Okay, I think I want to start listening to Ateez’s other songs now, but this is going to probably be more slow going than the music videos, especially since I have 5 days of work ahead of me, and I probably won’t listen to much during those days.

But I’ll start this post now and update it as I go, for my thoughts on each song.

(Everything above this was written last weekend, everything below, besides thoughts on songs, was written tonight)

This post only contains my thoughts on their first 2 EPs, and it took me all week, because of the MAMA awards and life. It also contains my thoughts on their new music video/song for Paradigm.

I was going to do more, but it got long, because I never shut up, lmao.

Treasure EP.1: All to Zero

Pirate King - I’m just gonna listen to the songs I’ve already heard again, to get a feel for the song itself and learn who sings what, without the visuals distracting me. I don’t have much new to say about this one, other than that I love that Jongho was like that just, right out the gate. I know a lot of it is skill and hard work, but he’s definitely also very gifted. I will say I also love the background beat (? i don’t know music terms, but i think it’s the beat?), that like...certain sound, I can’t explain it, lol.

Treasure - This isn’t my favorite, but it hasn’t nothing to do with the lyrics or the beat or the singing or any of that. It’s more this style of song, it’s just not my cup of tea. It’s a good song, though, they all sound great. I also really like the chorus.

Twilight - San and then Jongho in the opening part were stunning. Actually, every time they both sing the twilight part. Stunning, especially San.I actually really love this one! I didn’t think it was going to be my cup of tea, again, but then San started singing and then the whole thing just came together for me.

Stay - And they lost me a little bit again, lol. It’s not that they sound bad or anything, they’re great. There’s just something about the lyrics that I don’t love, and it’s hard to explain.

My Way - Okay, I don’t know the exact meaning of the song, I’m just going on what I’m interpreting, but is this a song about them/for the fans kind of song? The lyrics are giving me that, so I’m going with that for this. It’s sweet. Not a song I’ll play on repeat, but good. I especially enjoyed the way Hongjoong raps in the beginning.

Favorite from the EP - Twilight   Least Favorite -  Stay

Treasure EP. 2: Zero to One

Hala, Hala (Hearts Awakened, Live Alive) - My thoughts haven’t changed too much since I saw the video, honestly. Still a great song, very hype and intense. Also, realizing that I’m in love with Jongho’s vocals. I mean, obviously, that’s a given, and I’ve been super obvious since the beginning, but still.

Say My Name - I’m going to be quite honest, I don’t know how I feel about this one. Not that it’s bad, or anything. Just, I’m finding it hard to pinpoint if I love it or not. That’s okay though, this happened with a lot of Stray Kids songs as well, and I ended up loving some of them a lot more later on. So, it might just need to grow on me.

Desire - This one was interesting. It almost made me dizzy, it’s hard to explain. But I really liked it. It’s clearly meant to be a sexy song, which is something different, but in a good way.

QUICK BREAK. I spent 2 days watching the MAMA awards, and haven’t really been listening to any new songs. But I watched the Paradigm performance video tonight, and I have thoughts

The styling in this was top tier. Great stuff. They all looked so good.

Stand outs for me were Hongjoong, Jongho, and Yunho (!) which is a big deal, because I was struggling to tell him and Yeosang apart (i don’t know why, i’m so sorry). But he was so good in this video! Also, how tall is he exactly? I’m gonna look it up.

6′1″!! goddamn. I’m so used to the short kings in skz, I don’t know what to do with a whole ass 6 feet, lmao.

Anyways, they all did great, loved it!

OKAY. Back to the older songs.

Light - This is another one that I’m unsure of. Not that I dislike it, more like I’m not sure how I feel? There’s something I really enjoy about the vibe I get from it.It makes me think of something very specific, like....a late night date? Like, standing out on the balcony with someone you’re dating and there’s a party inside, but you guys are so wrapped up in each other, you’re just enjoying the evening together in the moonlight. Look, I said it was specific, lmao. It gives me late night date vibes, basically. But I’m just not sure how often I’d listen to on repeat. Still good though.

Promise - I started realizing something about their songs during this one. I’ll put it down below. But as far as this song goes, I love the energy. It’s very exciting, lol. I’m also realizing how much I love Yunho’s voice, he’s becoming another favorite as well. However, ah, I hate doing this. This is another song I probably wouldn’t listen to much. It’s the lyrics with this one, I’m not a big fan of songs with these kinds of themes, it’s hard to explain. I loved the imagery they used, but it’s the theme of the song that I just don’t love.

Favorite - Gonna surprise myself and say Light, actually. I love the late night date vibes.

Least favorite - Promise

I’ll start with my current favorites and positive thoughts!

I am currently really loving Hongjoong, Jongho, and very recently, Yunho, but, as I mentioned a lot with skz in the beginning, I think all the boys are very skilled and talented. I just have personal tastes and this is how mine are skewed, lol.

I’ve only really loved about a third of the songs, but that’s perfectly okay. I’m still early into this. And there’s always a chance that some songs grow on me later on. I didn’t even realize I loved Maniac by Stray Kids the first time I heard it until I realized it was stuck in my head later on, lol.

And now...not negative, but yea. I have a thought.

Okay, let me see if I can explain this well. I want to start by saying this is just my opinion. I love Ateez already, and I’m still very much excited for this journey, I swear.

But there’s something I’m realizing about the songs, and this is just my thoughts on what I’m seeing in the lyrics, and my thoughts are based on my own personal preferences. But they have a lot of songs that are like, to someone? Not necessarily romantic songs, in a sense, but just...there’s a specific vibe some of the songs I’ve heard so far have, and those kinds of songs just are not my personal cup of tea. Mind you, I still think these boys are talented as hell, I’ve already talked about some of my favorites so far, and I’m still early on here, I could end up loving all 8 just as much as I love all 8 Stray Kids members. And much like with skz, there are going to be songs that I just don’t vibe with, even if a lot of other fans do (I don’t love Get Cool or Star Lost, but I’ve seen fans love them, it happens, we all have our favorites)

I’m only saying this, because if anyone is reading these thoughts as I go on, you’re going to notice that I state that I’m not a big fan of songs like this, if they have more in their other EPs/albums. It’s not that I think these songs are bad or awful or the boys sound bad. Just that they give me a certain vibe or they’re a certain style that I am just not a fan of. It’s hard to fully explain what the vibe is, exactly. Sappy? Soft? Not exactly. But yea, just a disclaimer, I guess.

Up High!

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Tiktok pisses me bad why did I just see someone say they want s4 not to see them be gay and living their best lives but so they can see Hannibal and Will get caught and then proceed to act like the shit they got up to was insane (derogatory) like THEY ARE GAY MENACES IN LOVE WHAT DO YOU EXPECT?!

“You broke out of prison, used a stolen cop car to pick up your ex bf so y’all could kill somebody. Say that out loud and you hear it to your ears right”

THAT WAS LITERALLY HIS BECOMING??? HELLO????

Can people who are not the target audience for Hannibal/do not understand it stfu forever about it and I mean that disrespectfully

"it's a trauma response" and "it's a shitty way to treat someone" are not mutually exclusive btw ✨

i headcanon that the name mc is using (aka the player’s name) is not her real one bc you know how the ikevamp mc is the only one who’s name isnt automatically entered in like ikesen mc’s name is mai? Yeah i figured it might be a mystery for funsies^^so she’s probably like sebas who uses a fake name

Honestly that's big mood, only because I feel like it's pretty sensible being in a mansion full of a bunch of weirdos you don't know--I'd probably just pick a random name and stick with it LMFAO. Like nah sister, you ain't getting me to no secondary location (technically Comte already did but in fairness, it's the principle of trying to be safe that counts).

I also can't get over Sebastian using a fake name, for some reason it's uproariously funny to me???? Like he had no need to be that extra, he literally chose to be here, but he was like I'm Committing To The Bit. I'm Going Butler Mode. Akihiko Is No More, Only Sebastian. And for the life of me I will never get over it 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣

Hoghhh after a long month of defending the following characters from an entire discord server, I'm running back to here to say:

-I love Mark

-I also love Ashley

-I ADORE Emily

-I think Alex is okay

-I like Salim a lot

-I love Rachel

-I love Taylor

I am far less likely to get attacked here than there <3

it kind of bothers me that witcher fans don’t really unite under sapkowski’s name like other fans of fantasy authors do (e.g. “tolkien fans”).

in practically any other fandom of fantasy books, save for the particularly rancid authors known for their disappointing and shameful behavior or views (e.g. jk r*wling), it’s just regular business to say the author’s name. but sapkowski’s name is treated like a dirty word in the witcher fandom, for really no good reason…

it must be asked — what is stopping us from doing so?! why don’t we call ourselves sapkowski fans. it would be much easier than saying “i’m a fan of the witcher, but only the books, i don’t consider the various adaptations canon, etc. etc.” … “half a hundred words, when three are enough!!”

Thank you so much for the tarot reading you did for me a little while back 💜 i'm sorry it's taken me so long to say that! i do rather think you have prophetic gifts, by the way- it was spookily accurate and helped me a lot 🔮

No problem! I'm glad it was helpful to you!

I do tend to get at least one message like this every time I do a tarot night for my followers, and like... you are totally entitled to that belief! What do I know about psychic phenomena and prophecy anyway? lmao. Maybe I am psychic.

But personally, I believe that tarot has a high likelihood of speaking to us no matter what, if just because the archetypal nature of the cards means that they're dealing with problems that we all struggle with. We all have self-doubt, we all have complicated relationships with money, we all crave love of some kind. We all have trauma in our past and we all want to believe that this time, things could be okay.

One of the reasons I like tarot cards is because they are inanimate objects that we imbue with meaning. They were just playing cards, y'know? We're the ones that gave them power over us, and we did that by filling them with our own stories. We placed a mirror in those cards, and while mirrors can be used for scrying, they can also just be used to take a good hard look at ourselves.

If I say "oh, you've had money troubles in the past," who doesn't that apply to? Maybe I'm thinking about me, when we were homeless for a while when I was a kid. Maybe someone else is thinking about the money they lost to gambling last week. Maybe someone else, someone wildly wealthy, is thinking about a stock market crash that brought their five mansions down to two. Maybe a final person has just never had quite enough to make ends meet. God knows that describes a lot of people.

I like tarot because we can all look at the same spread and see something different. I see a story to tell to the best of my ability, and that's how I do readings. But for the people getting those readings, they're often looking into little mirrors and seeing how they reflect their own personal experiences.

Because, you know, we all see different things in the same mirror! That's how tarot works, I think. Maybe some people are a little better at reading things in that mirror and interpreting what they see there, but we all see something new and different and deeply, deeply personal when we look at those cards.

Love that for us.

hey kiri :] so as you maybe definitely know from all the notes ive been scrolling through your blog like its my dash lol & i was wondering if you could rec any pjo fics ? romantic not romantic percabeth or whoever else im just curious as to what your favorites are + its been too long since ive read a pjo fic lol

WARNING!! I GOT A LITTLE CARRIED AWAY AND WROTE A WHOLE ANALYSIS OF WHY I DONT READ PERCABETH FICS AND THEN A WHOLE OTHER DISSERTATION ABOUT PERCABETH IN THE TAGS!!!

idk if this is beige flag or something but i dont read percabeth fics 😭 or like percy jackson fics in general? 😭

idk what it is but i feel like i just have such a specific understanding of percabeth and percy jackson characters in general that a lot of times doesn't map on exactly to the fandom versions and that's true for any media i consume but it like weirdly irritates me a lot more for pjo? i guess bc i care sm about it so it makes it a lot harder for me to search and sift through pjo fics to actually find ones that suit my tastes specifically and also any like slight changes bother me more?

or just when im reading the fic its really hard for me to feel like its coming from percy/annabeth because i think they feel like real people to me 😭 so its weird to see them in fanfiction because like. they exist in the world of the pjo books as People to me and so in fanfiction theyre just Characters that feel more like imitations of their Real Selves than fics usually feel like to me

and also rick has such a specific way of writing them both like its clear he really really understands them (bc theyre based on him and his wife awwww <3) and so even if the writing style is different i just feel disconnected from their pov in the fic. and on that note i feel like the books themselves read as fanfiction to me like MoA and HoH percabeth????????? godtier why would i literally read anything else. so usually when im craving that i read the books or i listen to seaweed brain podcast and talk aloud to myself about how i would have written things differently or added things or watch the show bc its also sort of fanfiction thats canon bc of how well it understands the characters in terms of their overall People selves instead of just a jumble of common tropes and attributes that sometimes fandom percabeth can feel like to me

i think its also because i tend to read fanfiction when i feel like there is something unfinished in the narrative or like when the source material didn't understand the characters as well as the fandom/me because i get really intrigued by hidden potential and also tragic storylines and fix-it fics and to me it's just a lot harder to see percabeth in an au??? or scenarios outside the book???? idk what it is because most of the media i enjoy is adjacent percabeth type relationships because i love the dynamic but when it comes to literal percabeth i just. can't deviate from the text unless it's seaweed brain pod or my imagination 💀

sorry that was a long rambling of me trying to pick apart my brain and figure out why i dont read percabeth fics LMAOO i do enjoy fics with other pjo relationships though, specifically non-canon ones like pipabeth or valgrace because they have a lot of potential rooted in the text and in the possibility of dynamics that make sense with the canon characters+backstories+traits but also go beyond the text bc they aren't actually part of the canon (so i can separate fandom leo from how i see canon leo if that makes sense)

anywayyyyyyyy, ive heard that percabethfeelsfandom writes good percabeth fics if you want to check her out, and ill let u know if i come across any good recs in the future :))))

x kiri

people not only acting like rory kissing jess at truncheon was some plan of hers the whole time but also that it was as hurtful or even more hurtful than some of the things he did to her is my villain origin story

more dnd and adjacent media should be run and written by people who think dwarves and elves are boring but care very sincerely about halflings and gnomes

There's a lot about discussion of hdwr that baffles me (not all discussion to be clear, because i do think there's a lot of good discussion about hdwr. But equally so are there the ones that make you wonder if you're reading the same story) and I think one that is especially annoying is the constant infantilization of miwa as this passive eternal victim. It drives me up a wall because this is quite literally an issue she's struggled with within the text of the story! She had an arc about how she dislikes how people treat her this way like towards the beginning of the story! And like even ignoring that, this story is about like nuanced and realistic portrayals of being in relationships and learning how to navigate them and so it's like what's the point if you're going to immediately reduce the characters to "the victim" and "the victimizers?" Is that even interesting? Is that a useful lens to look at interpersonal relationships?

Sucollei

Colcrose 

Sucrei 

Colleicrose 

Sucoll 

Bro wtf is their name IDK but I love them very much they are dear to my heart 

long ramble in tags tldr: kindness rules

god i know that complaining abt fic which most of you haven't read, and which i won't, for politeness' sake, identify in this post, is a great way to come across as both dickish and boring—

but i've been rereading a very long, very satisfyingly plotty series that's a fandom darling and the thing is, when you read like 400k of an author's work at once it really starts to become painfully apparent what their priorities are, by which i mean two things:

holy shit they're obsessed with 'what if strong powerful men who could hurt you didn't (but did hurt Bad Guys) (and it was sexy of them),' which leads into

holy shit they do not appear to have thought through the implications of saying 'i will have my heroes take over the same power structures that have enabled abuse, make no real changes to those structures other than swapping out the leadership, and then claim that everything is wonderful now bc Good Men Are In Charge'??

like. i don't necessarily need every passing fantasy to present me with a coherent, revolutionary system of politics and ethics—sometimes things are just fun and sexy and not especially Examined and that's fine!—but by the time someone's written literally almost half a million words, and done a lot of worldbuilding while they were at it, i am going to start squinting if they seem to think a Good Man can e.g. become an emperor by killing off the leadership of multiple countries and installing puppet kings loyal to him and still remain a Good Man, even if the justification was that the original leadership was maltreating its citizens and deserved to be extrajudicially executed. like. this shit was a bad, autocratic move when the US did it in real life and it's still bad now that you're having our mutual blorbo do it in fiction! and that's not even getting into the whole thing where like. they've got servants who the Good Man and his friends ""treat well"" but who very much remain second-class citizens in terms of how the story actually frames them and their concerns. [this was also a huge issue i had with foz m*adows' most recent book—everyone wants to write about fantasy nobles but they also want to make them good people and it's like. honestly i think it might be better to get comfortable writing about flawed people, but also—if your aristos aren't treating their servants like equals and your text isn't either, you haven't actually cracked the Moral Aristo paradox, sorry!] like, there's nothing that says your story has to depict a fully Healed World, nor should there be! but it's troubling if you seem to be convinced you've written one (and have your wide-eyed love interests constantly marveling at it!) when you very patently haven't.

One of the really irritating things about that 'oh QPR is just friendship, clearly you've never had friends, lmao loser' discourse is that (and there are many irritating things this is just one of them) even in QPRs that ARE just friendships with a new fancy label.... like...? There are many kinds of friendship that people just have because it's easier than not. And there are friendships that you think are going to be incredibly lasting, but then they date someone new and suddenly you're no longer a priority. The QPR label lets people attach an intentionality and priority to their friendship that really is not guaranteed..... like also not every QPR is this way etc etc but even when it is Just Friendship T M its still like entirely reasonable to want to use that label to signify that it isn't casual