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wordsaremybestfriends · 6 years

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Didn’t Ask For This: Chapter 2

Hey friends! Here’s a chapter as long as my current list of responsibilities that I am always avoiding. Hope you enjoy!

Warnings: Cursing, child abuse, vocal abuse, violence, *TELL ME IF YOU FIND ANYTHING ELSE*

**something went wonky when i copied and pasted it here, so i apologize in advance for any errors!

The sound of a key scratching it’s way into the lock instantly perked Dustin up. His sister’s mostly exhausted form slumped through the front door, her characteristic purple and gray cardigan slightly falling off her shoulders, and her bag dragging behind her. The jeans she was wearing were smeared with ink and her brunette curls were mostly falling out of her bun atop her head. With a tired sigh, she noticed Dustin sitting on the couch, obviously waiting for her return home. A groan escaped her lips as she shuffled inside, locking the door behind her. “Dusty, it’s midnight. You should be in bed, you’ve got school tomorrow.”

“I know, I know, but Em, I found something while I was out trick-or-treating-”

“How was that?” She asked, a smile on her face. She let her exhausted body slip onto the couch beside him, tossing her feet onto his lap. “Did you get a lot of three musketeers?”

He shook his head, the curls bouncing atop his head. “Yes, but that’s besides the point! I found something in the trash, and I don’t know what it is, and I want you to help me!”

Emma rolled her eyes. “Dustin, I just spent six hours in a silent library reading about the left and right brain. My fingers are covered with glue from trying to repair old books, and I think my head might explode in the next five minutes if I don’t take a shower and sleep. Can’t it wait till the morning?”

“You are not going to want to wait until morning,” Her younger brother said, tossing her feet away to stand off the couch. “Please Emma, it’ll only take five minutes!”

Her brown eyes locked on her brother’s, and instead of the typical toothless smile he had mostly grown up with, his eyes were sad and lip jutted out. The pure pitiful look of him was enough to make Emma’s heart fall. He was her weakness, and he knew it.

“Well…” She murmured. “Let me shower first, okay? I smell like Mrs. White’s old perfume.”

“Perfect!” The boy almost shouted as he ran into his room, slamming the door shut. It was a miracle their mother hadn’t woken up yet, but Emma could do without her mother’s prying questions tonight.

Only twenty minutes had passed before Emma emerged from the bathroom, hair clean and skin moisturized. She wore an oversized shirt from a thrift store run a few months ago, with a pair of long pajama pants. With her rambunctious brunette waves tied in a bun atop her head, she knocked on Dustin’s door quietly.

As soon as the door opened, her younger brother started spouting out words like ‘amphibian’ and ‘reptilian’, latching his mostly sweaty hand onto his older sister’s arm, pulling her through the doorway, and straight into his bedroom, where his terrarium was empty, the turtle he had taken care of missing. Instead, a small, slug-like creature was in it’s place, hiding underneath a small overhang of fake rock. An empty three musketeers was a few inches in front of him, void of any crumbs.

It didn’t look normal, with it’s odd, closed-flower like face and slippery body. There were no eyes on it’s body, and though it was only a few inches big, it seemed to be ferociously upset by Emma’s presence.

“Where the hell did you find this??” She asked, pressing her face to the glass, the slug-like creature hissing and growling at her. “It looks insanely different than anything in Hawkins, or North America-” “Or Africa, or Europe!” Dustin exclaimed, pulling out an old book on different reptiles that he had stolen from Emma’s bookshelf. “I’ve already looked up a dozen different kinds of species, and Dart doesn’t match any of them.”

“You named him Dart?” Emma deadpanned, studying the hissing creature silently. “I feel like he looks more like a Jeffrey, to be honest.”

Dustin frowned, rolling his eyes. “When you find a new species, you can name them whatever you want.”

He approached the glass, catching the small creature’s attention. It instantly calmed, and cooed quietly. The heat lamp had been turned off and shrouded the entire glass tank in darkness. Gently, Dustin reached in to grab him. Emma’s hand shot out, stopping him instead, a frightened look in her eyes. “Dusty, we don’t know what this even is! We shouldn’t be touching it, let alone trying to keep it in this tank!”

“It’s fine,” Her brother replied, reaching in the last few inches and gently picking up the slug, still cooing quietly. “He likes me, cause I rescued him. And he likes nougat, so that’s cool.”

Without the glass barrier, Emma looked at the creature, it’s slimy skin reminiscent of a certain being that she hadn’t seen in about a year. The curiously flower-like head of the slug was opened slightly, and a fear started to grow in the pit of her stomach as she noticed the similarities of the gray, green and brown being.

“You know, it kinda looks like a demogorgon…” She murmured, staring a bit closer at the slug that was relaxing easily in her brother’s palm. “I mean, a baby one, but still.”

“There are no more demogorgons, Em,” He said with a roll of his eyes. “El took them back to the upside down when she left us.”

“I don’t know!” She shrugged, straightening her back. “It doesn’t look like a regular animal from here, it looks… different.”

The two fell into a shared silence, watching the slug breathe slowly, until Dustin slowly pushed it off his hand and back into the tank, and replaced the lid. Emma watched him warily as he washed his hands, and started to put away some of the books he borrowed, until a thought came to her mind.

“We never really know what’s going on in that lab anymore,” Emma mumbled as she gazed at the slug. “I mean, if they’re trying to go back in there…”

The siblings shared a look of unease as the October winds blew outside, sounding more like a howl than a scream now. The story that had started last year might have ended back then, but both knew that there was a deeper idea, a stronger plan in the works, and the sheer thought of it starting over again brought a new gloom upon their small town. And not just a frightening one this time. It was an evil one.

The silent alarm Emma woke to the next morning was somehow the start to one of the worst four hours past her usual morning, bringing her awake to the bright red number of 10:45.

“Shit, shit, shit!!!” She screeched through the empty house, as she jolted herself out of bed, murmuring quickly to herself.

Thanks to her exhaustion last night from the library and Dustin’s new pet, her fingers had accidentally forgot to press the button that would set off her alarm. She had slept straight through two class, and about half of third period. If she hurried, she might just make it by the tail end of class, able to disappear into the fray of students trying to make it to class on time. With her scooter, she’d be able to make it to school quick enough and head straight to the office, if she didn’t get pulled over by Hopper because she was trying to rival the speed of light instead of following the speed limit.

Her hair was wildly untamed, half in a bun on the top of her head and half falling out against her neck. She wore a grey top and a pair of tight jeans, throwing on a cardigan and jacket over the top before rushing to the kitchen to grab the lunch her mother had made, and straight out the door.

Thankfully, the janitors were cleaning up the glass at the front entrance, and she could easily bolt through the doors like a bullet, headed straight for her locker. She had already missed calculus and government and politics as well as trigonometry. If she hurried, she could make it to English only a little bit late, even though Mr. Murphy loved her work no matter what.

“Lady Macbeth makes everything go wrong,” She murmured to herself as she jogged through the halls, her locker close. “Then Lord Macbeth went to go duel the guy and he lost, so they lost everything, and basically it’s…”

Her words trailed off as she found Steve Harrington, the king of the school and head of the popular crowd, pushing his newest flavor of the week against her locker, a blonde girl a few inches taller than Emma, with a shirt barely long enough to cover her ass, and enough Lip-Smackers stuck in her pocket to qualify as a shareholder. It was Natalie Green, a sophomore who had gone starry eyed for Steve since the first day of school. She’d heard through the grapevine that the two were hooking up, though it didn’t matter much to her. Their utterly revolting snogging was an even worse beginning to her day. His hands were God knows where, and another pair were on his ass, fingers delicately slipping through the jean waistband.

She wanted to vomit.

“Hey!” She yelled, and suddenly, the two figures darted away from each other.

Of course, except for the fact that Steve’s hand had still been stuck up the girl’s shirt, gripping her overly padded bra with eyes wide in embarrassment.

“Fuck,” Steve said, pulling his hand out of the powder pink shirt and wiping it against his own jeans. His cheeks were bright pink, and lips swollen, but Emma wasn’t sure if it was from the kissing or the strawberry-flavored lip gloss that was all over their faces. Natalie wasn’t much better, pale face holding at least six different shades of scarlet as she tried to quell her breathing.

“You couldn’t have gone to the library?” Emma asked aloud as she went to open her locker, shaking her head. “Or like, wait 45 minutes until class let out and you wouldn’t have to skip to see each other?”

“Well,” The high pitched squeak of Natalie replied. Without turning her head, she knew that she was wearing a smug lip on her face, ‘fuck me’ eyes still wide and trained on Steve. “When you have a guy like Steve, you better make the most of your time. Right, sweetheart?” Steve waved her off. His voice was bored as he replied. “She’s right. You should get back to Chemistry.” “It’s Home Ec,” She amended, shrugging her shoulders. “But I’ll let that slide until lunchtime, baby.” She blew him a sticky, sloppy kiss from her hand before hopping off down the hallway, and out of sight as Emma rummaged through her locker, looking for her copy of Macbeth.

“God, I can not thank you enough, Henderson,” Steve murmured, picking his shirt up to wipe away the lip gloss smears and spit across his face. His foul face tried to hastily swipe his face clean, then going to arrange the rest of his outfit. “I wasn’t sure if I could make it another five minutes with her on me.”

“But you wanted to date her,” Emma pointed out in a monotone voice.

His brown eyes were narrowed as he hastily sputtered out his words. “But, I just, I didn’t know she was so, so-”

“Clingy?” Emma suggested as she tossed her lunch inside the locker. “Attached? Bonded?”

“When you say it like that,” Steve began, a sheepish grin beginning to grow on his face. “It kinda makes me sound like a bad person.”

For a mere second, the girl pulled her head out of her locker to stare back at him, eyebrow raised. “That’s exactly what I’m trying to say, idiot.”

Steve pinned his eyebrows down, crossing his arms as he leaned against the lockers, glaring right at Emma with a sour expression on his face. “I’m not a bad person, Henderson. I went out on a date with her, right?”

She tried not to laugh as she shook her head in her locker. It was rich to think that the ‘king of the school’ didn’t realize how much of a complete dick he had grown to become. If you were breathing, had boobs, decent looks, and you attended any school in Hawkins, Steve Harrington was sure to pass through your radar at one point. He was the biggest womanizer in school, known for going on one or two dates with a girl before calling it quits. There was never a real period of time that she knew he was single, and since his longest relationship only lasted about a week and a half, it was safe to say he was known quite well by many girls in Hawkins. It was somewhat disturbing how many girls came to Emma to vent about the boy, as if they wanted her to do something about it. It was even more disturbing to think of the boy that they always complained about was trying to have a real conversation with her about girls and the ‘woes of dating a bad kisser’.

“I would bet ten dollars you didn’t plan for that relationship to go anywhere else than where it did after the first date,” She smirked. “You’ve got a serious track record to not notice that.”

Emma slammed her locker shut, and began walking down the hall, Steve hot on her trail. “You’re kidding me, right? I’ve never led a girl to think I actually wanted a relationship with her!”

The teenaged girl slowed her sneakers, pausing in her walk to turn back and almost laugh at the pathetic popular boy behind her. “Really?”

“Really!” Steve exclaimed, shaking his head. He looked like a mother, arms crossed and an skeptical look on his face. “I have never done that!”

“Harrington, you do that with every girl you’ve ever gotten to fall under your spell,” Emma said slowly, making sure that the boy understood every word he said. “Almost every single girl you’ve dated has found me, three days after you tell her that you’re ‘not looking to get tied down’ in tears because they thought that just maybe, this time they could be the one for the magnificent, magical Steve Harrington.”

His face was stony, eyes still connected with Emma. He was more of a statue in the middle of the hallway than a teenage boy, being told that the legacy he’s led throughout his entire high school career was really tormenting the young girls around him with his dating habits. Words were trying to find their way to his mouth as the girl sighed and began to walk farther down the hall towards Calculus. She was tired of entertaining Steve and trying to make him see his mistakes when he was supposed to be in whatever class he had.

She didn’t look back as she left the boy, deep in thought, and turned her attention to her academics instead of the perils of a socially blinded popular boy.

TAG LIST: @lillie-writes @luv2reade16 @kararanae23

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deadcactuswalking · 5 years

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REVIEWING THE CHARTS: 12th May 2019 (Logic & Eminem, Shawn Mendes, Lewis Capaldi)

We have a bunch of new arrivals this week, most of which are big-name debuts within the top 20, so safe to say we have another busy week on our hands. Let’s get it.

Top 10

One of my biggest surprises on this chart is that the top five is still relatively stable, and Stormzy’s “Vossi Bop” is still at the number-one spot, even though I thought it’d collapse like Dave and Fredo’s “Funky Friday” did after it debuted at the top due to insane streaming. Despite my expectations, it’s fine. It’s still here. Speaking of...

“Old Town Road” by Lil Nas X and later remixed by both Billy Ray Cyrus and Diplo, and possibly Young Thug(?), hasn’t moved from the runner-up spot from last week.

Lewis Capaldi had a good week here – even his single “Grace” that has been mostly stagnant increased three spaces elsewhere – but he places twice in the top 10. The first appearance here is for “Someone You Loved”, rebounding a singular position up to number-three.

His other appearance within the top 10 is right here, funnily enough, as he makes a consecutive appearance here at number-four, with the debut of “Hold Me While You Wait”, Capaldi’s third top 40 hit in the UK as well as his second top 10 and top five hit.

At number-five, up one spot from last week, is “bad guy” by Billie Eilish.

Meanwhile at number-six, we have MEDUZA and Goodboys with “Piece of Your Heart” down one space from last week.

I’m surprised at how Taylor Swift’s “ME!” with Brendon Urie of Panic! at the Disco essentially just collapsed entirely as it drops down four spaces to number-seven. Yes, it’s still in the top 10, but it’s worrying how quickly this is dropping down; The UK doesn’t count radio in its charts so I suppose it’s impressive that such a radio-targeted song is doing so well on sales and streaming, but I’d chalk that up to YouTube.

Meanwhile, at number-eight, “SOS” by the late Avicii featuring vocals from Aloe Blacc is down one spot from last week.

We have yet another top 10 debut as “If I Can’t Have You” by Shawn Mendes makes its chart premiere at number-nine (Noticeably lower than its #2 debut in the US), becoming his ninth UK Top 40 hit and his sixth to reach the top 10.

At #10, to round off the top 10, we have “Just You and I” by Tom Walker slowly making its way out down two spaces. It’ll probably have a bit of a comeback next week.

Climbers

Naturally, due to the nature of this week’s business, we don’t have many songs being able to make room for themselves on the charts – by that I mean we have one notable enough climb, and it’s “Sixteen” by Ellie Goulding up five spaces to #31.

Fallers

I would like to say these are a different story, but there are less than I expected. Going from the top, we have expected yet arguably slightly premature losses for Khalid and P!nk’s “Talk” and “Walk Me Home”, down six and five spaces respectively to #20 and #21. I think their runs have been long enough, although I expected “Walk Me Home” to smash considering the top 10 debut, but it’s since faded away and has just been fodder in the top 20 for a while. We also have consecutive losses for mediocre British hip-hop, as Digga D’s “No Diet” is down seven spaces to #27, right next to JAY1’s “Your Mrs” down five to #28. Otherwise, we have mostly continued losses, including “Don’t Call Me Up” by Mabel down five to #32, “i’m so tired...” by LAUV and Troye Sivan down seven to #33, “Boy with Luv” by BTS featuring Halsey down eight to #37 (I’m surprised it’s lasted this long), and sadly, “Disaster” by Dave featuring J Hus down seven to #40.

Dropouts & Returning Entries

First of all, I’d like to note “wish you were gay” by Billie Eilish has dropped out from #35 to not even in the top 75 due to streaming cuts. That’s how detrimental they can be to a song’s success over here, although that song was already on its way out. Anyways, we don’t have any returning entries, but we do have some drop-outs – quite a few – but all to be expected, really. “Let Nature Sing” by the RPSB is out from #18 but it’s a charity birdsong single, I’m just surprised it’s still at #63. We’ve just got three others, and those are quite literally last week’s bottom three. All of these dropping out from #38, #39 and #40, we have “Let Me Down Slowly” by Alec Benjamin featuring a duet with Alessia Cara, “Shallow” by Lady Gaga and Bradley Cooper, and finally, “Wow.” by Post Malone. New arrivals time.

NEW ARRIVALS

#34 – “M.E.N. II” – Bugzy Malone

Produced by Zdot

Now for some brief backstory. This is a sequel track to Bugzy Malone’s 2015 track “M.E.N.” that directly interpolates the prior single to reflect on how far his career has changed from the year he released that single. Looking at the album charts, you can really tell as his last EP debuted at #4 in 2017 and his 2018 album at #8, but Bugzy Malone, despite being one of the key grime MCs to form the modern, trap-influenced style and become less commercially focused as they were in the early 2010s, has never made the top 40 until now. This is his first UK Top 40 hit, despite a few close calls and even an album bomb, in which none of the tracks touched the top 50. He has since built up a lot of hype, clearly, collaborating with the likes of Rag ‘n’ Bone Man, but is the music any good? Well, I’m not familiar with much of Bugzy at all, I’ve only heard a few singles here and there, but I’ve never been all too impressed, although I have been listening to the poppier, charting stuff. Maybe I would appreciate a return to its roots more, and you know what, to an extent, I do. The upbeat synth is quite cloudy but allows for a fun, bouncy flow over an admittedly stilted drum beat that feels very generic although definitely more fast-paced than what I’m used to hearing on the charts. I do appreciate Bugzy Malone’s introspective lyrical content, where he looks back on his come-up and has some very specific details in how he made it, with eerie synths shrouding his blunt vocal delivery in an odd mystery, which seems unfitting considering Bugzy Malone’s lyrics are quite hard-hitting; A lot of the instrumentation feels too sparse and spacey, in fact, for such a personal and intimate song talking about struggle with religious worship and beliefs, experience with cocaine since he observed his friends slowly suffer from the abuse of the drug, relationship issues where Bugzy feels like he needs to overly compensate for the lack of attention and speaking on how he wouldn’t mind dying and going out as a legend of Manchester if that’s what it takes for respect. With a beautifully-sang outro in what I’m assuming is Bugzy himself in a falsetto, it really should be more than what it is, but he struggles to stick to a topic at once sometimes and often the beat is less intense than it really should be. This is still good, but I’m not entirely sure if it’ll have any longevity.

#18 – “Guten Tag” – Hardy Caprio and DigDat

Produced by JT and CallMeTheKidd

Oh, hey, another relatively non-notable UK drill/trap song that debuts into the top 20 inexplicably, is expected to drop off quickly, sticks around for way too many weeks before it’s cut down by the streaming chart rules in the UK. This one is by two familiar faces though, Hardy Caprio and DigDat, who have both charted once or twice before and have both been incredibly uninteresting. This is Caprio’s fourth Top 40 hit and first Top 20, whilst it’s DigDat’s second of both – and this one might just be a tad weirder and a tad more unique than any other UK trap song that could have debuted this week. There’s no chorus at all, barely even anything resembling it other than how a refrain is kind of implemented into an intro and outro, and it takes only a couple bars for an odd Family Guy/The Cleveland Show reference to talk about the cocaine he’s trafficking, because, well, sure. The beat is fantastic, it has got a summery tropical vibe in its breezy synths and flutes but it’s immediately drowned out by the insanely dark and heavy 808s and sub-bass, which sound great. Caprio and DigDat flow well over it, and the slight tinge of guitars that appear throughout the beat are so cool, especially when they’re used to build up to the chorus in an otherwise menacing section of just bass and the skittering trap percussion and it can only be heard in the left channel. It really shows how any natural, lively instrumentation is distant from the intense and tragic lives of UK drill musicians, I suppose. This is really good, actually, I’m surprised. Sure, the lyrical content is nothing to speak of, ut that doesn’t matter when the beat is this interesting and the vocal inflections are this powerful. Check this out, I’d recommend it, even if just for that beautiful watery synth melody and the incredible flute in the outro.

#15 – “Homicide” – Logic featuring Eminem

Produced by Bregma and Shroom – Peaked at #4 in New Zealand and #5 in the US

God, where do I even start with this one? Okay, well, since none of the other singles from Confessions of a Dangerous Mind took off, Logic essentially put on Hot 100 Easy Mode and got an Eminem feature while rushing something at the beginning to make sure you knew it was a Logic song as well. Hence, he got the second biggest hit of his career. This is Logic’s third UK Top 40 and top 20 hit, and I’m not even going to count Eminem’s, he has way too many to even start trying at this point. Let’s just take this one step by step because there’s a lot to unravel here. First of all, we have Logic’s dad Smokey Hall telling an obviously scripted reverb-drowned joke with some fake laughter. If that’s really how Logic laughs, then I’m scared for his life. Logic’s dad REALLY sounds like Logic, though, like they’re nearly identical, especially when they both laugh in unison. The joke isn’t funny either, and it’s just kind of painful to sit through, especially with little drowning it out other than the beat warming up. The beat by itself is actually just kind of okay, but definitely is menacing when you hear the intimidating bells and pair them with Logic and Eminem’s rapid-fire flows. Logic’s verses sure are... Logic verses from 2019? They’re incredibly generic, although I do like the Eminem references and Logic’s flow and vocal delivery is on point, until...

(In a weird voice) When I rap like this, do I sound like s***? / Well, it don’t really matter, ‘cause I’m killin’ this s***

Uh, Eminem, you must have heard Logic’s verse, right? You admitted on “Not Afraid” that the use of the dumb accents on Relapse was pointless and unnecessary, so why are you letting Logic do them? His voice is even more nasal here, and I’m still baffled by how little self-awareness he seems to have here. No one is criticising Logic for rhyming words with themselves, they’re criticising his subject matter, so rhyming a phrase with itself four or five times isn’t a valid argument against these critics, because you don’t know their argument in the first place. Also, I’m not letting Logic anywhere near my baby, especially if it is in fact true that he does have rabies.

There’s nowhere to hide, we call this s*** genocide

No, you don’t. The song’s called “Homicide”.

We gon’ leave ‘em crucified, we call this s***...

Homicide.

...genocide

God damn it, Bobby, can’t you get anything right? Okay, well, the criticism of autotuned mumble rappers makes no sense considering how shallow his criticisms are and how he himself has focused on the exact subject matter he mocks for the past two years, and only that subject matter, as well as the extensive use of autotune on Bobby Tarantino II – the only hit single from the tape, “Everyday” with Marshmello, owes a lot to it. He then talks about how if he’s calling himself the greatest ever, he must come with the best raps, and then he repeats a couple words, has some filler, but honestly the monotonous droning of the sub bass and darker synth tones really add to the pure aggression of Logic’s distorted yelling by the end of his second verse.

Honestly, all of the lyrical content can be forgiven because at no point does the momentum of the track come to a halt, especially when Eminem comes in and feels like himself again. All these forced 2018 Slim Shadyisms aren’t there, or at least harder to spot, so it just feels like Eminem with Slim Shady-like vengeful tendencies but more importantly a passionate, violent rapper who loves what he’s doing and wants to prove himself as the best to ever do it, which is all I want from Eminem. His rhyme schemes are complex and insane, his baseball wordplay is fantastic and continues for a much longer time than I initially thought, which is impressive. He has some quotables about farm animals, specifically sheep and dogs, continuing the metaphor he started on Boogie’s “Rainy Days”, that he is the violent wolf or dog who leads a pack of sheep. I love Eminem’s verse and I’ll take anything I can get from Logic, so after Eminem talks about bringing the fingerless gloves back (Yeah, remember those?) he has a couple more bars before finally killing the song’s momentum by abruptly ending the beat and his verse entirely, because he’s too good for it. This is the Eminem I love, this is the Eminem I wanted out of Kamikaze but wasn’t treated to. Eminem on trap beats can work fantastically, and if anything, this just proves that Eminem still isn’t even on a comparative level to those he inspired. Oh, yeah, and the outro is a Chris D’Elia skit sampled from Twitter or something that mimics Eminem’s rhyme scheme. It’s funny for about 10 seconds, but not for nearly a whole bloody minute as that’s how long they keep it for. Yeah, okay, that was unnecessary, and does kill the momentum more than Logic ever could. I guess I’m revealing my inner Eminem fanatic here, but God, do I love his verse, and I feel with a better Logic verse (The hook is great by itself, and the beat is fitting enough), this could have been 10/10 territory, honestly, but even without that, his verse works in the most primal, violent way it could have possibly worked with, so I’m not complaining, in fact, this is probably the best new arrival here. Honestly, I’m just glad it’s not “Lemon Drop”. Now for some boring pop singers, I guess. Did you realise none of these new arrivals have been females? Yeah, none of them are. Three out of five are hip-hop as well. Interesting.

#9 – “If I Can’t Have You” – Shawn Mendes

Produced by Scott Harris, Mark Williams & Volta, Shawn Mendes, Nate Mercereau and Teddy Geiger – Peaked at #2 in the US

Apparently this song needs five producers. Okay, what is this, “SICKO MODE”, or did we really need five producers? Did all of these producers seriously contribute enough for a full credit and not a co- or additional production credit? Ah, well, that’s nitpicking. I’ve talked about the stats before, but this is Mendes’ highest-peaking song ever in the US and it seems to have just been a massive smash hit everywhere, and it will be even bigger once radio picks up on it. What have I heard about the track before peeping this new song? Well, I see that everyone loves it, and I understand why. It’s really upbeat and Mendes’ performance, albeit breathy, is really powerful and intense. The bassline is pumping and the guitars are nice and tropical, but I can’t feel like I would have found this more refreshing in 2016. What I’m saying is that this is bland and tasteless, and I now understand why there’s five producers. It’s overproduced to hell and back, or at least that’s how I see it. There’s reverb absolutely EVERYWHERE, as if it’s a Post Malone deep cut, and the vocals are in the front of the mix so the instrumentals in the back of the mix just end up piling into a pile of mush. The multi-tracking in the first chorus sounds like a choir of Shawn Mendes, but it ends up sounding like Shawn Mendes breaking the microphone. That freaking piano part as well, it’s so tackily added in, especially since the video uses it as a focal point. Has this had any actual arrangement before the CDs were burnt and the vinyl records were pressed (Yes, they made them, because that’s the only way this got #2 in the US)? My friend said this sounded like royalty-free vlog music, and yeah, that’s a pretty solid description, except there’s no ukulele... I pray to God an acoustic version of this song with a ukulele gets released. Yeah, this is just tepid, saccharine and uninspired, I don’t see the praise. Sorry.

#4 – “Hold Me While You Wait” – Lewis Capaldi

Produced by Lewis Capaldi, Edward Holloway, Nick Atkinson and TMS – Peaked at #1 in Scotland and Ireland

Speaking of the devil, here’s more pop that I’ll find embarrassingly dull and saccharine, except this time it’s going to be a gruelling piano ballad because that’s all Capaldi does. He’s not the first, we’re just feeling a lack of Ed Sheeran right now and when he comes back, this dude will be off the charts, hopefully forever. What a talentless, putrid hack. Okay, maybe he isn’t talentless, he can sing, sure. He doesn’t know where to sing, though, because he does borderline spoken word in this raspy voice over once again, just a boring piano melody like his last one, a freaking Zedd alarm clock ticking in the background, and Lewis Capaldi sounding like a frog sobbing over its grandfather that had just flatlined. He sounds strained and he just repeats that “My love”, it gets on my nerves. It’s not intense or intimate, it is aggravating and I never want to hear it again. This is borderline unlistenable to me and I can’t even figure out exactly why, I can’t pin-point it, but it’s just assault on my ears, with the incessant layers of background vocals haunting me as I try and find some solace in the strings, but the last note has to be Capaldi vomiting up his kale yogurt from the night before. Disgusting waste of studio time, and what an overbearing, sickeningly overproduced piece of gutter trash that even Sheeran would spit on and give to his cats. I hope to see this guy fall naturally out of public consciousness before I get much more repulsed of him than I already am.

Conclusion

Should be obvious here – Worst of the Week goes to Lewis Capaldi for whatever the hell that three minutes and 26 seconds was, with Dishonourable Mention going to Shawn Mendes for “If I Can’t Have You”. Logic and Eminem grab Best of the Week for “Homicide”, whilst Honourable Mention is going to Hardy Caprio and DigDat for “Guten Tag”. Yeah, I know, I’m surprised too. Follow me on Twitter @cactusinthebank for more pop music ramblings and Top 20 rankings, and I’ll see you next week!

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hannahindie · 7 years

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Hannah & Manda’s 200 Follower “Punk’s Not Dead” Creative Challenge

Hey everyone! It’s me, Hannah! And over there is my lovely Manda! We both are excited and very thankful to announce that we have both hit 200 followers. We were so excited that we decided to have a special challenge to celebrate!

The name of the challenge is “Punk’s Not Dead”. Why’s that, you ask? Because Manda and I both grew up with and love 2000s pop punk, and it’s one of the great things that we have in common! We decided to pick out some of our favorite lyrics to inspire you all to create amazing things. The rules are listed below! We hope that you are excited to join us and we can’t wait to see all the awesome things you all come up with!

WHAT IS THIS?

This is a Creative Challenge! We know there are so many creative people with amazing talents in the SPN fandom and we want to give you a chance to share yours! Anyone is welcome to participate!

Do you write fanfiction? Awesome, write your heart out!

Are you an incredible aesthetic designer? Yes, please!

Is art more your thing? Fantastic - make all the things.

Love making compilation videos? We have a great list of songs you can use for inspiration/background!

Got another totally awesome talent that you want to utilize to participate? Sweet, we can’t wait to ohh and ahh over it!

THE RULES:

Following both of us is NOT required but would be appreciated! Pick a prompt from the list below (you can click the song title to hear the song if you are unfamiliar)

Send an ask to either Hannah (@hannahindie) or Manda (@pinknerdpanda) with the number of the prompt that you would like and if you will be creating a fic, aesthetic, art, video or whatever your clever little selves would like to do! (messages and reblogs won’t count so we can keep track of them easily)

Any pairing except NO WINCEST please! :)

SPN only

Any Genre, length, format (Fic writers - just be sure to use a “Keep Reading” break if your fic will be more than 500 words)

The lyrics you choose should inspire your work in some way. If you choose to use the lyrics in what you do, be sure to bold them and give credit to the artists

Be sure to tag both @hannahindie and @pinknerdpanda in your work

Use the tag #HanPan Punk’s Not Dead Challenge

Entries are Due June 5, 2017 (If you need more time or need to back out for some reason - that’s fine, just let one of us know!)

THE LIST OF PROMPTS:

“When I was younger/I saw my daddy cry/And curse at the wind/He broke his own heart/And I watched/As he tried to reassemble it” - The Only Exception by Paramore

“The faster we're falling/We're stopping and stalling/We're running in circles again/Just as things were looking up/You said it wasn't good enough/But still we're trying one more time” - In Too Deep by Sum 41

“But now this broken soul of a boy/Falls in pieces with no choice/At the sound of her voice/He falls apart/But now this broken soul of a boy/Falls in pieces with no choice/At the sound of her voice/He falls apart, he falls apart, he falls apart” - Sincerely Yours by Hit the Lights

“I'm troublesome, I've fallen/I'm angry at my father/It's me against this world and I don't care.” - The Young and the Hopeless by Good Charlotte

“Simple words we never knew,/The power behind what they put us through,/Now it's all begun,/what it takes to make it real./We're standing on the edge of this,/When our soul is gone,/what will we miss?/We lost what it takes to really, really feel.” - Save Us by Cartel

“I watched the smoke, as it grew darker and blew up through the roof/I watched the fed, saw them panic, as the fire grew/I saw virginia, get rid of langley, and its secrets too/I held your hand, and sat there knowing, that we'd make it through.” - Watch the World by Box Car Racer

“Is it still me that makes you sweat?/Am I who you think about in bed?/When the lights are dim and your hands are shaking as you're sliding off your dress?/Well, then think of what you did/And how I hope to God he was worth it/When the lights are dim and your heart is racing as your fingers touch your skin” - Lying is the most fun a girl could have without taking her clothes off by Panic At the Disco

“As for now I'm gonna hear the saddest songs/And sit alone and wonder/How you're making out/But as for me, I wish that I was anywhere with anyone/Making out.” - Screaming Infidelities by Dashboard Confessional

“And the record won't stop skipping/And the lies just won't stop slipping/And besides my reputation's on the line/We can fake it for the airwaves/Force our smiles, baby, half dead/From comparing myself to everyone else around me” - I've Got A Dark Alley And A Bad Idea That Says You Should Shut Your Mouth (Summer Song) by Fall Out Boy

“Wait, they don't love you like I love you/ Made off/Don't stray/My kind's your kind/I'll stay the same” - Maps by Yeah Yeah Yeahs

“Well if you wanted honesty, that's all you had to say./I never want to let you down or have you go, it's better off this way./For all the dirty looks, the photographs your boyfriend took,/Remember when you broke your foot from jumping out the second floor?” - I’m Not Okay (I Promise) by My Chemical Romance

“I remember the look in your eyes/When I told you that this was goodbye/You were begging me not tonight/Not here, not now” - Ocean Avenue by Yellowcard

“Your sins into me/Oh, my beautiful one/Your sins into me/As a rapturous voice escapes, I will tremble a prayer/And I'll beg for forgiveness/(Your sins into me) Your sins into me/Oh, my beautiful one” - Silver and Cold by AFI

“Laying in the summer grass, you told me not to talk so fast,/As I told you how I feel,/You made me feel right at home,/You told me I was not alone and you knew just how I feel,” - Seasons by Good Charlotte

“life is/only/as good as the memories we make/and i'm taking back what belongs to me/polaroids of classrooms unattended/these relics of remembrance/are just like shipwrecks/only theyre gone faster/than the smell after it rains” - So Long, Astoria by The Ataris

“Back then it meant so much to have you by my side,/I always had your back and you always had mine,” - Let Me Go by Good Charlotte

“feel your fire,/when it’s cold in my heart/and things sorta start/remindin' me of my last night with you/i only need one more day/just one more chance to say/i wish that i had gone up with you too/and i'm sure the view from heaven/beats the hell out of mine here/and if we all believe in heaven/maybe we'll make it through one more year/down here” - View From Heaven by Yellowcard

“I don't care about a thing today /I used to but I'm fed up/And I can hear the words you say/I wish that you would shut up” - Festival Song by Good Charlotte

“Light breaks underneath a heavy door/And I try to keep myself awake/Fall all around us on our hotel floor/And you think that you've made a mistake/And there's a pain in my stomach from another sleepless binge/And I struggled to get myself up again” - Globes and Maps by Something Corporate

“you see, it's never bad enough /to just leave or give up/but, it’s never good enough to feel right” - This Photograph is Proof (I know You Know) by Taking Back Sunday

“Days swiftly come and go./I'm dreaming of her/She's seeing other guys/Emotions they stir/The sun is gone./The nights are long/And I am left while the tears fall.” - Swing, Swing by All American Rejects

“And when it all goes to hell, /will you be able to tell me sorry with a straight face.” - The Patron Saint of Liars and Fakes - by Fall Out Boy

“But I’m too tired to go to sleep tonight/And I’m too weak to follow dreams tonight/For the first time in a long time I can say/That I want to try to get better and/Overcome each moment/In my own way.” - Even If It Kills Me by Motion City Soundtrack

“Oh don't mind me I'm watching you two from the closet/Wishing to be the friction in your jeans/Isn't it messed up how I'm just dying to be him?/I'm just a notch in your bedpost/But you're just a line in a song” - Sugar We’re Goin Down by Fall Out Boy

“I'm gonna tear your ass up like we just got married/And you're all mine now/Tonight is the night we've been waiting for all our lives/Or maybe for just tonight” - Bedroom Talk by The Starting Line

“I tried to be perfect/It just wasn’t worth it/Nothing could ever be so wrong/It’s hard to believe me/It never gets easy/I guess I knew that all along” - Pieces by Sum 41

“And the mindless comfort grows/When I'm alone with my 'great' plans/And this is what she says gets her through it/"If I don't let myself be happy now, then when?/If not now, when?" - For Me This Is Heaven by Jimmy Eat World

“I've given a lot of thought to the nights we use to have/the days have come and gone/our lives went by so fast” - There Is by Box Car Racer

“Forgive me, I'm trying to find/My calling, I'm calling at night/I don't mean to be a bother,/But have you seen this girl?/She's been running through my dreams/And it's driving me crazy, it seems/I'm going to ask her to marry me” - Remembering Sunday by All Time Low

“Are you gonna live your life standing in the back looking around?/Are you gonna waste your time?/Gotta make a move or you'll miss out.” - A Praise Chorus by Jimmy Eat World

“I just can't look, it's killing me/And taking control/Jealousy, turning saints into the sea/Swimming through sick lullabies/Choking on your alibis/But it's just the price I pay/Destiny is calling me/Open up my eager eyes/'Cause I'm Mr. Brightside” - Mr. Brightside by The Killers

“Hey, you know they're all the same./You know you're doing better on your own, so don't buy in./Live right now, just be yourself./It doesn't matter if it's good enough for someone else.” - The Middle by Jimmy Eat World

“The angry boy, a bit too insane/Icing over a secret pain/You know you don't belong/You're the first to fight, you're way to loud/You're the flash of light on a burial shroud/I know something's wrong/Well everyone I know has got a reason to say/Put the past away” - Jumper by Bedlight For Blue Eyes version

“Since the day I met you/And after all we've been through/I'm still a dick/I’m addicted to you” - Addicted by Simple Plan

“I got a couple addictions/But I swear that I'm coming clean/I got a new way of thinking/Yeah, you're bringing out the best in me” - Chemicals Collide by Boys Like Girls

“I can't remember the time or place,/or what you were wearing,/it's unclear about how we met,/ all I know it was the best conversation that I've ever had,/to this day I never found someone,/with eyes as wide as yours” - The Story So Far by New Found Glory

“What if I wanted to fight/Beg for the rest of my life/What would you do?/You say you wanted more/What are you waiting for?/I'm not running from you” - The Kill by 30 Seconds to Mars

“Your eyes were covered in sunglasses /When they first met mine/I sat there and stared at you /You didn't seem to mind” - I Don’t Wanna Know by New Found Glory

“We drive tonight,/and you are by my side./We're talking about our lives,/like we've known each other forever./the time flies by,/with the sound of your voice./its close to paradise,/with the end surely near./and if i could only stop the car/and hold onto you,/and never let go (and never let go)/i'll never let go (i'll never let go)/as we round the corner/to your house/you turned to me and said,/"i'll be going through withdrawal of you/for this one night we have spent."/and, i want to/speak these words/but i guess i'll just bite my tongue,/and accept "someday, somehow"/as the words that we'll hang from.” - Tiger Lily by Matchbook Romance

“Think i'm dying without you here/so i drink myself to sleep/and then i hide beneath the sheet/and i try to disappear” - Dumb Reminders by No Use for a Name

“First my car broke down/So then I had to hitch a ride/I was almost there/When the motor died” - My Life Story by MxPx

“Now here I sit, so far away./Remembering all our memories./It's times like these that I miss you most,/Remembering when we were so close.” - Jaded (These Years) by Mest

“Well there's a million other girls who do it just like you./Looking as innocent as possible to get to who,/They want and what they like, it's easy if you do it right./Well I refuse, I refuse, I refuse!” - Misery Business by Paramore

“We're traveled like gypsies/Only with worse luck and far less gold/The kids you used to love/But then we grew old/We're the lifers here til the bitter end/Condemned from the start/Ashamed of the way/The songs and the words own the beating of our hearts” - Sophomore Slump or Comeback of the Year by Fall Out Boy

“She/She's figured out /All her doubts were someone else's point of view/Waking up this time to smash the silence with the brick of self control/Are you locked up in a world that's been planned out for you?/Are you feeling like a social tool without a use?/Scream at me until my ears bleed/I'm taking heed just for you” - She by Green Day

Forever Tags: @@trexrambling @wheresthekillswitch

@pinknerdpanda @hiimaprofessionalfangirl @emptywithout @escabell @jarpadandjensenaremyheroes @deanssweetheart23 @dean-winchesters-baby @aubreyreadsstuff

#HanPan Punk's Not Dead Challenge #Creative challenge #hannahindie #pinknerdpanda #signal boost #200 followers challenge #let the games begin

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