The next couple of days went as smoothly as could be expected.
Ari showed up to Jamie's studio each morning at 7 am and did his best to try(and fail) to make a song while Jamie worked on his own thing.
Since they spent basically the whole day together, they naturally got closer, often chatting or sharing what they were working on.
Ari would tease the very emotive Jamie when he was feeling mischievous or bored, and Jamie would beco even more chatty, showing off his true personality.
Multiple tis a day, Jamie would hold out his laptop and ask Ari to listen to a song and give him feedback.
Since it was good practice for him, too, Ari diligently listened and expressed what he heard and what parts he liked, and asked why certain decisions were made.
Jamie would then ask him what genre he thought the music was, and Ari would reply country-[insert genre here]
Country-Pop.
Country-Rock.
Country-EDM.
Country-Techno, etc.
No matter what Jamie made, it all had a country sound, much to the other boys' frustration.
Each ti Ari gave his feedback or Jamie listened to a tiny snippet of what Ari was working on, Jamie seed to wilt like a depressed flower and seed to get more and more desperate.
His frenzy when flipping through the composition books was frightening, to say the least.
Still, Ari couldn't really give him advice because he didn't know what the issue was, and because Jamie never ntioned the issue, always skirting around it.
Besides, Ari thought Jamie's music sounded 'good', so he couldn't really understand why he was stressing out when Ari himself was the epito of calmness and serenity despite not having finished the lody, song, lyrics, or stage preparation for the performance in a week.
[Are you really the epito of calmness and serenity?]
[It seems like you've given up on life to .]
'What are you talking about? I am serenity, and serenity is .'
Ari ntally responded to the system even though it couldn't hear him or was just ignoring him.
He was lying on the couch in Jamie's studio, his laptop shut, staring at the ceiling with no thoughts in his head.
Truly, he was quite serene.
So serene that he had reached what could be referred to as songwriter's block.
In other words, he had lost steam and motivation for songwriting.
He had created a bunch of different snippets with his lody but couldn't figure out how to rge them into a cohesive song.
To make matters worse, none of the snippets he had made with the tararara lody, as he was calling it, were of the sa genre.
So snippets had an electronic techno sound, so were hip-hop-ish, while others had an orchestral feel.
Apart from the original lody parts, none of it sounded like it belonged together, so he often took breaks to rest his head and think while writing general lyrics.
Unfortunately, his lyrics were all over the place as well.
If ranked by subjects, his lyrics would be about
1. Being stuck in traffic
2. It's taking forever to get anywhere because of traffic.
3. It's hot outside, but I have to exercise.
4. Ugh, why is there traffic?
5. Delicious food
6. Traffic
.....
20. Traffic is a sin.
Due to the Pen Pal skill (C), his entire life seed to revolve around traffic, traffic, and more traffic.
It filled every mont of his life from the noise of car horns, to car accidents, to the ti it took to get anywhere on public transportation.
Almost all of the lyrics he wrote were about traffic.
When he tried to write deeper lyrics about his life, he found them too dark and depressing, so he scratched them out.
I am serenity. Serenity is .
As Ari was wallowing in serenity on the couch...
"Ugghhhhhhhhhhhhh!"
A depressed groan ca from the floor of the studio.
"You okay?" Ari briefly sat up to see Jamie lying face down on the ground with his laptop shut before lying back down.
This was a familiar pattern.
"I'm useless."
"You're not useless." His reply was imdiate as his counseling session with Jamie began.
"Of course I am. No matter what I make, it all sounds the sa. Yet a newbie like you can use the sa lody and co up with 50 thousand different variations that sound nothing alike. It's not fair."
Even though Jamie's voice was muffled, Ari could hear each word as the blond boy sulked.
With familiarity, he ripped a page from his notebook, crumpled it up, and threw it at Jamie's head.
Bonk-
The paper ball bounced off Jamie's blonde hair, which was pulled into a bun, and rolled away.
Jamie turned his head so his ears were turned toward Ari as if waiting for praise.
They even twitched slightly, and seeing it, Ari hid a laugh and began his praise session.
"Oh wow, look at , I'm Jamie. I'm tall, with long blond hair, handso, and so talented. I'm such a good composer that all my songs sound amazing whether I work on them for five seconds or five years, and even though I'm temporarily stuck while exploring a new genre, I'm jealous of a newbie who can barely stick 5 chords together. Do you hear yourself? You're being greedy." Ari mocked the other boy while crumpling up another paper ball.
"...you think my songs are amazing?" Still lying on the floor, Jamie turned his face to the side to stare at Ari with a small smile growing on his face.
Thunk-
Ari chucked the paper ball so it bounced off Jamie's forehead this ti.
"Yeah. I don't even like country music, and I like everything you've shown so far. Even that old sounding stuff."
As Jamie's smile began to widen, Ari threw another paper ball at him, "Don't get too big-headed. Your lyrics suck though. Why are you singing about doing traveling 400 miles on horses and milking cows in this day and age? That's stuff from like 400 years ago."
"Nah. You just don't get it. That's the true essence of country music. Singing about what happens in your daily life and making it relate to people. Laundry, milking cows, getting groceries, things that everyday people would relate to."
"Really?"
"Yep. At least that's how it started out. Of course, nowadays people sing about lots of other things, but that's the gist of it. Singing about your personal experiences and dreams. For so people, it's flashy living and fast cars, and for so, it's riding horses and milking cows. It's the supposed 'real music'." Jamie explained in a bitter tone before burying his face in the ground and sulking.
"Hmmmmm...."
'Singing about your experiences'
At Jamie's words, Ari sat up while thinking.
His [Pen Pal (C)] skill allowed him to write lyrics about his life experiences.
He had been struggling to make these dull lyrics fit with electronic, upbeat music, which he liked.
But maybe he should pivot.
If country was music about daily life, wasn't this a perfect fit for this skill?
Of course, he had no interest in singing or making a traditional country song, but what if he tried doing it in a more upbeat way?
Mixing country with an upbeat sound.
As his thoughts slowly ca together, Ari turned his eyes toward Jamie, who was still lying on the ground with a catlike smile.
Wasn't there an expert right here who could make a country song mixed with any genre?
"Double J." Ari imdiately called Jamie by his nickna.
"Your Royal Sea-ness?" Jamie responded with the nickna he gave Ari after finding out his full na was Ariel.
"Do...you think you could help make a country pop song with my lody and lyrics from scratch? I'll credit you, of course, but I would really love so hands-on advice from you. Let's say about 40%."
"Hmmm? You want to make a country song? Why?"
"Kind of? Sothing country but upbeat and modern. The lyrics I write are all about daily stuff, so I think it would fit. Do you mind helping?"
"Sure, why not? It's not like I'm making any progress." Jamie sat up with a despondent look on his face, "I can help you make a country pop song. That's all I'm apparently good for anyway."
"You know that's not true."
"It is. I know it already, so there's no need to lie to comfort ."
At Jamie's bitter words, Ari looked at the blonde boy while trying to figure out what to say.
"Anyways, I always see you scribbling in that notebook of yours. If you have lyrics let's take a look and try to make sothing from the words and your lody. What topic are you trying to focus on?" Jamie asked with a forced a smile while opening his laptop.
"Traffic."
Seeing Jamie try to change the subject, Ari answered while vowing to subtly dig into Jamie's core issue and figure out how to help him.
"I want to make a song about this stupid city traffic that makes it take over two hours to go anywhere. Think you can help ?"
"Why not? It's as good a topic as any. Let's get started. First, we add the guitar."
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