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wander-over-the-words · 2 years

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are there any songs that you associate with deltaclair/topclair as a pairing?

Oh, yes! I have a few I can recommend for them! Surprised I’ve never brought it up myself tbh haha. But yes! Here’s some I’ve got for ya, bud (along with some lyrics from each and commentary cause why not):

Never Knew I Needed by Ne-Yo (from the Princess and the Frog)

For the way you changed my plans For being the perfect distraction For the way you took the idea that I had Of everything that I wanted to have And made me see there was something missing

For the ending of my first beginning And for the rare and unexpected friend For the way you're something that I'd never choose But at the same time, something I don't wanna lose And never wanna be without ever again

You're the best thing I never knew I needed So when you were here, I had no idea You're the best thing I never knew I needed So now it's so clear, I need you here always

This one is The Main One, the very first song I think of if I wanna listen to something that makes me think of them.

Might be a little generic when it comes to ship songs, but like. I mean just look at those lyrics! That is Sinclair thinking about how suddenly his plans for getting richer from Rapture’s bounty don’t mean as much as having Delta around. Hell, you could also say it’s Delta musing on how he thought it was just gonna be him and Eleanor against the world, but now he can’t view post-Rapture life without Augustus either. The next verse after that first chorus is very ‘Delta to Sinclair’ as well:

My accidental happily (Ever after) The way you smile and how you comfort me (With your laughter) I must admit you were not a part of my book But now if you open it up and take a look You're the beginning and the end of every chapter

Next one: Can’t Help Falling In Love by Elvis Presley

Wise men say Only fools rush in But I can't help falling in love with you Shall I stay? Would it be a sin If I can't help falling in love with you?

Like a river flows Surely to the sea Darling, so it goes Some things are meant to be

Take my hand Take my whole life, too For I can't help falling in love with you

Okay, I recognise that this is like THE Generic Ship Song cause who the hell hasn’t imagined this fuckin thing for one of their ships, even if it’s not the Presley version, but the reasons I put it on the list are

a) Elvis would be a big thing around the time the group get out of Rapture (supposing this is one of those fix-it AUs) so they would actually likely hear this song

And b) I just genuinely think it does fit them fairly well, what with the reference to “rush[ing] in”, since these two know each other like, what, a few hours tops? Depending on how long that train ride was from the time Sinclair first talks to Delta to the end; that’s a pretty damn short time for them to be like “this guy right here, he’s the one for me” And then there’s the line about “Would it be a sin” - I’ve always felt Sinclair would think himself having some damn gall to fall for a dude he practically had bagged up and shipped off to be turned into a slave, and I’ve always thought that’d make him have some complicated feelings about himself and the situation he’s faced with, but that’s just me. And let’s be real: romance was the last fuckin thing on either’s mind when they paired up, so they really couldn’t help falling in love with each other

Next one (and maybe a little controversial, depending on your view of the cartoon): Love Like You by Rebecca Sugar (from Steven Universe)

I always thought I might be bad Now I'm sure that it's true 'Cause I think you're so good And I'm nothing like you

Look at you go I just adore you I wish that I knew What makes you think I'm so special

If I could begin to do Something that does right by you I would do about anything I would even learn how to love

Angsty compared to the others. The entire song has good lines to apply to them, but that section in particular makes me think of the scenario of Sinclair dwelling on his guilt over what he did to Delta, and the prospect of Delta showing forgiveness despite that. Depending on how one characterises Delta, could be from his pov too! Whatever you want.

Next song, and this one’s more from their time: Just In Time by Frank Sinatra

Just in time, I found you just in time Before you came, my time was runnin' low I was lost, the losing dice were tossed My bridges all were crossed, nowhere to go

Now you're here and now I know just where I'm goin' No more doubt or fear, I found my way For love came just in time You found me just in time

And changed my lonely life that lovely day

Pretty self-explanatory on this one, I think! (And they’ll be using that ‘lovely’ in ‘lovely day’ very sarcastically lmao)

Next one, another from ol’ Frank: I’ve Got You Under My Skin

I've got you under my skin I've got you deep in the heart of me So deep in my heart that you're really a part of me I've got you under my skin

I'd tried so not to give in I said to myself, "This affair never will go so well" But why should I try to resist when, baby, I know so well I've got you under my skin

I'd sacrifice anything come what might For the sake of havin' you near In spite of a warning voice that comes in the night And repeats, repeats in my ear

"Don't you know, little fool, you never can win? Use your mentality, wake up to reality" But each time that I do just the thought of you makes me stop Before I begin 'cause I've got you under my skin

The whole twist on the idiom of getting under someone’s skin is fun when you apply it to the ship, I think. I’m gonna be repeating myself here but:

Delta did get under Sinclair’s skin. He made him feel guilt over what he did to Delta, and fuck knows Sinclair didn’t feel any guilt when he fucked over the people of Pauper’s Drop or when he did all the other crazy shit he got up to in Rapture. Delta’s the first person that made him think back to what he did and actually like…feel bad about it? He actually did get under Sinclair’s skin, and bashed through the stone wall around that heart in his chest.

Sinclair got under Delta’s skin too. Let’s be real - Sinclair and Delta were each other’s ticket out of Rapture, a means to an end, with Delta being the brawn and Sinclair being the brains. They were doin’ business first and foremost, purely professional. For Delta, it was just gonna be him and Eleanor - but then this Southern prick had to go and treat him like a person instead of just a Big Daddy (getting under the ‘skin’ of his Big Daddy self) and legit befriend him, and now Delta’s picturing Sinclair with the two of them when they all get out of Rapture and caring about his safety just as much as Eleanor’s. Tenenbaum’s voice was the first he heard upon waking up, but Sinclair was the person he got attached to during his journey.

It’s as I said above: Sinclair thinks himself having some mighty gall to fall for Delta after what he did, and I’ve often thought that any insecurity Delta would have about falling for Augustus would obviously come in the form of “I’m a fuckin monster, he doesn’t want someone like me, we don’t even know how human I still am under this suit”, so the both of them have the thought of “this affair will never go so well” and tried to resist, but they are under each other’s skin, deep in their hearts, so deep they’re a part of each other now

Next one, and the last from the good Mr. Sinatra on the list: You Make Me Feel So Young

You make me feel so young You make me feel so Spring has sprung And every time I see you grin I'm such a happy individual

The moment that you speak I want to go play hide and seek I wanna go and bounce the moon Just like a toy balloon

You and I Are just like a couple of tots Running across a meadow Pickin' up lots of forget me nots

You make me feel so young You make me feel there are songs to be sung Bells to be rung And a wonderful fling to be flung

And even when I'm old and grey I'm gonna feel the way I do today 'Cause you make me feel so young

Somewhat self-explanatory again; they’re a couple of middle-aged dudes (in Delta’s case; according to my hc he’s middle-aged) who have had just. the WORST damn time lately nrgngn They’re fuckin tired man, they make each other feel young and happy again

Before we move on, I just wanna give a shoutout to one more Frank Sinatra song (I’m a big fan of his, can you tell?) and say: the entirety of Come Fly With Me doesn’t strike me as a ship song for them. BUT

Once I get you up there Where the air is rarefied We'll just glide Starry-eyed Once I get you up there I'll be holding you so near You may hear Angels cheer, 'cause we're together

This part makes me Feel Things if you think of ‘up there’ as just the surface in general.

Anyways, onto the other songs -

Next one, another one from more their time: Happy Together by The Turtles

Me and you, and you and me No matter how they toss the dice, it had to be The only one for me is you, and you for me So happy together

I can't see me lovin' nobody but you For all my life When you're with me, baby, the skies'll be blue For all my life

(Ignore how it says ‘girl you love’ cause y’know)

Okay, this one’s absolutely a joke NGRNGNRN

It started with me amusing myself with the ol’ gag about Sinclair simping for the Big Daddy and the thought that like. Delta does literally anything and on the outside, Sinclair’s like “haha u got it chief”

but on the inside he’s like “I CAN’T SEE ME LOVIN’ NOBODY BUT YOU -” so now whenever I hear the song I just. Laugh

I thought I’d give it a mention just cause the idea still makes me laugh, so maybe it’ll make y’all laugh too NGRNGN

(It is also at least partially true to the ship as I see ‘em too, thanks to ol’ headcanon that Delta would be Sinclair’s first genuine relationship thanks to his years of being an emotionally repressed workaholic, and lemme tell you: Delta didn’t eye up anybody else when he had Augustus sitting next to him, all handsome and charming and pretty. and like. No offence to either dude but who the hell they gonna end up with if not each other at this point lmao Nobody understands them like the other does)

(And yes I recognise the song is technically about unrequited love rather than requited love but that’s the joke behind giving it to BioShock’s biggest simp)

Last one for now: I Don’t Have A Name For It by Steam Powered Giraffe

Well, it's the way [he] smiles and the way I swoon When [he] winks at me from across the room It's the way [he] laughs and the way [he] cries It's the way [his] hand fits perfectly in mine

Well, I don't have name for it, Been trying to find a name for it, I don't think there's a name for it, But it's kinda like being in love

[...]

Well, it's the way [he] can twirl on the face of a dime And the way [he's] always there like my partner in crime It's the curl of [his] hair and the gleam of [his] eyes And the heart in [his] chest that beats in rhythm with mine

(Changed the pronouns cause y’know)

This one’s absolutely a generic OTP song - could apply it to pretty much any ship - but I’m putting it on the list just because

I love the mental image of this being ‘hopeless romantic’ Delta’s thoughts when he’s musing about Augustus. Plus, a lot of the songs I find that make me think of them tend to be Sinclair’s pov for Delta, but this one exclusively feels like Delta being all giddy over Sinclair and y’know being all “Isn’t Augustus so great??” And maybe beneath the cheery lyrics and tune there’s a wee bit of identity issues from Delta’s pov, regarding his being a Big Daddy and his lack of memories. The chorus kinda makes me think of how Delta doesn’t remember his past self’s love life, so what he’s feeling for Augustus is - to Subject Delta - completely new.

And that’s it for now! There’re probably more that I’m forgetting about, but these are the ones I can currently recall. If I think of anymore, I’ll post about them lmao Hope you like ‘em c:

#Deltaclair #Subject Delta #Augustus Sinclair #BioShock #BioShock 2 #reply #answering #Topclair #sorry this took so long!! was distracted and forgetful ^^'

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rooftop--runner · 1 year

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2, 4, 5, 7, and 17 for the sonic questions? c:

Ooooooh so many questions!! :D

2. How did you hear about Sonic?

Technically I’m pretty sure I first heard of Sonic when I used to watch a little bit of Sonic Underground when I was in elementary school. It was either that or from Mario and Sonic at the 2010 Winter Olympic Games for the DS specifically, and I only had that to begin with because I was a Mario kid ALSKDKKS Funnily enough though I always played as Sonic even though I knew pretty much nothing about his games lol

4. Favorite male character(s)?

I think my top three have to be Silver, Sonic, and Metal, in no particular order because that order would probably change depending on what I’m fixated at the time lol I also really like Shadow too, just probably not as much as the other three any more. A funny thing is when I was first getting into the series, going through the games chronologically, even before I got up to 06 I just had a feeling Silver would end up being my favorite character based on vibes alone and he did!(at the time at least)

5. Favorite female character(s)?

I think Rouge might be my favorite, but I also reeeaaally love Tangle and Whisper, and Blaze is pretty great too! ALL THE GIRLS ARE SO GOOD it’s so hard to just pick a few!

(I’m gonna be talking about frontiers stuff in the next two, so here’s a spoiler warning juuuust in case)

7. Favorite vocal theme(s)?

OOOH NOW THIS IS A GOOD ONE there are so many vocal tracks that I love but I think my absolute favorite, as of recently, has to be One Way Dream. (Ignoring the fact that I was crying when I first heard it in Frontiers’ credits alskjdnfnsj) IT’S JUST SO GOOD it makes me so happy every time I listen to it! The music of the song itself just sounds so uplifting, and idk if this makes sense but it kind of reminds me of a combination of Endless Possibility and the general vibe of the Sonic Runners soundtrack, both of which I love so it makes sense that I would love their combination. AND THE LYRICS OH MY GOSH. The fact that the lyrics are a message from Sonic Team to the fans about how they’re dedicated to making the series even better than it already is because of how passionate the fan base is and how that passion is what drives them to keep going!! AAAAAAAAAA I LOVE IT SO MUCH (and another bonus is that I really enjoy singing and this song fits pretty well in my vocal range!)

I also reeeeaaaaaally love His World, but ESPECIALLY the Zebrahead cover, it’s just so fast paced and energetic it gets me super hyped. I also love Endless Possibility and pretty much all the boss fight themes in Frontiers (because of course I do alskdjfn). And special shout out to City Escape Act 1 from Generations, mostly because I just love the little section at the end

17. Favorite Sonic music track(s)?

OOOOH ANOTHER GOOD ONE there are literally so many I love I could probably spend hours listing all of them so I’ll try to limit myself lol. One that immediately stands out though is Rooftop Run (Day) from Unleashed (which you could probably guess from my url alakdkdnms) it’s another one of those songs that just makes me sooooooo happy to listen to because it’s so upbeat and energetic and AAAAAA I love it! And of course I also love the versions of the song used in Generations too. Spring Emotions from Sonic Runners is another one I absolutely ADORE I CAN’T EVEN FIND WORDS TO DESCRIBE IT IT’S JUST SO GOOD. I could probably say the same for a few other tracks in the Runners soundtrack but I’ll just leave it at the one for now lol. And I’m with you (The End boss theme) from Frontiers. OUGH THE EMOTIONS THAT SONG MAKES ME FEEL ARE INSANE. I don’t even know what to say, it just feels so climactic and leaves just the right emotional impact for a final boss, big Undertale vibes tbh (outside of just the gameplay lol).

A few others that stick out to me are Stardust Speedway and Metallic Madness from CD (especially the bad future versions of each), which I’m pretty sure I’m obligated to like as a Metal Sonic fan ALSKDJK, I honestly really like Windy Hill Zone 1 from Lost World and Sky Road from Team Sonic Racing more than I thought I would, and Solaris Phase 2 from 06 and Super Sonic vs. Perfect Dark Gaia from Unleashed are both AMAZING orchestral tracks for the final boss fights of their games.

This ended up getting so much longer than I expected, and sorry I didn’t really have too much to say for the first three questions and then proceeded to completely go off in the music department ALAKDJFND I would’ve finished this sooner but right when I was almost done writing it tumblr crashed and I lost all my progress so I had to start over aalksjfkd but this was really fun! Thank you for the questions!! :)

#there are only so many ways I can figure out how to say I love something and not sound repetitive alskdjsjjs #sonic #sagethegremlin #my post

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vitaminwaterreviews · 2 months

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AIXP - The Artificial Intelligence Experiment

I think that my comment on the first song really sums up my feelings towards the album as a whole: “Pleasantly surprised.” Often full albums can feel like a bit of a slog, especially if they’re from genres that I’m not a huge fan of. Coup d’Etat for example, which I listened to just yesterday, was more of a slog than this album was, and that album is considered one of the GOAT kpop albums. So the fact that this album was much easier (and more enjoyable) to get through is a big compliment.

The instrumental samples and vocals as a whole felt very processed, I think that’s my biggest criticism. It’s possible that I just have very messy versions of the songs; these have been converted at least once on my end, and who knows how many times on behalf of the person I got them from. But the vocals in the mellow and pretty sections never totally won me over, and the mellow sections in general always felt a Bit too coarse and processed.

I also definitely wanted more melody from the guitars, but again, I’m not familiar with the conventions of the genre so maybe that’s just something that I don’t know.

Now the stuff that I’m impressed by. The mixing was constantly making me turn the music up to the point that it hurt my ears. I dunno if that’s intentional, but for metal music I think that’s definitely a Good thing. The vocals were excellent, even if the growly vocals weren’t conventional death metal vocals, they still fit this particular sound well. I enjoyed the structure of the individual songs a lot - we had a really good mix of upbeat and mellow sections, and right as I was starting to get bored of one, it switched to another. There were only a couple of sections in the entire album that I started to get bored, and it kept my attention really well other than those.

The last two songs are definitely the highlights of the album for me, I think Hourglass is probably my favorite song overall.

I did find it kind of odd how a lot of the songs seemed to end on a slow section, even if they didn’t have one at all during the main part of the song. The transition from Hourglass to Finale was particularly jarring, maybe that could’ve been smoother. Or maybe that’s intentional. So many things that I just don’t know, because I’m not familiar with the genre! Anyway, enough rambling. Average score of 8.0 which feels exactly correct to me. Very good, could use some improvement, but still a solid four out of five stars. I enjoyed it a lot more than I expected to.

- Alright, I feel the need to add some disclaimers here. I do not usually listen to metal of any sort, and definitely not death metal. I am, however, regularly exposed to death metal, mostly though music leagues that I do with my friends who are more into the subgenre than I am. But since I got early access to this particular album, I figured I’d give it a proper listen and do the proper review and all that. I have no idea how I’ll end up rating any of these songs, or the album as a whole, but here we go.

The Artificial Intelligence Experiment

The layering on the vocals is Really nice

And actually the entire song feels so Thick, in a good way

Love the pause and “thump thump” after “The Artificial Intelligence Experiment”

Oh, I probably can’t just google the lyrics to this now can I, sad

The whole thing feels … epic

I usually associate that kind of guttural growl singing with death metal, we haven’t had much of that yet

Oh and of course as soon as I type that, we get a bit of it lol

I quite like this section around 3:00, I assume this is the outro

I wonder whose vocals these are. Is this THE nLazy singing??

8/10, pleasantly surprised

I Forgot to Take My Meds

Me too tbh

Alright, here’s the melodic part of melodic death metal

Love love love the autotune on this voice in the intro here

“I forgot to take my medicationnnnn” lmao

I heard ‘forgotten pills’! That was a former name of this song

The voice still feels very heavily processed in the slow part ~1:50, kinda wish it was cleaner in the mix to give us more contrast

A bit better around 2:45. Maybe just personal taste then, because the vocal effects definitely fit Conceptually, but I’d prefer them cleaner to make them sound more human

8/10, really enjoyed this one, I think if I was more a fan of metal then it’d be a 9

Lost in the Void

Nice, love me some piano

It does feel slightly out of place though - very clean, kind of echoey, like a random piano from a music chamber was put in the middle of armageddon or something lmao

I keep turning the music up, and then my ears start to hurt, so I have to turn it back down. Maybe that’s an intentional aspect of the genre, or maybe the mixing is a bit off. Let me see if I can figure out what I’m trying to hear more of

Yeah even here. The vocals are as unprocessed as we’ve gotten so far, but they still feel processed! Idk, I’ll stop harping on that now

The “oooooh”s at the end are neat. I’m getting like, horror vibes out of this

7/10

Betrayers Lament

I almost get … prog rock vibes out of this soundscape, whatever instrument doing these harmonies feels like that electronic organ for some reason

Yeah, the growly vocals are definitely not the conventional style that I usually hear in death metal

Not that it’s a bad thing. The section beginning at 1:36 feels Really good in context

This is cool, the section around 3:30 feels really cool

Love how distorted the piano feels

What I want here is a ridiculously technical electric guitar solo at the here, riffing over everything else going on

8/10

Chaos Unleashed

That it, the mixing thing. The vocals are kind of buried in the mix, it’s really hard to make out what they’re saying. BUT, I suspect that’s very intentional, most death metal sounds similar to me

Or maybe I’m just used to listening to pop music where the vocals ARE the mix lol

I haven’t commented much on the particular song yet, but I’m vibing

A comment on the ending: it feels Kind of cheesy. Nowhere else in the song do we get the more mellow vibe of the final “nothing is as it seems”, so it feels like it comes out of nowhere just to force an ending

That said, if the next song begins with a similar vibe, then it might work pretty well as a bridge between the two songs. Let’s see!

7/10

Echoes of Freedom

Nope lol

That said I do quite like the intro here, it’s bouncy and almost dancy

Yeah, this actually feels almost more poppy than the other songs. Can’t totally tell why

Like, if I was gonna release a single off of this album, I think this is the one I’d choose

That said, this is partly because this song is kind of safe. It definitely doesn’t Explore as much as some of the other songs have

8/10

Maze of Life

Lord of the Rings vibes for some reason

I wonder what that instrument is, the one doing the triplets in the intro

Oh wait, this whole song is in 6/8, I didn’t even realize until just now

I like that a lot, it gives a really nice momentum

Feels almost like a march

Haha random choral section at 2:05, this is actually so neat

The thing is, this is the easiest song to listen to, but I don’t know if it’s my favorite. Like, as much as I love 6/8, it does often feel kinda cheesy to me

Or maybe I’m just jaded and cynical

8/10

Revelations

I want more of whatever the highest guitar line is in the first 30 seconds or so

Hoorayyyyyyyyy we’re 8 songs in and finally we get a proper guitar solo!!!

Kinda short though, gimme more gimme more

This was a really good song. I want more of that guitar. Very few comments here though because I did start to zone out - maybe worth noting

8/10

From the Shadows

I can definitely hear the lyrics very easily in the opening lines of the song, first time in the album I can say that for a full verse

Nice, the change between half time to double time around 2:00 felt really good

The instrumental break around 2:20 is good, I like the cute little sixteenth note runs

Structurally, I’d expect this song to be the climax of the album. Lyrically I think that makes sense, I’m not sure I buy it musically

Perhaps Finale is the climax though, seems likely

Again with randomly ending on a mellow section after an entire loud and upbeat song

Maybe that’s a trend in melodic deathcore though

It definitely did something with it though

8/10

Hourglass

Dude this guitar sample is So pretty omg

Yes, love the vocals

This isn’t death metal, this is just Lovely

Love the percussion

Mkay, now it picks up

Maybe this is the climax of the album then, it feels like it so far, that transition was epic

Alright, and now we’re slow again

Oh we’re in 3/4 now, didn’t even notice

I quite quite like this song, probably my favorite on the album so far

3/4 really is such an anthemic time signature, this feels so epic

I’d love to see the lyrics for this particular song. It’s impossible to pick them out during the loud sections

Whatever’s going on with the vocals around 3:20 is genius, love love love how they sound in conjunction with the instrumentals

Lol what is that ending

9/10

Finale

And we go from that soundscape to this soundscape, fair enough ig

We’re in 12 now, I think

Haha wait this is a 7 minute song!! Better be good

That section around 1:37 was good, felt like a nice break

I want it to go somewhere else, 2:20 and so far we’ve been at exactly the same energy the whole way through. This album has enough pretty sections on it that the finale should tie back into

Nice guitar around 2:50, give me more

That’s one thing the album doesn’t do too well is fun guitar solos. Maybe death metal doesn’t do fun guitar solos

3:30-ish sounds Really cool though

Mkay, now we’re soft, about time

This guitar does feel totally out of nowhere, it’s almost … folky

That’s such a metal trope, going from Chill and then immediately having the drums come in and introducing the Metal back in

4:40 is so cool omg

Yeah, this might be my favorite section on the album

The whole instrumental section here is perfect actually. I think vocals would detract from it, good decision

Yep, definitely 12/8

I’m at 6:30 now and I’ll tell you what, this didn’t feel like a 7 minute song at all

Not totally convinced by the ending

9/10

#album #metal #death metal #melodic death metal #AIXP

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marchyslove · 3 years

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That Smile

“Where are we going?”

“You’ll see.”

It’s our one-year anniversary and I have no idea where he’s taking me. I see a blanket in the back seat, and I know it’s going to be something romantic because that’s how he is. He’s not one of those over-the-top romantics, but he has his moments.

We pull up to a big open park, not many people around but it’s dinner time so no surprise there. He got out, almost sprinted around the car to get the door for me.

*11 months earlier*

“So this is your place.” It’s exactly what you’d expect of someone like him, big, fancy, granite countertops, leather sectional, open spaces, a balcony with a hot tub and some couches. Rich people might not always look rich when you see them out on the street, but once you see where they live, there’s no denying they have money.

“It’s beautiful.”

He scratched the back of his neck nervously, “thanks, I’m not around enough to make it look the way I’d want it to, but I was thinking in the summer I might move some stuff around… make it more home-y.”

I eyed the guitar in the corner, ‘cliché,’ I thought. So many douchebags have guitars on display with no idea how to play them. So I challenged him to it. “you play?” “Yea, I do.” “Are you good?” “I’ve got a couple songs up my sleeve,” he said with a chuckle.

I plopped myself on the couch and pretzeled my legs, staring at him eagerly, “well, by all means, I’d love to hear one.” He didn’t hesitate, walked over and picked up the guitar, he came back and sat right next to me.

“any requests?”

“you know any Clapton? Cliché I know, but I love his music.”

“not cliché at all, anything specific?”

“surprise me.”

In an instant I knew the song, my favorite. When I was younger my mom and I would always listen to 70’s and 80’s radio whenever we were in the car together. Softer, slower music, played later in the day. Then there was bedtime radio that started at 9 at night. It would always start with “Wonderful Tonight” by Eric Clapton.

He must’ve noticed the smile on my face, because he started smiling too. “You like this one?”

“Love,” I answered, almost too quickly.

His smile grew.

He had one of those smiles that could make flowers bloom, or make babies stop crying. It wasn’t perfect by any means, even a little crooked, but it made fireworks go off in my stomach.

“It’s a great song, and easy enough to learn cause it’s slower. Not too many different chords.”

“It’s one of my favorites. The lyrics are incredible.”

“Can you sing?”

“Not even a little bit, I’m so bad.” Trying to find something to change the subject I started glancing around the room. My eyes went to the balcony. I got up from the couch and went over to the door. I felt a presence behind me. “We can go out if you want.” So I opened the door and step outside.

The warm, summer breeze felt like a hug. I walked around a bit, glancing at the lights and down at the street below. “Careful,” he said as he took a cautious step towards me. I didn’t realize how much I had been leaning over the edge. “Heights never really scared me.” “Well that’s good, but still… careful.” “I always am.”

I looked up; outside the city the stars were a little more visible. “Beautiful,” I said under my breath. Again, I felt a presence behind me. “You big into astrology?” “Only enough to know my star sign, and that it apparently fits me well. Beyond that, I just like to look at the stars.” “Do you know the names of any of them? Or constellations?”

My confidence grew a little bit. My summers laying outside in the grass playing around with the app on my phone that labeled the stars if you point your camera at the sky were finally about to pay off.

“That one is Sirius. It’s the brightest of them all.” “That’s easy to remember. That’s one of the dippers right?,” he asked, pointing up. “The big dipper, the little dipper is right there, and over there is Ursa Major, its shaped like a bear.” “That means there’s an ursa minor, right?” “Very good work detective,” I teased jokingly, pinching his cheek. He gave a giggle and winked at me. My heart skipped a beat.

“So you know a decent amount about stars?” “I know where they are and how to find them, I don’t know much past that.” “Impressive,” he said as he kissed my cheek.

We walked for a little bit towards the center of the park. He carried the basket; I had the blanket. “I’ve never heard of this place.” “I had to do a bit of research to find it.” “Any reason you chose this park in particular?” “You’ll see.” There’s that smile, after a year I still get the same fireworks when I see it. I glance over at him, and he’s already looking at me. “What are you looking at?” “My girl,” he said with a wink.

He stopped walking abruptly. He looked up at the sky, then around the park. Looking back at the car he pulled his phone out of his pocket. He put down the basket and looked through his phone for something. “Are we stopping here?” “One sec, I have to check.” “What’s the difference between here and 5 feet away?” “You’ll see, but I have to make sure we’re in the right spot.” He put his phone back in his pocket, took 8 steps forward, turned back towards me and grinned, “here.” “Fair enough,” I walked over.

He laid out the blanket, put the basket on it. I hadn’t seen him pack the basket; I actually only saw it for the first time when he picked me up today.

He opened the basket and pulled out a bottle of wine and two glasses. I sat down and started pouring. “Shit, give me one second,” and before I realized what was happening, he was running back towards the car. I took this opportunity to sneak a peak in the basket. Chocolate covered strawberries, little triangle-cut sandwiches, a little bin of grapes, some crackers- “no peaking!,” he yelled as he made his way back to me. “Too late babe.”

He was carrying four pillows and dropped them when he came over. “What are these for?” “Comfort, we might have the blanket, but it won’t be comfortable without the pillows.” “Yea, I guess I could’ve put that together.” “I mean if you had an idea of doing more, the pillows will definitely help,” another wink.

He had all the makings of a douchebag, on the surface level. He has that superiorly confident look to him. The way he walks, he doesn’t think he’s better than anyone, but that’s the vibe you get from him if you judge him solely based on looks. If you saw him on the street you might think he was the biggest fuckboy on the planet, but then you talk to him.

He’s goofy, in the best way. He’s smart. You wouldn’t think it, but he’s better at quick mental math than anyone I’ve met, and he knows geography like he’s traveled the entire world himself. He likes to talk about anything and everything. On our first date we spent an hour talking about different birds we’d both seen, and our favorites. He likes loons because they sound funny, I like bluebirds because of their beautiful color. I didn’t have much interest in birds until that conversation. Now every time I see a bluebird I think of him. My family went on vacation last month and we rented a lake house. Every morning I’d hear the loon calling and think of that smile.

“Hey you, whatcha thinking about?,” he poked my cheek, I snapped out of my zoned out state, “you.” He turned away a little but I saw the blush creeping onto his cheeks. He had pulled everything out of the basket and tossed it to the side. “Grapes?,” he offered, holding one up in front of my mouth, I opened, and he placed it in my mouth gently, like it was fragile. The sun was starting to set, that’s when I realized there were no lights around. All we had was a tiny lantern he had pulled out of the basket. The view we had of the sunset was incredible, I hadn’t kept track of time on the drive here, so I really had no idea how far outside of the city we were. “How much research did you do exactly?” “Alright to be fair I asked a buddy if he knew any romantic spots and after I got him to quit joking about sex, he gave me a few. Then I googled them and found this place.” “It’s beautiful.” “Not as beautiful as you.” “Oh hush-,” he interrupted me with a kiss.

We ate as the sun set, starting the strawberries just as the last bits of golden light dipped below the horizon. He turned on the lantern.

The glow lit up his face, he was really handsome. His skin looked so smooth and he had those long eyelashes that all guys have, it made me jealous. That smile, again. He kissed me, again. He shut the lantern off while we were kissing. He pulled the pillows over and put them behind us, he laid back and spread his arm out. I laid down and put my head on his arm.

He kissed the top of my head, “Sirius,” he pointed toward the star. “Glad you remembered,” I teased. Another wink. He pointed up again, “look.” As I glanced up, there was a light that shot across the sky. “A shooting star. I’ve never seen one,” he was staring in awe. “Make a wish.” “I don’t need to, I have you.” I rolled my eyes, “you are such a cheeseball.”

We laid there pointing out the different stars and constellations. “You’ve been studying,” I glanced up at him. “I wanted to impress you,” he stated, followed by another kiss. I’ve never seen the stars so bright and clear. “Is this why you were so stingy about the spot?” He looked down at me, “I needed to make sure the view was clear so we could see everything.” Like I said, he’s not a huge romantic, but he has his moments. We kept watching the stars in the most comfortable silence. Then, almost as if he let it slip out accidentally, he whispered, “I am so in love with you.” I waited to see if he’d say anything else, but he was quiet, a nervous quiet. “Ditto,” I giggled and glanced up at him. And, without fail, there it was again, that smile.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Okay be nice! It's my first work, and like I said- I don't consider myself to be much of a writer. I hope you guys like it, I kept thinking about the idea and wanted to give it a shot! I purposely left names and too-specific details out so people can think of whoever they'd like, and hey! feel free to add the person you thought of to the tags if you reblog, I love stuff like that! Maybe I'll write more if people like it enough :)

If you like it please give it a like and reblog, it would be much appreciated!

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btsandvmin · 3 years

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Vmin song analysis - Winter in August - Part 4

Since this analysis ended up being so long it has been divided in parts. This is part 4. If you haven’t read part 1, 2 or 3 yet I recommend doing so. This is the final part.

This started as a Spring Day analysis, but it has since grown immensely. I actually rather call it a thematic analysis or something, and while Spring Day is still at the core of it all, I go through many songs and details outside of Spring Day connections.

Taehyung obviously loves Spring Day a lot, and Jimin does too. It might seem weird to make a Vmin analysis out of Spring Day, but I just felt there was enough surrounding things to talk about. Even if they might be coincidence I do personally think they fit it very well with the other song theories I have made, and I have even mentioned Spring Day a few times before. As usual I suggest reading my other song analyses before you get into this one. You can find them all in My masterpost

I am going to talk mostly about connections that Taehyung has made and how he seems to use a lot of similar themes and references, but also things possibly connecting Vmin and Spring Day.

Lyrics and theme

Choreo and MV

Taehyung’s (and Jimin’s) love for Spring Day

Connections to Vmin’s songs

Overlapping themes

Other connections to Vmin

Taehyung's songs not being all he wants to say

Taehyung’s mixtape

Summary

In this part I will focus on Taehyung and things he has mentioned in regards to making songs. Mostly I will speculate about the mixtape and then there is a final summary of this series of posts and the things I found the most interesting to keep in mind.

This is the last part and also the shortest one. I’ve had a lot of fun writing this, so before anything I just want to say thank you all for reading, and hope that you found this analysis worth your time.

7 - Taehyung’s songs not being all he wants to say

This isn’t related to Vmin, but I also want to mention how it seems some songs of Taehyung might be a bit held back, or at least that he might not fully be able to express all he wants in them.

The first example is how Namjoon says this about 4 o’clock in his fan café post:

"Through this song, Taehyung may not be able to express all of his emotions, but I hope that we'll be able to express it as much as possible. I hope it is the closest expression of Taehyung's dawn!"

To me this all sounds like an important moment for Taehyung, with emotions he wanted to express. And Namjoon points out Taehyung might not be able to express "all of his emotions" as read in his fan café post. If this was all I might not react because I can understand it might be difficult for someone else to truly understand and fully express something that comes from someone else. For Stigma Namjoon also said it "sounds like Taehyung has his own story". But of course for most of their solo songs on Wings we didn’t get to hear all that much of the meaning behind them.

But somehow there are a few of these expressions and examples where it really seems like Taehyung might be held back somewhat, perhaps in particular when it comes to songwriting.

There is of course the Christmas song, and that is probably the most direct example. Even more so relevant from a Vmin perspective because it also touches on the subject of romantic expressions between Vmin because of the lyrics being “not fit for two men to sing” and being denied for that reason.

Then we also have the way Taehyung spoke about Sweet Night and Inner Child.

First in this Vlive with Namjoon, where he said he tends to write what he has felt himself when speaking about Inner Child.

In the same clip Taehyung also said it was difficult to get to express the things he wanted. That the staff had a hard time and that he wasn't able to realize what was in his mind. But it’s very difficult to say if this was about sound or lyrics/expression.

It’s really impossible to make a song analysis for Vmin and not reference other analysis of other songs at this point... But I’ve talked about Sweet Night before in Sweet Night - Song analysis and HERE.

But then he later on also confirmed in an interview that Sweet Night in particular was meant for his mixtape, and thus not meant for the drama. Once again it’s a song that starts from Taehyung’s feelings.

We know that Taehyung likes to write things he has felt, and we know he has sometimes seemingly had struggles to express those things. I don’t know if these other examples (except with Happy Christmas) are more about being unable to express it because he doesn’t know how, but it could also be him not being able to express certain things.

Because then there is the "Tone it down" comment he apparently got to hear from Bang PD which Taehyung mentioned in relation to the making of BE when talking about his own mixtape.

Yoongi brings up a valid question, because while we know that Blue & Grey is a song that talks about Tae’s hardships and that BTS in general can bring up “darker” topics. We don’t know if this was a comment on a particular song or if Tae had several and we have no clue to what kind of details they might want Taehyung to tone down. I do know many (not just Vminies) have wondered if it might be LGBT+ related, but again we only have speculations here.

Speaking of LGBT+ I also can’t help but notice that there are 3 possible LGBT+ references in Taehyung’s songs. The first and most obvious being the lyric reference to the movie Moonlight in 4 o’clock, secondly the cover of Confessions of a mask seemingly being used as inspiration for imagery in Singularity, and thirdly the “You make me want to be a better man” line from Snow Flower being a possible reference from the movie As good as it gets. On top of this there is of course Happy Christmas basically being denied because it’s romantic lyrics that isn’t “fit” for Vmin to sing together.

I think that the music Taehyung makes is very important and personal to him, as he has said as much. I think it says very much that 4 o’clock and Happy Christmas involve Jimin to some extent at least and that Taehyung has many times talked about giving Jimin songs. If Taehyung is held back, it’s understandable that he would get frustrated. I think we even have a direct example with how he expressed the problem with his Christmas song live to us all.

What Taehyung gives us is things he wants to talk about and express, which to me is just another example of why looking at Taehyung and what he says and does kind of brings a bit more weight to any shipping or relationship conversation about him.

Lyrics like “sharing my fragile truth” or “I'll be back to tell another story of mine” to me in combination with the way he emphasis wanting to be honest and write about things he has felt is just another layer to Taehyung’s songs I find interesting.

What all these examples brings to mind to me as a Vminie is the Vmin Unit interview and Taehyung's "As honestly as possible".

For me it feels like Taehyung is telling us his story and his feelings “as well as he can” by expressing things through his songs, but that there could be reasons he isn’t saying everything he wishes he could say and perhaps even that the company might advise him to keep some things a bit more vague.

8. Taehyung’s mixtape

There are a few interesting aspects about Taehyung’s mixtape and what we might get on it and this section will be more speculation and theories about upcoming things.

First of all we know that Taehyung said there is a song that will be very similar to 4 o’clock on his mixtape (he talked about this the same day as Vmin’s unit interview for Friends). Another translation explains it as more of a “continuation” of 4 o’clock, which is definitely interesting if that’s the case.

Then there is just the general fact that Vmin seem very interested in collaborating and show a lot of interest in each other’s music in general.

We also got Taehyung mention he is writing a song for sleepless nights when he had a conversation with an ARMY on weverse May 4th 2020, meaning after the release of Sweet night but before Blue and Grey.

We did also get a snippet of the song “Sleep” on April 21st 2021 (at 4.24 am) so that could also have been the song he was talking about. Regardless Taehyung is really using this theme a lot.

We also got some interesting things from Taehyung which people wonder if it might have to do with his mixtape and a new song. It started on April 1st when Tae came back to Weverse after a while and, amongst others, commented on this post by an ARMY.

This is a very small detail, but the ARMY mentions Jimin as “a soft sunny spot of a spring day” and Taehyung as “the gentle breeze that brushes against your skin...” and Taehyung’s reply uses spring flowers (cherry blossoms) fluttering in the breeze. To be fair this is a reach, and it wouldn’t be weird if Tae didn’t think about Jimin’s role being in spring at all.

Then he tweeted about a song called Loop (by Peakboy) along with some cherry blossoms and a new expression.

Most interesting here is perhaps the line about “I am starting to feel more comfortable in the darkness.” As we know Taehyung seems to find the night sweet now, and this is another example that might point at it being something that has changed over time.

Then there is the "I flower purple you", which seems to be Taehyung's new name for cherry blossoms (or he just didn't have any better emoji). And if so the possibility of what that love means and how it can connect to spring and possibly Jimin (through his “Not Tata. It’s the face of I purple you” comment).

So we have the purple flower on the cover of Snow Flower and then Tae using Cherry blossoms together with the new tag. I am just saying that if Spring is a possible topic for a song on Taehyung’s album, I will be very curious to see what it says.

We also have Jimin drawing a Cherry blossom tree on his shoes in ITS. If Taehyung has been thinking about adding a song to his mixtape which uses references to spring or even more Cherry blossoms in particular, it’s possible Jimin was perhaps thinking of this song while choosing his motif. But this is definitely a reach and likely has no bigger meaning except that Jimin finds Cherry blossoms pretty.

And just recently at 4 o’clock in the morning on August 27th 2021 we had Jimin post “I miss you every single day” which does match with the lyrics of Spring Day “보고싶다”, though I definitely think this is too common to mean anything.

Still, there are a lot of small things to find, and either I am just finding things because I am looking, or there might be something to it. There are just a lot of matching things at this point, and I don’t know if they all can be random coincidences even though I am sure some of them are.

I don’t know if Taehyung will release his mixtape, or if he does if it will be what he wanted or at least started originally, but I hope he can release and sing the songs he wants to sing. Either way I will look forward to whatever he decided to share and am curious what stories he will sing about next.

9 - Summary

Spring Day was released in February 2017 as an addition to the Wings album on You never walk alone. Meaning it also comes very soon after Lie and Stigma which both have these themes of being in pain and feeling bad about themselves. There are also a lot of songs from Taehyung in particular (but also Jimin) about wanting to be together with someone but either having to wait or being unsure about the future. The time of release is the beginning of 2017, more precisely in February which was also a very good time for Vminies, not the least since we got the Soulmate claim. It was in other words during the Spring Day/Not today era where Vmin first claimed each other as soulmates in public.

If we put together that Taehyung both references the scene in 4 o'clock which Jimin is linked to, and uses scenes from Spring Day for Scenery it's possible Taehyung has done these references because they have personal meaning to him. And it's possible that since one of those references (4 o’clock) might be connected to Jimin that the other one (Spring Day) might be as well. Again, keep in mind the lyrics of Spring Day and in particular how it includes "you're my best friend" and how Taehyung has also used “Are you my best friend?” in the lyrics of Sweet Night which is also romantic.

Now of course this is all under the assumption that Winter Bear and Scenery too could be Vmin songs, but even if they aren’t at the very least it does seem to be examples of Spring Day being very important and inspiring for Taehyung. He references Spring Day directly for his own promotion of both Scenery and Winter Bear and considering the lyrics and themes I do think the songs could have connections through inspiration at least. If you want to read more on why those songs have other connections to Jimin you can also read my posts Vmin - Scenery, Promise and song connections and Vmin - Winter Bear analysis.

What we end up with are these:

Possible similar themes and lyrics between Spring Day and other Taehyung songs.

Possible thematic similarities for Jimin's songs as well.

Jimin and Taehyung both loving Spring Day and creating moments with each other during it.

Hobi referencing Spring Day in reaction to a Vmin moment.

Spring Day possibly being referenced for 4 o’clock release.

Spring Day being directly referenced in relation to Scenery twice.

Spring Day being referenced with the release promo for Winter Bear.

The possible scene between Vmin in the park from 4 o’clock being referenced in Scenery (also the release time of the teaser), meaning in extension Spring Day references to Scenery could have a connection to the same person.

Vmin both having a certain love for the winter season and night which they have used in their songs.

Friends including "Cold winters" as something they have gone through together.

Friends including them saying they want to stay together forever.

An interesting timeline with how Vmin was during Spring Day era and what songs Tae wrote around that time.

Many of the expressions in Taehyung’s songs matching how he talks and thinks about Jimin.

12 out of 13 songs having either the theme of Night/Day or Winter. And 4 out of these songs having confirmed direct links between Vmin.

As usual there are a lot of things in the details that are much more difficult to know if they have meaning or not, but at the very least there are many things that fits with the narrative that Spring Day means a lot to Taehyung and that he could be influenced by the themes and how they also match well with Jimin in particular.

If I would sum it up with Vmin as characters in this ongoing narrative in their songs it would look something like this:

Taehyung's perspective: It's difficult and he wonders what the future holds. He's unsure and doesn't know if he can pull Jimin closer even if he wants to and even if Jimin seems to feel the same it seems like a double edged sword. Being hidden or them not being able to be together as more than friends is something he struggles with. He wants to express himself and he tries through his songs. But even if they have each other now and he seems to gradually get more used to the "Night/Winter" over time, it is a constant struggle. He wishes that he was stronger, but Jmin being there with him helps him.

Jimin's perspective: We don't have as many songs from Jimin, so perhaps he doesn’t have as much of a need to express himself outwards in general. He is better at being ok with what they have, or at least at seeming like it. 'I say that it's all okay. But maybe that's not what I truly think.'. He can "sleep" early on and he smiles even though the smiles aren't always happy, and in contrast Taehyung can't. Basically what Jimin is doing is being better at hiding it. But Jimin also wants Taehyung to be his own light and night. In it all he also promises to stay and that Taehyung is his and expresses how he wants to be together when BTS is over.

I guess you could say that winter has been a hibernation period for their relationship. In particular for Jimin. But now they can both enjoy even this period because unlike earlier they are waiting together, they have reached each other, they can hold hands and give each other warmth when they need it. They know where they stand and have mostly reconciled with the thought of waiting to be together properly. Even if it's always going to be difficult.

I might be taking some of the lyrics a bit too literally. Either way it seems both of them are more ok with the current situation compared to before. To me if there is a Vmin perspective here it seems to slowly change with time in how they express it but that the want and wish to be together has always been there. It also seems possible that finally after all this time and uncertainty some things have become easier, and that there might even be change towards something even better in the future.

I’ve been working on this theory for a long time. Like I said, the original plan was to post on February 13th for the anniversary. But it was a lot bigger and took more time than expected. I also didn’t expect Taehyung to give me new reasons to raise my eyebrows. One being this new song 'Sleep' with it’s lyrics, and the other being the cherry blossoms he posted about. I am very curious to see what we might get for KTH1 when it comes out.

Spring is coming.

(Ok sorry for the joke but I am actually scared if Spring would be coming in regards to Taehyung's song narrative. Way more scary than Winter coming if you ask me.)

#vmin #vmin analysis #vmin song analysis #vmin spring day analysis #part 4 #vmin gif #Vmin song analysis - Winter in August #btsandvmin #my post #long post

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allsassnoclass · 3 years

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hi hazel I hope you're having a nice day! i was wondering if you could rec me some malum fics? length does not matter. i know I would have probably read most of them but i read most of the malum stuff before i made my ao3 so i can't even remember the ones i read and i would Love to read good ones whether i've already read them or not. i've said 'read' way too many times now avzcfhrb. in any case i would love to see what would make it on a hazel malum rec list! thank you i hope that's not annoying 🥰 -taylor<3

omg taylor did you know that you are the first person to ask me for fic recs like this. i'm very excited tbh. some of my favorite malum fics located below!

every malum rec list i make is going to start with make me a promise here tonight by @calumcest what can I say I just love this fic. so cute and very them yknow.

“Calum,” Michael says, walking into the bunk area and stopping in front of Calum’s bunk. “Cal.”

“What?” Calum asks, not looking up from his phone.

“I think we should get married.”

as for other helen fics, I also rec dancing with the demons (holy spirit, holy spirit), you're already the voice inside my head (i feel like this one might be up your alley specifically), it should be criminal that you could be mine, the first time i've seen love (and the last i'll ever need), and we know this is the way it's supposed to be

(unfortunately I haven't read these ones recently enough to know if there's alc in them or not)

another one of my absolute favorites is i got you right where i want you by @calumsclifford. very cute and sweet, although alcohol warning for the third section

“Next year. I’m going to plan you the cutest fucking anniversary you’ve ever seen in your life.” “It’s just a day,” Michael laughs. “It’s a day that means something, though. Let’s do something big, okay?"

or, 5 times Michael and Calum’s anniversary went wrong and one time it didn’t

also, and i breathe disaster, ever after (the winter soldier au) and it's no coincidence my hand fits perfectly in yours (cute 5+1 Valentine's day)

wake up with by asymmetric is one of my absolute favorites as well

Calum had been under the lights for ten minutes and he was already sweating.

(in which they film a lyric video and familiar things gain new meanings)

Yes, you make my life worthwhile by lumoon33 is nice and cute

"Hey Calum?"

"Yeah?"

"Do you love me?"

i'm loving what you got by asymmetric is also super cute

Michael accidentally (sort of) kisses Calum in Nashville and Calum realizes a few things.

Fallingforyou by ercareyes is also cute

Michael is five years old when he discovers his fascination with love.

Or alternatively:

Michael falls in love every day and falls out of love just as quickly. Calum is always there to catch him.

Love (and other acts of madmen) by TempestRising is actually one of my favorites, but the malum is very light in it due to the circumstances of the fic

...every nerve Michael has is on edge and his brain won't stop screaming Calum Calum Calum and his hands are still red, and there's still blood under his fingernails from where he cradled Calum's body before they tore them apart. "Well honey," the nurse says, "if you've got a god I'd start praying. You might be here a while."

Or: Calum gets shot at a concert.

big fan of @escapesos Peyton's work, today I'm going to shout out sure as hell the happiest i've ever been

“Why Vegas?” Calum asks.

Michael shrugs, trying to play it off but he can’t help the truth slipping out. “It seemed kind of romantic.”

“Gambling and Elvis impersonators are romantic to you?”

malum take a spontaneous trip to vegas. and they get married. spontaneously.

also so say that i'm a rainbow (and tell me that I'm bright)

“Of course I want to, I’d love nothing more than to share what we have with the world. But only if you want to.”

Maybe there’s something familiar in Michael’s eyes that settles Calum. It’s the way he’s looking at him, he thinks, because it’s the way he’s been looking at him since they were 15 and didn’t know what they were doing with anything. The eyes looking back at him are the same eyes he fell for all those years ago. It’s just Michael.

“I want to.”

mali-koa writes a pride song. michael and calum use it to come out.

from Bella @clumsyclifford we have the malum section of spidy!au, latest nostgalgia, or happily ever after

Calum’s not cute.

Well, okay, Calum is cute, but that’s not something a straight guy should be thinking about, and — Michael’s not straight, but he’s trying to keep that particular fact on the down-low, so he can’t really speak to it. Still, objectively speaking, Calum is cute, and Calum is talking, and if Michael were the type to get distracted by cute boys talking, he’d be fucked.

He blinks. Calum’s watching him.

“Sorry?” Michael echoes. “I missed that last part.”

also by Bella, a part of my heart that you'll never change

Then they release an album, and that blows up, and then Calum somehow convinces management that they should go to Brazil for the World Cup, which is weird because Michael is pretty sure they’re scheduled to play the Where We Are Tour for, like, all of the World Cup, except apparently the Switzerland show has been conveniently cancelled (not convenient for the Swiss, though, Michael guesses), and that leaves them with a comfortable three-day window.

They go to Brazil.

i know this whole damn city thinks it needs you is the amazing superhero au by @igarbagecannoteven

But when Calum had become apprentice to the city’s biggest superhero two months ago, a lot of things changed. The main one was their nights. Instead of staying up doing homework and hanging out until they both crashed into their respective beds, Calum would slip out their window to save the day and catch the bad guys, and Michael would lay awake in bed until Calum returned, paralyzed with the fear that some night Calum wouldn’t come back at all.

the creek walk small talk series by @cringeycal is awesome, i love adri's writing style

Seeing a stranger’s footprint in his spot rips apart the imaginary curtain Michael’s woven between his creek and the rest of the world. Right now, he needs that curtain fully intact and drawn tightly shut.

A splash louder than the average rush of the creek comes from off to Michael’s left, downstream. He doesn’t bother looking. He knows who it is.

“Rough day?” asks Calum, sitting cross-legged on the ground next to the log, halfway in the water.

I could sift through works by various other writers we both know to find more but these are the ones coming to mind right now!

#ask #taylor #fic rec #malum #i feel like there's less malum out in the world than there used to be #i feel like people used to write them more #it's probably less that malum isn't being written and more that other pairings have become more popular around it #so malum isn't being written less the others are just being written more #which makes me feel better about having two malum fics in the oven right now #gotta ensure that they're equally represented in current fic stats

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oswaldsleftbicep · 3 years

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the boys and songs i associate with them

behold, my magnum opus (edit: i finally made a spotify playlist for this lol)

any songs or explanations that could contain potential spoilers, including dark ending spoilers, will be marked with "!!!" as a warning, and i will try to make the explanations as vague as possible. there will also be songs that relate to their relationship with the mc, but there's nothing i can do about the pronouns in the songs so i apologize if that makes anyone uncomfortable. links will lead to lyric videos or videos with lyrics in the description :)

cw: explicit songs, potential spoilers, angst for some of the songs sorry

Lucia

❧ talk too much - coin; this man talks a lot, he's annoying and is prone just blurt things out without thinking sometimes. i think this song captures his teasing nature as well

❧ collard greens - schoolboy q ft. kendrick lamar; mans lives a life of luxury, and he's also a party man. the song has a cocky tone that i think lucia would get down to, especially the first half of the second verse

❧ you got cool - mansions; i feel like this song kinda captures his relationship with levy. like levy has changed, lucia realizes this and knows it's only natural, but he wishes he could go back to how things were

❧ !!! infinity - one direction; i imagine this is what his thought process was like, the chorus in particular, after what happened to you in the dark ending

Levy

❧ little dark age - mgmt; ok this one's really hard to explain. it's got a dark academia vibe that levy also has. it's also dark and mysterious, kinda vibes with when he was doing his little military scheme

❧ hurt - oliver tree; y'all,, the lyrics,, they just fit. the song matches his view of his relationship with lucia and you even, as well as his own internal doubts about himself

❧ !!! run - hozier; so obviously ignore the hints of domestic abuse but this song fits well with that part of his route where you're running to him on the battlefield. it shows how much levy depends on you to be with him

❧ idfc - blackbear; this song relates to how levy hid his feelings for you at first and how he has insecurities about being with you, but those feelings are pushed aside by his desire to just be with you no matter what

Mefy

❧ you too. - chase atlantic; i feel that this song fits well with his relationship with mc. it's got a soft yet dark tone to it, and the lyrics have an apathetic vibe to them. some sections have lines that really match with mefy's attitude, like the second pre-chorus and the chorus

❧ !!! you should see me in a crown - billie eilish; this song matches perfectly how he wants to overthrow lucia and become king himself. the beginning part reflects how he was so patient and meticulous with his plans, and the chorus reflects his dark and borderline cruel personality and actions

❧ t r a n s p a r e n t s o u l - willow; i feel like this song reflects mc and mefy's feelings towards each other, kinda like in an alternating way, or like one or the other. like the second pre-chorus is mefy to mc, and the first pre-chorus is mc to mefy

❧ everybody wants to rule the world - lorde; i was torn between this version and the original tears for fears version of the song, but i decided on this one because it emphasizes the darker intentions that mefy has and has a more menacing and inevitable vibe to it

Oswald

❧ !!! don't fear the reaper - blue oyster cult; the song doesn't match his story perfectly since the song's about death, but if you listen to it with him in mind, it's perfect. like it's just reassuring him not to be afraid of his condition

❧ work song - hozier; ugh two of my favorite things: hozier and oswald. this song shows the total devotion and undying love y'all have toward each other, especially the end of the second verse and the beginning of the bridge

❧ it will come back - hozier; what'd i tell y'all, hozier and oswald. so mans has been compared to a dog many times, which fits with the song. it also fits with how he warns you several times not to get close with him, but you do anyways

❧ kryptonite - 3 doors down; i feel that this song matches him really well, particularly the chorus. he's strong and reliable like superman, always protecting those around him, and he worries about maintaining those relationships when he goes "crazy"

❧ !!! animal i have become - three days grace; he's my favorite so he gets a fifth song because i make the rules here :) but like this song with his situation with being a reaper?? it's perfect

Kaim

❧ !!! dance with the devil - breaking benjamin; i associate dancing with him cuz he's always the one to teach mc how to ballroom dance. i also thought that, if you pay close attention to the lyrics, you can make connections to his dark ending

❧ !!! time of dying - three days grace; this song reminds me of his route after his little,, altercation with noel. there's not much i can say without spoiling everything but i feel this song connects to what he was thinking and feeling throughout those events

❧ i hear a symphony - cody fry; this song has a classical music type feel, which is something i associate with kaim heavily. the lyrics also reflect how kaim kinda softened up and was able to see more depth in things after he met and fell in love with you

❧ the phantom of the opera - prague cello quartet; ok so this version doesn't have any lyrics, but it's not like they really fit with his character anyway. i've always believed that kaim would get down the musical, and this version of the song captures a more classical feel that he would probably groove to, it's so funky

Mikael

❧ !!! ghost on the dance floor - blink-182; this reflects his dark ending really well, like when he visited the holy spring after what happened to you

❧ light my love - greta van fleet; i believe that mikael is fascinated by your mind, he loves all of the stories that you tell him and loves how you let him experience your old world through them. this song reflects that fascination and has a classy, chill music tone that fits his character

❧ stars - les miserables; i know mikael likes to look and consult the stars and it always reminded me of this song from les mis. also if he could ever watch the musical, i think he'd really like javert

❧ !!! as the world caves in - matt maltese; it's not exactly the same scenario, but this song reminds me a lot of the end of his route and like how mikael has to come to terms with his fate

Ricardo

❧ a love like war - all time low ft. vic fuentes; this man loves war and is quite violent, so the idea of him comparing love to war isn't that far off

❧ angel with a shotgun - the cab; i mean,, c'mon. this song is more classically romantic than ricardo is, but i feel like it could still reflect what he feels deep down about you; like he's willing to step up against how he's always been in order to protect and care for you

❧ !!! another way out - hollywood undead; i know in his route you don't like,, actively try to run away from him, but i still feel that this song kinda represents mc's,, situation in his route

❧ i wanna be your slave - måneskin; this song gives off the same freaky vibes that he does. i have nothing else to say about that

Noel

❧ !!! be nice to me - the front bottoms; the middle portion of the first verse reflects his situation with memory loss and struggle to understand emotions. the chorus relates to his relationship with oswald and maybe even ricardo

❧ breaking the habit - linkin park; i think this song reflects how noel struggles with understanding emotions, both his own and other people's. he wants to try and get past his apathy but he doesn't even know how he became the way he is in the first place

❧ outrunning karma - alec benjamin; noel's done a lot of bad things and has hurt a lot of people in his life, intentional or not. i feel like at some point he'd realize what he's done and have to come to terms with it

❧ !!! nightmares - all time low; when he got his memory back i couldn't help but think about how he has to remember and relive all the trauma he went through as a kid. like you can't tell me he doesn't start having nightmares again after all that

Lucas

❧ like real people do - hozier; lucas and mc are both the odd ones out in nightmare, so they kinda support each other in fitting in like "real people". the chorus kind of relates to him keeping secrets about who he is and where he's from

❧ !!! circles - eden; this song was suggested by a friend :) y'all,, the first verse?? and the "a lifetime in repeat"?? it's him. and the melancholic tone reflects his exhaustion at repeating everything and his longing to make mc happy

❧ tangled up in you - staind; this song reflects how important you are to him. you're his entire world and the only consistent thing in his life. and y'all,,, the bridge??

❧ no wind resistance! - kinneret; the intro and first line of the second verse heavily reflect his story and existence. the song has kind of an otherworldly being type tone to it, like the singer is powerful and extremely wise, which lucas is. also the whole being able to run faster thing makes me giggle and think of him

#my. hcs #pls yall this took so long #enjoy my diverse music taste lmao #nightmare harem #nightmare harem lucia #nightmare harem levy #nightmare harem mefy #nightmare harem kaim #nightmare harem oswald #nightmare harem mikael #nightmare harem ricardo #nightmare harem noel #nightmare harem lucas #otome games

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insomnihan · 3 years

Text

han’s Entire Thoughts & Feelings on Dreamcatcher’s “BEcause”

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WE ARE F UCKING UNDER ATTAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAACK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

there are no read mores here so ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

ALRIGHT SO-

THE SONG WHERE DO I START WELL- I SAW A COMMENT SOMEWHERE THAT WAS LIKE ‘THIS HAS GOODNIGHT CREEPINESS WITH RED SUN ESSENCE’ WHOEVER THAT WAS YOUR BRAIN IS GINORMOUS™ AND WRINKLY- IF YOU LISTEN TO IT THE SLIGHT SUMMER VIBE IS TOTALLY THERE YET THE PIANO AND THE HARP (MAYBE I DUNNO BUT WHAT I DOONO IS THAT IT SLAPS) THE PRE CHORUS BUILD UP FAST AS HELL THE DRUMS ARE FAST AS S HIT THE CLOCK IS SO CREEPY THE GUITAR IS JUST ASDFFJGHLHKL;;’ THE DOUBLE TIME DURING DAMIS RAP THAT WAS LITERALLY™ AN ATTEMPT TO TAKE MY LIFE (they were this 👌 close istg) AND THEN THE BRDIGE…………………… SOMEONE TAKE THE WHEEL-

AND THEN THEIR VOICES POWERFUL AS ALWAYS AND THAT F UCKING DISTORTION S HIT DURING ‘FOREVER LOVE AND FOREVER MINE’ IS ACTUAL DR*GS- i dunno what it is but the instrumental being like that and then (to me anyway) theres such a sweet undertone (???) in how they sing and then knowing the lyrics likE I KNOW THEYRE OBSESSED- B O I DO I MISS A FAST DAMI RAP P L E A S E I FEEL LIKE SHES THREATENING ME I LOVE THAT PSYCHO NOISE B ICYJ- THAT BRIDGE IS F UCKING CRAZY SIYEONS AND HANDONGS AND YOOHYEONS GENTLE VOICES AND THEN S U A!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! YOUREALLYGOTTACOMEOUTOFTHELEFTGODDAMNFIELDWITHTHATICANTSTANDYOUHOWDAREYOUJUSTAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

hello hello for the dance section i will be using THE mcountdown performance yEAH THE ONE POSTED BEFORE THE ACTUAL MV/ALBUM DROP- FIRST OF ALL THE INTRO sorry i have to talk about this theyre so creepy and doll like and jiu is so menacing lIKE WHAT THE F UCK IS THAT (someone answer me what iN THE F CUK did she feed yoohyeon)- NOW ANYWAY I HAVE THINGS TO SAY ABOUT THE ACTUAL DANCE-

OFF THE BAT THE MIRROR INTRODUCTION IS *CHEFS KISS* and then gahyeon choking jiu?????????? LORE????????? IN CHOREOGRAPHY?????????

LISTEN. L I S T E N. ALL OF THEM LIFTING YOOHYEON AT 1:29 LIKE THATS INSANE AND SO FITTING FOR THIS SONG AND VIBE plus yknow………………… handong doing a lot of the lifting………… 👉👈

this specific video doesnt show it during suas verse (which is like Rude™ but fine they show it elsewhere obv) but when shes singing and the rest of them are dropping down slowly………………… yeah-

THE CHORUS EVERY👏SINGLE👏F UCKING👏TIME👏 LIKE THE POSE THEY DO FOR ‘BE’?????????????? THE POWER AND THE GENIUS™ OF IT??????????????????????

DAMI UNHAND ME UNHOLY DEMON!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

the bridge…………… the rocking from side to side…………… whatever the f uck handong and yoohyeon are doing…………… it was almost like sua was controlling everyone right like deadass im scared-

THE DANCE BREAK PLS LET ME BREATHE

the ending with everyone bowing but gahyeon…………

BICTH……………… BICHY- THE VISUALS JUST KEEP LEVELING THE F UCK UP THATS LIT RALLY INSANE I LOVE THAT FOR THEM- the moment that mystery code was revealed and we were getting demented creepy carnival i waS V I B R A T I N G™ WITH EXCITEMENT the creepy scenery of the dark hotel lobby and the rundown carnival with the merry go round and teacups AND WITH A CULT and the hallway with the mirrors and the lights (like the use of SO much red and green……… the symbolism………) JUST EVERYTHING IS SO F UCKING ABANDONED AND S HIT- THE LITERAL MIRRORING AND DIMENSION S HIT WHAT THE F UCK!!!!!!!!!!!! THAT CREEPY ASS ROOM WHERE THEY KIDNAPPED GAHYEON IN AND SIYEON WAS ACTING ALL TWITCHY OR WHATEVER WHAT WAS THAT-

TIME TO SHOW WHICH SCENES I LIKED

youtube

THE WHOLE GODDAMN THI-

(jk ☺️)

OFF THE BAT GAHYEON MAIN CHARACTER I KNOW THATS RIGHT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

…………………… i just wanted to put this here-

i just wanted to put this here too-

HOW DID YOU EVEN GET HERE

id like to think that the real handong is one getting dragged away and the one standing is the doppelganger (for Plot™ purposes)

W H A T T H E F U C K

I DUNNO WHAT TO SAY OTHER THAN IM SCARED-

G OD WHAT IS HAPPENING HERE THIS PART WAS SO WEIRD WHAT DOES THIS MEAN WHAT DOES IT MEAN

HELLO??????????????????

yeah sure let me take this apple from this broken mirror where another me lies within the walls of this creepy hotel anD EAT IT

W E L P-

………………………………… F-

T H E M

I DUNNO HOW IM BREATHING RN-

JIU

whaT IN THE F UUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUCK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! THIS SCENE IN THIS SCREENSHOT IS ALREADY A LOT the way she looks seemingly unassuming and harmless in that reception desk that brown and white outfit (is her hair in like………… pigtails???) and then the smile to the instant glare you jusT KNOW youre gonna d*e in that place- MAAAAN BANGS OR NO BANGS SHES STUNNING EITHER WAY AND THATS SO RUDE………… the white dress and those red ACTUAL TALONS will be the d*ath of me

SUA

if i counted correctly she had three (3) different outfits??? outside of the dance ones??? white and red then black and purple then that green and black one??? i think of all of those i really like the red and the green one theres SOMETHING ABOUT THEM i think the green one with the big puffy sleeves more NOT BC ITS MY FAVORITE COLOR I SWEAR the green looks silky and then she also has the thing on the side of her face the pearls in her hair- AND THEN THAT RED ONE with the white sleeves and the frilly collar dude whAT THE F UCK LIKE I KNOW WE SAW IT A LOT BUT I WANNA SEE MORE THO……………

SIYEON

OKAYOKAYOKAY LOOK- THIS OUTFIT IN THIS SCREENSHOT I FEEL LIKE I SHOULDNT LIKE IT YET I DO????????????? two completely different looking patterns that animal print and the strips and then that big ass belt (???) around her waist like this shouldnt be like a GOOD look i dont think……… truly only She™ could make this look work 😔😔😔 i got A LOT A LOT to say about the red and orange plaid crop top and skirt with the different colored clips in her head but the only thought going through my Dumb of Ass Stupid Brain™ iS HAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA-

HANDONG

HAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! MY NATURAL BLONDE BELOVED this white dress and the BLACK BOOTS AND THE CHOKER SHE BETTER S TOP- AND DO NOT I REPEAT D O N O T!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! SPEAK TO ME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! ON THAT SHORT WHITE DRESS WITH THE WHITE BOOTS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! WHOEVER STYLED HER YOU DONT CARE ABOUT ME AND THE OTHER HANDONGISTS YET I ALSO LOVE YOU SO MUCH the one with the pink dress dont talk to me dont approach me donT EVEN F UCKING LOOK AT ME IM GOING THROUGH A LOT RN

YOOHYEON

im really Dumb of Ass™ i thought that one pink and (maybe???) super light blue dress had a clock on it- BUT MOVING ON FROM THAT the space buns and whatever those accessories those are and the pink makeup this is sO- then the white dance outfit with those (mesh??? lace??? i just know that its see through-) sleeves and those big ass earrings THAT LOOK AT 2:24 the boots (yeah i gotta mention that first since i just ALWAYS have to mention them) the white blazer all those pearl long ass necklaces and whatever that is on the side of her face why do her visuals HURT SO BAD-

DAMI

bicth…………………………………… B I C T H- WHAT HAS THIS WOMAN BEEN DOING??????!!?!?!?!?!!?!?!?!?!??!??!?!?! THIS OUTFIT IS SUCH AN ATTACK I DONT EVEN KNOW WHAT THAT IS ON HER FACE THIS WHOLE LOOK IS SOMETHING ELSE™ her tattoo 🥵🥵🥵🥵🥵🥵🥵 that bottom part of her hair is kinda clapped tho honestly- the pig tails?????? braids?????? in the dancing part on the black and white tiles IM DOWN YALL IM DOWN SO BAD AND ITS F UCKING RUDE™ THAT WE DONT SEE S HIT OF THAT DRESS AT THE END-

GAHYEON

IM GONNA SAY IT AGAIN LEE👏GAHYEON👏MAIN👏CHARACTER👏I👏KNOW👏THATS👏RIGHT👏👏👏👏👏👏👏!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! THIS RED HAIR IS A BLESSING (especially in that high ponytail i-) SHE IS ATTACKING ME BUT YKNOW WHAT THATS OKAY- im SURE theres a plot significance to her two different dresses the mostly black and the mostly white but my brain can only register WOMAN PRETTY that white one in particular…………… the choker with her hair up and those boots…………… i saw it clear as day and im d wording over it-

BONUS TIME: B-SIDE TRACKS (thoughts and parts i liked)

Intro

i usually expect the intro to be like SUPER HYPE AND INTENSE yknow which it kinda is! however it is consistent that it fits very well and captures the overall vibe of the entire album the calm beginning with the bell like were walking into an establishment and at the halfway point it picks up its intriguing and the ‘i like you’ adds a subtle eeriness that adds just enough to make one wanna continue listening its v good 👌

Airplane

LISTEN……………… LISTEN- this is the VERY LAST genre i expected out of this group YET im not even a little bit shocked that they did this like this cutesy izone-esque summer bop of a song is a DREAMCATCHER™ song……………… YALL- THE AMOUNT OF SEROTONIN THAT ‘AIRPLANE LALALALALALA~~~~~~~’ BRINGS IS SOMETHING SO PERSONAL THIS SECOND GENERATION SUMMERY ASS INSTRUMENTAL WHAT IN THE F UCK- I FEEL LIKE IM RUNNING ON THE BEACH I FEEL THE COLD WIND OF THE WATER BUT THE HEAT OF THE SUN AGAINST MY SKIN AND IM PLAYING WITH A DAMN BEACH BALL WITH A COCONUT DRINK (I F UCKING H*TE LEAVING MY HOUSE) JIU AND DAMI SOUND SO F UCKING PHENOMENAL

Whistle

im pretty firm on believing these b sides represent different times of a summer day and this is the late evening or twilight like not nighttime but CLOSE- i thought i wasnt gonna like the whistling part but that only makes it catchieR THIS SONG IS MAKING ME YEARN AND TRYING TO RECALL LOVELY MEMORIES I DONT EVEN HAVE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! then again……………… theres always usually a song on their albums that make me unlock and feel hidden emotions………… THIS SONG GOT ME MISSING A PERSON THAT ISNT REAL this is such a mellow yet so powerful in the way they sing and express each syllable- they all did so good on this song but i gotta mention dami again for her part like oH mY gOoOoOooOoOOOooOD

Alldaylong

JIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIUUUUUUUUUUUUU!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! the way this song was inspired by a hug jiu got from yoohyeon…………… THIS IS NOT A JOKE she said ‘i wanna try city pop’ anD SHE DONE DID IT- i have NO IDEA how this song managed to hold so much joy and light happiness in every word and instrument used in this but im :ccccccc i literally wanna hug someone after listening to this 😔😔😔 this also makes me yearn for something but at least this one isnt unrealistic or unobtainable i dont think! there are some songs out there that make me cry from its lyrics and its sound but THIS ONE the lyrics and just how happy this song is bro reading the lyrics im about to cry for like the fifth time- they who im love so much… :ccccccc doesnt it make you just wanna hug someone and tell them you love them????????? that you appreciate them??????????

해바라기의 마음 (A Heart of Sunflower)

i knew FOR A FACT FOR👏A👏FACT👏 that they were gonna have a ballad for this album bc road to utopia didnt have one i will admit i was one of the 🤡 that thought jiu would be credited on this song 😬😬😬 ANYWAY- AGAIN WITH THE DAMN YEARNING FOR SOMETHING BUT THIS TIME IM F UCKING SAD AS S HIT why must this song be so powerful to make me emotional before i even got to read the lyrics to fully grasp it……………………… now im truly yearning in the Sad™ way and waiting for some imaginary person who i dont even know will even come back…………………… those damn adlibs are pretty as hell it was sua (and i have to mention dami again okay shes really killing it on this she woNT LET ME LIVE-) who got me feeling this the most like yeah…………………… i am a fool…………… im a fool for loving and missing someone who just disappeared from my lifE G O D D A M N IT-

LIKE this is COMPLETELY surprising album BUT IN THE BEST WAY POSSIBLE as its described it really is a ‘special’ album as while the title track still has their music style and sound theres still an element of summer (a very Terrifying™ summer BUT a ✨Summer✨ album nonetheless) like the b sides are SO different and COMPLETELY caught me off guard when i listened to the highlight medley YET this group of seven amazing and talented women pulled it off!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! its extremely obvious at this point that their steady and organic growth has grown VERY HIGH this time and (although im still very confused by how everything was released and announced BUT i digress) this different kind of method in performing the song the day before seemed to work?????????? I DUNNO WHAT TO SAY ANYMORE this section could literally be summed to just I LOVE DREAMCATCHER SO MUCH 😭😭😭😭😭😭😭

IN CONCLUSION: LISTEN TO THIS ALBUM BECAUSE ITS BOMB AS F UCK

AND AS ALWAYS

#these are becoming harder to do i dunno why i cant focus 😔#i wanted to switch handongs and yoohyeons pictures as a joke but i didnt want people to think i was stupid and fake 🤡#dreamcatcher #han.txt #han's afterthoughts

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passionate-reply · 3 years

Video

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This week on Great Albums: one of very few albums that I think is truly perfect. John Foxx’s second solo LP, The Garden, is a masterpiece of Medieval mysticism, romantic longing, and modern electronics. Transcript below the break!

Welcome to Passionate Reply, and welcome to Great Albums! In this installment, I’ll be looking at a classic sophomore album, and one which epitomizes the principle of taking one’s sound in a different direction the second time around: The Garden by John Foxx, first released in 1981.

While The Garden was Foxx’s second release as a solo artist, it’s also his fifth LP overall, as he had spent the late 1970s fronting the original incarnation of Ultravox. Foxx’s Ultravox was an eclectic mix of influences from glam, punk, and, of course, electronic pioneers like Kraftwerk, but it would be the latter of these ideas that dominated Foxx’s solo career. His 1980 solo debut, Metamatic, is some of the purest, starkest, and harshest minimal synth around, and remains one of the most iconic early works of the subgenre.

Music: “Underpass”

If you want more like Metamatic from Foxx, you’ll want to skip ahead to the 1990s, because he turned his back on this thin and aggressively inorganic sound remarkably quickly. While he would produce several more LPs in the 1980s, the group of them seems to grow progressively lighter and softer, with less blistering analogue synth, and more radio-friendly love themes. But while Foxx’s third and fourth efforts are often panned, The Garden has actually won nearly as many fans over the years as Metamatic, proving itself to be powerful in its own ways, despite its radically different aesthetic. Where Metamatic dealt in brutalist city blocks and Ballardian psycho-sexuality, The Garden takes place in moldering cathedrals, embracing Gothic splendour and (imagined) Medieval emotionality.

Music: “Europe After the Rain”

“Europe After the Rain” opens the album, and also served as its lead single, becoming a relatively minor hit in the charts. As we hear it, we immediately become aware that Foxx has abandoned the instrumental palette of Metamatic, made almost exclusively with an ARP 2600 synthesiser, in favour of something more lush. On “Europe After the Rain,” traditional instruments like acoustic guitar and piano are impossible to ignore, though the constant bass synth ensures we never forget Foxx’s roots either. It also seems to be a major thematic leap away from Metamatic, with its tender and romantic feel. Still, that may not necessarily be all there is to it--the song is presumably named after a famous painting of the same title, by the Surrealist Max Ernst, executed in the early 1940s as World War II was first beginning. Ernst’s painting is a sort of apocalyptic vision, in which crumbling structures are overtaken by vegetation, and two figures wander through it, seemingly passing by one another. Perhaps Foxx’s “Europe After the Rain” is also a theme for a devastated landscape, its lovers meeting again the last survivors of some nuclear holocaust? Maybe it isn’t too far away from the themes of crushing modernity employed on Metamatic after all.

Note, as well, the emphasis on “Europe,” conceptually--The Garden is, at least partially, a sort of search for a new European cultural identity. The Garden fuses electronics, and hence Europe’s characteristic technological achievements, with a love of more traditional European cultural ideals, namely, the aesthetics of Medieval Christianity. For evidence of that idea, look no further than its most obvious apotheosis, the track “Pater Noster.”

Music: “Pater Noster”

“Pater Noster” is, of course, a setting of the Latin-language translation of the so-called “Our Father” or Lord’s Prayer, one of the most popular and well-known texts in Christianity. “Pater Noster” is the album’s most obvious love letter to the Middle Ages, but an informed listen will show that it has little to do with actual music from that era--I actually could forgive the synthesisers, which might be analogized to the role of church organs, but the percussion-propelled nature of the track is what really makes it feel ahistorical to me. Despite the religious themes of The Garden, Foxx always averred not being any sort of authentic believer in religion or God, and maintained that he was interested in the traditions of the Church purely on aesthetic grounds. Whether you think this sort of appropriation is appropriate and respectful or not, it’s certainly one of the album’s prominent themes, and part of what makes it feel as unique as it does. While I’ve emphasized the themes of romanticism and religiosity, it’s also worth noting that The Garden is not a complete break from Foxx’s earlier works, and in its return to a more guitar-driven sound, it often winds up riffing on something not unlike punk.

Music: “Systems of Romance”

Astute followers of Foxx will have already noticed that the track “Systems of Romance” shares its title with the third and final LP he released with Ultravox, in 1979. Apparently, it was written that much earlier, though it wouldn’t be seen to completion until several years later. Combining a hard-driving guitar, played by Foxx’s Ultravox bandmate Robin Simon, with the inscrutable, sensual, elemental lyricism Foxx employs throughout his mid-80s oeuvre, the track “Systems of Romance” really feels like a bridge between 70s art rock and 80s avant-synth-pop, moreso than anything else on the album. Much as “Systems of Romance” extracts a certain prettiness from punk, so does the aesthetically-oriented “Night Suit,” which plays with appearance, deception, and masculinity.

Music: “Night Suit”

“Night Suit” is the track on The Garden that I feel is the most exemplary of its own time period, a mysterious ode to a mystical garment that could almost feel at home on an album by Visage. The Garden is interested in “romantic” themes, but “Night Suit” truly feels at peace among the New Romantics. It’s got some of the most “believable” rock influences, with a prominent guitar riff from Simon, and yet its emphasis on the power of fashion and appearances, destructive, and perhaps even supernatural, is hard to imagine in a genuine punk context. As it implores us to “be someone” or “be no-one,” it’s easy to fit “Night Suit” into one of the major themes throughout Foxx’s career: the tranquility and liberation of personal anonymity. Why is the “Night Suit” a suit in the first place? The song wouldn’t make sense if it didn’t deal with a garment that is also a non-garment, something to wear that feels default, neutral, and unassuming--not to mention classically masculine.

On the cover of The Garden, the main thing we see is, well, a garden. Despite Foxx’s more obvious personal presence on the albums before and after The Garden, it’s easy to miss him here, dwarfed by the scale of nature that surrounds him. It’s almost like the album is more meant to be about this place, and the concept of “the garden,” than it is Foxx as a person, or any particular perspective of his.

While the actual capital-R Romantics were deeply interested in the “sublime,” and the scenes and moments in which mankind faces its vulnerability and insignificance when compared to the natural world, it’s also worth remembering that a “garden,” by definition, is really not a natural space at all, but rather one which is arranged by human hands. Even if this composition resembles those of Romantic painters, I think it’s worth looking earlier in the European past to interpret this one. Gardens were one of the most prominent symbols in Medieval literature, and scholars have suggested that they serve as symbols for sensuality, romance, and the yoni itself. Through the association with the Garden of Eden, gardens often represent a sort of lost, but longed-for paradise, and a return to innocence which is as tantalizing as it is impossible. In particular, “Europe After the Rain,” with its theme of lovers meeting again after the passage of some time, seems to connect with this idea.

In hindsight, The Garden really stands alone in Foxx’s career, a masterpiece whose precise style he would never attempt again. We might say it became that Garden of Eden, to which the artist could never return. While Foxx’s interest in Medieval spirituality would return on ambient works like Cathedral Oceans, and he would occasionally return to love songs with an electronic backing, the precise combination of lovelorn bardistry with a flair for the baroque that appears on The Garden remains totally singular. Foxx’s follow-up to this album, 1983’s The Golden Section, narrows its thematic focus towards poppy love songs, and its instrumental focus, likewise, is that of a fairly unremarkable mid-80s synth-pop record. But at the same time, I like to think that tracks like “The Hidden Man” manage to maintain a sense of the mystical.

Music: “The Hidden Man”

My favourite track on The Garden is “Walk Away.” While it lacks the severe and tragic grandeur of the album’s title track, which closes the album on a lofty note, “Walk Away” shares some of its delicate qualities, reviving the soft piano that we heard on “Europe After the Rain.” Thematically, “Walk Away” seems to deal with fragility and transience, and the grave significance that a brief, passing moment may have--which makes that “delicateness” feel all the more poignant in context. Its call-and-response outro, featuring one of Foxx’s most anguished vocal performances, really makes it a stand-out. That’s everything for today--as always, thanks for listening!

Music: “Walk Away”

#music #album review #album reviews #great albums #john foxx

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putschki1969 · 4 years

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Wakana Covers ~ Anime Classics ~ Release

It’s officially the 9th of December in Japan which means it’s the release day of 『Wakana Covers ～Anime Classics～』! BANZAI! The album is now available for purchase in digital format in Japanese stores.

❗Please SUPPORT Wakana and BUY her album❗ ❗BUY a PHYSICAL COPY on CDJapan❗ ❗BUY it digitally on MORA JAPAN ~ TUTORIAL (no OTOTOY this time)❗ ❗Check your local iTunes store and Spotify after midnight❗

Here’s a quick REVIEW

THIS IS A GREAT ALBUM. I LOVE IT!! The tracklist is not what I would have hoped for but then again, I only know a handful of old anime songs so it’s really no surprise that none of them made it onto the album. I wasn’t really familiar with any of Wakana’s chosen songs but to her credit, she made me fall in love with almost all of them. The only tracks I do not like are “Yatsura No Ashioto No Ballade” and “Rain” but that’s not Wakana’s fault, it’s just that I do not care for those types of songs. Wakana’s vocals are really solid throughout the album, her voice was made for classical arrangements like this and I am forever grateful we are getting a full album and a concert on top of that. There are just a few sections here and there where I am not too happy with her choice of singing style but it doesn’t take away from my enjoyment. Question: Is it just me or are the instruments (strings in particular) overly loud sometimes? Occasionally they seem to almost drown out Wakana.

Detailed review below the cut〈(•ˇ‿ˇ•)-→

1. 時には昔の話を (Toki ni wa Mukashi no Hanashi wo) Arranger: Sin; I understand why they chose this as the leading track to promote the album. Everything about it is absolutely beautiful, Wakana’s vocals, the arrangement, the lyrics, the PV (from what we have seen so far). I have mentioned it before but her “hashitta” in the second chorus(?) kills me every time. And the way the strings build up in the first and last chorus. Ahhh, be still my heart I cannot take it. Btw, I am still not sure if you consider those two last lines in each of the three verses a proper chorus or if the song just consists of three elaborate verses..? But for the sake of this review, I will call them choruses XD 2. やさしさに包まれたなら (Yasashisa ni Tsutsumareta Nara) Arranger: Miki Sakurai; Gorgeous arrangement (especially with the added tin whistle). Kinda reminds me of the Concerning Hobbits theme from LotR. I am a big fan of Celtic and folk-ish elements. Miki Sakurai apparently is a big fan too. After all, her “Yakusoku no Yoake” which she wrote for Wakana’s first album also had strong Celtic vibes. My favourite part of the song is when Wakana sings that final “meseeji” in the last chorus, the arrangement here is beautiful. Still think Wakana’s vocals are a bit too cutesy but hell, it’s a cute song so I guess it seems fitting. 3. Rain Arranger: Shu Kanematsu; Wakana sounds great but the song doesn’t do anything for me. T_T 4. いのちの名前 (Inochi no Namae) Arranger: Shu Kanematsu; OMG, this brought tears to my eyes. SO SO BEAUTIFUL. The way her voice just blends with the strings. Her vocals are a tad quiet though compared to the instruments. Or is it just me? 5. やつらの足音のバラード (Yatsura No Ashioto No Ballade) Arranger: Sin; I can’t put my finger on what exactly I don’t like about this but I can’t seem to get into it. I guess it sounds a little too jazz-y for me...or is it blues? Either way, not my cup of tea but I can see why Wakana would like it this way. And hey, she does pull it off perfectly so who am I to complain? On a side note, those lyrics are just so perfect for Wakana, she doesn’t often get the chance to sing about dinosaurs :P EDIT: Future!Sarah is coming back to revise her opinion. After listening to the album on repeat for hours on end, I now LOVE this song. It’s charming. 6. Get Wild Arranger: Sin; One of the coolest arrangements on this album!! The strings are just PERFECTION. And Wakana SLAYS!! Who would have thought she can pull off a song like that. I mean, we already knew from gettign that teaser video but this is on a whole other level. Too much awesomeness. 7. 風のとおり道 (Kaze no Toorimichi) Arranger: Miki Sakurai; Ahhhhh, so precious and mystical, such a gorgeous arrangement!! I love how we start with just Wakana’s vocals. And then Miki Sakurai adds her magical touch again by inserting all those Celtic elements. The tin whistle fits perfectly. A couple of Wakana’s high notes no longer sound good to my ears here but overall I enjoy her singing. 8. 君をのせて (Kimi wo Nosete) Arranger: Sin; The arrangement is utterly charming, both the piano as well as the strings are perfect here, Wakana’s vocals in the verses are literally flawless. I kinda find myself wishing she had sung the chorus with a different voice though. Mind you, I don’t hate the one she is using here but it’s bordering on being a teeny-tiny bit too shrill and thin for my taste. It’s still solid (and nothing at all like her strained “ring your bell” voice let’s say) but it’s not what I personally enjoy most from her. Either way, I think she is hitting her notes just fine (as far as I can tell at least) and the style fits the overall sound of the song. Pus, they made up for the slightly thin vocals by adding a little harmony layer which I appreciate. 9. 愛にできることはまだあるかい (Ai ni dekiru koto wa mada aru kai) Arranger: Sin; Most of you may know this already but I am a HUGE fan of the cello so I am happy we have such a strong cello presence here. Those cello parts are so cool. Anyways, this turned out to be one of my favourite tracks even though I didn’t think I would ever like this song based on the YouTube teaser we got a while back. There is just so much raw emotion and fierceness in Wakana’s voice, towards the end she is hitting me right in the feels. I just can’t help but be drawn to the song. I am surprised by how well she handles songs that are originally sung by males. Her covers of this and “Get Wild” are just exceptional imo. They bring out a new side of Wakana which I really love. 10. 夢のゆくえ (Yume no Yukue) Arranger: Shu Kanematsu; While I didn’t know this song before listening to Wakana’s cover version, the melody reminded me a LOT of the old anime songs I used to like back in the day. The feeling of nostalgia is super strong in this one so naturally I enjoy it quite a bit. It’s not an outstandingly beautiful song or anything but the arrangement is lovely and Wakana’s vocals are on point.

»»—— CLICK ME 🎁 CLICK ME ——««

FOR PERSONAL USE ONLY. PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE, if you have the means, support Wakana in any way you can. Order a physical copy of her album, purchase it in digital format. Stream it legally on various streaming services. au

#kalafina #wakana #review #Wakana Covers ～Anime Classics～#wakana cover album #thank god today is a holiday so I can focus solely on her album #can't believe how excited I am for this release #obviously I love Keiko and Hikaru and their releases #but THIS is my jam #I AM IN LOVE #audio

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radramblog · 3 years

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Album Discussion: The Suburbs

Last week I felt like I didn’t have much time to pump an album review out. Was going to be in the lab all day, had work in the night, wanted to cover something quick. Then I finished really early, and had plenty of time in the afternoon to finish things off. This week I am in the same situation as far as scheduling, but someone’s bloody using equipment I need, so I’ve got a bit of extra time now. Time to talk about a >1hr 16 track record!

Also last week, I covered an album that I felt was more interesting from a meta level than it is musically. This week I’m talking about an album that I know nothing of the meta for.

The Suburbs I was reminded of recently. Mostly because I ran into the person who bought me the CD for the first time in like a year. I understand Arcade Fire have A Reputation as far as bands go, but the thing is: I have no idea what it is. I haven’t followed them at all, I don’t know whether they’re considered good or not, I haven’t even seen any of the music videos. I have never deliberately listened to an Arcade Fire song outside of this album.

But I do like this album. So.

Okay the one thing I do know is what the album is about. It’s about growing up in the suburbs of…I think Texas somewhere. I could look this up, but I refuse. The result of this is that the whole thing is intensely nostalgic, full of reminiscence and wistfulness, childhood innocence and what growing up is like. It’s one of those, you know? That does, however, make it fairly easy to like, because I think a lot of people are nostalgic for their childhoods.

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(yeah so the only music videos for this one are at the very start and very end. this is going to be a bit of a wall of words.)

This is characterised by the opening track, which is also the album’s title track: The Suburbs. It’s opening with a very folksy acoustic guitar and piano, and longing for that childhood is its modus operandi. It is, however, tinged by the anxieties of that era- growing up in the shadow of the cold war is going to leave an impact on anyone, and that cultural climate is also going to be running through the album. I think the most poignant section of the song lyrically is the start of the third verse- wishing to become a parent, so they can live vicariously through their child, show them their childhood world before the reality and the memory are completely lost. Okay that’s kinda heavy moving on- the track is pretty much built around that piano/acoustic bit, sounding relatively upbeat but coloured by these lonesome strings running through the background. It’s very effective of conveying the feeling- which is something that comes up quite a bit over the course of the album. The Suburbs is one of my favourite tracks on this album, and having it come right at the front makes it a very solid stage-setter.

Track two is Ready to Start, a faster, rockier track with this grimy bassline running through the verses contrasting the relatively bright instrumentation of the chorus. Considering the themes of the song, about working for the man, dude, and trying to escape that sort of life, it’s fairly fitting, though it’s a very different sort of nostalgia than the previous track. The instrumentation gives the whole thing this sense urgency, which is enhanced by some of the lyrics- I mean the track is called Ready to Start, isn’t it. I feel like this song would be great to try and hype yourself up for something you don’t really want to do, and I’m not sure how many songs we have specifically for that feeling.

Our next song is called Modern Man, and it feels like tumbling through a confusing life. God, I’m really getting pensive today. I feel like this is a lot because this album resonates a lot more emotionally for me than musically. I’m someone with a very weird sense of nostalgia, seeing as my childhood is pretty effectively defined into three segments, and I tend to fixate on one of them because it’s The Weird One. I’m nostalgic for high school which is when I was nostalgic for living abroad which is when I was nostalgic for when I still lived in Perth, which I do now, but I don’t know anyone from back then, so there’s a whole sense of longing, and it’s something I’ve always had, and that’s funky. And I’m still young, this isn’t going to change, it’s going to get worse, and eghhhh I’m supposed to be talking about music. I don’t really have much to say about Modern Man, I guess. It’s aight, the previous two were better, but here I am 800 words into an album discussion, and I’ve gone through all of 3 songs on a 16 track album, so maybe expect this to be a slog.

Rococo at least makes an impact real quick, with fuckin psychotic strings right at the start that’s kind of a shock to the system, especially compared to the relatively mild instrumentation the rest of the song provides. I think that’s a fairly appropriate tone for a song about looking at #thecoolkids, bemusement tinged with utter stark bewilderment. I think I’m too young to really get this, I guess. The song’s title regards an art movement that sounds extremely pretentious and fake deep, frankly, but considering the point of the song is that you don’t bloody know what Rococo means, that’s probably also fitting. I kinda wish the strings were more present throughout the song than they were, they add this existential dread to the track that I do think the later sections are missing somewhat.

Speaking of strings, Empty Room is up next, and it’s one of my favourite tracks as well. It opens with the strings but they’re fast and energetic and they’re going to blow right past you. I thought this track was in like the second half of the album, but nope, here it is. This is also where the album’s second vocalist takes the lead for a bit (she only does for like 3 scattered tracks) and she’s genuinely great here. The songs chugs like an old train, in a way that reminds me a lot of other songs; in particular, the bit between the chorus and second verse (and chorus/outro) reminds me a lot of Teach me About Dying by Holy Holy- I can’t unhear “teach me about dying, teach me about dying-dying” over that instrumental. Despite its desolate lyricism, this song’s energy is genuinely excellent, and it carries really well through the whole thing. I can’t think of a lot of songs that start on this sort of tempo and have it run the whole way through- not to keep referencing other songs, but it’s very Go with the Flow by Queens of the Stone Age. And that’s like in the top 3 QotSA songs for me, so.

It’s only just struck me how much track 6, City With no Children, reminds me of There There by Radiohead. Its mostly the percussion, I think. That’s fucking high praise, but it’s also about as far as the comparison goes. The song is pretty okay outside of that, this theme of a town left lifeless by the commercialism and capitalism of the ultra-rich and what that does to people. Maybe that’s just my reading of it, I do have a bias for this sort of thing, but I challenge you to find another one. Looking on Genius is cheating. I do like the riff the track is built around, but it gets old eventually, since it doesn’t develop at all as the track progresses- lost potential, I suppose.

The next song is the first part of the album’s first of two two-parters, Half Light I, because apparently this one is trying to be a long-running drama show now. With that said, this ballad is kinda gorgeous, and yet also kinda extremely boring? Which is a frustrating place to be, frankly. I get the feeling this is an opinion that would get me crucified, but aside from those strings what fuck, the song just isn’t doing anything for me. Maybe it’s because it’s kinda almost the halfway point and I’m just getting tired, maybe it’s just a generational and cultural divide between America/Australia and 90s-00s/00s-10s and I don’t Get It. But I’m afraid to say this one doesn’t land.

Half Light II (No Celebration), for the record, is one I enjoy much more. The instrumentation is a lot more fun, the tone is a lot more pained (and y’all know I love me some angst), as the rose-tinted lenses of the previous half are replaced by the jade of someone growing up through the GFC (and just, in general). Despite being a two-part song, the halves are very different, a deliberate dichotomy representing two facets of that same look backwards. I feel like this isn’t like other two-part songs I’ve heard before, in that you can kinda appreciate the halves separately- or, in my case, one and not the other.

Track 9, and welcome more officially to the Second Half, with Suburban War. It’s very much about reminiscing about old friends, and I think I’m going to wax personal for a bit, because I have very little to say about the song musically. I mentioned earlier that I basically don’t know anyone from back when I was a kid, and that’s kind of a product of what my childhood looked like. It’s hard to have a “childhood friend” that you still keep up with when you spend 5 extremely crucial, defining years somewhere away from where all of them are. When you leave at 7 years old and don’t come back until you’re almost a teenager. People change so quickly at that age, and I’m no exception, and so I just didn’t have the ability to relate to those same people that long afterwards, even if I could find them. I don’t resent the experience of growing up in such a fractured manner, but it means I have a fundamentally different experience to that discussed in this album. At the same time, as I listen to the closing moments of this song, with the line repeated, “All my old friends, they don’t know me now”, I can’t help but notice the similarity. The writer’s friends don’t know them because they’ve grown up, changed fundamentally as people, whereas I don’t know my old friends in a much more literal sense.

Our next song is a bit more fun. Month of May is unequivocally a rock song, as opposed to the..indie? folk? of most of its surrounds. Much like Empty Room, it’s driven by its tempo and instrumentation, but it’s a bit less dour than that one, almost a bit oldie in its rock and roll swagger. The song isn’t so utterly different that it wouldn’t fit on the album, the traces of The Suburbs still roll through the whole thing, the same guitar and percussion tones driven up a couple notches on the ol’ Mohs scale. Quite solid, ultimately, in my opinion.

Track 11 is Wasted Hours. I think it’s a kind of appropriate title, not because it’s a waste of time, but because it just kinda feels like a nothing song as part of the album. Like, it is unquestionably Part Of The Album, sonically and thematically, but I deadass would not notice if it was missing from the record. Sorry if this one is your favourite, but this one isn’t for me.

Deep Blue, on the other hand, is the song that got me into the album. There’s really something about this track, this sense of discomfort with the passage of time, that really wormed its way into me. It’s a shockingly cold song for this acoustic instrumentation that’s usually associated with quite the opposite. The piano feels desperate, the guitars grim, and there’s actual synths hiding in here- the song relates to technology, after all. It’s concern for the future of humanity, of the youth, and for, well, the Suburbs, through the lens of watching that match between chess Grandmaster Kasparov and the A.I. Deep Blue in 1996. Go watch the Down the Rabbit Hole on that if you haven’t already (and have a few hours), by the way, it’s utterly excellent.

I can’t really describe how Deep Blue makes me feel. There’s just something about it. I feel like if I hear this song again in 10 years, it would genuinely bring me to tears- it feels like loss in a way, and not the meme.

We Used to Wait has a fun instrumentation, glittery piano and that funky guitar noodling in the background, but unfortunately the chorus kinda lets it down for me. I just do not care for it, it’s really built on a vocal line that really doesn’t track for me personally. Like, I’m just young enough that a lot of the theme of the track is utterly unrelatable to me- I hail from an era that is post- the change the track is referring to. I’m focussing a lot this time around about how the songs make me feel personally, but I think that’s kind of the appropriate tack for this album in particular- like the idea of nostalgic reminiscence is so inexorably tied to your own personal experiences that there’s no way around those experiences clouding your perception of this album, and with that, how well you end up liking it. I bet this whole thing hits way harder for someone born in the same couple years as this band.

We’re up to the second two-parter, Sprawl I (Flatland), kind of the finale for the whole thing. I mean, in I’s case, it’s certainly that emotionally. The song is so utterly down, it’s lost in the urban sprawl the title and lyrics describe, and with that comes a very quiet track. Moody strings and guitar, that eventually build during the fourth verse (there is no chorus and they’re short). It does eventually resolve on a more positive note, at least, one that’s hopefully relatable to many of us- eventually, we find our emotional home is, and it’s often not where we grew up.

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Sprawl II (Mountains Beyond Mountains) is quite the different perspective. It’s got that other lead vocalist (I could look up her name but I won’t), it’s got a pulsing beat, and it has much more energy to work with. There are synths on this track that are absent from almost the entire rest of the album, but their introduction here, right at the end, is extremely cool. They’re cool, they’re clear, and they’re thematically relevant! I just really like the vibe of this track, and the way it trails off is similarly very good. Would recommend.

But of course there is one final track. Kind of. The Suburbs (continued) is basically a dark reprise of the album’s opener, shaded with more regret than that track is, more strings-y and whispered. It’s very short, but it acts as an appropriate closer for the whole thing.

And of course, that’s The Suburbs. In retrospect, I have a bit more mixed thoughts about this than I thought. There’s some really high highs, and some things that are just kind of bleh, but any album of this length is bound to have some misses. While I was browsing Genius to make sure I had the lyrics right for some tracks, I saw this record described as a Masterpiece, but I’m not sure that shoe fits- at least, not for me. The personal nature of this album, and anyone’s theoretical relationship with it, are such that I don’t think it can be given such a broad, universal title. I like the album as a whole quite a bit, but I personally wouldn’t call it a masterpiece.

It also doesn’t inspire me to go after more Arcade Fire. I’m actually perfectly content having them in my mind as this solitary piece, complete in its own way. Oh, they have like four other albums, but to me, Arcade Fire is The Suburbs. I don’t know why I’ve decided this, but it just works for me. So I’m sorry to any massive AF fans, but I did just dedicated 2.7k words to this album, so I’m sure you’re all satisfied.

God, next time I am going to have to cover something shorter, for my own sanity if nothing else.

#ramble #music #arcade fire #the suburbs #indie

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twiceblackvelvet · 4 years

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Whose Voice Is It Anyway?

A/N; this idea randomly sprung into my head at 2 am one night and has haunted me since. so i had to try and bring it to life. enjoy.

The white walls surrounding the closet area have become a well-known back-drop as of late. The majority of the videos created within this space usually include ridiculous dancing or lip-syncing to silly voice-overs, but today is more of a laid-back style of simply speaking to fans or anyone who happens to drop by the live stream. She gives herself a once over in the mirror and then on the screen before finally hitting the live option on her phone.

A few people immediately join and begin spamming the comment section with emojis, a few say hello whilst others flat out say “I love you,” which earns an internal chuckle for a response.

“Hello!” Jessica’s voice goes up a pitch with excitement seeing all of the people merrily interacting among themselves until random questions begin to pour in. “I’m at home right now, I just wanted to speak to you all, how are you guys?”

Light slow-tempo music fills up the silence around her, not wishing for the atmosphere to be awkward as she reads the many things flying up the screen too fast for her to be able to comprehend what most of them are saying.

“A new video? It’ll be out on Wednesday! Are you looking forward to it?” She asks after multiple people spammed about a new JessicaLand upload. A tonne of reassurances that people are indeed enjoying her content flows afterward. “I was so worried no one would watch but you all seem to like it a lot, it makes me so happy, in fact, we should probably change this!”

She shuffles around briefly with the camera not showing her arm stretching out for the device that is playing the background music until she pulls it into view.

“This music is too sad if we’re all in a good mood, let’s change it,” She readjusts herself upon seeing her reflection on the screen isn’t showing her face properly before speaking again. “Alexa, play happy music.”

The Echo flashes a blue ring around the top to show it has registered her request and immediately switches to a more upbeat pop song. The lyrics evade Jessica’s mind briefly but eventually, she catches onto which song it is and sings along to some of the words whilst reading the various comments.

“How are you guys?” She asks curiously. “Are you all taking care of yourselves?”

A stream of responses floats up the screen at a rapid speed, some positive, a few negative, and the rest not even answering the question and instead, hurling their own back toward her. A steady conversation ensues discussing the possibility of a new album, Blanc & Eclare’s latest collection as well as what Soojung has been up to recently.

The music playing in the background soon changes to a more doo-wop, R&B sounding melody with what Jessica thinks is a beautiful voice singing along to it. She begins to hum along with it herself mindlessly.

“Wow, isn’t this song pretty everyone? The voice is so beautiful, I could fall asleep listening to it.”

Her words are aimed towards no one, in particular, however, the startling response of people seemingly losing their minds after her compliment is rather confusing. Many people spam expletives, some simply repeat the word “omg” a bunch of times. Just as she’s about to ask what has caused this sudden uproar, it finally clicks when she sees her name repeated in some of the comments and her heart drops to the pit of her stomach.

Taeyeon.

Without even realizing it, she had not only managed to sit and listen along to Taeyeon’s voice singing beautifully without noticing who it was nor did her brain recognize the signature voice of her former group-mate, but she had complimented her in front of thousands of people. The first time she’s acknowledged her existence in years and it’s by far the most embarrassing way to do so humanly possible, Jessica thinks.

She quickly scrambles to change the song to something, anything other than what is playing, however, the damage if you wish to call it that has already been done.

As yet another airy pop song replaces the sweet tone of Taeyeon, Jessica is frozen in place and unable to figure out what to do or say next to everyone still collectively losing their minds over this brief interaction and nod to her former life.

Despite it being probably the worst way to move on from this blip, she decides to simply ignore it and pretend that it didn’t just happen with many witnesses who will no doubt rush to discuss it elsewhere and hopes that continuing the live will distract them from it altogether.

It doesn’t.

The conversation between herself and fans continues for another ten minutes, though, it’s a lot more difficult to find talking points now among the sea of people simply plastering Taeyeon’s name but she manages until it all becomes a little too much.

“I have to go now guys, but I hope you all remain well. I’ll see you all next time,” she waves goodbye to the screen and brings the live to an end with a deep sigh.

It doesn’t take long for both Jessica and Taeyeon’s names to trend on various social platforms, in fact, it’s rather impressive how quickly the news of it spread. Some fans initially couldn’t believe that such a thing would happen and put it down to people making something up to fit their narrative. However, when someone eventually revealed they had managed to screen record most of the live including what Jessica had said about Taeyeon, any and all doubts were put to rest.

In turn, it didn’t take much longer for news to reach Taeyeon either.

Sitting inside the back of a small coffee shop, hidden away enough that people won’t bother her with a manager flanked on the opposite side of the table. The steam from the warm drinks is Taeyeon’s only focus, watching it swirl out of the small cup forcing her to zone out a little.

“Taeyeon, look at this.”

The words alone cause a rush of anxiety to build up in the pit of her stomach, even more so once he places his phone in front of her showing the trending topics page. A headline reading ‘Jessica forgets Taeyeon’s voice’ sitting atop the page. She decides to read through the article, though she mentally refuses to acknowledge it’s because she’s intrigued. Instead trying and failing to convince herself it’s just because she has no idea what it could possibly be about, and yet, it makes her sad regardless.

It’s not that Taeyeon expected Jessica to remember what her voice sounded like after so long apart, but to have her forget it completely feels painful somewhere deep down inside in a place buried long ago and forgotten. The only saving grace being that Jessica complimented her before she realized who it was she was praising. Taeyeon chuckles to herself at just how air-headed Jessica clearly can still be at times.

The phone is quickly handed back to her manager as she scoops her own out of her jacket pocket. Her thumbs instinctively begin to type out a text message.

“How could you possibly forget?”

“Has it really been so long you don’t know what I sound like now?”

“Don’t you listen to my music nowadays?”

All of the possible things she could say to Jessica end up deleted. Her thoughts all begin to muddle into one until eventually, she closes the messages app after growing unsure of whether to bother sending her a text message after all of this time. She may not even have the same number. Instead, she hesitantly opens up Instagram, heads toward the story option, and snaps a picture of her coffee sitting atop the table. The pattern the barista managed to form being of a small heart.

She begins to type out a small message to go along with the picture and publishes it without thinking twice.

A few moments pass before the manager once again startles her out of her reverie.

“Do you know that you posted this?” He turns his screen to face her with the Instagram story of her coffee pulled up on it this time, pointing towards her words clear as day below the image of the cup.

“Yes.” is all she offers as a response and returns back to staring anywhere but at him or the phone.

“Don’t you think it will make matters worse?”

“It’ll be fine, it’s about time.”

The two names continue to trend with more and more people discussing the two former group-mates except now, more specifically, what Taeyeon’s words in response to Jessica could mean for them both.

“Your voice is still beautiful too.”

Jessica doesn’t see the story herself, not wishing to fall down the rabbit hole that is Taeyeon if she happens to look at the many pictures depicting her life now. However, she does see the many screenshots people tag her in for days afterward.

She would be lying if she said it didn’t make her feel all the things and more that Taeyeon now sings about.

Happiness.

#snsd #kpop #girl group scenarios #kpop scenarios #girls generation #kim taeyeon #jessica jung #snsd scenarios #snsd imagines #girl group imagines #taeyeon #jessica #taengsic #taeyeon x jessica #girls generation scenarios #girls generation imagines #snsd taeyeon #snsd jessica #jung sooyeon

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karliesbuzzcut · 3 years

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hi! i wanted to rant a bit about something that’s become pretty common on twitter. if an lgbt person criticizes taylor for having privilege as a cishet person or some other celebrity that ppl believe to be secretly gay), the immediate response is to act as if that person is ignorant and dumb bc “taylor is in a glass closet” and thus should be regarded as a queer icon. this rubs me the wrong way bc outside of the small section of the internet that believes she’s gay, she portrays herself and is viewed as a cishet white woman. her interview from a few years ago, where todrick hall said he wasn’t sure if she was comfortable with his sexuality when they were first friends, only reaffirms her privilege. it almost feels like ppl are using these conspiracies to absolve their favorite celebrities of any criticism

Oof! Okay, I really want to get into this because it’s a super interesting point, but allow me a disclaimer first.

When I talk about ‘conspiracy theories’ I’m referring specifically to the idea that Taylor is in a secret relationship with Karlie. And that the evidence for it isn’t current interactions between the two girls but some random person’s interpretations of Taylor’s lyrics.

What I’m not talking about is people exploring the idea of Taylor being something other than straight. You guys probably already know my stance on the matter. A very simple “🤷‍♀️how am I supposed to know?” And I stand by it. However, I’ve been proven that there are respectful ways of approaching a subject, and people enjoy it. So I’m all for it. And they definitely do not fall into the ‘conspiracy theory’ definition.

Back to our regular programming.

I do not think that you need to be straight to enjoy ‘straight privileges’. An example of that is yours truly. I’ve been in a relationship with a guy for almost a decade. My other committed relationship was also with a guy. While I was single, I was a bit of a slut (no regrets!✌🏼) and my most famous hookups were with guys. Any encounters with girls were either secret or brushed off by people as “drunk girl behaviour”. And even though I’m fairly open about my attraction to girls, I’m certain that most people who know me would say I’m straight if someone asked them.

I’m not saying this is Taylor’s situation, again “🤷‍♀️ how am I supposed to know?” All I’m saying is that — Todrick being unsure of Taylor’s views on sexuality or her coming off as cishet — doesn’t mean that much if you believe that sexual orientations come in shades of grey.

Now.

NOW.

Your last point is honestly fascinating. And it’s frustrating because I don’t even know how to answer it. I don’t even feel it’s my place to answer it, you know?

These pasts days we’ve been discussing the whole “gay pride” comment on MA. I guess that’s what inspired you to send this ask, because it fits perfectly. You’d be right to say that Taylor being queer would explain it away nicely, and definitely not make her look tone deaf in this particular instance.

I am someone who wouldn’t be super bothered if she turned out to be straight — I’m talking in terms of the accusations of queerbaiting against her. I’d agree with people that she shouldn’t have done or said certain things in a certain way. But I wouldn’t think she was being evil or stupid. Unless you think all humans are evil and/or stupid, which: valid. But I truly think we all say/do things that others would consider insensitive or inappropriate — we just don’t have millions of eyes on us, dissecting us, so they go mostly unnoticed... and only come back as embarrassing memories years after when you’re about to go to sleep.

But again. It’s easy for me to be so forgiving and chill when I’m not technically the one being baited.

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milgrammer · 4 years

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[ENG] Yurina Amami on Es & “Undercover”

DECO*27's fussy lecture about saying "Future"! Yurina Amami, who will sing the first song, felt the mystery behind it?

Co-produced by DECO*27, one of the leading Vocaloid composers, and Takuya Yamanaka, known for his human psychology oriented literary style, this original work, “MILGRAM”, is a viewer participation type music project. The MVs, which are the keys to unlocking the prisoners’ sins, are currently being released!

Animate Times is conducting an email interview with the voice actors participating in the project! Our first guest is Yurina Amami, who voices Es. This time, we’ll hear about Es, who exists as the audience surrogate, and, of course, the visuals, the lyrics… We’ll also hear about the song "Undercover”, which attracted numerous users with its scattered mysteries.

“Milgram” was already mix of excitement and mystery...and then they appeared! What were the pointers for playing Es, the audience surrogate?

“Milgram” has finally started, so please tell us what your thoughts were upon hearing the outline of this project.

When I heard about the outline, my honest first impressions were: 10 prisoners? All of them are “killers”? A viewer participation model? A three trial system? I had so many questions. The concept had never been done before, so I was incredibly surprised by its novelty.

Not to mention, I was gonna sing songs made by DECO*27 and act out a story written by Takuya Yamanaka?! I remember getting super worked up over that. I love the look of the world, which those two created, so I’m honoured to be involved with the project in this way.

Es exists to be the audience surrogate and interacts with the prisoners as such. Did the staff give you any explanations or directions for their role beforehand?

Es will act as the audience surrogate until the very end, so I kept it simple and added some aspects of their individual character. As the prison guard, I’ve been given some leeway, but Es remains cool, calm and collected towards most things. I wasn’t allowed to be emotional. However, despite being this work’s protagonist, I was told that their character shouldn’t stand out too much. Since their sex remains a mystery, they also taught me lots about Es’ character, so that I wouldn’t end up leaning too far to one side.

Honestly, it took me a long time to understand and get a feel for Es’ part. In addition to that, Es often says "Hm", but I had such a hard time grasping the nuance behind it...lol

The MV of "Undercover" was released and its numerous mysteries are attracting so many users! What a fitting song for the opening, created by Yamanaka and DECO*27!

The MV of “Undercover” was released on May 15, 2020, and marks the start of the series. Please tell us your first impression when you watched the video.

From the moment the visuals of "Undercover" appeared, I thought, "there’s no way I can stop watching this". I was glued to the screen from beginning to end. There were many scenes in which the dark atmosphere heightened the mystery behind it. And, above all, the characters’ movements were incredible.

Were there any aspects in the visuals and lyrics, which were of particular interest to you? Please tell us your favourite parts as well.

The lyrics which I was curious about were "You would probably smile and be pleased" Same goes for the visuals—the scene, where everyone gradually laughs more and more, sends a shiver down my spine.

From there, they seemed to be hinting at something while the chorus played for the last time… That made me feel a sense of terror. Also, the lyrics where the kanji reading was "you" instead of “me” was another favourite of mine. Es is you and you are Es—that was what I thought. But, more than that, I thought the word gave a sense of unity between Es and the users.

Also, the MV of "Undercover" may have a dark atmosphere, but there are some cute parts, which I personally like! When the chorus is played for the second time, in the scene where the tied-up prisoners appear in order, Amane looks like a scroll. It's so cute… Please have a look!

When you were singing “Undercover”, were there any aspects you paid attention to, were particularly fastidious about, etc?

This song is the so-called opening song of “Milgram”, so I sang with lots of strength and tried to give off the impression that we were moving at a fast pace. It’s an incredibly cool song, so I was worried as to whether or not my singing voice would be able to keep up.

As for fastidious… In the song, there’s a scene for each prisoner where I have to mimic them, so I listened to Mr Yamanaka as he talked about the set-up in detail and managed to deliver the “essence” of each prisoner in my singing voice. If you can feel the difference between them, then I’m happy.

Not to mention, “future”. He was very fussy about this part. Sing it like this! And so, I had to listen to their consultations on how to produce the correct sound, DECO*27 actually said the word “future” himself, and I had to go through a lot of lecturing.

When you first read the lyrics or after you finished singing, did your impression of Es change?

Not really. Just like how Es doesn't know anything about themself, I feel like there are so many things about Es which I don’t know yet either.

Furthermore, I personally chose to sing "Undercover" more like an opening song, which would mark the start of MILGRAM, instead of treating it like Es’ own song. I also don’t know much about how things will unfold or what will await us from now on, but someday I hope I’ll get to know the real Es!

It’s the users themselves which make the project more exciting!

Since observations hold the key to a project like this, it is expected that there will be discussions among users on the official app and social media. Please tell us how you would personally enjoy “Milgram” or if you have any suggestions for those users.

Do loads of analysis, share your opinions, and tell lots of people about Milgram. If you get 10 people, you’ll get 10 different ways of thinking. Not to mention, this project uses song lyrics, singing voices, visuals, and voice dramas! Those can all be looked at from various angles.

If there are sections in your analysis which are lacking, someone could fill in the gaps for you. It’s fantastic! Please pay attention to everything and fully uncover the sins of each prisoner. There’s also an official app, so it’d be great if you could make the most of that as well, while continuing to make Milgram even more exciting!

Lastly, please give out a message to those planning to enjoy the project from now on.

Since MILGRAM is a three-trial system, its users will have to observe the work for quite a long time. The information we’re given at the moment—about what on earth kind of sin each prisoner has committed—is a puzzle in itself.

However, this project is one which all of you will help form alongside us. Analyses are a given, but things like song and dance covers as well—to the people who produce those derived works, it’d be great if you could use them to make the project itself more exciting!

I’m sure that once the third trial ends, the project will unfold in ways which my current self could have never imagined. The project may have just barely started, but it’d make me so happy if you could see it through to the end.

In regards to Milgram and Es, thank you for continuing to support us!

Thank you

#These interviews are all so wholesome #ミルグラム #milgram #translation #interview #Es #Yurina Amami #Amami Yurina

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