her and show up to her hotel to stay with her

Alone || The BRE x Reader

Summary: Leaving your partners for a work trip has you feeling all types of upset. However, they have something planned.

A/N: I am running out of BRE pics so if any of you people have some please send them my way.

The anticipation of the impending work trip had cast a shadow over your mood for days. Leaving your partners behind wasn't something you looked forward to, especially when they were all finally home. As you packed your bags, a heavy sense of unease settled in your chest, and the thought of being away from Shayna, Charlie, Jess, and Mia weighed on you more than you had anticipated.

The morning of your departure arrived, and your heart felt heavy as you went through the motions. Tearful goodbyes were exchanged, and you embraced each of your partners tightly, holding onto the moments with them before you had to leave.

As you walked away from them, the pang of sadness intensified. You glanced back one last time, watching them standing together with sympathetic smiles and waves, their presence a bittersweet reminder of what you were leaving behind.

The flight to your destination was filled with a mix of emotions. Your thoughts constantly drifted back to the sight of your partners and the ache of missing them. The work-related conversations and tasks that surrounded you seemed distant and unimportant compared to the warmth of their embraces.

After arriving at your hotel, you settled into your room, the solitude feeling both unfamiliar and unwelcome. The weight of the separation pressed heavily on you, and it was hard to shake off the melancholy that clung to your thoughts.

But just as the evening settled in, your phone buzzed with a message. It was from Charlie, and the message was simple but surprising: "Can you come downstairs?"

Confused yet intrigued, you made your way to the hotel lobby. And as the elevator doors slid open, the sight that greeted you was beyond anything you could have imagined.

There they were – Shayna, Charlie, Jess, and Mia – standing together, grinning widely as if they had pulled off the best surprise of the century. Shock and joy mingled on your face as you took in the scene, your heart racing with a mixture of emotions.

"Surprise!" they chorused, their voices full of mirth.

Unable to contain your disbelief and happiness, you rushed towards them, your arms open wide. You found yourself enveloped in a group hug that felt like a lifeline. Their familiar scents, their comforting presence – it was as if a weight had been lifted from your shoulders.

"You didn't think we'd let you be alone, did you?" Shayna teased, her arms wrapped around you.

Charlie playfully nudged her. "We all had some time off, so we thought, why not?"

Tears of gratitude pricked at your eyes as you pulled back from the embrace, looking at each of them in turn. "You guys... I can't believe you're here."

Mia's smile was gentle as she reached out to brush a tear from your cheek. "We couldn't stand the thought of you being upset and alone. We wanted to be here with you."

Jess was the last to speak up. "Come here, darlin'." was all she said as she opened her arms for you. Her embrace was much welcomed.

As they surrounded you, their love and support were palpable, washing away the lingering sadness. The loneliness that had threatened to engulf you was replaced by a warmth that came from being in their presence.

For the rest of the trip, your partners were by your side, turning what could have been a lonely and stressful experience into a memorable adventure. The work-related matters took a backseat as you explored the new surroundings together, creating cherished memories and sharing laughter.

As you sat together in your hotel room later that night, a sense of contentment settled over you. Their unexpected presence had transformed what could have been a challenging time into something beautiful. And as you nestled into their arms, their love surrounded you, reminding you that you were never truly alone – even when you were far from home.

[jisungshotfirst]

top 10 title tracks of 2023

in which i am a nerd and rant about music<3

10. BYOB - Billlie

this is just the cutest little city pop song! it's simple and catchy and it was a real change to hear such soft voices from billlie! softer title tracks always stand out to me because they are often so so pretty and delicate and byob is so so pretty and delicate! and the lyrics... i have claimed this as an aromantic anthem, it's ours. not relating to your friends having crushes .... billlie i see u

9. Break the Brake - Xdinary Heroes

this song is just straight vibes... the loudest rock we've gotten from xdinary and I appreciate it SO much. the verses r so clean and the falsetto.. its harmonically so interesting so the noise of the chorus feels properly cathartic and doesn't feel like a loss which can sometimes happen in scream-esc choruses. It's arranged SO well to balance all these things and be stimulating while also being so emotive. AND JUNHAN WITH THOSE CRUNCHY NOTES IN HIS SOLO. the dissonance.. its so brain-sratchy

8. In Bloom - Zerobaseone

zebi brainrot is so real friends.. be careful. this song is so beautiful! i think its a perfect example of the song marrying the concept and mv and members tones so well. from literally the first minute of zb1 i was so excited about their concept of mixing natural imagery like flowers with glitchy technology imagery and i hoped the music would match... AND IT DID! its so lyrical while being crunchy and energetic. SUCH a slayful debut

7. #menow - Fromis_9

this song is sooooo pretty. epitome of a soft bop. it's a classic fromis sound but with this sense of maturity and humility that makes it so engaging and emotional. it demands to be taken seriously but still is so fun! the vocal production is next level.. the effect on their voices in the chorus so they're used like instruments... one of favourite techniques ever. i LOVE when the vocals truly feel like part of the arrangement and not just sitting on top and this song truly does that

6. Spicy - Aespa

the absolute cunt aespa serve in this song... who let them. anyone who knows me knows i'm obsessed with everything moonshine has ever made.. and so when i heard they were doing an aespa title... i went crazy. and i am so right for it. THE BASS IS INSANE?? it puts all other synth basses to shame with how in your face it is. and the crispy snare? idk how to describe this song other than cunty because she genuinely does not care about being clean or palatable... like she is In Your Face with sound. and aespa literally ate that up... they are so fun and cheeky and confident! i'm sorry this is the kind of song that only a group of baddies could handle and aespa stepped up

5. Sugar Rush Ride - TXT

txt doing disco... like you already have me at that. it's sooooo groovy and although the anti-chorus was surprising.. i'm not mad at it! I'm so happy they went into it full force with the whisper vocals and the choreo switching mood, it rly helped the genre change make sense. and the DISCOOO at the end.. bop central. the lyrics and choreo and vibes overall r just so beautiful.. what can i say i love songs about gay sex i mean forbidden love...

4. Groovy - Cravity

the funky bop of all funky bops... literally funk pop goodness! there is so much movement in this track theres so many different rhythms happening and the blend together sooo well. the dance break is perfect.. literally everything you want from a dance break with the continuation of the same sounds but a new tone to it and new rhythmic focuses. and the choreo for it literally hits ever beat you want it to and stretches out the time between them perfectlyyyy. but ultimately it is on here because is it a feel-good happy fun bop.. and she excels at it! vity makes me so happy and they are so good at making songs that make you happy

3. Galileo - Kep1er

cutest song of the year! it is so groovy and fun and danceable. it is sooo feel-good it literally makes me smile every time. thank you hiyyih for putting aegyo in a song<3 where is her nobel peace prize. this is the kind of song where you truly can't hear the music theory going on because it just does exactly what you want it to do! any tension chords are resolved perfectly where you want them to. it's the perfect example of chords from minor keys borrowed to make a song that sounds so major and happy. there is absolutely nothing i would change about this song it is sooo perfect. absolutely filled to the brim with joy

2. ROAR - The Boyz

...like literally hello? this song came out of nowhere for me i did NOT expect to be as impressed as i was like my life changed after this song. firstly the whistle.. hot and sexy and catchy. carrying it through as a motif, chopping it up, creating variations, translating it to a singable vocal line... all of that is SO impressive to be able to pull off. crunchy track underneath.. beautiful. but what is most impressive to me about this song is the topline. the vocals are literally insane.. chanhee and hyunjae have my favourite tbz voices and u are crazy if u don't agree that they r the main characters of this song. some of those chorus lines are So high and they can sing them in a way that sounds so effortless. and the backing vocals... the Incredibly high harmony in the choruses makes me want to scream (it's jacob i think.. jail). and there is just voices Everywhere.. everywhere theres little 'ahs' hidden around and it not only fits the songs sexy concept in such a natural way but it just fills up every bit of space in the song. and the lyrics... once again i love a song about ..*checks notes* forbidden love.. that is damned by heaven... definitely not about gay sex tho .. definitely not..

1. Chill Kill - Red Velvet

second moonshine on the list .. no one is suprised. i think this song has complimented red velvet's two sides of creepy and feel-good the most successfully. the tone shift from the verses to the chorus is so obvious... but seamless. and what does it is the harmony! the chords are perfect... it seems redundant to talk about rv vocals but they rly just make the song. and the outro... blending both vocal parts of the chorus together.. it sounds epic. it adds to both the happy and creepy by sounding like a group of friends together.. but also cult-y with all that creepiness still lingering. singing 'forget about your sorrow' with the happiest voices like the verses weren't filled with creepy minor sounds... literally gaslighting queens. this song is terrifying and also the most joyful (hi sooyoung 😘) experience to listen to.... only the dream team of moonshine cazziopeia and red velvet can manage that. and it's no surprise this dream team gets my no.1 spot!

thank you for reading if you got this far ! pls share your favs with me and if we share any i'd love to hear what you think! happy new year everyone I truly hope it treats you well<3 and here's to more bops in the new year!!!

[sheadre]

Crushes Don't Get Easier (James Diamond x Reader) Chapter 5

Summary: BTR is a big hit, everyone loves them, but when they come back to the Palm Woods after their latest tour, they are greeted by a new girl band who actually signed with Gustavo while they were gone. (Name) is their leader who has great style, beautiful and is excellent at singing and dancing. The boys don't get along with them at first but then they realize they can be allies instead of enemies. James gets closer to her slowly even if he is still hung up on Lucy who left him without saying a word. Will there be more to (Name) and James, or is it just a fleeting fantasy and nothing will come of it?

Warnings: fluff, goofiness, angst later on

It’s been three or four days since (Name) and James sat on the rooftop. (Name) wished she wouldn’t have chickened out when they had THE moment. However, she did and she felt like it was the biggest mistake she could’ve done. Lily and Emma tried their best to cheer her up but she was still lying on their couch face down in the cushions.

“Weren’t you the one who said that James isn't worth it?” Emma put her hands in the air. “He’s after his heartless ex who left him without saying a word. He’s still so hung up on her that when he saw you dressed in a style similar to hers, he had a panic attack! Do you really want to waste your time on a guy like that?”

“Emm has a point, (Name).” Lily joined in as well. “You’d just waste your time on James. Are you really ready for a heartbreak like that? I mean what if Lucy comes back and he goes back to her right away?”

“It’s just a what if but I won’t do anything. I already lost my chance so it doesn’t matter.” (Name) huffed as she lifted herself up from the couch.

The door suddenly opened with a loud bang almost flying off of it’s hinges. The girls looked to the entrance in shock mixed with confusion. Carlos, Logan and Kendall walked in pointing at (Name).

“Go and date James!” they yelled at her.

“What?!” the three girls cried out in shock. The tall blonde band member stepped forward and put his hands in the air.

“Okay, let me explain it.”

When the girls looked at him expectantly, Kendall continued. “You all know James, right? He’s a bit delusional, self-centered, shallow and can stop using his brain sometimes. BUT! He can be selfless, has a heart of gold and means well when it comes to those important to him.”

“Get to the point already, Knight!” Lily and Emma chorused together.

“So his mother is coming over and is all about him finding her the perfect daughter-in-law because she wants someone reliable to take over her cosmetics company after she retires. Please be his fake girlfriend again!”

The guys all put their hands together while looking at her with puppy dog eyes.

That is how (Name) found herself sitting next to James at the table in apartment 2J, holding his hand visibly on the surface of the furniture while she tried to be the best girlfriend in the world. The way James’ large hand enveloped her small one, how their skin brushed, how James’ fingers curled over hers, it all made her heart thump harder in her chest. Brooke was scrutinizing her like a hawk.

“Soooo, how did you two meet?” she asked cooing like she was trying hard to seem as if she liked (Name) already. All the boys looked a bit terrified at the table as they waited for either James or (Name) to speak up.

“We were at the beach-”

“We were by the smoothie stand-”

Brooke raised her perfectly trimmed eyebrows looking between the two of them. Then (Name) smiled and took over the lead.

“We’re at the beach, both of us wanting to have a smoothie and James ran into me, we fell to the sand and then I was spitting sand at him not so lady-like. He helped me up and when our eyes met he kept staring at me with that ‘I will make you mine!’ look.” she said then shrugged. “I said no when he asked me out, then the guys joined the pestering so in the end I agreed to ONE date. Then James protected me from the guys splashing me with some unidentifiable substance on their prank day-”

“Prank-day contest!” Carlos corrected.

“Doesn’t matter, anyway, James protected me that day and I just saw how much he cared about me.”

“You wanted to say you fell for me.” the brunette quipped in with a large grin. (Name) rolled her eyes with a fond smile then pressed a soft kiss to his cheek.

“You never stop reminding me, do you?”

“Correct.” his grin grew even larger. As she looked into his hazel eyes, (Name) knew that something changed between them. The magnetic pull was too strong to ignore it.

“Ah, such a lovely story!” Brooke smiled then her expression turned serious. She clapped her hands together then took a breath and continued: “So I bet you know about my company and where James comes from. I won’t be beating around the bush. James is really successful as a singer and I want to retire one day but I don’t want to trust my company to just anyone. IF James manages to find a future spouse who is reliable and will be managing my company as well as I do, I will trust my company to them. So I propose that you show me your skills during an internship under my wings and I let you two date. If you fail, James will find a better girl for his future.”

“Mom!” James jumped up from the table angrily. The others were shocked to see him stand up for not only another person but himself against his mother. “You cannot just tell me who to date because of your purposes! It’s up to me who I like and who I wanna be with, not you or your business! I’m your son and not a bargaining chip!”

Then he stomped out of the room. Brooke sat there shocked to the core, frozen in place. (Name) stood to follow James when Kendall grabbed her wrist.

“Make sure he’s okay, we’ll manage his mom.”

It didn’t take long for (Name) to find James on the rooftop. After their first time up there, she had the feeling that it will be their place in the future. The brunette sat at the edge staring out at the city as it was bustling with life.

“I won’t go back.” he stated.

“You don’t have to but if you stay here, I’ll stay as well.” she sat down next to him. Her heart was pounding in her chest as she thought about touching him softly as if soothingly.

“I didn’t expect her to have such plans. You have your career, your goals, your life. I thought that she just wanted to see me in a stable relationship which would give her the hope of seeing me getting married or settling down.”

“It’s okay James.” (Name) chuckled. Then she carefully as if afraid James would become dust, she put her hand on his arm. “I wouldn’t mind getting married to you for a few years until your mom writes her company on my name.”

“Oh so you’d fake-marry me until you get the money? You’re such a horrible, horrible person, (Name)! How can you do that to a face like this?!” the brunette motioned around his head then the two of them burst out laughing. (Name) felt bold somehow like never before and leaned against him.

“I never said we’d get a divorce.” she sighed hoping that her words were insinuating enough.

“So you’d go out with me for real?” James asked.

“I’d be a fool not to.” she grinned then she felt his lips press against hers softly. (Name) blinked surprised but then she opened her lips and let him kiss her properly. She wanted to get closer to him, her heart pounding in her chest. Then she felt his large hand grab her waist and pull her closer, her breasts pressing against his chest.

James pulled away from her with a soft smile.

“We shouldn’t get too frisky here unless you wanna fall deeper.”

(Name) furrowed her eyebrows until she processed what he was saying.

“Oh my gosh… that was sooooo bad!” she shook her head with a giggle. Then she sighed. “We should go back.”

“I’d rather fall off this roof.”

(Name) slapped his arm playfully.

“She’s your mom! She must be worried.”

“Okay, okay, let’s go back.”

The elevator was slowly descending to the second floor. As the light was switching places on the panel above, (Name)’s heart was beating louder and louder. She wasn’t ready to take over a cosmetics company or to work along with Brooke Diamond. It will be a long and tiring internship but maybe it would financially stabilize her and her parents would see that she could handle adult life.

Then the elevator dinged and opened the door. (Name) wasn’t even looking up until she bumped into James. As she raised her head, she realized why he stopped in his tracks.

Lucy Stone stood there in all her rocker glory.

“Hi James!” she greeted with a grin.

To be continued…

[married-2-the-music]

K-pop Discography Deep Dives: Red Velvet (Part TWO)

A Disclaimer: I was planning, when I first started Tumblr, to be a lurker, but then I began an office job and needed something to listen to to keep myself occupied. And then, I started going through entire K-pop groups’ repertoires, album by album, and jotting down my thoughts. And then, I stumbled into K-pop tumblr and decided, you know what, there’s at least four people on this hell site who would read in depth rants about these discographies and at least five who wouldn’t read it and then get mad because it’s kind of our job as K-pop fans. My lukewarm takes should be taken with an entire silo of salt and the knowledge that this is completely for fun and occupying my very bored, very neurodivergent brain. All this to say, for the love of god, I’m a sleep-deprived student and I don’t have time for internet hate, so don’t kill me. With that being said, enjoy!

Here are my credentials: Red Velvet was the first k-pop group I ever loved, even though Blackpink was really my introduction. I became a ReVeLuv in 2019, because of Russian Roulette, and I’ve been a fan since, including of the members’ solo careers (Wendy in particular). But as I’ve gotten more into k-pop and since they come back so infrequently, I haven’t really been keeping up with them and I feel like I’m less of a fan than I once was. So, I’m super excited for their comeback on the 13th (especially with a full album!) and I’m hoping that through this deep dive, I’ll fall back in love just in time for the new album.

This is Part Two of the review, and we left off just before another famous summer comeback in Power Up. Right away, Power Up feels like an interesting combination of Red Flavor’s warm excitement and Ice Cream Cake’s high bubbliness. It’s unusual for their music, because despite its bursts of aegyo in its choruses, it also has more subdued moments in the verses to breathe. I confess that for me, it doesn’t balance quite enough and I find that the song just feels immature and shrill, rather than Red Flavor’s good mix of youthfulness and wistfulness. It’s not for me, but it’s not a bad song.

From the Summer Magic EP, it was hard to choose a hidden gem. Blue Lemonade has a delightfully fizzy feeling with its popping, while Hit That Drum has (unsurprisingly) a great driving beat and a smash of a bridge / last chorus, and Mr. E’s “abracadabra” refrain remains stuck in my head.

#Cookie Jar and SAPPY are both Japanese releases, so I won’t spend long on them, but suffice to say I do like them both. SAPPY is a touch too bubbly for me, but it mixes its R & B and pop better than Power Up, but #Cookie Jar (despite the silly title), is actually a pretty good balance and very catchy.

Really Bad Boy immediately introduces itself as a little bit strange with Joy’s 1,2,5! countoff. With all my ranting and raving in past reviews about how much I hate empty, chanty choruses, I’m sure everyone’s expecting me to rip this one to shreds. But I’m actually not going to. A little bit of excellent harmonizing and background vocalizing goes a long way, and there’s not much harmonizing better than that in RBB. Red Velvet’s voices really are doing the heavy lifting here, but that’s really what sets it apart from all those songs I’ve complained about. It may be a little hard to take seriously, but just like War Of Hormone of BTS, it’s a pretty good time if you suspend your disbelief, throw up your hands, and have as much fun as the people singing it.

From the RBB mini-album, Butterflies was a standout for me. Like the best of RV’s b-sides, it zings along with a delightfully breezy feeling and some great slowly rising vocals to complete the sound. Shoutout also to the interesting vocal fry in Sassy Me and the playful back-and-forth vocals in Taste.

RV’s 2019 work is divided into three EPs, each with its own title track, that together form one mammoth album: the ReVe Festival. Zimzalabim is the first single, and is infamous both amongst ReVeLuvs and other k-pop stans alike. While other RV titles have been odd, this song takes it to a whole other level, like Rookie’s insanity on steroids. There are parts that work (like the na na na na na higher in the pre-chorus), but many more that don’t, and, just like with Rookie, we’re left with a song that has good ideas and good parts, but needed a few more drafts and way more editing. “Are you ready for this?” Wendy asks at the beginning. Well, apparently not.

From part one of the ReVe Festival, I liked both the calming, slightly reggae-inspired Sunny Side Up (because who doesn’t love terrible puns?) and the drum-line heavy, quick-footed Bing Bing, which, despite much of it being nonsense vocalizations, is very catchy and will have you dancing before the first chorus.

Umpah Umpah is often overshadowed in the ReVe Festival, due to the craziness that comes before and the that comes after (we’ll get to that), but it’s actually my favorite of the three songs. On first listen, I didn’t appreciate its humor, odd lyrics, and 60’s-at-the-beach vibes, but after learning that it’s actually a special track marking their 5th anniversary, it grew on me. I especially like the background vocalizations that round it out beautifully and the way-too-short acapella section at the beginning of the last chorus because it was probably my favorite part of the song. It’s really a celebration of their friendship and how far they’ve come, and I’ve never been able to resist songs that wear their heart on their sleeve.

Just as Umpah Umpah is my favorite of the three titles, the ReVe Festival Part Two is my favorite of the three mini-albums (and one of my favorite RV albums in general). I found it quite difficult to choose between the carnival-meets-doo-wop of Love Is The Way, the brisk chantiness of Carpool, and the feel-good girl power disco of Ladies’ Night. But the other songs are great too.

Despite the popularity of the many titles mentioned before, none come close to the almost inescapable fame that Psycho reached internationally. From the first whispered accusation “psycho” and the swirling electronic background meeting the delicate strings, it has this creeping unsettling feeling that never quotes goes away—which makes sense, given that it’s a song about a toxic relationship. While I do like this song, I think it’s not surprising that it doesn’t live up to the insane amount of hype it recieves, because really, how could it? It is what it is, and it does what it sets out to do well, but in such a strong discography, it’s just a footnote.

From the last part of the ReVe Festival, my favorite was definitely the jazzy, bluesy La Rouge, which I wish could’ve gotten a special music video like Be Natural or Automatic, because it’s definitely at that same level. I know I’ve mentioned the harmonizing in nearly every b-side but it’s just so good that, well, how could I not? The vocals are at some of their most refined here, oscillating between drawn-out and self-assured and gently emotional, giving the song much-needed layers.

Soon after Psycho’s release, Wendy suffered a terrible stage accident that injured her hip, jawbone, and wrist, and, needing time in order to recover, Red Velvet went on hiatus for almost two years, before returning with Queendom in late summer 2021. Because of when I became a fan, this was the first RV comeback I saw in real time, so I fully acknowledge the rose-colored glasses I’m looking at it through. It’s a basic pop song, and I’m not going to champion it like it’s the best thing since sliced bread, but it does get me bopping my head. It’s got the bones of another of their classics, but none of its strongest moments are pushed quite far enough.

From the Queendom EP, I had two hidden gems. Pose, despite what in lesser hands would immediately make me classify it as an anti-drop, is actually my favorite, and the combination of self-assured sing talk and exuberant singing really works for me. Knock On Wood is a calmer R & B b-side, and like many of their Velvet tracks, it’s nothing incredible, but their voices elevate it to great. That post-chorus is a highlight too.

Feel My Rhythm is the 1st single from the ReVe Festival’s 2022 counterpart, and is honestly one of my favorites. The song is lovely, weaving in a classical background and samples of twittering birds and running water to truly establish a calm feeling. The song bursts with life, but a more refined, almost mature version of it compared to Red Flavor’s bombast. The title “Feel My Rhythm” may create the image of a very dancy, upbeat song, but in truth, it’s more like the quiet beauty of an Oh My Girl track than that. Also, the MV is just really pretty, with its moving impressionist paintings, while keeping some of that signature Red Velvet strangeness.

From the mini-album, though I did like both Bamboleo and Rainbow Halo, In My Dreams was my clear standout. That chorus is the stuff of legends: the way it rushes back and forth from quiet to loud, the way the voices blend in such a stunning way, and the way it combines its driving emotion and the beautiful elegance swirling around it. Perfection.

Birthday is the single from the 2nd part of the ReVe Festival 2022. After how much I liked the 1st part, I wish I could say I liked this one too. Unfortunately, I think that despite a few standout moments (like the pre-chorus), I have no idea what on earth SM Entertainment was thinking. This song isn’t “bad”, in the way of Rookie or Zimzalabim, where, despite not being for me, I can at least respect what they were going for. Instead, it sounds nothing like an RV song, and just rumbles around in bizarre, uncharismatic sing-talk that does a disservice to such great vocals. The girls do their best but even they can’t save this one, because every time I hear this song I just wonder who mixed up the tracks for Red Velvet and NCT 127. I also think that the accompanying EP is one of their weakest, and I don’t have a hidden gem for it.

Red Velvet just came back today (the 13th, as I’m writing this) with their third full album (finally!!) and the title track Chill Kill begins with the kind of creeping yet lovely string-accompanied verse that I wish Psycho had. I was worried that we’d get a repeat of Birthday but thankfully I needn’t have worried. The chorus bounces with horrid delight in alt-pop perfection while the girls cover up a murder in the background (as one does). The bridge, meanwhile, culminates in a 3rd gen trademark high note as a house burns to the ground, the girls dance in front of the police pursuing them, and face their fate together in a surprisingly touching show of sisterhood. I couldn’t have asked for a better single; it’s that more vocal focused and emotionally driven Peek-A-Boo that I always wished for.

The album, Chill Kill, is just as strong, harkening back to the Red Velvet I loved back in The Perfect Velvet. It was difficult to pick a hidden gem, as I loved the cathartic high part and scratchy strings in Knock Knock (Who’s There?), the surprisingly video game like chorus in Will I Ever See You Again, the catchy yet gentle comfort in Nightmare, and the slowly rising a-capella in Wings that encourages the listener to be a brave butterfly no matter what the world says.

My Top 5 songs by Red Velvet are One Of These Nights, Russian Roulette, Umpah Umpah, Dumb Dumb, and You Better Know, with In My Dreams and Peek-A-Boo as honorable mentions. Red Velvet gets a 9 out of 10 from me, and I think that both that and my distance from the band can mostly be put down to the fact that while the songs themselves are almost all technically excellent, very few of them have deeper meanings than a typical b-side.

The ones that do—like One Of These Nights or Umpah Umpah—are some of my favorites, but on the whole, I don’t have as deep an emotional connection to their music as I do to Dreamcatcher’s or to Seventeen’s. This is also down to the fact that Red Velvet doesn’t write any of their own songs, unlike the previous two (who write / compose some and all, respectively), and thus the members have less of an emotional connection to the music too. This isn’t a dig at Red Velvet, who are all incredibly talented, but I would love to hear more of what they have to say, like on their solos.

So, did I meet what I set out to do at the beginning and rediscover my love of Red Velvet? Well, I think I did! I’ve honestly yet to find another group like them, barring maybe SHINee, whose voices are all excellent separately but together become something far greater than the sum of their parts. I think it’s safe to say that Red Velvet will always have a special place in my heart, even if I don’t listen to them every day. No matter if they disband tomorrow or not for decades, I’m proud to call myself a ReVeLuv. I’ll be here on August 1st. 2024 for their tenth anniversary, blue lemonade in hand, and I hope you will be too.

Next time, we’ll be back to our regularly scheduled programming with just one group a week. See you then, for a boy group. Tschüss!

[thisaintascenereviews]

SeeYouSpaceCowboy - Coup De Grace

Nostalgia is often cyclical, as certain decades will become the aesthetic trend in the zeitgeist for a certain time, whether it was the 80s a decade ago, the 90s a few years ago, and the 00s now. That nostalgia doesn’t just include fashion, but it includes all facets of pop culture, especially music. A lot of 00s influences are being incorporated into all types of genres, especially metalcore. Over the past five years, a lot of younger bands are popping up that have been influenced by bands that came before them, especially when they grew up during the 00s and early 2010s. Many folks consider the 00s to be the crux of the metalcore scene, and a lot of bands getting big now are around my age (late 20s and early 30s) that listened to a lot of the “veterans,” so to speak. Some of these bands want to merely emulate that sound, but others want to deconstruct it and re-examine it. That’s what the band SeeYouSpaceCowboy does, especially on their new album, Coup De Grace, and it makes for one of the most interesting and visceral albums of the year.

Let’s back up a second, though, as there is some context to understand before going into this album. SeeYouSpaceCowboy dropped their debut album in 2019, after putting out a compilation EP beforehand that took their first couple of EPs and combined them together. They started off as a mathcore and metalcore band that was very rooted in the 00s, but their sound wasn’t anything I hadn’t heard before. It was done well, but it felt like it was trying to emulate that sound, versus do anything new with it. Since then, they’ve put out two albums, their debut in 2019, and their sophomore in 2021. I never reviewed either album, because I wasn’t writing about music at the time, but if I had to sum them up, I’d say they’re good albums, but short of great.

Their sophomore album, especially, really felt like they were just trying to sound like their influences, despite how they were adding some clean choruses and more melodic elements into the mix. It was interesting, so I was curious about where the band would go from there, because where can you go after making a couple of albums that are pretty generic (yet still quite good)? Turns out, you can go in a really cool direction, because Coup De Grace really surprised me by deconstructing a lot of sounds from the 00s, and doing something really cool with them. This album really sounds like it would have come out in the 00s, whether it’s due to the album cover itself, its myriad of sounds from the era, or its over the top concept that works insanely well.

This album is such a fascinating look at how you can try to both emulate your influences and re-examine them. I can’t blame someone if they listen to this, and think it copies a bunch of stuff from the 00s, because it kind of does. There are elements of metalcore, mathcore, post-hardcore, emo, pop-punk, and even some dance-punk from that era, and it all reminds me of something else, but it’s done so well that it doesn’t matter. That’s especially because SeeYouSpaceCowboy is still able to put their own spin on these ideas, and this still sounds like a SYSC record, regardless. They just want to show off more influences, especially melodic ones, and this album is a blast from start to finish. It’s one of my favorites of the year, and it really surprised me on my first listen.

I had no idea what to expect, but this album has a cool concept that is framed as a play with a jazzy and baroque introduction, interlude, and ending song that tells a loose story. This album is supposed to be less about personal struggles from vocalist Connie Sgarbossa, and more about characters, which is very 00s coded. It reminds me a lot of Panic! At The Disco’s A Fever You Can’t Sweat Out, but with more of a metalcore and post-hardcore sound. The lyrics on this thing are absolutely wonderful, but so is Sgarbossa. Her vocals are still just as great as they have been, whether it’s her brutal screams or those whiny yelps that she does, which were very common in the 00s. Guitarist Taylor Allen contributes a lot of clean vocals on this record, even more than on any other of their albums, but he sounds great. He even takes lead on a handful of songs, but the clean choruses on this album are so much fun, and never feel shoehorned in.

Musically, as I said beforehand, this album takes a lot of influences and distills them into a single package, but it’s a very off the wall, unpredictable, and insane album that switches up between every song (or sometimes within the same song). It never feels jarring, either, but it keeps you on your toes. I haven’t heard an album like this in a long time, maybe since The Callous Daoboys dropped their debut in 2019, because this album truly threw me for a loop, and it takes sounds I already really liked and re-examines them. If you want a really heavy, catchy, and unpredictable record that takes on a lot of sounds from the 00s, check out this new SeeYouSpacwCowboy album. It’s easily my favorite album of theirs, and one of my favorite albums of the year so far.

[the-scouts-codex]

Summary: “Yay I win!” Kalim cheered.  Jamil was confused. “Huh? That means you have to think of something…oh no.”  Kalim beamed even more. “Party at Scarabia!

Scout's Notes: Hello, This is Part One of my third work here on Tumblr, "Party at the Oasis!" The word count will be determined once the entire work has been completed. That being said, I have no clue on how many parts this will need. Also, that would mean that this work will not be on Ao3 until it's completed. (″ロ゛) Other than that, please enjoy Part one. <3

Ever since the successful sleepover, the HeadMage had them pick something to do together again. They were getting used to having to do things together, especially Renmu. He enjoyed every bit of it. This was the first time he had friends his age, the first time he had a sleepover, the first time he could say he had friends to hang out with. It was a big milestone for Renmu. It was like a door had finally opened up for Renmu and his life was starting to look up.

  Some of them, Leona and Idia, didn't want to hang out or pick things to do so it made it hard for them to choose what to do next. To make it easier this time, Renmu decided to draw strings.

“It’s simple.” Renmu explained. “Whoever draws the string in this case, that does not move from the bunch, has to find something for everyone to do.” 

“But…how do I know which one I have?” Azul asked, concerned. 

Leona and Vil sighed irritably. Renmu understood why Azul was concerned. He hated anything that he could not control. He hated things based on pure luck and or chance. He had to be able to control the odds to guarantee success. 

“I know you don’t like things that you can’t control but this is the only way to make things fair.” Renmu Reasoned. 

Azul huffed but nodded. Renmu pulled out the string and tied them all together and to the bottom of the stick. He then swung the stick around to mix them all up. -“I do not know which was which anymore. Now, everyone come over to pick a string but don’t pull it yet.” 

All the Housewardens walked over and chose a string and held it. “Yosh, everyone ready?” Renmu asked. 

Nods and yeses chorused from the group. 

“Pull.” 

They all pulled their strings. One by one, a string came undone until there was one left, stuck to the stick. Kalim was the “Lucky” winner. 

“Yay I win!” Kalim cheered. 

Jamil was confused. ���Huh? That means you have to think of something…oh no.” 

Kalim beamed even more. “Party at Scarabia! I already know that I want to have it on Friday!” 

“Tomorrow is Friday, Kalim!” Jamil interjected. “That’s less than 24 hours to prepare it all!” 

“But we did it before. Plus I know if we work together, we can do it!” Kalim cheered. 

Jamil sighed. “”We” as in “Me”...Fine, I guess it can’t be helped.” 

Trey gave Jamil a reassuring pat on his shoulder. “Don’t worry, I will help out with the food again.” 

“I’m willing to lend a hand too.” Renmu offered.

Jamil muttered a small thanks for the support. “Just don’t bring extra people, Kalim. Understand?” 

Kalim nodded. “Promise. Have I ever let you down?” 

The room gave Jamil a reassuring look as he hung his head. He was going to need all the patience in the world to pull this off. Renmu bowed his head and put his hands together. “May Jamil-Senpai’s patience last until the party.” 

Jamli’s patience did run out. There was less than 3 hours left until the party and Jamil needed assistance. Not only did Kailm change the location and theme of their party, he also invited one more person. Whomever it was, no one knew. The party was now at the oasis and was going to be an indirect “Beach party”. So now they had to decorate the Oasis and carry things back and forth. That's where extra help came into play.

After dropping Grim off at Ramshackle, because everyone knew that Grim wouldn’t help, Renmu decided to aid Jamil with the food prep. Trey would be joining shortly once all of priorities were accounted for. Kalim liked a lot of food and couldn’t decide on what he actually wanted. Thus leading Jamil to cook an array of foods for the party. 

Jamil had already gotten the majority of the food prepared or completed but there was still more to do. There were many pots on the stove boiling, pans sizzling. Jamil was going back and forth like a five star chef in the kitchen. Not to mention Jamil gave out orders like one too. Renmu was right behind him, executing the orders in a timely fashion. 

“Prefect, is the lamb done?” Jamil asked, string a pot on the stove. 

“Hai. Would you like me to leave it to the side to rest?” Renmu asked. 

“Yes and could you start cutting the fruit and vegetables for the kabobs?” Jamil asked. 

Renmu turned the heat off the lamb and rolled it out of the pan and onto a cutting board. He then went over to the fruit Jamil had set aside to wash and cut. Jamil turned the heat off the stove and took the pot off the eye. Renmu wondered what he was making. It smelled sweet like pudding but the ingredients were different from the pudding he was used to making. Jamil immediately went over to the other side of the kitchen to prepare the shawarma for Kalim. Jamil worked quickly and efficiently. Not a single step was missed, not a break was taken. Renmu couldn’t help but wonder how much Jamil worked without a break. Did he even take breaks? If he did need one, he didn’t voice it or show it. They had been cooking for a while and Jamil didn’t miss a beat in the hot kitchen. 

“Jamil-Senpai…do you need a break?” Renmu asked softly. 

“No,” came Jamil’s reply before replying in a better tone. “I mean, no, I don’t need a break. Thank you.” 

“You seem…stressed is all Jamil-Senpai.” Renmu mumbled as he stabbed the pieces of fruit on the stick. “Even now, you're running behind Kalim and prepping for the party. Not to mention homework. Don’t overwork yourself, alright?” Renmu reminded him. 

Jamil sighed and mumble and nodded his head. If Jamil was being honest, he couldn’t remember the last time he made time for himself. All he wanted was to relax tonight but the party came up and now he was working again. He would just deal with it like always. Maybe at the party he would have some time to relax. 

“Wow, it smells good in here.” Trey said, catching their attention. Trey placed two large bags of sweets on the island. Trey was in charge of making ice cream and Shaved Ice. 

“Jamil, I’m done with homework now and I’m heading to the Oasis!” Kalim yelled, running past the Kitchen. 

“W-Wait Kalim!” Jamil yelled. 

“I’ll go with him, Jamil-Senpai.” Renmu offered. “I’m done with the kabobs by the way.” 

Jamil sighed, he guessed it wouldn’t hurt to let the Prefect go with him. “Alight. Just…hurry please.” 

Renmu didn’t need to be told twice and scurried off after the exited housewarden. 

Renmu eventually caught up with the Housewarden and arrived at the Oasis. Renmu couldn’t believe that the dorm had an Oasis near it. How big were these realms? How far did they go and did they have an end? There were still a lot of things that Renmu didn’t understand about this world or the magic that came with it. Those were all things that Renmu hoped to be able to see and learn. 

Kalim and Renmu got a head start decorating the Oasis. Cater and Lilia would be bringing beach supplies in the next few minutes. So far, the pavilion was put up, the table and cushions that went underneath were also placed. The pavilion was made from crimson silk and could be tied closed, perfect for keeping the bugs and sand out and to keep cool. Big umbrellas were also set up around the Oasis for shade. Next was the lanterns. Kalim had taken some of the extra ornate lanterns from the treasury. Would Jamil flip out? Yes. Did it seem to bother Kalim at the moment? No. Kalim was far too happy to be decorating for his guests. 

“Where do you want this one, Kalim-Senpai?” Renmju asked, holding up a lantern. 

Kalim hummed in thought. “Those can be placed in the water.” 

Renmu looked at the dry oasis. “...Kalim-Senpai, the Oasis is dry.” 

Kalim looked over at the Oasis and started laughing. “Oops, I forgot that I had to fill it.” Kalim hopped off the ladder he was on and jogged over to the dry crater. Renmu was curious on how he would fill the body of water. Kalim summoned his staff and held it up high towards the clear blue sky. “Unwinding on the hot sands!” The crimson gem began to glow. “An endless party! Sing! Dance! Oasis Maker!” 

Water began to fall from the cloudless sky. The water looked like drops sapphire, sparkling and shimmering as the sun rays hit them. The water pooled into the dry crater, filling it up quickly. Soon the dry pit burgeoned into an entire body of water but not only that, all the surrounding vegetation came back to life and flourished. So much bright green and color decorated the dusty horizon. 

“Awesome right!?” Kalim boosted. Renmu nodded “My signature spell is called “Oasis Maker”.” Kalim explained. “I often used it back home to fill the pools and or water the plants, But now I use it here to fill the Oasis up!” 

Renmu could see the use for a spell like that where Kalim was from. He could imagine him saving his country if a drought was to fall upon them. Luckily they were safe from that happening.

“Hey look! Cater and Lilia are here!” Kalim shouted. 

Cater and Lilia finally arrived with the beach supplies. Frome buckets, to blankets to beach balls and beach floats and so much more. They went all out on the beach supplies. And it looks like they needed extra hands to carry it because they also now had Rook and Ruggie with them. 

“We got the stuff!” Cater yelled excitedly. 

“Sweet! This party is going to be so much fun!” Kalim cried. 

“I suggested that we have some more things to do than just dancing and swimming.” Lilia explained. “So we might have gotten a few extra things.” 

“I brought a volleyball net too.” Rook supplied. “I’ll help set it up for you, Roi du D’ior.” 

“And we will help set the other things up. #PrepSquad.” Cater said with a wink. 

“Thank you guys!” Kalim cheered. “I know we can get it all done!” 

With that, everyone went back to work. 

They made good time now that more people helped out. The Oasis was fully decorated and prepped, the food was done and waiting for them at the Oasis. All that was left was for everyone else to show up. The party didn’t start until another 5 minutes. Those that helped were already there and in their swimsuits waiting outside the main building. Cater and Trey were in matching swimsuits. The only thing that made them different was the clovers and diamonds. No doubt that Riddle had a similar one with roses or hearts. Rook was in a purple swim trunks with gold apples on them. Kalim and Jamil were in matching black swim trunks with red flames at the bottom, though Kalim kept his gold jewelry on. Renmu was starting to see a trend in their swimsuits. They all matched the colors and style of their dorms. Ruggie had one with the same design as Savanaclaw. Renmu was the only one with the school's generic swimsuit, not that it mattered to him. 

“Riddle, Vil and Leona are here!” Cater announced. 

Sure enough, they had matching swimsuits. Vil had other accessories like Kalim. Not to mention the satin robe that he used to cover up with. Riddle had on a button up that was open and Leona sunglasses. 

“Rook, help me put on sunscreen please.” Vil asked. 

Rook was at Vil's side in seconds, ready to lend him a hand. 

“Cater, Trey, I trust that the two of you put on sunscreen?” Riddle asked. The two of them nodded. 

“I’m not putting on that slimy mess.” Leona grumbled. 

“You should.” Vil argued. “You will damage your skin like that.” 

Leona rolled his eyes and sat down next to Ruggie. 

“Renmu, did you put on sunscreen?” Vil asked. 

Renmu shook his head. “Not recently.” 

“Come.” Vil ordered. Renmu scurried over to the Vil and Rook and sat down next to them. Vil took the sunscreen from Rook and began apply into Renmu’s face and arms. Vil made sure the Sunscreen lathered every exposed piece of skin that he could see. Vils gentle care made Renmu feel warm and fuzzy. They looked akin to a mother and their child getting ready for a fun filled day in the sun. 

“Done. You may go.” Vil said with a smile.

Renmu gave him a small thanks and sat back down on the steps. 

“So, what are we even doing at the Oasis?” Leona asked. “I hope you don’t expect me to make sand castles like some kid.” 

“Oh, you don’t like the sand? It’s okay.” Kalim assured him. “We have other things over there.” 

Leona didn’t bother answering the sunshine Housewarden. The comment obviously went over his head. 

“Don’t worry Leona. We have fun things in store.” Jamil assured him. 

“Fine. Just wish the others would hurry up already.” Leona whined. 

“We’re here.” Azul announced. Azul, Jade, and Floyd, made their way over to the group. The twins were carrying a large cooler. Behind them were Idia, Malleus, Lilia and Silver. Lilia was carrying a large banana boat. 

“I'm ready to party!” Lilia cheered. 

“Thankyou for inviting me, Kalim.” Silver said softly. 

Kalim beamed. “No problem buddy. The more the merrier. Now, let's head over to the Oasis!” 

Everyone got up and got their things and followed the far too eager Housewarden to the Oasis. With a very annoyed Vice Housewarden running after him, reminding him to wait for his guest properly. 

The sun was still high enough to have a sun filled evening but it was cool enough to the point it wasn’t unbearable. That being said, everyone was eager to get into the cold Oasis water. 

“Last one in is a rotten egg!” Kalim yelled, dropping his things and running to the water. Cater, Lilia, Floyd, and Ruggie took off behind him.

“Wait Kalim....” Jamil sighed in defeat. Jamil went to pick up Kalim’s discarded bag but Renmu beat him to it. “Let me help.” Renmu said softly. “You should take some time to relax.” 

Jamil wanted to argue, he wanted to protest, he wanted to say no but, something about how genuinely kind the Ramshackle Prefect was made him keep his mouth shut. Renmu picked the things up and brought them over to the pavilion and sat them down. Idia, Riddle and Leona went straight for one of the umbrellas and made themselves comfortable. Trey, Jade, and Jamil went to the buffet table to set the food and drinks up. Vil and Rook sat together on one of the beach towels to soak up some sun. Malleus and Silver ended up under one of the big palm trees. And then there was Renmu, Renmu didn’t know what to do. He never got the chance to go to a beach before let alone an Oasis. Maybe he could see if the “food Crew” needed any help. There was a lot of food after all. But in fact, they didn’t need help. Everything was already laid out and ready for the taking. Renmu hummed in though before just setting on sitting down in the sand and grabbing a bucket and shovel. Sandcastles it is then.

Renum hummed a little tune as he shoveled sand into the bucket. He added little stones around the edge before putting another layer of sand on top. Leona watched the little Prefect trot over to the water and dunk the bucket in. 

“Really? A sandcastle?” Leona mocked rather than asked. 

Renmu nodded. “I never got to make a real sandcastle before.” 

Leona sat up. “You never been to the beach?” 

“Nope!” Came Renmu’s reply as he smothered out the sand to make a flat surface. 

“Technically, your home country is nothing but sand.” Riddle interjected. “I have never been to the beach either…” 

“I have not had the pleasure of going to a beach either.” Malleus added, watching Renmu pat the bucket to get the sand out. “Lilia has always told me stories of them though. 

Renmu lifted the bucket slowly to reveal a perfect sandcastle. Renmu cheered softly and began to make another one. 

“I think I would join him in creating his seaside fortresses.” Malleus said, walking over to the pile of buckets and shovels. Malleus picked a green bucket and purple shovel and sat down next to Renmu. “Would you mind if I joined you?” Renmu shook his head.

Malleus watched Renmu carefully, mimicking his steps in making a sandcastle. He put the sand in then, some rocks though, the rocks looked strange. Renmu could tell what the Fae Housewarden was thinking. “You don’t have to put rocks in it. I like to do it for decoration.” 

Malleus nodded as he began filling his bucket with sand. Once it was filled, he followed Renmu to the water and dunked it in. 

“Don’t leave it in too long or it will be too wet!” Renmu hollered as he walked back to his other castle. 

Malleus quickly took the bucket out and followed Renmu back to the sand. 

“Yosh, now all you do is flip like this.” Renmu demonstrated by flipping the bucket quickly onto the sand. “Then pat the bottom to get all the sand out.

Malleus quickly and roughly flipped the bucket over onto the sand. Renmu chuckled at the haphazard way Malleus did it. “Lastly, slowly remove the bucket. You might have to wiggle it.” 

Malleus watched has Renmu’s bucket came right off and a perfect sandcastle stood tall in its place. Malleus then looked down at his. He carefully and slowly lifted the bucket but all that came out was a glob of wet sand. Leona cackled from his spot on the sand. “The heir to the Brair Valley can’t even make a simple Sandcastle!”

Malleus frowned. “I never made one…” 

Renmu smiled softly at the pouting prince. “It’s okay. Just try it again. They won’t always be perfect.” 

Malleus shook out all the sand from the bucket and started again. “I’ll show you what the heir to the Brair Valley can do, Kingscholar. Who knows, maybe you can’t make one either.” 

Leona sat up, his tail swishing back and forth irritably. “Huh?” 

“Leona can’t make a sandcastle?” Kalim asked, walking out of the water. “Don’t worry I can show you.” 

Leona was on his feet, snatching a bucket and shovel out the bag. “Ima show you herbivores what a Sandcastle looks like.”

“Oh I wanna make one too!” Kalim cheered, getting his bucket. 

Now Cater came running out the water. “Cay-Cay wants to play-play!” 

At that point, Silver, Riddle, Trey, Floyd, who was still halfway in eel form, Jade, Ruggie, and Lilia were grabbing buckets and shovels to make Sandcastles. 

“Let’s make teams!” Cater announced. “We can do it by dorm.” 

“That would be best, yes?” Jade said in agreement. 

“Though, there is one flaw in that proposal. Azul interjected. “It would seem that Ignihyde and Ramshackle only have one member. The rest of us have 3 or 2.” 

“Then just put the two odd balls together.” Leona replied, filling his bucket with sand. 

“Whoa, Whoa, Whoa…whoa. Time out! W-Who said I was joining the Sandcastle war!? Idia shouted incredulously. 

“Us. Now come and join us. It will be fun!” Lilia cried. 

“H-Here's the thing, I don’t just team up with normies. There has to be a certain criteria a-and building sandcastles is such a normie thing to do…” 

“Just say you never built one, radish sprout. It’s obvious since you come from the Island of Woe.” Leona mocked. 

Idia scowled. “Huh?...” 

“I mean, it’s quite obvious that someone who’s been stranded in the middle of the ocean their whole life wouldn't know a thing about making a proper sandcastle.” Leona mocked.

Renmu could tell Leona was doing the same thing Malleus did to get him to join them. He was poking Idia’s buttons, pushing them where he knew it would hurt most. With a little more pressure, he would have the gloomy Housewarden caving in. No wonder these boys were so Twisted.

“Fine.” Idia said, caving. “I’ll show you noobs what a real sandcastle looks like.” Idia walked over and snatched a blue bucket and shovel and sat next to Renmu. “You better give it your all, Prefect!” 

“May the best Seaside Fortress win!” Lilia cheered.

This is the end of Part one. I hope you enjoyed it.

Part Two is here.

Word count: 14135