#And that would have been the case with any of his solo songs really... Maybe miss you or back to you would have gotten a few more people | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

reflections-in-a-critical-eye · 9 months

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I love to see my biases get the BB 1s, but when one starts making that their goal, hmm that kind of disconnects me from them as an artist.

I won't say more. I just wish artists I stan placed more focus on the art. Let charts happen naturally.

You're blog isn't like the blind fandom, so I am saying this here.

It's not hard to see through things. Chapter 2 has been interesting so far. I am not making any opinions based of things that are happening, but if it becomes a pattern with the artist, well... that's a problem.

Anon, we both know who were're talking about, lol. I'm gonna use the names, for the sake of making it easier for me to write a response.

A few weeks ago, I was watching this documentary about Wham. Some light entertainment for me initially, but it did offer me the chance for a fresh perspective. I don't exactly remember the details, but they've reached a point in which George Michael wanted to have 4 songs to reach number 1 on some chart, the fourth being Last Christmas. He was a bit obsessed with this and he also wanted to be a bigger artist. In later archival interviews, Michael actually mentions it was his ego as an artist because he knew he could. And he did, he outgrew the boyish band and the situation was almost ideal because Andrew, his bandmate, also knew that. It also meant getting away from their carefully constructed image, the object of desire for teenagers and women everywhere. For George, it was also about stepping away from performing a specific type of heteronormativity that can be found in boy bands. It never crossed my mind while watching it that his ego is too big, or why is he so obsessed with the charts. Maybe because it was all in the past and I've seen what the future would hold for him. Or that when I heard him talk about what he wants to achieve and his inner struggle, there was sincerity there and also that drive that only someone really young can have when they believe they can do anything.

I've read Jungkook's Weverse interview and listened to what he had to say during the Seven promotions. And while there may be some comparisons to be made to how George Michael came across when talking about his musical career, there were also some differences.

I'm glad to see Jungkook being more confident. I remember some of the things he used to say in the past, about his self worth, a lack of confidence and meaning outside the group. That wasn't healthy. And to hear him now, especially on Suchwita, it's a 180° change. But in his case, there's a very fine line between being confident and becoming cocky. And that's not a good look. It's almost like he's trying to project an image of a new Jungkook but one that is still in the works and not all parts fit perfectly together. He's going through a transformation ever since the hiatus, which I expected. It was about having to adapt to a different pace, life after 10 years of being part of a group. Jungkook was always trying to find his identity and this single is only one step in that journey.

But that doesn't mean that I as a fan and as a person, have to like it. If it doesn't match with what I'm looking for in the artists that I'm interested in, then so be it. I will talk about it, but I'll also not follow that person's musical career anymore. If I don't like the artistic direction and I don't like this overconfident, slighly exaggerated bravado, then that's it.

It's also impossible to not make a comparison to Jimin. Not for some dick measuring contest (it's what pjms and jjks are doing), but because there is room and justification for it. Both are from the same kpop group, both have embarked on a solo career and both chose a more mainstream pop music, as opposed to their older bandmates. And both got that BB 1. And what we can compare is song quality, artist reaction and how the company's response came across into fan spaces.

In terms of the songs, I could write entire essays because at the end of the day, it wouldn't matter. It's all subjective. There is no rule that says a number one song should be about some personal experience, or the singer should have writing credits on it. And I also can't take away my subjectivity. I will chose Like Crazy over a song that not only sounds like a Bieber tune from years ago, but also has lyrics as if they were written by the boys from Larry Clark's Kids.

As to the reaction, Jimin did exactly what I expected him to do. He was humble, grateful and emotional and we saw that when he turned on the livestream. It's what makes him who he is and how he always behaves. As opposed to that, Jungkook wanted to be appear cool. And for what? Especially when later he said how excited he actually was but he refrained from expressing that. Where's the authenticity that he seeks so much through his livestreams? Because he released a song about sex for which he never officially performed live the explicit version, that means that the attitude should match that? I know the next day he was live and he was really nice. But that entire event is tainted in my mind with this almost expectation and confidence that he'll get that no. 1 and after he got the western validation, they decided to remember there's fans at home too and went to Inkigayo.

Which leads me to the last point that shows the obvious bias and preference that cannot simply be denied when it comes to BH. It's even more obvious because the entire BTS brand was that there are no favorites, which is not the same strategy as with other companies and groups. And now, all of a sudden, there is. It's great that BH celebrates an artist's success and they can immediately put on a show. But it doesn't justify how the first one to have the achievement was ignored. I have to admit, I was happy when Jimin got his no. 1 because I thought it only meant more promotions, more Jimin, more of everything. Just to be left utterly confused.

I've put that all in the past and I really try not to get too emotionally involved because as an individual, it has no bearing on my personal life and it doesn't have that many negative effects on my fan engagement.

I side eye Jungkook for how he presents himself in official promotions, but then he goes live and all of a sudden, it's the Jungkook that I'm used to. The guy who is a dork and funny and grateful to his fans. The one who cries hearing fan songs and who still beats himself up for hours because he messed up a song. I do criticize some of his actions and statements, but I'm not slandering him. The guy seems like a genuinely nice person and I still like him. He's still one of my biases for many reasons. But me having this reaction to content catered specifically for fans to create a more intimate connection is something BH was always good at. We only have to look at all the BTS footage out there. They've perfected the way in which personality comes first a lot of the times. It's what draws fans in (aside from music) and what keeps them interested. I'm part of that.

I'm convinced that it's most likely that a Jungkook fan or army or whoever disagrees with me, will read all this and believe I hate Jungkook. Which would be a shame because all I'm trying to do is explain how complex this situation is. It's never as black and white as solo stans would like everyone to believe and it's not a debate that can be generalized and tossed aside as solo talk by the ot7 chorus. I'm sure there are a lot of reasonable people in this fandom still who are able to have more than one thought in their head and see that only through a naunced discussion we can look at facts, see what's an exaggeration and what's false. To be able to distinguish between facts and personal opinion and also to admit that. That's not possible if we're not looking at these people as complex beings, instead of victims and villains.

#m thoughts #jimin #jungkook #bts solo careers

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liam-93-productions · 8 months

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"The emotional stability that I have has cost me a lot of work"

The singer Liam Payne comes to Peru for the first time as a soloist after the separation of One Direction. In an interview with El Comercio, the British artist spoke about his solo career, his identity as an artist after being part of a boy band and more.

“I remember when I was first in Peru, I liked the food, but what always surprises me is its culture and its history. Something that stuck in my head was seeing a sunrise with peacocks and the energy of Machu Picchu entering my body”, says Payne in an interview with El Comercio.

Since your debut, was it difficult to keep current?

It's hard to stay in this music industry, even more so with social media putting pressure on you every minute of the day, and you need to create and create all the time. In my case, I do it when I feel good, but it never ceases to amaze me that the new generations always demand new content and songs that maintain my style.

2. 9 years ago you visited Peru when you were part of One Direction. At that time, were you already beginning to form your own style?

I always had fun with the boys. I didn't really think about it much when I started because I didn't know myself that well, but now I know who I am. Well… I'm still on that journey. The only thing I know is that [Peru] is the best place to return to the music scene again, but this time with better things.

3. How do you find the balance between self-discovery and exposure to fame?

Control is the key to finding the balance between both fields, especially with fame. The emotional stability that I have has cost me a lot of work. It was very difficult for me to find that stability after being left alone in my music career.

4. After One Direction?

Yes, for me it has been a great challenge to find a new sound to accompany my voice. It had to be at the level or better than the early boyband sounds, but I think I finally managed to create something unique and different.

5. Will we be able to appreciate that new sound in some new production?

I have a new album that I may release in October, in which I am inspired by moments in my life such as relationships, love and emotional processes to be better. Although as a composer and musician, I will always have a constant search for my sound and identity.

6. International media point out that Louis, Niall and you are the ones who get together the most. Will they participate in any collaboration?

I would say no, although I am really proud of my boys, but not at the moment.

7. And for your presentation in Lima, will they all be songs from your new productions?

I hope that my audience is ready for the concert that I will give, because I will put the best of me and my repertoire of songs, and maybe a couple of One Direction songs.

#liam payne #el comercio #liam's interviews #25.08.2023

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terry-perry · 2 years

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Papa Steven trying his best to bond with Marcy

Steven was the one up this morning. Marcy knew right away when she took into account his hunched-over stature and sweet smile upon taking off her earbuds. She did her best to hide her disappointment as she returned to her breakfast, but unfortunately, he noticed.

"Everything all right love?" He asked her as he made his way to the coffee. Not before he took a little detour at the stove so he could greet you with a kiss.

"Yeah, sorry," Marcy mumbled, her eyes focused on her food. "I thought you were Dad."

Your daughter had been aware of your husband's condition from a very young age. You wanted to make it as less challenging as possible for her to understand, going so far as to dub each alters as variations of dad to make things easier. She knew they were their own people and should be treated as such. It was also why she was a little sad Marc wasn't the one fronting that morning.

"Did you need him for something?" Steven went on to ask, growing a little worried in case it was something concerning. It was in his nature.

She shook her head, pointing at her earbuds. "I just wanted him to listen to this song. I wanted to get his opinion on it."

"You wouldn't want my opinion?"

"Well, it's a pretty heavy song. It's not exactly your taste."

Steven knew music was a big factor in her relationship with Marc. He was the one who would sing to her as a baby to calm her down and play her some of his favorite songs she ended up loving herself. It was nice they had their own thing. Steven knew Marcy loved him too, but sometimes he did envy that they had more shared interests they could bond over.

"I can still have a listen," he insisted, joining her at the table. "Maybe I l might like it."

She raised a brow at him, unsure. She gave him her buds, regardless. And she was right when she told him it was loud. He was right away met with a melody of roaring guitars and banging drums before a screaming voice spewed out the lyrics to the song.

"Interesting...beat!" He commented over the music.

Marcy didn't look very convinced and shook her head with a chuckle. She was ready to take the earbuds back when his next words stopped her.

"They remind me of Metallica,"

She was certainly not expecting that. "You like Metallica?"

"Oh yeah. Well, mostly their early stuff when they did a lot of guitar solos. And Justice for All was really good at showing that off. But I mostly like to listen to Rob Zombie since his stuff is pretty funky."

Well, this was certainly a surprise. Not a bad one though. You were even caught a little off guard by what Steven said, pausing your cooking to look over with a raised brow.

"Yeah...me too," Marcy uttered, smiling in disbelief. She pointed at her buds. "I'm actually gonna play this song tonight with the band."

Steven has never gone to any of her performances, not when he was fronting anyway. Marc was normally the one to go to The White Rabbit to see her play with her band since he would better appreciate their music. Steven and Jake were told by him that they were good, especially Marcy with all her solos. He wasn't sure about their frontman Eddie. He was an eccentric fellow, according to Marc.

"Dad usually comes to these things, but do you think you'd wanna?"

To say Steven was taken aback would be an understatement. This was the first time he was personally invited to hear her play. He was certainly not going to miss out on this opportunity.

"Yeah, yeah, of course!" He accepted right away, beaming. "I'd love to."

"Awesome," Marcy grinned back as she got up from the table to put her dishes in the sink. "Well, I actually gotta go get ready for rehearsal. Jack should be here any minute to pick me up."

She kissed each of you on the cheek before going upstairs to her room to change, leaving you alone with your husband.

"Metallica?" You inquired, going over to present Steven with his food. "Rob Zombie. How has that not been brought up in the 20 years we've been together?"

It technically has, just not through Steven.

"That's the adventure of marriage, love," he did his best to shrug it off, still smiling. "Always discovering new things about each other."

"Uh huh," you weren't buying it, but you decided not to say anything else about it. You simply kissed his forehead, your subtle way of thanking Marc for giving Steven the chance to spend more time with Marcy. No doubt he was also the one who educated him a little on her favorite musicians.

#dad!steven grant #x reader #mom!reader #child oc #marcy spector #dad!marc spector #dad!jake lockley #steven grant x reader #marc spector x reader #jake lockley x reader #marvel #marvelcinematicuniverse #marvel cinematic universe #mcu fanfiction #mcu au #mcu #mcu imagine

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collecting-stories · 2 years

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🏕 "There are love letters coming in the mail but with nothing written on the outside, not even a name, so I always give them to you, because I just assume they’re for you because I think I’ve seen you holding one of the envelopes before and you’re the kind of person that has a secret admirer, definitely not me…" from the roommate au prompt list with any of the stranger things guys, you pick!

Sorry this is so overdue, I was really going through it.

Love Letters - Eddie Munson

Summary: You've been giving Eddie love letters that he's been leaving in the mailbox for you.

A/N: I can't even explain how much I love this boy. Also I recently wasted money on stickers for my ipad case and half of them are Eddie Munson themed.

Stranger Things Masterlist

✰ ✰ ✰ ✰

You assumed when you graduated high school and proudly left the world of lockers behind you had also abandoned all the high school cliches. Love letters and secret admirers felt like something that you should have graduated out of and, technically, you supposed that you had. The letters, that seemed to appear like clockwork in your mailbox, were not actually for you. At least, that was the conclusion that you had come to early on.

The letters were, in your mind, all for your roommate. It made sense at least. Eddie was the one playing gigs in the city with his band and it wasn’t a far stretch of the imagination to think that maybe someone found out where he lived and was sending him notes. Maybe a little creepy but what groupies weren’t?

None of them actually had his name on them, or any name on them for that matter, but it still felt like the most obvious explanation to the letters that showed up.

“You got another one.” You announced, holding the blank envelope up in your hand as you leaned against the doorframe of Eddie’s room.

He was laying on the twin bed that he shoved in the corner, listening to Metallica with his eyes closed, no doubt trying to memorize the chord progressions in the song. Eddie was really the only musically talented person you knew but that didn’t stop you from being absolutely in awe of his ability to learn a guitar solo from sound alone. He had a great ear and you constantly told him he could be going to some fancy music conservatory if he really wanted. (“You’d blow all those snooty Julliard kids away”). Instead he was here, getting secret love notes from someone on campus, living in an apartment dorm with you, and pretending that he gave a shit about college classes. (“You know where the best audience is? College campuses!”).

Eddie cracked an eye open and then sat up, throwing his legs over the side of the bed and patting his hair back into place as he reached for the letter with his other hand. This was entirely routine. “Why do you always assume they’re for me? What if they’re for you?” He hadn’t opened any of them either, sitting in a pile on his desk.

“Why would they be for me?” You almost wanted to laugh and say something self-deprecating but you held your tongue. “Who’d even be sending them?”

“I don’t know, could be anybody,” he waved the envelope around in the air, “you could open it and find out.”

You raised an eyebrow at him skeptically, “I feel like you know who it is,” you replied, grabbing the envelope from his hand, “I mean, you’re acting like you know who it is.”

“If I knew who it was,” he replied, “wouldn’t I tell you?”

You tore open the envelope as you stared at him, “It’s probably that creepy guy from downstairs who hangs around the mailboxes and stares at my ass all the time.”

“I mean it’s a nice ass,” he teased, laughing when you smacked him with a pillow. He leaned back against the wall and pulled his feet up to sit cross legged on the bed, “it’s a compliment!”

“Some kind of compliment,” you laughed, “guess I can rule you out as my secret admirer then...if these letters are for me.” You unfolded the letter in question and looked down at the typewritten words, “oh yeah...definitely not for you.”

“How do you know it’s not me?” Never one to sit still, Eddie hopped up off the bed and moved into your personal space, standing right beside you, leaned over your side, hair brushing your cheek as he silently read the letter that had been sent, as he claimed, to you. “Wow, this is some really shakespearen shit. Take a real professional to write a letter that good.”

“Jealous? Maybe you should take it then...probably one of your groupies. Look,” you pointed to a familiar phrase in one of the passages, “this is in that song you like isn’t it? The one you guys always open shows with.”

“So you know my setlist?” He questioned, stroking his chin dramatically. You rolled your eyes. “Interesting.”

“Not interesting,” you replied, “of course I know your setlist, I go to every show. So does the person who wrote this, obviously.”

“Or maybe they play an instrument in said show.”

“Eddie,”

He hummed in response to the sound of his name passing your lips.

“You’re not dicking me around for a laugh or something are you?” You asked, looking at him suspiciously. You wouldn’t go so far as to catorgize Eddie Munson’s jokes as pranks but you wouldn’t deny that he was definitely the type that enjoyed pulling off shenanigans at the expense of his friends. Especially, it usually seemed, you.

You’d fallen victim to plenty of harmless teasing (and you usually gave just as good as you got). Somehow cheesy letters in the mail with no postscript or marking felt too serious to joke about, as if the grave matter of secret admirers and the ones they loved was too touchy a subject to breach in a joking way. Or maybe you were just fishing for Eddie to say something that ultimately you knew he wasn’t going to say.

“What?” Eddie looked genuinely surprised at the accusation, as if messing with you was an unfathomable act. Though maybe it was just messing with your feelings that he couldn’t imagine. Any jokes he’d pulled in the past had always been tasteful enough that you found them funny, no convincing needed. “I would never joke about a love letter.”

“I still don’t know how you can be sure that the letter is for me. It literally has no name on it...aside from being in our mailbox, which I’ll remind you is super fucking creepy, there’s no indication that it’s for me.”

“Well,” Eddie looked as if he faltered for a moment before raising an eyebrow at you, “why do you think it’s for me?” He asked.

“I don’t know,” you shrugged, “if I had to choose between the two of us, I wouldn’t send myself a love letter.”

“Yeah cause that’d be fucking weird.” Eddie laughed, “I mean even I’m not that weird.”

“You know what I mean Eddie,” you smacked his arm.

He nodded and took the letter from you, skimming over it curiously as if you hadn’t just read it out loud to him. “Definitely not for me.”

“You can’t possibly know that.”

“Sure I can.” A smile broke out on his face as he stepped away from you to grab the other letters on his desk, “I wrote it. These too.”

“You wrote them?” You couldn’t keep the shock off your face. Not at the fact that he had written them, you knew he was an amazing writer (a person’s not that good at world building without being talented with a pen) but you hadn’t expected them to be coming from him. And it was almost as if your brain wasn’t fully capable of working out exactly what Eddie was trying to tell you. “Why would you leave love letters in our mailbox?”

“You know,” he mentioned, grin still in place, “I did my senior year of highschool three times.”

“What?” You asked, blinking.

“You were valedictorian right?” He asked.

“Yeah, so? What does that have to do with this?”

“Just that...you’re kinda dumb sometimes.” He laughed and jumped out of the way when you tried to smack him again. “Hey, hands to yourself sweetheart! I’m just stating the facts here.”

“I’m not dumb, Eddie!” You insisted, though truth be told you were feeling a little dumb right now. There was an answer right there in front of you but it was like your brain just couldn’t reach it. “I just...don’t get what you’re trying to say.”

“I’m trying to say that I’ve been sending love letters but not to myself,” he replied, still ering on the cryptic side.

At this point you were positive you needed a giant neon flashing sign spelling out the words for you to fully comprehend them. It wasn’t that you didn’t get what he was saying, more so just that you were scared to get it. If you got it, if he meant exactly what you thought he meant and he wasn’t just playing around with you, which wasn’t an Eddie sort of thing to do at all, then that was a whole other can of worms to open and you weren’t entirely sure you had the strength of heart to manage. But god he was staring at you with that too sweet half smile and you wanted to kiss him on the mouth and hold his hand and read all the letters he’d written.

“Did you like, have a stroke or something? Are you still with me?” Eddie asked, waving a hand in front of your face.

You pushed his hand away again, “I’m just...like, processing this whole thing.”

“What’s there to process?” Eddie knew he was supposed to be nervous or worried or maybe even a little anxious but he wasn’t. He was just excited, practically buzzing as he waited for you to react. It wasn’t that he was especially sure of himself either, but Eddie wasn’t stupid and he certainly didn’t think you were either. If he’d noticed the changes in your relationship, the closeness and flirtation, than you had too.

“I just...you like me?” You asked, the words slow to leave your mouth, as if you didn’t quite believe what you were saying, “I mean like...you like me?”

Eddie scoffed, “are you kidding, I fucking love you.”

“Why didn’t you just say something?”

“Honestly, thought this would be more fun...didn’t realize you were a moron.” he replied, matter of fact.

“Eddie!” You whined, glaring at him. So maybe you were pouting like a little kid but you couldn’t help it. This was just like him though and maybe that was exactly why you should have figured it out in the first place. Dramatically epic and romantic, well thought out, elaborate, and yet he was teasing you at the same time.

“Well?” He took a deliberate step closer to you and leaned in, “you still haven’t told me how you feel. Here I am, pouring my heart out to you on paper and you’re just standing there twisting the knife with your silence.” He pressed his hand over his heart as he spoke, making a fist as though he were holding an invisible knife and wrenching it into his chest.

“Typically I make it a rule not to encourage people who make fun of me,” you replied, biting your lip at the look of faux shock on Eddie’s face.

“I would never,” he immediately interjected, “I’ve never said a mean thing about you in my life.”

“You just told me I was a moron.”

“Wasn’t me. Must’ve been some other Eddie...” his eyes shifted back and forth as if he would find someone lurking in his room.

“Must’ve been,” you rolled your eyes.

“In that case-”

“In that case,” you repeated, cutting him off, “I guess I love you too.”

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denimini · 7 months

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As expected jk didn't do shit on his own album but instead was handed songs from western writers and producers by the company bc he was too lazy to work on his own album and took the easy way out bc he desperately wants to be a big pop star in the west. Bang pd already said in a recent interview that the only reason jk was releasing an album was bc of 🛴 since apparently jk wasn't even sure if he even wanted to release a album but yet he wants to be a big ass pop star without putting any work in. What pisses me off is that jk constantly does the bare ass minimum and gets rewarded for it while the other put their blood sweat tears into their music and gets nothing in return. Jk really sold-out for fame and I have zero respect for him as a artist.

The truth is that many successful (pop) artists don't write their own songs. There are great vocalists and performers who don't write or produce but are still wildly successful. That being said, one of the biggest reasons for BTS's success is their personal involvement and message in their own music. This is something that attracted many people to them and separated them from other big acts in the industry. In that sense, I understand people who feel somewhat betrayed by the lack of involvement of JK in his debut album.

My personal belief is that music is better when it has a meaningful connection to the one performing it, and that is best achieved when said perfomer actively participates in the creation of the music. Almost nobody writes and produces songs alone nowadays. It's always somewhat a team effort, so it saddens me not to see JK's name anywhere, in any capacity, especially considering that he actually can write good songs and has done it in the past.

I believe that the clues to the reason for JK's lack of contributions can be found in his behavior at the beginning of this year. I think JK was burned out , he needed rest and maybe was a little depressed, hence why he wasn't sure if he even wanted to release anything. It's possible that he tried to write and produce music but was suffering from a writer's block and lack of inspiration. After working non-stop for 13 years, he probably also enjoyed his first ever chance to be lazy and do things that many "normal" people don't even appreciate, like watching TV, meeting with friends, working out and even staying home. I assume he really needed time to recharge, but the thing is, JK didn't actually have much time to indulge himself and wait to be inspired. Producing an album on your own takes a lot of time, months, if not years, and JK's time to do it was running out, with military service on the near horizon.

As it was, JK seemed to have had only three choices:

Postpone the enlistment and try to do the album on his own,

Not releasing anything before enlisting,

Relying on the company's connections.

Delaying the enlistment would have been met with a lot of negativity and would have messed up the plans for the 2025 reunion, so that was not a good option. Not releasing anything seemed to be where JK was at at the beginning of the year, but then again, he must have felt a lot of pressure to do an album: from the company, from the fans who have been waiting for one for a lot of time and would be disappointed if only he if all the members didn't release anything, and pressure from his own self because he knew this was his only chance to do solo music before enlistment and the reunion of the group.

In my opinion, it is Hybe's poor management and planning of the whole enlistment, as well as the rush for a group reunion as soon as possible, that led to a lot of what we have seen in Chapter 2 so far. Maknae line doesn't have to enlist for at least 2 years, in Jungkook's case, even four. Had the younger members been given more time to actually rest and work on their music, I think both Tae and JK would have participated more in their albums, and JM would have had a much more peaceful and well-organized promotions. Trying to fit everyone's releases in just a year and a half led to a lot of pressure on everyone to produce, deliver, and release their music. It led to clashing shedules, overwhelming the fandom, and a lot of separation among the fans. Each of the members must have felt the pressure of time running out, the expectations of the company and the fandom, the weight of not tarnishing the BTS name and their own long-supressed desires for self-expression through solo works.

Some of them, like the hyung line, had no problem managing this pressure and finishing their albums, but these members had a lot of previous experience writing and producing songs for the group and all of them had released solo music before, so they knew what to do and how to do it. For Maknae line, it was different. While they had participated in writing for the group, none of them had ever taken a solo project from start to finish. They had a lot of learning to do, even with the help of the company. It was a bigger challenge for them.

JM is the one who definitely stands out because he is the only one from Maknae line who actually managed to participate in every part of the production and release of his album. Not only that, but he successfully combined artistry with commercial success and didn't compromise either of those goals. But Jimin started very early, and he seemed to have had very strong inspiration for his work. And even then, he said it was very hard, and it took him 10 months. The payoff is that he now knows a lot better what he has to do and will have a much easier time when he decides to release another album. He did work harder but also smarter in the long run.

Realistically , both JK and Tae could also have done it. They have written songs, and both of them said last year that they were working on music, but people work in different ways. Some of us need more time to rest before we can work again. Some people suffer from lack of inspiration or mental health issues and lack of motivation to do tasks. Sometimes, you start something but then feel it lacking down the line and you have to start over. It is not always just laziness.

It is true that JK took the easy way out. A lot of people apparently want to work with him, and his album has some of the biggest names in the industry, and he took the opportunity. Maybe Bang and Scooter had a role in him accepting. Perhaps it was them who convinced him that if he did it this way, he would be very successful and would become "the main pop boy." He has always been ambitious and has wanted to be an artist as big as JB, Shawn Mendes, and the likes, so he was tempted and eventually took the chance. It is a shortcut, yes. And no, this isn't the way BTS the group does things, but this isn't Bangtan. This is Jungkook, the solo artist.

Each of us, who have been fans of the group for certain reasons like their authenticity, personal messages, and integrity, has to make a choice now whether we want to support JK's solo endeavor or not. He doesn't own us anything, but you also don't owe him your support. If the way JK is managing his solo career doesn't fit your ideals and principles, you are free to ignore his music (however intensively promoted, it will for sure be).

Personally, I am not mad at Jungkook for choosing this direction, but I am a little disappointed and disheartened to see no involvement from him in this album. Despite that, I won't write "Golden" off yet. I will give this music a chance because good music is good music. I have listened to many artists who didn't write their own songs and enjoyed them a lot. That being said, those artists would never be able to aspire in me the same level of respect, loyalty, and support in comparison to people who actually put their heart and soul in their work, like Bangtan and Jimin.

While I don't harbor hate towards Jungkook, when it comes to Hybe, my personal feelings are definitely one of resentment and negativity right now. I understand that they see Jungkook as more marketable and as a good tool for their "US domination" goal, but the blatant difference of the level of investment and promotion between him and all the other members combined, frankly infuriates me, and should infuriate anyone who call themselves an Army. The problem isn't that JK didn't write his own music so much, as the fact that there is clear disparity between the money and connections used for his career and for all the other boys. Hybe did more for his two singles than for all the others' releases combined.

In all honesty, the only one whose debut was managed well and promoted like a true big artist and member of the biggest group in the world is Jungkook. All the others were treated like they were some up-and-coming indie artists with insignificant small releases. Bare minimum promotion and even fewer expectations for success, which was completely unbefitting of 5/7 of one of the biggest musical acts in the whole world.

Chapter 2 definitely shows what Bang PD and the other high-ranking executives think of each member and how much the company values them, as individuals.

#jungkook #jimin #bts #bangtan boys #taehyung

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fanfoolishness · 1 year

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Rewatching Chapter 18 of The Mandalorian, “The Mines of Mandalore”, and blabbering away incoherently!

Ooh, we got the Ship o haj Mandalorians theme in the recap! That song fucking slaps.

Peli didn’t replace her tooth, and I love it

Oh Peli, never change your Jawa-loving ways

“No complaints” = HIGH praise from this guy

She’s so proud of him!

Grogu is GOING TO TALK THIS SEASON, he is! Peli called it

Not only is R5 scared of going to Mandalore, so is the gonk droid in the background who slowly is backing away during this conversation

Din: “let’s go on an adventure!” Grogu: “dad there are fireworks RIGHT HERE”

I love absolutely everything about Din explaining Mandalore to Grogu. Admitting he’s never been there either? My freaking heart. “Our people”? Crying forever

Man people really do need to give R5 a rest, he’s doing what he can okay

I love the spookiness of Mandalore and the tense music. The whole place is unsettling, from the glassed surface to the bad weather to the deserted feels

I like that the helmet does have pressurization capability! Stuff I had headcanoned as being correct is coming to life.

Grogu really is talking a lot more with more sentence like structure. What is his first word gonna be???

Din is struggling even worse with the Darksaber than he was in Book of Boba Fett. Why? I love it. I am so excited to see what the narrative tells us about it! It’s interesting because the Armorer said he couldn’t use it while his mind was conflicted… yet Din probably thinks his mind is as clear as it’s been a long time. He’s on a mission to redeem himself in the mines. He has Grogu back with him once more. What could he be conflicted about now? (Unless he’s secretly got a religious crisis brewing in his head in which case I am HERE. FOR. THAT.)

CRAB

POISON CRAB

Does it just eat Mandalorians? Is it a former Mandalorian who could only survive the glassing in this giant droid carapace, like a Mandalorian Big Daddy?

Grogu’s going to be an ace pilot some day, isn’t he?? <3

Poor Bo. Fell asleep in her throne room again. Her blanket looks cozy though.

Bo about to march out there like “get the FUCK off my lawn” and then being very surprised

Poor Bo again, having to see the ruin of her planet :( why does this keep happening to Star Wars women! Leia, Cara, Bo…. I’m loving her so far this season. She does bitter and wounded so well!

I love that Bo is actually building Grogu up! Telling him he’s good with the Force <3 <3 <3

Damn Bo, look at these mad skills!

First person to call Din Grogu’s dad? Now he just needs to do it himself!

Bo has serious Darksaber skilllllllz, will she be his teacher this season?

I also love that this season they have finally leaned into Din having a name. Will it ever be as recognizable as Boba Fett or Han Solo to the casual fan? I’m not sure, but I’m happy they’re doing it. It would start to get pretty weird, I guess, to have everyone call him Mando in a season with 100 Mandalorians.

“Your kid” <3 Aww complimenting Grogu.

Getting serious Deep Road vibes here and I love it.

No pog soup? There’s something important here and I’m not sure either of them realizes it. Maybe Din realizes he really was raised strangely when he thinks about it. Maybe Bo realizes Din isn't just weird, he's genuinely missing a lot of vital information/it was deliberately kept from him.

The way Din was overwhelmed with emotion hearing about Bo-Katan’s father’s sacrifice. Don’t get any ideas, Din.

Interpretative sign, hell yeah!

Din is so reverent. Even Bo-Katan’s like, “shit, dude’s going through it.”

Mythosaur tried to eat him, right? How else could he have sank that quickly?

Mythosauuuuuuuurrrrr!!!! So cool and just the perfect amount of mystery!

BUT WHAT HAPPENS NEXT

Awww man, Joseph Shirley took over the score from Ludwig Goransson? It says musical themes by Goransson, but score by Shirley, in the credits. Joseph Shirley did Book of Boba Fett and while I liked some of those songs a lot (Faster Than a Fauthier is a delight) I could do with out all the “Boba FETT!!!” choruses. Hoping this does not bode ill, I loved the first 2 seasons’ score so much and listen to it regularly.

Very excited for next week now! And genuinely having no idea what’s next since Din skipped the side quests and went straight to advancing the story.

#the mandalorian season 3 #the mandalorian season 3 spoilers #the mandalorian spoilers #the mines of mandalore #the mines of mandalore spoilers #din djarin #bo katan kryze #grogu #grogu djarin #clan of two #text post #long post

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unproduciblesmackdown · 19 days

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remembered that the other day i was thinking about how like, "jared & alana kind of re/connecting more in college / becoming friends then" ideas sure have a potential complication in "do they talk about tcp ever lol. jared has this secret here" where like yeah maybe the answer is "no not really," at this point post orchard it can be kind of in the past / in stasis, like maybe alana keeps the site up & all but for one thing, well, she's busy with college at the moment & maybe even other things (so many possibilities about what college looks like for alana or jared or whomever. just like in life) and also from her perspective like well jared wasn't ever That involved anyways, even if you harmonized together for two measures in a song like of course alana was focused on evan as the other co president co True Believer / Understander about the ethos of the project anyways, vs that it was fine to have jared in the background possibly, doing tech support. and she could just suppose that, even if she does suspect something Was up about everything, that maybe it's not like jared knew about that or was involved

but anyways i was like "well fuck it, what if she did also suspect jared could've known anything was up about the supposed factual premises around here. and she was mostly fine with that" (which i mean. could be true anyways. alana could sure likewise just have complicated feelings, about things beyond The Absolute Facts Of The Case, as is relevant the entire time re: anyone else. even if yeah it would also bother her. she has her own path right there to sympathizing more easily anyways in like, yeah she Was his lab partner, the facts may not be that moving, but it was still meaningful enough to her as a connection / Theoretical connection like 'well we Could've been friends?' / alana sympathizing with someone Now Never Having The Chance To Know Connor which is also evan's status or anyone else's anyways)

so further anyways i was also just thinking how like, well, there's complications in "jared can't tell the full story b/c a) he & evan are keeping this secret for themselves And each other, just unspoken across time & space & perhaps forever thusly. nbd & b) he can't tell the Full Story to anyone else anyways. goodforyou.mp3....though, see: the Handshake Gay potential element to college alana & jared friendship lol. don't need to give granular details about Realizing Things / Fun Facts of disastrous [all very heterosexual] relationship histories" but also maybe even if he is willing to give any very general acknowledgment to "Was something up with all that, do you think, do you know" type inquiries, it was like well but what if that's actually somewhat / enough of a relief to alana to get further confirmation that yeah there were some extra reasons things fell apart a bit there. Because like, otherwise, from her perspective it's like she was helming this surely noble helpful project with mostly this one other person who then stopped caring or at least responding in the same ways, and then that happened more generally with alana being mostly solo running things and then those things going to shit. where maybe having a hint that yeah, there was some other weird complications going on like problems as fundamental as [this story wasn't quite factually true was it] can be, to her, like nonzero reassurance that She Herself wasn't thee factor who like managed to be on a different page than everyone else after all & also just ruin things in whatever way b/c it was all going great until it sure wasn't

#deh #the complication becoming like ''can jared give some Vague responses that in their ambiguity don't suggest he also only Suspects vs like #yeah he Knows something was up'' but like he can also just stop being so Responsive any further than that #like [we must Investigate this] (which like. is hardly a response alana would guaranteed have in turn) well jared can just: Not #even without giving more info about Why not. easy to avoid being dragged into that. just don't do anything. shrug. homework time #anyways. like just a strange situation overall i think they can handle the weirdness of ''yeah jared Is withholding further info but''#like Okay & the idea here being that alana Could actually just be glad to get whatever tilt of the head is like yeah....#neither me nor the facts were quite straight were they pensive emoji....#b/c again like tl;dr confirmation that she didn't / doesn't Ruin any efforts at helping ppl b/c of something just about her & her efforts #neither does she have to feel oh i did everything Perfectly b/c how would that be helpful for any of the characters #or for anyone ever in any situation. but again if instead she thinks oh evan Was the grieving bestie the story Was true etc etc....#like well then seems Your involvement & [being the main person making tcp a thing & then keeping it a thing] messed that up

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sweeneytoddblog · 8 months

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Review of 2023 Sweeney Todd cast album

The other day I noticed that this was revival was announced a year ago now. I have been waiting so long that I had to remind myself not to have impossibly high expectations.

Overall, it's a decent album and it gets the job done: good performances, good orchestrations, and stylistically is more similar to the original show than any of the other cast recordings. However, I am not sure I would consider it the definitive album.

This is going to be a brief and not-super-detailed review, just wanted to get down all my major thoughts!

For me, the highlight is Josh Groban. No, I haven't seen him live, but I cannot imagine disliking him on vocal performance alone. If I go back to listen to this over the 1979 album this fall, it will probably be because of him. My other favorites were John Rapson as Beadle Bamford (so over the top it was amazing) and Nicholas Christopher as Pirelli.

With the amount of times that somebody said "26 piece orchestra" when promoting this show, I made sure to pay special attention to the instrumentals. The orchestrations were beautiful, but I was also disappointed, because I remembered hearing several new orchestrations in the live recording, and I was excited to hear them professionally recorded for the first time. Sadly, they didn't make an appearance.

One issue I had was the accents, and hey, NO ONE'S accent is perfect in this. But in the case of Annaleigh Ashford, it is a major distraction. Her bizarre pronunciations actually take away from her singing at times. She also came in at lower energy than I was expecting, and I suspect she was focusing too hard on the dialect (I cannot say how this compares to her stage presence). This being said, she still has a better voice than a lot of Mrs. Lovett's, and definitely a unique take. And I will say that there were still times I felt I could understand what she was saying better than Angela Lansbury.

Personally, I don't think authenticity to Cockney accents is really that big of a deal with this show, especially with such an American cast, so I could have done without (I mean, Len Cariou and George Hearn don't even attempt British accents to begin with, and I usually don't notice.) This is also something I noticed with Maria Bilbao, who is an excellent Johanna other than her weird vowels.

The lowest point for me is Jordan Fisher, who really sticks out like a sore thumb among the rest of the cast. I felt he was noticeably lacking in vocal power. On a more personal level, I also am just not a huge fan of Gaten Matarazzo's voice, and I dislike Ruthie Ann Miles' characterization of Lucy.

Overall, the album feels like it was designed as a collection of singles rather than a comprehensive recording of the show. There were several choices that tipped me off to this:

The arrangement of songs such as "Johanna" and "Not While I'm Around" to make the lyrics flow more seamlessly as a "stand-alone" song rather than a piece of the plot

Omission of plot-relevant dialogue and sound effects

Absence of some shorter ballads, "Wigmaker Sequence," and most of "Parlor Songs" (which REALLY sucks because we rarely even see the full version that appears in this show anymore)

When I listen to Sweeney Todd, I usually listen to the whole album in one go (or maybe just Act 1, or just Act 2.) So for me this direction wasn't what I wanted or expected. Personally I enjoy all the dialogue on the 1979 album as it helps to immerse me in the story, and I also think it would be helpful for anyone unfamiliar with the show.

The more glaring issue is that Judge Turpin's role is greatly reduced. Without any of his scenes with dialogue or "Mea Culpa," I feel like I barely know who the character is based on this album. He appears a few times, lacks his big solo, and we don't really hear anyone talk about him that much. I don't know, I'm tempted to go back and see what his presence is like on the other cast albums now? But he seemed to be somewhat forgotten amongst all the characters.

I have listened to the whole thing twice now and I can't say for sure whether I will come to prefer it over other albums and casts. But I definitely found it to be worth revisiting, and Josh Groban's Sweeney in particular has me in love. However, I have a feeling that the 1979 album will always be first in my biased heart.

#sweeney todd #sweeney todd cast album

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beautifulpersonpeach · 9 months

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You can post this later…because I’m going to be the party pooper…why is he commenting now? There’s been a whole day of save Jimin and respect Jimin trending. It’s not been good for her company. Can’t we have one small doubt as to why now? Fanservice maybe? Company sponsored fanservice?

***

Hi Anon,

I'm going to use your ask to go on a bit of a rant here. It's nothing personal on my end.

"There’s been a whole day of save Jimin and respect Jimin trending. It’s not been good for her company."

...it's not been good for Jimin either. I mean, is that possibility not obvious? That he wouldn't want his professed fans making a spectacle of him on Twitter? This is going to sound pretentious and ranty but I have no other way to express it in English: too many solo stans have such one-dimensional thinking. I mean, think about it. HYBE is a corporation and the only reputation they worry about is their reputation of generating cash. They don't care if you line a bunch of trucks on the side street or trend hashtags on Twitter. Think of the endless months solos did this for in 2020 and they received no response from the company. Likely none of the people actually calling the shots will ever see you make a racket on Twitter. The people who will see it though, are the members. Their managers and lower staff too. And the other stans in your k-pop space who already have no sympathy for him.

Solo stans are too wrapped up in righteous outrage to consider - Do any of these people actually know how Jimin feels and what his plans are with his team and company? No. None of them can actually answer that question affirmatively. They have their hopes and dreams that he'll change his mind on what he's already committed to, but he's had many chances to do that over the years and hasn't yet. And if he ever does, fine. Because he'd only leave when he wants and needs to, and that's all that matters. If Jimin needs to leave BigHit, he will. I doubt the members will ever let it come to that, but if it does, if they realize what they are is no longer tenable, none of them will stay on a sinking ship. They’re all much too selfish for that. Or you could say self-respecting. Either way if he needs to fire his manager, he will. If he needs to do whatever, Jimin is not a vegetable, he'll do what he needs and be done with it. As I've been saying, fans are free to kick up a stink to the company, but reflect on what's most effective vs what your bias will be coming online to read.

And well, if it's really just the company that was miffed, Jimin wouldn't be happy about having to do damage control either.

"Can’t we have one small doubt as to why now? Fanservice maybe? Company sponsored fanservice?"

Of course whenever the members interact like this there's a good chance it’s fan service. But even if that’s the case, that doesn’t mean they have no choice in the matter. It doesn’t mean their fundamental relationship changes anyway. And just as I don’t absolve them of responsibility when they do things like accept song/promo choices I don’t like, I won’t absolve them of responsibility in how they interact with each other too. If we don’t limit the blame to the company when faced with scenarios we don’t like, recognizing that Jungkook for example is responsible for his actions acquiring and promoting Seven, and that Jimin is aware and responsible for his choices, then why should jikook’s interactions on WLive be a purely company-sponsored affair? Why is fan-service the most accessible explanation for why his friend and bandmate of 10 years would banter like that with him after a day like today? Why do we absolve them of any real responsibility for their words and actions in this case?

Call me delusional, but I think they have a pretty good relationship. I think Jungkook loves Jimin and it’s mutual. And I think they’re committed to their team and have the means to get what they want out of their company. If this WLive is scheduled fan-service, it certainly had the desired effect. And if not, then guess not. Overall, I don’t really care tbh.

#jikook #jimin #park jimin #jungkook #jeon jungkook #bts

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solarwynd · 3 months

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seeing the pattern for the english trilogy and last year, hybe definitely sees summer as the primetime slot so whoever they think will do best will get that june-august slot. It would make sense for it to be jin since he’s the only to promote physically, but the timing’s too tight, it would be august at best and that if he’s barely involved in the prep or had songs ready before enlisting. I could see Jimin getting the primetime spot since realistically it will likely perform the best, but its always some fuckery w hybe. nj needs to drop that album/project (which i suspect is also a visual album 🤣) already bc I fear the “hype” he’s building is not proportional to the reception it will get.

whoever goes first will set the expectations for armys and respective solos on how album releases go without them present so that will be interesting to see.

“bc I fear the “hype” he’s building is not proportional to the reception it will get.”

(I mean I don’t disagree but let’s give him a chance at least 😭 ) I don’t think any artist goes in thinking “I should tame down the hype because I might not get good commercial results” it’s just the hope that they could alongside just wanting to get their art out there. Will say though if his album does end up being a visual, that’ll be 2/2 for hybe having the capacity to give bts members one while denying jimin his and I’m just gonna have to see bang in hell for that.

A summertime release doesn’t guarantee success but it’s a coveted spot because everybody wants a summer hit. Hybe’s objective is to not have jimin do super well. The last thing they’d want is for him to have a genuine summer hit with legs like Like Crazy. But I also don’t think they care when pjm2 releases because worst case scenario they screw with him regardless. And since he’s not here, chances are they’re gonna have a deciding factor one when the album will drop anyway (if it wasn’t already agreed on beforehand)

They could give that slot to jin. I feel like hybe knows that with him returning armys would try to give him the best results they could while also not being a threat to the structure. But since he’s coming back around festa, I could see another fan song drop too. Not really too tuned in for either, because my priority is jimin not to get sanwhiched, or sabotaged above anything else. I have no clue what gonna happen with promo considering that jimin’s not here. I’m sure he recorded things, but that’s still ultimately gonna be in the hands of hybe as well.

“whoever goes first will set the expectations for armys and respective solos on how album releases go without them present so that will be interesting to see. “

Absolutely, but armys have ever needed the members being present as incentive to do better for them though. It’s 25% out of love for that member and the other 75% because they’re chart obsessed. This will be the first time with none of bts being around so it could be different. I do believe that if joon does go first, they’ll try to give him better results than indigo, but they’ve never been as dedicated with rapline as maknae line. So longevity is already looking iffy. If he gets lucky like yoongi did in going right after jimin I could maybe see those numbers increasing a tad. Especially considering armys go into overdrive with that condition, but I’m still very much rebuking it lmao.

#also I don’t think armys vibe as much with joon’s music as they do with yoongi #not to say that they think it’s bad cause a lot of them do like indigo #but I think out of rapline he has the worst lip service from armys

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struggle-but-its-all-ocean-floor · 7 months

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I will wait for the album to be out to make my opinion, of course, but once again it’s disappointment after disappointment for me. Sorry for being the party pooper… I’m honestly sad that Jungkook doesn’t have any credit. Not even for one song. I knew it was most probably going to be the case, but I still thought maybe one song would have his own color. I’m still excited to hear the new songs because at least we will have just him singing on a few tracks, but it will really have to be huge for me to be pleasantly surprised. He was my bias from day 1, I loved his solo songs so much, I know I may sound dramatic but I’m feeling so nostalgic now…

You're not being a party pooper! I understand your disappointment and this is a safe space to vent! I just don't quite share your feelings since I had no expectations for Jungkook to be credited on any of the tracks, and my main concern was the amount of collabs we would get and whether all the songs would be about sex. It seems we're getting a few ballads, and a good amount of solo songs, so I'm happy. My bar was just lower than yours haha.

I know we're used to JK having wiring credits on his songs (with the exception of Euphoria and Dreamers), but Euphoria is so Jungkook (it's literally the Jungkook song to most fans) and he didn't write it at all! It's possible that the songs have his own color in them, though it's not the same as SWY, for example. (But I'm skeptical about that as well.)

If it makes you feel any better, today I watched the Global Citizen performances uploaded to YT (Butter and Euphoria) and was once again massively disappointed by JK's performance. I know Euphoria is a hard track, but he did not sing the song well at all and he used to sing it in its entirety, while also dancing and flying over the audience. My mom asked what the point of performing a group song solo was unless he was doing all of it. Jungkook is literally the only member capable of doing the whole thing and he only sang half of Butter. Over 30% of his Global Citizen stage was him just raising the mic at the audience, other 25% was him simplifying notes and using falsettos for everything, and the rest was him actually singing like he was supposed to. Ridiculous to even write this about Jungkook, of all people. Sometimes, when he's on stage, it's like he's been taken over by an alien. I don't even recognize him, and can't reconcile the pride I used to feel watching him on stage with the disappointment and dread I feel now (it started with the Busan concert).

Now I'm being a party pooper, we're even! Thanks for the ask! Sorry the track list didn't excite you. Don't worry, I'm sure I'll complain lots when the album drops. You know me (assuming you do!).

PS: The nostalgia is real and I hate it, because I hate holding people up to the standards of who they used to be. It's not fair and I hated it when my mom did it to me. I don't like to believe that people get worse over time, just different... Some changes are positive.

#ask #bts #jungkook #thanks for the ask!#text

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warriorteam1924 · 2 years

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It’s late, but not too late....

John Deacon x Veronica Tetzlaff

Author note : Hello my beauties. here I am for day 2 of Deaky’s 71th birthday. I’m not following any prompts, it’s just birthday themed. I’ve been super busy lately and I’m aware it’s not my best piece, but I hope some of you will enjoy it anyways. Thanks in advance to anyone who will be giving honest feedback, it’s always very appreciated. Also, I remind you English isn’t my mother tongue, apologies in advance for the mistakes.

Warnings : none really, just my awful writing. and a slight sexual innuendo....

Summary : it’s gonna be John’s birthday !!!

Words count : 1,273 words

Permanent taglist : @reavenedges-lies @thosequeenboys @born-to-lose @orionis8689 @queenlover05 (communicate with me regarding tagging please)

It was another long day for John Deacon. Recording at the studio was never easy, since there were actually four people to please. Of course, he loved being bassist for the band Queen, but it would have been a lie to state it was not tiring.

Roger Taylor, drummer for the band, was usually okay with most things. Since bass and drums were working in harmony, musically speaking, it was quite easy for the two of them to agree on a tempo or a specific rhythm at some point of the song.

Brian May, guitarist for Queen, was very self-critical. He was an amazing guitarist, and yet, when it came to solos, he always thought he could try again, willing to give an even better performance.

As for Freddie Mercury, lead singer for the band, that was another story. The man always had a very specific idea of what he wanted a song to be, and recording just one segment could take hours.

But John knew it was the right thing to do. Why produce music if it wasn’t to give the audience what they wanted, if it wasn’t to be the best? Yes, it was tiring, but on the other hand, it was totally worth it.

And now, John also had a girlfriend. Her name was Veronica. They hadn’t been together for a very long time, but the bass player already knew it was serious. They were trying to spend as much time as they could together, between him being with the band and her handling her job as a teacher in preschool.

It was the case that night. John quickly checked his watch, hoping it wasn’t too late to see her. He was tired, that was for sure, but they had agreed to see each other that night, and there was no way he was going back on his promise.

He gently parked on the free spot right in front of her place. He was glad he had found a spot so easily, since he usually had to park way further and walk to her apartment. He got out of the car, locked it, and leaned to pick a couple of flowers on the grass. It wasn’t much, he was aware, but it was always better than arriving empty handed.

John knocked at her door and Veronica rapidly opened, jumping in his arms and kissing his cheek. He couldn’t help but blush, and suddenly wondered it she’d always have this effect upon him. She led him to the living room, where drinks were already on the coffee table, as well as what seemed to be a collection of sandwiches.

“Are you planning on feeding an army with that?”, John joked as he comfortably sat on the sofa.

Veronica chuckled and sat next to him.

“Of course not, but I know you’re always hungry after a recording session….”, she replied.

“Hum, that's true.”, he said, leaning to take a sandwich, which was delicious. “Or maybe it’s a lie and there are kids hidden everywhere, ready to jump on me to make me play with them until my body is nothing more but a flat crepe.”, he said, as he was chewing.

“Who knows? Maybe I want an army of kids. Maybe I want them with you?”, she teased him, as she also helped herself with a sandwich.

An army of kids. John wasn’t sure he was ready for that. He wished they had time together before expanding the family. He also started to consider the expansion of the said family, thinking one or two kids might be good enough to be a real family. (Little did he know….)

As they usually did when they met, they started to randomly talk, about anything and everything, telling each other about their days, Ronnie stating cute facts about the kids at preschool, or John trying to explain how his homemade amp was working like magic. They also liked to remind the other how much they were in love, intertwining their fingers and putting soft pecks in each other’s necks.

John was fully enjoying this moment and was trying hard not to yawn. His belly was fully of delicious food his loved one had prepared for him and the cool summer air coming from the window was softly rocking him. And of course, there was Veronica’s voice, a constant lullaby to his ears.

“John, are you listening to me?”, Veronica suddenly asked as she firmly shook his shoulder.

“What? Yes of course…. Why?”, he startled.

“Cause your eyes were closed and you were heavily snoring.”, she replied, slightly annoyed.

“Oh, gosh. I’m sorry. It’s really been a long day. Maybe I should call it a night.”, he said.

“You want to leave already?”, she asked, looking at him.

What was John supposed to do? She was looking at him with her puppy eyes, her secret weapon to make sure he would comply with her every desire.

“Well….”, he hesitated.

Her eyes were now wet, were there actual tears?

“No, of course, I’m staying with you a bit longer….”, he smiled, kissing her nose.

Veronica smiled as well and carried on talking, as John was nodding. He was aware only half of the information she was giving him was actually going to his brain, but he couldn’t do anything about it. He was too tired to really pay attention.

John’s thoughts started to wander on their own. He wondered how ‘a bit longer’ could be different from one person to another. ‘A bit longer’ meant maybe half an hour to him. But it seemed that to Ronnie’s point of view, it was more like a couple of hours.

John was fighting hard not to close his eyes, trying to focus on Veronica’s mouth, that was endlessly moving. How could someone have so many things to say? His brain also carried on repeating the same sentences.

‘Don’t look at your watch. Not now, nor later, nor never. Your watch doesn’t exist, time has no longer a meaning.’

Suddenly, the massive clock rang, making him stand up. He looked daggers at the cuckoo clock, happily singing its tune.

“Oh, look at that….”, Veronica said, smiling. “Midnight already….”

John looked at her, wondering why she was actually beaming. His thoughts were no longer coherent and all he wanted to do now was cook the cuckoo clock and eat it for lunch.

“Do you know what it means….?”, she carried on, still widely smiling.

“No, no, is there anything special? Oh, gosh, what did I forget?”, he grimaced, already feeling guilty he might have forgotten an event, related to the two of them.

“Seems you’ve forgotten indeed….”, she said, raising her eyebrows.

“Oh, no. No, no, no….”, he replied, passing his hand in his long hair.

“Happy birthday, John”, she said a bit louder, taking him in her arms and kissing him.

John frowned but kissed her back.

She was right, since the previous day was the 18th of August, that meant it was now the 19th of August. And so, it was his birthday.

“oh my my my, you’re treating me too kindly….”, he said after they quitted their embrace.

“I wanted to be the first one to wish you a happy birthday. You’re my boyfriend and I love you….”, she replied.

“I love you too….”, he said, looking at her with the kindest eyes.

She looked at him teasingly and turned, her back now facing him.

“Maybe you want to open your present now….?”, she asked, putting her hand on the top of her dress, showing her zipper.

And suddenly, John Deacon was no longer tired.

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tantai-jin · 1 year

Text

5 “no-skip” albums

okay i have to preface this by saying that i will almost always have the potential to skip songs just based on my mood. i don’t think i have any albums that i would truly never skip any of the tracks of, bc a good album encompasses most of the spectrum of emotion but often times i only want to feel a certain subset of emotions so i skip songs even though i think they are good. maybe this is very normal and i don’t need to explain this. but just in case. sorry

thank u beloved @englishsub for the tag 💓

shinee - the shinee world - 2008

obv i had to put a shinee album in here somewhere… so hard to pick but i went w their first one bc it’s the most ~timeless~ despite the clear retro-y sounds.. the past few years i find myself coming back to it a lot even when i think some songs on different albums are a lot stronger. who else (in korea) in the last 10 yrs has been putting out debut albums like this? no one

yoga lin - fiction - 2012

i started listening to this album in 2014-2016? not sure exactly, but it’s had a grip on me ever since. the range between tracks is so good, and 浪费 (unrequited) and 傻子 (fool) are two of my songs of all time. this was only solidified when i finally got to see him in concert a month ago - really artistic and beautiful and so so cathartic to have the whole audience sing along together for like every other song :,)

kenshi yonezu - stray sheep - 2020

i don’t have a v deep backstory for this one or whatever tbh… adding this one in here for a little more genre variety but also i do rly like his music. i heard lemon in 2019, got obsessed w it, and then started listening to his discography in like 2020 after the pandemic started and i needed more upbeat music i didn’t understand to listen to while working. the vibes in his songs are always gr9 and also great driving music

hua chenyu - new world - 2020

found huahua some time in 2020 as part of my newfound chinese renaissance exploration or whatever haha. before then i wasn’t very familiar w a lot of chinese music beyond a handful of more famous artists, bc i didn’t Grow Up listening to that in my household and i didn’t have a great idea of where to explore online apart from youtube, but i found this album on spotify and became even more obsessed when i started watching all his tv performances. some people don’t rly like him bc of his ~scandal~ w zhang bichen which i understand n agree w to some extent but artistically he is really special and i’m always blown away by his live performances even tho i watch through a screen. he’s like kind of a crazy artist and i respect the way he channels it so much. his music is so good and this album was like, part of a Shift for me! wao

jonghyun - the collection story op. 2 - 2017

putting this one last bc it’s the most significant to me. i can’t listen to poet | artist often but i come back to this album more frequently. comforting and feels like a hug. and i’m always, always grateful that i was in seoul in summer 2017 and was able to go to two of his final solo concerts in july and see these songs live. 덕분에 내 평생이 따뜻해 💙

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the1975attheirverybest · 1 year

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Hey so, seeing as I’m kinda new here, I don’t really understand the whole “Mattys solo record” thing. Would you mind explaining a bit if you know? Is it really confirmed that he’s making a record all by himself?

It wouldn’t mean he’s leaving the band, right? Just like a side project thing so he can experiment with different music styles maybe? And how long has it been in the works?

- 🔆

You ask an excellent question, haha. So, here’s the thing. The short answer is: Yes and No. let me explain…

So, a long time ago — like maybe before Notes On a Conditional Form (NOACF) came out, Matty and George had said that they would both like to do solo projects. George’s is likely to be entirely, or almost entirely, ambient music. More recently, during the 3-hour long Ion Pack Podcast with Matty, (which was released in October 2022) Matty said that he’d written some stuff the album, announced that the title of it is going to be “Ladies Boy,” and said that in Feb 2023, he was going to travel to NYC and to LA to record it.

And, what do you know, in Feb, the boys had time off from tour and Matty spent the majority of the month in NYC (like fans saw him on the streets, he was seen outside of Electric Lady Studios, he was seen getting coffee with Jack Antonoff, and was seen walking into a pole LMAOOOO). He even flew to LA and back to NYC just before SNL. SO, it seemed that the solo record is indeed happening AND that maybe Jack is producing it.

HOWEVERRR, in typical Matty Healy fashion, he confused us even more, when, out of the blue one day onstage, he just announced that the 1975 have been working on their 6th album for a while now in between touring. So, the question has now become, was all that work that Matty did in Feb for his own record???? Or for the 6th album???!!!

Nobody knows, lol.

I should also say that, in case you haven’t picked up on it yet, Matty, bless his heart, has a tendency to just announce things….like, he’s announced writing a script for a film. Has this film ever seen the light of day? No. He announced wanting to do a sort of 1975 festival, did it even come to fruition? Nope. For Notes, he wanted to scrap the idea of vinyl and do bio-degradable, sort of multi-use type of USB thing cuz it’s better for the environment. Did that ever happen? NOPE. He’s promised that there is a DRIVE LIKE I DO EP that he’s just gonna release with some old demos and stuff. Has THAT happened? Nope. The list is endless. He’s the kind of creative person who has an idea and just says it out loud and worries about how to actually make it real later hahahaha.

I will also say that he has a tendency to cannibalize/ recycle stuff. So, for example, there was supposed to be a song on Notes called “Being Funny In a Foreign Language.” But as you know, that didn’t happen. HOWEVER, that’s the title of their 5th album. Do you see what I mean? Similarly, Music For Cars was supposed be a DRIVE LIKE I DO thing. Instead, it’s the name of a track on Notes. So…if “Ladies Boy” doesn’t materialize as a solo record, maybe parts of it will make it onto whatever the fuck this 6th album is.

So, like I said, YES and NO. Lol. Hope this helps! Let me know if you have any other questions!

#🔅anon

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scarletwritesshit · 1 year

Text

Yosuke Hanamura x F!Reader ❀ Town of Blossoms ❀ June 9th, 2013

Did you learn anything at all from yesterday?

No. No you did not. In fact, neither of you learned anything. At least this time around, Yosuke didn’t bore both of you to death with an absolutely atrocious movie. As a result of passing out due to said movie, you both came to mutual agreement that it was totally acceptable to share a bed as friends, for just one more night. There was no reason why you two wouldn't have that kind of trust in each other, especially after living in a town with an degenerate killer running rampant.

He seemed less hesitant to curl up to you compared to the previous night, but ultimately, that didn’t mean much. Or maybe it did. But you just kept telling yourself that it didn’t, worst case scenario you take an already awkward situation and make it even more awkward with a deliberate misinterpretation of his actions.

Enough of that, anyways. There was something that you have been wanting to ask him.

“I’ve been wondering. Have you been keeping up on playing the guitar?” you said, pointing to the instrument that was standing in the corner of his room.

“Somewhat,” Yosuke said, sheepishly. “I pick it up every now and again and try to play a few notes. As rushed as I was, the concert at Junes was a bit of a motivating factor to play it more than I used to.”

“Can you play any songs on it?”

“Eh, I can kinda do a couple of my favorites. Not with much proficiency, though.”

He picked up his guitar and looked at it blankly, as if he was mentally cursing himself for not playing it more.

"I've always had a dream of starting my own band," he said, leaning his guitar back against the wall. "Sometimes I would daydream about the whole gang playing a bunch of songs together in one of the country's largest concern halls. It was a hopeless dream, but the Junes concert gave me some kind of false hope."

"And so you picked up your hobby once again in an attempt to make that dream into a reality."

"Exactly, which as we both know, never came to light. I was hoping for at least one more concert together as a group, but that obviously never happened."

Yosuke absentmindedly fidgeted with the strings. The rebound made an off tune twang sound comparable to that of an overextended rubber band being released from its hold.

"I still have that bass that Souji borrowed in my garage somewhere. I was gonna let him keep it if he really wanted to."

"What kind of band were you going to try and talk Souji and the rest of our group into forming?" you asked.

"Some kind of like...alternative or punk rock band, if I'm honest. I know Rise wouldn't be so eager to go for that, and Kanji has already separated himself from his rebellious days. A man can dream, though."

"You could always go solo," you suggested. "Some of Japan's most beloved singers started out merely doing song covers."

"You're not wrong, but it's just..."

Yosuke looked away and continued silently plucking away at the strings.

"Just what?"

"It's just not as fun without a close group of friends. It's one thing to be able to focus on your practice alone, but goofing off with a bunch a friends is half of the fun," he said, looking down at the floor. Yosuke stopped fidgeting with the guitar strings, and simply rested his hand on top of the handle. He seemed to be noticeably holding back his emotions.

All of that over a lazy daydream? That couldn't be the case, and you knew him too all too well for that to be the extent of his worries.

"It's not about a band, but the Investigation Team, isn't it?" you said.

"...Nothing really gets past you, you know that?" Yosuke said, tearing up. "I was looking for an excuse for all of us to stay together even after our mission was complete. I knew that whatever I could think of, it would never work out in the end..."

"I'm still here for you, at least..." you said, attempting to console him. It was rather difficult to reassure him in this case, as this was the second time, that you were aware of, that this exact thing has happened to him. It would be kind of hard to still have hope after being almost completely left behind by both of your once close friend groups.

"I would hope so. I can’t bear to lose you too. Not after everything."

"Relax," you said, gently stroking his hair, "I promise you, I’ll be here to stay by your side."

Yosuke looked at you as if he was trying so hard to believe your words. Understandably, his self-doubt was preventing him from doing so, and he couldn’t seem to bring himself to accept your reassurance.

If only you could tell him what has been on your mind this entire time. You’d finally be able to truly guarantee him a lifelong companion. But you couldn’t. Not right now, anyways. You didn’t want him to interpret your words as pity, rather than a genuine confession.

Although he was smarter than that, there was always a risk, especially with a subject so sensitive for him. As much as it hurts the two of you to leave such intense feelings left unclear, it was a subject matter that you had to tread carefully on. You had to resort to your next best idea; distracting him from his thoughts in some way.

"Why not show me what you can do with that guitar?" you said, attempting to shift his focus.

He looked at it and blinked, as if he was for some reason intimidated by the thought of playing it.

"You...do realize that I’m not the greatest at playing it, right? Just because I pulled off an impromptu performance at a warehouse store doesn’t necessarily mean I’m good at it."

"I thought that it was an impressive performance, considering what little time we had to prepare for it.”

"Well, you should lower your expectations then. Just saying."

You moved back a bit to give him more room to set up. It wasn’t anywhere near professional grade equipment, but his instrument was of good enough quality for you to be able to tell that he was clearly dedicated to his hobby.

Despite it seemingly not being played for a long period of time, his guitar remained in good shape as well. He must’ve been routinely tending to it even during the long-term negligence of his practice. Perhaps he always had a lingering dream of being able to play music in a fairly popular band. It wouldn’t be too farfetched, as his room was clearly adored with his love for rock and a few other various odd artists.

"I can play a few rifts from one of my favorite songs, or I can dig up some old pieces I wrote. It’s up to you."

"I’d like to listen to something you wrote," you said. This was a bit of a gamble, as it could end up sounding absolutely awful depending on how good he was writing by himself. Despite this fact, quality was not a concern of yours.

Yosuke started digging through a stack of papers that he had sitting by his nightstand. He took the top few pages and shook them off to the side, sending a few pink flower petals flying off.

"Man, every time I think I’ve shaken away these bastards, I always find more," he complained.

"How did these even get into your room in the first place?"

"I left my window open on a windy day and they just kinda swarmed in. I’m still cleaning these up," he said, brushing a few more off to the side.

You picked up some of the petals that had been swept onto the floor. They were small and a vibrant pink, resembling the hydrangeas growing in a field visible from your window. In the handful that you have gathered, you took note of a few remnants of purple blossoms as well.

Wouldn’t that be something if they were from the exact same group of plants as the ones outside of your window?

"I think I found them," Yosuke said, throwing aside a last few stray pages of notebook paper. You looked to see the paper that he was holding, which was a few sheets of torn out notebook paper with various notes doodled in a sequence.

You could assume that he did seem to be rather proficient in writing music after all, or at least understanding the notes.

"I couldn’t tell you which one’s which. These are all a mix of pieces all with names like ‘cool rift I thought of number one,’ and so on.”

"Doesn’t matter to me which one you pick."

"Alright, well, let’s just hope that I don’t go with one of the particularly awful ones."

Yosuke flipped through the handful of papers he had. He tried to appear as if he was thinking about each work carefully to select which one to play for you, though you could tell that there were absolutely no thoughts in that head of his. It must’ve been quite some time since he had last read and played music if he was unable to envision his own work in his mind. He eventually settled on a page somewhere in the middle of the stack and pulled it out. He looked over the pages that were a part of it before placing them both down on the floor in front of him.

“I’m sorry if it sounds off. It’s been a while since I last looked at these,” he said. He played a few notes and made a few adjustments to the sound before starting.

Yosuke’s style was distinct, yet had clear remnants of what he was inspired by. It sounded like it could blend in perfectly with one of his many favorite bands while at the same time retaining what made his music his own.

He wasn’t kidding about his dreams of wanting to form a band. For amateur scribbles on notebook paper, it sounded like a coherent, flowing melody that was pleasing to the ears. You couldn’t help but tap your feet to the beat along with him, as it was actually quite catchy.

After he was done playing his short piece, he stared blankly at the paper in front of him. He didn’t say a word, perhaps waiting for your thoughts, but was too afraid to actually ask you.

“You said that you might’ve sounded off, but I think it was pretty damn good,” you said.

“Really, now?” he said, surprised by your approval.

"Of course. Seems like all of that music that you listened to paid off."

"Maybe,” he said, thinking. “Music isn’t so bad to play when you have some kind of positive influence in your life."

"Which, in this case, would be all of these different bands you listen to," you said, gesturing to the albums that lined his walls.

"Well, I guess whether it be someone or something, it’s a good motivator for me to keep chasing my goals, even if no one is there for me."

"That’s not entirely true. I don’t plan on leaving you any time soon."

You’ve been beating this fact into his head countless times for as long as you can remember. He may be hesitant to believe you, but you were insistent on remaining by his side for as long as forever may last.

He was a seeker of truth, wasn’t he? The truth was right there in front of him, but for some reason, he refused to accept it.

"You’re so insistent that I almost feel like I can fully believe you."

"What’s stopping you, then?"

"I’ve had the same thing said to me countless times in the past and the end result was always the same. It would take you until the end of our lives to prove it, and even then, I would be living with my lingering doubts."

"If it takes until the day we pass, then so be it. I refuse to give up on you and your dreams."

"...For some reason, it’s comforting to hear that coming from you."

"See?" you said, gently taking his hand. "Take that as a promise from me, and if I ever go back on my words, toss me right into a television."

"I-I don’t think you can do that…well I mean I can toss you at a television and break it, but not into one like the way you were implying," he said, losing track of the original topic.

“The specifics of that doesn’t matter. What’s important, is that you have every right to curse me, should I turn my back on you.”

You grabbed a small composition that he had set aside in a pile and handed it to him.

"Now, why don’t you play me some more of your music? The first one you played me was pretty good, and it could serve as a nice refresher for you."

Yosuke took the paper from your hand.

"Right. I was going to let you listen to more of my songs. Sorry for bringing down the mood..."

"You’re fine. I’m not the least bit upset at you being honest with your feelings."

"...Thanks. I feel bad, but I’ve never really been able to speak to anybody else about this kind of thing. Not since Souji went back with his parents."

"Like I said, I’m here to stay, no matter what life may bring us."

Though hesitant, Yosuke gave an understanding nod in response. He moved his previous song out of his way and back onto the pile to make room for the one you handed him.

The manner in which he played this piece was...different than the last one. Of course, it could be the general difference in composition, but something about him seemed to have changed in the few minutes between songs. He seemed to be playing with more passion…more focus.

Yosuke wasn’t playing just for the sole purpose of it being a pastime. He was playing with reason. He had someone that he cared deeply about always keeping him on the right track, whether or not he wanted to admit it.

Now if only you could admit it yourself.

#persona 4 #p4 #fanfiction #fanfic #fluff #yosuke hanamura #yosuke hanamura x reader

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